The nation’s textile industry should develop into a complete supply chain and compete through quality instead of quantity, Taiwan Man-Made Fiber Industries Association (台灣人纖公會, TMMFA) chairman Hou Po-ming (侯博明) said on Wednesday.
“It is hard to compete with China through quantity,” Hou said, citing latest industry data showing that China controls 73 percent of the global chemical fiber market share while Taiwan only holds 2.9 percent.
“Opportunities lie in high-end functional fabrics and other smart applications,” Hou said, adding that the industry could make use of global trends in sports and leisure activities.
Taiwan’s functional fabrics have a global market share of 70 percent, with more than 50 percent of the world’s fireproof fabrics produced in Taiwan and eight out of 10 yoga apparel lines sold in the US manufactured by Taiwanese companies.
The association said that proves that the nation’s textile industry has the upper hand in research and design, as well as the capability to supply high-end products to downstream industries, global brands and channel distributors.
Last year, the Taiwanese textile sector generated NT$434.7 billion (US$13.5 billion) in production value, with NT$118.6 billion coming from synthetic fiber production, association data showed.
“The industry as a whole is responsible for the livelihood of 150,000 Taiwanese families,” Hou said.
Hou urged the incoming government, which is to take office on May 20, to work on joining regional economic agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership soon to eliminate tariffs.
“Otherwise, Taiwanese firms’ profits will be eroded by high tariffs in the region,” he said.
Hou, who is also vice chairman of Tainan Spinning Co (台南紡織), said that the 61-year-old company has upgraded its plants to utilize automated production processes in a bid to increase its output value.
Tainan Spinning is the nation’s largest polyester staple fiber and yarn manufacturer and also the largest yarn supplier in Vietnam. The company, which mainly processes orders for fabrics and garment suppliers, operates yarn factories in Taiwan and Vietnam.
Hou said that another plant in Vietnam is to become operational by the end of this year, which would enable the company to produce up to 600,000 spindles of yarn per year in Vietnam.
In the first quarter, Tainan Spinning’s revenue dropped 20.42 percent to NT$4.2 billion from a year earlier.
Hou said the company’s outlook would improve with each quarter after hitting trough in the first quarter and on the back recovery signs in orders this month.
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