The Rupp Report: The Asian Nonwovens Industry

It is no secret that nonwovens are developed for new market applications virtually every day. Just in the area of disposable products, they qualify today for a seemingly infinite number of end-uses. For decades, nonwovens were produced only in the West, thanks to the advanced machinery used by Western nonwovens suppliers. But, as in almost every other sector of the textile industry, cutting-edge machinery has also arrived in Asia.

Different Results
The Asian nonwovens industry shows a different face in various countries. However, China has been the biggest market player in recent years, and in 2010 was responsible for 65.2 percent of the total nonwovens production of nearly 2.9 million metric tons; followed by Japan with 10.9 percent; Korea, 7.8 percent; India, 6.1 percent; and Taiwan, 5.2 percent, according to the latest data from the China Nonwovens Technical Association (CNTA). Table 1 shows nonwovens production volumes in the last two years, which correspond to the period of the recent global financial crisis.

The increase is considerable. If one compares the 2010 production figures to those from 2001, when India didn't have any significant production, overall nonwovens production has tripled in Asia(See Table 2).