Strategy

Manmade Fibers successfully managed its turnaround and continues to deliver strong, stable performance in top line and profitability. Its market leadership position in filament equipment and trusted customer relationships form a solid foundation for the Division’s earnings. Moreover, it has good upside potential to grow its business as it establishes a stronger foothold in attractive fields such as nonwovens and geotextiles. 

As digitalization and sustainability gain momentum in being adopted in the manmade fibers markets, the Division is well-positioned at the forefront with polymer flow control, smart factory and recycling solutions that complement existing energy and resource-saving technologies.

Manmade Fibers has succeeded in maintaining its performance at a high level despite the pandemic. Its core filament spinning systems business is returning to mid-cycle, and it has filled up a strong order pipeline that takes its delivery schedule into 2023. 

The unexpected surge in demand in 2020 for meltblown systems used to manufacture nonwovens for face masks and protective wear production has established this business as a strong revenue source for the Division. The pandemic served as a catalyst to boost the orders, which is expected to continue due to countries’ need for self-sufficiency and other promising nonwoven applications. Growth in nonwoven will be further boosted by a unique technology for substrates for flushable wipes, which will be developed by Teknoweb.

Other growth areas such as the precision polymer flow control, carpet yarns, smart factories, mechanical recycling solutions and after-sales customer services provide the diversification to further strengthen the portfolio that will help the Division smoothen out the cyclicality associated with large equipment investments.