Fast and clear formula needed for textile policy – Chairman, KTML

07 Sep '09

7 min read

The Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group is a reputable and leading manufacturer of textiles and cement. KMLG comprises of Kohinoor Textile Mills limited (KTML) and Maple Leaf Cement factory limited (MLCF). KTML was established in 1953 at Rawalpindi and is one of the oldest companies of Pakistan with over 50 years experience in textile manufacturing. It was initially set up as a spinning and weaving project with 25,000 spindles and 600 looms.

However, after decades of aggressive expansion and modernization, KTML has emerged into a fully vertically integrated home textiles company with state of the art capabilities for spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing and stitching. The company has a diverse customer base with sales in both the local and export markets. The main international markets include Asia, Europe, USA and Australia.

KTML is a composite unit having 156,000 spindles in spinning, 204 looms in weaving with production capacity of 2 million meters per month, processing capacity of 3 million meters per month and production capacity of 4.5 million meters per month of home furnishing products per month. In an exclusive interview with Fibre2fashion, the Chairman of the KMLG, Mr Tariq Saeed Saigol spoke about its textile activities and the current situation of the sector in Pakistan.

We began the interview by asking him about corporate ethos and mission statement of KTML, to which he said, “The aim of KTML is to serve the needs of customers and build value for stakeholders by continuing to remain an efficient and profitable company and at the same time, we are hopeful of creating an environment where talented and exceptional people want to work along with which we also have the utmost respect for the communities and environment in which we live and work”.

Listing out the corporate mission of KTML he said, “Put the customer first, always; be flexible to the customer's needs; adhere to the highest quality standards; think innovatively but make informed business decisions and last but not the least deliver results”.

Next we asked him for his opinion on the current developments within the textile market in Pakistan, to which replied by saying, “Due to worldwide economic crunch, no major development has been seen in textile sector and if we were to draw a graph of the first six months of 2009, market was very slow along with which orders book position was not so good and also leading to dilution in profit margins, the main reason being, the reduction in buying power of the end consumer”.

He continued, “Today the textile industry is going through serious operational problems due to an increase in cost of production, low productivity, and poor quality; hence the industry is facing serious threats of losing its share in the international markets. The current scenario posseschallenges on dual fronts. First, by sustaining global positioning and second by increasing market share by increasing both, volumes and per unit prices”.

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