The growth opportunities for industrial nonwovens in the next five years

A new market report, “Looking to the Future of Industrial Nonwovens 2029,” tracks global demand for five nonwovens in 30 industrial end uses. Many of the most important of these industries - filtration, construction, and geotextiles – were in the doldrums at the turn of the century, affected first by the New Crown epidemic and then by inflation, high oil prices, and increased logistics costs. These problems are expected to subside within five years.

Global demand is expected to fully recover to 7.41 million tons, mainly  spunbond  and dry web formation; a global value of $29.4 billion in 2024. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +8.2% on a constant value and pricing basis, sales will reach $43.68 billion by 2029, with consumption increasing to 10.56 million tons over the same period.

Here are the growth opportunities for industrial nonwovens over the next five years:

Nonwovens for  filtration  Air and water filtration is the second largest end-use sector for industrial nonwovens by 2024, accounting for 15.8% of the market. This is a sector that has not seen a significant decline due to the new Crown Pneumonia. In fact, sales of air filtration media as a means of controlling the spread of the virus have surged; the residual effects will continue to be felt with more investment in fine filtration substrates and more frequent replacements. The outlook for filtration media over the next five years is very positive. Double-digit CAGR forecasts will see these materials overtake architectural nonwovens as the most profitable end-use application by the end of this decade.

Geotextile

Sales of nonwoven geotextiles are linked to the wider construction market, but also derive some benefit from public stimulus investment in infrastructure. These applications include agriculture, drainage liners, erosion control, and highway and railroad liners. Together, these account for 15.5% of contemporary industrial nonwovens consumption and demand is expected to exceed the market average over the next five years.

The main nonwovens used are needle punched, but there are also markets for spunbond polyester and  polypropylene  in crop protection. Climate change and more unpredictable weather have led to a new focus on erosion control and efficient drainage, which is likely to increase demand for heavier needle-punched geotextile materials.