ISBN 1-85765-738-1

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Market Definition

MARKET SECTORS

MARKET POSITION

MARKET TRENDS

Table 1: Relative Labour Costs in the World Textile Industry (index UK=100), 1995

Market Size

TOTAL MARKET

MARKET SECTORS

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

FOREIGN TRADE

Table 2: Sales of Apparel and Textile Fibres by UK Manufacturers by Sector (£m), 1992-1996

Table 3: UK Man-Made Fibres, Cotton and Wool Production Trends (000 tonnes and million kilograms), 1992-1996

Table 4: Total World Fibre Production (million tonnes), 1975-1996

Table 5: Total World Man-Made Fibre Production (000 tonnes), 1991-1996

Table 6: UK Exports of Apparel and Textiles (£m), 1992-1996

Table 7: UK Imports of Apparel and Textiles (£m), 1992-1996

Industry Background

RECENT HISTORY

INDUSTRY CONCENTRATION

EMPLOYMENT

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

Table 8: Number of Companies Involved in Fibre Production by Turnover Size, 1996

Table 9: Employment in the UK Apparel and Textile Industry (000), 1992-1996

Competitor Analysis

THE MARKETPLACE

MARKET LEADERS

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Buying Behaviour

CUSTOMER PENETRATION

Table 10: Expenditure on Clothing and Textile Goods (£m), 1992-1996

Table 11: Consumer Penetration of Tights, Holdups and Stockings in the Last 12 Months ( percent of women), 1996

Table 12: Consumer Penetration of Knitting Wool in the Last 12 Months ( percent of women), 1996

Table 13: Consumer Penetration of Household Furnishings in the Last 12 Months ( percent of adults), 1996

Outside Suppliers to the Industry

THE TEXTILE MACHINERY INDUSTRY

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Current Issues

NEW FIBRE DEVELOPMENT

EUROPEAN UNION QUOTA ARRANGEMENTS

GROWTH OF ASIAN PRODUCERS

INTRODUCTION OF A NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

CORPORATE ACTIVITY

Forecasts

FUTURE PROSPECTS

FORECASTS 1997 TO 2000

Table 14: Forecast UK Fibres Market Size and Production by Value and Volume (£m, 000 tonnes, million kilograms), 1997-2000

Company Profiles

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Sources

ASSOCIATIONS

PERIODICALS

DIRECTORIES

GENERAL SOURCES

HBI UK INFORMATION SOURCES

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

OTHER SOURCES

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hard hit by the economic recession at the start of the 1990s, the fibre industry in the UK has grown moderately in revenue terms over the last 2 years, and was estimated to be worth £2bn in 1996.

Fibres and textiles is now a truly global marketplace, and one of the key factors shaping the development of the UK industry in recent years has been the significant increase in productive capacity in developing countries. UK companies are simply unable to compete with the low production costs available in countries such as China and India, and are increasingly shifting their own bulk manufacturing operations overseas. As a result, the import penetration of fibre and textile products into the UK has increased significantly over the last 10 years.

These developments have been taking place against the background of the phasing-out of the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA). This agreement is intended to provide for the full deregulation of the world trade in textiles by 2004, but progress to date has been somewhat mixed. In particular, the reluctance on the part of many of the developed nations to phase-out the MFA has preserved excess productive capacity in the world fibre and textiles market.

The intensity of global competition over the last 20 years has caused a major change in the structure of the fibre industry in the UK. Size is becoming a pre-requisite for industrial success for a variety of reasons. The industry is now highly capital-intensive, both in terms of manufacturing capacity and technology, while unpredictable fluctuations in demand and supply can put a severe strain on a company's working capital requirements. Furthermore, the relative maturity of the UK market means that companies are being forced to expand their international operations. With economies of scale increasingly important, many of the smaller and less efficient companies have left the industry.

The outlook for the fibre industry in the UK is mixed. Those companies which have already undertaken restructuring and continue to invest in new technology are better placed than many of their European rivals to compete on a world stage. They are also benefiting from the strong domestic economy, although their cost competitiveness has been undermined recently by the strength of sterling. On the other hand, producers of `traditional', low-value commodity-type items will continue to lose market share to overseas competitors.

Text © 1997 Key Note

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