• Textile Finishing Machines witnessed 75% Growth
• China was the leading importer in Aisa and Global
• Pakistan among top 6 investors in Spinning Section
International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has released its in-depth analysis of global textile machinery exports during 2020 (known as the year of Pandemic). ITMF is an international forum for textile industries, dedicated to keeping the worldwide membership updated through surveys, studies, opinions on future trends, and international developments. The 43rd annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) indicated a significant decrease in the global exports of textile machinery in 2020 compared to 2019.
The report of ITMF is based on a survey of about 200 textile machinery manufacturers that cover textile machines from the beginning of the textile production process (Spinning) to the end (Finishing). Among severely influenced segments, the export of the flat knitting machines decreased by 53%, followed by 46% for the spinning segment. The lockdown, unpredictable situations of the COVID-19 Pandemic, border closures, and other factors caused such loss to textile machine manufacturers. Almost all the textile sectors saw a cumulative decrease in export, the breakdown of the report is in six different vital segments of the textile machines, including:
The Spinning Section was analyzed for short-staple spindles, open-end rotors, and long-staple spindles. Asia & Oceania sourced about 88% of the produced short-staple spindles, but the overall decrease in the export of short-staple spindles was around 50%. Pakistan was among the six most prominent investors in the short-staple machines and China, Bangladesh, Turkey, India, and Uzbekistan. Pakistan’s investments surged by +290% in spinning sector. On the other hand, due to the massive investment of Turkish textile industries in short-staple spindles, export to Europe increased by 76%. The global shipment of long-staple spindles (used mainly for wool) was around only 22 thousand compared to 40 thousand in 2019, which means a decrease of 46%. Similarly, the export of open-end rotors was reduced to 422 thousand in 2020 from 573 thousand in 2019.
The Texturing Section, used for polyamide and polyester filaments, saw a decrease of 36% for single-heater texturing machines and 30% for double-heater texturing machines. In terms of units, about 26 thousand units were sold in 2019 and only 16 thousand in 2020. Again, China was the major player in this section of global shipments, with 78% in double-heater and 63% in single-heater texturing machines.
The Weaving Section suffered less compared to other sections. The export of shuttle-less looms was 130 thousand in 2019 and decreased to 112 thousand (16%) in 2020. The exports of air-jet looms fell only 3%. On the other hand, the export of water-jet looms saw a decline of 21%, and rapier & projectile was reduced by 15%. About 98% of the exports were made to Asian countries where China dominated the share with 74% of the total shipments.
The Circular Knitting Section showed an increment of 12% in exports. Again Asia region dominated the market with 81% of the share. China acquired almost 16 thousand units (62% of all exports), followed by India and Turkey with more than 2000 units.
The Flat Knitting Section was also poorly affected, showing a decline of 53% in exports. Nevertheless, China was a favorable destination (38% of total shipments globally) even though China’s import for 2020 was far less than 2019 (17k vs. 69k).
The Finishing Section showed a remarkable improvement in global exports. According to the data of ITMSS, Finishing machinery exports increased by 75% for the continuous processing segment regarding mechanical finishing items like sanforization. Other continuous processing machines either remained the same or shrunk in their exports. For the exhaust processing machine (discontinuous processing), the overall market dropped by 8.5%. The exhaust dyeing machines showed higher drop rates of 21% and 18% for overflow jets and dyeing jets, respectively.
The report’s summary indicated that the exports of Flat Knitting, Weaving, Spinning, Textured Machines, Exhaust Finishing/Dyeing machines declined significantly in 2020, attributed to the COVID-19 Pandemic and decreased investments. Conversely, The continuous finishing segment and Circular Knitting Section showed better exports than in 2019.
