Taiwan's non-woven fabrics makers diversifying product lines

Taipei, Aug. 4, 2005 (CENS)--With competition getting steep among makers of consumption non-woven textile materials in Taiwan, some of them have either changed manufacturing strategies or diversified production lines to turn out other products.

Shinih Enterprise Co., Taiwan's professional maker of non-woven textile cloths for industrial use, has recently expanded its operations into downstream products and established more sales channels.

To meet the global market demand, Shinih has established production lines in the United States, Thailand, Vietnam, and mainland China, in addition to Taiwan. Among overseas footholds, the one in the mainland has been the company's major production base, turning out various textile materials from resin bond batting for traditional garments to special fabrics for interior decoration of automobiles.

However, since the profits of textile materials turned out in the mainland have become thinner and thinner, Shinih has in recent years laid more emphasis on the sale of outdoor textile products in the U.S. market and the establishment of marketing channels for own-brand products there. In addition to producing vertical folding technology (VFT) textile materials, the company has expanded its production lines to fabricate thermo-bond fiberfill for outdoor furniture products.

Last year, Shinih purchased a popular U.S. brand and also established its own brand ‘American Outdoor Living' to market its cushions and life jackets in the U.S. market. To meet the expected market boom, Shinih has actively expanded its manufacturing operations in the U.S. and increased the number of plants there to four from one. With the expansion, the company is anticipated to see a sharp rise of more than 50% in revenue this year.

Nan Liu Enterprise Co., Taiwan's leading manufacturer of disposable non-woven fabrics, has recently added a production line to turn out non-woven fabrics with water-jet textile machines, which is estimated to bring an additional revenue of NT$50 million (US$1.47 million at US$1 = NT$34) per month to the company.

Other than textile products, Nan Liu introduced botanical collagen to the island from Japan about three years ago through strategically allying with its Japanese partner. The company has since turned out value-added non-woven collagen facial mask under its own brand ‘Silk Soft' and has gained popularity among consumers on the island.

With expansion into the biotechnology industry, Nan Liu has currently experienced an obvious rise in revenue. In the first half of the year, the company raked in NT$780 million (US$22.94 million) in revenue, with 40% of which coming from biotech products. In the same period, the company saw pretax profits of about NT$80 million (US$2.35 million) for earnings per share (EPS) of NT$2.23 (US$0.066).

This year Nan Liu's revenue is expected to hit a new high of NT$1.75 billion (US$51.47 million), and the company plans to raise the output of its biotech products to account for half of its total revenue in the near future.