The-Development-of-Technical-Textile-in-Turkey

Being one of the most significant centers of the world textile industry, the market for technical textiles in Turkey has begun to grow in the last few years thanks to the development of products with high added value. Turkish textile manufacturers, which started their activities with essential products in the 1970s, now export tons of technical textile raw materials or finished products to the world. Meltblown, Spunbond, Spunlace, Thermobond, Waterlaid technologies are particularly popular in Turkey. Companies producing technical textiles manufacture raw materials or semi-finished products used by all sectors, especially construction, ready-made garments, geotextiles, home textiles, cleaning/cosmetic/hygiene, automotive, packaging, food industries. As the manufacturing companies operating in the Turkish market are new to the technical textiles market, they describe themselves as part of the sector they supply. Satisfied with the global demand for their products, manufacturers make constant technological investments to update their technologies and increase their production capacity. New countries are also beginning to operate in the sector. Intending to start smart textile production in Turkey as well, Turkish textile manufacturers are receiving attention with the R&D and P&D investments they have recently boosted. Products marketed by most of the companies manufacturing finished products under their brand name are also attracting global interest. There are hundreds of companies operating in this field in Turkey. As a result of these developments in Turkey, many foreign companies are either transferring production facilities to Turkey or becoming partners with Turkish companies.

Investments in technical textiles are showing signs of paying off

The Centre for Research and Application of Technical Textiles was created five years ago by the Aegean Association of Textile and Raw Material Exporters. By creating this application center to raise the share of exports of technical textiles, the union began to see the results of its investments.

The exports of technical textiles in Turkey increased by 19% from 899 million USD to 1071 million USD in the period January-July 2018, whereas the exportation of technical textiles from the Aegean region rose by 40% from 45 million USD to 64 million USD.

Metyx Group and Karl Mayer sign an agreement

METYX Group has signed a deal with Karl Mayer – a technology supplier to a German manufacturer of technical textile machinery – for new production facilities to provide an additional 12,000 tons of glass and carbon fiber fabric knitting capacity to its new manufacturing lines. It has both expanded the production capacity of the Manisa plant in Turkey with the manufacturing area and also laid the foundation for overseas manufacturing plants as part of its multinational strategic business growth plan.

Korteks expands its R&D investments every year

The Turkish textile market in Europe and the Middle East, maintaining its leading position in the markets of technical textiles, automotive textiles, and functional products, is one of the most significant drivers for R&D. Within this framework, Korteks considers R&D to be the most crucial element of competition.

Korteks produces high quality, original, innovative, and eco-friendly polyester yarn products for the many textile firms around the world. The Korteks R & D Centre promotes the development of new types of polyester yarns by directing research and development activities within the company and improves the competitiveness of the products on the international markets. Using its yarn testing and analysis methods, polymer material technologies, polyester polymer production, yarn texturing and twisting, colored threads, and masterbatches, Korteks has raised its R&D budget share each year by increasing its R&D investment to develop the technical textile in Turkey too.

The Sun Group expands with R&D and P&D

With more than 30 years of experience in the textile industry, the Sun Group keeps growing with the strength of its R&D and P&D activities. Sun Group companies include Sun Tekstil, Ekoten Tekstil, Ames Tekstil, TDU, and Jimmy Key – its women’s retail clothing brand. With a turnover of 140 million USD in 2017, Sun Tekstil is pursuing its exports with a growth target of 20% this year.

Yarn made of plastic bottles

With the largest and most integrated and innovative polyester yarn production facility in Europe, Korteks İplik is still working on the production of recycled polyester yarns. One of the projects Korteks is working on is yarns made from plastic bottles. Adding a new one every day to its R&D studies, Korteks carries on its research on self-soluble threads. There is an increase in the number of yarn manufacturers in Turkey who begin to work with international companies and increase their import amounts as well.

Fabric made 100 times finer than hair

Manufactured by Mogul – one of the major hybrid nonwoven manufacturing companies not only in Turkey but also worldwide – smart microfilament fabrics, that are 100 times thinner than hair, are bringing about important transformations in many areas of life in many industries such as fashion, home textiles, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, packaging and automotive.

Turkey brings the change in protective textiles

With technological advances, textile structures, protecting the human body in unsafe surroundings, are on the rise, among other technical textile products. The newly developed manufacturing method, which places importance on the environment and human health in the global marketplace, is enhancing the recognition of technical textiles. Protective textiles, an essential branch of technical textiles, are gaining consumer appreciation by setting standards in the field of safety and hygiene. Particularly in developing countries, as the rate of industrialization rises, the demand for protective clothing increases as the level of sanctions increases.

Production of anti-ballistic fabric

Kipaş Holding Mensucat succeeded in producing bullet-proof fabrics two years ago, thanks to R&D studies. An exceptional fibre was used in this textile. In addition to the bullet-proof function, it is regarded that the fabric, which is invisible with infrared rays, fireproof and water-resistant, can be used as an alternative to steel jackets, which are disadvantageous because of its weight. After manufacturing a bullet-proof fabric two years ago, a 50% cheaper bullet-proof suit is now being manufactured.

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Today, the Turkish textile and clothing industry is the most internationally oriented industry that can challenge any other country in terms of quality and a wide range of products on the international markets. Turkey has already expanded its cotton production, which will bring it on the way to become more independent of external sources of cotton.

Simultaneously, the country’s government is very concerned about solving the remaining problems in the industry, and consequently, soon, Turkey could be the most powerful competitor for its main rival countries. Although it is not possible to see Turkey as the biggest competitor of China, for smaller needs of demanding countries, Turkey can be the best option thanks to its location and ease of transporting to European countries not only with the help of textile industry but also expanding contribution of technical textile in Turkey.

You can take a look at our previous article to learn more about the textile industry in Turkey.

Source: https://www.etextilemagazine.com

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