National and Global Trends in Guar Gum Utilization in Textile Industries

National and global trends in this sector

The textile industry is a global enterprise which employs millions of workers and generates billions in revenue. Clothing’s, like food are worn by all and they demand will continue to increase due to population increase, festivities and changes in fashion and trends.

The global export and import of clothes has continued to increase over the years. In 2014, it generated $ 930.89 billion in exports and $863.67 in imports. In 2014, the main exporters were China ($ 331.16 billion), Italy ($ 59. 27 billion), Hong Kong ($ 48.11 billion), Germany $ 44 billion and India $ 38 billion.

In terms of cloth production (both export and locally consumed), India is the second largest fabric producer after China. This is also one of the oldest industries in the country and contributes significantly to the GDP.  Based on the compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the industry is projected to continue growing.

According to India brand equity foundation (IEBF), the domestic sector is worth US$ 99 billion and is expected to increase to US$ 141 billion in 2021. In 2013, the exports were $ 28.53 billion and 38 billion in 2014. It is expected that these exports will reach $ 82 billion in 2021. The main cloth production divisions are cotton, silk, woolen, jute, readymade clothes and hand crafts.

Application in production of clothes

As the cloth business continues to expand, more and more guar will be required during processing. Derivatives of this product are applied in printing of cotton, rayon silk, wool sizing and carpet printing. The main derivatives used in this sector include hydroxyl –propyl, carboxy-methyl and modified guar.

Textile printing using Guar gum

This product is used in thickening printing dies. Since it rapidly absorbs water, it thickens the paint preventing its spread to other parts of the fabric. It also enhances the printing by inhibiting chemical corrosion that can occur.

Products such as depolymerized, carboxymethly and hydroxyl –propyl are specifically formulated to assist in giving a high color yield, reduce the bleeding effects on fabrics, increase the sharpness of the image and ensure that the dye penetrates effectively through the clothes. These derivatives are also used as sizing agents.

Current Trends in utilization of this product

This industry is native to India has evolved of over the years from the traditional uses of the plant to modern sophisticated uses in many industries. According to national institute of agricultural marketing (NIAM), India produces 80% of all guar gum followed by Pakistan (15%) while other countries produce 5%. In terms of application, textile, paper, tobacco and cosmetic firm’s use 10%, food and beverages use 20% while oil drilling use 70%. With the shift towards industrial grade derivatives, more of this product will be used in making fabric and other sectors as opposed to food production.

Conclusions

The use of guar derivative in manufacturing textile will continue to grow as more fabrics are demand by the rising population. It is also expected that more applications will be developed and applied in cloth manufacture.

This article has been posted by Biren Patel working at Agro Gums. Agro Gums is a guar and cassia gum manufacturing company offering high quality guar gum powder, fast hydration guar gum powder, cassia powder, guar splits and guar meal to satisfy the production requirements of various industries across the world.