Swiss manufacturer of spinning, texturising, twisting and embroidery systems, Saurer Textile, booked fewer orders in 2005. The company took orders worth €1,466 million in 2005, down 13% compared with €1,690 million in 2004.

Sales amounted to €1,573 million a fall of 1% compared with €1,593m a year earlier. According to the company, annual sales for the textile division fell 3% to €1,174 million, which was primarily attributable to reduced demand from China, mainly in the field of large projects for filament machines and synthetic staple fibres, which had already emerged in the second half of 2004. This was said to be as a result of uncertainty with regard to the trade disputes over textile imports in the first half of 2005, as well as the fact that substantial investments in previous years, had a negative effect on investments in textile machines worldwide. However, Asia still remained the dominant market in the textiles sector, accounting for 67% of sales; although only 28% of this came from China compared with 38% in 2004.