Technical Textiles: The Growth Factor

The rise in the production of technical textiles and its use has been consistently on the rise this past decade. Samir Alam finds out the reasons why this segment of the industry is much in demand, at present and how manufacturers are innovating to stay strong in the race.

- Samir Alam

Technical textiles are largely in demand due to their performance-based attributes in addition to their basic functionality. Over the last 10 years, they have proven themselves to be far more versatile and conducive to innovation than regular textiles, mainly due to their superior functionality and unique physical properties. The significant investments made in their research and development has also allowed never-before, imagined uses and varieties of technical textiles to be manufactured further, endearing them to global industries. For these reasons and many others, the investment and demand for technical textile innovation are projected to reach higher in the coming years.

GLOBAL SHIFT

According to a report from Transparency Market Research, the global technical textile market is expected to go from USD 133 billion in 2012 to USD 160 billion in 2018. Another report by the Allied Market Research projects the total valuation of the global technical textile market to cross USD 244 billion by 2022. At present, polyester is the most preferred type of synthetic fibre in the textile industry, while cotton remains the king with the largest share of the market across natural textiles. However, projections for the next three years show that over 42.2 million tonnes of technical textiles are expected to be produced to meet the average demand of the market, rising at over 5 percent CAGR onwards.