Table of Content

SUMMARY
ACQUISITIONS, DIVESTMENTS AND MERGERS
Freudenberg Group has completed its acquisition of needlepunched nonwovens and
laminated materials producer Filc
Gurit has divested its automotive business
Karl Mayer is to acquire Stoll Group
Textile manufacturing joint venture MGC has acquired Melchior Textil from HOS Group
BUSINESS NEWS
3M has taken action to stop respirators from being sold at grossly inflated prices and
prevent counterfeiting
A company in Asia has acquired a melt blowing line from Oerlikon Nonwoven to
manufacture nonwovens for medical applications, including face masks
A team at The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) at North Carolina State University (NC State) is
producing materials for respirators, face masks and mask filters to protect health care workers
from COVID-19
Johns Manville has started to produce nonwovens in the USA for making face masks which
are needed to stop the spread of COVID-19
Karl Mayer has designed a face mask which can be made on its raschel warp knitting
machines in a single step
A number of major trade fairs have been postponed or cancelled as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
Two TMAS machinery companies have teamed up with Juki Corporation (Juki) to accelerate
the production of filter bags
INVESTMENTS
Berry has brought forward a plan to invest in the production of meltblown nonwovens in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Carbon ThreeSixty has installed a tailored fibre placement cell
Cygnet Texkimp has supplied a high capacity 3D weaving creel to the University of Sheffield
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)
Karweb Nonwovens will invest in a hydroentanglement line for producing viscose, polyester
and biodegradable wipes
Montefibre Carbon will invest Euro16.2 mn in the establishment of a line for producing
polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor and the construction of a carbonisation line in Spain
NIRI has purchased an air laying machine from Dan-Web Machinery for use in the pilotscale manufacture of nonwovens from natural fibres
Quantum Materials is bringing forward a US$3.5 mn investment aimed at expanding US
production of technical textiles
Teijin Group has opened a European research and development base for
automotive components
JOINT VENTURES
Consolidated Pathways has signed an agreement to become the brand and technical
representative for the products of Sanitized
HeiQ has granted licences to three competitors in order to meet high demand for antiviral
HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03
Lenzing and Palmers Textil have set up a joint venture company called Hygiene Austria to
produce face masks on an industrial scale
Wrapping Solutions is switching production from interior fittings for cars to protective
face masks