ShanghaiTex
VDMA At ShanghaiTexThe German textile machinery industry saw substantial growth in 2002.
According to the Textile Machinery Association , which is a division of the German Engineering
Federation (VDMA), much of the growth in sales came from exports, particularly shipments to
China.Based on VDMA’s numbers, machinery orders booked in 2002 exceeded those of the previous year
by 22 percent. The bulk of the sales growth came from exports; in fact, the third quarter saw
export shipments jump 20 percent compared to 2001. For the whole year, VDMA expects overall
machinery sales to grow by 2 percent, of which 90 percent came from exports. Of all the exports, 43
percent were sold to Asia.VDMA claims that German suppliers had captured 30 percent of the world’s
textile machinery market, making the country the number one textile machinery manufacturing nation
in the world. In fact, VDMA says, both Japan and Italy lag behind Germany by 17 percent each.Among
all the export countries for German suppliers, China is by far the top buyer. Sales in the first
nine months of 2002 reached 497 million euros. In particular, knitting machine suppliers increased
their sales to that country by almost 50 percent. This, VDMA says, shows “very clearly that the
Chinese textile industry not only extends its capacities by new machines, but also invests
considerable means in expansion and change.”The second largest export market for German textile
machinery manufacturers is Turkey. From January to September 2002, export sales total were 337
million euros. For the year, compared to 2001, sales rose 123 percent.
About VDMAVDMA will be organizing a German pavilion at ShanghaiTex. As an umbrella
organization that covers all sectors of industries, VDMA has about 3,000 member companies. Within
VDMA, there are about 135 textile company members, which are represented by the Textile Machinery
Association. For more information about VDMA and the Textile Machinery Association, log on to
www.vdma.de/textile.
Spring 2003