#Associations

2020-06-18

Worldwide shipments of new textile machinery decreased in 2019

In 2019, global shipments of spinning, texturing, weaving, knitting, and finishing machines decreased on average compared to 2018. Deliveries of new short-staple spindles, open-end rotors, and long-staple spindles dropped by -20%, -20%, and -66%, respectively. The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles declined by -4.5% and deliveries of shuttle-less looms shrunk by -0.5%. Shipments of large circular machines contracted by -1.2%, while shipped flat knitting machines fell by -40%. The sum of deliveries in the finishing segment also dropped by -2% on average.

These are the main results of the 42th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. A summary of the findings for each category is presented below. The 2019 survey has been compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production.

Spinning Machinery

The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by about 1.7 million units in 2019 to a level of 6.96 million. Most of the new short-staple spindles (92%) were shipped to Asia & Oceania, where delivery decreased by -20%. While levels stayed relatively small, Africa and South America saw shipments increasing by +150% and +120%, respectively. The six largest investors in the short-staple segment were China, India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

563’600 open-end rotors were shipped worldwide in 2019. This represents a 147’500-units drop compared to 2018. 90% of global shipments went to Asia & Oceania where deliveries decreased by -21% to 517’000 rotors. Indonesia and Pakistan, the world’s 5thand 6thlargest investors in open-end rotors, increased their investments by +120% and 15%, respectively. China, Vietnam, India, and Uzbekistan, the world’s 1stto 4thlargest investors in 2019 decreased investment by -48% on average.

Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles decreased from 120’000 in 2018 to nearly 40’000 in 2019 (-66%). This effect was mainly driven by a fall in deliveries to Europe (-72%) and South America (-80%). 80% of total deliveries where shipped to China and India.

Texturing Machinery

Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) increased by +12% from nearly 22’800 in 2018 to 25'500 in 2019. With a share of 88%, Asia & Oceania was the strongest destination for single heater draw-texturing spindles. China and Chinese Taipei were the main investors in this segment with a share of 64% and 12% of global deliveries, respectively.

In the category of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) global shipments decreased by -5% to a level of 464’000 spindles. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments decreased to 90%. Thereby, China remained the largest investor accounting for 77% of global shipments.

Weaving Machinery

In 2019, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms decreased by -0.6% to 133’250 units. Thereby, shipments in the categories of “air-jet” and “rapier and projectile” fell by -7.7% to 30’200 and -22% to 25’000, respectively. The deliveries of water-jet looms increased by +12% to 78’000. The main destination for shuttle-less looms in 2019 was Asia & Oceania with 95% of all worldwide deliveries. 98%, 93%, 86% of all water-jet, air-jet, and rapier/projectile looms went to that region. The main investors were China and India in all three sub-categories. Deliveries of weaving machines to these two countries reached 89% of total deliveries. Bangladesh further played an important role in the rapier/projectile segment with 20% of global shipments.

Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery

Global shipments of large circular knitting machines fell by -1.2% to 26’400 units in 2019. The region Asia & Oceania was the world’s leading investor in this category with 86% of worldwide shipments. With 61% of all deliveries (i.e. 13’143 units), China was the favoured destination. India and Vietnam ranked second and third with 2’670 and 2’210 units, respectively.

In 2019,the segment of electronic flat knitting machines decreased by -40% to around 96’000 machines. Asia & Oceania was the main destination for these machines with a share of 92% of world shipments. China remained the world’s largest investor with an 80%-share despite a -44%-decrease in investments from 122'550 units to 68'760 units.

Finishing Machinery

In the “fabrics continuous” segment, shipments of stenters and washing (stand-alone) grew by +34% and +0.6%. The growth in stenter deliveries is mainly explainedby the addition of ITMF’s estimate for the number of stenters. The total number of shipped stenters of 1’700 units thus represents an estimate of the total market for this category.

