With the economic growth, people's demand for non-woven fabrics is increasing, and the production of non-woven fabrics in our country is also developing rapidly. Especially in recent years, the non-woven equipment and production capacity mainly based on spunbond, spunlace and hot air technology have increased rapidly.
According to the forecast, in the next five years, the annual production of non-woven fabrics will still maintain a growth rate of 6% - 10%, and the annual production of non-woven fabrics will exceed 8 million tons by 2023. However, many non-woven manufacturing entrepreneurs lament that the market demand fails to grow in pace with the production capacity, which leads to price competition and equipment shutdown. With the upgrading of equipment and the improvement of R & D capability, non-woven enterprises should not only produce more high-quality, high-grade and high-grade products, but also look at the world and open up a broader market to further develop the non-woven industry.
Next, I will provide some data analysis for some major non-woven markets, hoping to help the decision-making of enterprise development.
According to the analysis of Smithers Pira's latest market research report, the global spunbond non-woven market is estimated to be worth US $12.7 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach US $18.3 billion by 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.6% from 2018 to 2023. Compared with other non-woven fabrics, spunbonded non-woven fabrics are more and more popular, and their use in the medical field is also growing. The high demand for polypropylene spunbonded non-woven fabrics is the key factor to promote the growth of the market. The high cost of the final product may affect the pricing structure of the intermediate industry, and the stagnant growth of baby diapers in the mature market has become a key constraint for the growth of spunbond non-woven fabrics in the western market.
In 2018, disposable products accounted for a large share of the spunbond non-woven market. Polypropylene is still the largest proportion of materials in the spunbond non-woven market. Compared with other raw materials, one of the main advantages of polypropylene is its economy and output, which makes it a preferred material, especially for disposable products, such as adult incontinence products, baby diapers and sanitary napkins. Most of this market share is due to the cost-effectiveness of materials and the key functional characteristics that make them the first choice. At the same time, many enterprises are carrying out extensive research and development to improve the biodegradability of disposable spunbond products, such as PLA spunbond because of its known biodegradability and biocompatibility.
It is expected that the Asia Pacific region will lead the growth of the global spunbond market, which is mainly driven by the increase of disposable income and consumption of disposable products. The forecast shows that the market of spunbond nonwovens in the Asia Pacific region will grow at a very high compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2023, which is mainly due to the high demand for spunbond nonwovens from China, Japan, India and South Korea.
In 2019, the global demand for spunlaced nonwovens is expected to reach 1.38 million tons, or 31.1 billion square meters, worth 6.2 billion US dollars. In the face of the new application demand of wiping products and technological innovation, spunlaced nonwovens have seen high growth and high profit margin in recent years. This trend will continue to 2024, but it will also face new challenges including overcapacity.
According to in-depth research from Smithers Pira, in 2024, sustained demand will drive the composite annual growth rate of global consumption of spunlaced nonwovens to reach 7.9%, 2.01 million tons. Future profitability will also depend on the ongoing development of existing spunlace processes and the implementation of new production technologies to meet the requirements of end users and the market.
In 2018, the global consumption of wet spun nonwovens produced by wet laid or DRC processes was 460900 tons, equivalent to 11.3 billion square meters and 1.3 billion US dollars. By 2023, the annual growth rate of tonnage will reach 5.0%, the annual growth rate of square meter consumption will be 5.4%, and the annual growth rate of consumption amount will be 5.6%. As the value increases per ton and per square meter - more 'high value' special products such as battery partitions and wall coverings are created.
On the whole, the market demand for non-woven fabrics is still growing, but the requirements for product performance and innovative applications are also rising. When enterprises increase equipment investment and production capacity, they also need to be closer to the market demand and growth point, layout the global market, so as to avoid being trapped in the dilemma of overcapacity.