CHINA: Fibre And Textile Firms Grow Fast In First Half

Despite reports of fibre and textile manufacturers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan reducing their production, producers in China are proving to be the exception to the trend, Woolmark reported last week.In the first half of 2000, according to JTN Weekly, Chinese textile and fibre production increased substantially in most textile and fibre sectors, the highlight of which was a 16.9 per cent year on year growth for man-made fibres. The article based on information from the Chinese State Industry Bureau also indicates that synthetic fibre production reached 2.9 million tons in the first six months of 2000, an increase of 16.4 per cent compared to the first half of 1999. In a further split, nylon fibre grew by 6.5 per cent to just under 170,000 tons and polyester fibre rose to 2.36 million tons, a 16.3 per cent increase. However the largest leap in percentage terms was acrylic fibre for which production has grown by 27.7 per cent compared to 1999, reaching 226,666 tons.Further down the pipeline, cotton and wool fabrics have also had a good start to 2000. Compared to the same period in 1999, cotton fabric and cotton blend fabric production jumped 17.7 per cent and 10.0 per cent respectively to account for 4.9 billion square metres and 2.7 billion square metres between January and June 2000. Wool fabric production for the first six months rose by 6.1 per cent compared to the same period in 1999 to reach 121.13 million sq m of fabric.