The production of nonwovens in Europe grew by around 6.5% last year reaching a total of 1,494,000 tonnes, according to new figures released by industry association Edana.
This compares with 1,403,000 tonnes in 2005 when the annual growth was 5%.
According to an estimate, based on the same sample of companies in 2005 and 2006, the average price of nonwovens appears to have increased by almost 3% from ？3.33 to ？3.43 per kg. As a result, the total turnover of the European nonwovens industry in 2006 is estimated at around ？5.124 million.
Diverging trends are affecting the various bonding processes of drylaid nonwovens.
"Growth in the hydroentanglement process was still substantial last year at more than 6%, but it is actually the needling process that has recorded the highest apparent growth at 13.8 %," said Edana general manager Pierre Wiertz.
Polymer-based (spunmelt) nonwovens also witnessed an impressive growth of over 10% in 2006. Airlaid production, compared to figures of 2005, has recorded a slight growth, mostly due to increase in deliveries to the hygiene sector.
The main end-use for nonwovens remains the hygiene market with a 33% share of deliveries, amounting to 497,900 tonnes. This grew by 5.4% in 2006.
The most significant growth areas for nonwovens in 2006 were garments, up 14.4 % - mostly protective clothing - and wipes for personal care up 13.8 %, followed by liquid filtration (12.2%) and geotextiles (11.4%) – a diversity which perfectly illustrates the on-going growth and innovative uses of nonwovens even in a maturing market like Europe.
Polypropylene, either in fibre or granule form, continues to be the most important polymer used in the European nonwovens industry, accounting for 766,200 tonnes - 48.4% of the total fibre and polymer chip consumption - but wood pulp has retained the highest growth (12.1%).
In 2006 the positive EU balance of exports and imports of nonwovens roll goods also increased. EU27 Member States altogether exported 215,554 tonnes of nonwovens (compared to 193,716 tonnes in 2005) at a value of almost ？928 million, which represents an 11.3% increase in volume and 14.4% in value compared to the previous year.
In addition the positive balance of trade in nonwovens (almost ？0.4 billion) contributed, by more than 30%, to the trade surplus of the EU textiles sector.
