TECHNICAL TEXTILES

The Research and Innovation Challenge in the

Mediterranean Countries

THE CASE STUDY OF TURKEY

Prof. Dr. Arzu MARMARALI

Ege University Engineering Faculty
Department of Textile Engineering
 Introduction

1. Technical Textiles
2. Technical Textile Sector in Turkey
2.1 Competitive Advantages of Turkey
2.2 Investments in Turkey
2.3 Production of Technical Textiles in Turkey
2.4 Foreign Trade in Technical Textiles
3. R&D in Technical Textile Sector in Turkey
3.1 R&D Activities Centers in Turkey
3.2 R&D Activities in the Industry
3.3 R&D Activities in the University
 Technical Textiles

œ Technical textiles are known for their performance

and functionality and get into many areas of
products of our daily life.

œ The demand for technical textiles is directly related

to overall economic developments and textile
technology.
 Technical Textiles

œ Technical and functional textile sector of the textile

industry is growing rapidly in the world markets and
it is expected to gain more importance in the coming
15-20 years.

œ The forecast for world end-use consumption of

technical textiles from 1995 to 2010 is given in
Figure 1.
 Technical Textiles

Source: David Rigby Associates

Figure 1. World end-use consumption of technical textiles,

1995-2010, in volume and value terms
 Technical Textile Sector in Turkey

œ Technical textile production and product

diversification is increasing in Turkey in parallel
to the developments of world markets.

œ Under the current world conjuncture, Turkish

textile sector aims to produce high value added,
original and high quality products and to sell them
at competitive prices.
 Competitive Advantages of Turkey

Turkey has shown great success in the technical

textile production, because Turkey has;
œ well-developed textile industry
(More than 35,000 companies operate in the textiles and clothing industry),
œ investments for raw materials,
œ highly qualified and well educated human
resources,
œ strong textile educational and research institutions,
œ a strategic geographical location,
œ developed transport infrastructure,
 Competitive Advantages of Turkey

œ sensitivity about workers social conditions and

quality besides environment according to EU
technical regulations,
œ an advanced, modern and well equipped textile
testing laboratory infrastructure,
œ the Custom Union Agreement with the EU (free
movements for Turkish goods within the EU),

œ free trade agreements with different countries,

 Competitive Advantages of Turkey

œ free zones and organized industrial zones (for

advanced production infrastructure, technical knowledge, internationally
accepted investment and export incentives),

œ close cooperation between university-industry

(especially in the last years),

œ young machine infrastructure (75 % of textiles machines are

under 10 years old)

œ a large domestic market [1,2].

 Investments in Turkey

Technical textile investments in Turkey can be

considered as “new”, but an increasing number of
Turkish companies have moved into technical
textiles production because of the high value
added products during the past decade.
 Investments in Turkey

More than 200 companies manufacture technical

textiles and nonwovens in Turkey. These
producers are generally small and medium size
companies, but there are also some very large
scale companies.

These large scale companies are well known in the

world markets. There were 9 companies which
dealt with technical textiles among Turkey’s 500
largest companies in 2007 [1].
 Investments in Turkey

œ Most large scale Turkish non-woven and technical

textile companies are members of the European
Disposables and Nonwovens Association –
EDANA.

œ Istanbul, Bursa, Gaziantep, Kocaeli and Tekirda•

are the major cities in the production of technical
textiles [2].
 Production of Technical Textiles in Turkey

Table 1. Production of technical textiles in Europe (1000 tones) [3]

Middle and East

Years West Europe Turkey Total
Europe
1995 1079 90 45 1214
2000 1237 135 101 1473
2001 1209 143 104 1456
2002 1265 129 128 1522
2003 1289 133 137 1559
2004 1350 146 145 1641
2005 1287 147 150 1584
2008* 1222 152 162 1536
2012* 1135 155 175 1465

*forecast
Source: CIRFS/ World Markets for Technical Textiles to 2012
 Production of Technical Textiles in Turkey

It is known that many companies produced

technical textiles are active in different fields like,
œ Nonwoven fabrics and products,
œ Special felts,
œ Filtration materials,
œ Products of automotive and packaging industries,
œ Military clothes and equipments,
 Production of Technical Textiles in Turkey

œ Medical products,
œ Protective clothing like bullet-proof jackets or heat
resistant garments,
œ Easy care and non-iron fabrics and garments,
œ Nanotechnology fabrics and garments,
œ Multifunctional fabrics,
œ Antibacterial and anti-mosquito products.
 Production of Technical Textiles in Turkey

