Textination Newsline

Researchers created polymers that are more resistant to tearing by incorporating stress-responsive molecules identified by a machine-learning model. 

A new strategy for strengthening polymer materials could lead to more durable plastics and cut down on plastic waste, according to researchers at MIT and Duke University.

Using machine learning, the researchers identified crosslinker molecules that can be added to polymer materials, allowing them to withstand more force before tearing. These crosslinkers belong to a class of molecules known as mechanophores, which change their shape or other properties in response to mechanical force.

“These molecules can be useful for making polymers that would be stronger in response to force. You apply some stress to them, and rather than cracking or breaking, you instead see something that has higher resilience,” says Heather Kulik, the Lammot du Pont Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, who is also a professor of chemistry and the senior author of the study.

The crosslinkers that the researchers identified in this study are iron-containing compounds known as ferrocenes, which until now had not been broadly explored for their potential as mechanophores. Experimentally evaluating a single mechanophore can take weeks, but the researchers showed that they could use a machine-learning model to dramatically speed up this process.

MIT postdoc Ilia Kevlishvili is the lead author of the open-access paper, which appeared Friday in ACS Central Science. Other authors include Jafer Vakil, a Duke graduate student; David Kastner and Xiao Huang, both MIT graduate students; and Stephen Craig, a professor of chemistry at Duke.

The weakest link
Mechanophores are molecules that respond to force in unique ways, typically by changing their color, structure, or other properties. In the new study, the MIT and Duke team wanted to investigate whether they could be used to help make polymers more resilient to damage.

The new work builds on a 2023 study from Craig and Jeremiah Johnson, the A. Thomas Guertin Professor of Chemistry at MIT, and their colleagues. In that work, the researchers found that, surprisingly, incorporating weak crosslinkers into a polymer network can make the overall material stronger. When materials with these weak crosslinkers are stretched to the breaking point, any cracks propagating through the material try to avoid the stronger bonds and go through the weaker bonds instead. This means the crack has to break more bonds than it would if all of the bonds were the same strength.

To find new ways to exploit that phenomenon, Craig and Kulik joined forces to try to identify mechanophores that could be used as weak crosslinkers.

“We had this new mechanistic insight and opportunity, but it came with a big challenge: Of all possible compositions of matter, how do we zero in on the ones with the greatest potential?” Craig says. “Full credit to Heather and Ilia for both identifying this challenge and devising an approach to meet it.”

Discovering and characterizing mechanophores is a difficult task that requires either time-consuming experiments or computationally intense simulations of molecular interactions. Most of the known mechanophores are organic compounds, such as cyclobutane, which was used as a crosslinker in the 2023 study.

In the new study, the researchers wanted to focus on molecules known as ferrocenes, which are believed to hold potential as mechanophores. Ferrocenes are organometallic compounds that have an iron atom sandwiched between two carbon-containing rings. Those rings can have different chemical groups added to them, which alter their chemical and mechanical properties.

Many ferrocenes are used as pharmaceuticals or catalysts, and a handful are known to be good mechanophores, but most have not been evaluated for that use. Experimental tests on a single potential mechanophore can take several weeks, and computational simulations, while faster, still take a couple of days. Evaluating thousands of candidates using these strategies is a daunting task.

Realizing that a machine-learning approach could dramatically speed up the characterization of these molecules, the MIT and Duke team decided to use a neural network to identify ferrocenes that could be promising mechanophores.

They began with information from a database known as the Cambridge Structural Database, which contains the structures of 5,000 different ferrocenes that have already been synthesized.

“We knew that we didn’t have to worry about the question of synthesizability, at least from the perspective of the mechanophore itself. This allowed us to pick a really large space to explore with a lot of chemical diversity, that also would be synthetically realizable,” Kevlishvili says.

First, the researchers performed computational simulations for about 400 of these compounds, allowing them to calculate how much force is necessary to pull atoms apart within each molecule. For this application, they were looking for molecules that would break apart quickly, as these weak links could make polymer materials more resistant to tearing.

Then they used this data, along with information on the structure of each compound, to train a machine-learning model. This model was able to predict the force needed to activate the mechanophore, which in turn influences resistance to tearing, for the remaining 4,500 compounds in the database, plus an additional 7,000 compounds that are similar to those in the database but have some atoms rearranged.

The researchers discovered two main features that seemed likely to increase tear resistance. One was interactions between the chemical groups that are attached to the ferrocene rings. Additionally, the presence of large, bulky molecules attached to both rings of the ferrocene made the molecule more likely to break apart in response to applied forces.

While the first of these features was not surprising, the second trait was not something a chemist would have predicted beforehand, and could not have been detected without AI, the researchers say. “This was something truly surprising,” Kulik says.

Tougher plastics
Once the researchers identified about 100 promising candidates, Craig’s lab at Duke synthesized a polymer material incorporating one of them, known as m-TMS-Fc. Within the material, m-TMS-Fc acts as a crosslinker, connecting the polymer strands that make up polyacrylate, a type of plastic.

By applying force to each polymer until it tore, the researchers found that the weak m-TMS-Fc linker produced a strong, tear-resistant polymer. This polymer turned out to be about four times tougher than polymers made with standard ferrocene as the crosslinker.

“That really has big implications because if we think of all the plastics that we use and all the plastic waste accumulation, if you make materials tougher, that means their lifetime will be longer. They will be usable for a longer period of time, which could reduce plastic production in the long term,” Kevlishvili says.

The researchers now hope to use their machine-learning approach to identify mechanophores with other desirable properties, such as the ability to change color or become catalytically active in response to force. Such materials could be used as stress sensors or switchable catalysts, and they could also be useful for biomedical applications such as drug delivery.

In those studies, the researchers plan to focus on ferrocenes and other metal-containing mechanophores that have already been synthesized but whose properties are not fully understood.

“Transition metal mechanophores are relatively underexplored, and they’re probably a little bit more challenging to make,” Kulik says. “This computational workflow can be broadly used to enlarge the space of mechanophores that people have studied.”

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation Center for the Chemistry of Molecularly Optimized Networks (MONET).

For the 25th time, Composites Germany has collected current key figures on the market for fibre-reinforced plastics. All member companies of the supporting associations of Composites Germany were surveyed: AVK and Composites United, as well as the associated partner VDMA.

In order to ensure that the different surveys could be easily compared, no fundamental changes were made to the questionnaire in this half-year period. Once again, the survey mainly collected qualitative data on current and future market developments.

Slight improvement in the assessment of the current business situation
For the first time since the survey in the first half of 2022, the current composites market survey shows a reversal of the trend.      
The assessment of the current general business situation is turning positive. The assessment of the general business situation remains somewhat more optimistic than that for their own companies, which is also brightening slightly.

