The countdown to Asia’s leading biennial trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens continues as the industry’s leading players prepare for Cinte Techtextil China. Held from 24 to 26 September at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre nearly 500 exhibitors are expected to participate, an increase compared to the previous edition which sees an extra hall and a total of 35,000 sqm of exhibition space in use.

This year marks a change from the last fair held in 2012, with the show no longer held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics. According to Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of fair co-organiser Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, this stand-alone version will be more beneficial for participants. “Holding the fair independently from Intertextile ensures the visitor profile will be more specific to the industry,” she said. “This gives overseas companies greater opportunity to promote their products and enhance their brands in the fast-growing Asian market.”

Growing potential in Asian technical textiles market attracting overseas exhibitors

This expanding market is providing a range of new opportunities for overseas firms to tap into. Industrial protective equipment is just one of these, as countries in the region, in particular China and India, still have large numbers of unprotected industrial workers. Couple this with the fact that Asia remains the leading global manufacturing hub, and there are huge opportunities in the region. Concordia Textiles is one exhibitor that sees this potential in the region in the near future.

“More awareness of protecting workers will enlarge the demand for protective work wear that meets specific quality standards,” explained Dirk De Locht from Concordia. The Belgium company will showcase their European- and Chinese-made fabrics for heavy-duty work wear, waterproof & breathable and heat & flame protective garments at the fair that meet a range of EN and IEC standards. In addition to these they are also exhibiting new multi-risk protection fabrics.

German firm PHP Fibers GmbH, producers of industrial filament yarns and exhibiting for the fifth time, see the same potential. “We are already selling to China and Korea, but we see potential for growth due to the increasing demand for cars in Asia and the resulting boost in production in the region,” outlined Guangze Song from PHP’s Shanghai office. “As the automotive market grows in China and throughout Asia, we forecast increased demand for our airbag fabrics.”

Leading companies from 12 industry sectors to take part

Companies from the full industry spectrum will be at the fair, with product groups and application areas including technology and machinery, woven andknitted fabrics, nonwovens, coated textiles, composites, surface and bonding techniques, fibres and yarns, and more on display.

The Santex Group from Switzerland is one such exhibitor and has more than 30 years of experience producing textile finishing machines, laminating and coating plants, and prepreg lines. Their Santex brand features machinery for knits and woven fabrics, while the Cavitec brand focuses on prepreg and impregnation lines for high-tech composites, and laminating and coating machines.

French exhibitor Protechnic is a regular attendant of Techtextil fairs around the world, and produces hot-melt thermo-adhesive webs, nets and films for dry lamination. They sell to more than 50 countries across the globe and make products for industries as diverse as automotive, aviation, building, renewable energy and sports. According to the company, the complexity of the polymers they use, such as copolyamide, copolyester, polyolefin and polyurethane, enables them to provide a wide range of customised solutions for the lamination of many composite materials.

Cinte Techtextil China is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA).