The 7th ITMF Corona Survey brings some cheer to the textile industry. The survey reveals the turnover of global textile companies declined 9 per cent in 2020. However, this decline is significantly better than the expected drop of 33 per cent in 3rd survey conducted at the peak of Corona wave in April 2020. The 7th ITMF survey was conducted from January 25 to March 10, 2021 among ITMF members and affiliated companies and associations. It polled around 196 companies from across the world.

The survey termed year 2020 to be one of the worst for global textile and apparel industry. However, compared to what was expected in 6th ITMF Corona Survey done between November 20 and December 14, 2020, the actual turnover for 2020 improved by 3 percentage points from -12 per cent to -9 per cent.

Highest decline in textile chemicals

The survey shows, the pandemic impacted the entire textile value chain including producers of textile machinery. All segments were impacted to a certain degree. The textile chemicals segment declined 20 per cent while the weaving/knitting machinery segment declined 15 per cent.

Finishing/printing machinery segment was the third largest loser with a 13 per cent decline. The nonwoven segment witnessed a zero per cent decline while the fiber segment recording 10 per cent growth. These two segments benefitted from the extraordinary demand for masks during 2020, which compensated for their loss in other areas like automotive or apparel.

Africa to emerge biggest gainer

Regionwise, Africa seems to be biggest gainer with textile turnover increasing almost 31 per cent from 2021-2024. The turnovers of South America and South East Asia are expected to increase by 21 per cent while that of North America is expected to increase 16 per cent. Europe and South East Asia are expected to record lowest turnovers with only 12 and 5 per cent increase by 2024.

An international forum for the world's textile industries, The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) keeps members across the world constantly informed through surveys, studies and publications, participating in the evolution of the industry's value chain and through the organization of annual conferences as well as publishing considered opinions on future trends and international developments.