It is striking that in the current survey, the assessment of the general market situation for Germany and Europe tends to be more optimistic than for the situation worldwide. This becomes even clearer when assessing one's own company. Here, positive assessments are evident for Germany and Europe, whereas the global situation is viewed critically.  It remains to be seen whether this is a general trend or just a snapshot in an otherwise rather negative market environment.
           
In this context, it should not be overlooked that the positive momentum now emerging is based on a very negative assessment. Nevertheless, a corresponding burgeoning optimism is clearly evident in the figures. 

Against the backdrop of a significant decline in market volume for the composites industry in Europe in 2024, strong growth in competitive pressure, particularly from Asia, and a continuing weak global economy and problems in the two key application industries of transport and construction/infrastructure, this positive assessment is somewhat surprising. It appears that the majority of the companies involved have succeeded in consolidating their market position, particularly in Germany and Europe.
 
The critical assessment of the global situation is likely to be due primarily to the highly volatile, often export-damaging policies in the USA and the continuing tense global political climate. The current weak market situation, especially in the transport sector in Asia, underpins the negative assessments here. 

The generally positive assessment of the current situation also seems to be supported by rising expectations for future market development, which are even more positive than the assessment of the current situation.

Future expectations show positive trends 
The positive effects mentioned above are quite evident in the assumptions regarding future general market development. A positive trend is evident for both Germany and Europe, although the low level of previous surveys should not be overlooked here either. However, companies are generally more optimistic about the future than in previous surveys.
      
The generally more optimistic assessment is also reflected in expectations regarding the respondents' own business situation. Almost one-third of respondents anticipate an improvement in their own situation in Europe. Only 8 % of respondents expect the situation to deteriorate further. The figures for Germany are slightly lower. Around a quarter of respondents believe that there will be a positive development, while 9 % expect a further deterioration. Worldwide, the proportion of those with positive expectations for the future falls to 20 %.

Investment climate brightens 
The current somewhat more optimistic assessment of the economic situation is also having an impact on the investment climate. There are slightly positive shifts in both personnel planning and planned investments in machinery and equipment.

The proportion of respondents who consider machinery investments likely or are planning them has increased from 42 % (survey in the first half of 2025) to 50 %, although the proportion of those who are already planning specific investments has declined slightly. (See Fig. 4). Here, too, there is a generally optimistic trend, albeit with a rather wait-and-see attitude. This underscores the assessment that it remains to be seen whether the current development is a general trend reversal or just a brief burst of optimism.
 
The picture is similar when it comes to personnel planning. While 19 % of participants in the last survey (Survey 1/2025) expected an increase in personnel capacity, this figure currently stands at 15 %. On the other hand, there has also been a decline in the number of those who consider personnel reductions likely, from 29 % to 27 %.

Expectations vary across application industries 
The composites market is characterised by a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of both materials and applications. In the survey, participants were asked to give their assessment of market developments in various core areas.

The expectations vary greatly. The most important area of application for composites is mobility. This sector is currently undergoing major upheaval and is in a state of crisis in Europe and Germany. This is also clearly reflected in the survey. Growth is expected primarily in the aviation and construction/infrastructure sectors, although the construction sector in Germany continues to face difficulties. Experts currently expect only slight growth for 2025. A significant upturn is not expected until 2026. The picture is similar for Europe.

Growth drivers with slight movements 
The current survey shows slight movement in terms of growth drivers. With regard to their assessment of which areas will provide the key growth drivers for the composites industry in the future, CFRP gained slightly. GFRP, on the other hand, as the second strongest material group, declined slightly. 

There has been a slight shift at the regional level. The main growth momentum is expected to come from Asia and Europe. North America's importance as a growth driver is declining significantly, while Germany is gaining ground as a potential growth region.

Composites index turns positive 
As already indicated in the text, the Composites Index has turned largely positive for the first time since 2022. Only the assessment of the current business situation across all regions remains cautious.
 
It remains to be seen whether it will be possible to build on the current more optimistic mood. Politically, numerous measures are currently being taken to strengthen the German/European economy. However, (financing) ideas and plans must then also be implemented. The construction/infrastructure sector in particular could receive significant impetus from the German growth package. Only by working together will it be possible to maintain and further strengthen Germany as a business and industrial location. Due to their special properties, composites as a material group in general continue to offer very good opportunities for expanding their market position in new as well as existing markets. However, they remain dependent on overall economic developments.

The task now is to open up new market fields through innovation, consistently exploit opportunities and work together to further implement composites in existing markets. This can often be achieved more successfully together than alone. Composites Germany offers a wide range of opportunities with its excellent network.
The next composites market survey will be published in January 2026.

Time travel of the pioneer for flame-retardant textiles from 1980 to today.
Looking back, the 1980s were full of events - the computer game Pac Man, now a classic, was released for the first time, aerobics and leg warmers conquered the fitness world, stock markets boomed and broad shoulders were still emphasized with shoulder pads. And Trevira CS® is officially introduced to the market in 1980. 
           
1970s: Before this happened, however, developers and researchers at Hoechst AG worked with a group of customers on an innovation: a polyester with a permanent, flame-retardant modification. As early as 1972, they began testing different modifications, at that time still with modacrylic and polyester. The decision was then made in favor of polyester due to its better care characteristics, which was particularly important for the contract sector. Modacrylic was rejected mainly because of the need to add a high proportion of PVC. It was not until 1975 that a modification was decided upon, which is still in use today.

In 2025 the company is not only celebrating 45 years of the market launch of Trevira CS, but also 50 years of the permanently flame-retardant Trevira CS modification! 

The innovation - a flame-retardant modification of the polyester raw material. An article made from this material can no longer lose the FR property, neither through use, cleaning, abrasion, ageing nor washing. The key feature: the chemical structure of the polyester fiber has been changed, thus firmly anchoring the flame-retardant properties in the fiber in the form of a co-monomer - an organophosphorus compound. The researchers at the former Hoechst AG chemical group were pioneers of this development and the process was patented. 

Permanent flame retardancy is also an important benefit from an ecological point of view: apart from environmentally friendly production, materials made of Trevira CS do not require any potentially environmentally harmful flame retardant treatment. In the event of a fire, the amount of gas released is comparatively minimal. This is particularly important because, in the event of a fire, the risk of suffocation from smoke is greater than the risk of injury from fire, especially for firefighters, first responders and victims who are endangered by the presence of toxic gases. The first sample developments of our FR modified polyester were presented to customers in 1977. Over the next three years, the fibre was optimized and the first customer fabrics were tested. Success had arrived.

1980s: 1980 was the official market launch of Trevira CS® in Europe. Eight years after the first developments! Just one year later, in 1981, samples were presented at the Heimtextil trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany. The name of the Hoechst AG polyester, Trevira®, which had been used since 1956, was given two additional letters - CS - for Comfort and Safety.      

