According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the industrial value-added growth rate of technical textiles reached 33.8% from January to April 2020, seeing a year-on-year increase of 26.1 percentage points, and a month-on-month increase of 22.3 percentage points. Enterprises above the designated size achieved CNY 75.21 billion of operating revenue, up 3.66% year-on-year. Their profit totaled about CNY 7.02 billion, ballooned by 116.71% year-on-year; their operating revenue rate reached 9.33%, up 4.87 percentage points. Among them, the output of nonwovens enterprises above the designated size increased by 2.34%; their business income grew by 19.30%; their total profit skyrocketed by 254.62%; and their operating profit rate reached 13.22%, increased by 8.77 percentage points. The operating revenue and total profit of filtration, medical, transportation, and protection technical textile enterprises grew by 2.48% and 31.01% respectively, and their operating profit rate was 7.12%, increased by 1.55 percentage points. While the business income of twine & rope (cable), ribbon & cord fabrics, and awnings, decreased by 5.84%, 22.03% and 17.62% respectively, and their total profit declined by 2.74%, 52.4% and 21.03% respectively. The pandemic took a heavy toll on these fields.

According to General Administration for Customs, from January to April 2020, China exported about US$ 17.26 billion worth of technical textiles, surged by 79.62% year-on-year; and the imports of technical textiles totaled US$3.23 billion, up 51.09% year-on-year. Among the main exported products, the exports of surgical masks and medical protective clothing ballooned by 986.36% and 565.6% respectively, and the exports of nonwovens, diaper & sanitary napkin and industrial glass fiber products increased by 3.32%, 1.58% and 3.98% respectively. While the exports of industrial coated fabrics, awnings, packaging and cord fabrics decreased by 13.01%, 20.12%, 24.05% and 16.68% respectively. And the imports of surgical masks and medical protective clothing reached US$ 861 million and US$ 274 million, respectively; and the imports of nonwovens were US$ 350 million, seeing a year-on-year increase of 26.46%.

Surgical masks, medical protective clothing, antiseptic wipes and their related raw materials all belong to technical textiles. Due to the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic, the global demand for the above products increased dramatically, and the production capacity of China’s meltblown nonwovens expanded rapidly. The production and sales of the above-mentioned products surged significantly, which improving the enterprise’s economic benefits significantly, and driving the rapid growth of the entire technical textile industry. At present, the demand peak for antiseptic supplies has passed, and the anti-epidemic industrial chain will face in-depth adjustments. Enterprises should rationally view the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on the development of the textile industry, actively carry out structural adjustment and fundamental capacity building, so as to respond to the fluctuations caused by the sharp drop in demand after the pandemic, and ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the textile industry.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express