Photo: Collected
Products in the technical textiles industry come in a wide variety of forms and have a wealth of uses across sectors. Unlike traditional garment fabrics, which are made to generally provide comfort and style, a technical fabric has a specific function for which it has been designed and is not intended to be decorative. Examples of functions provided by technical textiles include chemical resistance, fire resistance, antibacterial protection, water resistance, netting, sound dampening, filtering, and much more.
The many different types of technical textiles are often categorized into the following sectors:
*Agriculture
*Clothing
*Construction
*Environmental
*Household
*Industrial
*Medical
*Packaging
*Protective
*Sports
*Transportation
Technical textiles can use a range of materials including natural fibers, synthetic polymers, regenerated fibers, minerals, and metals. They include knitted, woven, and non-woven fabrics and may derive their functionality from the fabric itself, a textile coating, or a combination of the two. Textile coatings are very common in the technical textiles industry. Technical textiles are used in everything from protective clothing and household goods like towels and tablecloths to tents, awnings, fishing nets, crop covers, ropes, architectural materials, bandages, and a wide range of other products.
Technical Textiles Industry Overview
The technical textiles industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the textiles market, with its products in high demand for numerous applications. Currently, the global technical textiles industry is worth around $200 billion and is expected to continue growing over the next several years despite disruptions such as the Russia-Ukraine war and other supply chain disruptions.
Asia-Pacific is the biggest producer of technical textiles, accounting for nearly half of global market revenue, and is expected to continue to dominate in the near future. China in particular is a key manufacturer but India and other countries play an important role as well, with India planning to more than double its technical textile production over the next five years.
Europe is also a significant region for the industry, with Italy being responsible for a quarter of the continent’s output, followed by Germany and France. Fashion clothing and household textiles lead the market in the region, though the automotive and healthcare sectors are also contributing to demand. Italy specialized in technical garments for the medical industry during the height of the pandemic, but when production returned primarily to China, the country’s industry turned its focus to sustainable textiles to meet growing demand for environmentally friendly products. The North American market is expected to see significant growth due to high demand from the construction and healthcare industries. See details.
Source: Online/NAN
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