Business situation is relatively good in the global textile industry and is expected to improve in six months’ time. Differences between regions and segments persist.
In September 2021, the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has conducted the 10th ITMF Corona-Survey among companies around the world in all segments of the textile value chain.
The latest results reveal that the business situation is mostly positive. The balance between the share of respondents finding themselves in a “good” and a “poor” business situation has reached +10 percentage points (pp) in September 2021 after +5 pp in July and +14pp in May 2021 (see graph 1).
The business expectations in six months’ time remain on a relatively high level. 48% of respondents expect improvement by March 2022 and 13% foresee gloomy days. The net effect is a positive balance of +35 pp (48% minus 13%).
Upstream segments have been faring somewhat better than downstream ones since the recovery is underway, but the latter seem to be catching up. It appears that supply chain disruptions are the leading cause for this effect as delays in the supply of raw and intermediate materials accumulate down the value chain.
Furthermore, order intake has increased significantly in September on a global level compared to May and July 2021 and companies anticipate a further increase in the next six months. Respondents report stable order backlog on average (around 2.4 months) but differences between regions and segments remain.
