Composights Blog

Composite Textiles and the Many Layers of Opportunities

Although the applications of composite textiles are multi-directional, there are several factors that may slow down the growth pace. High cost of raw materials and the requirement for skilled manpower are among the biggest roadblocks for this industry.

When we hear the word ‘textile’, the first few words that usually pop into our minds are fabrics, suits, texture, or maybe even our favorite clothing brand. But, the advancement of technology has broadened both the scope and the applications of textiles so much that starting from the circuit board in your mobile phone, to complex parts of an aircraft, everything today is being made using textiles. However, not every textile is capable of offering the flexibility of being used in such a wide range of applications, and hence composite textiles have been the ‘go-to’ material across several industries for quite some time now. Every Industry that Requires Lightweighting, Requires Composites: Known for their exceptional structural properties combined with their lightweighting capabilities, composite textiles find applications in every industry where durability and lightweighting are the key design requirements. This includes the entire mobility sector because of their common aim of achieving reduced emissions and better fuel efficiency, the wind energy sector, construction, electronics, and many other industries. Listed below are some key applications of composite textiles across these industries. Fig. 1: Key applications of composite textiles The industries combinedly have the potential to generate a demand of ~$7.2 bn worth of composite textiles in 2023, which would scale up to $9.5 bn by 2028, according to Stratview Research. Although the focus on increasing the penetration of composites is more in the automotive, aerospace, and marine industries; the biggest share of the demand for composite textiles is generated by the Wind Energy sector, followed by the Electrical and Electronics sector, currently and in the coming years as well. Close to 50% of the current demand for composite textiles in the market is generated by these two industries alone according to an analysis from Stratview Research. Fig. 2: Composite textiles market trend and forecast (US$ billion)