EDANA, the International Association Serving the Nonwovens and Related Industries recently disclosed the preliminary European annual statistics for 2013. This release offers a comprehensive picture of the Nonwovens industry in Greater Europe. According to the report, production of nonwovens in Europe grew by around 1.9% in 2013 to reach 2,037,400 tons (1,998,900 tons in 2012 when the annual growth was 1.5%). Despite these two low growth years, the average growth rate since 2009 has been nearly 5.2%.
Jacques Prigneaux, EDANA’s Market Analysis and Economic Affairs Director, stated that the growth in the Wetlaid nonwovens has been substantial, but it is actually the Hydroentanglement process that has recorded the highest apparent growth (+5.7%). The main end-use for nonwovens remains the hygiene market with a 32% share of deliveries, amounting to 645,700 tons (+1.9% ). The most significant growth areas for nonwovens in 2013 were in medical (+14.0%) and all types of filtration applications (+11.5 %), followed by all wipes together (+7.4% with a +12,4% specifically, in personal care wipes). Major declines were noticed in interlinings, coating substrates and artificial leather markets. Important durable sectors, such as in construction markets or agriculture, showed limited or negative growth. Sales to the Automotive interiors market continued to increase (+4.1% in 2013). Obviously, a more in-depth analysis will be necessary to draw any definitive conclusion, as diverging trends have been observed in different European countries, and between the various production processes of nonwovens.
