China continues to be the largest investor in new textile machinery, according to 47th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).
The 2024 survey was compiled in cooperation with more than 200 global textile machinery manufacturers. The report covers six segments of textile machinery: spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting, and finishing.
Overall, ITMF said global textile machinery shipments show mixed performance in 2024.
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In spinning, deliveries of short-staple spindles and open-end rotors slowed. The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by 3.8 million units in 2024 to a level of 5.92 million. Though Asia and Oceania claimed 90 percent of the shipments, deliveries were down 36 percent compared to 2023. Shipment to Africa, Europe, North and Central America saw double-digit increases.
South America and Eastern Europe were outliers of the downward trend, where shipments increased 1.7 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.
Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles increased to 600,000 units in 2024, driven by a rise in deliveries to Asia and Oceania and Eastern Europe
Global shipments of shuttle-less looms increased by 32 percent to 226,000 units. Deliveries in the categories “air-jet” and “water-jet” grew by 10 percent and 56 percent, respectively. The number of “rapier and projectile” looms declined 7 percent 25,000 units.
Asia and Oceania was the main destination for shuttle-less looms with 97 percent of worldwide deliveries. The main investor in all loom categories was China where shipment grew.
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines decreased 15 percent to 28,000 units in 2024. However, the number of shipped electronic flat knitting machines increased 16 percent. Asia and Oceania was the world’s leading investor in circular and flat knitting machinery.
ITMF noted mixed results in the finishing category. Participating companies reported a 53 percent decrease for dyeing for Dyeing – Line, CPB and a 390 percent for Dyeing – Line, Hotflue.
The number of “jigger dyeing beam dyeing” shipped in 2024 decreased 44 percent to 371 units. Deliveries of “air jet dyeing” and “overflow dyeing” rose 18 and 5 percent, respectively.
The texturing machinery category saw the largest gains. Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles, which are mainly used for polyamide filaments, increased 95 percent from nearly 43,000 units in 2023 to 84,000 units in 2024. China, Vietnam, and India were the 3 main investors in this segment.
Deliveries of double heater draw-texturing spindles, which are mainly used for polyester filaments, grew 80 percent, with 95 percent going to China.
