Editorial: Despite Difficulties, the Global Nonwovens Industry Continues to Expand

In its annual survey The Fiber Year 2005/06, the Swiss company Saurer Group reported that the nonwovens industry continued to grow throughout 2005. The expansion stemmed from a strong build-up of new capacity and continued penetration of new markets.

Billions of dollars have been invested in new capacity over the past few years and these lines have already gone on stream or are scheduled to start operating soon. Saurer Group is itself an important supplier of machinery for the nonwovens sector and therefore stands to benefit from such growth.

Not surprisingly, according to the survey, developing regions such as Latin America and Asia Pacific have been successful in attracting investment in production facilities. But growth is also evident in the nonwoven industries of developed regions such as North America and Western Europe.

Globally, production by the nonwovens segment reached 6.1 mn tons in 2005, which was 6.8% higher than in the previous year. Interestingly, this volume is about 1.3 mn tons higher than the figures normally quoted by nonwovens associations. The explanation lies in the fact that the Saurer Group data include an additional 400,000 tons of production in China and 900,000 mn tons for other non-spun applications—including padding, stuffing and fibrefill for upholstery, apparel and toys.

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• Statistics: Asian Fibre Consumption and Production, (1st quarter 2007)
• Global technical textiles business update, 1st quarter 2007, (1st quarter 2007)
• The world nonwovens industry: part 3 -- ten smaller producers, 1st quarter 2007, (1st quarter 2007)
• Global trends in fibre production, consumption and prices, March-April 2007, (March-April 2007)
• Innovations in fibres, technical textiles, apparel and machinery, 4th quarter 2006, (4th quarter 2006)
• The world nonwovens industry: part 3 -- 20 medium sized producers, 1st quarter 2007, (4th quarter 2006)
• The world nonwovens industry: part 1 -- the leading ten producers, 3rd quarter 2006, (3rd quarter 2006)
• Statistics: fibre consumption for technical textiles in Western Europe, 3rd quarter 2005, (3rd quarter 2005)
• Statistics: Technical Textiles in Japan, (2nd quarter 2005)
• Statistics: Fibre Production and Consumption in India, (1st quarter 2005)
• Editorial: 2004: Another Record Year for Man-Made Fibres, (3rd-4th quarters 2004)
• Nonwovens in China: Profiles of Eight Leading Manufacturers, (1st quarter 2004)

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