Non-woven fabrics (polypropylene, polyester and viscose)

According to statistics, the consumption of non-woven fabrics worldwide has reached 2.4 million tons in 1998. In 1970, its consumption was only 400,000 tons. By 2007, its consumption is expected to reach 4 million tons.
Producers of nonwovens are mainly concentrated in the United States (41% of the world), Western Europe accounts for 30%, Japan accounts for 8%, China's output only accounts for 3.5% of the world, and its consumption is 17.5% of the world . It is estimated that by 2007, China's production will reach 7% of the world's production, and its consumption will increase to 21% of the world's consumption.
At present, man-made fibers still dominate the production of non-woven fabrics, and before 2007, this situation will not be greatly changed. 63% of the fibers used in non-woven fabric production worldwide are polypropylene, 23% polyester, 8% viscose, 2% acrylic fiber, 1.5% polyamide, and the remaining 3% are other fiber.
In recent years, non-woven fabrics have seen a significant increase in the use of sanitary absorbent materials, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, and footwear textile materials.
The production and consumption of global non-woven fabrics was 800,000 tons in 1983. It increased to 1.1 million tons in 1985 and 1.4 million tons in 1988. By 1998, the global non-woven fabric consumption reached 2.4 million tons. It is expected that by 2005, its consumption will reach 3.7 million tons.
The consumption of man-made fibers for various textiles was 16.9 million tons in 1983, increased to 20.4 million tons in 1988, and reached 30.4 million tons in 1998. It is expected that by 2005, the consumption of artificial fibers will be 37 million tons. The year can reach 38.3 million tons.
It is estimated that by 2005, the growth rate of the consumption of man-made fibers in the production of non-woven fabrics will reach 10%, and by 2007 it will reach 10.4%. Part of the reason that led to the non-woven industry's consumption growth is so fast is the increase of auxiliary industries in China, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
Factors affecting the growth rate All factors that affect the growth of man-made fibers can have a greater or lesser impact on textiles made from man-made fibers, with nonwovens having the greatest impact.
Population growth factors have less impact on nonwovens than other textiles used in apparel. However, if the importance of non-woven fabrics in baby diapers is taken into account, population growth is also an important factor.
The partial substitution of natural fibers has a greater impact on textiles, but has little effect on nonwovens because the production of nonwovens is essentially dependent on man-made fibers.
The commercial development of man-made fibers and the professional application of non-woven fabrics: As a result of the establishment of an international economic treaty, the trade in microfibers, composite fibers, biodegradable fibers and new polyester fibers has grown. This has a great influence on non-woven fabrics, but it has little impact on apparel and knitted textiles.
Replace textiles and other supplies: This includes substitution by non-woven textiles, knitted textiles, plastic films, polyurea foam, wood pulp, leather, etc. This is determined by the cost and performance requirements of the product.
The introduction of new, more economical and more efficient production processes: the application of various articles made of polymers, the application of competitive new non-woven fabrics, the introduction of specialty fibers and non-woven textile additives.
The three major fibers used in nonwovens production are polypropylene (62% of total), polyester (24% of total) and viscose (8% of total). Between 1970 and 1985, viscose fibers were most used in nonwovens production. However, in the recent five years, the use of polypropylene fibers and polyester fibers has begun to dominate in the fields of sanitary absorbent materials and medical textiles. In the early years of non-woven production, the amount of nylon was very large. From 1998, the use of acrylic fiber began to increase, especially in the area of ​​artificial leather manufacturing.