ZURICH – New figures from the International Textile Manufacturers Federation show that global yarn production increased in Q1/2016 quarter-on-quarter, with output in Asia and South America rising but falling in Europe. Annually, global yarn production in Q1/2016 improved versus Q1/2015 with positive growth rates in Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, global yarn stocks fell in Q1/2016 quarter-on-quarter, with yarn stocks reduced in Asia and South America, while remaining unchanged in other regions.
Year-on-year, global yarn stocks increased, with yarn orders in Europe and South America improving quarter on quarter and year on year. Global fabric production fell in Q1/2016 against Q4/2015 due to decreases in Asia and Europe. In South America, in contrast, fabric production increased. Compared to the level of Q1/2015 global fabric output remained unchanged, hence Asian output remained stable.
South American yarn output fell while fabric production in Europe rose year on year on year according to the ITMF figures. In Q1/2016, worldwide fabric stocks increased moderately quarter-on-quarter. Fabric inventories were reduced in Asia, while they increased in South America. On a yearly basis fabric orders declined in Europe and in South America.
The global outlook for yarn and fabric production signals a further improvement for Q3/2016. In Q1/2016, global yarn production increased by 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with Asian yarn output strengthened by 21 per cent quarter-on-quarter and by 29 per cent in South America. In Europe it fell by 4 per cent, reflecting the slightly diverging fortunes of the respective economies of South America, Asia and Europe – where sluggish broader industry demand has been a recurring them in the past 18 months.
The figures also show that global fabric production declined by over 8 per cent in Q1/2016 against the previous quarter. While Asian and European output fell by over 10 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, South American fabric production improved by 31 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Year-on-year, global fabric output remained unchanged in Q1/2016. Thereby, Asian production remained broadly unchanged year-on-year, while South America’s output fell by nearly 21 per cent. Europe’s fabric output rose by around 9 per cent year-on-year.
