Production capacity and demand development of nonwovens in Southeast Asia

Collectively, the ASEAN-5 countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) are now expected to be the world’s third largest nonwovens market and one of the world’s largest economies.

According to the nonwoven fabric production statistics provided by INDA, China’s nonwoven fabric production accounted for 81% of total Asian production in 2020. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan together account for 9 percent, while India accounts for about 6 percent.

In terms of trade, China exported nearly 1.4 million tons of nonwoven materials in 2020, 54 percent of which went to other Asian countries.

In 2020, nonwovens production capacity in Southeast Asia mainly consisted of spunbond spunmelt, staple fiber needling and/or thermal bonding, and polypropylene spunbond needling technologies. There are some small scale hot air production lines are also constantly developing.