Yarn Expo - China International Trade Fair for Fibres and Yarns, 29 - 31 March 2005, National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China

Yarn Expo 2005 closes with a final count of 8,437 visitors from 54 countries and regions

Innovative products on display including functional and environmentally friendly fibres

Positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors confirms the fair's importance in the global market 
 
FINAL REPORT

Yarn Expo 2005 closed on 31 March 2005 at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre in Beijing with a final count of 8,437 trade buyers from 54 countries and regions; a 12 percent increase from 2004. More than 120 fibres and yarns producers presented a broad selection of the latest fibres and yarns for apparel textiles, home textiles, upholstery and interiors.

Yarn Expo has become an important sourcing platform for domestic and international weavers and garment manufacturers seeking the latest technological developments and new products.

The total number of buyers at the fair was up 12 percent from 2004. With China 's huge appetite for fibres and yarns for both export and domestic use, China is a strong buying market. Around 85 percent of the buyers (7,142) were local, with the largest groups coming from coming from Beijing (1420 buyers), Guangdong (498), Shandong (458) and Shanghai (429).

Buyers from overseas were up 11 percent, with over 15 percent (1,295) coming from outside China . The top five visiting countries and regions were Hong Kong (217 buyers), Korea (146), Japan (99), India (80), and Italy (78).

Ms. Lotte Jorgensen of First Factory came to Yarn Expo to look for new suppliers to provide high quality yarn at a reasonable price. "We manufacture knitwear and we are always on the lookout for new products. The fair has been very useful for me. I would definitely recommend this event to other buyers."

A wide range of yarns and fibres were on display by the 121 exhibitors who joined the show. Among the participants were companies from 14 countries and regions, including Belgium , Canada , China , Hong Kong China , India , Indonesia , Korea , Pakistan , Russia , Singapore , Spain , Thailand , Turkey and the Ukraine .

Products included a wide range of fibres and yarns from the basic to the more specialised such as functional fibres incorporating moisture management, UV protection, flame resistance and anti-static functions and environmentally friendly fibres using recycled textile materials, soybean protein, milk, egg white and bamboo.

The general feeling amongst the exhibitors was that the booth traffic had been high over the three days and many commented o n the professionalism of the buyers.

"We had many visitors coming to our booth and all were impressed with our products," said Mr. Ismael Mataix Coloma, Director Commercial of R Belda Llorens of Spain . "Our products are very new and cannot be found in China yet. We made a lot of very good contacts."

¡°This is the second time that we exhibited at the fair and the visitor flow was very good. Overall we had very positive results," said Mr Zhen Xiang Zhun, Economist & Vice General Manager, Zhejiang Lida Modern Textiles of China. "Yarn Expo provides an excellent platform to solidify our customer base as well as developing new markets. More than 10 percent of our sales last year came from orders received after the first Yarn Expo. This year visitors are very professional and the quality might even be better than last year."

¡°We have seen a lot of visitors from around the world, like USA , China , Korea , Pakistan , and Turkey , and we received lots of enquiries," said Mr Arabindaa Som, Senior Manager of Rajasthan Spinning & Weaving Mills of India. "Visitors are especially interested in our range of speciality yarns, functional yarns and m¨¦lange yarns. Yarn Expo offers an excellent platform to promote products on an international level. It is the best yarn show that we have ever participated in.¡±

For the foreign exhibitors, many found that Yarn Expo gave them the exact platform they needed for their marketing activities in China ?whether they were newcomers to the Chinese market ?or old-timers.

"In three days we met so many buyers that we don't need to travel all over China ," remarked Mr. Junaid Haji Latif, Director of Latif Textile Mills one of the largest mills in Pakistan .

"We've been in the Chinese market for about ten years but we are now looking in expand sales in the north part of the country. We received a large quantity of new enquiries."

Mr. Johan Vantomne from Procotex, a Belgium linen manufacturer was also enthusiastic about Yarn Expo 2005.

"This is our second time at Yarn Expo and we are very pleased with the results. We supply high quality linen and we believe that Chinese has a huge potential market. The buyers that we met were all very interested."

Similarly, Mr. Spiros Pantziris, CEO of Spintex Yarns a Canadian company specialising in yarn made of recycled coloured cotton fibres explained that China was an interesting new growth market for their products. ¡°Our products are environmentally friendly and we believe that we can find buyers as well as suppliers in China . Yarn Expo was very useful to educate interested parties."

Yarn Expo is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry - CCPIT, The China Cotton Textile Association, China Wool Textile Association, China Chemical Fiber Association, China Bast & Leaf Fibers Textiles Association and the China Textile Information Centre.

For information on the next Yarn Expo, scheduled for Spring 2006, please email textile@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com , fax (852) 2598 8771 or visit the website: www.messefrankfurt.com.hk/yarnexpo.asp