FitesaFiberweb announces two major new investments to serve the Hygiene and the Healthcare markets in the Americas. Two high-technology spunmelt lines are to be installed in the next three years, one at a new site in Lima, Peru and one planned for the U.S.

In Peru, construction associated with the projects is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2011 and material is expected to be commercially available in early-2012.

Additionally, the company plans to expand its North American capacity by adding another spunmelt line, expected to be commercially available in early-2013. These latest investments are part of FitesaFiberweb's long-term vision to provide superior products and solutions to support our customers in important and fast-growing regions of the Americas, said FitesaFiberweb CEO Silverio Baranzano.

Following the recent completion of the largest and most modern spunmelt line in the US at FitesaFiberweb's Simpsonville, SC site, these investments build on our current strong performance to further optimize our market-leading asset base and to enable an enhanced logistics and customer-service proposition in the region, adds Baranzano.

As part of the company's expansion plans, the two spunmelt lines will employ industry leading technologies in order to deliver superior hygiene and medical spunmelt nonwovens. The lines will add close to 35,000 tons of capacity to the company's current spunmelt production ?? to reach 140,000 tons per year.

FitesaFiberweb is one of the world's leading producers of spunmelt nonwovens. Today, the company supplies the Hygiene, Healthcare and Industrial markets from its four manufacturing locations in Brazil, Mexico and USA. The company is a joint venture formed in August 2009 by Fiberweb and Petropar.

Fiberweb plc is a leading international manufacturer of specialty nonwoven materials, with a total of sixteen plants operating in eight countries across Europe, North America and Asia. The Group comprises businesses supplying tailored solutions to Industrial and Hygiene nonwovens markets. The Industrial businesses focus on growing niche markets in filtration, speciality construction and agriculture, with technologically differentiated products and strong brands.

Petropar is a Brazilian holding listed in Brazil??s stock exchange market. It operates in the Americas, focusing in industrial business. Its enterprises encompass the markets of metal packaging, polypropylene nonwovens, plastic caps as well as pine and eucalyptus forestation.