!!!Textilindustrie

Textile Industry: In Austria, this started with the processing of 
flax, hemp, wool and silk. Initially, manufacturers employed 
homeworkers, but the influential inventions of the mechanical spinning 
machine and the mechanical loom in the late 18%%sup th/%  and the 
early 19%%sup th/%  centuries gave rise to large-scale industrial 
production. During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the production of 
textiles centred upon three conveniently situated sites in the Sudeten 
lands, the Vienna Basin and the Rhine Valley. The end of the monarchy 
and the resulting new political situation required profound changes in 
the textile industry, which had largely been effected by 1938. During 
the 1939-1945 war, the Austrian textile industry mainly served as a 
supplier of military outfits. After May 1945, industrial progress was 
hampered by the demarcation lines and later by the disappearance of 
the markets in the emerging Communist countries. Financial support 
from the  ERP Fund enabled investments in the sector, which led to a 
considerable increase in production. The textile industry was 
characterised by a comparatively stable development up to the 1970s, 
when profound structural changes took place: although the level of 
production remained largely the same, employment in the textile sector 
dropped by more than 50 %. The number of textile-producing 
companies slumped from 718 (1972) to 359 (1993), but production output 
remained stable over that period. Production value was ATS 
26.9 billion in 1994, which accounted for 4 % of total 
industrial production. With 24,000 people employed, the textile 
industry ranks 9%%sup th/%  among 22 branches of industry in Austria 
and is the country´s third most important employer of women. It 
ranks 6%%sup th/%  among the producers of consumer goods. A total of 
ATS 26.6 billion worth of textile products are exported, with imports 
of approximately the same order.

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The textile industry processes all sorts of natural and synthetic raw 
material to yarn and subsequently to piece goods (for ready-made 
clothing), knitwear, hosiery, embroidery, drapery, etc. Technical 
fibres are assuming growing importance in all fields. The 
textile-processing industry is a particularly capital-intensive, 
independent branch within the textile industry. The fabric-printing 
industry has succeeded in expanding its export capacity despite keen 
competition on the market.

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The province of Vorarlberg, home to 349 companies, is the centre of 
the Austrian textile industry. Approx. 9000 people employed realised a 
production value of ATS 9.5 billion in 1994. With 5115 people employed 
and a production value of ATS 6 billion, the second position is 
held by Lower Austria and its traditional centre of textile 
production, the Waldviertel Region (flax processing, glove and hosiery 
production, upholstery and narrow fabrics). 3140 employees in the 
textile industry in Upper Austria realised a production value of ATS 
3.1 billion in 1994. Tirol (2179 people employed, production value ATS 
2.7 billion) is well-known for the production of fine wool fabric, 
loden cloth and materials for traditional Austrian costumes. Styria 
has 1900 people employed in the textile sector, the remaining 
provinces employing a total of 1800 people in the textile industry.

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Unfavourable competitive conditions on the market have only been 
partly offset by Austria´s membership of the European Union. The 
Austrian textile industry today is characterised by great innovative 
spirit and subject to particularly strict environmental measures.


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