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Production output in North American nonwovens slowed through 2026, yet capacity investment kept moving forward. That combination tells a more nuanced story than either a headline decline or a recovery narrative would suggest.
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INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, released its 13th annual North American Nonwovens Supply Report on April 15, 2026, from Cary, N.C. The report draws on producer surveys and direct interviews with industry leaders, covering capacity, production, operating rates, and regional trade across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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What the North American Nonwovens Supply Report Actually Measures
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This is not a sentiment index. The INDA Supply Report tracks hard operational data — roll goods output, finished product volumes, composites production, and operating rates — across the full North American nonwovens supply chain. It is the industry’s primary benchmarking tool for strategic planning and capital allocation decisions.
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The report spans all major end-use segments: hygiene, medical, filtration, geotextiles, and industrial applications. For mill operators and raw material suppliers, it is the closest thing the sector has to a shared production ledger.
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Slowed Output Against a Background of Ongoing Investment
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The 2026 report confirms that production output moderated again in 2026. INDA attributes this to a cautious operating posture across the sector, shaped by global trade uncertainty including active tariff pressures and geopolitical tensions affecting supply chain planning.
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What the data also shows is that capacity investment did not stop. Tony Fragnito, INDA President and CEO, noted that the industry “continues to expand capacity through ongoing investments across all regions and sectors.” That divergence between output rates and capital commitment is the defining tension in this year’s findings.
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Mark Snider, INDA’s Chief Market and Industry Analyst, framed it directly: “As global supply chain pressures intensify, this report examines the key dynamics shaping the market and influencing future direction.” Specific production volumes and operating rate figures are available to report purchasers and are not disclosed in the public release.
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Sustainability Is Now a Capital Allocation Signal, Not a Communications Strategy
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The report identifies a clear shift toward sustainable and durable product development as a long-term strategic investment trend, not a marketing posture. For nonwovens producers, this means engineering decisions — feedstock selection, bonding technology, end-of-life design — are increasingly being made with circularity criteria in the specification.
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This matters for technical fabric engineers and sustainability directors at brands sourcing nonwoven components. The supply base is moving, and the report provides the data to assess how fast and in which segments.
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Report Scope and Key Data Dimensions
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| Data Dimension | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Geographic scope | United States, Canada, Mexico |
| Product categories | Roll goods, composites, finished products |
| Metrics tracked | Capacity, production output, operating rates, regional trade |
| Research methodology | Producer surveys and in-depth industry leader interviews |
| Report edition | 13th annual (2026) |
| Access — producers | Full report at no cost to participating producers |
| Access — INDA members | Executive Summary complimentary with membership |
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What This Report Does Not Resolve
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The public release does not disclose specific production volume figures, operating rate percentages, or capacity addition data by segment or geography. Those figures are reserved for the full report. The report also does not provide forward guidance on tariff resolution timelines or quantify the production impact of specific geopolitical scenarios.
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The Global Nonwoven Markets Demand Report, which draws on Supply Report data, was most recently published in November 2024. An updated demand-side view is not yet available for the current cycle.
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Mills and brands operating outside North America will find limited direct applicability. The report’s geographic scope is explicitly regional, and extrapolation to European or Asian nonwovens markets would require separate data sources.
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Nonwovens producers and raw material suppliers who participated in the survey receive the full report at no cost. For those who did not participate, the report is available for purchase through inda.org/market-intelligence/. INDA members receive the Executive Summary as part of standard membership. The practical timeline for acting on this data is now — capital planning cycles for 2027 capacity decisions are already underway at most major producers.
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Where North American Nonwovens Fits in the Broader Industry Shift
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The nonwovens sector sits at the intersection of two of the most consequential pressures in textile manufacturing right now: nearshoring demand from brands reconfiguring supply chains away from single-region dependency, and sustainability mandates that are moving from voluntary commitments to procurement requirements. The INDA Supply Report is one of the few data instruments that tracks both the production reality and the investment direction simultaneously.
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The moderated output figures in this report are not a signal of structural decline. They reflect an industry absorbing external shocks while continuing to build the capacity base that the next demand cycle will require.
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If you work in nonwovens production, sourcing, or technical development, this report is the benchmark your planning assumptions should be tested against. Access it through INDA’s market intelligence portal and use the data to pressure-test your own capacity and investment projections before the next planning cycle closes.
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