The US market for textile chemicals is projected to surpass $2.6 billion by 2020. Presently, home textiles segment accounts for the largest share in the country´s textile chemicals market, followed by technical textiles and apparels. Introduction of new technical textile products and rapidly rising awareness about the benefits of using technical textiles in work places is expected to drive the market through 2020. Accounting for over three-fourths of the overall textile chemical sales in the country, Northeast and Southeast regions are expected to continue their dominance over the next five years.
Textile chemicals are used to impart desired properties such as strength, colour, flame protection, etc. to fabric. These chemicals are broadly divided in two categories: auxiliaries and colorants. Textile auxiliaries are the chemicals used during each and every step of textile manufacturing process so as to provide certain characteristics to fabric, whereas colorants are used to impart color to the textile products. Since 1990, the consumption of domestically manufactured textile products in the US has been declining owing to the increase in imports of cheaper products.