Volatility of nylon yarn prices have affected our sales figures
PT Ever Shine Tex Tbk is an Indonesia-based textiles company. The company operates the fabric division, while its subsidiary PT Prima Rajuli Sukses operates the yarn division. Michael Sung, GM, PT Ever Shine Tex Tbk throws light on the textile industry of Indonesia.
How would you describe the state of textiles industry in Indonesia?
Despite the weak sentiments of the textiles industry in Indonesia, it is still a growing industry. Capacities for yarn, fabrics and garments have continuously increased to support the demand from both local and export markets. People say that the textiles industry as a whole is a sunset industry, but many middle-to-large corporations have continuously invested in better machineries and the skills of the local people in all parts of Indonesia to support brands that source their materials and finished goods here. This is because our labour cost is still competitive compared to China and other developing nations.
What are the challenges facing the nylon yarn industry? How can the government help?
In Indonesia at least, the challenges facing the nylon yarn industry is the lack of demand compared to polyester and the expensive energy cost. Gas prices in Indonesia are close to $9/MMBTU which is almost double than that of Singapore, the nearest neighboring country. Electricity in Indonesia is still very unstable as the total supply still falls below the actual demand that the country needs. Unfortunately, due to certain environmental requirements that prohibit factories in investing in coal power plants near residential areas, we have to use gas engines to supply the energy to our mills. In addition, nylon is a very niche synthetic product; compared to polyester supply, it is still considered small. Indonesian customers are price sensitive and will prefer to use polyester compared to nylon; simply due to price, and not because of the properties. Fortunately, yarn imports are more regulated compared to fabric imports as there are still a large number of 'illegal' fabrics coming in from all over the world. This has impacted the prices of both polyester and nylon fabrics in the local market.
What kind of innovations in machinery yarn makers do you look for?
In terms of yarn machinery, ideally fully automated and energy saving would be the machines that we look out for. Again, for spinning there is only so much development that can be done; so, to be more competitive in both the local and global markets, the only way is to reduce our costs in production.
Which global economic and political factors will influence the price of nylon yarn and its demand?
Nylon yarn prices are heavily dependent on the price of caprolactam (CPL) which has surged significantly in Q4 2016 and Q1 2017, and also due to the sudden lack of supply from large suppliers. The breakthrough of oil prices beyond $50 per barrel has also impacted CPL prices. Despite the unsuspected factors from raw materials prices, the closure of some large manufacturers of nylon in the Europe and Southeast Asian region have also help rebound the prices back up to a similar level in 2013-14.
To which markets do you supply your yarn?
For yarn, PT Prima Rajuli Sukses mostly supplies to Southeast Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and South America. We also supply locally to our affiliated company PT Ever Shine Tex Tbk and other local customers. The composition of sales is close to 80 per cent exports and 20 per cent local market.
Please share details of your last two fiscals, and the factors affecting your performance.
Revenue for 2014: +/- $47 million; revenue for 2015: +/- $37 million; revenue for 2016: unable to disclose as financials have not been released to the public. The volatility of nylon yarn prices have affected our sales figures significantly as sales quantity year-on-year has been relatively stable and consistent with single digit growth for our company.
What are the near-future plans at Ever Shine Tex? Are you working towards developing any new products or expanding your capacities?
In the short term, both the yarn and fabric divisions of Ever Shine Tex plan to develop in new and differentiated products to open new markets that are not based on price. Our own development team has also created a cotton-like fabric using our very own nylon yarns, and also stretch fabrics using our own yarns that we have developed without having to use spandex. However, to also keep ourselves competitive in the existing market, we have plans to renew and upgrade our machines to be more cost-efficient as mentioned earlier keeping our capacities as it is.
What are the latest innovations taking place in this industry?
In terms of yarn innovation, the changes or improvements that we can see so far are in dope dyeing, texturising and twisting that add an additional value to the yarn as there are only so many variations we can do in terms of spinning. However, for fabric innovation there have been a lot of developments in terms of the chemical finishing and yarn used. Customers have also requested using recycled yarns (as part of their brand campaign), fluorocarbon-free chemicals and hazard-free chemicals in order to protect the environment.
Who are the leading players in this sector, and where do you stand?
In terms of Nylon 6 yarn manufacturers in Indonesia, PT Prima Rajuli Sukses is the largest producer with an annual tonnage output of 12,000 tonnes. The competitors are Indo Toray Synthetics, Indachi, and Sulindafin. These companies, however, are mostly focusing on monofilament and microdenier yarns which are different from ours as we are focusing on multifilament and standard to larger deniers. In terms of synthetic woven fabrics and warp knitted fabrics, Ever Shine Tex would also be in the top four manufacturers in terms of capacity. Kahatex would by far still be the biggest in terms of fabric output. Other competitors would be Taroko and Fransputratex for synthetic woven.
Published on: 10/04/2017
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
