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Views: 0 Author: Judy Chen Publish Time: 2026-11-13 Origin: Quanzhou Lonsun Corporation
Adult and feminine care carried volume in the July–September window. Infant care did not. Here is what that means for spunlace, breathable film, composite cores and ADL.
Four of the largest hygiene companies reported results for the July–September 2026 period. Growth was uneven, and the pattern matters more than the headline numbers: adult incontinence and feminine care are doing the volume work, infant care is absorbing regional shocks, and tissue is still a price story. For anyone specifying materials, the useful question is which layers of the product are now being asked to deliver more.
| Company | Period | Reported net sales growth | Organic sales growth | Key material signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essity | Q3 2026 | +4.1% | −0.3% | Personal care volume-led; tissue price-led |
| Unicharm | 9M 2026 | +5.1% | n/a (reported basis) | Adult incontinence expansion in Asia; cost inflation |
| P&G | FQ1 2027 (Jul–Sep 2026) | +4% | +4% | Feminine care innovation premium; infant care China +40% |
| Kimberly-Clark | Q3 2026 | −0.4% | −1.3% | Infant care −5%; adult care +4%; China disruption |
Note: Unicharm reports on a January–December fiscal year and does not disclose an organic sales figure in the same format as the other three. Its reported net sales growth of 5.1% is shown for reference.
Essity’s Personal Care organic sales grew 3.2%, and the company attributed it to volume rather than price. Incontinence products in retail and feminine care grew 5.1% and 5.6%, with strong volume growth and further share gains.[1] Unicharm is expanding its adult incontinence range in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, and pushing pants-type diapers in several Asian markets.[2] Kimberly-Clark’s adult care segment grew 4% in the quarter.[3]
What these numbers have in common is that the growth is volume-led, and it sits in products where skin contact and fit are the reason people buy. Pants-type diapers and premium incontinence products put more demand on the topsheet and waistband nonwoven, not only for softness but for consistency under stretch and recovery. For converters working in this tier, spunlace performance in the waistband and acquisition zone turns into a specification decision rather than a cost negotiation.
P&G’s feminine care net sales grew low single digits, supported by favorable geographic mix and an innovation premium, mainly in North America.[4] Unicharm’s Sofy COOL series performed well in Japan, positioned around breathability and temperature comfort.[2] Essity described its Personal Care product mix as favorable.[1]
The P&G result is worth reading closely. Growth came from innovation premium rather than volume or price. Sofy COOL follows the same logic, with breathability as a reason to pay more. The backsheet film stops being a pure barrier layer and becomes a comfort claim. In this tier, breathable PE film moves from commodity specification to a differentiation lever, and the brands growing on innovation premium are the ones specifying film on breathability and softness rather than micron thickness alone.
Three of the four companies named input cost inflation as a margin drag. Unicharm cited rapid cost inflation as a factor in its profit recovery timeline.[2] P&G’s Baby, Feminine & Family Care segment saw pre-tax profit fall 4%, mainly on higher commodity costs and promotional display investment.[4] Kimberly-Clark’s adjusted gross margin was 35.5%, down 130 basis points, with pricing net of cost inflation still unfavorable.[3]
The infant care numbers also diverge sharply by market, and that divergence is itself a planning input. P&G reported infant care organic growth of more than 40% in Greater China, while Kimberly-Clark’s infant care sales fell 5% in the quarter, with China social media disruption weighing heavily on the segment.[4][3] The difference is less about category demand than about brand exposure and channel structure in the same market. For material suppliers, that argues for a customer base spread across brands and tiers rather than concentrated in one account’s regional fortunes. Kimberly-Clark’s own North America infant care volume still grew 2.0% in the quarter, which suggests the disruption is demand shifting, not category contraction.[3]
For the core, this produces two different demand signals at once. In mass-tier infant diapers, the pressure is to hold absorption performance while managing SAP loading and fluff content. A fluff-pulp composite core is a practical answer here, because it keeps SAP efficiency without giving up the structural contribution fluff makes to acquisition and distribution. In adult and feminine care, the core is being asked for thinner profiles without losing capacity, and for faster acquisition under repeated insults. The composite architecture sits at that intersection, which is why a well-designed fluff-containing composite can serve both ends: SAP efficiency on one side, acquisition structure on the other.
Our composite core lines are specified against both ends of that spectrum, cost-optimized for mass infant tiers and thin-profile, high-efficiency for adult and feminine care programs where the core is a performance claim rather than a hidden component.
Unicharm’s commentary on China is revealing. The company noted that many consumers in the light incontinence segment still substitute sanitary pads and bed sheets for purpose-built products, and that awareness of high-quality professional products remains low.[2] In India, Unicharm leans on long-duration use and antibacterial functionality.[2] Essity reported good growth in wound care within Medical Solutions.[1]
The China observation points to a market education problem, but the barrier is not awareness alone. It is performance credibility. In light incontinence, flow volumes are small and the real requirement is fast acquisition with low rewet. Core capacity is rarely the bottleneck at this tier. The acquisition and distribution layer is. That is what makes a purpose-built product feel different from a thick sanitary pad, and the long-duration claim in India rests on the same layer. ADL is the least visible component in the stack and the one most directly responsible for whether a trade-up actually feels like an upgrade. This is where acquisition rate and rewet under load become the technical argument for a brand’s premium tier.
The four results describe a material stack under uneven pressure. Infant care is dealing with regional demand disruption and price competition. Adult and feminine care are dealing with higher performance expectations from a better-informed user base. Cost inflation is squeezing every layer that cannot justify a premium.
SAP and hot-melt adhesive, usually sourced through trading partners, remain the cost-sensitive parts of the core. The differentiation levers sit elsewhere: the nonwoven, the film, the composite core architecture and the ADL. That is where specification decisions in 2027 will be made.
If you are mapping 2027 material planning against these demand signals, we can share specification sheets for our spunlace, breathable film, fluff-pulp composite core and ADL lines, and discuss which tiers fit your target programs.
