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Polyester fiber has the largest share and the highest demand growth among all natural and synthetic fibers because its physical properties fit to apparel use and its production cost is reasonably low. World demand for textile fibers (including cotton, silk, wool, synthetic fibers and cellulosic fibers) reached almost 72 million metric tons in 2006 and the polyester fiber market accounted for the majority, followed closely by cotton. During 2003–2006, world consumption of polyester fibers grew at an average annual rate of 7.5%. Future growth is also projected to remain high, at about 6.3% per year through 2011. The bulk of this growth is happening in China, where production has grown very rapidly, more than 20% per year during 2002–2006, and is forecast to continue to grow at double-digit rates over the next five to ten years.
China is not only the major world producer of polyester fibers, it is also the major consumer. China consumes fibers in a chain of textile weaving, dyeing and apparel-making industries, and then exports large amounts of finished goods, including apparel, curtains and bedding to all countries in the world. In Western Europe, Japan and the United States, the polyester fiber industry is undergoing a restructuring phase, with substantial decreases in both production and consumption. These countries are in fact facing severe competition from low-cost textiles and apparel imported from Asian countries (especially China) and are therefore gradually shifting their production toward higher-value-added fibers and to markets not yet considered to be import-sensitive.
Worldwide polyester fiber capacity continued to expand over the past five years, with Asian countries now accounting for the bulk of worldwide production capacity. However, not all Asian countries are significantly showing this growth. In China and India production is increasing very rapidly, whereas both the Republic of Korea and Taiwan have significantly reduced their output since 2000. Production is also declining in industrialized countries like the United States, Western Europe and Japan as well as in Latin America.
The following pie chart shows world capacity for polyester fibers by company:
During the last few years Asian companies have increased their presence. Sinopec (China), Formosa Plastics Group (Taiwan) and Reliance (India) have become the top three polyester fiber producers in the world, followed by the Tuntex Group (Thailand and Taiwan), INVISTA and Indo-Rama Synthetics (India). In September 2007, Reliance announced plans to acquire Hualon, which will make Reliance the major world producer by 2008.
This new situation reflects recent drastic changes in the polyester fiber business. Over the past thirty years, much of the world’s apparel business has shifted to the Asian countries because of their favorable wage rates for the labor-intensive, cut-and-sew operations of apparel manufacture. In particular, during the last decade China has been exporting large amounts of apparel, towels, curtains and sheets to almost all countries in the world, under a quota system agreed to by the World Trade Organization and referred to as the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA). |
