Andritz announced an order for a complete neXline spunlace range from Colombian wipes converting company Quimicolor during the recent INDEX exhibition in Genva, and has also just started up a new velour needleloom at Foss Floors, based in Rome, Georgia.

Quimicolor’s line, scheduled to start up during the fourth quarter of 2023 at the company’s plant in Medellín will be the first spunlace line in South America outside of Brazil.

It will also include the 130^th TT card sold by Andritz and process viscose and polyester fibres to produce over 10,000 tons of nonwoven roll-goods per year for conversion into wipes.

With this investment, Quimicolor is adding its own roll-goods production line to its existing converting plant for the production of wipes to better control the quality of its products, with the added benefit of avoiding the intercontinental shipments previously required.

With the support of Andritz, Quimicolor has obtained attractive financing for this investment through a buyer’s credit under the French export promotion scheme.

“This investment will allow us to take our business to the next level, says Antonio Mandìvil, Quimicolor CEO. “It will enable us to better serve the growing Latin American market and open new business opportunities. Andritz has supported us in every single step of this challenging project that will make us pioneers in spunlace production in our region.”

Recycled PET

The new SDV 5.3-metre-wide loom delivered to Foss is meanwhile now producing flooring from recycled PET plastic for a wide range of applications.

Every year Foss reuses over 18 million kg of plastic to make its floor coverings, which translates into two billion plastic bottles recycled into carpet.

“We bought our first velour loom from Andritz in 2019 and have been very satisfied with the operation and performance of the machine as well as the quality of products,” said the company’s general manager of operations Kevin Nasser. “This was, of course, an important consideration in the choice of supplier for our new investment. We relied on Andritz during a supply chain crisis to deliver a necessary machine on time to fulfil the growing demand for our velour product line.”

www.andritz.com