Fitesa, a Brazilian nonwovens producer and a subsidiary of Petropar S.A., Paraguay's state oil company, will produce PP (polypropylene) spunbond nonwovens in the U.S. The investment is $120 million. The company will produce lightweight and high quality PP spunbond nonwovens using fine denier materials, after establishing two production lines, which have already been ordered, at a new production base (as yet unannounced) in the U.S. It is scheduled to start operation from late 2009.

This expansion is part of the company's long term growth strategy and reassures Fitesa's customers within the NAFTA region of its comment. The company once carried out production in the U.S. from 1991 to 1995.

Fitesa already operates a PP spunbond brand with an annual production capacity of 40,000 tons in Brazil.