The technical textiles sector delivered a telling performance in the first five months of 2026: nonwoven output accelerated to 9.5% year-on-year, and exports surged 10.7%, making it the primary growth driver.
Output and Margins: Nonwovens Outperform
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, nonwoven output growth among enterprises above designated size was 5.6 percentage points higher than in the same period of 2025. Cord fabric output also rebounded to 3.8%. Despite the overall moderate growth in industrial value-added, nonwoven capacity expansion clearly outpaced the industry average.
On the profitability front, industry operating revenue turned positive, rising 1.7% year-on-year, but total profits still fell 3%, leaving the operating profit margin at only 3.6%. This suggests the industry has yet to break out of the "revenue growth without profit improvement" trap. However, nonwovens bucked the trend: revenue and profits rose 2.5% and 9.9% respectively, with the margin improving to 2.7%.
Profit divergence is stark across sub-sectors. Tarpaulin and canvas saw revenue up 8.5% but profits down 5.7%; textile belts and cord fabric posted declines in both revenue and profits. Meanwhile, other technical textiles (construction, protective) saw a slight revenue increase but a 11.5% profit drop, although their 5% margin was the highest in the industry. The data suggests that high-value-added categories are more resilient, but scale expansion alone does not guarantee margin improvement.
Export Markets: US Remains Top Buyer, Belt and Road Accounts for 60%
Chinese Customs data shows that technical textile exports reached US$18.81 billion in the first five months, up 5.3% year-on-year, while imports grew 3.1% to US$2.28 billion, widening the trade surplus.
By category, coated fabrics led with US$2.19 billion in exports but grew only 1%; nonwovens followed with US$1.93 billion, growing 10.7%, with export volume exceeding 770,000 tons. Absorbent textiles (diapers, sanitary napkins) exported US$1.76 billion, also up 10.7%. Among wipes, wet wipes grew fastest at 14.7%. These figures indicate that hygiene and cleaning demand is strongly pulling upstream nonwoven and absorbent material exports.
Notably, the US, Vietnam, and Japan remained the top three destinations, with exports to the US reaching US$2.21 billion (up 3.5%) and to Vietnam US$1.48 billion (up 8.3%). Exports to Belt and Road countries totaled US$11.34 billion, accounting for about 60% of total exports, with growth of 5.5%. This structure shows that both traditional developed markets and emerging markets support the export base, but the rapid growth in Vietnam—a transshipment hub—warrants caution as it may signal long-term order migration.
Raw Material Costs: Geopolitical Premium Fades, Pricing Returns to Fundamentals
In June, international oil prices fell sharply as tensions in the Middle East eased and Iraq and other producers planned to accelerate output. This deflated the geopolitical premium in polyester and nylon filament prices, while polypropylene prices started a downtrend. Viscose staple fiber fluctuated upward amid cost support and pressure.
For technical textile companies, lower raw material costs could improve margins, but the risk is that if end demand does not pick up, input cost declines may trigger more intense finished product price competition. The chemical fiber market is shifting its trading logic from geopolitical speculation back to supply-demand fundamentals, requiring downstream buyers to adjust procurement strategies.