The resilience of China's technical textiles industry is being validated by data, but not all sub-sectors share the benefits. Data for the first five months of 2026 reveals a core fact: while overall revenue has turned positive, profit divergence is intensifying. Nonwovens have become a rare segment achieving both volume and profit growth, while traditional areas such as ropes and tarpaulins are caught in a trap of increasing revenue without profit growth.
Structural Divergence Behind Accelerated Production
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, production of nonwovens by enterprises above designated size increased by 9.5% year-on-year in the first five months of 2026, with growth accelerating by 5.6 percentage points compared to the same period in 2025. Tire cord fabric production grew by 3.8%, with growth accelerating by 3.4 percentage points. This production acceleration reflects steady demand recovery in downstream sectors such as hygiene materials and filtration materials.
Contrasting with production growth, the profit side shows a complex picture. The nonwovens sector saw revenue and total profit increase by 2.5% and 9.9% respectively, with an operating profit margin of 2.7%, making it a rare 'volume and profit double growth' segment. However, the rope, cord, and cable sector saw revenue grow by 1.8% but profit decline by 9.7%, with an operating profit margin of only 3%. The tarpaulin and canvas sector saw revenue grow by 8.5% but profit decline by 5.7%; its operating profit margin of 4.2% fell by 0.6 percentage points year-on-year. This phenomenon of 'increased production without increased profit' suggests that cost pressures or price competition are eroding profit margins in some sub-sectors.
Sources of Export Resilience
Customs data shows that from January to May 2026, technical textiles exports reached USD 18.81 billion, up 5.3% year-on-year, while imports were USD 2.28 billion, up 3.1%. The main drivers of export growth were nonwovens and absorbent textiles. Nonwovens exports totaled USD 1.93 billion, up 10.7%, with export volume reaching 770,000 tons, up 13.4%. Absorbent textiles (diapers, sanitary napkins) exports were USD 1.76 billion, up 10.7%, and wet wipes exports reached USD 490 million, with a growth rate of 14.7%.
By destination, the US, Vietnam, and Japan remain the top three markets, with exports of USD 2.21 billion, USD 1.48 billion, and USD 940 million respectively, growing by 3.5%, 8.3%, and 0.9% year-on-year. More notably, exports to Belt and Road countries reached USD 11.34 billion, up 5.5%, accounting for approximately 60% of total exports. This indicates that the industry's export structure is shifting from traditional Western markets to emerging markets, and market diversification strategies in response to geopolitical risks are yielding results.
Raw Material Cost Pressure and Industry Response
In June 2026, international oil prices fell sharply as tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran eased, navigation in the Strait of Hormuz continued to improve, and oil producers like Iraq planned to accelerate production increases. Consequently, polyester staple fiber prices weakened, nylon filament yarn operated weakly, and polypropylene prices began a downward trend. This upstream raw material price volatility directly impacts the cost side of technical textiles enterprises.
For nonwovens companies, lower raw material costs combined with demand recovery provide room for profit improvement, explaining the 9.9% profit growth in this sub-sector. However, for rope, net, and tarpaulin sectors characterized by price competition, raw material price declines may trigger downstream price pressure, limiting profit improvement. The industry's overall operating profit margin of 3.6%, down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, indicates that cost pass-through is not smooth.