Japan’s production of man-made fibres falls 3.1%

22 January 2007 07:04  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s total production of man-made fibres in 2006 fell 3.1% compared with the previous year, the Japan Chemical Fibers Association said late on Friday.

The country produced 1.21m tonnes of man-made fibres last year, down from 1.25m tonnes in 2005. Of that, 1.06m tonnes of synthetic fibres were produced, a 2.7% decrease from 1.09m tonnes in the year-ago period.

Cellulosic fibres output in 2006 fell 5.9% to 149,279 tonnes from 158,662 tonnes in the previous year.

Among synthetic fibres products, the production of nylon fibre decreased 0.3% to 117,527 tonnes from 117,929 tonnes in 2005, the association said.

While demand for industrial materials applications such as cars grew, demand for clothing applications continued to be sluggish, the association added.

The output of acrylic staple in 2006 fell 7.1% to 242,913 tonnes from 261,367 tonnes in 2005.

The association said that acrylic staple’s applications for thermal clothing grew, but the production was affected by high feedstock costs as well as technical problems at the manufacturers’ plants.

It added that acrylic fibres production fell most among the most-commonly used fibre products.

Polyester filament output in 2006 was 270,015 tonnes, down 4.2% from 281,788 tonnes a year earlier, the association said.

While applications for cars and other industrial purposes were favorable, demand for women’s clothing was sluggish, it added.

Meanwhile, polypropylene fibres production rose 1.7% to 127,569 tonnes in 2006 from 125,497 tonnes in 2005 due to favorable demand for nonwoven fabric applications.

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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