Revenue growth is more than 10% YOY
PT Kewalram Indonesia had a modest beginning with the installation of a spinning mill in 1976 in Bandung, Indonesia. Since then, it has grown to become a large integrated textile facility covering spinning, embroidery, garments, and dye house. Ravi Gautam, VP - marketing, PT Kewalram Indonesia, spoke to Fibre2Fashion about the various milestones achieved by the company, its marketing positioning among Indonesian spinners and future expansion plans.
Where do your source your raw materials from? Where are your manufacturing units based at?
We source our raw material from Indonesia, US, Brazil, Australia, Austria, China and Taiwan Mostly. We have 2 manufacturing units both based out of Indonesia.
How is Indonesia different from other countries in the world textile market? What are its strengths as a region in terms of ease of doing business, government policies etc?
Indonesian textile market has always been considered a base of quality textile producers. And over a period of time most of Indonesian spinners have established their name around the world for their quality and commitment. The market has been very volatile since last couple of years and it looks like it will continue. In such conditions 'Reliability' becomes a very crucial component- reliability in terms of quality, price and delivery. And Indonesia has kept that commitment level to their customers in all aspects.
There are no such incentives from government for textile manufacturers, neither there is any advantage in terms of power or labour cost compared to India, Vietnam or Bangladesh. But I would say the ease of doing business in Indonesia is more compared to other countries. The people and policies are business friendly to operate.
What is the market positioning of PT Kewalram today with respect to the textile industry in Indonesia?
We, as a company has always been upgrading ourselves and our products to keep up with requirements of the market.
Our product range is very diversified. Our multiple and specialty product group differentiates and sets us apart from other spinners in Indonesia. We cater to almost all segments of market like knits, wovens, denims, industrial, sweaters, home furnishing, home textiles. And this really gives us an added advantage, reducing our dependence on any specific market segment.
We have always been very keen to learn, adapt and produce fibres/blends as per market trends. And it has really paid us off. Today, Kewalram brand holds a very special position among Indonesian spinners.
What is the production capacity of fabrics, yarns, garments etc at your units? What percentage of each do you export?
Our monthly production capacity for yarns is 4800 MT and 75 per cent of our production goes for exports.
What is the end-use application of your technical/industrial yarns?
It is used for seat covers, conveyor belts, curtain blinds and many others.
What is the employee strength of the company, its global footprints etc?
Our current employee strength is around 3000. We have 2 manufacturing units based out of Indonesia exporting to all major destinations across North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Turkey, Far East, Asean countries, Bangladesh, Middle East, China and India.
What have been the biggest milestones in your growth so far?
Apart from company growth, we believe that we have responsibility towards society in whatever we do. And as a conscious manufacturer we are proud to make social responsibility as part of company DNA today. Maximum portion of fibres that we use are sustainable. We would probably be the only company in Indonesia having BCI, Organic, FSC, GRS and OCS certifications for majority of the fibres we use. Product base is well diversified, production facilities are flexible and our approach towards new developments has kept us above other spinners even in this pandemic situation. When most of the Industry is struggling for survival, our revenue growth is more than 10 per cent YOY. We are good in serving our customers and once a buyer associates with us they remain with us for a longer time, which is the strength of the company. I am not sure if you would call this as a milestone but we feel this as a big step towards the goal we had set.
Which are your biggest markets? Which foreign markets do you want to explore in future?
We are exporting reasonable quantities to Europe, Turkey, Central America, Bangladesh and Far East. Our share and focus is not that much in Egypt and South America, probably because of lower prices but we would like to explore more opportunities there in future. Currently we are short of capacities so we are not much focussed in these markets.
How are you bringing innovation to your products/processes?
Our marketing and production team works very cohesively. We have been aggressive in identifying the new products and making them commercially viable. We love to play with new fibres and develop yarns in various blends to attract buyers and brands. And we could do that very well till now.
We have been successful because we were able to point down correct product matching to machines and production capabilities. Just for example, we produce variety of products and variety of count range in OE, we have not limited ourselves to produce 100 per cent cotton yarns or 100 per cent rayon yarns only. Because of recent pandemic situation, denim market was hit very badly and as a result lots of spinners were either forced to shut down their OE capacities or sell the products below their cost. However, our strategy has been to timely identify the correct product for our set up and making it cost effective thereafter.
Which is your flagship product? What is the product mix under your brand?
We do such a variety of products with a committed customer base that it would be difficult to mention a flagship product. But yes we are known for industrial yarns and in last couple of years we have established our self as a quality producer of GRS certified recycle polyester and blended yarns as well. The regular fibres we use are - GRS certified polyester, BCI or organic cotton, Supima cotton, modal, tencel, bamboo, viscose, Ecovero, Ecoliva, flame retardant PSF and many other special fibres.
We produce yarn in variety of blends and compositions from these fibres in ring spinning, open end and vortex technology. We also produce CSY yarns, slub yarns, melange yarns and some other fancy yarns. Our team works very closely with the retail brands and their vendors to keep ourselves updated and understand the upcoming trends. Accordingly, the products keep changing as per their requirement.
Sustainability and circularity are the new buzzwords today. How are you incorporating the same in your products/manufacturing processes etc?
These are not some buzzwords but a part of social responsibility is that each and every one of us should accept and contribute in some way. It's all about giving back to the society. We have been very active in doing so in our process and manufacturing. As I said earlier, it's part of our company DNA now. We consciously changed our polyester fibre to GRS recycled polyester, cotton to BCI and organic cotton almost 4 years ago. We have been working very closely with Target, Walmart, Gap, H&M and other brands along with their vendors on the above subject. We have taken FSC certification for all our pulp based fibres 2 years back. We are working closely with Lenzing and Birla to promote their range of sustainable and circular fibres. We aim to make our product line 100 per cent sustainable in coming years. So we are trying to do all we can to make the world cleaner.
What are your future expansion plans?
Since we have so many products and we plan to do more and more, we want to add 30,000 spindles very soon. It will be based on 100 per cent sustainable fibres and one step closer towards our goal.
What is your revenue expectation for the current fiscal?
We are expecting revenue for current fiscal year to be around USD 160 million which is expected to increase to almost 10 per cent from last year. (PC)
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