The Fiber Year
The fiber year 
The fiber year 2018
In 2017, the world fiber production increased by 5% to 103 million tons. Cotton production went up by 11% to 26 million tons, the fastest cotton expansion in 7 years while other natural fibers remained at 6 million tons and manmade fiber expanded to nearly 72 million tons.
The fiber industry recorded accelerated growth of almost 4% after annual dynamics had continuously softened from 6% expansion in 2012 to a meager 1% gain in 2016. This world market size includes cotton use, marking a 10-year high, hardly changed output of other natural fibers and an all-time high man-made fiber production after growing 4%.
The world market of staple fibers has expanded 2% to 56 million tons. Natural fibers succeeded to grow faster than cellulosic and synthetic fibers, which was last observed in 2001.
The textile yearbook “The Fiber Year 2018” from The Fiber Year GmbH, Speicher/Switzerland, comprises latest data and trends on natural and man-made fibers, raw materials with a forecast until 2021 as well as nonwovens. A new chapter for biopolymers was included for the first time thanks to the support from RWTH Aachen University, Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials and nova-Institut. They capture a niche market but are characterized by steady growth as they serve a variety of applications and industries.
The electronic report with 211 pages can be purchased for CHF590 at: www.thefiberyear.com