Tecnon (UK): European fibres face lower-cost challenge

28 September 2000 13:39  [Source: ICIS news]

MONTE CARLO, Monaco (CNI)--Europe's man-made fibres industry will remain a major participant in the world fibres market but continued change will be needed to meet intense competition from lower-cost regions, delegates were told here Thursday at Tecnon Consulting's Petchem 2000* conference.

In a vigorous rebuttal of the 'low growth means low dynamism' argument, Colin Purvis, director general of the International Rayon and Synthetic Fibres Committee (CIRFS) said European textile manufacturers faced a number of competitive challenges.

They include:

• A reduction in their customer base.
• High costs for labour and some services.
• Scale disadvantages compared with plants in Asia.
• The legacy of state planning in eastern Europe.
• A declining fibres trade surplus.

Purvis, who is also director general of the European Association for Textile Polyolefins (EATP), said European mill production of man-made fibres (MMF) will grow only slowly, despite continuing gains in market share against natural fibres. He forecast that MMF output would rise from the current level of just under 5m tonne/year to about 5.3m in 2004.

However, European fibres production will have a growing proportion of specialty high-value added products. Purvis said technical end-uses, and unspun uses such as non-wovens, would continue to grow in importance.

Production of polyester and polypropylene (PP) will continue to grow in importance, increasing their share of the market at the expense of cellulosics and acrylic.

*Petchem 2000 is organised by consultants Tecnon (UK) and continues on Friday (29 September)

By: Neil Sinclair
+44 20 8652 3214

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