The global textile industry is seeing major innovations, especially in the direction of performance and one category that seems to be the most important for future applications is techtextiles including non-wovens. Effort is being made by both governments and players in the category to educate the industry on the significance of this segment and future growth prospects. In line with this, a very interesting two-day interaction – “Techtextil India Symposium 2012” – was organized by Messe-Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai is supported by the office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA) and Texprocil, Meher Castelino reports from Mumbai.
With the Indian techtextiles sector estimated to reach US $ 36 billion by 2016, the symposium saw many stalwarts from the technical textile sector share their views and experiences, while also deliberating on the future of the segment and India’s position in the coming years. The discussions covered a wide spectrum of topics, and the importance of the segment was highlighted on the first day with A B Joshi, Textile Commissioner and Sujit Gulati, Joint Secretary, both from the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, revealing the interest the Government has in techtextiles and the assistance that will be provided to develop the segment, wherever possible.
At the opening session, Michael Janecke, Director, Brand Management Technical Textiles/Techtextil Messe-Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, giving an overview of the global techtextiles industry, highlighted the importance of technical textiles in building, medtech, mobiltech and protech. He shared that while India is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent in the next 4-5 years in these segments, China, which is the leader in techtextiles grew 17.6 per cent from 2006-2010 and is projected to grow 9.5 per cent in the next five years. “The key global market segments for India to tap are military, recreation and construction,” opined Janecke.
Francesco Marchi, Director General, EURATEX, Belgium felt that Indian taxes were high and that FDA from Europe to partner in India could help the sector. Giving a fresh perspective on opportunities in apparel, H Lilani, Director, Research Product Development, NORFAB, USA, put an emphasis on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to safeguard people from head to toe, especially those working in hazardous conditions. “Fibre blends are needed for safety fabrics against fire, electric, chemical, viral, radiation and radio waves. Indian companies can look for good JV partners to produce PPE fabrics for markets where demand for the fabrics will increase,” he said.
New Technologies
[bleft]Research on markets, motivation and objectives, and the core strengths of each party are important for a JV. Besides the operational styles and management techniques, a healthy balance of sophistication and innovation is required.” [/bleft]
On day two, Vivek Sharma, Business Head India, DuPont Protection Technologies at E.I. DuPont revealed the benefits of “Sorona Polymer” for carpets, textiles, apparels because it is soft, crush and stain resistant and is also ideal for outer, sports and yoga wear. He also added that it was necessary to create markets for growth and develop new applications.
M. Koteswara Rao, Technical Resource Leader, Finishing (South Asia and Middle East), Huntsman International India Pvt. Ltd., highlighted the need for protective textiles and the demand for functional garments. “There are many market opportunities since safety awareness is growing.
There is a need for protech for military, fire fighting and oil industry, because of its anti-static, insect-repellent, anti-bacterial, flame-retardant, low shrinkage, wash & wear qualities which are safe for the wearer,” he said, giving information on pyrovatex safety fabrics which are flexible, durable; retain highest comfort properties of natural fibre with gentle handle, suitable for multi-functional garments.
Rundown on Indian market in non-woven and importance of JVs
Seshadri Ramkumar, Co-Chairman, India Committee of INDA-USA and Non-wovens Laboratory Tex Tech University, USA with his vast knowledge on the subject analysed India’s positioning specific to the non-woven segment of technical textiles. “India is just emerging in the field of non-wovens, which belongs to the bigger group of techtextiles. Though India is visible at the fabric level, but not at the product level as seen in the retail market which is worth US $ 40 billion, where the country’s share is only US $ 3 billion, which is less than 10 per cent. In Asia-Pacific, the contribution of India is just 6 per cent, whereas China is 60 per cent, so India is just 10 per cent in the region that accounts for 68 per cent of non-woven fabrics,” avers Ramkumar. However, he pointed out that the Indian industry is expanding predominantly in the commodity packing sector and there are some big players in the medical segment from non-woven. “The concentration is on medical/hygiene which includes wipes and medial barrier clothing. In the domestic sector, there are 100-120 players in the commodity sector,” he informed.
Seeking support from the industry to capitalize on growth potential, Ramkumar continued, “Even in the globalized world of non-woven, to enhance breathability or absorption to reach the level of apparel so far, is just scratching the surface. For apparel, this can form a supplement to the cover-up like liner materials. In the West they are trying, but one drawback of non-woven clothing is that it does not have the feel of fabrics. With regard to apparel application, we can’t create the feel, hand and drape of woven similar to that of clothing, so technologies are added on to a conventional non-woven technology to bring it to apparel section. The challenge is that non-woven are papery, so it does not reach the level of drapability of woven but people are working on it.”
