At a time when the country's textile exporters are facing the heat of the strengthening rupee, the synthetic textile sector has something to cheer about. The first four months (April-July) of the current financial year have seen a positive trend with exports rising by over 27 per cent year-on year. | |
| The exports of synthetic textile during the first quarter touched Rs 3,400 crore against Rs 2,680 crore last year during the same period. In 2006-07, the country saw record exports of Rs 11,300 crore, up 10 per cent over the previous year. |
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"Though the picture is positive, we need to take into account the fact that these exports orders were booked before the appreciating rupee started to show its effects," said Sanjeev Saran, chairman, Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council.
| EXPORTS | | Year | Rs crore | | 2005-06 | 10,227 | | 2006-07 | 11,300 | | 2007-08* | 3,400 | | * April-July, 2007 |
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The industry would get a more realistic trend of the exports in the coming months for the rest of the year, he added.
| LEADING MARKETS | | Country | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | | UAE | 1,660.81 | 1,765.34 | | USA | 986.67 | 942.07 | | Turkey | 590.23 | 612.46 | | S Arabia | 462.22 | 563.54 | | UK | 492.87 | 501.21 | | Italy | 439.86 | 462.87 |
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| During April-July, exports of synthetic yarns grew by 65 per cent whereas the fibre segment registered a rise of 48 per cent. Man-made fibre textiles dominate the international textiles market, constituting 60 per cent of the global trade in textiles. |
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| However, in the domestic market, consumption pattern presents a completely different picture with cotton textiles accounting for over 60 per cent. |
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| The country's share in global man-made fibre textile trade is only 2.12 per cent which, the industry envisages, will reach over 4 per cent by 2012. The country has a decent share of exports in blended yarns. "India now needs to increase its offers in terms of more value-added yarns and speciality yarns," said Saran. |
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| A major concern for the sector is the high cost of raw materials. "Industry's efforts to create a market for speciality yarn and fibre can be successful only if we get the same duty-free for export production," he added. |
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| In order to sideline the impact of rupee appreciation, the industry has its eyes on new potential markets, apart from the US and Europe. Turkey, Brazil, Belgium, Indonesia, Egypt and Afghanistan are the high growth markets for synthetic textile exports. |
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| "We will try our best to ensure that our exports this year reach, at least, the previous year's level," Saran said. |
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