Smithers’ latest study ‘The Future of Wetlaid Nonwovens to 2025’ forecasts the global consumption of nonwovens will grow at a rate of 6.0% (tonnes), 6.5% (m2), and 6.4% ($) from 2020-2025. The slightly slower growth rates reflect maturing markets for many wetlaid end uses, including both new and traditional applications. Additionally, the report considers global political and economic issues, including slowing growth in China and parts of Europe, the ongoing ‘trade war’ between the US and China, and sanctions against Russia, Syria, Iran, North Korea.
 
The report reviews the wetlaid nonwovens markets and processes, with the new inclusion of the important hydroentangled process variant. Other variants included are DRC (double recrepe) wetlaid, glass fibre-based wetlaid, all-synthetic fibre wetlaid and standard synthetic/pulp wetlaid.
 
Wetlaid nonwovens continue to suffer through some market issues, primarily substitution by spunlaid and other nonwovens, in some of the older, established markets but are participating in some of the newest nonwoven applications.
 
Smithers’ analysis for ‘The Future of Wetlaid Nonwovens to 2025’ identifies the following major key drivers for the future growth of the global wetlaid nonwovens industry over the next five years:
 

• User requirements play a key part in growth of the industry, with demand for some products that have specific performance requirements being driven by consumers or users. These include: Single-serve tea/coffee filters, Battery separators, Bio-material filtration.
• The sustainability movement is global and growing. The one constant is a growing desire among global consumers, companies and governments for more sustainable products. Thinking of wetlaid nonwovens as an efficient converter of low-cost sustainable, and eventually non-plastic, fibre into high-performance products offers a future need for this process.
• One of the retail trends in the marketplace in 2020 is the replacement of lower performance and lower cost products with higher performance and lower cost, sustainable products. The cost and sustainability of wetlaid will continue to make it a growing choice in select segments of the rapidly growing wipes market through to 2025.

 Smithers’ latest report, ‘The Future of Wetlaid Nonwovens to 2025’ covers the global wetlaid nonwovens market, providing a qualitative analysis of the industry and of segments within the market, by process technology, by material type,  by end-use application and by geography, and forecasts the growth of the industry over the five years from 2020 to 2025.
 
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