The May 2026 reading points to better sentiment, orders and capacity use, yet weak demand, raw-material costs, energy prices and geopolitics continue to limit confidence.
The global textile industry is showing early signs of stabilisation after a difficult start to 2026, but the recovery remains cautious rather than convincing. The 38th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey, conducted worldwide in the second half of May 2026, found improvements in business sentiment, order intake, order backlogs and capacity utilisation compared with March. However, all indicators remain weak by historical standards.
Better direction, weak levels
The business situation balance improved to -17 percentage points, up from -25 percentage points in March. Business expectations rose more sharply, reaching +16 percentage points from +5 percentage points. Order intake also improved, moving to -9 percentage points from -25 percentage points, while order backlogs increased to 2.5 months and capacity utilisation reached 74%.
The figures suggest the industry may be passing the worst point of the recent downturn. But they do not yet indicate a broad-based recovery. Negative business-situation and order-intake balances mean many companies are still operating below comfortable trading conditions.
Regional recovery is uneven
The improvement is not evenly distributed. Africa led the survey across current business situation, order intake, backlog and expectations, while Europe and North and Central America also showed gains. Asian production hubs remained under pressure, with East Asia the weakest region for both current conditions and the six-month outlook.
Across the value chain, segments closer to the final consumer performed slightly better, while upstream and capital-goods segments continued to trail. That matters for machinery suppliers, fibre producers, spinners and fabric mills, because weak confidence in these segments usually delays investment and capacity expansion.
Costs still threaten margins
The main risk is that the improvement is being squeezed by cost pressure before demand has properly recovered. Weak demand remained the largest concern, cited by 53% of participating textile manufacturers. Raw-material prices followed at 52%, while energy prices and geopolitics were each cited by 42%.
The survey also linked higher costs to the war in Iran, which has pushed crude oil near $100 and lifted gasoline prices by about 50% since March, adding inflationary pressure and weakening margins.
The next signal to watch is whether order intake turns positive in the next ITMF reading. Until then, the industry is not in a strong recovery; it is in a tentative stabilisation phase, with demand still too soft and costs too volatile for confident expansion
