Global Textile Chemicals

Description

Textile chemicals are chemical substances used at a particular stage of textile production right from pre-treatment to finishing of textile and hence, form an indispensable part of the textile industry. Textile chemicals are used in the manufacture of textile to attain the desired colour, appearance, texture and properties of the final product. The market for global textile chemicals is dominated by the home furnishing applications, followed by apparel, with increasing usage of textile chemicals in application segments like technical textiles, industrial, medical and construction textiles projected to power the demand for textile chemicals market over the forecast period.

Market Dynamics

Rising levels of income in both developing and developed economies, boosting demand for apparel, upholstery, household furnishings, and floor coverings will be one of the primary drivers of demand for textile chemicals market, with coating and sizing chemicals remaining the biggest product segment and finishing agents, imparting specific physical, functional and aesthetic properties to textiles expected to attain considerable gains.Rising demand for finishing chemicals, while generally not indispensable for the production of actual textiles, but allow garment makers and textile manufacturers to differentiate their product by offering enhancing properties to be imparted to the textile like Anti-microbial properties, wrinkle-free properties, stain-resistance, water-repelling properties, ultra-violet protection, flame retarding properties are also driving the global textile chemicals market. In General, global demand for finishing agents will be driven by the evolving consumer demand for comfortable and durable apparel resulting in additional emphasis on product quality. Growing demand for eco-friendly fabrics and apparel has spurred significant investments in R&D by several textile chemical vendors to develop chemicals and technologies that augment the sustainability of textile production. This has engendered the use of eco-friendly products as an agency of added-value amongst the manufacturers by distinguishing themselves from the rest by eco-labelling. Nanotechnology, which is currently driving and expected to drive innovation in apparel and home textiles respectively, allows the adjustment of fabric at molecular level, imparting additional properties without an increase in weight/thickness or stiffness has advanced new avenues of growth for textile chemicals, for instance titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles are being added to garments with increasing frequency to protect the skin from sun damage.Healthcare industry is set for fillip with increased government and per-capita spending on healthcare which in turn drives the demand for Meditech textiles, which consists of materials that are used in hygiene, health and personal care, as well as surgical applications. The demand for technical textiles is also fuelled by growing awareness, in developing economies about health and hygiene powering demand for healthcare products such as baby diapers and sanitary napkins that use technical textiles. Some of the factors inhibiting the growth of the global textiles market would be the growing environmental concern leading to stringent environmental regulation and other elements which inhibit manufacturing of textiles like issues concerning to labour, contaminated water and water shortages caused by an intensive fabric industry. While cotton and polyester remain the primary sources of the global apparel industry, owing to their sustainability issues, textile manufacturers, innovators and entrepreneurs are looking for sustainable alternatives (also known as bio-textiles) like banana and pineapple leaves, coconut husk, bamboo, milk, cork and even coffee groundsare in various stages of research and production as alternative raw materials from which to create textiles. Even though development of bio-textiles is at a very nascent stage, it can potentially disrupt the apparel and home textile industry, followed by other application segments and hence,

Market Segmentation

The global textile chemicals market can be segmented on the basis of application into
• Home furnishing
• Apparel Textile
• Industrial & Others

The market for global textile chemicals can also be segmented on the basis of product type into
• Finishing Agents
• Surfactants
• Coating and Sizing chemicals
• Colorants and Auxiliaries
• Desizing Agents
• Yarn Lubricants
• Bleaching Agents

It can also be segmented on the basis of geography into
• Americas
• EMEA
• Asia-Pacific

Regional/Geographic Analysis

Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific market for textile chemicals accounts for more than the total market size and is marked by rapid growth owing to the region’s rapidly growing population, burgeoning middle-class, increasing disposable incomes resulting from rising per-capita .incomeWith the emergence of Asia as a manufacturing hub, aided by the less stringent rules and regulations and cheap labour, for the global textile industry, the promising growth prospects of the textile industry in turn drives the demand for textile chemicals.

Americas
Increased consumer spending towards high quality products which present additional benefits/value like stain-resistance, soft-finish, wrinkle-free and antimicrobial properties is increasing in the US, Canada and Mexico which is expected to positively influence the market over the forecast period. Demand for technical textiles amongst the end-user industries like agriculture, healthcare, sports and environmental protection is also driving the textile chemicals market in the US.

EMEA
The European textile chemical market is driven by increasing demand from rapidly growing technical textile application segments like Geotextiles, Agrotech, Hometech, and Meditech etc.

Key Players
Some of the key players in the market include The Dow Chemical, Arkema, AkzoNobel, Huntsman, Lubrizol, Rudolf Chemie, DuPont, Lanxess, Solvay SA, Covestro AG, Pulcra Chemicals GmbH, OMNOVA Solutions Inc., The DyStar Group,Lonsen Inc. etc.