"The nonwoven industry is on a sustained growth momentum since last four decades and is a key constituent of the man-made fibre market. European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA), the international association, most recent summary of its annual statistic shows that, the overall production of nonwovens in Greater Europe grew by 3.3 per cent per cent in volume in 2016 to reach 2,395,098 tonnes despite an uncertain economic climate. EDANA has also previously estimated that the production of nonwovens in Greater Europe represents approximately 25 per cent of the worldwide market in 2014."

The nonwoven industry is on a sustained growth momentum since last four decades and is a key constituent of the man-made fibre market. European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA), the international association, most recent summary of its annual statistic shows that, the overall production of nonwovens in Greater Europe grew by 3.3 per cent per cent in volume in 2016 to reach 2,395,098 tonnes despite an uncertain economic climate. EDANA has also previously estimated that the production of nonwovens in Greater Europe represents approximately 25 per cent of the worldwide market in 2014.

Asian nonwoven market

Until the last decade, the nonwoven industry was primarily based in Europe, North America, and Japan. Now, nonwovens are produced on thousands of lines around the world. The nonwoven industry is now truly global and Asia is now the dominant nonwoven producing region, accounting for 42 percent of the world’s production in 2014. China accounts for a significant proportion (66 per cent) of the Asia volume and is now the most important nonwovens producer worldwide with production volume in 2014 estimated at 2.4 million tonnes and increasing gradually.

Nonwoven market in India

India’s nonwoven market is growing at a rate of 8-10 per cent. However, in the coming years, the continuous growth of India’s GDP, increasing purchasing power and India’s initiative in the economic development will give a boost to this field, and it is assumed that it would achieve a growth rate of 12-15 per cent. Now, the production of nonwoven in India is touching 190,000 tonnes. As per the expert report, the per capita nonwoven fabric consumption in India was 155 gm, which nearly reached to 350 gm by 2015 and likely to be 600 gm by 2020.

Bangladesh gaining stronghold

Currently, Bangladesh is rising as a significant player in nonwoven industry as it is being considered that the market is offering huge opportunities, which is a welcome sign for the nonwoven industry in Bangladesh. But against this large demand, there are only a few manufacturers who are producing nonwoven products. Hence, this large market is controlled by little number of countries. In that case, Bangladesh has large opportunity to capture this huge market by establishing a significant number of nonwoven fabric industries in Bangladesh.

The future

The global nonwovens market will grow to be worth $50.8 billion in 2020, up from a value of $37.4 billion in 2015, according to the latest exclusive research from Smithers Pira. Data shows that global consumption in 2015 was 9.0 million tonnes and this will increase at annual rate of 6.2 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively over the next few years with consumption scheduled to reach 12.1 million tonnes in 2020.

Globalisation will accelerate over the next decade, and global economic power will likely to shift eastward. Europe, Japan, and the US will experience a relatively slow growth, while Asian economies grow faster. Besides the global markets, low and middle-income countries are becoming the world’s largest consumer markets, the demand will likely to increase for all nonwoven products. One can expect a boom in construction nonwovens, as well as further growth of low-impact consumer and hygiene products.