An important event for the home-textile industry is the Heimtextil show of Frankfurt which was held earlier this year from January 12 to 15, and which sounded the all-clear siren for the ending of the severe recession that had triggered a downturn in demand for home textiles.

Heimtextil, the first major presentation and ordering date of the year, is the biggest and most important venue for manufacturers, retailers and designers. The product show is flanked by special sections and workshops aimed at addressing specific questions of interest to buyers and exhibitors.

For instance, Heimtextil had a section called Contract Creations for the so-called contract business which, since 2007, has established itself at the show bringing together a substantial number of manufacturers. The Contract Creations section provides a clear orientation for the contract business in all facets of textile interior decoration.

Many customers at Heimtextil were looking for new designs and colors for products they wanted to buy. The exhibitors, having identified the trends, were presenting products that were characterized by unique designs and colors.

“Technology is the mantra that will make or mar a company’s future,“ said a representative of the Mumbai-based Bombay Dyeing Co., Ltd., which had set up a large stand at the Heimtextil. “Technology is also one reason why buyers come to this show for state-of-the-art products.“

Detlef Braun, the managing director of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, averred: “The fair, in the backdrop of the economic recovery, continues to expand its position as the world’s leading platform for home and contract textiles.”

“In addition to the quantitative increase, we also see this in qualitative terms – in the unrivalled variety of new product lines, many of which are ecologi­cally oriented, and in new home-fashion labels that are on show at the fair for the first time”, added Braun.

“Green” segments in the textile industry have been making their presence felt at the Heimtextil. This trend will continue not only at Heimtextil but also at other textile fairs.  A ‘Green Directory’ was launched at the fair, listing exhibitors of textiles characterized by high ecological product quality or a sus­tainable method of production.

“In this manner, we aim to create greater transparency in the market and offer the whole sector valuable orientation aid”, Olaf Schmidt, Vice President, Textile Fairs, Messe Frankfurt, said in an interview.

After Frankfurt, exhibitors and trade visitors increasingly turn to Shanghai because of an important textile event, the International Exhibition on Textile Industry (ShanghaiTex), which will be held this year from June 14 to 17. 

Though ShanghaiTex will focus on segments such as knitting and hosiery, other allied aspects of the industry such as printing, dyeing and finishing machinery also figure prominently at the show.

German, Swiss and Italian machinery suppliers view the ShanghaiTex as a “window of opportunity” to tap China’s huge textile market. Swiss manufacturer Santex, for example, will be making a strong pitch for its enhanced and upgraded technological expertise in textile finishing.

Santex is involved in textile finishing machinery and, also, in coating and laminating machinery. The bulk of the company’s business in Asia is in textile finishing machinery, with more than two-third of such products manufactured in China for the Asian market. The company executives have been saying that ShanghaiTex is suitable for purpose of service, sales and general promotion.

A spokesman of the German Machinery and Industrial Plants’ Manufacturers’ Association, popularly known by its German acronym VDMA, told Textile Digest that many German buyers, for example, are looking at buying machinery that causes less strain on the ecology while helping save resources with a minimum of electricity consumption.

Many German companies will showcase their products at ShanghaiTex under the common roof of a German pavilion. Some of the exhibiting companies including Karl Mayer, Terrot, Erhardt Leimer, Rauschert, Andritz Kuesters, Bobotex, etc. will be exhibiting warp-knitting, knitting, spinning dyeing and finishing machines.

Many German and Swiss suppliers consider the ShanghaiTex as the “most historical and professional exhibition of its kind in China”. The event, they say, has acquired a “unique brand”.

Karl Mayer is, in fact, exhibiting in two different halls – one in the knitting and hosiery zone, and the other one for weaving machinery zone. The exhibition is divided into zones housed in halls.

The exhibition’s eight halls will be fully utilized; the event’s novelty also lies in the so-called theme zones such as knitting and hosiery machinery zone, printing, dyeing and finishing machinery zone, textile chemicals zone, spinning, non-woven and technical textile machinery zone, weaving machinery zone, and spare parts and accessories’ zone.

As the global economy stages a recovery from the severe financial meltdown of 2008, one notable development that has not escaped the world’s attention is the fast pace at which the Chinese textile industry recovered from the downturn. Indeed, data released by both the national and statistics bureau and customs suggests that the fixed asset investment in China’s textile industry had increased to RMB13.12 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a 20.7% increase over the year-earlier period.

ShanghaiTex, which is backed by Shanghai Textile Holding (Group) Corporation, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai Sub-council and China Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, is being organized by Shanghai International Exhibition Co Ltd., Shanghai Textile Technology Service & Exhibition Centre and Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd.