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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Berry Global, a leading
global nonwovens manufacturer, announced its second investment for 2021 in the
wipes segment to support the long-term consumer behavior shift towards infection
prevention, amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Nonwovens-industry.
The investment, located in Europe, will increase Berry’s production
footprint in support of its global customers, with total investments reaching
over USD110 million in nonwoven materials for products such as hard surface
disinfectant wipes. Prior to the demand surge of 2020, the European impregnated
wet wipes segment, for home cleaning and disinfecting, was growing at the rate
of 5% in the 2014 to 2019 time frame. Covid-19 has increased heightened focus on
sanitation and personal hygiene for infection prevention, suggesting permanent
consumer trends away from the chore of cleaning to a health and safety
priority.
"We strategically partner with many of the world’s leading
brands with wipe materials, ensuring our investments align with demand for today
and for the future. The reliability of our capacity and scale are paramount to
our customer support and the trusted relationships we desire to maintain," says
Curt Begle, president of Berry’s Health, Hygiene, and Specialties
Division.
This new asset will add to the company’s existing spunlace
platform, further expanding its sustainable wipes portfolio. Recognizing its
customers’ ongoing environmental sustainability goals, the new asset will
incorporate the production of biodegradable or recycled nonwoven substrates,
increasing Berry’s capacity in Europe by more than 300 million square meters.
The new line is expected to be commercially available in the September quarter
of 2022.
"This multimillion-dollar investment further completes our
industry-leading portfolio. Through flexible assets such as this installation in
Europe, we can better serve our customers with reliable, sustainable solutions
for the wipes market,” says Achim Schalk, EVP and general manager, EMEIA for
Berry’s Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Division.
Berry continues to
leverage its ability for continued investments in the latest technology to
better serve the market. A longtime leader in the nonwovens space, Berry does
not sit idle, and instead continues to push forward with its global size and
scale to meet the evolving needs of its customers.
As per MRC, Berry
Global Group, Evansville, Indiana, announced that
Madrid-based Repsol, its longtime supplier, will supply it with circular
resins. The Spanish multienergy global company will supply Berry with
International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus-certified
circular polyolefins from its Repsol Reciclex range.
As MRC reported earlier,
Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth
quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000
mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3
2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.
Ethylene
and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and
PP.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2%
year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density
polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to
the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the
formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers'
inventories as of 1 January, 2020). |