The name Trevira® was registered as a trademark back in 1932 and has a little story to tell - a mix-up. Adolf Kämpf, plant manager of what was then called the "artificial silk factory" in Bobingen, was looking for a name that would relate to the nearby city of Augsburg. He decided to use the Roman name of Augsburg and registered "Trevira". However, he confused the Roman name of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, with the Roman name of Augsburg, Augusta Vindelicum. Although this was clarified, the name remained Trevira. 
           
When Hoechst AG produced polyester staple fibers in 1955, they were called Trevira, as were the "polyester endless threads" - the filament yarns, which were initially produced in 1956. And it has remained so to this day. 

Trevira CS is categorized as "ingredient branding". It is not the flame-retardant filament yarn or the fiber that is called Trevira CS, rather the finished, brand-approved fabric or article. A tendency to burn cannot be ruled out with unwashed fibers, yarns or fabrics. Why? 

Because preparation oils are required for processing on looms or knitting machines. Unsuitable auxiliaries in production or unsuitable dyes can also cause articles to burn. The Trevira CS brand concept stipulates that the sellable, finished fabric is tested under trademark law. Only when it has passed the orientation fire test in accordance with DIN 4102 and meets the brand specifications does it receive brand approval for up to 5 years and the right to be labeled as Trevira CS. The brand promise - flame retardancy - can thus be ensurded. Many users and institutions, such as fire departments, appreciate the performance reliability. Trevira CS is often used as a synonym for flame retardant fabrics. 

The development of Trevira CS was awarded the German Industry Innovation Prize back in 1982. 
The need for safety and security grew from 1985 onwards, and stricter laws and fire standards led to the increased use of Trevira CS fabrics. 
 
1990s: Around ten years later, in 1995, safety had become a high priority. The range of fibers and yarns was greatly expanded. In the meantime, there were over 200 different fiber types and yarns. The increased variety of resources also gave textile designers a much larger selection of yarns for differentiated designs. Due to the permanent flame retardancy, Trevira CS fabrics were mainly used in public areas, wherever a higher level of safety was required. Due to the increased variety of designs and the ease of care, more and more Trevira CS fabrics found their way into private areas, especially through interior decorators and interior designers. 

The modified, flame-retardant fibers and filaments are also certified according to OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100, Annex 6, product class 1, which means that they are also suitable for babies and toddlers up to the age of 3 years. The OEKO-TEX® Association was founded in 1992 (the first members were the Austrian Textile Research Institute (now ÖTI - Institute for Ecology, Technology and Innovation) and the German Hohenstein Research Institute). We have worked closely with the Hohenstein Research Institute since and met the requirements for Ökotex 100 certification (now OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100) since 1995. 

The main production of Trevira CS fabrics is still in Europe today. Creative spinning mills, fancy yarn manufacturers as well as (fabric) manufacturers and textile editors export the Trevira CS brand all over the world thanks to their network, distribution, partnerships, subsidiaries and global business relations. International activities of the brand itself support their efforts. 

Over the next five years, thanks to this globalization, “Trevira CS goes global”! The market, trade fair presence and partnerships grew. The company worked with world-famous designers and architects such as Putman (Paris), Mendini (Milan), Clodagh and Gary Grain (both New York). Trevira CS could be found in many countries. 

In 1996, Trevira GmbH with its Trevira CS brand was one of the first companies in the textile industry to have an Internet presence. Another innovation at the time was the so-called "digital fabric library", the Trevira CS Net. Here, interested parties could filter and display potential suppliers from around 300 Trevira CS suppliers online. At that time it was one of the largest, if not the largest online fabric library. The Trevira CS Net was presented at the Decosit trade fair in Brussels, Belgium, in 1998. 

The effort and further development of the brand paid off, and awards followed: 
•    In 1997, the brand received the AME - International Award for Marketing Effectiveness and GranDesign Innovation Award in Milan. 
•    In October 1998, the Baden-Württemberg International Design Award was presented by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr. Walter Döring, in Stuttgart. 
•    This was followed in 1999 by a second GranDesign Innovation Award, in Stuttgart, Germany, and iF Award from the Industrie Forum Hannover for excellent product design. 

At the end of 1998, the Pemotex product name was created and registered - a flame-retardant, textured filament yarn. This was an NSK - a low-melting component yarn. The "low" melting component melts at a lower temperature in the finishing process. Once cooled, it stiffens the textile surface. The technology is particularly ideal for use in slats, roller blinds and technical applications. True to the Trevira CS motto of avoiding potentially environmentally harmful finishes wherever possible, no stiffening chemicals are required. It also saves a second production step, money and time: the yarn has additional functions. Yarns that only create low and medium stiffeners have been developed to extend the range of applications. In this way, lightweight, semi-transparent Trevira CS fabrics could be developed, some of which are slide-resistant and/or laser-cuttable, or also stabilize 3D constructions, which also provide acoustic effects. 

In 2000, the brand celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Decosit trade fair in Brussels. The "birthday cake", 10 meters in diameter and 8 meters high, housed 20 pieces of seating furniture from renowned European manufacturers, all upholstered with Trevira CS fabrics. At the time, the total volume of Trevira CS fabrics sold since 1980 was estimated at around 800 million square meters.

2000s: At the end of 2000, it was announced to colleagues in the staff magazine that there would be new brand logos, including for Trevira CS. The blue and red double T was still a tribute to and identification mark for Hoechst polyester products. "Trevira stood for polyester from geotextiles to stadium roofing, sewing threads, outerwear and underwear through to flame-retardant curtains. Today this no longer corresponds to the Trevira reality". The now familiar blue logo with the woven structure and the orange bar were introduced. The Trevira CS lettering was slightly rejuvenated at the end of 2019. 
      
The attack on the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center, in New York in 2001 affected the entire industry. Contract furnishings fell by up to 20 %. Hotels were closed down, office furnishings were sluggish. The markets recovered in 2003 and 2004, and Trevira CS took part in trade fairs such as Heimtextil Rossija in Moscow and Hospitality Design in Las Vegas.  

Trevira CS continued to develop. Advancements were constantly being made and the product range was in expansion mode. Monofilaments (filament yarns that were finer than human hair) were introduced. In 2004, textured monofilaments, which are texturised for more volume, were also presented at the Heimtextil trade fair. 

Following the introduction of an antimicrobial & flame-retardant staple fiber, textured, flame-retardant & antimicrobial textured filament yarns (ATY and DTY) were also presented at the Heimtextil trade fair in 2004. The brand was given an additional function: Trevira CS Bioactive - the flame retardant with antimicrobial effect - fulfilling the requirements for preventive fire protection and increased cleanliness in equal measure, ideal for the demand for "functional textiles" for hotels, hospitals and the healthcare sector. 
 
The global financial crisis from 2007 to 2008 also had a dampening effect on the textile industry. General cost and production structure measures were intensified, and production adjustments were planned. Textiles from Turkey became increasingly popular alternative. 

