Suominen bets on promising wet wipes market in Latin America

The downturn in the Latin American economy has hampered the growth of the local nonwoven fabrics market; nevertheless, the future is promising. As a global leader in the area of nonwoven fabrics for wet wipes, Suominen, a company that began in Finland, has been in the Latin American market for years. Since 2014, the brand has been a member of Texbrasil – the Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program, developed by Abit in partnership with Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) – with a production unit in Paulinia, Brazil, which provides the manufacturer with vital local support to grow the business in the region.

“Latin America is really an interesting consumer market. It has a much higher percentage of urban population compared to the global average of 80%, generating good perspectives for growth driven by conveniences,” says Ernesto Levy, Senior Vice President of the Conveniences area at Suominen. Latin America has a population of over 600 million. There is an emerging demand for nonwoven fabrics on the continent and infant wet wipes currently account for over 90% of the wet wipes market.

In terms of market development, this places Latin America in the same position that North America and Europe were in 20 years ago, when infant care was the main use for wet wipes. In the largest countries in Latin America, such as in Mexico, use of infant wet wipes is already a reality and the country is closer and closer to using domestic wet wipes, just as is occurring in Brazil. Colombia, in turn, is set to increase use of infant wet wipes to a large scale.

Increasing share in nonwoven fabrics with greater added value is the most important part of Suominen’s strategy. Insofar as the Latin American wet wipes market develops, other applications will gain market share and, over time, new types of wet wipes will emerge, such as biodegradable wipes. “We know that Latin America is not Europe or North America and that the needs of Latin American consumers are not the same as in other regions. When it comes to nonwoven fabrics, we have materials made to suit local needs, satisfying the expectations of consumers, from distribution to functionality,” says Levy in closing.

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