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| Issue date:01/06/2007 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Jun 2007 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
| by Michelle Phong |
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| Two major synthetic textiles producers in Taiwan have joined hands to market the brand, Libolon, for nylon and polyester products. With an additional plant opening in May to produce more nylon, the brand's leading position is set to reach new height |
Libolon is jointly marketed by two enterprises, namely Lealea Enterprise Co Ltd and Li Peng Enterprise Co Ltd, which are among the largest producers of synthetic textiles in Taiwan, and are listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Lealea is one of the largest false twisting manufacturers (mainly polyester) in Taiwan with facilities in Changhua and Chungli. It manufactures Libolon's polyester products in its automated chemical fiber plant and texturizing factory, and is able to produce 180,000 tons of polyester chips a year.
The chips are then used to produce filament yarn of 30-600 denier and textured yarn of 20-2,400 denier. These materials are later used to manufacture textiles, including fancy and functional textiles.
In the meantime, Li Peng has been expanding its nylon chip production, as well as spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing businesses. With the opening of its new plant in May, the total capacity of nylon chip production of Li Peng will rise to 800 tons per day. As a result, the annual production of Libolon nylon chip will reach 280,000 tons, about 7% of the global nylon chip production of four million tons.
Combining strength
This year, the two companies began to jointly market Libolon, which was created by Li Peng in 1999, so as to create synergy effect. Under the brand, a number of functional products were trademarked, including: bamboo charcoal fiber, anti-bacterial fiber, cool and dry nylon fiber, cool and dry polyester fiber, UV-resistant nylon and polyester fiber, far infrared fiber, flame-retardant eco-fiber, waterproof and breathable fiber, and so on.
Jonathan Lin |
President of Li Peng Enterprise, Jonathan Lin, told ATA Journal about the mission of building Libolon together: "Under Libolon, the two businesses of nylon and polyester share an integrated entity, supplying various products from chip to fabric." He said, "The brand is now equipped with a complete and vertically integrated manufacturing line from polymerization, spinning, fabric weaving, dyeing, down to post-finishing with related services."
Nylon business keeps expanding
With fully automatic production lines for bulk and batch production, Libolon is one of the largest suppliers of nylon chips in the world, said Mr Lin, adding that some well-known spinning machine makers specified the use of Libolon nylon with their machines, especially when spinning yarns at more than 5,500 meters per minute.
Nylon chip and filament |
Libolon's nylon products are mainly nylon 6 for textile applications. The nylon 6 chips can subsequently be processed to produce filament yarns of 20-420 denier and textured yarns of 40-200 denier. The yarns are then further processed to make fabrics for industrial applications, home textiles, functional garment and fashionable apparel.
Despite the intensified price competition, mainly from China, Libolon nylon has been able to not only maintain its global market share, but also expand beyond it, thanks to a comprehensive vertically-integrated supply chain. Mr Lin explained that the company produced nylon, from chip to fabric, of a quality level as high as that of Japan, as it was able to control the quality by managing the polymerization itself.
According to him, Libolon's nylon chips have been popular in China, where up to 30% of the nylon consumed was imported from Taiwan, and Libolon has about 50% share of such import. Meanwhile, the company also targets high-end brands in other countries, such as Hennes & Mauritz in Europe, Patagonia in the US and other brands in Japan.
SecoTec was an exclusive cross-section nylon fiber developed by Li Peng |
Last year, Li Peng established its own research and development center to develop high-quality polymer, and research into the technologies of spinning, texturization, weaving, dyeing and finishing, and testing. The center has a marketing team to collect the latest market and customer information. It is investing about NT$200 million a year in the center, which is currently developing about eight to 10 products. SecoTec, a functional nylon fiber, is one of the early developments by Li Peng. The special "cross-section" (see above) keeps the skin cool and comfortable as sweat and heat from the wearer is rapidly absorbed by the fiber and quickly dispersed away into the air.
In view of the strong market demand, Li Peng has been increasing its production capacity.
The four fully-automated facilities in Changhua (about 250 km away from Taipei) of Li Peng have a combined production capacity of 500 tons per day of nylon chip. However, the facilities have been churning out 580 tons per day for about a year.
"Hence, we will start operating a new facility in May to have an additional daily capacity of 300 tons. This new facility will be one of the largest single lines on earth," said Mr Lin. Other nylon makers are typically producing at a daily capacity of five to 120 tons, he added. The new facility will be fully automated, just like existing ones.
Eco-friendly production
Mr Lin believes that innovation and environmentally friendly production are crucial to the future development of Libolon, "We believe that business development coexists harmonically with two 'E's, which stand for 'environmental' and 'ecological' protection," he said.
The dyeing process is one of the most polluting stages in the textile manufacturing, and often incurs substantial cost of pollution treatment. In producing one ton of synthetic fabrics, about 100 tons of wastewater is discharged.
Ecoya vs regular fabric |
Mr Lin cited two registered Libolon products - Ecoya and RePET- as examples to demonstrate the company's efforts in developing eco-friendly fabrics.
As a solution dyed yarn, Ecoya is colored during the process of spinning with the addition of color chips, which replace most of the subsequent dyeing procedures. As a result, the production of Ecoya leads to less emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as well as lower consumption of water and chemicals. The COD test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water by calculating the amount of oxygen required (for a chemical oxidizing agent) to break down organic wastes in water.
A quantitative comparison of two possible PET manufacturing processes |
RePET is produced by recycling used polyester bottles, and therefore, there is no need to use petrochemical. Recycled bottles are re-polymerized to produce PET and, in turn, yarn and garment products.
Both Ecoya and RePET are applicable for producing outerwear, sportswear, home textiles, industrial textiles and uniforms.
The RePET re-polymerization process |
Lealea and Li Peng together achieved a sales turnover of NT$24 billion (US$723 million) last year. About 60% of their polyester and nylon products were exported to such markets as China, Japan, Europe and the US.
The companies target an annual sales turnover of NT$30 billion this year from the Libolon products. And with the expansion of the nylon chip production, more efforts will be made in developing functional and eco-friendly nylon fibers.
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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