According to the statistics of CNITA, nonwovens output in China was 8.205 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%, but compared with 2019, the average two-year growth rate was 14.83%, proving that steady growth in the country is continuing.

Spunbonded, needlepunched and spunlaced are the main nonwovens processes in China, accounting for 85.8% of the total. Output of spunbonded nonwoven decreased by 10.5% to 4.108 million tons due to declining demand for anti-pandemic materials. However, the output of polyester spunbonded nonwovens for engineering materials increased 20.6% to 679,000 tons. In 2021, the recovery of China's building construction, automobile, and environment-protection markets stimulated the demand for needlepunched nonwovens, which increased by 6.5% to 1.523 million tons. The output of spunlaced nonwovens increased by 7.7% to 1.4 million tons.

With the sharp drop in the demand for masks in domestic and foreign markets, much of meltblown nonwovens production capacity added in 2020 was largely withdrawn from the market in 2021, and the output of meltblown nonwovens in China decreased 57.1% to 233,000 tons
 

In terms of end-use markets, absorbent hygiene materials, medical and surgical materials, wipes, geosynthetics, building and construction, packaging, filtration and transportation are the main application fields for nonwovens in China.
Absorbent hygiene products such as baby diapers, sanitary napkins and adult incontinence items are the largest end-use for nonwovens, accounting for 19.5% of nonwovens applications in China. Although the demand for masks and protective gowns dropped significantly in 2021, the medical and surgical nonwovens still accounted for 10.6% of the total market. Wipes is a fast-growing application field of nonwovens, accounting for 10.3% of the market. Packaging, filtration, geosynthetics, building andconstruction and transportation accounted for 11.4%, 8.7%, 8.2% ,7.7% and 6.1% of the market, respectively.
 
 
Regarding nonwovens investment in nonwovens last year, Ji Jianbing, vice president of CNITA in charge of industry research said “New capacity investment mainly focused on intelligent manufacturing and environmentally friendly products. Some production lines of polypropylene spunbonded and needlepunched nonwovens, wood pulp-based spunlaced or meltblown nonwovens were installed and commissioned and put into operation successfully, which will further optimize the structure of China's nonwovens industry.”
About the development environment of China's nonwovens, Li Guimei, president of CNITA says “the factors promoting the development of China’s nonwovens industry will not change. The implementation of strategies such as expanding domestic demand, ecological conservation and environmental protection, and the Healthy China 2030 Initiative will promote the development of the nonwovens industry.”

“China’s nonwovens industry will continue to implement the new development philosophy of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, and adhere to the development direction of high-end, digital and green, to ensure the sustainable and high-quality development of the industry. " she adds.
 
About CNITA
CNITA, China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association, is the only association approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China represents nonwovens, industrial textiles and related industries in China, and serves 1,000+ member companies. Since its founding in 2001, CNITA has provided a comprehensive range of services with networking events, educational courses, market data, standards, consultancy, information, publicity, etc. to help members succeed. The main mission of CNITA is to preserve the rights and interests of its members, serves as a bridge between its members and government, promotes technological progress and industry development.