The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) recently released the 2024 global textile machinery shipment statistics report. This report covers over 200 major textile machinery enterprises worldwide, including spinning, texturing, weaving, knitting, and dyeing equipment. The shipment statistics of Chinese mainland textile machinery enterprises were completed by the China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA). In 2024, the global shipments of ring spinning frames and rotor spinning frames decreased by 40% and 39% respectively year-on-year. The shipments of wool spinning frames increased by 62%. Texturing machines rose by 77%, and the shipments of shuttleless looms increased by 32%. The shipments of circular knitting machines decreased by 15%, while those of flat knitting machines increased by 16%. The dyeing and finishing sector saw a slight growth of 6%.
In 2024, the total shipment of cotton spinning ring frames decreased by 3.8 million spindles to 5.92 million spindles. The majority of new shipments (90%) went to Asia and Oceania, with a 36% decline in shipments to this region compared to 2023. Shipments to Africa, Europe (including Turkey), North America, and Central America decreased by 64%, 56%, and 90% respectively. Only South America (+1.7% to 82,600 spindles) and Eastern Europe (+12% to 10,500 spindles) saw an increase in shipments. The top six investing countries in this field were China, India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Indonesia. In 2024, a total of 623,000 spindles of rotor spinning machines were shipped globally, a decrease of approximately 390,000 spindles compared to 2023. 89% of global shipments went to Asia and Oceania, with a 5% decline in shipments to this region to 557,000 spindles. China, India, and Turkey were the top three investing countries in rotor spinning machines globally, but their investments decreased by 32%, 57%, and 56% respectively. Shipments to all major destination countries declined except for Vietnam and Bangladesh (the fourth and sixth largest destinations in 2024), which saw a 214% and 44% increase in shipments respectively compared to 2023. In 2024, global shipments of wool spinning ring frames increased to 600,000 spindles (+60%). This was mainly driven by growth in shipments to Asia and Oceania and Eastern Europe, reaching 138,000 spindles and 15,000 spindles respectively. 40% of total shipments went to Iran, 30% to China, and 13% to Vietnam.
The global output of single-barrel filament drawing machines (mainly used for nylon filament) increased from nearly 43,000 spindles in 2023 to 84,000 units in 2024, a growth of 95%. In 2024, Asia and Oceania still accounted for 98.5% of the market share and remained the largest destination for single-barrel filament drawing machines. China, Vietnam and India are the top three investors in this field, accounting for 95%, 1.01% and 0.97% of the global output respectively. In the double-barrel filament drawing machine category (mainly used for polyester filament), the global output increased by 80% to 960,000 spindles. The share of Asia in the global output increased to 98%, and China continued to be the largest investor, accounting for 95% of the global output.
In 2024, the global output of large circular machines decreased by 15% to 28,000 units. Asia and Oceania were the major global investment regions for this category, accounting for 81% of the global output. China was the most popular destination, accounting for 45% (10,786 units) of the total output, a decrease of 42% compared to 2023. India and Vietnam ranked second and third respectively with 3,899 units and 2,559 units. In 2024, the output of horizontal machines increased by 16% to 135,000 units. This growth was driven by Asia and Oceania, which received 96% of the global output. The output to all other regions decreased. China remained the largest investor globally, accounting for 82% of the total output.
In the field of continuous fabric processing equipment, the shipment volume of the stretch finishing machine increased from 1,833 units in 2023 to 2,230 units in 2024, representing a growth of 22%. This figure includes the estimated total shipment volume of the stretch finishing machines from companies not participating in the ITMF survey. Companies that participated in the survey reported that the results for all other machines in this category were mixed. For continuous dyeing (cold dyeing) machines, the decline was 53%, while for continuous dyeing (roller dyeing) machines, it was an increase of 390%. In the intermittent processing equipment field, the shipment volume of the roll dyeing/axis dyeing machine decreased by 44% to 371 units in 2024. The shipment volume of the air flow dyeing machine and the overflow dyeing machine increased by 18% to 907 units and 5% to 2,221 units respectively.