World yarn inventories rose by 5% in 2010, due primarily to a 114.8% increase in stocks in South America, according to a recent report published by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).

During the third quarter of 2010 global yarn stocks rose by 3.5%, increasing 60.5% in South America alone. In Europe yarn inventories were almost unchanged, but fell by 0.8% in Asia.

In comparison with 2009, all regions saw an increase in yarn production during the third quarter of 2010. In South America production grew by 14.7%, followed by Asia (12%), North America (11.9%) and Europe (0.9%).
In the third quarter of 2010, global yarn production increased by 1.9% in comparison with the previous quarter. The ITMF attribute this to a growth of 4.5% in North America and 2.4% in Asia. However, during this period production in Europe fell by 10.5%.

The ITMF report found that year-on-year global fabric production has increased by 11.2%, with all regions recording growth, particularly in Europe where output was up 13.1% in 2010.

During the third quarter fabric production rose by 1.9%, as lower output levels in Europe and North America were offset by increases of 6.2% and 2.4% in South America and Asia respectively.

Additionally, in the third quarter of 2010 fabric stocks fell by 4.9% in Asia and 0.6% in Europe. By contrast, stocks rose in both North and South America by 4.5% and 1.25% respectively. This figure nevertheless represents an increase of 8.4% compared with the second quarter of 2010, said the ITMF.

Despite strong growth in South America during 2010, yarn orders in Brazil decreased by 24.8% compared with the previous year, falling 7.6% in the third quarter alone. However, during this same period fabric orders in the country rose by 4.5%. The ITMF figures also indicate that fabric orders have increased 7.3% in Europe on an annual basis.