In the “fabrics discontinuous” segment, the number of jigger dyeing / beam dyeing shipped rose by +35% to 561 units. Deliveries in all other machine categories in both finishing sub-segments (i.e. continuous and discontinuous) decreased in 2019.

Business situation weakens slightly, but the industry stays cautiously optimistic

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published the results of its 39th Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), conducted from 14 to 22 July 2026 among companies along the entire global textile value chain. Worldwide, 10% of participants rated their business situation as good, 53% as satisfactory and 37% as bad — a balance of -26pp, down from -17pp in May but still well above the 2023 lows. All regions are now in negative territory, from South Asia at -3pp to North & Central America at -58pp.

Meadow Grove Research joins ITMF as Corporate Member

Meadow Grove Research is a commodity research firm specializing in supply, demand, and trade analysis in cotton and other soft commodities. Providing clarity to the complex nature of the global fiber supply chain is one of its most formidable services. The firm thrives on customer engagement and providing the best framework for critical decisions.

Results of the 38th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey

The global textile industry appears to be turning a corner, but this is more likely a fragile and possibly temporary improvement than the start of a durable recovery. According to the 38th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey, conducted worldwide during the second half of May 2026, business sentiment, order intake, order backlogs and capacity utilization all improved versus March — yet every indicator remains weak by historical standards, and rising costs cast doubt on how long the upturn can last.

Cotton Brazil Dialogues 2026 concludes with 50 international participants immersed in Brazilian cotton production

The Cotton Brazil Dialogues concludes its 2026 edition after a series of technical visits to farms, cotton gins and reference centers, as well as workshops focused on Brazilian cotton production. A total of 50 participants from 14 countries took part in the field trips. The initiative is led by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Growers (Abrapa) and the National Association of Cotton Exporters (Anea), with support from the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

European textile industry calls for €10 handling fee on ultra-fast-fashion imports

The introduction of the €3 customs duty on low-value imports marks an important milestone in Europe’s efforts to address the challenges created by the rapid growth of ultra-fast-fashion imports. Together with the abolition of the €150 customs duty exemption, it demonstrates that policymakers are willing to act when market distortions become impossible to ignore. However, the European textile and clothing industry considers this a first step rather than the final destination.

Italian textile machinery orders show quarterly recovery in Q2 2026

In the period between April and June 2026, order intake for Italian textile machinery manufacturers showed mixed but encouraging signals for the second half of the year. The order index at constant prices stood at 46.6 points (taking 2021=100 as the base year), showing a slight decrease of 3% compared to the same quarter of 2025. This trend was largely due to the contraction recorded in the domestic market, which fell by 25% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Novel flame-retardant and recyclable fiber-reinforced composite

Airplanes and passenger trains must meet strict safety requirements, including fire safety standards. This calls for materials that are flame-retardant, lightweight, robust, and scalable. Empa researchers, in collaboration with their industry partner Elantas, have now succeeded for the first time in making such a material – a composite – fully recyclable.

WHILL selects Teijin’s tough, lightweight Carbon Fiber Composite for new last-mile mobility

Teijin Limited announced today that WHILL Inc., a global leader in inclusive mobility technology, has selected Sereebo® P CFP series, a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) material, for key structural components of the upcoming WHILL Model C Lite. Sereebo® P CFP series provides high strength, light weight, design flexibility and system cost advantages to the Model C Lite, which is a battery powered, single-seat, last-mile device. This new model combines maneuverability with light weight and one-handed folding to ensure ease of handling and operation.

ZymoChem secures $4 million in renewed federal funding to advance U.S. biomanufacturing of critical materials and their supply chains

ZymoChem, the specialty chemicals company dedicated to bringing decarbonization, sustainability, and supply chain resiliency to the chemical industry through innovative biological manufacturing, today announced the resumption and expansion of its federal research portfolio. The company has been notified that previously paused work under a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program is officially back on, to be joined by continuing collaborations with three of the nation's premier national laboratories.