Five trends in the future global nonwovens market

Release time:

2018-03-29

The latest report of British SmithersPira Company, "Future Global Nonwovens Market in 2020", shows that the global nonwovens market will increase to US $50.8 billion in 2020. The latest report of British SmithersPira Company, "Future Global Nonwovens Market in 2020", shows that the global nonwovens market will increase to US $50.8 billion in 2020, compared with US $37.4 billion in 2015, with an average annual compound growth rate of 6.3 percent. In 2015, global nonwovens consumption was estimated at 9 million t, or about 234.8 billion ㎡.

According to the latest report "future global nonwovens market in 2020" by Smithers Pira, the global nonwovens market will increase to $50.8 billion in 2020

China Health Products Network

British Smithers Pira's latest report "2020 Future Global Nonwovens Market" shows that the global nonwovens market will increase to $50.8 billion in 2020, compared with $37.4 billion in 2015, with an average annual compound growth rate of 6.3 percent. In 2015, global nonwovens consumption was estimated at 9 million t, or about 234.8 billion ㎡. In the next 5 years, the average annual compound growth rate is expected to be 6.2 and 7.2 respectively, and the consumption will reach 12.1 million t in 2020, about 332.4 billion ㎡.

Smithers report summarizes and analyzes the five major trends of the future nonwovens market.

Spunbond will remain the main web-forming process

At present, the spunbond method is the main non-woven fabric forming process, accounting for 48.7 of the total consumption in 2015, about 4.4 million t. Spunbond, also known as spunmelt or melt-spun nonwovens, includes:

· Spunbond cloth (polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, nylon and bicomponent fiber);

Meltblown cloth (polypropylene);

· SMS (spunbond/meltblown/spunbond, polypropylene);

· Various other materials.

Spunbond has been the highest growth rate of any web process since 2010, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent from 2010 to 2015. This makes the spunbond process far ahead of the dry web process in second place. The consumption of dry-laid nonwovens has increased from 2.9 million t in 2010 to 3.4 million t in 2015.

It is estimated that by 2020, the spunbond method will grow the fastest in all nonwovens processes (except for the "other" category), with an average annual compound growth rate of 7.3 per cent from 2015 to 2020. This suggests a return to the slump in consumption caused by the 2008 economic crisis-especially in Western Europe.

Smithers predicts that global demand will be back on track for a healthy global economy in 2020. By then, the total consumption of spunbonded nonwovens should reach 6.2 million t.

Disposable nonwovens will grow significantly

Between 2010 and 2015, disposable and durable nonwovens were largely neck and neck in relative value growth. Disposable nonwovens sales increased from $10 billion to $14.1 billion at a CAGR of 7.1 percent. Durable nonwovens grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7%, from $16.6 billion in 2010 to $23.3 billion in 2015.

This trend is not expected to change in the next five years. Disposable nonwovens sales are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4 per cent, bringing the global disposable nonwovens market to $19.2 billion in 2020. The compound annual growth rate of durable nonwovens is expected to be 6.2 percent, with sales reaching $31.5 billion billion. From 2010 to 2020, the average annual compound growth rate of disposable nonwovens is about 6.7 percent, while that of durable nonwovens is 6.6 percent.

The sales growth of disposable nonwovens is slightly higher than that of durable nonwovens, because the affluent and middle class in the Central Asian market demand better performance, higher value consumer goods (such as diapers, feminine hygiene products and medical materials), and get rid of low-cost, low-quality entry-level products.

Sanitary products are the largest consumer market for disposable nonwovens, mainly including baby diapers, training pants and feminine hygiene products. These products have some general requirements for non-woven fabrics, which are mainly used for the surface layer, the absorbent core layer and the guide layer.

Wipes are another important market for disposable nonwovens, with large scale and rapid development.

Asia will be the largest and fastest growing nonwovens market

Asia is the world's largest consumer of nonwovens, surpassing Europe and North America in the past 10 years.

