International Newsletters Ltd  has published a second edition of Medical and Hygiene Textiles: Initiatives for Growth. This market report looks at the corporate strategies being followed by the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of medical and hygiene textiles. According to the study, the medical/hygiene textiles sector is a niche market that is dominated by a few, large suppliers. The global health care market is experiencing buoyant growth, with powerful demographic and lifestyle trends continuing to indicate strong, long-term demand for health-related products and services. Health care is now one of the world’s largest industries with an estimated value of $3.5–4.0 trillion a year. The U.S. alone spends around US$1 trillion a year—a staggering 15% of its total economy—on health care. The global market for hygiene products is valued at approximately $73 billion in manufacturing operations, of which one third is in North America and nearly 30% in Europe.
    Most disposable hygiene products and a significant proportion of medical textiles are manufactured using nonwoven processes. The global nonwovens market is valued at $14.5 billion a year with an average annual sales growth rate of 7% expected over each of the next five years.
    The report includes profiles of a range of companies in this sector, from large multinational corporations operating in the global market to medium-sized and smaller regional or national producers. The publication covers companies with operations in Europe, the Americas and Asia, including fibre suppliers and product manufacturers across the whole spectrum of the medical and hygiene textiles industry.
    More information:  International Newsletters Ltd, Telephone: 44 (0)870 1657210; Fax: 44 (0)870 1657212; [email protected]; www.technical-textiles.net.