International Top Companies Report

In 2024—and so far in 2025—global economic uncertainties continued to challenge most of the world’s major nonwovens producers. Inflationary pressures, supply chain challenges and, probably most noteworthy, trade and tariff uncertainty, have repeatedly been attributed to sales declines and slower investment strategies by many of the companies profiled in this report—regardless of where they are based. This has made customers extremely hesitant in making purchasing decisions.

Despite this uncertainty, many companies have begun to show some signs of optimism—often in the form of investment or acquisitions. Earlier this year Kimberly-Clark announced the largest-ever investment to its North American business; TWE Group is adding capacity for hygiene applications in India; Suominen has upgraded existing lines and even added a new line for sustainable materials and Sandler has invested in a German maker of wetlaid nonwovens.

These manufacturers recognize that without investment, growth—and possibly even their very survival—would not be possible. They need to not only respond to the changing needs of their customers but also be prepared to serve developing market areas and application segments.

As it has been in the past few years, sustainability continued to be a buzzword within nonwovens. Producers continue to look at ways to lessen their product weights, integrate more sustainable raw materials and reduce the impact of their operations on the environment. While these efforts are driven to some degree by legislative actions like the SUP Directive in the European Union, they are also the result of consumer and retailer demand for greener product options.

By The Numbers

This year’s top companies report includes 40 nonwovens producers located around the world. While many of the leading companies are based in established markets like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe, companies from less developed areas are increasing their role, and this year, companies from developing countries like Brazil, Turkey, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Czech Republic have continued to grow their size and their scope in the nonwovens industry. Many of these companies are focusing on growth, meaning their rankings will only grow in future years.

One of the big factors that will influence the rankings in the coming years will certainly be merger and acquisition activity within the industry. This year, we have a brand new company, Magnera, that happens to also be the world’s largest producer of nonwovens. It was formed last year through the merger of Berry Global and Glatfelter, two of the world’s largest producers of nonwovens. Additionally, the landscape of the Japanese nonwovens industry continues to be redefined through M&A activity like the partnership of Mitsui Chemicals and Asahi Kasei a few years ago and Toyobo’s and Unitika’s decision to lessen their roles in the nonwovens industry.

Each company in this survey is ranked on the basis of the prior year (2024) sales, which are translated from local currency to U.S. dollars using the average conversion rate for 2024. In several cases, sales are estimated, and in all instances, these sales figures do not reflect economic factors like currency fluctuations or raw material prices, which can skew the ranking. While ranking by annual sales figures is necessary to the nature of this report, it is really the activities of these companies—as reported in their profiles—that should be considered.