Deliveries of new short-staple spindles and long-staple spindles respectively improved by 8 per cent and 46 per cent from 2016 to 2017. The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles and shuttle-less looms increased by 23 per cent and 14 per cent. Shipments of new electronic flat knitting machines and finishing machines of the category "fabric discontinuous" each rose by 70 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, deliveries of finishing machines of the category "fabrics continuous" rose by 5 per cent.
These figures are from the 40th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) released in May 2018 by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The statistics were updated in June with new data and information being received after publication of the volume.
In the context of all ITMSS annual reports, the term “shipment” refers to machinery produced by the participating manufacturers (for both the domestic market and export) which were physically shipped during the year under review. This should not be confused with sales or installations. In other words, the numbers show a trend, and should be taken as only an indication of the way things are moving.
The report covers six segments of textile machinery—spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. The 2017 survey was compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production. This number includes numerous Chinese companies represented by the so-called District. The ITMSSS was first published in 1974 (then called International Cotton Industry Statistics Supplement).
According to the introduction to the report, the 2017 coverage for each of these segments is virtually complete, with the continuation of comprehensive Mainland Chinese participation. For the record, all through the 74-page report, the region referred to as "Not specified (World w/o China)" meant shipments to an unknown destination which is not China.
Spinning Machinery
Shipments of new short-staple spindles have increased for the first time since 2013. The level of short-staple spindles improved by about 1.65 million spindles. Of this, China’s share was roughly 22 per cent, and the rest of Asia (without China) was almost 60 per cent of the rest. Most of the new short-staple spindles (95 per cent) were shipped to Asia, whereby shipments rose by almost 24 per cent year-on-year. China, the world’s largest investor of short-staple spindles, experienced an increase of 34 per cent, whereas deliveries to Bangladesh and Vietnam decreased by 33 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively. Shipments to Indonesia strongly increase last year (+ 135 per cent). The six largest investors in the short-staple segment in 2017 where China, India, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles rose by 46 per cent from around 114,000 in 2016 to nearly 165,000 in 2017. Deliveries to Iran soared by 445 per cent from just around 11,000 in 2016 to around 59,000 spindles in 2017. The majority of long-staple spindles (68 per cent) were shipped to China. Around 30 per cent of long-staple spindles were shipped to Europe.
Shipments of open-end rotors rose by 24 per cent to a level over 788,000 rotors in 2017. About 85 per cent of worldwide shipments of open-end rotors were destined for Asia. Thereby, deliveries to Asia increased by about 15 per cent to nearly 674,000 rotors. However, China, the world’s largest investor in open-end rotors, increased its investments by only 6 per cent in 2017 when countries like Iran, Brazil, Uzbekistan, and Japan saw 2–4 times more deliveries compared to 2016. The world’s second and third largest investors in 2016 were Turkey and India.
In terms of cumulative shipments in the 2008–2017 decade, a little more than a quarter of the 1,069,726 long-staple spindles were made to China. For rotors, about two-thirds of the global shipments of 4,318,484 were done to China. A little more than half the shipment of short-staples (99,965,226) were accounted for by China during the same period.
Texturing Machinery
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) decreased by 87 per cent from nearly 8,500 in 2016 to 1,060 in 2017. With a share of 50 per cent, Asia is the region where most of the single heater draw-texturing spindles were shipped to, followed by Eastern and Western Europe with a share of 36 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.
In the segment of double-heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) the downward trend ended and global shipments increased by 27 per cent on an annual basis to about 340,000 spindles. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments amounted to 90 per cent. Thereby, China remained the largest investor accounting for 66 per cent of global shipments.
Weaving Machinery
In 2017, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms increased by 13 per cent to 95,400 units. Thereby, shipments of air-jet, water-jet, and rapier/projectile shuttle-less looms increased by 18 per cent (to almost 27,000), 14 per cent (to 36,200), and 7 per cent (to 33,000), respectively. Not surprisingly, the main destination of shipments of all shuttle-less looms (air-jet, water-jet and rapier/projectile) in 2017 was Asia with 91 per cent of worldwide deliveries, of which 48 per cent were water-jet looms, 31 per cent rapier/projectile looms, and 28 per cent air jet looms. The share of rapier/projectile to the total shuttle-less looms shipped to Europe and the Americas reached 65 per cent and 37 per cent while the share of water-jet looms was respectively 2 per cent and 25 per cent in the same regions.
Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines rose slightly by 0.12 per cent to a level close to 28,000 units in 2017. Asia is also the world’s leading investor in this category. 84 per cent of all new circular knitting machines were shipped to Asia in 2017. With 39 per cent of worldwide deliveries, China was the single largest investor. India and Vietnam rank second and third with 5,100 and 2,000 units, respectively. In 2017 the segment of electronic flat knitting machines soared by 44 per cent to around 202,000 machines, the highest level ever. Not surprisingly, Asia received the highest share of shipments (96 per cent). China remained by far the world’s largest investor for flat knitting machines in 2017. Thereby, Chinese investments increased from 101,550 units to 154,850 and the country had a global share of 76 per cent.
Finishing Machinery
In the segment of fabrics continuous, shipments of mercerising-lines, singeing-lines, and stenters, increased in 2017 by 54 per cent, 11 per cent, and 2 per cent, respectively. Deliveries in the other sub-segments decreased. In the segment fabrics discontinuous, shipments of air-jet dyeing and overflow dyeing machines increased by 35 per cent and 72 per cent, respectively, whereas those of jigger dyeing/ beam dyeing machines fell by 7 per cent.
Indian Shipments
Among spinning machines, most shipments in Asia (besides China) were made to India. The installed capacity of rotors in 2016 was 877,950. The cumulative shipments during 2008–2017 was 297,012, and the shipments for 2017 alone were 41,220. The installed capacity of long-staple spindles in 2016 was 991,160. The cumulative shipments during 2008–2017 was 27,114, and the shipments for 2017 alone were 1,344. The installed capacity of short-staple spindles in 2016 was 52,537,816. The cumulative shipments during 2008–2017 was 21,163,112, and the shipments for 2017 alone were 1,897,248.
