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Weaving

Fast Looms, Fragile Strategy

• By  Textile Excellence
• January 17, 2026

Air-jet looms once gave mills a clear advantage: speed, consistency, and the ability to scale lightweight woven fabrics efficiently. Today, those same looms are exposing a deeper truth about the industry. The challenge is no longer about installing faster machines; it is about whether mills have designed their operations to be resilient.

Across major weaving hubs, thousands of new air-jet looms have come online. Capacity has expanded rapidly. Yet utilisation in many mills is falling short. Rising viscose staple fibre (VSF) prices, shortages of skilled loom masters, and rigid buyer-approved fabric programs are colliding at the same time. What looked like a technology-led boom is revealing itself as a strategy problem.

From commodity blends to margin pressure

For years, polyester–viscose blends were the safe answer. According to Ishit Gadia, owner of Surat-based Gadia Ventures, “A standard 65/35 PV fabric delivered acceptable hand feel, stable production, and predictable demand. Today, those same blends have become commodity. Margins of 5–8% are common, and price competition is intense.

“Meanwhile, brands are moving in a different direction. They are asking for fabrics that tell a story and perform better: bamboo-silk for luxury softness, linen-polyester for summer performance, hemp-cotton for sustainability positioning, and wool-synthetic blends for winter wear. These are not experimental requests; they are commercial briefs. Mills that can execute these blends consistently are seeing a very different outcome - higher margins, longer-term contracts, and reduced-price pressure. Mills that cannot are trapped in a race to the bottom.”

Why Air-Jets Still Matter

Air-jet looms remain central to this shift. Compared to conventional looms, they handle blended yarns more effectively due to precise tension control, higher speeds, and lower defect rates in complex constructions. In other words, the machines already provide the capability.

What separates winners from laggards is not the loom itself, but blending mastery -understanding how different fibres behave together, how dyeing changes, and how quality control must adapt. “Loom investment gives capability. Blending expertise creates a competitive moat,” believes Ishit.

The viscose dependency trap

The current crisis around VSF has amplified these weaknesses. Many mills believe air-jet looms “need” viscose weft. Technically, this is incorrect. Air-jets can run cotton, polyester spun, polyester filament, nylon, and a wide range of blends. The real requirement is air-propellable yarn: low hairiness, adequate strength, uniform linear density, controlled twist, and stable surface friction.

So why does viscose dominate? Because many mills designed their entire fabric programs - costings, buyer approvals, nozzle settings - around VSF. When viscose prices rise, the whole model breaks. Switching fibres is possible, but not instant. Buyer re-approvals, finishing changes, and process re-tuning slow everything down.

Add to this a 30–50% labour shortage in key hubs and training lead times of three to six months, and the result is idle equipment and missed opportunities.

What mills need to do - Now and next

There is no single silver bullet. The solution is phased and strategic.

In the short term, mills must keep looms running: partial weft substitution with PV blends, selective use of polyester spun yarns, and short-term yarn contracts to stabilise supply - even at higher prices.

In the medium term, fabric programs must be redesigned. Mills should stop anchoring air-jet capacity to a single fibre and instead qualify multiple weft options. Buyer conversations need to shift from price to supply-chain risk mitigation and cost stability.

In the long term, leaders will adopt dual-fibre design philosophies, invest in process engineering, and build strategic relationships with spinners to de-risk supply.

The real bottom line

This is not a viscose crisis. It is a capacity planning and dependency management failure.

Air-jet looms still offer speed. But in today’s market, speed without strategy is a liability. Mills that broaden fibre options, build blending expertise, and invest in know-how - not just machines - will define the next phase of competitiveness. Those that do not will remain hostage to raw material cycles, no matter how modern their looms are.

The future belongs to mills that treat air-jets not as equipment, but as platforms for strategic flexibility.

Air-jet looms still offer speed. But in today’s market, speed without strategy is a liability. Mills that broaden fibre options, build blending expertise, and invest in know-how - not just machines - will define the next phase of competitiveness.