Saudi Tissue Joins Growth in Disposables Consumption

Implications: While the growth of Saudi Arabia's tissue industry (facial, bath, AfH) is impressive for a country with so little fresh water, it is joining a previous growth in the disposables industry. The implication being that a growing middle class is becoming accustomed to enjoying the luxury of disposable products.  This is symptomatic of the desire of a country's citizens to see tangible evidence of their improvement in lifestyle.  One of the faster growing disposables companies has plants in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and is having to expand to keep up with demand. Tissue usage and reliance on disposable products are just one more indicator of a country's upward movement in its standard of living.

Analysis:  The Saudi producer of disposables started out producing "nappies" (baby diapers) in just two sizes.  They expanded to cover the range from newborns to toddlers.  Then came adult briefs for the over-70 group who suffered from incontinence.   Feminine hygiene products followed as did incontinent pads for bedridden people.  Marketing never is a problem as long as their are grocery and drug store chains who want private branded products.   This minimizes the need for both a sales department and a traffic/logistics department.
Georgia Pacific, a leading producer of Fluff Pulp has said a new disposable products company starts up every week of the year somewhere in the middle east.  With this kind of growth it is not hard to understand why the six US producers of Fluff Pulp are all sold out through the rest of the year.