About Fibertex South Africa

In 2010, Fibertex established Fibertex South Africa (Pty) Ltd. in South Africa with a view to manufacturing and marketing needlepunch products. A wide range of Fibertex nonwoven geotextiles are available and can be designed for use in many different applications in civil engineering, building industry, agriculture and home & garden. Furthermore, the new nonwoven facility will also target applications in many industrial applications such as automotive, furniture, bedding, filtration and composites industry.

The South African company is jointly owned by Fibertex, the Danish Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) and the South African company Safyr, which is owned partly by local industry specialists and partly by Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) - South Africa’s equivalent to the Danish State investment fund Vækstfonden. Fibertex will invest approx. DKK 25 million in the company, acquiring a 26% ownership share. Safyr was already successfully marketing and selling imported Fibertex geotextiles within Southern Africa and with local production will target other southern hemisphere regions.

The manufacturing plant is located in near Durban and has a high-tech, state-of-the-art and competitive production system with a view to manufacturing and marketing needlepunch products – primarily geotextiles for road works, but also products for the growing South African automotive industry. From a long-term strategic perspective, the project furthermore serves as a bridgehead – not only to southern Africa, but eventually also to other markets in the Southern Hemisphere such as Australasia, India, the Middle East and South America. Production will commence in March 2010. The factory will have a just over 40 employees.