Man-Made Fibers Production Sagged Worldwide in 1982: Output in U.S. plummeted nearly 20%, in Western Europe 9%; recovery in fiber sales likely won't happen before second half of 1983

Like so many other products, manmade fibers are bearing the brunt of the global economic slowdown. Last year's slack demand for these fibers was reflected in a 7.4% decrease in output from the 1981 level to 29.98 billion lb. The U.S. production of man-made fibers slid a sizable 19.5% to 6.95 billion lb, according to the annual survey of the industry compiled by market researchers at Enka, the fibers arm of Akzo headquartered in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Western Europe's output was off 9.2% to almost 6.18 billion lb, Japan's 3.9% to 3.77 billion lb. For the first time, Enka points out, no growth of production in man-made fibers was registered in 1982 for the rest of the world as a whole. A continuing thorn in the sides of established fiber producers in the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan is their counterparts in Eastern Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. Man-made fibers produced in these latter ...