POLYESTER FIBRES IN THE POST-CRISIS PERIOD

In 2009, of the 44.1 million tons of chemical fibres manufactured in the world, 72% were polyester (PES) fibres. The increase over 2008 was the highest, including complex fibres by 8.7%, to 19.7 million tons, and staple fibre by 7.8%, to 12.8 million tons. China's share was 60% of world production of PES fibres. By 2020, world production of PES staple fibre should reach 24 million tons, while PES complex fibres are estimated to reach 45.5 million tons, with unprecedented average annual growth rates of 8.5 and 11.2%, respectively. Priority remains with China, as previously, where the production volume was greater than 60 million tons for the same time period. In other regions, for example, in Japan, the USA, South Korea, and Western Europe, either stagnation or a drop in production will be observed in the future. In the CIS and Russia, the situation with PES fibres was negative on the whole in 2009. Production of all types of this product dropped sharply at Mogilevkhimvolokno Co. Only one enterprise - Svetlogorsk Khimvolokno IA in Belarus, which exceeded the projected capacities by 6000 tons/year, will survive in the future. In Russia, attention will be focused on development of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) for packaging (primarily bottles) as previously, but processing it into PES fibres will almost be ignored, which will leave the domestic textile industry outside of the mainstream of current trends.