Protective clothing (PC)
Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Volume 23, Issue 2/3
In recent months there seems to be an organised effort by governments from both sides of the Atlantic to fund new innovation projects in protective clothing (PC). These efforts originate from military demands for the war effort,but nevertheless it has an important effect for the industry beyond military end uses. To clarify this importance I discuss these marketing opportunities and although due to the volatility of world economics these figures may not be exact, they help in forming a picture of this sector of textiles and clothing.
The main targets for the PC market are products that are typically characterised by their “barrier” properties. The buoyancy of this market is maintained with the short to intermediate product lifespan, and increasing needs of corporate, governmental and particularly now,military-related sectors. The military market is generally regulated by a central supplying body such as the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (US) or the Defence Procurement Agency (UK), covering a number of high performance manufacturers and suppliers. Corporate and governmental needs are also met by a range of suppliers, from large corporations such as Dupont to smaller, medium sized companies. New innovations are being focused at the PC industry as well as the wider companies involved in product design, development and engineering. A recent market report suggests that the growth of the PC market is predicted to be ∼5.5 per cent pa for Western Europe. Growth is fuelled by the needs of the emergency and medical services and for the military, but also with the implementation of EU legislation framework within the growing EU, increased threats of chemical and biological attacks and outbreaks and increased technological breakthrough in research and manufacturing. Globally, the protective textile market is expected to grow 3.8 per cent in volume annually. In recent years, the US has been an important driving factor, particularly in the wake of the 9/11 disaster. As market demands steadily increase, it is anticipated that the major players such as Dupont, Gentex, and so on, will continue to take a big share of the market, but other innovative companies are now penetrating this market.
The PC market is currently valued at about €1.7 bn in Western Europe and expected to grow beyond £2 bn in 2015. Globally, consumption is now estimated at 340,000 tons (David Rigby Associates). In terms of chemical protection, the US is one of the largest players, spending US$825M in 1999,with an estimate of US$.5 bn in 2010. As new legislations are reinforced(e.g. the US Biological Terrorism Bill), increased assurance of the performance and reliability of the products is required. Current registers of nuclear,chemical and biological clothing protection companies suggest that there are over 400 suppliers in the UK alone (Kompass). It can be reasonably assumed that 90 per cent of them would need to research for new innovative PC products to meet increasing performance requirements, either for design/engineering purposes, or for evaluation purposes for extreme conditions. David Rigby Associates estimate that 20M tons of technical textiles would have been consumed in 2005, growing to 24M in 2010 and the Department of Trade and Industry estimates that the market value is worth £40 bn globally.
As we see although some of the published figures may have been optimistic when they were generated, they nevertheless indicate that the PC sector, fuelled by recent demands from the military, is an important market and that its technology has many other applications.
George K. StyliosEditor-in-Chief
