ShanghaiTex 2013, the 16th International Exhibition on Textile Industry, was held June 10-13, 2013,
at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC), where it filled nine exhibition halls
totaling 100,000 square meters of floor space. The biennial expo — sponsored by the Shangtex
Holding Co. Ltd., the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai Sub-council
and the China Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai Chamber of Commerce; and organized by
Shanghai International Exhibition Co. Ltd., Shanghai Textile Technology Service and Exhibition
Center and Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. — welcomed more than 1,000 exhibiting companies from 25
countries and regions, and 53,183 professional visitors from 70 countries and regions. Four
pavilions grouped exhibitors from Italy, Germany, Korea and Taiwan. The vast majority — 90.3
percent — of exhibitors and visitors came from China, and most of the rest came from other Asian
countries.
This year’s ShanghaiTex also featured several educational programs and special seminars.
Digital printing and other dyeing and printing technologies figured large in these programs, as
well as within the exhibition halls themselves. Other areas covered included fibers and fiber
processing, spinning, knitting, and apparel- and home-textile-related technologies and trends.
Transforming China’s Textile Industry
ShanghaiTex 2013 centered on the theme “Leading the Transformation and Upgrading of China
Textile Industry,” and there was much emphasis on environmentally friendly processes — particularly
in the dyeing, printing and finishing area — as well as improved efficiencies. China is becoming
more developed in terms of its economy, growing middle class and awareness of the vital importance
of its natural resources; and the Chinese textile industry is seeing a need to improve its
efficiencies in order to compete with lower-cost manufacturing centers in neighboring countries
such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam and others.
There is also a labor shortage in the Chinese textile industry, as many young workers prefer
to work in service-oriented and white-collar occupations. Therefore, the industry is interested in
labor-saving technologies that will allow it to increase productivity with a reduced labor force.
ShanghaiTex 2013 welcomed more than 53,000 visitors to see the products and services of
more than 1,000 exhibiting companies.
Exhibitor Feedback
Textile World Asia
spoke with a number of exhibitors to get their feedback regarding ShanghaiTex.
Fong’s National Engineering Co., Ltd., Hong Kong, gave journalists a sneak peak at the THEN
AIRFLOW® Synergy 8 aerodynamic high-temperature piece-dyeing machine, which offers increased
capacity, reduced water and energy consumption and reduced labor requirements compared to earlier
Airflow Synergy technology (see TW Asia Technology, this issue). Synergy 8 replaces a single blower
for the entire machine with individual blowers for each tube, reducing by half its installed power
and by 20 to 30 percent its operational energy consumption.
While Fong’s showed a wide range of dyeing and finishing machinery in two different
exhibition halls, it kept the new machine behind closed doors out of concern for intellectual
property rights (IPR) infringements. “IPR infringement is still a problem in China,” said Walter
S.W. Leung, director, sales and marketing.
That concern was echoed by several European exhibitors at the show, and a number did not
bring machinery to show, but instead brought printed materials and other displays to present their
offerings, while others showed machines targeted to the Chinese and Asian markets. Some of those
exhibitors have manufacturing subsidiaries in China, and product manufactured at those sites tends
to be lower-priced and more commodity-oriented than what they manufacture in Europe — and, perhaps,
are less enticing to copy-cat competitors.
All the same, Paolo Puntoni, marketing director for spinning machinery manufacturer Savio
Macchine Tessili S.p.A., Italy, pointed out that Savio had machinery on display at ShanghaiTex in a
show of commitment to the Chinese and Asian markets, which account for 85 percent of its turnover.
“This commitment is much appreciated by our local customers,” he said. The company displayed its
high-end Polar/I Direct Link System winder, which it manufactures in Italy and sells to a certain
segment of the market; and its Sirius Two-for-One twister with Electronic Drive System, which it
manufactures in its Jining, Shandong, plant and sells mostly to smaller mills in China.
Puntoni was very satisfied with the visitor response at the show. Visitors came mainly from
China, he said, noting that there were a very few visitors from India, Indonesia and other
countries.
Digital printing technology received comprehensive coverage in Digital Textile Solution’s
series of 11 seminars presented at ShanghaiTex.
A Chinese Show
“ShanghaiTex is a Chinese show,” remarked Edelgard Keinath, market communication manager
exhibition organisation, of Germany-based Groz-Beckert KG, which sells needles, components and
systems to the knitting, sewing, felting, tufting and weaving sectors. “We are here because China
is our biggest market, and India is second,” she added. The company’s Asian headquarters are in
Hong Kong. It also has an office in Shanghai and manufacturing operations in China and other Asian
countries. Knitting and sewing are the largest market segments it serves.
Groz Beckert stressed the improved productivity, product quality, and time and cost savings
that can be realized when using its high-quality needles compared with using competitors’ less
expensive needles. Keinath also noted that the company offers technical service and support at no
extra cost.
Switzerland-based Jakob Müller AG, through subsidiary Jakob Müller Machinery (China) Co.
Ltd., showed machinery made in China and in Europe. Chinese-made machines included the Varitex V5MJ
jacquard machine for making elastic tape for underwear, and the MÜGRIP MBJ3.9 label machine.
