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| Issue date:01/08/2008 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Aug 2008 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
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by Staff Reporters
The five-day ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 exhibition from July 27 to 31 in Shanghai witnessed a relatively reserved mood at the halls as a slowdown was felt in the global textile industry.
A total of 1,368 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions exhibited at the show, taking up 126,500 square meters gross in 11 halls. The net exhibiting space exceeds 73,000 square meters.
The exhibition witnessed some 80,000 visitors, a 150% increase from the previous ITMA Asia event held in Singapore in 2005. Of these visitors, over 20% were international buyers from 96 countries and regions, primarily from South and Southeast Asian countries. The top overseas visiting country is India, followed by Japan, Korea, Thailand, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
Gao Yong, President of China Textiles Machinery Association (CTMA), and Edward Roberts, President of the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (CEMATEX), both did not expect a quick return of strong demand from China.
While remaining the top export destination for world textile machinery, China is going through a period of change, under the effects of the macroeconomic control measures implemented by the Chinese government, the weakened US economy, the rising production and raw material costs, and so on. Some Chinese textile manufacturers have claimed that the industry was facing the most difficult phase in 10 years.
According to Mr Gao, China is transforming into a truly strong textile production country. At the same time, other countries in Asia are also moving fast to upgrade their textile industries.
"This is a new and critical stage for the Chinese textile industry, which needs to upgrade itself on all aspects, from industry structure to technology and brand building, in order to be competitive," he said.
Edward Roberts(left) and Gao Yong |
Textile machinery produced in China saw a decline in sales for the first time since 1995. CTMA recorded almost 20% drop in sales for the first five months of this year, along with a dramatic drop in profits (43%).
"I personally believe that the worst has yet to come. The situation may be even worse next year," Mr Gao warned.
Gao Yong, President of CTMA, admits the Chinese textile machinery industry must upgrade itself in order to stay competitive.
He said the impact of globalisation was being felt worldwide. "The world market has become transparent. 2008 is difficult and the trend may continue, but we should still be optimistic," he said.
Edward Roberts, President of CEMATEX, reckons that Asia is developing into a very important market for the global textile machinery industry.
CEMATEX decided to hold ITMA Asia as Asia gradually became an important market. Currently, China accounts for 50% of the global textile production value. Therefore, a decision was made in 2006 to hold the show in China, Mr Roberts said.
He expects that textile exports from Asia would continue to increase in the future.
European players deepen their roots in Asia market
Dr Paolo Banfi |
Textile machinery manufacturers from Europe confirmed the trend that more and more textile manufacturers in Asia are shifting to high performing machines in order to improve the quality of their products. This trend is expected to continue, with increasing number of European suppliers setting up local productions in Asia.
Italian textile machinery manufacturers made up one of the largest foreign delegations, with 170 exhibitors occupying an overall surface area of 7,000 square meters, among them 76 are exhibiting in the Italian Clusters organized by ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers), Italian Trade Commission – I.C.E. and Ministry for Economic Development.
The three Italian Clusters include spinning, weaving and finishing machinery pavilions.
Local plants to be built
Some 40 Swiss suppliers exhibited on an area of 5,300 square meters their expertise in spinning, texturing, weaving, embroidery, dyeing, printing and finishing as well as in control systems and environmental technology, which "will be both a yardstick and point of reference for today's textile industry," according to SWISSMEM, the umbrella group of Swiss textile machinery suppliers.
Dr Lukas Sigrist |
Dr Lukas Sigrist, secretary general of SWISSMEM, said that China had become not only one of the most important export markets for Swiss textile machinery manufacturers, but also the most attractive place to invest in local operations.
"Driven by the increasing global importance of China as a textile manufacturer and the desire to be closer to this market, Swiss textile machinery manufacturers were keen to establish their own operations in China and began to invest in local production or assembly lines," he said.
As major Swiss textile machinery manufacturers set up their own manufacturing or assembly plants in China, direct Swiss exports to China started to decrease after 2005, accounting for some 15% of worldwide exports.
