US witnessed a significant surge in the import of textile products and articles for technical uses in March 2023. The imports reached a volume of 6.6K tons, representing a remarkable 22% increase compared to the previous month, according to recent data. However, despite this surge, overall imports of technical textiles experienced a slight shrinkage during the same period.

In terms of value, the import of technical textiles reached an estimated $89 million in March 2023, as reported by IndexBox. Although imports showed a relatively flat trend pattern during the review period, the surge in volume indicates a positive market outlook for technical textiles in the United States.

The largest supplier of technical textiles to the United States in March 2023 was Mexico, accounting for an impressive 62% share of total imports. Mexico's imports of technical textiles exceeded those of China, the second-largest supplier, by a factor of six. India ranked third in terms of total imports, with a 5.3% share. Notably, the average monthly growth rate of volume from Mexico showed a slight decline of -1.5% from March 2022 to March 2023.

When considering the value of imports, Mexico also emerged as the largest supplier, constituting 32% of total imports. Canada held the second position with a 16% share, followed by Germany at 9.7%. Despite modest growth rates, Mexico remained a dominant player in terms of both volume and value, reflecting its strong presence in the U.S. technical textiles market.

Analyzing the types of technical textiles imported, textile products and articles for technical uses specified in note 7 to this chapter dominated the market, constituting 84% of total imports in March 2023. This category surpassed the second-largest type, textiles used for transmission or conveyor belts (521 tons), by more than tenfold. Textile hosepiping and similar textile tubing ranked third with a 7.1% share.

Import prices for technical textiles in March 2023 were reported at $13,479 per ton (CIF, US), representing a 2.8% increase from the previous month. Over the course of the previous twelve months, prices had grown at an average monthly rate of 1.1%. Notably, the most pronounced increase occurred in December 2022, with a 13% month-on-month growth that led to a peak import price of $13,975 per ton.

However, from January 2023 to March 2023, the average import prices failed to regain momentum.