In 2024, global shipments of new short-staple spindles and open-end rotors decreased by -40% and -39%, respectively (year-on-year). Deliveries of long-staple spindles increased by +62%. The number of draw-texturing spindles improved by +77% and shipped shuttle-less looms grew by +32%. Shipments of large circular knitting machines deteriorated by -15% and shipped flat knitting machines registered a 16%-increase. The sum of all deliveries in the finishing segment slightly rose by +6%.
These are the main results of the 47th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting, and finishing. A summary of the findings for each category is presented below. The 2024 survey has been compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production.
Spinning Machinery
The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by 3.8 million units in 2024 to a level of 5.92 million. Most of the new shipments went to Asia & Oceania (90%) where deliveries decreased by -36% compared to 2023. Shipment to Africa, Europe (incl. Türkiye), North and Central America decreased by -64%, -56%, and -90%, respectively.
Deliveries only increased for destinations in South America (+1.7% to 82.6 thousand) and Easter Europe (+12% to 10.5 thousand). The six largest investors in the short-staple segment were China, India, Türkiye, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Indonesia.
623 thousand open-end rotors were shipped worldwide in 2024. This represents about 390 thousand units less than recorded in 2023. 89% of global shipments went to Asia & Oceania where deliveries decreased by -35% to 557 thousand. China, India, and Türkiye were the world’s 3 largest investors in rotors but saw investments drop by -32%, -57% and -56%, respectively. Deliveries decreased in all major destination countries except for Vietnam and Bangladesh, the 4th and 6th largest destinations in 2024, where shipment rose by +214% and +44% compared to 2023.
Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles increased to 600 thousand unit in 2024 (+60%). This positive effect was driven by a rise in deliveries to Asia and Oceania and Eastern Europe where 138 and 15 thousand units were shipped, respectively. 40% of total deliveries were shipped to Iran, 30% to China, and 13% to Vietnam.
Texturing Machinery
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) increased by +95% from nearly 43 thousand units in 2023 to 84 thousand units in 2024. With a share of 98.5%, Asia & Oceania remained the strongest destination for single heater draw-texturing spindles in 2024. China, Vietnam, and India were the 3 main investors in this segment with shares of global deliveries of 95%, 1.01%, and 0.97%, respectively.
In the category of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments), global shipments increased by +80% to a level of 960 thousand units. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments increased to 98% and China continued to be the world’s largest investor, accounting for 95% of global shipments.
Weaving Machinery
In 2024, global shipments of shuttle-less looms increased by +32% to 226 thousand units. Deliveries in the categories “air-jet” and “water-jet” grew by +10% and +56% to 58 and 143 thousand looms, respectively. The number of “rapier and projectile” looms dropped by -7% to 25 thousand units. The main destination for shuttle-less looms was Asia & Oceania with 97% of worldwide deliveries. 97%, 87%, and 99% of global air-jet, rapier/projectile, and water-jet looms were shipped to the region, respectively. The main investor in all loom categories was China where shipment grew by 30% (air-jet), 38% (rapier and projectile) and 63% (water-jet).
Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines decreased by -15% to 28 thousand units in 2024. Asia & Oceania was the world’s leading investor in this category with 81% of global shipments. China was the favoured destination with 45% of all deliveries (10’786 units), a decrease of -42% compared to 2023. India and Vietnam ranked second and third destinations with 3’899 and 2’559 shipped units, respectively.
The number of shipped electronic flat knitting machines increased by +16% to 135 thousand machines in 2024. The growth was driven by Asia & Oceania which received 96% of world shipments. Deliveries to all other regions decreased. China remained the world’s largest investor with an 82%-share of total shipments.
Finishing Machinery
In the “fabrics continuous” segment, the number of shipped stenters increased by +22% from 1’833 units in 2023 to 2’230 units in 2024. This number includes an estimate for the total number of stenters shipped by companies which have not participated to the ITMF survey. Participating companies reported mixed results for all other machines in this category (between a decrease of -53% for Dyeing – Line, CPB and an increase of +390% for Dyeing – Line, Hotflue). In the “fabrics discontinuous” segment, the number of “jigger dyeing / beam dyeing” shipped in 2024 dropped by -44% to 371 units. Deliveries of “air jet dyeing” and “overflow dyeing” rose by +18% to 907 units and 5% to 2’221 units, respectively.
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