Compared with absorbent powder traditionally used in baby diapers and feminine sanitary pads, Super Absorbent Fiber (SAF) offers more alternative solutions to customers seeking more versatile absorbents. Developed by Technical Absorbents Ltd (TAL), the material has a variety of applications in medical, packaging, functional apparel, and technical textile industries. Dave Hill, Business Development Manager of the company, spoke to ATA Journal and shared his views on the technical textile market of China.

ATA: ATA Journal and AdsaleATA.com
Hill: Dave Hill, Business Development Manager of Technical Absorbents Ltd

ATA: Technical Absorbents has been in business for more than 15 years. Which regions are viewed as your company's major markets? How are the sales going for the year?

Hill: For Technical Absorbents, our main markets are Europe and North America. China has now become a dominant force in textile manufacturing and demands here are increasing quite fast. That's why we are now looking for expansion opportunities in the country. Compared with 2009, sales this year are much better. I think we will see a growth rate of 5% to 10% for the whole year.

ATA: Does your company have any plan to produce locally in China?

Hill: At the moment our manufacturing site is based in the UK but we do have plans to make production in China, hopefully within two to three years. But we will not just locate our factories here but also bring the technology to the country.

ATA: Absorbent fibers have applications in many areas such as medical, packaging and technical textiles. Which areas you see are growing fastest in recent years?

Hill: Super absorbent fibers have a wide range of applications covering many sectors. Some of them are very specialized and some are with high volumes. Globally we are seeing enormous growth potential in food packaging, feminine hygiene, medical and agriculture sectors. In the past, powder was the main absorbent media for products like baby diapers and feminine hygiene pads. Then we developed super absorbent fibers and the advantage is quite obvious. Fibers can be processed in many ways, thus offering more possibilities. Secondly, products made with these fibers carry less weigh and can be quite thin. I think this is a feature highly appreciated in hygiene market.

ATA: Can you tell us your outlook for China's technical textile market? Which sectors you think SAF can gain shares when competing with other materials?

Hill: Traditionally, Chinese manufacturers were looking to western countries for ideas but now they pay more attention to innovation. Therefore the technical textile industry as a whole benefits a lot from this.

For us, our sales volume in China is small but China offers a lot of potential for growth. The hygiene market is probably where we want to start with but for a longer term we want to see more applications of SAF in telecoms cables, water purification as well as geotextiles. For instance, in western countries, we are already seeing increasing use of SAF yarns in cable to block water from entering. This is a new and efficient technology. However, China is still using the old technology which injects gels into the cable. This presents a good opportunity for us.