Technical textiles coming up strong
Moreover, the sectors for technical textiles and nonwovens are growing continuously in Asia, the region will soon become a key production base for such products, according to Bruno Ameline, chairman of the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers' Association.
From Europe, French textile machinery manufacturers are also among the most important suppliers to Asia. Some 35 members of the UCMTF export more than 1 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) worth of machinery annually.
Nicolai Strauch (left), and Wen Bin, project manager for textile machinery, garment & leather technology |
Asia ranked second in export destination for French textile machinery industry, following Western Europe. Last year, 40% of the French textile machinery exports were supplied to Western Europe, compared with 35.7% to Asia, mostly the Far East.
On the other hand, China together with Hong Kong is the biggest market for French textile machinery, followed by Japan, Belgium and Turkey.
A number of German exhibitors, meanwhile, showed innovative systems featuring improved energy efficiency and a lower consumption of water to reduce costs of production.
"Today the share of energy supply is on the third place within the cost categories for textile production after raw materials and capital costs. This makes energy saving a major issue at the exhibition," said Nicolai Strauch, Public Relations of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association from Germany.
Next ITMA in Barcelona gives confidence to the Spanish textile industry
Carmina Castellà |
Fourteen Spanish companies exhibited at the show on a total exhibition area of 1,000 square meters, providing machinery and technologies for the fields of finishing, spinning, weaving, knitting and other sub-sectors in the textile industry.
"Asia is an important market for the Spanish industry, after Europe and Latin America," said Carmina Castell? Director of Amec Amtex, the Spanish Textile Machinery Association.
Ms Castellà explained that Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Central Americas were active buyers of Spanish textile machinery as US companies were investing there.
She was also delighted about the next ITMA being held in the Spanish city of Barcelona in 2011 – the first time in the history of the ITMA exhibition.
Asia’s crucial share in European textile machinery exports
Asia was the prime export market for many European textile machinery builders.
With a share worth 1.85 billion euros, more than half of the German textile machinery exports went to Asia and one billion euros of them was sold to China alone, according to VDMA, the German machinery association covering textile machinery.
In terms of market performance, Nicolai Strauch said that the exports of German textile machinery registered a slight increase during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2007, contrary to what would be expected due to the slowdown of the global textile industry. He said the exports early this year might reflect the orders made late last year, and a better look of the full-year performance might be seen by this September.
German textile machinery exports to Asia in 2007 (Source: VDMA) |
Italian textile machinery exports to Asia in 2007 (Source: ACIMIT) |
Italian textile machinery exports to Asia in first quarter of 2008 (Source: ACIMIT) |
The markets of the Swiss textile machinery shifted from Europe to Asia in recent years (Source: SWISSMEM) |
In spite of a downward trend of the global textile industry at the moment, Regnar Strauch, Director Export Marketing, the VDMA Textile Machinery Association observed that manufacturers equipped with higher performance machinery were less impacted, whereas the technical textile segment also performed stably, similar to last year.
Looking ahead, manufacturers in Asia would need more specialized products and invest in new technologies that offer them clean production, Regnar Strauch added.
For Italy, Asia by now represents over half of the world’s demand for textile machinery.
"Imports to Asia have reached a value of 8.6 billion euros, with China and India, Asia’s two largest markets, by themselves absorbing all of 32% of global imports for the industry," said Dr Paolo Banfi, President of ACIMIT.
Exports of Italian textile machinery to Asia last year represented 43% of total foreign sales of the sector, or overall revenues of 793 million euros. China is the major foreign destination for Italy’s textile machinery products, with India coming third.
According to Maurizio Forte, trade commissioner of I.C.E., over the first four months of this year, Italian manufacturers recorded a 4% growth in exports directed to Asia, compared with the same period in 2007. The increase in Italian exports to China was roughly 8%, and to India 4%.
Direct Swiss exports to China started to decrease after 2005, as major Swiss textile machinery manufacturers set up their own manufacturing or assembly plants in China. Consequently, the amount of produced-in-China Swiss machinery being supplied to the Chinese textile mills rose.
"Most companies expect this tendency to continue, as the quality of both the machines and after-sales services will continue to rise," said Dr Sigrist. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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