Shipments in some of the textile machinery segments registered declines in 2015. Deliveries of new short-staple spindles fell by nearly eight per cent from 2014 to 2015. Shipped long-staple spindles and open-end rotors decreased by 61 per cent and six per cent respectively. The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles fell by 26 per cent and shipments for new circular knitting machines by six per cent year-on-year. In contrast, deliveries of shuttle-less looms increased by 14 per cent in 2015 and shipments of flat-knitting machines rose by 52 per cent.
These are the main points revealed in the 38th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery – spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. The 2015 survey has been compiled in co-operation with over 140 textile machinery manufacturers, representing a comprehensive measure of world production. This number does not include the numerous Chinese companies that are represented by the so-called “District”.
Spinning machinery
Shipments of new short-staple spindles fell by nearly eight per cent year-on-year in 2015, the second decrease in a row. The level of short staple spindles declined to about nine million spindles, the lowest level since 2009. Most of the new short staple spindles (92 per cent) were shipped to Asia, whereby shipments fell by seven per cent year-on-year. Thus China, the world’s largest investor of short-staple spindles, experienced a decline of 26 per cent, whereas delieveries to Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam rose by 97 per cent, four per cent and 31 per cent respectively. All of the five largest investors for short-staple spindles in 2015 originate from Asia – China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles decreased sharply by 61 per cent from around 138,000 in 2014 to nearly 54,000 in 2015. Deliveries to Turkey, one of the main investors of long-staple spindles in the last few years, fell by 83 per cent from 67,000 in 2014 to over 11,000 spindles in 2015. The majority of long-staple spindles (58 per cent) were shipped to Asia. Nearly 41 per cent of long-staple spindles had Europe as destination. In 2015, Iran was the largest investor with 14,200 spindles, followed by China with over 13,000 spindles.
Shipments of open-end rotors fell by six per cent to a level over 383,000 rotors in 2015. About 81 per cent of worldwide shipments of open-end rotors were destined for Asia. Thereby, deliveries to Asia increased moderately by over two per cent to nearly 312,000 rotors. In contrast, regions such as North America and Western Europe recorded annual percentage declines of 47 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. Shipments to China, the world’s largest investor of open-end rotors, increased massively by around 66 per cent in 2015. The world’s second and third largest investors in 2015 were India and the US.
Texturing machinery
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) fell by nearly 82 per cent from over 6,500 in 2014 to nearly 1,200 in 2015. With 65 per cent Asia is the region where most of the single heater draw-texturing spindles were shipped to, followed by Eastern Europe with 32 per cent and South America with nearly three per cent.
In the segment of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) the downward trend continued and global shipments fell by 25 per cent on an annual basis to over 322,000 spindles. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments amounted to close to 81 per cent. Thereby, China remained the largest investor accounting for 57 per cent of global shipments.
Weaving machinery
In 2015, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms expanded by 14 per cent to nearly 82,000 units. Shipments of water-jet and rapier/projectile shuttle-less looms increased by 24 per cent to nearly 30,000 looms and by 17 per cent to close to 32,000. In contrast, the deliveries of air-jet looms fell by over one per cent to a level of 20,000 units.
Not surprisingly, the main destination of shipments of all shuttle-less looms (air-jet, water-jet and rapier/projectile) in 2015 was Asia with 93 per cent of worldwide deliveries, of which 39 per cent were water-jet looms and 37 per cent rapier/projectile looms. In Europe and North America 75 per cent and 25 per cent of shipments were for rapier/projectile looms, while the share of water-jet looms was only eight per cent and two per cent respectively.
Circular & flat knitting machinery
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines fell by six per cent to a level of 26,700 units in 2015. Also for this category Asia is the world’s leading investor. Almost 90 per cent of all circular knitting machines were shipped to Asia in 2015. With 53 per cent of worldwide deliveries China is the single largest investor. India and Bangladesh rank second and third, with 6,500 units and 3,100 units respectively.
The year 2015 was very good for the segment of electronic flat knitting machines as global shipments grew by 52 per cent to 70,100 machines, the highest level since 2011. Not surprisingly, Asia received the highest share of shipments (93 per cent). China remained the world’s largest investor for flat knitting machines in 2015. Its investments increased from 19,000 units to 35,500 units.