At Heimtextil 2009 it was announced that the flame-retardant fibers and yarns for Trevira CS textiles now also bear the safety label of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu). This label is awarded to products that meet certain safety requirements and thus contribute to accident prevention. 

2010s: Three years later, in 2012, the Trevira CS Club was launched at the Heimtextil trade fair. In the dynamic textile supply chain, collaboration is key and the Trevira CS Club is a cornerstone of this effort. The Club is open to all suppliers of Trevira CS products and offers exclusive services tailored to different levels of membership - yarn manufacturers, fabric manufacturers and textile editors. Gold and Silver membership categories were achievable based not only on sales figures, but also on creativity, geographical reach and, above all, brand loyalty. In 2012, 38 partners and customers became club members in the first year; 15 of them were awarded Gold status. 

Through small but select events in 2013 such as "Trevira CS Jobber Day" and "Trevira CS China Day", the brand was made known to US dealers and Chinese interior designers in cooperation with Trevira CS customers. 

In June 2014, the industry network "Initiative Textile Räume" was launched with Trevira GmbH and industry partners Backhausen, Christian Fischbacher, Création Baumann, Gebrüder Munzert, Gessner, Interstil, JAB Anstoetz Group (with all brands), Rasch Textil, Romo Group, Sahco, Saum & Viebahn, Schmitz-Werke, Tisca Tiara and Mira X as well as Zimmer + Rohde and the Zentralverband Raum und Ausstellung and EuroInterior on European level. The aim: to promote the home textiles market in German-speaking countries, providing new impetus to the industry (which had been stagnating for years), to boost sales of furnishing textiles, and to appeal to end consumers. The campaign was launched in 2015. 

In 2016, Trevira CS was part of the Fraunhofer Institute's "Unerhörte Hotels" project - an initiative to improve acoustics in hotels. The aim was to characterize and further develop effective and economically viable solutions and products for improved acoustics. 

The motto of the Orgatec trade fair 2016 in Cologne was "Rethinking work" and Trevira CS exhibited with a "Trevira City". The exhibition, designed with raumkontor Innenarchitektur, consisted of eight textile-designed houses that formed a center in a square - a symbolic stand that represented communication, creativity, inspiration, networking and movement. For this, the Trevira CS stand won the Famab Award 2017 - "Storytelling and experience space at its best".  

In 2019, flame-retardant staple fibers became antimony-free. Antimony, a heavy metal, is a catalyst in polyester production. Antimony-free polyester is environmentally friendly as it no longer requires this heavy metal additive in production. 

Perhaps encouraged by longer warm seasons, the desire to spend time outdoors increased in the late 2010’s. This not only applied to private households, but also the contract market. The furnishings and surfaces selected became increasingly decorative. Flame retardancy is important for indoors, color and light-fastness are priorities for outdoors. A combination of both makes it possible to use decorative and seating materials both indoors AND outdoors. A flame-retardant & UV-stable polyester was developed. 

In 2019, this development won the Brandenburg Innovation Award - for colorful, flame-retardant and UV-stable polyester yarn for outdoor use. At Heimtextil 2022, 22 flame-retardant and UV-stable filament spun-dyed colors were presented. The production of textiles from spun-dyed yarns requires fewer resources such as energy, water and chemicals. In 2023, the color palette was revised and expanded by noted colorist Judith van Vliet from The Color Authority™. 

2020s: The special exhibition "Textile Future by Trevira CS" on the Trevira CS joint customer stand at the Heimtextil trade fair 2020 designed with star architect Werner Aisslinger and studio Aisslinger. The elaborate and extensive presentation showed textile applications in the areas of public life, the world of work, the hotel industry, health & care and mobility. 

A new Trevira CS brand concept was also presented in 2020. To meet the increasingly complex requirements of the market and to offer customers and users even more flexibility, two brands were added to the Trevira CS brand concept: Trevira CS flex and Trevira CS eco. These two additional brands offer specific properties and functions in addition to the standard brand quality and performance: 

Trevira CS - As always, the Trevira CS brand stands for textiles which consist of 100 % flame retardant yarns from Trevira and specialty yarn processing partners. The only permitted blending partners are Trevira fiber or filament yarns, and those with a low-melting component. 
 
Trevira CS eco - flame retardancy and recycling by different methods. Flame retardant filament yarns are based on 50% recycled PET bottle material (post-consumer). Staple fibers are made from 100% pre-consumer material. Thanks to our own agglomeration plant, recyclable materials from production can be reprocessed and converted into fiber with the same FR properties as virgin material.  

In addition to flame retardancy, Trevira CS flex allows further additional functions and/or design effects: at least 75 % flame retardant fibers and yarns for Trevira CS and/or the yarn processing partners and 25 % special yarns from approved manufacturers to achieve special effects or additional functions. 
 
In 2022, the flame-retardant Trevira polymers were evaluated according to the GreenScreen® standard and listed in the GreenScreen® register. GreenScreen® tests and evaluates chemicals for potential risks to human health and the environment. This standard is of particular importance to Trevira CS as the brand is highly trusted and specified in the health sector. The GreenScreen® certification forms the basis of the specification criteria for the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) in the USA. Based on the rating achieved for Trevira flame retardant polymers, each textile manufacturer can have its Trevira CS articles individually GreenScreen®certified. 

The 8 stations of the "Path of Sustainability" were presented at Heimtextil 2023. The Trevira CS take-back program, which was presented with the recycling company ALTEX in Gronau (D) represented one station describing how used Trevira CS fabrics (post-consumer) or unsold Trevira CS remnants (pre-consumer) can be recycled. Textiles that are evaluated and proven to be Trevira CS can enter the mechanical recycling process and start a second, high-quality life cycle as nonwoven insulation, soundproofing panels and more. 

The long-term goal in the development of sustainable products is undoubtedly to move towards a closed-loop circular economy. This topic was featured at Heimtextil 2023 and presented to an audience at the Global Fiber Conference in Dornbirn 2023: development, modification and spinning of a flame-retardant polyester based on chemically recycled raw material. How exactly does it work? The starting material for chemical recycling in the first pilot test was PET bottles, but theoretically this could also be other PET waste such as packaging material or textiles. In the subsequent trials, waste from the packaging industry no longer suitable for (food) packaging was chemically recycled. Chemical recycling involves depolymerization, a sequence of chemical reactions in which the polymer chains are broken down into their original components, i.e. the monomers. In a further process step, impurities are removed. This "purified" material was then used for the spinning and production of 1A flame-retardant polyester. Chemical recycling is an important step towards a circular economy, so that we can recycle textiles and save raw materials. 
 
45 years of Trevira CS: 45 years of development & enhancements, a brand promise kept, and preventive fire protection throughout the ages, because fire has no expiry date. 

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) released findings from its 32nd Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), conducted May 12-22, 2025, revealing sharp regional variations across the global textile industry. 

