World chemical fibre and thread production in 2003

Abstract

Almost 63 million tons of natural and chemical fibres was manufactured in the world in 2003, 1.8 million tons or 2.4% more than in 2002, 9.9 kg per person. World chemical fibre and thread production increased by 2.5% to 30.8 million tons, with synthetic fibres increasing by 2.2%, up to 28.5 million tons, and cellulose fibres rising by 6.8%, to 2.3 million tons. Polyester fibres are still the leader among all types of natural and chemical fibres; production in 2003 rose by almost 7.2%, or 1.7 million tons, and reached 22.3 million tons; PP fibres in a wide assortment and different applications came out in second place. The advances in PES fibre production and processing technology are due to revamping of existing units for hydrolysis of DMT for manufacturing TPA, the search for efficient waste utilization methods, the appearance of new PES fibres from PTT, PBT, PE, etc. The development of PET for bottles is not a priority in this area. In Russia, the structure of chemical fibre and thread manufacture (primarily by sharply increasing the share of PES fibres) should be fundamentally changed to satisfy the needs of the domestic textile industry.