Technical textiles are one of the two fast growing sectors of the textile industry worldwide. Since 1985, the global market size of this particular sector has, on an average, grown by 3.8% per year. By 2010, the consumption of technical textile is anticipated to be as high as US$ 128.6 billion, according to estimates of international market research firm DRA Co. Eyeing the strong growth rates in the technical textile market, many producers of apparel textiles are getting more involved in the sector. Competition hence is intensifying, and the power of innovation will play a key role to win the market.

China is now one of the worlds largest emerging markets and its consumption of technical textiles is soaring, with an annual average growth of 11% since 1998. The demand for technical textiles and nonwovens comes from several flourishing sectors including the construction, clothing and automobiles industries. The opportunities are tremendous for importers of nonwovens and technical textiles since this fast increasing demand cannot be covered by domestic production alone.

China is a huge, expanding market offering considerable opportunities for the technical textiles industry. With the expiration of the International Textile Agreement and to a large extent the end of the import quota for the textile and clothing industry in January 2005, competition has increased considerably. Technical textiles have been rapidly developing over the past decade with rapid development of national economy and the increase rate of technical textile consumption is even higher that that of GDP.

Agrotech --- Applications for technical textiles in the Agrotech sector include all activities connected with the growth and harvesting of life products and nutrition, such as gardening and landscaping, agriculture and forestry, animal husbandry, woven fabrics and fences. Regarding the rapid growth in china, the sector nonwovens application manufacturer are expected to develop considerably in the future .However china Government need to pay more attention to agriculture and nonwoven products at lower prices.

As an initiative to explore the emerging opportunities in Agrotextiles, FICCI along with Office of textile commissioner and SASMIRA is organizing a conference in Mumbai on 1^st October 2008. The Seminar is also expected to increase awareness about the application of agro textiles amongst end-user industry and emphasize the importance of raw material and machinery for the agro textile industry. You can view the details for this event from the link below.

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/fairs/agrotextile/index.asp

Buildtech --- The scope of Buildtech covers all textile and composite materials used in the construction of buildings, dams, bridges, tunnels, and roads. Applications include membranes, lightweight and solid constructions, civil and industrial engineering, temporary construction, earth, water and traffic route constructions, etc. China is also a growing market in this sector. In 2004, 211,000 tons of buildtech material was consumed by the Chinese construction industry, an increase of more than 50% from 2003. According to CNITA (China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association) the total production of buildtech was 181,000 tons in 2006. The rapid growth of construction industry in China has increased the demand for buildtech to over 40 billions sq meters.

Geotech --- This includes all woven and nonwoven textile materials used by the civil engineering industry to provide support, stability, separation, and drainage at or below ground level. Application areas include civil engineering, earth and road construction, dam engineering, dump construction, etc. Improving the quality of roads, transportation systems, and underground water drainage and supply is essential for Chinas development into a sophisticated consumer society. In 2004, these types of construction projects made use of 80,000 tons of geotextile materials. The road network has been developing fast very rapidly and China currently has 30,000 km of highways and high grand roads. This growth will continue, as China is planning to expand its road network to 85,000 km of highway by 2020, to connect all cities with a population of more than 200,000 to a highway. The railway system will also be further constructed over the coming five years. Both these factors means that China will need tremendous amounts of geosynthetic materials, including geotextiles, mesh fabric, geo-membranes, etc. The production of geosynthetic materials was 121,000 tons in 2006.