#Technical Textiles

2026-06-04

Trelleborg celebrates grand opening of advanced manufacturing facility in North Carolina

Grand opening in Forest City © 2026 Trelleborg Group

Trelleborg Engineered Coated Fabrics proudly celebrated the grand opening of its new, state-of-the-art extrusion coating manufacturing facility in Forest City, North Carolina, US on May 6, 2026. The event brought together community leaders, customers, partners and Trelleborg leadership to mark a significant milestone in the company’s continued investment in innovation, capacity and sustainable operations. The new facility represents a significant investment and reinforces Trelleborg’s long-term commitment to advancing high-performance engineered coated fabric solutions for critical applications across aerospace, healthcare & medical, safety & protection and industrial markets.

“This is a proud moment for Trelleborg and a clear sign of our commitment to our customers,” said Fredrik Nilsson, Chief Financial Officer of Trelleborg Group. “This facility strengthens our ability to deliver advanced coated materials that meet the highest standards of performance, precision and reliability. It is also supporting our long-term growth and sustainability ambitions.”

The Forest City facility features next-generation polymer extrusion coating technology designed to significantly enhance production efficiency, quality and scalability. The site includes both a pilot production line for Research & Development, and a full-scale, highly automated production line that will enable us to deliver to the highest quality materials with exceptional consistency.

We hope to set a new benchmark for sustainable manufacturing within the coated fabrics industry as the operation is completely solvent-free and powered by renewable electricity resulting in zero emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or carbon dioxide during production.

“Extrusion coating is our most advanced and most sustainable coating process to date,” said Steve Brockman, President of Trelleborg Engineered Coated Fabrics. “We designed this facility to help our customers meet their growth, innovation and sustainability goals while ensuring we remain a responsible and long-term partner to the communities where we operate.”

The project reflects strong collaboration with local and regional partners, including Rutherford County and Isothermal Community College, which supported workforce development and early-stage process training. These partnerships played a critical role in bringing the facility to life and preparing a skilled workforce to support future growth.

“The investment is not only about technology, it’s about people, partnerships and the future,” Brockman added. “Forest City positions us for long-term expansion, with the flexibility to scale our footprint as customer demand continues to grow.”

The new site enhances Trelleborg’s global manufacturing network and expands capacity to meet increasing demand for high-performance materials made in the United States while accelerating innovation across key markets.

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“ We have multiple companies and divisions operating in textiles, and we decided to integrate them into one platform. ”

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