India is set for some spectacular growth in polyester production over the next 6 years, going up from just over 5 million tonnes to well over 10 million tonnes by 2020, according to Philips Gibbs, the group MD for PCI Xylenes and Polyesters, a global consulting firm for polyester and raw material markets.
In an exclusive interview with fibre2fashion, Philips Gibbs shared his ideas on how India has the capacity to grow in the polyester fibre market with its amazing set of parameters of its economic and demographic development, which should align and create favourable conditions for growth in both conventional and performance apparel, home textiles and a wide range of technical textiles, including nonwovens.
Philips said, “With the rising consumption rates domestically in fibres and in PET resin or film, India’s manmade textile and apparel industry is set to capture a realistic portion of the global export markets.”
He said, “Polyester is however still cheaper than cotton and indeed remains the most cost competitive fibre within the textile mix. In the longer term, cotton supply is not expected to keep pace with total demand growth in textiles. So this important natural fibre will again lose market share to polyester staple and filament.”
Phillips said, “An overall weakness is seen in the midstream textile weaving and knitting sectors. The quality of textiles finishing also needs attention even though there are some very skilled companies in operation.”
“Textile and apparel producers should recognise the massive trade opportunities which come their way because China is increasingly concentrating on meeting the domestic demand and in doing so upgrading and adapting its domestic textile systems for local use. In reality, India should be able to coordinate its manmade textile sector far better. Its industry should seek guidance from the current strategies of its Asian neighbours like Taiwan, Korea and China,” he suggests. (GK)
