Japan’s Nonwovens Producers Defend Themselves Against Market Challenges

2025-02-08 23:04

According to the company, efforts to relocate much of its production to southeast Asia, where it established an operation in Thailand in 2014, have not proven effective. In fiscal 2024, the company projected a consolidated net loss of ¥10.3 billion and reports its equity has shrunk by ¥7.3 billion to ¥29.4 billion from late March to the end of September.

Another Japanese producer, JNC Fibers, which is specialized in thermal bonded nonwovens for baby diaper applications, has ceased production at its Japanese facility and sold one of its two Chinese sites to a local company, reducing its nonwovens output in Asia in two separate actions late last year. The company attributed weakening demand within the baby diaper market to both decisions. JNC, which has been active in the Asian nonwovens industry since 1995, will continue to produce thermal bonded materials at its remaining Chinese site as well as in Rayong, Thailand.

Japan’s two largest nonwovens producers, Mitsui Chemicals and Asahi Kasei decided to join forces against challenges in the Asian nonwovens industry, namely declining demand for diapers in Japan as well as increased competition from Chinese products. In 2023, the two companies announced a joint venture integrating their spunbond and nonwovens operations in Japan and Thailand.

The integration of the two companies has allowed them to rationalize the varieties of nonwoven fabrics for diapers and to remodel the business for diapers to increase efficiency and further strengthen its products in the industrial materials field to create a more profitable business structure, according to the company

Market Contraction

Declines in Japanese production are nothing new. According to Kin Ohmura, of Osaka Chemical group, nonwovens output has been steadily declining in Japan since 2018, from 341,000 tons to 269,000 tons in 2023. Meanwhile, Asian nonwovens output has increased from 5.5 million tons to 7.3 million tons during the same period, with the strongest growth being seen in China and India.

During the same t