FENC, Diversified products in global leading position
We work with our competitors to solve each other’ s issues. We believe that every company has its strength and the goal is how to break market or industry barriers. Sometimes we are quite open. We are working with some players who are not capable of manufacturing some target products despite having the strength to procure the specific raw materials. Sometimes it is challenging to reach our annual milestones despite having the raw materials, and therefore, we cooperate with our competitors, who have the requisite manufacturing strength. Our competitors are mostly from China, and in India. China and India are major polyester supplying countries in the world.
How do you see your market segment growing in the next five to ten years, both locally and internationally? Our major focus will be on the supply chain for the next five to ten years. Our next focus will be product innovation and approaching free trade companies without duty. Automation is also one of the targets. Sustainability will be another focus area for all businesses in the next five years.
We would also be focusing on functionality either in the form of very basic product or a stretched garment. Some steps are also needed for basic water management, cold sheet and internal odour management for smart textiles. That is a big focus and we are integrating many group companies internally for the same.
What is your current trade in India? Does India seem to be a potential target market in the future? Starting from upper stream material, we have sold a lot of polyester chips to India as a raw material. In the last five years, we have our sales segment and channel in India for staple fibres. We do not have much for filament yarn except a few small companies. But India definitely has Reliance, Indorama and we believe that India is an emerging market. Indian consumers want high fashion but at competitive rates. All this depends on the brand review, market expectation and the kind of material used. India has a huge population, which makes it an extremely consumer-centric market.
How do you keep track of textile market trends and other related information? From fabric onwards, we actually work directly with our customers. We also put in our product-based information that we get from our market analysis. Brands dominate the textile business whether you consider value, logistics or free trade. We are very clear about our goal. We are currently focusing on the upcoming trends for the next five to ten years. We need high-end R & D resources to keep an eye on many aspects for our businesses.
There is a commodity analysis team in our company and our major trading is done in cotton. Since we are based in China, Taiwan and Vietnam, it is important for us to know about the commodity prices in yarns and check the currency. We have a screen placed outside our chairman’ s and vice chairman’ s office to keep track of trends in the cotton markets and other commodities such as, PTA, MEG, benzene and naphtha.
What is the USP of your product? Recycled yarn products are our USP. We are ranked topmost in terms of capacity and are treated as a global certified textile player due to our reduced water consumption and recycling efforts. We make recycled yarn, fabric and garments integrately.
We maintain high standards of sustainability and we have several projects lined up with brands. For Adidas, we make ocean plastic recycled yarns, which are formed of plastic waste obtained from the coastline of beaches. We are also tied with a non-governmental organisation called Parley, which focuses on ocean protection. They work with us as well as the government on recycled material.
Which are your major international markets? Are you planning to expand to any other region in the near future? Most of our textile business is in Asia. We are doing well in Taiwan, China, ASEAN countries and also in some parts of the Americas. We also have some connections with European brands like Puma and Adidas. We will be focusing more in China on our fabric or yarn division and on working with a few US brands. We have a strong presence in the European market and will put more efforts in working with brands in China, Vietnam, some other parts of North America and, may be, India.
What is your R & D team like? How much do you annually spend on R & D? Each division has its own independent zone to commercialise a product. We work with not just the filament or knitting, but with different methodologies and technologies for garment, staple fibre or polyester products. But properly handling the recycling process keeping its direction and function intact, while ensuring sustainability, is important. We have a R & D system working on these projects, whose time span is around five years and would consume 30-35 per cent of our time.
What are your expectations from the company for the next two years? We have a presence across China and Taiwan and started with a new brand last year in Vietnam, where we plan to set up a new filament plant in the next two years. About 30-40 per cent of our plan is dedicated to textiles and we expect 30-40 per cent growth in the next two years.