Taiwan is the world's third biggest producer of man-made fibers, but it only produces a small range of mass-market fibers for apparel fabrics, to the almost total neglect of the hundred or so other high-added-value, special fibers on the market such as high-strength fibers for bulletproof fabrics, elastic fibers or superalloy aerospace fibers.
以化纖來說，台灣號稱全球第三大化纖產國，卻僅能生產為數不多的幾種大宗衣著用纖維，其他上百種具有高附加價值的特殊纖維，如高強力防彈纖維、彈性纖維、超合金航太纖維等等，國內業者大多不得其門而入。