Colbond Press Release Domotex 2008

2008-01-11

From: Colbond bv, P.O. Box 9600, 6800 TC Arnhem, the Netherlands
Colbond Inc., P.O. Box 1057, Enka, NC 28728, United States of America
www.colbond.com, info@colbond.com

Contact: Harry Verbakel, harry.verbakel@colbond.com, phone: +31 26 366 2274
Randy Cook, randy.cook@colbond.com, phone: +1 828 665 5065 (USA)

Colbond springs into 2008 with sporty new product

Arnhem, the Netherlands (January 2008)

With a dynamic and successful year in 2007, Colbond is starting the New Year as it means to go on – with the launch of an innovative artificial turf backing, to be unveiled at Domotex 2008.

Colturf® is the name of the newest addition to the Colbond product range of high-performance backings. The multi-layer construction is designed to fulfill the exacting demands of backing materials in the premium segment of artificial turf.

Each layer in Colturf® brings specific properties to the product. The backing can include wovens to provide superior stitch holding, various Colback® types for outstanding dimensional stability in all directions, needle-punched nonwovens that assure optimal tuft lock, or be enhanced with additional layers such as glass scrim reinforcement.

Harry Verbakel, Sales and Marketing Director, Colbond said: “Colbond anticipates a great response from the artificial turf market. Customers will benefit from the flexibility and performance offered by the new primary backing, which can be tailored to suit all grass yarn types and any artificial turf application.”
With the success of Colback SMR in 2007, Colbond is launching two new variants of lighter weight primary backings, Colback® UMR and TMR, in 2008.

Colbond’s participation at Domotex Hanover last year was all about an innovative environmentally-friendly backing for carpet tiles. All the polyester content in Colback® SMR is derived from bottle scrap, making the product the only one in the market that replaces virgin polyester with post-consumer recycled content. The launch of Colback® SMR in January 2007 was the beginning of a success story. “We’re noticing an increasing awareness of environmental issues in the carpet industry”, said Harry Verbakel. “Throughout 2007, the demand for this new backing was more than satisfactory. We have high expectations for this product in 2008.”

The Company aims to extend the product range further and offer a version using post-consumer recycled polyester for most Colback® types including high elongation primary backings for molded automotive carpet.

Colback® nonwoven is getting another face
During 2007, Colbond developed another specialty product tailored to suit the demands of the North American flooring industry. Colback® F2F stands for “Face-to-Face”, the name putting its unique features into words: Launched at the Floortek Expo held in October in Dalton, Georgia, Colback® F2F has a gray and a black side. These characteristics make the product very flexible to use – both light and dark colored carpet can be tufted on this innovative backing. The new backing helps carpet manufacturers realize further efficiency improvements and resulting cost savings.

Business overview - growth expected for flooring business
2007 was an extremely busy year for Colbond. Product innovations moving from pilot to real production scale and the further intensification of co-operation with sister companies of the Low & Bonar Technical Textiles Division are just some of the company’s achievements during the year.

Looking ahead, Colbond sees potential for a successful year 2008 and beyond. The Company will focus on the further exploitation of synergies within the Technical Textiles Division of the Low & Bonar group. Distribution channels will be optimized further during 2008, with Asia being a prominent example. As from the beginning of this year, Chinese sister company Bonar Yihua will represent Colbond with Colback® backing for carpet tiles and broadloom carpet. The Companies now offer a full range of both woven and nonwoven backings.

Building on the success of last year, Colbond and Bonar Yihua will share a stand at Domotex Chinafloor (Shanghai) in March, where Colturf® will be introduced to local manufacturers.

Worldwide, the company expects increasing sales in the tile market. “Some regions will of course be stronger than others, but on an average we foresee further growth in 2008 in this particular segment” says Harry Verbakel.

The challenging Automotive market is turning the features of Colback® into a strategic advantage. With ever-increasing cost pressures throughout the value chain, production efficiency will be essential. To further minimize the amount of reject parts, OEM’s will raise specifications for components to a higher level and demand high quality backings. As a result of this evolution, Colback® has been approved for the platform of another major German brand in the premium car segment recently and the Company is expecting to further strengthen its position during 2008.

Raw material, energy and transportation cost remain a concern
Throughout last year, crude oil price levels continued to rise, resulting in rising raw material, transportation and energy costs. As the Company uses significant amounts of raw material and other resources generated from oil, this trend had some impact on Colbond’s business in 2007. The Company does not expect that the market situation will improve in the course of 2008 with regard to raw materials, energy and transportation costs.
Colbond considers increasing nonwoven production capacity
Overall, Colbond is optimistic about the development of its Colback® business in the mid and longer term. The Company is investigating the possibility of increasing its nonwoven production capacity in 2009. “After all, this would be in line with and support the vision of the Technical Textiles Division of the Low & Bonar group: To become the leader in the global advanced materials business,” said Harry Verbakel.

Colbond at Domotex: Hall 5, stand C18

Colbond is a leading producer and supplier of high-quality synthetic nonwovens for flooring, automotive and construction applications and of three-dimensional polymeric mats and composites for civil engineering, building and industrial applications.

The company’s production facilities are based in Emmen and Arnhem (NL), Obernburg (D), and Asheville (NC, USA). Regional sales offices are located all over the world. For product and application development, the company maintains a Development and Application Centre at the Arnhem head office and a Development Laboratory in Asheville.

Colbond is part of the Technical Textiles Division of Low & Bonar. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Low & Bonar employs more than 2,000 people worldwide.

Colturf and Colback are registered trademarks of Colbond bv.