Polyester is now one of the most commonly used fibres in the global textile and apparel industry, accounting for more than half of the overall fibre used worldwide. The global market was valued at $73.5 billion in 2014 and is expected to surpass $115 billion by 2020, representing a CAGR of over 5 per cent over the five-year period, as reported by Zion Research.
Nearly 50 million tonnes of polyester fibres were produced last year. The annual rate of growth in global polyester production has been over 8 per cent during the last five years, well above the total fibre average of 4.9 per cent annually. Although the growth rate for global polyester market reduced to 4.8 per cent, with China slowing down to 6.5%, the overall growth is still stable and strong. The share of polyester fibres used in the global mills industry is estimated to reach over 57.4 per cent by 2020, meaning that the usage of polyester will be significantly more than the usage of cotton, cellulosic, wool and acrylic combined.
In India, cotton now represents 50 per cent share in the fibre market, followed by polyester with 40 per cent. However, the share of polyester is catching up quickly and is expected to reach 46 per cent, squeezing cotton down to 43 per cent of the country’s total fibre consumption by 2020. The market share of polyester is expected to increase to 53 per cent by 2030, while cotton will go down to 32 per cent, according to the report from Wazir Advisors. In the near future, the growth of the global polyester market is projected to slow down, mainly due to oil prices and industry overcapacity. In China, polyester production was estimated to be around 39 million tonnes, up by 4.7 per cent from the previous year, but production growth is expected to slow down to below 4 per cent in 2017-18 and capacity utilization is estimated to fall below 80 per cent.