European machines included the MÜPRINT MDP2 E elastic tape machine with a special ink cartridge on
the front side, the new-generation NH ribbon machine with motor control and the Comeztronic CT-16B
lace knitting machine with automated bars.
Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, presented its Barmag and Neumag man-made fiber
technologies as well as its Saurer and Schlafhorst natural fiber technologies and Textile
Components products, while across the aisle, Saurer Jintan Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. — a joint
venture between Oerlikon Textile and China-based Jinsheng Group — presented the JSC228A carding
machine. André Wissenberg, Oerlikon Textile’s vice president, marketing and corporate
communications, noted that completion of the previously announced divestiture of Oerlikon’s natural
fibers businesses to Jingsheng would take place soon — in fact, the closing was announced July 3,
with Oerlikon Textile being renamed Oerlikon Manmade Fibers, and the natural fibers business
reinstating its former name, Saurer Group (see TW Asia News, this issue). Wissenberg said both
entities would produce certain machinery in Germany and other machinery in China, and both would
maintain headquarters in Europe and in Shanghai.
Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, has 800 employees in India and 500 in China.
Truetzschler Textile Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., founded in 2002, manufactures and assembles
blow rooms, carding machines and draw frames; and offers sales and service for wires and nonwovens
machinery. Company CEO Dirk Burger reported that all markets and market segments in which
Trützschler is active are looking up. “There is growth in the domestic Chinese market,” he noted.
“It’s good to see more balance in the markets.”
While spinning machinery dominates Trützschler’s sales in China, sales of nonwovens
machinery are picking up. Also, the company’s newest business, Trützschler Switzerland AG, part of
the Trützschler Man-made Fibers segment, has sold eight bulked continuous filament (BCF) lines for
carpet manufacturing to a Chinese customer. “This is quite a successful start in China,” said
Marcus Syndikus, area sales manager, filament systems. “We have a one-year lead time now.”
Nonwovens machinery manufacturer DiloGroup, Germany, had a small booth within the German
Pavilion. Sales District Manager Uwe Kamps remarked that he saw more customers than expected,
noting that ShanghaiTex focuses more on traditional textiles than on technical textiles. “It is
good to be here,” he said. “The nonwovens industry is increasing in China, and also in India.”
Warp knitting and warp preparation machinery maker Karl Mayer Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH,
Germany, showed mainly machinery produced in its China-based manufacturing center, but also
displayed its newest German-made HKS 2-SE elastic machine. “In Germany, we are focused on the
high-tech market, while the focus in China is on the middle range,” said Oliver Mathews, vice
president, sales and marketing. “We supply machinery to Chinese customers and also export machinery
from China, although the export share is still small compared to what is sold domestically.” He
added that China represents 60 to 70 percent of the company’s worldwide turnover, and that the
machines made in China are all newly developed and targeted to specific customer groups.
Edda Walraf, vice president technology and marketing, Rieter Spun Yarn Systems, Switzerland,
remarked that ShanghaiTex is a regional show, and also that there are too many such events
nowadays. Still, the company showed units of its various spinning machines and presented
information about its technologies, which comprise all the important spinning systems including
ring, compact, rotor and air-jet spinning technologies. Rieter also demonstrated the Com4® compact
spinning system and showed what its air-jet technology offers for fibers such as Lenzing Modal®.
ShanghaiTex organizers gave a warm welcome to a delegation of buyers from Turkey.
From Commodity To Quality
Across the aisle, Rieter Group business Premium Textile Components — comprising the Bräcker,
Graf, Novibra and Suessen brands — introduced the Bräcker Opal spinning ring, a middle-segment
product offering speeds of up to 18,000 revolutions per minute, for the Chinese market; and also
showed the premium high-speed Titan spinning ring made in Europe, among other components. Ioannis
Spiridopulos, senior vice president, marketing and sales, said the Chinese market is a main focus
for the company. “The Chinese market is changing and moving away from bulk manufacturing to become
a quality market,” he said. “We believe in this market and want to engage in it,” he said, noting
that the company has agencies all over the country for all of its products.
Uster Technologies AG, Switzerland, serves the Chinese market through a technical center in
Suzhou, and it manufactures a small series of testing instruments in China for that market. The
company had several instruments on display at ShanghaiTex, and Gabriela Peters, textile and
business engineer and product manager yarn, was on hand to explain how the 2013 version of USTER®
Statistics helps mills analyze and improve product quality by providing benchmarks for comparison.
United States-based AB Carter Inc. sells equipment and components to the short-staple,
carpet, flax, wool and cashmere market segments in China, but also the fiberglass segment. Thomas
G. Genova, sales director, Asia-Pacific Region, said his company’s Chinese business has boomed in
the last two years, and that the company has succeeded because it has local agents to help its
customers. “We’ve been in Hong Kong since the 1980s and in Shanghai since 2006. The challenge is in
finding the right people who understand the local dynamics,” he said, adding: “We’ve been riding
the wave of the China export giant. Companies that export product from China to other countries
require higher-quality equipment to make higher-quality goods.”
July/August/September 2013