Mr. R K Sudan
Senior Vice President (Marketing) Pasupati Acrylon Ltd
It should be great working with one company for fifteen years at a stretch! And that’s what Mr. R K Sudan, Senior Vice President (Marketing) has done – enjoyed at Pasupati Acrylon Ltd, one of the largest acrylic fibre producers from India.
How do you view the current developments within the fibre market?
"The present market is becoming very competitive and an inter fibre and intra fibre competition is increasing day by day. We have to compete not only with domestic suppliers but also with overseas suppliers. Overseas suppliers are sometime trying to dump fibre at a very low price hence we had to approach Government for imposing Anti-dumping duty on a few countries. In this competition quality plays a vital role, hence, Pasupati always gives importance to quality. Pasupati has got a wide range of products so that the customers can fulfill their requirements from one supplier as far as possible. We are a leading supplier for Tow, Tops, dyed fibre, finer deniers and micro-denier, which give us a competitive edge."
Are there plans to innovate and improve your market position?
We have been always working to improve and provide consistent quality to our customers and develop new products as per the requirement and satisfaction of the customers. We may increase the production capacity also from the existing 30,000 MT/annum.
India has traditionally been a stronger player in the cotton textiles segment as compared with synthetics. Do you see any change in the trend?
Yes, I feel that cotton fibre which had been in the back seat due to limited availability and poor quality has emerged a leading fibre after the agricultural reforms, which have improved the quality of the fibre and increased yield. Further increase in yield is expected in the future which may make cotton fibre a threat to the synthetic fibres. In small segments, demand is already picking up in blend of acrylic with cotton, which gives a comfortable feel, brightness in shade and strength to the yarns. In polyester cotton blends, percentage of polyester is already being reduced to increase the cotton percentage so as to have better comfort & feel. In branded products and exports 100% cotton has already achieved a major share.
What are the key trends that you are facing in the industry today?
At present, ultimate consumer is not now keen on having advantages of properties of a particular fibre but more keen to have fashion garments. This is the reason hand knitting yarns and woollen garments are almost phasing out in the market, and now even the machine knitting woolen garments, winter cardigans, sweaters etc., are replaced by fashion garments such Jackets and Coats. Global warming is also one of the reasons.
Can we turn to the market you address? What is its size and growth potential of the industry in general?
"Pasupati is a single product company making Acrylic fibre. Presently, all this fibre is used for making winter garments such as Pullovers, Cardigans, Baba suits, Shawls, Blankets, and Carpets etc. Fibre production capacities available in our country, is around 140,000 MT, while the domestic consumption is 110,000 MT. The surplus quantity is not consumed due to limited market segment and no more development of new products and markets take place. All fibre manufacturers are exporting the surplus quantity. The market development efforts made by us in developing new products such as Towels, Bathing Gowns, Sarees and Dress materials has given an edge resulting in the diversification for the Acrylic fibre market to Rajasthan, U.P and South India, from the existing Ludhiana market."
How is the Indian textile industry poised in the post-WTO international textile era?
In the post-WTO era, the textile exports were expected to rise substantially but unfortunately it has dipped by 24.5 % during January, 05 - March, 05 in rupee terms as compared to the same period last year though the industry has a target of textile exports by 2010 to touch a figure of 50 - 55 billion dollars but the reports says that on this sector, the exporter has to pay a close attention to the composition of volume and value of products to compete with China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The decline of export reported in the first quarter of the year is 18% for ready made garments and 23.7% for cotton and yarn fabrics though we have a potential to increase our share, if the industry takes-up the challenges to compete with other Asian countries in terms of value and volume.
Could you inform our members and portal visitors about the latest development at your company front of the porous acrylic fibre called Hydrophilic fibre?
This fibre is developed by engineering the fibre surface by inserting some voids/pockets in surface itself, so that it absorbs more moisture. Hydrophilic fibre was developed with an aim of replacing cotton or the cotton portion of the blended yarn to a certain extent. This fibre has got a unique properties of dull lusture looking similar to cotton and absorbancy twice the normal acrylic fibre while the drying is four times faster than the cotton due to inherent water transportation property. This fibre is ideally useful in Towels, Bathing Gowns and to a certain extent Sports T-shirts.
Who are your major competitors?
As pointed out earlier, at present, competition is not only within the country but with the overseas suppliers also as the import of the product has become simpler and cheaper with the reduction in the import duties as per requirement of the WTO, so we have to compete in both fronts.
What are your company's strong points?
Our company has the advantages of having wide range of products from micro-denier of 0.9 Denier to Coarser denier of 15.0 Denier for carpets, specialty products such as Hydrophilic fibre, low pill fibre, Tow and Tops both grey and dyed. Customer can fulfill his requirement from one supplier. Concrete efforts with positive attitude towards improvement in operational performance and maintain healthy relations with customers has always been advantage to the company.
Published on: 29/07/2005
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.
