According to the 40th Annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS), just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), deliveries of new short-staple spindles increased by 21% over 2016 to 9.53 million, along with those of long-staple spindles by 46% to 165,316, and open-end rotors by 24% to 788,110.
The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles rose by 23% to 340,997, and that of shuttleless looms increased by 13% to 95,385.
Shipments of new electronic flat knitting machines climbed 44% to 201,729, together with those of finishing machines of the category “fabric discontinuous” by 44%.
In contrast, deliveries of circular knitting machines stagnated in 2017 (up 0.12%), and those of finishing machines of the category “fabrics continuous” fell 2%.
The 2017 survey was compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production. This number includes numerous Chinese companies represented by the so-called “District”.