Freudenberg Far Eastern Spunweb (hereinafter referred to as “FFS”), a joint venture from Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Stock code: 1402, “FENC”) and Freudenberg Performance Materials (“Freudenberg”), plans to invest NT$ 1.3 billion to build the 3rd nonwovens production line at the Tayuan Tao-Yuan site in Taiwan. Construction of this new production line is expected to be completed in 2020, which will enhance FFS’s competitiveness in Asia nonwovens market. Mr. Douglas Tong Hsu, Chairman of Far Eastern Group, Mr. Johnny Hsi, Vice Chairman of FENC, Dr. Frank Heislitz, designated CEO of Freudenberg, and Mr. Gow Ming Lin, President of FFS attended a ceremony for beginning the construction.
“Freudenberg is a leading global manufacturer of innovative technical textiles offering differentiated value propositions to a broad range of markets and applications, of which management philosophy and company development is similar to that of Far Eastern Group,” said by Mr. Douglas Tong Hsu. “FENC has cooperated with Freudenberg for more than 30 years. Our joint venture - FFS’s nonwovens not only can be used in a wide range of various applications but also lead the market. Although a few foreign enterprises hesitate about the long-term investment environment in Taiwan, we have encouraged our joint venture partner to expand its capacity in Taiwan to promote the economic growth and create new job opportunities locally. We believe our government will provide a more friendly investment environment to assist the foreign enterprises to invest in Taiwan,” indicated by Mr. Douglas Tong Hsu.
FFS was founded in 1987 as a joint venture among the Freudenberg, FENC and the Japan Vilene Corporation. FFS produces polyester spunlaid nonwovens for the automotive, interior design, footwear, filter, roof, geotextile, furniture and agriculture markets. FFS sells its products in Asia and has sales offices in Japan and China as well as distributors in other Asia-Pacific countries.
Currently, FFS has two production lines of polyester spunlaid nonwovens with the annual capacity around 20,000 tons. In response to the rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the strong demand for the quality multi-functional nonwovens products, FFS has planned to build an additional production line around 11,000 tons per year to meet the market demand and support its downstream clients. The 3rd production line will be installed the latest advanced equipment and automated production facilities with Industry 4.0., which will upgrade the functionality of innovative technical textiles, improve the production efficiency and quality, and save the energy consumption. The new plant will also set up a solar power system to utilize the renewable energy.
“The expansion of our capacity underscores our long-term commitment to Asia. We want to continue to support our customers in the automotive and carpet markets with innovative and sustainable solutions that will help them grow”, commented Dr. Frank Heislitz.
“Asia is a very important market for us as a global player. Through our technologically leading solutions, we want to continue to grow with our customers in this region and at the same time make a significant technological contribution to their success”, said by Mr. Gow Ming Lin.
For more than 169 year, Freudenberg is a leading global manufacturer of innovative technical textiles. Currently Freudenberg employed more than 40,000 people in almost 60 countries worldwide and generated sales of approximately €9 billion. Freudenberg offers high-performance materials to a broad range of markets and applications such as Apparel, Automotive, Building Materials, Hygiene, Medical, Shoe and Leather goods as well as Specialties. For more information, please visit www.freudenberg.com
