Growing Investments and Development in the Field of Textile Industry Is Influencing the Growth of Water-based Pigment Inks for Textile & Apparel Market

Water-based pigment inks are inks that are majorly made of water more than solvents. The base of these pigment inks does not contain plastic, and that makes it even more eco-friendly. Water-based pigment inks seeps deep into the garment or fabric and dyes the material rather than accumulating on the top of the material like solvent-based pigment inks does. This gives a more consistent look to the material making it aesthetically pleasing. Water-Based Pigment Inks for Textile & Apparel Market size is expected to be valued at $272.0 million by the end of the year 2026 and is set to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period 2021-2026.

Although traditional type of pigment inks provide good performance and water-based pigment inks have become an important material in the processing of pigment dyes in the recent days, as they offer various advantages such as better dyeing inks and long-lasting inks. And during the recent times, the demand for a long lasting and a better performing dye inks from the textile industry is driving the demand for water-based pigment inks for textile & apparel market. Water-based pigment inks can provide enhanced quality of dye which can last longer than the traditional pigment inks. Furthermore, growth opportunities exist for the water-based pigment inks for textile & apparel as there have been growing investments in the field of water-based pigment inks, driven by the continuing global shift toward the rapid growth of textile production.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, several manufacturing industries such as textile industries across various regions had to close their production facilities and services as various countries followed strict lockdown regulations owing to the global pandemic, due to which, the producers/manufacturers experienced huge losses in terms of production, sales and revenue. The manufacturing units could not recover from the damages and loss for a long time, as the situation was totally unexpected and had a huge impact on various markets across the globe. This majorly affected the demand for water-based pigments inks.

The manufacturers of water-based pigment inks started coping with the loss by introducing new products in the water-based pigment inks market. For instance in March 2021, Fujifilm announced their new investment in Inkjet pigment dispersion manufacturing plant, which will produce colorant for water-based pigment inkjet inks. By adding this new production plant for pigment dispersions which is the main colorant in water-based pigment inkjet inks, Fujifilm will be able to produce consistent and fully-featured water-based pigment inkjet inks built with Fujifilm’s own core dispersion technology. According to the United States Environment Protection Agency, if the textile industry prolongs on its existing path of manufacturing process, it will generate about 26% of the world’s carbon footprint by the year 2050. So, manufacturers are adopting environmentally friendly procedures to manufacture garments. Furthermore, there was an increasing demand for water-based pigment inks products from the textile industry after the year 2020. During August 2021, Sun Chemicals expanded their colorant portfolio for spin-dyed fibers to develop their sustainable fiber processing for textiles. This new colorant will be suitable for polyamides and polyacrylics, polypropylene and polyester. The number of the certified colorants increased to a total of nineteen products, encompassing the full color space across various types of polymers by providing excellent durability performance both in processing and end-use applications. Therefore, this will continually increase the demand for water-based pigment inks from various industries and applications once the covid-19 pandemic starts subsiding and reducing completely by the year end of 2021.

Asia-Pacific holds a major share in the water-based pigment inks for textile & apparel market owing to the regions’ growing textile industry and investments in the textile industry. For instance, New Zealand's whole retail sector is currently valued US$ 59.6 billion (NZ $ 92.3 billion) in the year 2020, with forecasts that it will be worth US$ 77.8 billion (NZ $ 120.6 billion) by the year 2030. Thus, it will further create opportunities for new trends such as printed fabrics and thus drive the growth of the water-based pigment inks for textile and Apparel market. Based on global textile output, during 2019 Indonesia ranked sixth. Furthermore, the Indonesian Textile Association (API) anticipated that the country's textile and garment industry would grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5%. Additionally, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved an extra investment of US$ 22.4 million (RM94.4 million) for five projects in the first half of 2019, with another US$ 28.4 million (RM120 million) in the pipeline. Owning to the superior properties of water-based pigment inks and their low VOC emission, their consumption in the textile industry is increasing in these countries.

The water-based pigment ink technique is becoming increasingly popular in the textile and apparel sector, with various applications ranging from textile dyeing to garment pattern printing. In various cases, water-based pigment inks have been replaced over other conventional pigment inks such as the traditional method of printing textiles and apparels since they allow manufacturers to create distinctive patterns on a wide range of fabrics made of variety of fibres. Another significant reason for its success is that it removes many of the existing print constraints. For instance, it allows pattern printing on both printed t-shirts and fabric bolts. These advantages are expected to create major demand for water-based pigment inks in the textile and apparel industry. The demand for textile and apparel is significantly increasing in various countries. For instance, according to Invest India, the Indian textiles and garments industry is expected to reach US$190 billion by 2025-26 from US$103.4 billion in 2020-21. According to the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), Garment sales, which make up by far the greatest component of fashion and textiles, grew to over US$70.8 billion (£53billion) in 2018, up from US$ 66.7 billion (£36 billion) in 2008. The expanding textile and apparel industry will create more demand for water-based pigment ink, which will significantly boost the overall demand for water-based pigment ink in the apparel and textile industry and drive the market growth during the assessment period.

The major companies in the water-based pigment inks for textile & apparel market include Sun Chemical, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Huntsman Corporation, INX International Ink Co., Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd., Avient Corporation, Huber Group, Spectrachem, Velvet Jet, Molkem, Inknovators, Achitex Minerva Group, Livingink, Virusinks, and Covestro AG. The key focus of the companies has shifted towards expansions and investments.

During March 2020, Dominion Color Corporation and LANSCO colors joined together to become DCL Corporation for creating a global leader in the field of color pigments & dispersions. Dominion Color Corporation and LANSCO colors, with world-class manufacturing units, research and technical service labs and their sales offices around the globe, are set to rapidly respond to customer needs and make a positive impact in the field of water-based pigment inks market.

In October 2019, HP investment in the next generation of water-based pigment ink and committed US$200 million for five years to develop sustainable ink technologies for printing digitally for textiles including packaging. In April 2018, Mutoh America launched TP-11, a water-based textile pigment ink made specifically for its direct-to-textile. It can be used in direct printing onto coated as well as natural fabrics for a variety of applications.