Chemical fiber or man-made fibers refer to those produced by humans by a series of chemical processes, as opposed to natural fibers like cotton or wool, which are derived from plants or animals. Chemical fibers account for roughly 77 percent of the total fiber production worldwide and include synthetic fibers such as polyesters or polyamides and man-made cellulosic fibers like viscose or rayon.
Chemical fibers production
During the last two decades, the global production of chemical fibers has increased considerably. In 2022, it surpassed 87.7 million metric tons, an almost three-fold increase in comparison to the production registered 20 years earlier. Regionally, production is mainly concentrated in Asia.
Synthetic fibers
Synthetic fibers are derived from synthetic polymers and are usually based on petrochemicals, although the use of bio-based polymers is on the rise. They account for over 60 percent of the global fiber production and have dominated the market since the mid-1990s, when they surpassed cotton production. Polyester is by far the most used synthetic fiber worldwide. In 2021, polyester production stood at roughly 60.53 million metric tons. Other commonly used synthetic fibers include polyamide, polypropylene fiber, acrylic fiber, and elastane. The synthetic fibers market value was estimated at some 63.93 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, However, experts predict that this market is expected to witness significant growth and reach approximately 93.03 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
Man-made cellulosic fibers
Man-made cellulosic fibers account for roughly six percent of global fiber production. They are manufactured from cellulose, which is usually derived from farmed trees, although in some cases other sources of cellulose are used. Frequently used cellulose-based fibers include viscose, acetate lyocell, modal, and cupro. Of these, viscose is by far the most used, with a market share of roughly 80 percent. In 2021, around 7.2 million metric tons of man-made cellulosic fibers were manufactured worldwide. It is forecast that the production value of man-made cellulosic fibers will reach roughly 16 billion euros by 2030.
Production of textile and chemical fibers globally from 1975 to 2022
The global production of textile fibers increased almost five times from 24 million metric tons in 1975 to 113.8 million metric tons in 2022. Out of this, 25.2 million metric tons were natural fibers like cotton or wool, and the rest were chemical fibers. Chemical fibers consist of synthetic fibers such as polyesters or polyamides, and manmade cellulosic fibers such as viscose or rayon.
Polyester leads the textile fibers market
Chemical fibers overtook cotton production in the middle of the 1990s and grew more than two times in the past 20 years. In 2020, synthetic fibers made up about 64 percent of the total fiber production in the world. Polyester had a 54 percent share of the market, while polyamide and other synthetics had five percent each. Other synthetic fibers include acrylic, elastane, and polypropylene.
Fiber production expected to grow
Despite the growing awareness of the need for more sustainable use of resources, the latest projections indicate a significant rise in fiber production in the coming years. By 2030, the global fiber production is estimated to reach 149 million metric tons, a substantial increase from 2020. This means that the production per person will be about 17.5 kilograms in 2030, compared to 14 kilograms in 2020.
China’s biggest chemical fiber companies in 2019
The 2019 China chemical fiber industry output ranking list was released by China Chemical Fibers Association in 2020. The list showed that Tongkun was the top producer of chemical fiber (except DTY), polyester textile filament (except DTY), polyester POY and chip-spun polyester textile filament (except DTY) in China in 2019.
China’s largest chemical fiber factories (excluding DTY)
- Tongkun Group Co., Ltd
- Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd.
- Xinfengming Group
- Jiangsu Guowang Hi-tech Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Sanfame Group Co., Ltd.
- Sateri
- Rongsheng Petrochemical Co.,Ltd
- Zhejiang Tiansheng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
- SINOPEC YIZHENG CHEMICAL FIBRE COMPANY LIMITED
China’s biggest polyester filament yarn manufacturers (excluding DTY)
- Tongkun Group Co., Ltd
- Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd.
- Xinfengming Group
- Jiangsu Guowang Hi-tech Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Rongsheng Petrochemical Co.,Ltd
- Zhejiang Tiansheng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Fujian Baihong Polymerization Fiber Technology Industrial Co., Ltd
- Dongnan New Material (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd.
- Changle Shanli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
China’s biggest polyester POY manufacturers by production capacity
- Tongkun Group Co., Ltd
- Xinfengming Group
- Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd.
- Jiangsu Guowang Hi-tech Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Fujian Baihong Polymerization Fiber Technology Industrial Co., Ltd
- Dongnan New Material (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd.
- Rongsheng Petrochemical Co.,Ltd
- Kais Group Co., Ltd
- JIANGSU SHENJO CHEMICAL FIBER CO.LTD
- Jiangsu Fergus Fiber Technology Co., Ltd.
China’s biggest manufacturers of chip-spun polyester filament manufacturers by production capacity (excluding DTY)
- Zhejiang Huaxin Advanced Materials Co.Ltd
- Suzhou Longjie Special fiber Co., Ltd.
- Xinghui Chemical Fiber Group Co., Ltd.
- Zhejiang Xingfa Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Jiangsu Guowang Hi-tech Fiber Co., Ltd.
