Present Day Carpet Business

Year Tufted carpet Woven carpet Total 

In 1999 [2], the US carpet industry produced an estimated 1.6 bilhon square meters of carpet floor coverings, with a value of 11.7 billion. This represents 45 % of the total world carpet production. The state of Georgia accounts for 74 % of US production nearly all of which is concentrated in the northwest corner of the state around the dty of Dalton [7]. As shown in Tab. 9-2, tufted carpet is by far the largest carpet type produced with approximately 90 % of the total carpet volume, with broadloom carpet representing around 90 % of the tufted volume. Second largest are the carpets grouped under others (knitted, knotted, needlepunched, etc.) with around 8 % of the total. Woven carpet has almost disappeared and today only represents around 2 % of the total carpet manufactured. 

The situation in Europe, as indicated in Tab. 9-3, is somewhat different in that woven (13 %) and needlepunched (26 %) carpet floor coverings still have an appreciable share of the total. 

In the USA tufted broadloom carpet, the most important segment of the tufted carpet business with an estimated 1.3 billion m in 1999, is constructed for use in three markets  

In all three, whilst the binder used for construction may be the same, the type and formulation of the backing adhesives differ significantly, as each category of carpet has different performance specifications. The formulations employed, and methods of adhesive appHcation, for producing the three carpet types will be detailed in sections following, together with insight into their end use property requirements. 

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