Global technical textiles market will grow exponentially
The global technical textiles market will grow exponentially. Technical textiles, which have become an integral part of every phase of daily life, from construction to agriculture, from automotive to aircraft industry, continue to grow rapidly into the market. Technical textile products are obtained with different production methods for the demands of strong strength, fire or water resistance, lightness, insulation, versatility and superior performance. Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, the increasing demand for protective technical textiles raised the growth expectations even higher. So what is the state of the industry in the global market? Where do you see growth? What stands out in exports?
According to the report prepared by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global technical textiles market is expected to reach $ 250.6 billion with an annual growth of 4.5% between 2020-2027. Although the demand for technical textile products that protect human health has recently increased due to the epidemic, there are other trends in the global trend. For example, with the increasing drought, farmers demand technical textiles that will increase agricultural productivity. Another prominent application area is technical textiles for transportation vehicles. The demand for high performance and energy efficient fabrics for different applications is also increasing.
According to the report, thermoforming technology has started to be used more in the production of technical fabrics. This segment is estimated to reach US $ 33.3 billion from 2020 to 2027, up 5.4% annually. The size of technical textiles used in agricultural production reached 4.5 billion dollars in 2019. The technical textiles market in fashion, clothing and home textiles is expected to increase by 54.3 between 2020 and 2027. In these and similar reports, we can clearly see that 3D knitting, net weaving and thermoform technologies will take a greater share in technical textiles as a new generation production method.
The technical textiles market in the Asia Pacific region recorded a volume of US $ 81.2 billion in 2019. Considering the residential, commercial and industrial sector expansion in this region, the growth is expected to continue exponentially. The size of the technical textiles market in China, the leading manufacturer of the global market, was calculated as 29.8 billion dollars in 2019. With the advantages of low cost and labor, growth is expected to be around 66.3 per year for the next 7 years. According to another report, Germany is the largest technical textiles market in the European region with a 50% share.
Technical textiles exports increased by 28.4% in 10 years
In the Global Technical Textile Foreign Trade 2019 Assessment, which was created by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association ( ITHIB ) based on the data of 2019, the size of the trade in this segment is revealed. Accordingly, global technical textile exports decreased by 3.1% in 2019 and reached a value of 107.1 billion dollars. On the other hand, it is noted that the sector has achieved an export increase of 28.4% in the last 10 years. China is the biggest seller in technical textiles exports. China took a 25.5% share in global technical textiles exports, achieving an export value of $ 27.3 billion. China is followed by Germany with 8.4%, the USA with 8% and Italy with 3.9%. While Vietnam had the highest increase in technical textile exports with 20.9% last year, Mexico experienced the hardest decrease with 11.9%.
Turkey, exports of technical textiles in 2019 was ranked as the 19th biggest supplier of technical textiles with 1.6% share. Turkey’s exports in 2019 decreased by 1.7% compared to the previous year fell to $ 1.7 billion. Turkey is 50.4% of the total technical textile exports to EU countries was carried out. Here, Germany ranks first with a 8.1% share and $ 140 million in imports.
Nonwoven products have a 15% share in exports
Compared to 2015, there was an increase in almost all of the sub-product groups in the global technical textiles exports of 2019. However, when compared to 2018, a fluctuating picture with increases and decreases appears. Nonwoven exports, which have a share of 15%, constituted the most important sub segment. Nonwoven exports decreased by 51.6 to 16.4 billion dollars compared to the previous year.
In second place is the export of 12.4% plastic impregnated, plastered, coated or plastic laminated fabrics. In 2019, the exports of this product group decreased by 4.6% compared to the previous year, reaching the level of 13.2 billion.
The export share of ready-to-wear materials from technical textiles was found to be 11.6%. In 2019, the exports of this product group increased by 9.5% to 12.4 billion dollars. Glass fiber and its products had a share of 11.5%, while the share of airbags was 10.9%.
The US is the biggest buyer of technical textiles
Global technical textiles imports have steadily increased by 34.8% in the last 10 years. Global technical textiles imports, which stood at $ 75 billion in 2010, reached $ 102 billion in 2019. However, compared to 2018, it is seen that there was a 2% decrease.
The USA constituted the largest market in imports with 13.9%. It was followed by Germany with 7.4%, China with 5% and Japan with 4.5%. The turkey was ranked # 22 and 1.2% respectively. Technical textiles in Turkey’s imports in 2019 compared to the previous year was 3.9 percent to $ 1.3 billion. China comes first with 22% share in Turkey’s imports.
In the last 10 years, the EU’s technical textiles imports increased by 49.3% to 10 billion Euros. EU as the most important suppliers in China, India, Turkey and Egypt stand out.