Regional Performance Varies Dramatically 
The survey shows a challenging global business situation with a -20 percentage point balance, but regional performance differs significantly. Africa emerges as the standout performer with a positive +23 pp balance, followed by South America at +6 pp. In contrast, East Asia faces significant challenges with a -48 pp balance. Looking ahead, the industry shows cautious optimism (+24 pp), with North America leading confidence at +65 pp and Africa at +54 pp, while East Asia remains negative at -18 pp. 

Orders and Capacity Show Mixed Signals 
Global order intake declined for four consecutive months since January, reaching -21 pp in May. Africa again leads with positive intake (+18 pp), while Europe (-45 pp) and East Asia (-41 pp) struggle most. Despite order challenges, global backlogs show modest recovery at 2.3 months. Textile capacity utilization reached 72% in May 2025. Asian markets continue to lead utilization rates, while upstream segments like spinning significantly outperform downstream operations. 

Demand Concerns Dominate 
Weak demand remains the primary concern for 61% of global participants over the next six months, with trade tensions and operational costs as secondary issues. Order cancellation rates remain stable and low across all regions.

Global Textile Machinery Shipments Show Mixed Performance in 2024:

In 2024, global shipments of new short-staple spindles and open-end rotors decreased by -40% and -39%, respectively (year-on-year). Deliveries of long-staple spindles increased by +62%. The number of drawtexturing spindles improved by +77% and shipped shuttle-less looms grew by +32%. Shipments of large circular knitting machines deteriorated by -15% and shipped flat knitting machines registered a 16%increase. The sum of all deliveries in the finishing segment slightly rose by +6%. 

These are the main results of the 47th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting, and finishing. A summary of the findings for each category is presented below. The 2024 survey has been compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production. 

Spinning Machinery 
The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by 3.8 million units in 2024 to a level of 5.92 million. Most of the new shipments went to Asia & Oceania (90%) where deliveries decreased by -36% compared to 2023. Shipment to Africa, Europe (incl. Türkiye), North and Central America decreased by 64%, -56%, and -90%, respectively. Deliveries only increased for destinations in South America (+1.7% to 82.6 thousand) and Easter Europe (+12% to 10.5 thousand). The six largest investors in the short-staple segment were China, India, Türkiye, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Indonesia. 
 
623 thousand open-end rotors were shipped worldwide in 2024. This represents about 390 thousand units less than recorded in 2023. 89% of global shipments went to Asia & Oceania where deliveries decreased by -35% to 557 thousand. China, India, and Türkiye were the world’s 3 largest investors in rotors but saw investments drop by -32%, -57% and -56%, respectively. Deliveries decreased in all major destination countries except for Vietnam and Bangladesh, the 4th and 6th largest destinations in 2024, where shipment rose by +214% and +44% compared to 2023. 

Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles increased to 600 thousand unit in 2024 (+60%). This positive effect was driven by a rise in deliveries to Asia and Oceania and Eastern Europe where 138 and 15 thousand units were shipped, respectively. 40% of total deliveries were shipped to Iran, 30% to China, and 13% to Vietnam. 

Texturing Machinery 
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) increased by +95% from nearly 43 thousand units in 2023 to 84 thousand units in 2024. With a share of 98.5%, Asia & Oceania remained the strongest destination for single heater draw-texturing spindles in 2024. China, Vietnam, and India were the 3 main investors in this segment with shares of global deliveries of 95%, 1.01%, and 0.97%, respectively.  

In the category of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments), global shipments increased by +80% to a level of 960 thousand units. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments increased to 98% and China continued to be the world’s largest investor, accounting for 95% of global shipments. 

Weaving Machinery 
In 2024, global shipments of shuttle-less looms increased by +32% to 226 thousand units. Deliveries in the categories “air-jet” and “water-jet” grew by +10% and +56% to 58 and 143 thousand looms, respectively. The number of “rapier and projectile” looms dropped by -7% to 25 thousand units. The main destination for shuttle-less looms was Asia & Oceania with 97% of worldwide deliveries. 97%, 87%, and 99% of global air-jet, rapier/projectile, and water-jet looms were shipped to the region, respectively. The main investor in all loom categories was China where shipment grew by 30% (air-jet), 38% (rapier and projectile) and 63% (water-jet). 

Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery 
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines decreased by -15% to 28 thousand units in 2024. Asia & Oceania was the world’s leading investor in this category with 81% of global shipments. China was the favoured destination with 45% of all deliveries (10’786 units), a decrease of -42% compared to 2023. India and Vietnam ranked second and third destinations with 3’899 and 2’559 shipped units, respectively.  

The number of shipped electronic flat knitting machines increased by +16% to 135 thousand machines in 2024. The growth was driven by Asia & Oceania which received 96% of world shipments. Deliveries to all other regions decreased. China remained the world’s largest investor with an 82%-share of total shipments. 

Finishing Machinery 
In the “fabrics continuous” segment, the number of shipped stenters increased by +22% from 1’833 units in 
2023 to 2’230 units in 2024. This number includes an estimate for the total number of stenters shipped by companies which have not participated to the ITMF survey. Participating companies reported mixed results for all other machines in this category (between a decrease of -53% for Dyeing – Line, CPB and an increase of +390% for Dyeing – Line, Hotflue). In the “fabrics discontinuous” segment, the number of “jigger dyeing / beam dyeing” shipped in 2024 dropped by -44% to 371 units. Deliveries of “air jet dyeing” and “overflow dyeing” rose by +18% to 907 units and 5% to 2’221 units, respectively. 

Nova Fabula, the Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris Trend Book unveiled at Le Bourget from 15 to 17 September 2025, is a sensory and forward-looking narrative designed to inspire Autumn-Winter 2026-2027 collections.

Fashion's future is written in the present. As the industry strives to reconcile imagination, sustainability, and emotion, Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris introduces its latest trend book – a deep dive into tomorrow’s emerging style stories. Curated by art directors Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud against a backdrop of mixed realities – technological advances, climate disruption, and a desire for re-enchantment – Nova Fabula offers an insightful reading of subtle signals identified by a collective of stylists, designers, writers, visual artists, and color experts.

Conceived as a tool for trend forecasting and creative stimulation, this edition lays the foundation for a new kind of brand storytelling, aligned with the key values shaping 2025: circularity, emotional resonance, slower production rhythms, hybridization of genres and disciplines, and the power of narrative, both personal and collective. As the opening line of Nova Fabula states: “Everything begins with a story. It is through storytelling that we move forward.”

The four creative universes of Nova Fabula
Imagined as an atlas of “possible futures,” Nova Fabula is built around four main themes, each driven by a narrative and sensory tension. For each theme, three “star colors” anchor the season's color story, complemented by six intermediate shades that shape the season’s core palettes. Carefully selected fabrics and bold chromatic choices bring each universe to life, offering designers a space to create collections infused with emotion, memory, and utopia.

