February 10, 2025
Trade & Market

Global Fibre Market Reaches Record Production In 2023

The global fibre market experienced a significant surge in 2023, with total production reaching an unprecedented 124 million tonnes, marking a major milestone for the industry. This represents a notable increase from 116 million tonnes in 2022, and more than double the production levels from the year 2000, which stood at 58 million tonnes. These figures, detailed in the recently released Materials Market Report 2024 by Textile Exchange, indicate strong growth trends that show no signs of slowing down. If business continues as usual, the market is projected to reach 160 million tonnes by 2030.

Polyester Leads the Charge
Polyester remains the dominant player in the fibre market, continuing its reign as the most widely produced and used fibre globally. In 2023, polyester accounted for approximately 57% of global fibre production, amounting to a staggering 71 million tonnes. This synthetic fibre has become integral to the global textile and apparel industries, overshadowing natural fibres such as cotton in production volume since the mid-2000s.

Synthetic fibres as a whole made up 67% of global fibre production, or around 84 million tonnes, solidifying their place as the cornerstone of the modern textile industry. Besides polyester, other synthetic fibres like polyamide (nylon), polypropylene, acrylics and elastane collectively contributed to 5% of the market.

Cotton: The Second-Highest Fibre by Volume
Despite the rapid rise of synthetics, cotton remains a crucial fibre, holding a 20% market share. In 2023, global cotton production was recorded at 24.7 million tonnes, maintaining its position as the second-most important fibre by volume. Plant-based fibres as a whole, including non-cotton variants like flax, hemp and jute, accounted for 25% of global fibre production, or 31.4 million tonnes. Although these fibres play a smaller role in the global market, their growing importance in sustainable and eco-friendly textile practices has not gone unnoticed.

Manmade Cellulosic Fibres (MMCFs) Continue to Grow
Manmade cellulosic fibres (MMCFs), such as viscose, acetate and lyocell, represented 6% of the global fibre market in 2023, with a production volume of 7.9 million tonnes. Viscose, the largest contributor in this category, made up 5% of global fibre production at 6.3 million tonnes. Other MMCFs like acetate, modal and cupro are also gaining traction, especially due to their perceived sustainability compared to synthetic fibres.

Recycled Fibre Market Faces Stagnation
While sustainability initiatives have been at the forefront of the textile industry’s agenda, the share of recycled fibres in global production saw a slight decline in 2023, dropping from 7.9% in 2022 to 7.7%. This marks a subtle yet concerning trend, as the industry strives to adopt more eco-friendly practices. A majority of recycled fibres, approximately 7.0% of global production, are made from recycled polyester sourced from plastic PET bottles.

However, the market share for pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles remained under 1%, highlighting the significant challenges the industry faces in improving recycling technologies, particularly for fibre blends like cotton-polyester, which are difficult to separate for recycling.

Despite the slight drop in market share, the volume of recycled polyester increased slightly in 2023. Around 12.5% of polyester production came from recycled materials, although this was a reduction from the 13.6% share reported in 2022. The dominance of recycled PET bottles in the recycled polyester market persisted, accounting for 98% of recycled polyester production.

Wool and Other Animal Fibres
Animal fibres, though a small fraction of the global fibre market, still play an essential role, particularly in luxury and niche segments. In 2023, wool accounted for 0.9% of global fibre production, with 1 million tonnes produced. Other animal fibres such as alpaca, cashmere and silk contributed to just 0.1% of the market. Nevertheless, wool remains the second-most recycled fibre after polyester, with approximately 6% of wool produced in 2023 coming from recycled sources.

The Future of Recycling and Sustainability
One of the major challenges the industry faces is the proliferation of textiles made from blended fibres, such as cotton and polyester or elastane, which complicates the recycling process. These blends require labour-intensive separation and different recycling methods for chemical and mechanical processes. However, advancements in chemical recycling technologies are on the horizon, with several innovative startups working to tackle this issue and make the recycling of fibre blends more efficient and commercially viable.

Looking Ahead
Looking to the future, the global fibre market is expected to keep growing, driven primarily by increased demand for synthetics and manmade cellulosic fibres. With global fibre production per person projected to rise from 15.5 kilogrammes in 2023 to 18.8 kilogrammes by 2030, the industry must address the sustainability challenges that come with increased production.

While virgin fibre production, particularly from fossil-based synthetics, continues to expand, the push for recycled fibres and sustainable practices will need to accelerate to keep pace with environmental goals. The report notes that the market share of recycled MMCFs is anticipated to grow in the coming years, though they accounted for only 0.7% of all MMCFs in 2023.

As the industry navigates this growth, the focus on sustainability, recycling technologies and innovative materials will be crucial to ensuring a balance between meeting global demand and protecting the environment.

(Source: Materials Market Report 2024)

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *