Chemical Fibres in Global and Russian Markets in 2012

The global textile fibre market in 2012 reached 85.8 million tons, surpassing the 2011 level by 4.5%. The output of chemical fibres rose by 6% to 56 million tons, including synthetic fibres by 5.6%. Amongst the latter, polyester fibres (PEF) occupy the leading place. Their production in 2012 reached 41.4 million tons, rising above the preceding year by 6.1%, including textile and technical yarns by 9 and 2%, respectively. The output of cellulose fibres grew for the first time by 10.2% to the 5.2 million ton level, including viscose staple fibre by 13%. The global chemical fibre production structure is dominated by PEF (74%), followed by cellulose (9%), polyamide (7%), polypropylene (5%), and polyacrylonitrile (4%). Spandex, aramid, carbon, and others constitute 1%. In regional term, China is the unchallenged ruler - 65% of global chemical fibre production is concentrated in this country, followed far behind by India and the USA (5% each), Taiwan (4%), and South Korea (3%). The remaining countries account for 18%. The situation with chemical fibres in Russia is as gloomy as before. The demand for them exceeds consumption on average by 6% and production by 62% and is made good by import. On the whole, chemical fibre production in the country rose by 2.7% to 140,000 tons, which is extremely low compared to the pre-restructuring time. The demand and import fell relative to 2011 by 3.0 and 3.5%, respectively. The growth of production of acetate tow, PEF staple fibre, spunbond, and a whole range of polypropylene products in this period can be considered positive.