Global fibre consumption rose 4.2% to 70.5 million tonnes in 2009, according to Oerlikon’s “The Fiber Year”, due to be published in June.
Manmade fibre consumption rose 4% to 44.1 million tonnes and natural fibers advanced 4.5% to 26.4 million tonnes. A world population of 6.8 billion corresponds to an average per capita consumption of 10.4kg, according to Oerlikon.
While this return to growth in 2009 may seem positive at first sight, the textile and apparel industry has lost a large manufacturing and processing volume in the last two years, said Oerlikon.
Taking into account the long term average annual growth rate of 3.4%, the demand shortfall in the last two years is said to add up to 15 million tonnes.
On individual fibre types, the report said the current season’s world cotton production is expected to decline 4.8% to 22.3 million tonnes. World wool production fell 7.4% to 1.1 million tonnes clean weight in 2009, marking the seventh annual decline in the past decade. However, the cellulosic fiber market increased by 7.7% to 3.8 million tonnes, just marginally missing the pre-crisis all-time high, said the report.
The development in the synthetic fibre segment showed a mixed performance, according to the report. The total market was up 3.7% to 40.3 million tonnes. Polyester production increased by 5.3% and acrylics rose 4.4%. On the other hand, polypropylene decreased by 6.5% and polyamide was down 1.4%, said Oerlikon.
The manmade fibre spinning business is said to have further declined in developed countries, while Asia continued to gain market shares. The Asian manufacturing volume of more than 36 million tonnes corresponds to a global 83% market share. The Chinese industry succeeded in lifting output by 11.2% to 26.3 million tonnes, it said.
The 2009 world output of yarns was up 4.0% to 61.8 million tonnes, according to the report.
The full version of “The Fiber Year” will be ready to download from the homepage of Oerlikon Textile (www.oerlikontextile.com) in June. Later a Chinese version will also be available, according to the company.