#1 Natura
This first universe celebrates a return to the living as a creative matrix. Textures feel organic, tones are mineral, and silhouettes offer protection. Nature is not just a backdrop—it becomes the primary language of inspiration. Materials are raw but patterns remain fluid. Here, fashion becomes a biotope: a space for care, resilience, and regeneration.

#2 Spiritus
This theme opens up a contemporary spiritual quest. Expect diaphanous fabrics, dawn-like tones, and subtle ritual symbols. In this universe, fashion evokes the sacred, turning garments into symbolic objects. “Inner awakening” becomes a counterpoint to hyper-connectivity, expressed through an ethereal and mystical aesthetic, with airy, translucent textiles rich in symbolic meaning.

#3 Philosophia
This axis encourages critical thinking and awakened consciousness. A call to rethink, question, and resist. Aesthetic choices become intellectual exercises: fragmented shapes, sculptural greys, and visual tension. Textures invite reflection, with asymmetries and a sense of gravity in the tones. Fashion becomes a medium of thought—where visual arts meet political discourse.

#4 Scientia
The final world explores the union between knowledge – enlightened, not dominant – and innovation. Think synthetic colors, technological effects, modular design, geometric patterns, and advanced finishes. This universe questions our ability to create science without domination. A tribute to soft, responsible technology, inspired by the living world.

New smart textiles developed by researchers at ETH Zurich use acoustic waves and glass fibres to help make precise measurements. They are light, breathable and inexpensive, and offer great potential for medicine, sports and everyday life.

• Researchers at ETH Zurich develop smart textiles that use acoustic waves instead of electronics to measure touch, pressure and movement precisely.
• SonoTextiles work with glass microfibres that conduct sound waves; data processing is efficient thanks to use of different frequencies.
• Potential applications range from monitoring breathing in asthma patients, to improving movement sequences in sports and translating sign language.

Imagine wearing a T-shirt that measures your breathing or gloves that translate your hand movements into commands for your computer. Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Daniel Ahmed, Professor of Acoustic Robotics for Life Sciences and Healthcare, have laid the foundations for just such smart textiles. Unlike many previous developments in this area, which usually use electronics, the ETH researchers rely on acoustic waves passed through glass fibres. This makes the measurements more precise and the textiles lighter, more breathable and easier to wash. “They are also inexpensive because we use readily available materials, and the power consumption is very low,” says Ahmed.

Acoustic sensors embedded in fabric
The researchers call their development SonoTextiles. They have transformed normal fabrics into smart sensors that react to touch, pressure and movement. “While research has already been conducted into smart textiles based on acoustics, we are the first to explore the use of glass fibre in combination with signals that use different frequencies,” explains Yingqiang Wang, the first author of the study that has been published in the journal external page Nature Electronics.

The researchers have woven glass fibres into the fabric at regular intervals. At one end of each glass fibre is a small transmitter that emits sound waves. The other end of each of the glass fibres is connected to a receiver that measures whether the waves have changed.

Each transmitter works at a different frequency. This means it requires little computing power to determine which fibre the sound waves have changed on. Previous smart textiles often struggled with data overload and signal processing issues, since each sensor location had to be evaluated individually. “In the future, the data could be sent directly to a computer or smartphone in real time,” says Ahmed.

When a glass fibre moves, the length of the acoustic waves passing through it changes, as they lose energy. In the case of a T-shirt, this can be caused by body movement or even breathing. “We used frequencies in the ultrasonic range, around 100 kilohertz – well beyond the range of human hearing, which is between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz,” Wang emphasises.

Highly versatile
The researchers have shown that their concept works in the lab. In the future, SonoTextiles could be used in a variety of ways: as a shirt or T-shirt, they could monitor the breathing of asthma patients and trigger an alarm in an emergency.

In sports training and performance monitoring, athletes could receive real-time analysis of their movements, to optimise their performance and prevent injuries. The textiles also have potential for sign language: gloves with this technology could simultaneously translate hand movements into text or speech. They could also be used in virtual or augmented reality environments.

“SonoTextiles could even measure a person’s posture and improve their quality of life as an assistive technology,” adds Chaochao Sun, who shares first authorship of the study. People who want to improve their posture could receive targeted feedback to correct poor posture. The textiles could also indicate when a wheelchair user needs to change position to prevent pressure ulcers.

Although the everyday usability of SonoTextiles is potentially very high, Ahmed adds that there is still room for improvement in terms of practical application. Glass microfibres worked well as sound conductors in the lab, but they could potentially break in everyday use. “The beauty is that we can easily replace the glass fibres with metal. Sound also propagates effectively through metal,” explains Ahmed, adding “We would like to expand our research in this direction and also into other applications.” The researchers now want to make the system more robust and examine how the electronics can be better integrated into the textiles.

Adolescents who sleep for longer – and from an earlier bedtime – than their peers tend to have improved brain function and perform better at cognitive tests, researchers from the UK and China have shown.

But the study of adolescents in the US also showed that even those with better sleeping habits were not reaching the amount of sleep recommended for their age group.

Sleep plays an important role in helping our bodies function. It is thought that while we are asleep, toxins that have built up in our brains are cleared out, and brain connections are consolidated and pruned, enhancing memory, learning, and problem-solving skills. Sleep has also been shown to boost our immune systems and improve our mental health.

During adolescence, our sleep patterns change. We tend to start going to bed later and sleeping less, which affects our body clocks. All of this coincides with a period of important development in our brain function and cognitive development. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that the ideal amount of sleep during this period is between eight- and 10-hours’ sleep.

Professor Barbara Sahakian from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said: “Regularly getting a good night’s sleep is important in helping us function properly, but while we know a lot about sleep in adulthood and later life, we know surprisingly little about sleep in adolescence, even though this is a crucial time in our development. How long do young people sleep for, for example, and what impact does this have on their brain function and cognitive performance?”

Studies looking at how much sleep adolescents get usually rely on self-reporting, which can be inaccurate. To get around this, a team led by researchers at Fudan University, Shanghai, and the University of Cambridge turned to data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States.

As part of the ABCD Study, more than 3,200 adolescents aged 11-12 years old had been given FitBits, allowing the researchers to look at objective data on their sleep patterns and to compare it against brain scans and results from cognitive tests. The team double-checked their results against two additional groups of 13-14 years old, totalling around 1,190 participants. The results are published in Cell Reports.

The team found that the adolescents could be divided broadly into one of three groups:

• Group One, accounting for around 39% of participants, slept an average (mean) of 7 hours 10 mins. They tended to go to bed and fall asleep the latest and wake up the earliest.
• Group Two, accounting for 24% of participants, slept an average of 7 hours 21 mins. They had average levels across all sleep characteristics.
• Group Three, accounting for 37% of participants, slept an average of 7 hours 25 mins. They tended to go to bed and fall asleep the earliest and had lower heart rates during sleep.

