Overall shipments of new textile machinery down in 2013

In 2013, shipments fell in most segments though remained on a relatively high level. In comparison to 2012 global shipments of new short-staple spindles rose by 10 per cent while those of open-end rotors decreased slightly by 2 per cent and those of long-staple spindles dropped by 45 per cent. Also the number of new draw-texturing spindles shipped was down by 29 per cent, those of new shuttleless looms by 4 per cent,and those of new electronic flat-knitting machines by 24 per cent. Worldwide shipments of new large circular knitting machines in 2013 remained unchanged on the record level of 2012.

These are the main results of the 36th 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 machinery. The 2013 survey has been compiled in cooperation with some 117 textile machinery manufacturers, representing a comprehensive measure of world production.

Spinning machinery
After shipments of new short-staple spindles plummeted in 2008 (33 per cent) and 2009 (17 per cent) they soared in 2010 (75 per cent) to pre-crisis levels and increased in 2011 by a further 15 per cent reaching 14.33 million, an all-time high. In 2012, shipments of short-staple spindles fell by 27 per cent to 10.51 million spindles but rose again in 2013 by 10 per cent to 11.56 million. About 93 per cent of all shipped short-staple spindles in 2013 were destined for Asia (10.72 million), with China alone absorbing 6.21 million or 54 per cent of global shipments, followed by India as distant second (2.19 million spindles or 19 per cent), Indonesia (757,000 or 6.6 per cent), Turkey (566,000 or 4.9 per cent) and Pakistan (546,000 or 4.7 per cent).

Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles dropped in 2013 by -45 per cent from 146,400 to 80,800. Europe was the main recipient (49,900 or 62 per cent), followed by Asia (28,950 or 36 per cent) and the Americas (1,900 or 2.4 per cent).

Texturing machinery
From 2010 to 2011 global shipments plummeted from 13,200 to only 1,824 (-86 per cent). In 2012 no shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) were recorded. In 2013 shipments reached 2,600 spindles of which 2,120 went to Asia (China 960, Chinese Taipei 840 and Thailand 320) and 480 to Europe, Others (Turkey).

In the segment of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) investments dropped from 717,760 to 505,080, a decline of 29 per cent. 90 per cent (or 455,640) of all shipments went to Asia. By far the biggest single investor in this type of draw-texturing machinery was again China where 366,480 new spindles or 73 per cent of global shipments were installed, followed by distant second Japan with 30,860 or 6.1 per cent, India with 21,640 or 4.3 per cent, Vietnam with 8,160 or 1.6 per cent, and Egypt with 7,920 or 1.6 per cent.

Weaving machinery
Worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms fell slightly in 2013 from 86,450 machines to 83,420, a fall of -4 per cent. The main reason for this development was a further decline in shipments of water-jet looms. After a skyrocketing jump of 537 per cent to 73,250 in 2010 and to 112,930 in 2011, which was partially due to the fact that more weaving machinery manufacturers reported for the first time in 2010, global deliveries of water-jet shuttleless looms dropped by 65 per cent to 39,920 machines in 2012 and by 13 per cent to 34,580 in 2013. In the shuttleless loom segment of rapier/projectile looms shipments increased marginally from 23,250 in 2012 to 23,830 in 2013, an increase of 2.5 per cent. Also deliveries of shuttleless ai