Nonwovens manufacturer Suominen, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, has announced a €20 million investment in a new card-pulp-card (CPC) production line at its plant in Alicante, Spain, to become operational in the second half of 2025.

The CPC process is a highly efficient route to the production of wipes substrates and other nonwovens based on natural fibres and pulp.

“With this investment we are responding to the accelerating demand for sustainable nonwovens in Europe,” said Tommi Björnman, Suominen’s president and CEO.

For the first six months of 2024, Suominen reports net sales of €232.3 million, up 5% on the first six months of 2023, with increased volumes and lower raw materials prices, offset by lower sales prices. Net sales in the Americas were €145.7 million and in EMEA were €86.5 million.

The company managed to reduce its operating loss for the first six months of 2024 to €2.9 million, compared to a loss of €12.1 million in the first six months of 2023.

“Our ability to innovate and meet market needs is reflected in the share of net sales from new products launched in the last three years, which continued on a very good level and exceeded 37% in the first half of this year, “Björnman said. “We have been focusing on production efficiency and seen gradual improvements. We are expecting this progress to continue going forward. At the end of May we initiated a restructuring programme to reposition Suominen towards profitable growth. We expect the program to generate annual savings of €1.5 million.

“Generally, Suominen’s target market is rather stable with some uncertainty related to the global economic situation. In the short term we do not see any major changes.”

Suominen is also investing in a €10 million upgrade to one of its production lines in Bethune, South Carolina, USA, to strengthen its position in the Americas market.

www.suominen.fi