The most commonly produced subgroups of

technical textiles in Turkey are:
œ Automotive textiles
œ Textiles used in cleaning/cosmetics/hygiene
sectors
œ Packaging textiles
 Foreign Trade in Technical Textiles

The main export products from Turkey were:

œ big bags (FIBC),
œ tire cord fabrics,
œ technical fabrics,
œ non-woven,
œ glass fibers and articles,
œ safety seat belts,
œ safety airbags in 2008.
Table 2. The amounts of technical textiles exports of Turkey [3]
Years Amount (US$) Change %
2000 426.701.333 -
2001 495.402.697 16
2002 562.203.183 13
2003 575.371.434 20
2004 824.846.748 22
2005 903.737.293 10
2006 943.174.079 4
2007 1.091.572.258 16
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
Table 3. Turkey’s technical textiles exports by major product groups (US$ 1000) [2]
HS – Codes and Product Descriptions 2005 2006 2007 2008
630532 – Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC) 255,192 260,189 274,589 294,787
5902 – Tyre cord fabrics of high tenacity yarn of nylon or other 153,362 163,219 174,605 163,411
polyamides, polyesters or vicose rayon
5903 – Textile fabrics impregnated, coated, covered or laminated 58,782 66,081 83,107 105,491
with plastics
5603 – Nonwovens, whether or not impregnated, coated, covered 51,812 71,532 95,823 96,617
or laminated
7019 – Glass fibers (incl glass wool) and articles thereof 81,396 80,765 83,486 94,009
870821 – Safety seat belts 71,552 65,998 73,620 75,583
870895 – Safety airbags 17,244 14,859 30,921 43,211
5907- Textile fabrics otherwise impregnated, coated or covered; 25,312 28,778 32,529 38,511
painted canvas being theatrical scenery, studio back-cloths or the
like
5705 – Other carpets and other textile floor coverings 23,911 41,521 44,518 38,297
630790 – Made up articles of textile materials, incl dress patterns 13,056 17,415 26,157 28,946
5807 – Lable, badge&sim art of tex 15,658 20,100 23,065 26,681
5401 – Sewing thread of man – made filaments 14,319 22,161 24,831 24,813
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
 Foreign Trade in Technical Textiles

The leading markets for Turkish technical textiles

sectors are:
œ Germany,
œ France,
œ Italy,
œ Spain.
Table 4. Leading export markets of Turkish technical textiles (US$) [3]
Countries 2000 2007 2000 / 2007 Change %
Germany 94.431.236 172.482.088 83
France 40.095.573 119.272.700 197
Italy 22.435.215 62.070.682 177
Spain 21.046.103 59.846.537 184
UK 24.853.673 58.157.941 134
Russia 10.246.010 51.789.415 405
Romania 3.632.177 42.326.000 1065
USA 25.409.541 40.950.803 61
Poland 3.371.910 39.122.316 1060
Nederland 22.447.340 33.307.336 48
Slovakia 2.295.079 25.833.929 1026
Israel 12.882.513 23.637.104 83
Iran 20.319.900 21.462.187 6
Ukraine 21.754.865 18.945.432 -13
Serbia - 17.864.005 -
15 Countries’ Total 325.221.135 787.068.475 142
Total Technical Textiles Export 425.701.333 1.091.572.258 156
Share of 15 countries (%) 76,4 72,1
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
 Foreign Trade in Technical Textiles

Turkey is not only a technical textile supplier,

but also an importer.

The amount of technical textiles and import by

main products groups can be seen from the
Table 5 and Table 6 respectively.
Table 5. Technical textiles imports of Turkey (US$) [3]

