- ITMF's 2024 data show textile machinery demand diverging, with sharp declines in short-staple spinning and large circular knitting but growth in texturing, flat knitting and parts of finishing.
- Short-staple spindles and open-end rotors fell about 40% year over year, while long-staple spindles rose about 60% and draw-texturing spindles jumped roughly 80%–95%.
- China dominated investment in synthetic fibre and filament machinery, taking about 95% of draw-texturing shipments and most capacity additions concentrated in Asia & Oceania.
- Weaving equipment rose overall (shuttle-less looms +32% led by water-jet and air-jet) even as China's textile machinery exports fell in 2023, signaling heavy domestic absorption and weaker demand from key buyers.
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The 2024 data from the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)’s 47th annual shipment statistics highlight a bifurcation in global machinery investment: a collapse in certain segments (short-staple spinning, open-end rotors, large circular knitting), contrasted with strong growth in others (long-staple spinning, texturing, flat knitting, and finishing). Most of the gains and losses are concentrated in Asia & Oceania, with China the dominant destination, especially for synthetic fibre and filament machinery.
1. Spinning machinery downturn; long-staple resurgence. Short-staple spindles fell by approximately 40% to 5.92 million units shipped globally in 2024; open-end rotors dropped similarly by ~39% to 623,000 units. Meanwhile, long-staple (wool) spindles rose by about 60% to 600,000 units, with large shares going to Iran (40%), China (30%), and Vietnam (13%) in that category.
2. Synthetic filament production becomes a China-led majority. Single-heater draw-texturing spindles (polyamide) more than doubled (+95%) to 84,000 units, and double-heater (polyester) rose ~80% to 960,000 units; in both cases Asia accounted for ≈ 98% of said shipments, with China alone absorbing around 95%. This suggests near-monopoly in investment decisions for synthetic filament capacity.
3. Weaving/knitting show divergence. Shuttle-less looms rose 32% to 226,000 units; air-jet looms up 10%, water-jet up 56%, while rapier/projectile looms fell ~7%. Large circular knitting machines dropped 15% to 28,000 units; flat knitting increased 16% to 135,000 units. China remains the largest investor in all categories, but circular knitting segment saw China’s share and absolute shipments weaken (e.g. circular down 42%).
4. Finishing machinery mixed but modestly positive overall. Stenters (fabric continuous finishing) shipments up 22% (to ~2,230 units), although some dyeing-line categories fell sharply (CPB lines −53%), others grew steeply (Hotflue lines +390%). Discontinuous processes like jigger/beam dyeing dropped ~44%, while air-jet and overflow dyeing rose +18% and +5% respectively.
Strategic implications:
- Geopolitical concentration risk: China’s dominance in synthetic filament and fibre machinery (≈95% of new equipment) puts global textile supply chains heavily dependent on Chinese capacity and policy. Any disruption—trade restrictions, input supply, energy/crude changes—could ripple widely.
- Shifts in resource intensity & product mix: Decline in commodity-spinning and circular knitting suggests cost pressure, energy constraints, or shifts in demand; growth in higher-margin, more capital-intensive texturing, flat knitting, finishing may reflect trends toward technical/textile specialisation and synthetic blends.
- Regional investment disparities: Asia & Oceania remains overwhelmingly dominant. South America and Eastern Europe seeing modest gains, but Africa, North America, Europe (excluding Türkiye) largely contracting in many segments, pointing to possible reshoring but also demand weakness or capital constraints.
- Industry consolidation and supply chain reconfiguration: Given China’s export decline in textile machinery, internal absorption may be high; other machinery manufactures likely being displaced or must compete on cost, innovation, or niche capabilities.
Open questions: Who is investing in China’s synthetic fibre capacity—state actors, private, local vs foreign firms? What are the energy/environmental costs and regulatory risks related to China’s dominance in filament/textile machinery? To what extent will policy (tariffs, sustainability regulations) shift sourcing or accelerate regional capacity building outside China?
Supporting Notes
- Short-staple spindle shipments declined ~40% to 5.92 million units in 2024 compared with 2023.
- Open-end rotor shipments dropped ~39% to 623,000 units; nearly all shipped to Asia & Oceania, but with 35% decline there year-over-year.
- Long-staple (wool) spindles increased ~60% to 600,000 units; 40% of this going to Iran, 30% to China, 13% to Vietnam.
- Single heater draw-texturing spindles rose ~95% to 84,000 units globally; China took ~95% of shipments.
- Double heater draw-texturing spindles climbed ~80% to 960,000 units; ≈95% of global shipments to China.
- Shuttle-less looms shipments increased 32% to 226,000 units; air-jet +10% to 58,000, water-jet +56% to 143,000, with China seeing large gains in loom categories.
- Large circular knitting machines shipments fell 15% to 28,000 units; China’s share fell 42% in absolute units (≈10,786 units).
- Flat knitting machines increased 16% to 135,000 units; China accounted for ~82% of these shipments.
- Dyeing & finishing overall shipments rose +6%; stenters in continuous finishing up 22%; but CPB lines down 53%, Hotflue lines up 390%.
- China’s textile machinery exports declined ~18% y-o-y in 2023 to US$4.54 billion; imports also dropped ~7.6%, totaling US$2.96 billion. Exports to key countries (India, Vietnam, etc.) fell ~19%. Knitting machinery remained its top export product category (~26% of value).