US Acrylic Fiber Producers Under Pressure; Push into Furnishings, Industrial Markets

摘要

Faced with fierce competition from Asian producers, and from competing fibers such as polyester and polypropylene, the US acrylic fiber and yarn industry is having to take on some of the characteristics of the very fiber they produce, namely resistance and flexibility, in order to survive. That truth is illuminated by statistics compiled by the Fiber Economics Bureau, the data-gathering arm of the American Fiber Manufacturers Association. In its annual publication, the Fiber Organon, the bureau notes that during the decade of the 1990s, acrylic fiber output in the US declined to 336 million pounds in 2000, from 506 million pounds in 10 years earlier. Based on estimates, the bureau suggests that production during the past two years has stabilized at about 325 million pounds, but that is still a far cry from production volumes a decade ago.