- Hangzhou Zhongli Chemical Fiber Co.,Ltd.
- Fujian Jinxing Group
- Zhejiang Huilong New Materials Co.,Ltd.
- Suzhou Chunsheng Environmental Protection Fiber Co., Ltd.
China’s chemical fiber companies in the Fortune 500
On July 20, 2021, Fortune Plus APP released the 2021 “Fortune” China Top 500 rankings, covering the performance and achievements of the world’s largest Chinese listed companies in the past year. The total operating income of the 500 listed Chinese companies on the list reached 53 trillion yuan in 2020, an increase of 5% over last year; net profit reached 4.3 trillion yuan, an increase of about 2% over last year. Compared with the previous year’s list, the revenue and net profit growth of the companies on the list have both dropped significantly this year.
Eight chemical fiber companies, namely Hengli Petrochemical, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Hengyi Petrochemical, Zhongtai Chemical, Tongkun Group, Xinfengming Group, Eastern Shenghong, and Sanyou Chemical, are shortlisted in the 2021 Fortune China 500 list.The total operating income of these 8 chemical fiber enterprises reached 553.639 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 16%; the net profit reached 28.471 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28%. Among them, Hengli Petrochemical’s operating income exceeded 150 billion yuan, and its net profit exceeded 13 billion yuan, ranking 76th on the list, an increase of 23 places from last year; Rongsheng Petrochemical’s operating income exceeded 100 billion yuan, ranking 101st on the list, up by by 24 places compared with last year; Hengyi Petrochemical, Zhongtai Chemical, and Xinfengming Group all achieved growth in operating income compared with the same period of last year, but the ranking declined slightly; the operating income of Tongkun Group, Eastern Shenghong, and Sanyou Chemicals all declined compared with the same period last year, so did the ranking.
| Rank | Last year’s ranking | Company | Operating income (million yuan) | Profit (million yuan) |
| 76 | 99 | Hengli Petrochemical Co., Ltd. | 152,373.40 | 13,461.79 |
| 101 | 125 | Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd. | 107,264.99 | 7,308.59 |
| 130 | 128 | Hengyi Petrochemical Co., Ltd. | 86,429.63 | 3,072.00 |
| 135 | 124 | Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co., Ltd. | 84,197.02 | 145.96 |
| 250 | 203 | Tongkun Group Co., Ltd. | 45,832.69 | 2,846.53 |
| 289 | 287 | Xinfengming Group Co., Ltd. | 36,984.10 | 603.04 |
| 423 | 365 | Jiangsu Eastern Shenghong Co., Ltd. | 22,777.00 | 316.31 |
| 498 | 450 | Tangshan Sanyou Chemical Co., Ltd. | 17,780.28 | 717.06 |
Figure 1. China’s chemical fiber companies in the Fortune China 500 list in 2021
On August 2, 2021, the US “Fortune” magazine released the 2021 Fortune 500 list. The operating income of the Fortune 500 companies was about US$31.7 trillion in 2020, down 5% from last year, and the total net profit was at US$1.6 trillion, a sharp drop of 20% year-on-year, the biggest drop since 2009.
China has four chemical fiber companies on the list, namely Hengli Group, Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group, Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Shenghong Holding Group. Among them, Hengli Group made a big stride into the world’s top 100 companies with operating income of US$100.773 billion, ranking 67th, up 40 places from last year; Shenghong Holding Group ranked 311th with operating income of US$38.44 billion, up by 144 places compared with last year’s ranking; Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group and Zhejiang Hengyi Group both made the list for the first time. Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group ranked 255th with operating income of US$44.726 billion, and Zhejiang Hengyi Group ranked 309th, with operating revenue of 38.562 billion US dollars.
| Rank | Last year’s ranking | Company | Operating income (millions of dollars) | Profit (millions of dollars) |
| 67 | 107 | Hengli Group Co., Ltd. | 100,773 | 2,373 |
| 255 | Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group Co., Ltd. | 44,726 | 627 | |
| 309 | Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd. | 38,562 | 152 | |
| 311 | 455 | Shenghong Holding Group Co., Ltd. | 38,440 | 520 |
Figure 2. Chinese chemical fiber companies among the Fortune Global 500 in 2021
VNPOLYFIBER is proud to have connection and business relationship with some of the biggest manufacturers in China’s polyester industry, specialized in PTA with annual capacity of 5 million MTS, polyester staple fiber (PSF) with annual capacity of 1.2 million MTS and polyester filament yarns including partially oriented yarn (POY), fully drawn yarn (FDY) and drawn texturized yarn (DTY) with annual capacity of 6.3 million MTS. The total annual capacity is 12.5 million MTS.
It is equipped with the world’s state-of-the art technology and machines including Dupont and TMT and Neumag and Barmag,
It has been exporting to more than 90 countries and regions since the year of 2004 with excellent qualtiy and customer service.
Below is the list of product offered by our partnership. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a quote now!
