Nonwovens production grows in China

Chinese domestic production of nonwoven fabrics for disposable and durable uses reached 667,600 tons in 2008, and a new report from the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) projects that amount to reach 1.1 million tons by 2013. INDA’s 66-page report, “China Nonwoven Industry Outlook, Trends and Forecast,” focuses on nonwoven markets, sales in major nonwoven segments (the medical market is actively exporting 60-70 percent of its disposable surgical products to the U.S.) and consumption by the Chinese. “The country’s nonwoven industry over the past five years expanded an average of 17 percent per year,” says Ian Butler, INDA’s director of market research.