The Fibre Year 2018
The scope of the new textile yearbook „The Fiber Year 2018“ was enriched by biopolymers thanks to support from the textile institute of RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Biobased Materials at the Maastricht University and nova-Institute in Germany. Biopolymers capture a niche market, but are characterized by steady growth as they serve a variety of applications and industries. Their development is being supported by increasing demand for sustainable and biodegradable products.
The world fibre market has arrived at 103 million tonnes, equal to an expansion of almost 4 %. The new all-time high was result of acceleration in demand after slowing growth rates in four consecutive years. Natural fibres grew almost 3 % which was the fastest pace in eight years. The cellulosic business gained 3 % in volume despite acetate tow suffering from its fourth annual drop in a row due to sustained decline of cigarette production and synthetic fibres rebounded more than 4 %.
The report and other textile reports, e.g. The Fabric Year 2018, are commercially available and can be ordered here
About the author of the reports: Andreas W. Engelhardt, former senior manager at Oerlikon Textile International Business – is the founder and general manager of The Fiber Year GmbH. The company’s target is to provide international expertise, analyses, strategy consulting and customized solutions to the international textile industry.
The international textile value chain is becoming more competitive and perpetually has to cope with new challenges, regulations, relocation and at present margin pressure due to excess supply in particular in some raw material and subsequent spinning markets. The volatility in this business has been tremendous and tough times for the global economy increasingly raise uncertainty on trade and future market access as it appears that protectionism may be on its way back.
Numerous presentations at international conferences and several publications prove the company’s understanding of the textile market forces and the future development. Corresponding views appeared in various print media like for example AVR, Bio-based News, Bloomberg, Chemical Fibers International, China Textile Magazine, China Textile Leader, Der Spiegel, Der Standard, eco Institut, FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Fibre2Fashion, Forward Textile Technology, International Fiber Journal, Knitting Trade Journal, Kohan Journal, Melliand, Nonwovens Industry, NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Schweizerische Umweltstiftung, Technical Textiles, Tecoya Trend, TEXTILplus, TextilWirtschaft, U.S. Congressional Research Service, WirtschaftsWoche, Zeit Online and others.