Asia accounts for almost 40 percent of the total acrylic consumption in the world
Mr. A K Maheshwari talks about the global market for acrylic fibre with Fibre2Fashion correspondent Mary Christine Joy.
Synopsis:
Thai Acrylic Fibre Co. Ltd. (TAF) was established in 1987. It commenced operations in 1989. It is one of the leading suppliers of acrylic in the world.
Mr. A. K. Maheshwari led the organization to become one of the most successful Acrylic Fibre producers in the world, outperforming the competition during an extremely adverse business scenario and emerged as winner. He has received "Business Leader of the Year - Chemicals & Petrochemicals" award from the Chemtech Foundation, India's process industry body. With a special emphasis on innovations, Mr. Maheshwari has led the team to develop new cost efficient technology for acrylic fibre, new polymer with low cost co-monomer, and quantum improvements in productivity, energy management, and new value added products and customized solutions to meet customers' needs.
Excerpts:
To start with, can you state something about Thai Acrylic as an organization? What are its core objectives and how far has it progressed?
Thai Acrylic is a part of Aditya Birla Group which is a 42 billion conglomerate. Today, our motto is to create value for all our stake holders. We are focused on improving the management of the unit along with quality management. More than 70 percent of our sales are through our repeat customers. We are established in more than 50 countries, and more than 90 percent of our revenues are generated through exports. Community development initiatives are also an area of concentration for us. We firmly believe that as an organization as we grow, the community around us should also grow.
Other than being a production hub for acrylic fibre, do you suppose Asia holds a great scope for this raw material as a market? How do you see the demand in Asia for acrylic fibre?
Globally, almost 60 percent of the total production of acrylic fibre is concentrated in Asia. Three out of top five manufacturing units for acrylic are in Asia (Thai acrylic being one of them). Asia accounts for almost 40 percent of the total acrylic consumption in the world, but the per capital consumption for acrylic still remains high in Europe and USA. With the improvement in the living conditions of the middle class in Asia, the demand for fibre and garments are increasing, and the growth rate for the consumption of this fibre in Asia is going to remain high. The growth rate is expected to be faster than that of other regions. Asia is an important consumer market for acrylic fibre.
How is the demand for acrylic fibre in USA and Europe (the traditional markets) at the current stage? Is it growing or expected to grow in the near future?
The growth in demand for acrylic in USA has been quite good and somewhat consistent. But in Europe, owing to the problems in the economy, the growth in demand has not remained that good. But owing to such strong winters in these countries, we expect the demand to sustain.
You are based in Thailand. Does Thailand hold special attributes with regards to synthetic fibre manufacturing as compared to the other countries of the world? What makes Thailand special as compared to other countries?
Thailand is centrally placed among the major commercial centers like China, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, etc. As such, Thailand is the third largest producer of filament fibres in the world, and it ranks eleventh in terms of conventional fibres. When we started, Thailand had a reasonable price for the textile industry. But late off, due to limited availability of resources and cost of manpower going up, we have seen that spinning industry in particular has moved around to different countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, etc. But Thailand provides a lot of support in terms of logistics and governmental issues, besides being a central hub to major community centres.
Can acrylic fibre prove to be a better raw material as compared to wool in terms of winter wear? Can you elaborate your answer?
Wool is a natural fibre and it is recognized for winter wear. However, acrylic can provide a similar kind of warmth because of its properties. There is bi-component acrylic which provides a similar kind of warmth. Besides, we can impart certain functional properties to acrylic like anti-pilling properties (which keeps the cloth always new and safe), anti bacterial properties, etc. So, the products cannot just be used to provide warmth, but can also prove beneficial to the end users in other ways. Acrylic is a very good substitute for wool. Acrylic can be dyed in a variety of shades, and that is its beauty.
What are the latest applications for acrylic fibre in the market today, apart from being an alternative to wool?
Apart from being an alternative to wool, acrylic fibre has new end applications in modern times. It goes into blankets, carpets, and industrial applications like filters, mixing with cements, papers, etc. In addition to that, acrylic fibres find a strong application in outdoor fabrics like car covers, outdoor furnitures, medical textiles, geo textiles, etc.
What makes acrylic fibre from Thai Acrylic special as compared to the rest in the industry? Can you give some of your strengths?
We have got a lot of scope for innovation, and application development and research and development. Some of the products which we have can also be used to maintain body temperature. It can protect you from heat, cold, and changing environment. Some of our products provide anti allergy features. They protect you from respiratory allergy and others. Besides making innovative products, we also focus on quality management. We have procured leading awards in quality management including Thailand Quality Management Award and Japan Quality Medal from Deming Prize Committee.
What have you got to say about acrylic fibre being cheaper for textiles and clothing as compared to natural raw materials?
As far as cost is concerned, acrylic is directly cheaper to natural raw materials like wool. But rising prices for all the products has also affected the price of acrylic.
Environmental protection is a must for any business house in modern times, isn't it? How can acrylic fibre manufacturing be made sustainable?
Sustainability has remained our core focus from the very beginning. Energy management, water management, community services, and other such measures have remained our area of focus. A lot of work has also been done towards creating awareness in this regards.
