Business news

Ossia of Bellevue, Washington, USA, a developer of wireless power technology for such as automotive electronics, has entered into a partnership with Saint-Gobain of Courbevoie, France.

Automotive-textiles and seating-components manufacturer Tesca has bought Tuchfabrik Willy Schmitz, also a supplier of automotive fabrics, for an undisclosed sum.

Karl Mayer Group has finalised an agreement to buy flat-knitting machinery manufacturer Stoll.

Three fibre suppliers specialising in technical textiles have merged to form a new company, FibrXL, which is based in Almere and Beek, The Netherlands, and Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Composites manufacturers in Germany continue to be dissatisfied with the current business environment there, according to a half-yearly survey conducted by Berlin-based Composites Germany.

Zoltek of Bridgeton, Missouri, USA, is now using renewable energy for a portion of its carbon fibre production.

French engineering company Fibroline has entered into two licensing agreements in the healthcare sector.

Pharr has completed the sale of its Fibers & Yarns and Phenix Flooring divisions to Mannington Mills.

Adient and Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems are to make changes to their existing relationships, one of which will see the former sell its 30% stake in Yanfeng Global Automotive Interior Systems (YF

A company dedicated to the research and development (R&D), testing and sale of composite and multimaterial automotive components is to be established in Wuppertal, Germany, by Teijin.

Freudenberg Group has completed its acquisition of Filc, a producer of needlepunched nonwovens and laminated materials for the automotive and construction industries.

3M has completed the sale of its ballistic-protection business to Avon Rubber Plc for US$91 million.

In an effort to strengthen its marketing activities in North America, particularly in the automotive industry, Asahi Kasei has opened an office in Novi, Michigan, USA.

SGL Carbon and the Hyundai Motor Group are to extend an agreement that sees the former supply nonwoven gas-diffusion layers for use in the latter's fuel cells.

A facility for the development and manufacture of propeller systems with all-composite blades has been inaugurated in Brockworth, UK, by Dowty Propellers.

Freudenberg Group is to sell its South American Hygiene nonwovens business to Fitesa for an undisclosed sum.

A facility for the research and development (R&D) of manufacturing technologies for use in industries such as aerospace and automotive has been opened by the Welsh government and the University

Filc, a producer of needlepunched nonwovens and laminated materials for the automotive and construction industries, is to be acquired by Freudenberg Group of Weinheim, Germany.

Albany International Corp has acquired CirComp GmbH, a developer and manufacturer of high-performance composite components.

The Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) in Leeds, UK, has purchased a new airlaying machine that will be used for the pilot-scale manufacture of nonwovens.

Technical textiles specialist Arville has purchased manufacturer of replacement filter products, Delta Filter Services Ltd.

In a bid to increase its technical expertise in spunlaid nonwovens, Freudenberg Group has made an offer to buy Low & Bonar PLC.

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, has secured contracts to supply core materials to two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the wind energy industry.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SGL Carbon, Jürgen Köhler, is to resign over flawed business planning and the company, of Wiesbaden, Germany, has withdrawn its business forecasts for the next

A polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor for the production of affordable large-tow (80 k) carbon fibre has been unveiled by Montefibre Carbon of Miranda de Ebro, Spain.

CHTC Fong’s Group is to establish a subsidiary in China that will focus on technologies for the automation of and data exchange between manufacturing technologies (Industry 4.0).

Fibre manufacturer Lenzing Group, based in Lenzing, Austria, aims to drastically reduce its carbon footprint over the next decades.

Teijin Ltd is to buy tier one composite parts supplier Benet Automotive sro from Jet Investment. The terms of the deal will not be disclosed.

Karl Mayer's digital technologies company KM.ON is establishing subsidiaries in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Plants for the production of engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethanes will be the first to be built at BASF’s US$10-billion chemical production site in Zhanjiang, China, according to th

A technology centre for the development of nonwovens production lines has been officially opened in Egelsbach, Germany.

Archroma has inaugurated its Global Competence Center for Automotive & Synthetic Dyeing in Korschenbroich, Germany.

Karl Mayer of Obertshausen, Germany, has become a manufacturer of complete systems for the production of packaging sacks and shading nets.

Itema Group of Colzate, Italy, is to form a subsidiary dedicated to manufacturing looms for technical textiles.

A Brazilian nonwovens manufacturer is to invest in the construction of a plant, together with state-of-the-art needlepunch machinery for the new facility.

Hof University of Applied Sciences has granted Lenzing AG access to a new hydroentanglement (spunlace) machine for the development of nonwoven products and the testing of fibres.

PolyOne Corp of Avon Lake, Ohio, USA, has bought manufacturer of fibres and composites Fiber-Line for US$120 million.

A leading Japanese trading company is to purchase a stake in ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd (ELG) of Coseley, UK, a specialist in recycling carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRPs).

Hexcel Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, is to acquire a supplier of electromagnetic interference (EMI)-shielding composites for military, aerospace and industrial applications, ARC Technologies Inc o

Ineos Enterprises of Runcorn, UK, has agreed to acquire the entire composites business of Ashland Global Holdings Inc of Covington, Kentucky, USA, for US$1.1 billion.

Nonwovens producer Technical Fibre Products (TFP) of Kendal, UK, is to increase its production capacity by 50% by 2020 in response to increasing demand for its products. 

Porcher Industries’ US subsidiary BGF Industries Inc is spending US$7 million to relocate its headquarters, and research and development (R&D) activities from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Dan

Production has been disrupted at Kelheim Fibres GmbH after a fire in the company’s main fibre spinning area at its facility in Kelheim, Germany.

The Lenzing Group plans to become the sole owner of its Chinese subsidiary Lenzing (Nanjing) Fibers (LNF) Co Ltd.

Bond-Laminates GmbH of Brilon, Germany, is increasing the production capacity for its continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics (Tepex).

The software, equipment and expertise required to set-up a garment micro-factory is being sold in one package (FashionTech Platform 1.0) by Gerber Technology of Tolland, Connecticut, USA.

Japan-based hygiene products company Unicharm is to acquire the holding company of DSG International (Thailand) (DSGT), a manufacturer of diapers and other absorbent products in Southeast Asia.

Gerber Technology of Tolland, Connecticut, has acquired cloth simulation software specialist Avametric of San Francisco, California, both in the USA.