Rapid Growth Forecast for the US Smart and Interactive Textiles Market

DUBLIN, Ireland--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c86367) has announced the
addition of Global Technical Textiles Business Update: 4th Quarter
2007 to their offering.

The fourth quarter of 2007 was a busy period for the global
technical textile sector. Acquisitions included the takeover of French
rival Abrium by Netherlands-based Intersafe Holding, a supplier of
personal protection equipment (PPE). In Germany, warp knitting, warp
preparation and weaving machinery specialist Karl Mayer has taken over
Sucker-Muller, which builds machinery for preparing warps used in
weaving. In the Netherlands, Oranjewoud and TenCate Thiolon will take
over Edel Grass, a supplier of synthetic turf for hockey, tennis and
football. In the USA, Performance Fibers Holdings will acquire
Invista's North American tyre cord and industrial polyester filament
businesses.

Business news includes the announcement that Dyneema HB26--a
unidirectional (UD) bullet-resistant composite--will be used by
Composix in the USA to make hard ballistic armour panels for about
1,000 US Army combat vehicles. In China, Enka nylon airbag yarns are
now being made by a joint venture between Polyamide High Performance
and China ShenMa. In Europe, the European Synthetic Turf Organisation
(ESTO) has been launched by 15 leading synthetic turf producers: Bonar
Yarns & Fabrics, Desso Sports Systems, Domo Sports & Leisure Grass,
Edel Grass, FieldTurf Tarkett, Greenfields, Lano Sports, Limonta
Sport, Mondo Tufting, Poligras Iberica, Polytan Sportstattenbau,
Saltex, Ten Cate Thiolon, Tessiture Pietro Radici, and TigerTurf.
Meanwhile, Oerlikon Neumag will add a meltblown line and a second
spunbond beam at its Spunbond Solution Center in Germany.

Investments include a new facility at AGY (formerly Advanced
Glassfiber Yarns) in the USA for producing S-2 Glass fibre
reinforcements for the defence and aerospace markets. Ahlstrom in
Finland will build a new nonwovens plant in India, will double its
capacity for making speciality glass fibre reinforcements in the USA
and will increase its capacity for making industrial nonwovens in
Italy. South Korea-based Hyosung will invest US$100 mn in a new
elastane (spandex) facility in Vietnam. Lenzing will expand its
production of Tencel fibre in Austria, while Toho Tenax America--a
subsidiary of Teijin--will invest US$23 mn in carbon fibre
manufacturing. In the UK, SmartLife Technology has been granted GBP
500,000 (US$1 mn) to develop its HealthVest, which has sensors to
monitor vital health signs.

Recent market forecasts predict fast growth between 2007 and 2012
in biodegradable polymers globally and in smart and interactive
textiles in the USA.

New products announced include DuraWipe XTRA heavy-duty industrial
cleaning wipes from Chicopee, and a range of activewear apparel
fabrics containing Coolmax and Tencel from Advansa and Lenzing.

For more information visit
here

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

Copyright Business Wire 2008