EDANA reports on International Nonwovens Symposium
Approximately 250 delegates from the nonwovens and related industries gathered in
The Symposium, one of seven EDANA events in 2006, featured fourteen presentations covering nonwovens business, market and technology trends and innovations.
The various papers demonstrated many of the key strengths of the nonwovens industry – a focus on innovation, successful partnerships within its supply chain and the exploration of new opportunities, new geographical markets, new product developments and the application of advanced hybrid technologies.
Amongst these, The Economist Intelligence Unit (CEEMEA) director Nenad Pacek provided an insight into doing business in emerging markets and how to avoid pitfalls by learning from other companies’ mistakes. Today there is more corporate focus on emerging markets than ever before, particularly in relation to
In her overview of Eastern European markets, vice director, Foreign Trade Department of Polish company TZMO Krystyna Boryk Jozefowicz highlighted some of the potential obstacles that are often not considered by investors. According to Ms Jozefowicz, these markets are already mature and this shift has happened faster than anyone could ever have expected. She also highlighted how logistics, payment problems, safety, unstable law and crises across the region can present pitfalls. She demonstrated that many Eastern European companies are successful players in the global market, with growing export sales and substantial market shares in several countries of the region.
The increase of raw material costs, spurred by high oil prices was a key focus of the Symposium. Polyester and polypropylene now dominate nonwoven markets accounting for around 75% of raw material usage. In
The Association’s next annual Nonwovens Symposium will take place on
