The textile machinery market may be finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel as the global supply chain makes its road to recovery, following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A survey conducted by the International Textile Machinery Federation (ITMF) states that global sales were still down by 9% between 20 January and 10 March 2021, in comparison to the same time in 2020. However, this is a 3% improvement on the previous sample period (20 November-14 December 2020) which showed sales were down on average 12% in comparison to the same period in 2019.
The figures published by the federation are beginning to show a progressive pattern, as the supply chain seeks to return to post-pandemic levels of machinery sales. At its worst point, the survey shows that global machinery sales were comparatively down by up to 33% in April of 2020. The 9% decrease in the latest period illustrates the progress the market has made over the last 11 months.
In the results of the survey, the ITMF shows that there are some markets faring better than others in the supply chain. According to the figures, turnovers were particularly down in the textile chemical production and weaving markets.
In contrast, some markets have actually flourished in the pandemic. The nonwovens markets and the fibre production sectors had very solid turnovers due to the huge demand for face masks all around the globe.
The federation expects the markets will now begin to show signs of positive growth with some regions recovering better than others. In the next two years (2021 and 2022) the turnover figures will rapidly grow as the market recovers, before plateauing in 2023 and 2024 to show more steady growth.
One key takeaway from the ITMF’s figures is the expected turnover growth of the African market (31% growth by 2024) and the slow growth of the South East Asian market (5% growth by 2024). Against the global average of 17% growth by 2024, the figures suggest that certain areas of the global textile market could undergo a geographical change in the future, with African textiles leading the way.
Source: https://www.wtin.com/