Years Amount (US$) Change %

2000 280.073.527 -
2001 256.888.019 8
2002 319.706.935 24
2003 418.411.451 31
2004 580.128.345 39
2005 689.721.815 19
2006 730.653.816 6
2007 1.017.949.982 39
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
Table 6. Turkey’s technical textiles imports by major product groups (US$) [3]
2000 / 2007
HS – Codes and Product Descriptions 2000 2007
Change %
5603 – Nonwovens, whether or not impregnated, 55.404.790 224.003.775 340
coated, covered or laminated
870895 – Safety airbags 1.514.543 149.857.926 9795
5903 – Textile fabrics impregnated, coated, covered 58.882.070 115.277.284 96
or laminated with plastics
7019 – Glass fibers (incl glass wool) and articles 25.469.304 107.411.795 322
thereof
870821 – Safety seat belts 7.107.029 63.523.217 794
5601 - Pads 15.510.236 63.296.568 308
5911 – Products for technical applications 15.165.934 49.462.218 226
54 02 20 – High strength PES yarns 25.271.070 29.682.542 17
5902 – Tyre cord fabrics of high tenacity yarn of 11.473.387 29.288.485 155
nylon or other polyamides, polyesters or vicose
rayon
5602 – Carpets 4.583.481 18.870.726 312
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
 Table 7. Leading technical textile suppliers of Turkey (US$) [3]
Countries 2000 2007 2000 / 2007 Change %

Italy 51.986.259 146.636.493 182

Germany 58.194.091 146.536.847 152
China 8.285.646 121.948.941 1372
France 17.518.877 93.815.088 436
UK 13.332.073 54.440.935 308
Czech Republic 1.808.376 43.836.521 2324
Poland 3.175.391 39.164.332 1133
South Korea 6.499.020 37.033.765 474
US 29.710.722 25.166.405 -15
Spain 8.422.851 21.688.967 158
Romania 916.077 21.596.458 2257
Israel 4.420.463 19.035.295 331
Japan 9.505.014 18.073.546 90
Saudi Arabia 89.285 17.949.090 20003
Hungary 1.508.353 15.239.340 910
15 Countries’ Total 215.372.498 822.432.023 282
Total Technical Textiles Import 280.073.527 1.017.949.982 263
Share of 15 countries (%) 76,9 80,8
Source : Undersecteriat of foreign trade / April 2008
 R&D in Technical Textile Sector in Turkey

œ Unfortunately the amount of R&D performed in Turkey is

low (0.5% of GDP) in comparision with the other OECD
countries (2.3% of GDP) [4].
œ Generally it is known that small firms don’t have the
financial, technical or human resources for research
activities. And Turkey's business sector is primarily
composed of SMEs.
œ Although the amount of knowledge based R&D in some
technical textiles firms in Turkey has been increasing to
7-8 %, this is still the weakest side of Turkish Technical
Textile Industry.
 R&D in Technical Textile Sector in Turkey

Too much of Turkey's research is being carried

out in the universities (68%) and very few in the
industry (24%); the OECD average is 16% and
69% respectively.

Moreover, the government itself funds two-thirds

of Turkish R&D [4].
 R&D in Technical Textile Sector in Turkey

œ The Scientific & Technological Research Council

of Turkey (TUBITAK) provides research and
developments aid to support the universities and
companies which are conducting R&D projects.

œ High-budget projects such as setting up a new

research center are supported by the State
Planning Organization (DPT).
 R&D Centers in Turkey

œ Ege University Textile and Apparel Application

and Research Center
œ Bilkent University, Nanotechnology Research
Center (NANOTAM)
œ Bilkent University, Institute of Materials Science
and Nanotechnology (UNAM)
œ TUBITAK BUTAL
œ TUBITAK MAM
œ Kord-Sa Research and Development Center, Labs
and Pilot Testing Facilities
œ ITKIB-ITA
 R&D in the Industry

A Turkish company prepared a collection for

the pregnants, protecting the baby in mother’s
womb from electromagnetic radiation.

These garments are produced by using a

special fabric that has silver fibers [5].
 R&D in the Industry

œ Another big company manufactures military textiles in a

wide range by increasing R&D activities.

œ They produced Infrared-free fabric and MultiSpectral

Camouflage Nets for the first time in Turkey.

œ NBC Clothing Fabric against Nuclear Biological

Chemical (NBC) weapons is a patented product of this
company [6].
 R&D in the Industry

œ Another Turkish company has developed a new fabric that

blocks (98.5 %) of electromagnetic waves (from electronic
appliances such as mobile phones, microphones, microwave ovens and wireless
communication devices).

œ It is an innovative product with potential applications both

in houses and industry [7].
 R&D in the Industry

œ One of the Turkey's most powerful companies is the

world's leading producer of nylon and polyester yarns,
cord fabric, and single end cord. These products are
used as the tire reinforcement material.

