Tokushima, Japan
www.awapaper.co.jp
2024 Nonwovens Sales : $116 million

Key Personnel
Yasuhiro Miki, President

Plants
Tokushima, Komatsushima, Anan, Shin-Komatsushima

Processes
Wet laid

Major Markets
Automotive filter, clutch plate friction paper, battery separator, membrane support fabric

Awa Paper & Technological Company, a manufacturer of wetlaid nonwoven fabrics, is a long-established company founded in 1916. Awa Paper has four factories in Japan and one in Thailand, producing nonwoven fabrics with various functions using a wide range of fibers and particles.

Sales increased from ¥15 billion ($107 million) in fiscal 2021 to ¥17.3 billion yen ($16 million) in fiscal 2022, then decreased to ¥16.1 billion ($15.5 million) yen in fiscal 2023 and increased to ¥17.1 billion yen ($116 million) yen in fiscal 2024.

Sales in the 2024 fiscal year by application area are as follows: automotive applications account for ¥8.7 billion/$58 billion (51% share), water treatment applications account for ¥7.1 billion/$44 million (42% share), and other applications account for ¥1.3 billion/$10 million (7% share). The sales ratio by region is 29% for Japan, 28% for North America, 17% for China, and 26% for Asia. Sales are expected to increase to ¥19.4 billion ($131 million) in fiscal 2025. By application, automotive use will decrease while water treatment use will increase.

Future growth at Awa Paper is expected to be driven by water treatment applications. Awa Paper manufactures filter media for automotive engines, separators for lead-acid batteries, friction materials for clutch plates, and other products. The company manufactures filter media for engine air filters, oil filters and fuel filters. It is the top manufacturer with a market share of over 55% in the domestic market for these filter media; however, due to the increase in production of electric vehicles, production of vehicles with engines is struggling to grow. As a result, demand for engine filters has stagnated, and little growth can be expected in the future.

Awa Paper manufactures nonwoven fabrics used as support materials for reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in water treatment, and holds the top share in the global market in this field. RO membranes are used in seawater desalination, ultra-pure water production, wastewater treatment and other applications. The support material provides strength to the RO membrane, and smooth PET wet nonwoven fabric is used for this purpose.

Awa Paper produces backing material with a basis weight ranging from 15 to 100 gsm and a permeability of 0.5 to 150 cc/cm2/sec, making it a backing material with excellent uniformity and smoothness. Demand for RO membranes is growing significantly due to increased demand for ultrapure water resulting from global expansion in semiconductor production, as well as an increase in seawater desalination plants due to water shortages in the Middle East and otherworld regions.

With RO membranes growing at an annual rate of 8%, Awa Paper invested ¥9 billion ($60 million) to build a new support material factory, which was completed in April 2025. This will double the production capacity of support materials, significantly reduce production costs and improve price competitiveness. Awa Paper plans to develop new users in the global market and further solidify its top share in the backing material market.