Although the researchers found no significant differences in school achievement between the groups, when it came to cognitive tests looking at aspects such as vocabulary, reading, problem solving and focus, Group Three performed better than Group Two, which in turn performed better than Group One.

Group Three also had the largest brain volume and best brain functions, with Group One the smallest volume and poorest brain functions.

Professor Sahakian said: “Even though the differences in the amount of sleep that each group got was relatively small, at just over a quarter-of-an-hour between the best and worst sleepers, we could still see differences in brain structure and activity and in how well they did at tasks. This drives home to us just how important it is to have a good night’s sleep at this important time in life.”

First author Dr Qing Ma from Fudan University said: “Although our study can’t answer conclusively whether young people have better brain function and perform better at tests because they sleep better, there are a number of studies that would support this idea. For example, research has shown the benefits of sleep on memory, especially on memory consolidation, which is important for learning.”

The researchers also assessed the participants’ heart rates, finding that Group Three had the lowest heart rates across the sleep states and Group One the highest. Lower heart rates are usually a sign of better health, whereas higher rates often accompany poor sleep quality like restless sleep, frequent awakenings and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Because the ABCD Study is a longitudinal study – that is, one that follows its participants over time – the team was able to show that the differences in sleep patterns, brain structure and function, and cognitive performance, tended be present two years before and two years after the snapshot that they looked at.

Senior author Dr Wei Cheng from Fudan University added: “Given the importance of sleep, we now need to look at why some children go to bed later and sleep less than others. Is it because of playing videogames or smartphones, for example, or is it just that their body clocks do not tell them it’s time to sleep until later?”

The research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Postdoctoral Foundation of China and Shanghai Postdoctoral Excellence Program. The ABCD Study is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr Ben Allardyce and PhD candidate Mr Martin Zaki from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials’ (IFM) have delivered a world first in next generation materials research.

Silkworm silk is a protein-based fibre with mechanical properties rivalling petroleum-derived synthetic fibres yet spun using a fraction of the energy. Despite decades of research, aspects of natural silkworm spinning remain a mystery.

The IFM discovery takes researchers one step closer to solving this mystery by wet spinning a new class of silk that produces fibres that outperform natural silk.
 
A materials breakthrough
This research, led by Dr Allardyce and Mr Zaki, with expert input from Sheffield University's Professor Chris Holland, involves sidestepping degumming - a commonplace industrial process - and experimenting with dissolving whole silk fibres.
Using this new technique, the team were able to produce a spinnable solution that better imitates silk as it is produced by the silkworm. This solution was wet spun using IFM’s state-of-the art pilot fibre and textile facility to produce fibres that more closely matched natural silk.

According to IFM’s Deputy Director Joe Razal, the team’s discovery is a world first and demonstrates how IFM researchers are creating new sustainable materials that have real-world application and impact.

‘Ben and Martin challenged the norm by creating silk fibres in a laboratory setting,’ Professor Razal said.

‘They wet spun a cocktail of solubilised, non-separated silk components that mimic the properties produced in nature.’

‘The team identified a way to recreate the fibre produced by the silkworm and unlock the potential for it to be just as biodegradable, tough and energy efficient. In fact, when spun under identical conditions, undegummed solutions produces fibres 8 times stronger and 218 times tougher than degummed silk feedstocks.’

Undegummed versus degummed silk
‘Traditionally, industry has used degumming to unravel the silkworms cocoon to produce their fibres. It is also commonly used by researchers to facilitate “unspinning” silk back into a solution that can then be solidified into new forms,’ Professor Holland said.
’However removing a key component to the natural material, the sericin gum coating, often comes with collateral damage to the silk proteins and so it’s often considered a necessary evil.’

Mr Zaki explains that the team wanted to produce better materials while simultaneously understanding how.

‘We took a step back and asked why has no one attempted this? Is it because it is too hard, or because everyone degums silk and no one has considered doing something different?

In industry, the largest portion of water waste, labour, and energy consumption usually comes from the degumming process. By-passing this step, we increase the potential of a more sustainable technology.’

‘Undegummed cocoons are normally insoluble,’ adds Dr Allardyce. ‘Our innovative process combines a milling step followed by a supersaturated solvent that enables dissolution.’

‘No-one has attempted to artificially spin undegummed silk before. And no-one has ever successfully dissolved undegummed cocoons and re-spun them in this way.’
 
Future applications
Degummed silk is used in nerve repair, coating foods to improve shelf-life and biodegradable batteries.

This ground-breaking research forges a new pathway to recreate a fibre with structures akin to native silk.

Dr Allardyce maintains that it’s also an innovation that could apply to other next generation fibres.

‘If the knowledge could be applied to other biopolymers - other proteins, cellulosic fibres - we could potentially produce new fibres that have a fraction of the energy input to synthetics but perform just as well while retaining the advantage of biodegradability.’

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati researchers have developed a water-repellent, conductive textile that converts electricity and sunlight into heat. Designed to keep wearers warm in cold environments, this innovation addresses the serious health risks posed by prolonged exposure to very low temperatures, including hemoconcentration-based arterial blood clotting, breathing difficulties, and weakened immunity.
 
The findings of this research have been published in the journal, Nano-Micro-Small, in a paper co-authored by Prof. Uttam Manna, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati, along with his research team, Ms. Debasmita Sarkar, Mr. Haydar Ali, Mr. Rajan Singh, Mr. Anirban Phukan, Mr. Chittaranjan Mishra, and Prof. Roy P. Paily from Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati.

Extreme cold temperatures can lead to health problems that can even be fatal. Studies indicate that deaths due to extreme cold outnumber those caused by extreme heat. Traditional solutions protect oneself from extreme cold, such as heaters or layered clothing are often bulky or require a constant power source. Conductive textiles offer a lightweight, flexible alternative, but existing versions often have limitations, such as poor durability, high power consumption, and vulnerability to water exposure.

To overcome these challenges, IIT Guwahati research team developed a novel approach by sprayed ultra-thin and clean silver nanowires onto cotton fabric to make it conductive. These nanowires are 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, allowing electricity to flow through the fabric, helping it generate heat while remaining soft and flexible. Due to its exceptional electrical conductivity and the ability to convert both electricity and sunlight into heat, silver nanowires were chosen for this experiment. The low electrical resistance of silver allows the electrothermal conversion at low applied voltage and eliminating the risk of electrocution.

One limitation with silver nanowires is that it can tarnish over time, affecting performance. To address this, researchers applied a water-repellent coating to the silver nanowires that protects against oxidation, water, and stains. The coating, inspired by lotus leaves, has a microscopic rough surface texture, which causes water to roll off instead of soaking in. This keeps the textile dry, ensuring long-lasting conductivity and effective heating, even in damp conditions. The water-repellent coating also prevents damage from sweat, rain, or accidental spills, making it reliable for outdoor and everyday applications.

