Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme

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Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme
2. Materials technology in Estonia
2.4.6 Textiles industry
Industry background
Textiles industry has traditionally been very strong in Estonia and it still employs approximately 14 000 people
(~13% of the total industrial workforce) and generates 7% of the whole industrial production. The industry
accounted for 5% of all Estonian exports in 2007.
Main product groups of the Estonian textile industry are clothing, home textiles and technical textiles. Main
export articles are clothes, home textiles and knitted garments. The Estonian Clothing and Textile Association
(ECTA) divides the sector into clothing and textiles subsectors in its statistics. By this division, clothing corresponds
to approximately 38% of total industry production whereas the share of textiles production is 62%.
The majority of people in textiles industry are, however, employed by clothing companies that employ almost
10000 people compared to other textiles production that employs close to 6000 people (2008 figures). The
number of employees has dramatically decreased during the last years as the employee count has declined
almost 50% from the peak years in 2001-2003 when almost 25000 people were employed by the industry.
The breakdown between the subsectors is somewhat different than the situation in the EU, where clothing
accounts for 41% of total textiles industry production. The clothing industry in Europe is in difficult position
due to the price pressure coming from low cost countries, especially in Asia. Thus it is generally acknowledged
that the industry needs to clearly focus in high added value products in the future, where different technical
textiles and products integrated with other materials groups play a key role. In Estonia, a very large share of
non-clothing producing companies is producing home and interior textiles and there is very little production
of industrial or technical textiles. In the interviews of key Estonian stakeholders, Ilves Ekstra and Toom Tekstiili
were mentioned among companies more oriented to higher value added technical textiles.
Clothing 41 %
Figure 9. Breakdown of textile industry sectors by fiber usage in Europe 41
Among the 500 largest companies in Estonia, there are four textiles industry companies. The largest companies
by far in the industry are Silvano Fashion group producing lingerie and Wendre that produces various
home textiles. Other two textiles producers among the largest companies are Toom Tekstiili that produces
home textiles and non-woven textiles for different purposes such as industrial and technical use. The fourth
largest company, Mivar, is also producing home textiles.
Textile industry trends
Industrial and technical textiles 26 %
Home & interior textiles 33 %
The key trend in textile industry, especially for Europe, is the focus on adding more value to textile products
and focusing the industry more on technical textiles. The strategic research agenda of the European
Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing outlined three major development trends:
From commodities towards specialities (along the entire value chain)
New textile applications (for different industrial sectors and application fields)
Towards customisation (rather than mass manufacturing)
The textile industry and value chains are very complex as can be seen in Figure 10, which represents the textile
industry value chain from fibre production to recycling of the final product. The raw materials of the industry
are natural fibres but also man-made fibres of e.g. polymers. The intermediate products – thread, fabric and
garment – are used by three notable subsectors including clothing, home textiles and various industrial applications.
41 http://www.euratex.eu/system/files/attached-files/broch-sra-def.pdf