œ This company has the biggest R&D Center of Turkey

in this area [8].
 R&D in the Industry

Another company which is the biggest non-woven

producer in Turkey, produces
œ various felts for shoes, automotives and insulation
purposes etc.
œ a “fire barrier” against fires [9].
 R&D in the Industry

The other company produces bigbags with

different properties (antistatic, conductive) and different
shapes, besides geotextiles, agrotextiles and
shading products [10].
 R&D in the University

œ The researchers from Bilkent University, Nanotechnology

Research Center (NANOTAM) have invented a
nanotechnological product. This fabric makes objects
invisible at certain wavelengths.

œ When military vehicles are covered with new “invisibility

cloak”, it is possible to make vehicles even airplanes
invisible [5].
 R&D in the University

High Functional and Innovative Textiles and

Processes for Technical Applications
(FP6-2002-Mobility 3 Project)
Partners:
œ Ege University, Textile Engineering Department, Turkey
œ Ghent University Textile Engineering Department in Belgium
œ Stuttgart Univ. Inst. for Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibres in
Germany
 R&D in the University
Conductive Yarns and Their Use in Technical Textiles
(Supported by EGE UNIV., TEXTILE ENG. DEPT.)
The research is planned to search
œ the electromagnetic shielding (EMSE) properties of conductive yarns
and fabrics,
œ production of conductive yarns,
œ their integration into the fabric structures with different designs,
œ measurement and evaluation of the fabrics developed.

Source: Prof. Dr. S. Vassiliadis, TEI Piraeus

 R&D in the University
For EMSE measurements, the
Electromagnetic Competence (EMC)
Test Device was established in our
Department. This device consists of a
shielded room in 3m * 3m
dimensions and Rhode& Schwarz
testing equipment.

Demonstration of the EMC Test Device in Ege

University Textile Engineering Department: a)
Shielded room and antenna, b) Signal generator,
power amplifier and spectrum analyzer.
 R&D in the University

Intelligent Textiles and Natural Fibres

(Supported by The British Council Science Partnership Programme)

Partners:
œ Ege University, Textile Engineering Department, Turkey
œ University of Manchester School of Materials, England
 R&D in the University

Colored Odor Release Textile Materials

(Supported by TUBITAK and ARSS)

Partners:
œ Ege University, Textile Engineering Department, Turkey
œ University of Maribor, Slovenia
 R&D in the University

Advanced Methods to Identify Modern Textile

Fibers
(Supported by EUROKA)
Partners:
œ Ege University, Textile Engineering Department, Turkey
œ The Research - Development National Inst. for Textile and Leather,
Romania
œ Elkede Technology and Design Centre S.A., Greece
œ Univ. of Maribor, Department of Textile Materials and Design, Slovenia
œ Dorobantul S.A., Romania
œ Societatea Comerciala Pasmatex S.A. , Romania
œ Institute of Textile Architecture, Poland
œ Korteks Mensucat San. Tic. A.S., Turkey
 R&D in the University

Investigation of Atmospheric Plasma Technology on Applicability

of Textile Materials
(Supported by TUBITAK)

Partners:
œ Ege University, Textile Engineering Department, Turkey
œ Hacettepe University, Chemical Engineering Department, Turkey
 R&D in the University

Textile Based Water

Heater Solar Collector

(Supported by
œ Textile Research Association
œ Ege University, Textile
Engineering Department)

In order to heat water, solar

collectors are used. This
provides energy saving.
 R&D in the University

Textile Based Air

Heater Solar Collector

(Supported by
œ Textile Research Association
œ Ege University, Textile
Engineering Department)

Textile Based Air Heater Solar Collector is nearly 50% more inexpensive
and more efficient than the other types.
 References

[1] “Textile and Apparel Industry and Technical Textiles in Turkey”,

General Secretariat of ITKIB, R&D Department.
[2] EMEK, A., KUYUMCU, O., “Technical Textiles and Nonwovens
Industry in Turkey”, Export Promotion Center of Turkey, 2009.
[3] Türkiye’de ve Dünya’da Teknik Tekstiller Üzerine Genel ve Güncel
Bilgiler, •TK•B Genel Sekreterli•i Ar&Ge ve Mevzuat •ubesi,
Haziran 2008.
[4] http://www.questia.com/
[5] http://www.nonwoventechnology.com/issues/nw23.pdf
[6] http://www.oztektekstil.com.tr
[7] http://www.istikbal.com.tr
[8] http://www.kordsa.com.tr/
[9] http://www.hassan.com.tr
[10] http://www.isbirsentetik.com
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR
ATTENTION…