Indian Nonwoven Sector to See Tremendous Growth
March 28, 2011 By Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar
Texas Tech University, USA
Ian Butler, Director of Market Research and Statistics of the USA-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) recently said India has witnessed phenomenal growth in the nonwoven sector in recent past. This sector is expected to grow at a rapid rate. Butler estimates India’s nonwoven production to be about 125,000 to 140,000 metric tons. He stated although he has not undertaken the market research, through sources he estimates India’s production to be in the higher range of that estimate.
Butler estimates the Chinese nonwoven production to be about 1.1 to 1.2 million metric tons. He said the number quoted by China-based nonwoven related associations, which is about 1.6 million metric tons, is an overestimate. Butler indicated the growth rate of 12-14 percent per annum is unsustainable.
He said the production will come down as the industry matures. Most of the production in China is in the spunbond sector and feeds the packtech segment. According to Butler, China produces shopping bags in billions. His observation has been that when the conventional apparel industry is undergoing a slump, the labor is redirected to develop converted products like shopping bags resulting in huge production.
According to Butler, India’s current status is where China was twenty years ago. While speaking at a Texas Tech University organized conference in Coimbatore, India in 2006, Butler estimated India’s production then at 30,000 metric tons. The latest estimate is 140,000 metric tons which amounts to a 367 percent increase in growth in 5 years.
A 2008 estimate by Texas Tech University pegged India’s technical textiles sector’s annual growth rate to be 13 percent. A Government of India-sponsored survey estimates the growth of this sector to be 11 percent.
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