[bleft]As a country we have started almost three decades late. In view of that there are certain customized commodities and to start from zero and to acquire the technology on our own, it would take a very long time.” [/bleft]
Emphasising the importance of joint ventures to enhance the technical skills and know-how which form the foundation for success in techtextiles, Yogesh Kusumgar, Chairman, Kusumgar Corporates Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, doyen and one of the pioneers in the non-woven business, felt that even though India is three decades late, it can be a reliable hub for techtextiles with India’s contribution by 2015 hopefully 17 per cent globally if players move forward with a vision. “As a country we have started almost three decades late. In view of that there are certain customized commodities and to start from zero and to acquire the technology on our own it would take a very long time. For products identified as customized commodity, there are opportunities and for that it is important to have JVs. Non-woven have a very wide application right from commodity and customized commodity and some can be called as niche applications. So as a segment it is a promising line and looking at the global trend, the overall demand and consumption for non-woven will rise. We have a JV with an Italian company called Saati Group SPA for manufacturing protective techtextiles mainly for bullet proof vests. With our geographical position surrounded by countries like Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and with terrorism spread all over the globe, demand for bullet-proof vests in the country is bound to increase,” he said.
Among one of the most successful players in the non-woven segment, Mohan Kavrie, Managing Director, Supreme Non-woven Industries Pvt. Ltd. started a JV in 1996 with Treves S A, France and today the company Supreme-Treves Pvt. Ltd. caters to the top 15 automobile brands in the world and was awarded the best supplier global trophy by General Motors in 2010 and 2011. While revealing his company’s success story, he emphasized the need for vision, passion and a philosophy to build an institution not a business. “Manufacturing is not difficult, the materials are important. We are lucky to be an early entrant but it is better to look at the bottom line instead of the top line. The future is dependent on R&D, which is an investment not a cost. Developing business by understanding customer needs and retaining their business by giving them total satisfaction with the right product, and at right price, right quality, at right time, helps. One has to find a niche area for techtextiles. We can change India into a paradise; all it takes is a few with the faith and courage to seek this change,” he reasoned.
For joint ventures, Hendrik H Van Delden, Managing Partner, Gherzi van Delden GmbH, pointed out that the Indian market is small at US $ 11 billion compared to China with US $ 116 billion, but the local markets are taking off. “Small and medium companies can go solo, but the large ones should go for JVs. It is important to set goals, list of suitable partners, investment memo, initial approach and type of transaction. At the same time identify the right partner, build trust. Packtech, hometech and clothtech are not the only segments,” he said.
Abhimanyu Thackersey, Executive Director, Hindoostan Technical Fabrics Ltd., revealed how a textile mill went into non-woven through a JV with Toho Tenax Co. Ltd. Japan to develop and market carbon fibre fabric. “Research on markets, motivation and objectives, and the core strengths of each party are important for a JV. Besides the operational styles and management techniques, a healthy balance of sophistication and innovation is required.” said Thackersey.
Dilip Jivrajka, MD, Alok Industries Ltd., which makes non-woven techtextiles for uniforms, stated that though the market is very wide but to market is not easy. Supplying to six armies of the world, he stated that testing facilities are needed along with technical skills. The company hopes to go up to 8,00,000 metres per day in production in the future.
Future Directions for India in techtextiles Even as India started late, yet the way forward for the Indian techtextiles industry is very optimistic believe experts and industry watchers. There are currently nearly 27 FDIs in India for techtextiles, 24 JVs and tie-ups in India for the techtextile field and five M & As.
India’s non-woven production is still less than 1/10th of China but the non-woven consumption is expected to show a healthy growth with increasing GDP per capita by 2016. The highest growth technologies in non-woven will be in the medtech/hygiene segment for gowns/drapes, wound dressing, pads. Another segment of growth is protech with bullet-proof vests, MSC camouflage, high altitude clothing, Hi-Vis clothing, FR and MBC fabrics and garments.
Hometech will grow with fabrics for upholstery, blinds, pillows, stuffed toys and vinyl. For India, Packtech has been the highest growth in value, followed by clothtech and hometech but there are many other areas the country can spread its business wings. For exports, the key markets India can tap in the USA are the transportation, military, construction and recreation.
