Toray to start spunbond manufacturing plant in Indonesia

TOKYO, JAPAN: Toray Industries Inc and Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc have decided to enter the high-performance polypropylene spunbond business in Indonesia. The companies plan to establish P T Toray Polytech Jakarta (TPJ) in the group’s site in Tangerang, Indonesia. To be built in September this year, the plant will have a production facility with an annual capacity of approximately 20,000 ton. The new plant is expected to start full-scale operations in June 2013.

Demand for disposable baby diapers is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the ASEAN countries on the back of high economic growth and changes to lifestyle brought about by rising national incomes. Particularly in Indonesia, the market for disposable baby diapers is estimated to grow at a pace of 14 per cent a year, increasing approximately from 1.9 billion diapers in 2010 to 3.7 billion diapers in 2015, prompting major hygiene product manufacturers to build new production facilities and expand existing facilities. These manufacturers have been looking to procure raw materials locally and the demand for polypropylene spunbond is expected to reach approximately 84,000 ton a year in 2015 in the ASEAN region.

Toray has decided to build an additional production facility with an annual capacity of 20,000 ton a year to be operated from July 2012. The new facility in Indonesia will bring Toray’s total polypropylene spunbond production capacity to about 121,000 ton a year in 2013. This would further enable the group to drive forward sales expansion in emerging markets such as the booming Chinese and ASEAN markets.

(C) WOC News