Zurich - Global yarn production was up by nearly 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 while global fabric production dropped by 15 per cent compared to the previous three months.

The latest figures from the ITMF show that the rise in yarn production was mainly due to a 31.8 per cent increase in Asia. In North and South America yarn production increased by 13 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively.

Europe could not maintain its upward trend, instead showing a slight decline of 1.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in yarn production.

On a year-on-year basis, global yarn output increased by 1.9 per cent in first quarter of 2017. In Asia yarn output improved 2.1 per cent year-on-year while in South America it declined by 4 per cent and rose by 0.6 per cent in North America. In Europe yarn output increased by 1.6 per cent year-on-year, the ITMF report said.

Meanwhile, global fabric production fell by almost 15 per cent in January-March 2017 against the previous quarter, with the most significant decrease by almost 17 per cent in Asia. Year-on-year, global fabric output improved by 1.9 per cent during the three-month period. Asian production increased by 2.6 per cent and South America’s output improved by 2.2 per cent. Europe’s fabric output fell by 8.7 per cent year-on-year.

Global yarn inventories decreased in Q1 2017 by 6.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter with decrease of 6.3 per cent in Asia. In South America inventories fell by 10 per cent. During the quarter, production of global yarn inventories continued to decrease with the annual percentage change of 1.9 per cent. Asian yarn stocks increased by 2.8 per cent compared to 2016, while European yarn stocks fell by 9.5 per cent and South American stocks fell by 41 per cent.

Worldwide fabric stocks fell by 7.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of this year. The decline was mainly due to a sharp 34.7 per cent drop in South American stocks. In Asia, fabric stocks increased by 0.6 per cent while in North America they dipped by 0.8 per cent.