Industry association EDANA has just published its statistics report on nonwovens production and deliveries for 2022.

After a spike caused by the exceptional increase in demand for nonwoven materials in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, (+9.3% in 2020-2021), production in Greater Europe (including Western and Eastern European countries, Turkey, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine) is back on track.

The 2022 figures, while lower than during Covid-19, have returned to pre-pandemic levels and EDANA can again see a steady growth trend despite the economic and energy crisis and the war in Europe.

In 2022, compared to data from 2019, nonwovens production in Greater Europe increased in volume by 3.3% to reach 3,017,085 tons, and by 9.1% in surface area, resulting in 85.8 billion square metres of nonwovens being manufactured.

“Performance varied for the different production processes,” said Jacques Prigneaux, EDANA’s market analysis and economic affairs director. “Some processes, such as drylaid-hydroentangled and air-through bonding, recorded an even higher output in 2022 than in 2021, while the production of other fibre-based materials, including drylaid, wetlaid, and airlaid technologies, was below the levels observed three years earlier. The production of spunmelt nonwovens was down again after peaking in 2021, but the 2022 output was still 8.1% over its 2019 level.”

Similar conclusions can be drawn from the end-use perspective. Nonwoven market segments such as hygiene, medical, building construction, filtration, electronic materials and wipes, which were almost flat or had significantly decreased compared with their 2021 levels, were still well over figures observed in 2019. There were some exceptions in other durable applications, where nonwovens sales were still below 2019 levels, including automotive interiors (–27.8%), agriculture (–13.1%), and civil engineering (–4.6%). In 2022, the most notable increase was in table linen applications, which exceeded both 2019 and 2021 levels.

The source data was supplied by EDANA’s member companies and complied by Prigneaux.

“When a company becomes an EDANA member, they are asked to reply to a questionnaire about their business which gathers data on their sales by market segment, and on their consumption of raw materials and production by technology,” he explained. “We collect data in both tonnage and square metres and this is extremely valuable as it helps EDANA and its members to follow the evolution of the grammage of different products both by technology and by market segment.”

The questionnaire that EDANA’s nonwovens producing members receive is very wide and assesses many elements including CO2 emissions, and new for 2022, energy consumption. The exhaustive document and report comprising all the data is available free of charge for those members participating in the exercise, and is a valuable business tool for EDANA and its members.

A summary report – 2022 European Nonwovens Markets Insights – is also available for EDANA’s other members. The data is not shared externally, but Prigneaux will share an overview of the key findings during the Continental Briefings held at the EDANA stand during INDEX 2023. EDANA members can also access comprehensive figures via the EDANA Statistics App.

INDEX 23, is the largest global meeting place for players in the nonwovens industry and the Continental Briefings consist of a series of presentations given by experts from key associations around the world. Taking place across the week of the exhibition, they will provide visitors with industry updates for all the key nonwoven production areas. Each briefing will also include an introduction and commentary from Prigneaux, as he provides a trade and trends analysis for that particular geography from a European perspective.

The programme is as follows:

- China: Tuesday 18th April, 10.30-11.00 (CET), by Li Guimei, president of CNITA, the China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association.

- North America: Wednesday 19th April, 10-10.30, by Mark Snider, chief market and industry analyst at INDA (the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry)

- Asia: Thursday 20 April - 10-10.30, by Kazuaki Baba, secretary general of ANFA, the Asia Nonwoven Fabrics Association.

www.indexnonwovens.com