(Experts opinion on nonwovens market
in India)
The worldwide nonwoven industry has grown steadily at about
7.5% per annum in tonnage in the last decade. While the nonwoven industries
growth in North America, Europe and Japan has slowed with maturity, these
countries are still growing at 5% per annum. A significant portion of worldwide
nonwoven expansion is due to the rising demand for these materials as emerging
economies like Asia expands. India and China are the key players contributing
to this growth.
India has a huge opportunity to capitalize on much larger portion of this
growth. Government of India emphasized the promotion of all steps of the
textile industry, especially by paying attention to the innumerable use of
nonwovens in unnoticed applications. Indian industry is starting to expose
itself to international trends by inviting foreign players to partner with
entrepreneurs in India. As nonwovens and technical textiles have been
considered to be the most promising and dynamic segment of the textile
industry, the demand and consumption of nonwovens and technical textiles will
grow enormously in the near future.
The questions that come an individuals mind is that "Is
India the next booming market for nonwovens? Will India be reaching the new horizons in nonwovens and technical textiles?
Analysts from fibre2fashion conducted a survey of
industry personnel and consultants to study the strengths and weaknesses of
this emerging field of material science in Indian context.
Strength:
With a large textile manufacturing base and technical
manpower, India has the potential to become the leading exporter of various
nonwovens and technical textile products. The promotion of nonwovens in India is promising in healthcare as traditional textiles are replaced with single-use
disposables, improving agriculture for better crop protection and in
geotextiles to meet increasing needs in infrastructure and the possibility of
controlling floods. The major strength for Indian Nonwoven industry is listed
below:
- India is one of the largest producers of natural and manmade fibres
- Population growth and increase in middle class
disposable income
- Low cost skilled labor
- Ability to cater to the value chain
- Growing domestic retail market
Weakness:
Some of the major weaknesses for Indian nonwovens industry
are:
- Textile industry being fragmented to less of organized
and more unorganized sector.
- Low productivity and cost competitiveness
- Obsolence in technology
- Lack of product knowledge and expertise.
In an Interview with Mr. G Ravishankar, an expert
Nonwoven consultant from India, analysts from fibre2fashion tried to
portray the current scenario of Nonwovens industry in India with some future forecast statistics to have a guideline for entrepreneurs and new entrants
into this emerging field.
Q. How do you see the future of
Nonwovens in India for next 10 years? Give us some facts and figures for the
same?
A: The current Indian production levels
in Nonwovens are miniscule by developed world standards. I expect the
production level to touch 1.0 million tons in ten years which would mean a very
high growth rate.
The nonwovens consumption is
directly related to economic development and per-capita income of the
population. As over 60% nonwovens usage is in disposable products, the
availability of surplus income and increase in hygiene awareness are important
factors for growth. Current nonwoven production level is only about
70,000 tons per annum which was the same level in China, fifteen years
ago. China today is producing over 1 million tons of
nonwovens.
With more emphasis on renewable raw
materials like cotton and viscose for disposable nonwovens, many European and
American manufacturers are expected to set base in India due abundance of
these two raw materials in India.