The textile can convert electricity using a small rechargeable battery or solar energy into heat and can maintain a desired temperature between 40°C and 60°C for over 10 hours.

The researchers tested the textile in wearable knee and elbow bands, demonstrating its potential to provide sustained warmth for individuals working in cold environments and arthritis patients needing localized heat therapy. Additionally, the textile has broader applications, such as on-demand water heating and accelerating chemical reactions by wrapping it around the reaction vessels.

Speaking about the developed textile, Prof. Uttam Manna, said, “Our textile is self-cleanable, breathable, and flexible and can easily be scaled up. Its durability and long-lasting performance make it useful in a range of applications that require controlled heating."
The research team has filed an Indian patent on the innovation and is now working towards integrating the developed material with a miniaturised and appropriate electronic circuit to create viable products. Additionally, the team is seeking industry collaborations to bring the innovation to market for potential dry thermos-therapy applications in the near future.

For the 24th time, Composites Germany has collected current key figures on the market for fiber-reinforced plastics. All member companies of the supporting associations of Composites Germany: AVK and Composites United as well as the associated partner VDMA were surveyed.

In order to ensure that the different surveys can be compared without any problems, no fundamental changes were made to the survey this half-year. Once again, mainly qualitative data relating to current and future market developments was collected.

The current survey did not reveal any improvement in sentiment regarding the general business situation.

Increasingly critical assessment of the current business situation
Apart from a few positive trends, the corresponding indicator has been pointing clearly downwards since 2022. There is still no sign of a trend reversal in the current survey either. (see Fig. 1). The assessment of the general business situation has fallen significantly in all regions mentioned.     

The reasons for the negative sentiment are varied and, in many cases, remain unchanged. High energy costs, raw material prices and logistics costs remain a major burden, particularly for German industry, but also for many other countries in Europe. In addition, the overall economy is weakening, especially in Europe and Germany. The key application areas for the composites industry - transportation/automotive and construction/infrastructure - are particularly affected by this.

In addition, many national economies are experiencing increasingly weak exports, particularly with regard to the Asian and especially Chinese markets. In terms of raw materials and finished products, for example in the automotive production sector, competition with European products is growing on a massive scale. This is partly due to overcapacities, but also to government subsidies, which in turn places an enormous price burden on suppliers. Political uncertainties, protectionist tendencies and armed conflicts are further worsening the economic climate.
           
The fact that politicians do not currently seem to be succeeding in creating an environment that is conducive to business remains a problem. Added to this is the lack of responses from European/German manufacturers. The composites market has already seen sharp declines in the last two years. There are still pessimistic signals from the industry for the current year. For the third year in a row, the European production volume is falling in contrast to a growing global market. The European composites industry is facing a progressive decline if it fails in creating a regulatory framework that enables competitive production. Germany is currently facing structural changes that are necessary, particularly in terms of economic policy and ecology. These necessary adjustments will take many years and require high levels of investment. It is urgently advisable to finally find a balance between the necessary burden on industry/companies and private households and the corresponding relief.

Future expectations show different trends
In line with the current negative mood in the industry, it is not only the assessment of the current general business situation that remains pessimistic; the future general market situation is also viewed extremely critically by those surveyed.

Only 19 % of respondents currently expect the global situation to improve. For Germany and Europe, the figure is only just over 10 %. The figure for Europe in particular has plummeted compared to the last survey.

This contrasts with a rather positive assessment of the company's own business situation. Here, the negative trend of the last two years for the global and European assessment of the company's own position has been halted. In the current survey, the indicators are turning positive.Only for Germany does the assessment remain critical. Only around 1/3 of respondents rate their own current situation positively. This also applies to future expectations. 28 % of those surveyed expect the general market situation in Germany to develop negatively. Only 21 % expect the current situation to improve.

The figures for Europe and the rest of the world are significantly better. Only 7 % expect the global situation to deteriorate further. The figure for Europe is 11 %.
      
Investment climate remains subdued
The current cautious assessment of the economic situation continues to have an impact on the investment climate. However, the first positive signs are also emerging here.          

While 13 % of respondents in the last survey still expected an increase in personnel capacity (survey 2/2024), this figure currently stands at 19 %. In contrast, however, 29 % still expect a decrease in personnel.

The proportion of respondents planning to invest in machinery continues to fall slightly. While 44 % were still assuming corresponding investments in the last survey, this figure has now fallen to 42 %.

Different expectations of application industries
The composites market is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of both materials and applications. In the survey, the participants were asked to give their assessment of the market development of different core areas. The expectations are extremely varied.

The most important area of application for Composites is mobility. This area is currently undergoing major upheaval and is experiencing a massive crisis in Europe and Germany. This is also clearly reflected in the survey. Growth is expected above all in the aviation and construction/infrastructure sectors, although the construction sector in Germany is also in recession.

Growth drivers with slight movements
The current survey shows slight movement in terms of growth impetus. In terms of their assessment of which areas will provide the key growth impetus for the composites industry in the future, GFRP saw a slight increase. CFRP, on the other hand, declined slightly.

There is a slight regional shift. The main growth impetus is expected to come from Asia and North America, with Asia's mentions declining slightly and North America increasing slightly. However, the EU (with the exception of Germany) is also frequently cited as a growth region. Germany continues to be seen less strongly as a growth driver and remains at a low level.

Composites index divergent
As already indicated in the current text, the Composites Index points in different directions. While the assessment of the company's own business situation is turning positive, the assessment of the general business situation remains pessimistic.
      
In the last three years, the European composites market has lost almost 20 % of its production volume and has fallen back to the 2010/2011 level.

Almost all sectors are equally affected by declines. Until the coronavirus pandemic, there was a continuous increase in production volumes for many years. Since the end of the coronavirus crisis and with the increase in macroeconomic uncertainties, Europe and Germany in particular appear to be becoming less attractive as a business location. Europe's market share is now steadily declining despite an increase in global production volumes. There are many reasons for this, and there are no simple solutions. However, if the industrial location is to remain secure, something has to change quickly. Once companies have moved away, it is difficult to bring them back. It remains to be seen whether it will be possible to counteract this negative trend. Targeted intervention, including by political decision-makers, would be desirable here. However, this cannot succeed without industry/business. Only together will it be possible to maintain and strengthen Germany as a business/industry location. For composites as a material group in general, there are still very good opportunities to expand the market position in both new and existing markets due to the special portfolio of properties. However, the dependence on macroeconomic developments remains.

It is now important to develop new market areas through innovation, to consistently exploit opportunities and to work together to further implement composites in existing markets. This can often be achieved better together than alone. With its excellent network, Composites Germany offers a wide range of opportunities.

The next composites market survey will be published in August 2025.