Home furnishing, agriculture, sportswear and hospital protective clothing, car upholstery: these are some of the possible uses of technical textiles and nonwoven fabric which will be presented at the Techtextil fair in Frankfurt, from 11 to 13 June. In an environment full of different opportunities, but with one common denominator, that of innovation, the ICE (Italian Trade Commission) in collaboration with the Italian Association for the promotion of technical textiles, Texclubtec and Acimit, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, will coordinate around 40 companies. Twenty-five will best represent the magic that these materials can offer, becoming in an almost chameleon-like fashion beautifully coloured country bags, car upholstery fabrics and much more, while 13 will exhibit cutting-edge machines for processing, dyeing and finishing technical and nonwoven textiles.
Despite the slight decline in 2012, the technical textiles sector in Germany is considered very important for the domestic industry, with a turnover exceeding one billion euros each year, and Italy also shows good growth margins. Unlike traditional textile, for which Europe is a mature market, Italian technical textiles do not seem particularly affected by the crisis, favoured by a continuous evolution leading to the development of new high added value products, based on research and development and oriented towards specific functions. The annual turnover amounts to around 3.2 billion euros, of which 30% - 40% is achieved through exports.
Both countries are therefore interested in increasing trade, taking advantage of meeting opportunities such as that offered by Techtextil 2013. Italian companies shall occupy 450 square meters at the fair: 350 for technical textiles, which will also include a Forum area, dedicated to the display of panels, samples and finished garments, providing an the overall picture of Italian production in the sector and present the novelties; while 96 square meters will concern machinery. Shared service centres with ICE and Texclubtec staff will be available in the first area for assistance and information for both exhibitors and visitors, and with ICE and Acimit staff in the second exhibition area.
Techtextil is held every two years in 5 geographic areas, which represent some of the major markets for technical textiles: United States (Atlanta - Anaheim California), China (Shanghai), Russia (Moscow), India (Mumbai) and Germany (Frankfurt). Around 1,200 exhibitors from 50 countries took part in the 2011 edition of the event, with almost 25,000 visitors from 96 countries, confirming the highly positive trend of the industry and the event.