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One word could be used to describe the evolution of world textile business from 1996 to 2006, “China.” China is the world’s largest producer of fibers, textiles, apparel, home textiles, and textiles used in industrial and other products.
China is the largest producer of man-made fibers and cotton, the second leading wool producer and the source of 80% of the world’s silk. China imports fibers, chemicals and machinery to meet the needs of its textile industry, but is developing these industries.
World fiber use grew 3% annually to 77 billion kilograms in 2006; 55% was man-made fibers, 45% was natural fibers.
World apparel business was nearly $700 billion at the factory level in 2006. Apparel business is growing 3% annually, twice the world population growth. The trend has been to more cotton and less wool in apparel. The share of man-made fibers has declined.
World home textile business had a value of $67 billion in 2006. Home textiles are increasingly produced in China, India and Pakistan, which are large cotton growers and are highly competitive to finished sheets and towels. Cotton has gained share at the expense of man-made fibers.
The US and Europe, led by Belgium, dominate the $38 billion carpet and rug business; their focus is on carpet, which is used in commercial as well as residential markets. Rugs are produced in many countries, due to the ready availability of weaving and yarn extrusion machinery. Auto carpet is usually made near where the autos are assembled.
World technical, industrial and other textiles grew 3% annually to 26 billion kilograms in 2006, approximately two-thirds of which was man-made fibers.
The US textile, apparel and home textiles businesses are in decline. US strengths are carpet and high quality industrial textiles such as carbon fiber composites and automotive airbags. The US is the world’s largest manufacturer of carpet and rugs. The US leads in carpet because of the high cost of shipping large rolls of carpet, low labor content and availability of man-made fibers produced by vertically integrated manufacturers.
Europe’s textile, apparel and home textiles businesses are also in decline. Italy is the largest producer of textiles and apparel in Europe and is recognized as the leader in high quality apparel and apparel fabric. Apparel exports have been maintained, but imports are eroding its domestic apparel business. Former East European countries and Turkey are a source of lower priced textile products.
Man-made fibers have matured into two different businesses. China and other Asian countries dominate commodity fiber business. US, European and Japanese companies dominate high performance fibers, such as aramid, carbon, lyocell, and high modulus polyethylene, regardless of where the fibers are produced.
Cargill, duPont and Shell are developing fibers that perform similarly to polyester, but are made from polymers derived from vegetables, and are claimed to have the potential to be lower cost and to perform better than polyester.
Cotton has staged a recovery in both apparel and home textiles. Polyester fiber was priced below cotton during 7 of the 9 years from 1996 to 2004. Cotton was priced below polyester from 2005 to July 2007. Polyester could regain market share at the expense of cotton if demand for cotton continues to exceed production, as is predicted by the cotton industry..
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