Reifenhäuser Reicofil has sold an RF5 SMMS 3200 spunmelt nonwovens line to PFNonwovens for its production facility in South Africa.

The line for hygiene and medical substrates is scheduled to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will be the first RF5 line operating in Africa.

PFNonwovens continues to grow its footprint in the US, Europe and Africa and wants to set a new benchmark of high-quality products for the southern African markets with this purchase.

“It is important for us to bring cutting edge nonwoven manufacturing capabilities to emerging markets,” said Tonny de Beer, CTO at PFNonwovens. “Parents in southern Africa rely even more on high performance nonwovens in their diapers to provide comfort and protection for their babies. At the same time, our customers rely on consistently high-quality nonwoven fabrics to enable day-to-day stability of their high-speed converting operations. And, of course, locally produced materials have become essential to eliminate long supply chain risks, in addition to delivering economic and environmental sustainability benefits. With the RF5 technology we will deliver a high level of performance at a lower basis weight compared to alternative platforms. The new line is therefore the perfect addition to our existing Reicofil bico line at our Cape Town manufacturing site, and we are convinced that it is a significant step in the right direction to satisfy demand in the African market.”

“Since 2018, Reicofil has been delivering RF5 lines to support the global hygiene industry across four continents,” added Reifenhäuser Reicofil sales director Markus Müller. “The hygiene industry values the consistent product quality provided by the RF5 and the key product performance properties it delivers at lower basis weights, helping to drive industry sustainability goals. With an energy requirement of 1-1.2 kilowatt hours per kilogram produced, Reicofil 5 manages the conversion from raw material to nonwoven more efficiently than any other technology on the market. We are very pleased that after many years of partnership with PFNonwovens, we are now able to establish this technology at its South Africa location and look forward to our further collaboration to serve the hygiene and medical market in the whole region.”

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