The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) recently updated its annual global textile machinery shipment statistics report for 2023. The statistical report covers more than 200 major textile machinery companies in the world, including spinning, baling, weaving, knitting, printing and dyeing equipment. 

In 2023, in addition to the ammunition machine, the ITMF statistics of most other types of textile machinery shipments increased, of which the global shipments of cotton spinning frame and wool spinning frame increased by 2% and 5%, respectively, and the global shipments of rotary spinning machines fell by 17%. The elastic machine decreased by 28%, the shuttleless loom increased by 52%, the large round machine increased by 17%, the flat machine increased by 60%, and the dyeing and finishing equipment remained stable overall.

Spinning machinery

2023 cotton spinning frame shipments total 9.78 million ingots, an increase of 155,000 ingots. The majority of spinning machines were shipped to Asia and Oceania (85%), with deliveries in these regions remaining stable compared to 2022. Shipments to Europe (including Turkey) and North and Central America declined by 13% and 27%, respectively, while Africa increased by 120%(475,000 ingots, of which 85% went to Egypt) and South America increased by 140%(81,000 ingots). The six major investment countries of cotton spinning frame are China, India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Egypt.

In 2023, the global shipment of rotary spinning machines was 1 million heads, a decrease of about 200,000 heads year-on-year. 85% of global shipments went to Asia and Oceania (860,000 head, down 19% year-on-year). China, India and Turkey are the world's three largest spinning investment countries, down 4%, 24% and 20%, respectively. Shipments fell in all major destination countries except Brazil and Mexico (the fifth and seventh largest destinations in 2023), which saw shipments increase by 20% and 46%, respectively, compared to 2022.

In 2023, global shipments of woolen spinning frames increased to 98,000 ingots (up 5%). Shipments to Europe (including Turkey) and South America increased to 25,000 and 1,600 ingots, respectively. 31% of the total volume of woolen spinning frames was sent to China, 29% to Turkey and 19% to Iran.

elasticizer

Global shipments of single hot box bunders (mainly used for nylon filaments) fell 33%, from nearly 65,000 ingots in 2022 to 43,000 ingots in 2023. Asia and Oceania remained the dominant market with a 97% share. China, Turkey and India are the three major investors in this space, with global delivery shares of 90%, 2.6% and 2.3%, respectively.

Global shipments of dual-hot box refueling machines (mainly used for polyester filament) fell 27% to the level of 550,000 ingots. Asia's share of global shipments increased to 97 percent, with China accounting for 91 percent of global shipments.

Weaving machinery

In 2023, global shuttleless loom shipments increased by 52% to 171,000 units. Deliveries of air-jet and water-jet looms increased by 34% and 96% to 53,000 and 92,000 units, respectively. The number of rapier and shuttle looms increased by 0.1% to 27,000 units. The main destinations for shuttleless loom shipments are Asia and Oceania, accounting for 96% of global deliveries. 97%, 85% and 99% of the world's air jet, rapier/shuttle and water jet looms are shipped to the region, respectively. The main investor in air-jet and water-jet looms is China. The main investor in rapier and slicer looms was India, which reached 10,000 units (although down 8% compared to 2022).

Circular knitting machine and flat knitting machine

In 2023, global shipments of Great Circle machines increased by 17% to 33,000 units. The Asia and Oceania region accounted for 86% of global shipments. China accounted for 63 percent (18,476 units) of total deliveries, an increase of 86 percent compared to 2022. India and Turkey ranked second and third with 4,195 and 1,367 units, respectively. In 2023, shipments of computer flat machines increased by 61% to 177,000 units. This growth was driven by Asia and Oceania, which accounted for 92% of global shipments. With the exception of Europe (including Turkey), where 650 units were delivered, shipments fell in all regions.

Dyeing and finishing machinery

In the "fabric continuous finishing" segment, shipments of shaping machines increased by 3%, from 1,780 units in 2022 to 1,833 units in 2023. This figure is an estimate of total shaper shipments and includes shaper shipments from companies that did not participate in the ITMF survey. Companies participating in the survey reported mixed results for all other equipment in the category: Shipments of loose dryers decreased by 42 percent, while shipments of bleaching lines increased by 103 percent.

In the field of "fabric discontinuous finishing", the number of shipments of "dyeing machine/warp dyeing machine" and "air dyeing machine" in 2023 is 715 and 772, respectively, a decrease of 8% and 0.3%. Shipments of overflow dyeing machines increased by 4.2% to 2,122 units.

Source: China Textile Machinery Association