Brand loyalty in the synthetic turf market, as far as yarns are concerned, is quite high.
Enrico Buriani talks about the industry for synthetic turfs and yarns with Mary Christine Joy.
Synopsis:
Tessiture Pietro Radici is one of the founding companies under the Radici Group. It deals in artificial grass yarns or synthetic turf yarns.
Enrico Buriani has been leading the company since 2000, and is well versed in the industry for his knowledge on synthetic turfs.
Excerpts:
How prevalent is the concept of sustainability and compliance in the industry? Is it considerable enough?
The concept of sustainability is not so developed at the industry level, even if the need for old pitches and replacements lead straight to the subject of declamation.
Anyway, in the last five years, we can say that many companies have proposed interesting solutions, from many stand points, to reduce the impact of synthetic turf systems on the environment.
Being associated with a multi-national company and being on such a responsible position, can you give us an idea of how you started your career and how was your way all throughout? What were the challenges that you faced and what was your strength?
I am a doctor in Chemical Engineering and am 51 years old now. I have been holding this position of a CEO at Tessiture Pietro Radici since December, 2000. Tessiture Pietro Radici manufactures polypropylene spunbond nonwovens and synthetic fibres for artificial turf in polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon. Before this, I used to work as a marketing and sales director at 3V Sigma, a multinational private company manufacturing chemical additives for the industry.
What have you got to say about brand loyalty in the market? It is very often seen in the apparel industry, but is it equally prevalent in the textile industry?
Brand loyalty in the synthetic turf market, as far as yarns are concerned, is quite high. This comes from the fact that clients are reluctant to change suppliers, this being very critical for the application in terms of quality and performances to be guaranteed in the medium to long term (5 to 10 years).
Can you give us some applications of synthetic turf yarn (also known as the artificial grass yarn)?
There are two major applications for synthetic turf yarn:
1. Sports
2. Decoration/Recreation
Sports again has two applications:
1. Contact (Football, Rugby, American football)
2. No contact (Hockey, Tennis, Golf, Paddle, Cricket, Baseball, Lacrosse, and so on)
Decoration or recreation has the no contact application only.
The no contact application can again be divided into two parts:
1. Leisure (Residential application through DIY channel)
2. Landscaping (Commercial and municipal applications)
Artificial grass yarn is a product commonly found in Europe and North America today. What are the strengths of these regions that make these regions competent enough for its production?
Production of yarn is a critical step. Technical know-how is necessary to do a proper job without assuming big risks of yarn failure.
This is the reason why the number of yarn manufacturers is very limited on a WW basis, apart from China where majority of the big tufting companies have their in-house yarn production.
As far as tufting companies are concerned, the key factor is the knowledge of different markets and the capability of establishing (or having established) commercial relationships with dealers and final users at local level. These are the two main strengths of the European and North American companies.
We believe the demand for synthetic turf is increasing in the market. Do you agree? Please let us know your views.
The market for synthetic turf is increasing on a worldwide basis.
As far as sports applications are concerned, the key drivers are two:
*The maintenance work is reduced in comparison with a natural grass pitch
*The possibility of exploiting the pitch for many hours per day without jeopardizing the quality of the field's playability. This is very important for community pitches and amateur teams (non professionals) when all the squads, whose team is comprised of young players (under 21 years), have to play on the same field for official games and training.
If we consider artificial turfs in the application of decoration, gardening, and so on (the so called 'Landscaping'), scarcity of water for irrigation is the key driver.
In order to distinguish growth among different countries, for western countries like Europe or USA, demand is increasing (not only for new pitches but also for the need of replacing the old ones, which have been in place for more than 10 years or so). In China, Russia, and other double digit growing economies, the demand is increasing, mainly for new installations.
Which are the regions that have a developing artificial grass yarn industry?
China is the most growing area for new, local companies in terms of volume development. In terms of technical development, Italy and Belgium are the leading countries.
Italian market seems to be your biggest strength. Is it so? Can you explain in a bit of detail?
In Europe, there are two main districts for artificial turf production.
1. Italy (in particular, the province of Bergamo where Tessiture Pietro Radici is based)
2. Belgium, where the historical carpet companies have developed the artificial turf
Published on: 17/10/2014
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.