In 2015, Asia accounted for 43.1 per cent of the global nonwovens market with a consumption of 3.9 million t (2.3 million t in 2010). In 2010-2015, the growth rate was stable at 10.7 per cent. From 2015 to 2020, Asia's consumption and market share will continue to grow. Smithers predict that Asia will account for 47.1 percent of the global nonwovens market in 2020, with consumption of about 5.7 million t.

In Asia, China, India and Japan are the main national markets, and these countries constitute about 77% of the consumption share (in tons) of nonwovens. In the next five years, these countries will behave very differently.

Japan is a mature market with low growth or even no growth in many areas. China is the current economic power in Asia, in 2015, China's nonwovens consumption accounted for about 56.8 of the Asian region.

India is the future of nonwovens consumption in Asia, and the country has a huge potential consumer group. In 2015, it overtook stagnant Japan to become Asia's second-largest consumer with a regional market share of 10.5 per cent in tonnes.

Nonwovens ration will continue to decline

During this 10-year period, another important trend was the continuous decline in the quantitative of all nonwovens, which reduced the cost of raw materials and transportation, storage and waste disposal costs. From 2010 to 2015, the overall ration of disposable nonwovens decreased by 5.2, and from 2015 to 2020, this trend will continue to develop at a slower rate, and the basic ration is expected to be further reduced by 3.7.

The change in the average basis weight is due to the new equipment using a process that can produce low basis weight products. For example, the new generation of spunbond production line can produce 8~10g/㎡ of non-woven fabrics for sanitary products, while the original standard quantitative is 10~12g/㎡.

The same effect can be achieved by replacing it with other different types of nonwovens. For example, 35g/m2 spunlace is replacing airlaid nonwovens for the production of wipes, and airlaid nonwovens have a minimum basis weight of about 55g/m2.

Durable nonwovens also tend to lower the quantitative, 2010-2015, the quantitative decreased by 3.6, 2015-2020 will be further reduced by 5.9. Part of the reason is that low basis weight spunbond cloth, meltblown cloth and SMS have replaced non-woven fabrics such as spunlaced, carded and needle punched.

With the improvement of process technology, polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens from 22g/㎡ to 9g/㎡ or less, is now commonplace.

Raw material prices will remain low and relatively stable

The raw materials used for nonwovens are in an uncertain state. Polypropylene polymers and fibers, polyester polymers and fibers, bicomponent fibers, polyethylene polymers and most polymers are directly dependent on oil, but oil is now cheaper and more available than it was a few years ago. In addition, new extraction technologies have shifted oil production to North America, which has made North America a major global natural gas producing area, and oil production has reached almost the highest output in the world.

In theory, the price of polymers and fibers used in nonwovens should stabilize at a low price. In fact, the closure of refineries and textile mills, oil wells and other facilities due to global low prices will continue to leave nonwoven prices and supplies in an uncertain situation. However, Smithers still predict that the price of nonwoven raw materials will continue to decrease and the supply will stabilize in the next five years.

There are many factors that influence the choice of nonwoven materials, including processing efficiency, product performance and consumer demand; but in some cases, price is the decisive factor. For example, the raw material of spunlace wipes is usually composed of about 50% absorbent fibers (rayon, cotton or wood pulp) and about 50% petroleum-based non-absorbent fibers (polyester or polypropylene). Changes in the prices of polyester and polypropylene cause producers to constantly switch between the two.

Similarly, changes in the price of polyester or polypropylene compared to rayon or cotton may change the proportion of raw materials from 50%/50% to 60%/40% in response to changes in price. Changes in the fiber market will change expectations about future consumption patterns, or at least increase uncertainty. In the case of spunlaced nonwovens, it is difficult to make changes based solely on the price of the polymer raw material, so the forecast for this market is more reliable.

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China is still the third largest export destination of U.S. nonwovens, but the export volume is decreasing year by year.

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