Business and industry

Teijin is to establish a new carbon fibre production facility in Greenwood, South Carolina, USA, which will be run by a subsidiary, Teijin Carbon Fibers (TCF). 

Nanoval of Berlin, Germany, has sold the first production plant for spunlaid nonwovens based on its unique process for spinning continuous filaments.

The German The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) Textile Machinery Association is describing its recent event in the USA and Mexico as a success. 

SGL Group is buying BMW Group's 49% equity investment in their joint venture SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (SGL-ACF), which supplies the carmaker with carbon fibres for its i3, i8 and 7 Series model

Wacker Chemie AG has opened a technical centre for construction, textile and consumer-care applications in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Far-UK has sold its controlling interest in carbon fibre braiding specialist Axon Automotive Ltd to Bawtry Investments Ltd.

The Hohenstein Group in Bönnigheim, Germany, has reorganized its business units. 

Velox GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, has signed a distribution partnership with Ilium Composites, a manufacturer of glass reinforcements for closed mould and speciality applications based in Bahrain.

SGL Group has bought Benteler’s shares in the joint-venture company the two set-up in 2008, automotive composite parts manufacturer Benteler-SGL. 

Royal DSM has signed a framework technology partnership agreement with Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), a subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corp. 

Arville of Wetherby, UK, has entered into a trade mark licencing agreement (TMLA) with DuPont of Wilmington, Delaware, USA, for the latter's flame-resistant Nomex-branded meta-aramid yarns.

Solvay of Brussels, Belgium, has acquired German producer of high-quality precursor for large-tow (50k) polyacrylonitrile (PAN) carbon fibres European Carbon Fiber GmbH (ECF) of Kelheim.

Personnel and processing equipment are being installed at GE Aviation’s factory complex in Huntsville, Alabama—the first in the USA to be mass-producing silicon carbide (SiC) materials for the manu

Chomarat of Le Cheylard, France, says that multiaxial machine for the manufacture of carbon fibre reinforcements it has purchased from Karl Mayer of Obertshausen, Germany, is ten-times more product

The German The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) Textile Machinery Association has elected a new chairperson. 

Developer of smart fabrics and wearable computing technologies Myant of Toronto, Canada, has committed around US$80 million (CAD$100 million) to a proposed advanced manufacturing supercluster in Ca

Invista of Wichita, Kansas, USA, is to sell its Apparel & Advanced Textiles business to Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding of Jining, China.

Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have agreed efforts to reduce the costs involved in MHI's production of wings for the 787 Dreamliner. 

Cobra International Co Ltd of Chonburi, Thailand, has established a business unit dedicated to the manufacture of large composite structures for the architectural and mass transport markets.

Toray Industries Inc of Tokyo, Japan, is to open its Automotive Center Europe (AMCEU) near Munich, Germany, in August 2018.

Hexcel Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, USA, has expanded its existing supply agreement with Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Aarhus, Denmark, to provide composite materials for wind turbine blades.

The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) of Cary, North Carolina, USA, has launched its Directory of Pilot Lines for Nonwoven/Engineered Materials Product Development in pri

Fibres and textiles manufacturer Asahi Kasei has opened a research and development (R&D) centre in Dormagen, Germany. 

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, is to transfer its UK prepreg business to its Spanish prepreg production facility in Albacete by the middle of 2018. 

Porcher Industries has completed the acquisition of technical fabrics manufacturer Interglas Technologies from the Preiss Daimler Group. 

Hexcel Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, USA, has completed the acquisition of Structil SA, a producer and supplier of high-performance composites based in Vert-le-Petit, France.

Textile odour control and prevention specialist Microban International Ltd of Huntersville, North Carolina, USA, has appointed textile chemical manufacturer Texchem of Rochdale as a UK distributor.

Solvay of Brussels, Belgium, is to sell its integrated polyamide (PA) business to BASF of Ludwigshafen, Germany. 

The Lenzing Group is opening an application innovation centre (AIC) in Hong Kong. 

Nonwoven fabrics manufacturer WPT Nonwovens will open a US$6-million plant in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, USA, to add capacity for materials used in hygiene and filtration products, such as diapers and f

Baldwin Technology Co Inc of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, is to acquire Ahlbrandt System GmbH of Lauterbach, Germany.  

Archroma of Reinach has acquired an additional 26% of the shares of M.

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, has completed acquisition of PH Windsolutions of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 

Industrial polyamide and polyester filament yarns supplier PHP Fibers of Wuppertal, Germany, has taken over the European Breathair activities of Toyobo Europe GmbH of Düsseldorf, Germany.

Porcher Industries of Badinières, France, is expanding in the US automotive market with the acquisition of a plant for the manufacture of parts in Altavista, Virginia. 

Together with a large industrial consortium, VTT Technical Research of Espoo, Finland, has launched a €4.5-million project to speed-up the development of fibre-based products as alternatives to oil

Advanced composites manufacturer Pentaxia is to double its existing production capability through the purchase of a large manufacturing site in Derby, UK. 

Ahlstrom-Munksjö says that it will release additional capacity at its plant in Turin, Italy, to meet the growing demand for engine and industrial filtration media.

Berry Global has announced it is investing in an RF5 machine from Reifenhäuser Reicofil for the production of spunbond, meltblown and composite nonwovens.

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories says it has selected the site for its operational headquarters in Quang Nam province, Vietnam.

Henkel of Düsseldorf, Germany, has opened a test facility for composites in Japan. 

Don & Low of Forfar, UK, has started-up synthetic grass yarn line, after its Board approved the substantial investment at the end of 2016. 

OCSiAl is to build what it claims will be the world’s largest production facility for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in Luxembourg, with the assistance of the country’s Ministry of the Eco

Research carried out at the University of Leeds in the UK suggests that the use of controversial fluorochemicals in the manufacture of most waterproof garments may be unnecessary.

DiloGroup says that it set to supply two of its lines for the production of nonwovens to companies in Istanbul, Turkey, after finalizing the deals at Techtextil in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9

Lohmann Technologies UK has installed a specialist infra-red (IR)-based heating system for the manufacture of adhesive tapes at its factory in Milton Keynes.

Hartmann Group, a supplier of medical and hygiene products, has completed the acquisition of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G’s) Lindor adult incontinence brand in Spain and Portugal.

Rieter Group of Winterhur has purchased the SSM Textile Machinery division (SSM) from Schweiter Technologies, both of Horgen, all in Switzerland.

Metyx Group is reporting that it has concluded a multi-machinery deal with its long-time partner Karl Mayer Technische Textilien GmbH for the supply of warp-knitting production lines.