Advansa Targets FR Business
August 27, 2008
HAMM, Germany — Advansa, with three plants in Adana, Turkey and Hamm, Germany is working with about 20 European customers to expand its Securelle® FR upholstery and bedding fiber business in Western Europe up against a tough leading competitor called Trevira®CS.
Advansa, a specialty apparel and home furnishings fiber producer, became a reality about two years ago after purchasing the fiber technology from DuPont which sold the business to its joint venture partner, Sabanci Group, the parent to Advansa.
With close to 300 thousand metric tons of fiber extrusion, Advansa's website said it is the largest manufacturer of polyester fiber products in its operating region of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In addition to specialty fibers and yarns, Advansa also produces standard polyester staple fiber and filament yarn both pre-oriented yarn (POY) and textured yarns depending on what the mill user requires. Securelle is the brand name for fabrics made 100 percent of Advansa´s FR fibers or filament yarns. These fibers are inherently flame retardant and used for the contract furnishing segment including the bedding industry, as well as in the transportation area.
"In Securelle, we have made a case for a softer hand with a more cotton-like touch than any other FR polyester," said Luciano Colasanto, market manager, Europe. "We have also figured out a way to offer the Teflon® stain release finish on the Securelle polyester especially for drapes and upholstery fabrics, but there are also promising developments by weavers who plan to enter the market for medical garments with Securelle. ''
"Generally, polyester prices are not up enough to reflect the true cost of the ingredients. We need a bigger increase to make money in this business but the customer is not prepared to pay any more which would be the ''right'' price for standard polyester products made in Europe," Colasanto said. "On top of this, Chinese and other Asian polyester producers undercut the European market with prices that wouldn't even cover our real cost, and in some cases are of substandard quality. The quality control in those countries is partly lacking even with the correct technical knowledge, but they will eventually figure it out. To be competitive against such imports, in addition to our own production, we have started to cooperate with suppliers of commodity products in Asia. In order to secure the expected Advansa quality standards, we send our technicians to develop these products in Asia, Turkey and Germany," Colasanto explained. "We have reached the point where it's just too expensive to make even FR polyester so we have to find other less expensive places to produce our product."
Colasanto himself is an interesting story. He was born in Italy but moved near Krefeld in 1969. His background includes 21 years at textile machinery manufacturers, including 14 years at Barmag texturizing and spinning machinery which was good experience since Advansa makes its products on the same machines.
Advansa, a specialty apparel and home furnishings fiber producer, became a reality about two years ago after purchasing the fiber technology from DuPont which sold the business to its joint venture partner, Sabanci Group, the parent to Advansa.
With close to 300 thousand metric tons of fiber extrusion, Advansa's website said it is the largest manufacturer of polyester fiber products in its operating region of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In addition to specialty fibers and yarns, Advansa also produces standard polyester staple fiber and filament yarn both pre-oriented yarn (POY) and textured yarns depending on what the mill user requires. Securelle is the brand name for fabrics made 100 percent of Advansa´s FR fibers or filament yarns. These fibers are inherently flame retardant and used for the contract furnishing segment including the bedding industry, as well as in the transportation area.
"In Securelle, we have made a case for a softer hand with a more cotton-like touch than any other FR polyester," said Luciano Colasanto, market manager, Europe. "We have also figured out a way to offer the Teflon® stain release finish on the Securelle polyester especially for drapes and upholstery fabrics, but there are also promising developments by weavers who plan to enter the market for medical garments with Securelle. ''
"Generally, polyester prices are not up enough to reflect the true cost of the ingredients. We need a bigger increase to make money in this business but the customer is not prepared to pay any more which would be the ''right'' price for standard polyester products made in Europe," Colasanto said. "On top of this, Chinese and other Asian polyester producers undercut the European market with prices that wouldn't even cover our real cost, and in some cases are of substandard quality. The quality control in those countries is partly lacking even with the correct technical knowledge, but they will eventually figure it out. To be competitive against such imports, in addition to our own production, we have started to cooperate with suppliers of commodity products in Asia. In order to secure the expected Advansa quality standards, we send our technicians to develop these products in Asia, Turkey and Germany," Colasanto explained. "We have reached the point where it's just too expensive to make even FR polyester so we have to find other less expensive places to produce our product."
Colasanto himself is an interesting story. He was born in Italy but moved near Krefeld in 1969. His background includes 21 years at textile machinery manufacturers, including 14 years at Barmag texturizing and spinning machinery which was good experience since Advansa makes its products on the same machines.
