Spunbonded Polyester Nonwoven Market Projected To Grow At A CAGR Of 6.50% During The Forecast Period 2020 To 2025

An upsurge in the demand of spunbonded polyester nonwoven from the healthcare industries, to mitigate health risk, is driving the spunbonded polyester nonwoven market growth. Spunbonded polyester nonwoven market size is forecast to reach $2162.70 million by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 6.50% during 2020-2025.

The spunbonded polyester nonwoven market is growing at a significant rate as the demand for spunbonded polyester is increasing from various end-use industries owing to its extensive characteristics such as less expensive, more flexible, safe, and more. Spunbonded polyester nonwovens, because of their easily modifiable properties and excellent performance have become indispensable in the medical sector.

In the case of hospitals, cross-contamination is a critical issue that arises mainly due to the re-using of medical products like gowns, masks, and other products that would get contaminated. Ubiquitous cross-contamination and nosocomial infections in hospitals made it clear that the re-use of masks and gowns were posing to be health risks. Spunbonded polyester nonwoven provides effective barriers against bacteria and is disposable. In addition, it provides improved protection for the wearer and less possibility for cross-contamination. The disposable mask is expected to protect 98% of the bacteria from getting into the wearer and does not lead to skin irritation. 

Rising disposable income has resulted in the increasing demand for disposable diapers, feminine hygiene items, and wipes, which is driving the growth of the market. Several regulations have been enforced for the production and use of spunbonded nonwoven in various application industries. For instance, use of spunbonded nonwovens for food packaging application is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, FDA and European counsel have approved the use of spunbonded nonwovens in medical and healthcare applications. Owning to this, consumers are preferring spunbonded nonwovens over traditional textiles. In addition, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the demand for stock up on necessary supplies in medical industries such as face masks, gloves, gowns, and many more has been in high demand which is having a positive impact on the spunbonded polyester nonwoven market.

The Asia Pacific holds a major share of spunbonded polyester nonwoven market due to the increasing healthcare sector in the region. In 2019, the government of Malaysia allocated a sum of US$ 7 billion to the public health sector, an increase of 7.8 percent from 2018. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in the 2017–18 financial years, Australia spent an estimated $185.4 billion on health. In real terms, this represented a 1.2% growth in spending from the previous year equating to an additional $2.2 billion. The main areas in which spending increased included Hospitals (increased by $3.2 billion), Primary health care (increased by $1.5 billion), Referred medical services (increased by $0.8 billion). And then in 2019, the Australian Government announced a $5 billion, a 10-year investment plan for the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) as a part of its 2019–20 budgets to support Australian health and medical research. The increasing healthcare investments in various regions of APAC will also lead to increased demand for healthcare apparel and medicines, which will further propel the spunbonded polyester nonwoven in the market.

Owing to the extensive properties of spunbonded polyester nonwoven such as hydrophobic, high temperature resistant, lightweight & durable, air permeability, good tensile strength, and zero toxicity, the demand of spunbonded polyester nonwoven tends to increase. The hydrophobic feature of spunbonded polyester nonwoven fabric implies its waterproof property, it doesn't mean that it has pure water repellent, but it helps to maintain the quality of fabrics even if the water gets inside. It also has high-temperature resistant property, which means the melting point of PET/polyester spunbonded fabric is around 260℃ which is dimensional stability in the high-temperature conditions. It is widely and largely to be used for various nonwoven bags printing. It is also called as low shirking nonwoven fabric polyester and is often used in heat transfer printing. Due to its high properties, the demand for spunbonded polyester nonwoven tends to increase in the textile industry, which leads to an increase in the growth of the market.

Polyester (PET) is used in several commercial spunbonded products and offers certain advantages over polypropylene, although it is more expensive. Unlike polypropylene, polyester scrap is not readily recycled in spunbonded manufacturing. Tensile strength, modulus, and heat stability of polyester fabrics are superior to those of polypropylene fabrics. Polyester fabrics are easily dyed and printed with conventional equipment. But polyester fibers have lagged in their popularity due to economics and processing concerns. Polyester fibers are extruded at a relatively higher temperature and the resin should be dry before melting and extrusion. It is easier to spin PP fibers with finer diameter than PET. This will eventually boost the spunbonded polyester nonwoven market during the forecast period.

Research and Development departments are continually improving existing product performance, optimizing manufacturing efficiencies, and developing the next generation of nonwoven fabric solutions for new applications. In 2019, Freudenberg Nonwovens invested €480.9 million ($538.35 million) in research and development, from €444.3 million ($524.69 million) previous year. The objective of all innovation activities of Freudenberg is to constantly expand and renew the portfolio of products. In addition, Fiberweb India Ltd invested $2030.6 million in research and development last year.  

In addition, various research institutes and organizations such as (INDA) Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, The Nonwovens Institute (NWI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and so on, are also continuously carrying research and developments to build next-generation nonwoven applications.

The major companies in the spunbonded polyester nonwoven market include Toray Industries, Ahlstrom-Munksjo Oyj, Toyobo Co. Ltd., Kolon Industries Inc., Asahi Kasai Corporation, Avintiv Inc., Johns Manville, FITESA S.A., Freudenberg Group, and others. The key focus of the companies has shifted towards product launch, owning to increased demand for disposable medical gowns, globs and masks due to the emergence of COVID-19.

In May 2020, the Johns Manville plant in South Carolina started production of nonwoven fabric that will be used for the manufacturing of urgently needed disposable medical gowns used in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The new polyester spunbonded nonwoven is designed for the production of Level 3 medical gowns. The fabric offers superior liquid barrier performance compared to materials used for Level 1 and Level 2 medical gowns, while also providing comfort and stitch-strength.