Why the textile industry is important in South Africa - Romatex (2024)

FAQs

Why the textile industry is important in South Africa - Romatex? ›

The textile industry currently contributes about 14% of employment in the manufacturing sector, which employs an estimated 80 000 people. Textiles and fabrics are the 11th most exported goods from the country and the sector accounts for 8% of South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP).

Without all of these technical textiles, food production would be less reliable. People also need clothes and blankets to stay warm. Without natural and synthetic fibers, shingles and other types of building materials could not be made, influencing the type of shelters built.

Industry Overview

The Clothing, Textiles, Footwear, and Leather (CTFL) industry is a big deal in South Africa. The CTFL industry currently makes up around 14% of manufacturing employment in the country. This means the sector facilitates an estimated 60 000 to 80 000 jobs.

Information technology plays a crucial role throughout the apparel manufacturing process. It influences all aspects from order management and procurement to design, production planning, manufacturing, and distribution.

Many South African textile mills closed when the market was flooded with cheap, imported clothing at the end of apartheid when international trade restrictions were lifted. This reduced the availability of textiles for use in South African clothing manufacturing, which increased the cost of locally made products.

Cotton is the main raw material used in the production of textiles. Nearly 70% of global jute production originates from India. The sector is also the second-largest production base of silk and fibre. Other fibres produced in India include wool and man-made fibres.

Textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are for clothing and for containers such as bags and baskets. In the household, textiles are used in carpeting, upholstered furnishings, window shades, towels, coverings for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces, and in art.

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.

Overconsumption of natural resources

The textile sector was the third largest source of water degradation and land use in 2020. In that year, it took on average nine cubic metres of water, 400 square metres of land and 391 kilogrammes (kg) of raw materials to provide clothes and shoes for each EU citizen.

Textile quality control is a system adopted to prevent faults and problems in processes and products. The aim is to efficiently meet the production needs and desires of customers. So it's not just about checking and counting defects in finished products. On the contrary!

What are the challenges in the textile industry in South Africa? ›

Critical challenges facing the South African textile industry, and that in many other developing and developed countries, include the increased need for international competitiveness, the integration of environmental issues with trade aspects, and the potential impact that non-tariff trade barriers may have on the ...

Northern investors often preferred to locate their mills in the South, where the taxes were lower, the climate was milder, and the labor was cheaper than in the North. The investors' added capital allowed a number of mills to expand, and several cities emerged as the state's major textile production centers.

Clothes, footwear and household textiles are responsible for water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and landfill.

Clothing and textiles reflect the materials and technologies available in different civilizations at different times. The variety and distribution of clothing and textiles within a society reveal social customs and culture.

Overconsumption of natural resources

The textile sector was the third largest source of water degradation and land use in 2020. In that year, it took on average nine cubic metres of water, 400 square metres of land and 391 kilogrammes (kg) of raw materials to provide clothes and shoes for each EU citizen.

Factories pulled thousands from low-productivity work in agriculture to high-productivity urban jobs. Textiles have been identified as the catalyst of technological changes and thus their importance during the Industrial Revolution cannot be overstated. The application of steam power stimulated the demand for coal.

The most important role textiles played in the Industrial Revolution was the development of textile factories which made domestic textile production obsolete. Before the Industrial Revolution, textiles were produced in homes through a process known as domestic textile production.