With the economic growth, people's demand for non-woven fabrics is increasing, and the production of non-woven fabrics in China has also developed rapidly. Especially in recent years, non-woven equipment and production capacity, mainly spunbonded, Spunlaced and hot air technology, have increased rapidly.

According to the forecast, in the next five years, the annual output of non-woven fabrics will still maintain a growth rate of 6% - 10%, and will exceed 6.8 million tons by 2023. However, many non-woven manufacturing entrepreneurs lament that market demand has not kept pace with capacity growth, and excess capacity has led to price competition and equipment shutdown. With the upgrade of equipment and the improvement of R&D capability, non-woven enterprises should not only produce more high-quality, high-specification and high-grade products, but also look around the world and open up a broader market to further develop the non-woven industry.

Next, I will provide some data analysis for some major non-woven market, hoping to help the decision-making of enterprise development.

According to Smithers Pira's latest market research report, the global spunbonded nonwovens market is estimated to be worth 12.7 billion US dollars in 2018, expected to reach 18.3 billion US dollars by 2023, and the compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2023 is 7.6%. Compared with other non-woven fabrics, spunbonded non-woven fabrics are becoming more and more popular, and their use in the medical field is also increasing. The high demand for polypropylene spunbonded non-woven fabrics is the key factor to promote the growth of the market. The high cost of the final product may affect the pricing structure of the intermediate industry, and the stagnant growth of baby diapers in the mature market has become a key constraint for the growth of spunbonded nonwovens in the western market.

 In 2018, disposable products accounted for a larger share of the spunbonded nonwovens market. Polypropylene still occupies the largest proportion of materials in the spunbonded nonwovens market. Compared with other raw materials, one of the main advantages of polypropylene is its economy and output, which makes it a preferred material, especially for disposable products, such as adult incontinence products, baby diapers and sanitary napkins. The acquisition of most of this market share is attributed to the costeffectiveness of materials and their key functional characteristics as the preferred materials. At the same time, many enterprises are carrying out extensive research and development to improve the biodegradability of disposable spunbonded nonwovens, such as polylactic acid spunbonded nonwovens because of its known biodegradability and biocompatibility.

The AsiaPacific region is expected to lead the growth of the global spunbonded nonwovens market, which is mainly driven by the increase of disposable income and consumption of disposable products. The forecast shows that the Spunbonded Nonwovens Market in the Asia-Pacific region will grow at a very high compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2023, which is mainly attributed to the high demand for spunbonded nonwovens from China, Japan, India and Korea.

In 2019, the global demand for spunlaced nonwovens is expected to reach 1.38 million tons, or 31.1 billion square meters, with a value of 6.2 billion US dollars. Spunlaced nonwovens face the new application demand of wiping products and technological innovation. In recent years, there has been high growth and high profit margin. This trend will continue until 2024, but it will also face new challenges including overcapacity.

According to indepth research from Smithers Pira, sustained demand will boost global spunlaced nonwovens consumption to a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% and 2.01 million tons in 2024. Future profitability will also depend on the ongoing development of existing spunlace processes and the implementation of new production technologies to meet the requirements of end users and the market.

Wet nonwoven fabrics produced by wet netting or DRC processes consumed 460,900 tons worldwide in 2018, equivalent to 11.3 billion square meters and 1.3 billion US dollars. By 2023, the annual growth rate of tonnage will reach 5.0%, the annual growth rate of consumption per square meter will be 5.4%, and the annual growth rate of consumption amount will be 5.6%. As the value per ton and per square metre increases - more "high value" special products such as battery partitions and wall cloths are created.

Overall, the market demand for nonwoven fabrics is still growing, but the demand for product performance and innovative applications is also rising. While increasing equipment investment and production capacity, enterprises should be closer to market demand and growth point, and layout the global market in order to avoid falling into the predicament of overcapacity. 

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