Date:08/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/08/stories/2006070802150500.htm

Back Lenzing sees strong demand for its branded fibre in India

G. Gurumurthy

Shipment surges by 50 per cent last one year

Coimbatore , July 7

The branded cellulosic fibre major from Austria, Lenzing AG, has said the demand for its man-made fibres continues to be strong in all markets, including India, to which the company's fibre shipment has sharply risen by 50 per cent in the last one year.

Mr Thomas Gaidoschik, Director (Sales), Lenzing Fibers (Hong Kong) Ltd, has said that despite the stiffer inter-fibre competition in the global market, the man-made cellulosic fibre has been recording 4-5 per cent annual growth and "compared to what it was last year, we feel the growth this year will be much stronger".

As for the Lenzing Fibers, which accounts for 20 per cent of the global market share among all the marketers of man-made cellulosic fibres, India is a high growth market for these with major textile exporters preferring to add high valued textile production.

Lenzing's shipment of its branded fibres, namely viscose, modal and tencel, to India this year had surged to 3,000 tonnes from last year's (2005 calendar) 1,500 tonnes, the break up being 1,200 tonnes of modal, 1,500 tonnes of viscose and the remaining being tencel fibre.

Higher consumption

According to Mr Pradeep Roongta, Managing Director, Stuti Exports Pvt Ltd, which is the Lenzing's nominated sole selling agent for India, the increase volume of sale of Lenzing fibres in India is on account of higher consumption by value added textile segments in woven and the home textiles, though knitted garmenting units continues to be the major consumer of the company's branded fibres. There has been an increase of 1.5 million metres of fabric being produced per day in the wider-width fabrics by the organised players in India's woven segment and bulk of this goes to high valued shirting or finer varieties of home textiles. A sizeable quantity of Lenzing's fibres go into this segment as a blended fabric (with cotton), Mr Roongta said.

Mr Gaidoschik and Mr Roongta were here at a technical seminar organised on Tuesday to highlight `cotton enhancement' through blending Lenzing's branded fibres, including tencel, its new generation fibres, which has kicked up demand in the high fashioned home textiles applications of late.

The city-based Lakshmi Mills Company Ltd has partnered with Lenzing in organising the technical session as the Coimbatore textile company is among the only four textile houses in India nominated by the Austrian fibre company to use its branded fibre for producing and marketing the cotton/tencel; cotton-modal blended yarns.

Speaking on the occasion, Executive Vice-President, Lakshmi Mills, Mr Anantha Padmanabhan, said that his company was involved in producing pure and blended yarns using the man-made fibres under Lenzing's authorisation since 2002. With usage of superior fibres such as tencel, the unit value realisation for India's end-textile products in exports could go up and it would pave way for new fibre options for high valued home textiles, he added.