Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan
nikke-textile.jp/en/
2024 Nonwovens Sales: $108 million

Key Personnel
Kuniaki Hihara, general manager of Industrial Machinery & Materials Division; Hiroyuki Kondo, president of F&A Nonwovens; Toyoteru Maehara, president of Kureha

Plants
Himeji, Kakogawa, Ishioka, Ichinoseki, Ritto, Kawase, Okayama

Processes
Needlepunched, chemicalbonded, thermalbonded, spunbonded

Major markets
Automotive interiors, automotive filters, bag filters, air filters, plaster bases, needlepunch carpets, hot melt bonding sheets

As some Japanese nonwovens producers have responded to a decline in demand for nonwoven fabrics by exiting markets or consolidating markets, The Japan Wool Textile (NIKKE) has significantly expanded its nonwoven fabrics business through acquisition during the last five years. NIKKE’s core business was traditionally the production and sale of wool-based textiles for uniforms, but since 2020, the company has focused its efforts on developing nonwoven materials, targeting industrial materials through a number of corporate acquisitions.

NIKKE’s has been involved in the nonwovens industry since August 2002 with the acquisition of Ambic, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary. In 2020, NIKKE expanded the scope of its nonwovens business through the acquisition of Fuji Corporation. In September 2021, and in December 2023, NIKKE combined Ambic and Fujicor to create a new company, F&A Nonwovens (FANS). Both companies were integrated manufacturers of nonwoven fabrics and felts supplying products to a wide range of fields including environmental, automotive and office automation so integrating the two businesses was expected to achieve efficiency and concentrate the management resources of both companies amidst the recent drastic changes in the business environment. This will improve the companies’ competitiveness both domestically and internationally.

Currently, the company produces about 7000 tons of nonwovens per year from recycled fiber but plans are underway to add 3600 tons per year by March 2025. This will primarily target acoustic applications for automotives.

In 2024, NIKKE continued to expand through the acquisition of two Toyobo subsidiaries—Kankyo in April 2024 and Kureha in August 2024—as Toyobo sought to significantly reduce the scale of its nonwoven fabric business. Now NIKKE’s business structure is centered on three companies, FANS, Kureha, and Kankyo Techno.

NIKKE’s nonwoven fabric business is included in the Industrial Machinery & Materials Division. Sales in this segment are expected to increase from ¥20.4 billion ($137 million) in fiscal 2021 to ¥39 billion ($263 million) in fiscal 2025. Of this amount, sales from the nonwoven fabric business are estimated to reach ¥16 billion ($108 million) in fiscal 2024 and ¥25 billion ($168 million) in fiscal 2025 due to the addition of Kureha and Kankyo Techno’s full-year sales.

Sales for each subsidiary in fiscal 2025 are expected to be ¥12 billion ($81 million) for FANS, ¥8 billion (54 million) for Kureha, and ¥5 billion ($33 million) for Kankyo Techno. FANS has production bases in China and Indonesia, while Kureha has production bases in the U.S., Taiwan and Thailand.