Technical textiles business has seen highest growth
Aditya Birla Group's Thai Acrylic Fibre (TAF), based in Thailand, is the world's second-largest exporter of acrylic. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Thomas Varghese, Business Head – Aditya Birla Group (Textiles), discusses about the company’s performance in key global and emerging markets, the new innovations TAF is working on, and the roadmap for the technical textiles business.
What are the major milestones achieved by TAF in last 3 years?
In the last few years, we have managed to achieve a lot despite the somewhat troubling market situation in the acrylic industry. Some notable accomplishments have been:
- The setup of a dedicated line for specialty products in 2019-20.
- Worked on many aspects in the sustainability space, product innovations like 50 per cent recycled acrylic by working with top fashion brands as well as conducting a lifecycle study of our Radianza fibre (now adapted by brands). In fact, its Material Sustainability Index (MSI) scores are now published on Higg Portal, making it the first and only acrylic fibre brand to have published MSI scores. More recently, we have become the only acrylic fibre manufacturer in the world to be awarded the coveted BlueSign certification.
- The acquisition of PyroTex GmbH (Germany), a maker of engineered fibre with best-in-class flame/ heat resistance as well as anti-viral/ anti-microbial properties (including against SARS-CoV-2).
Given the backdrop of the pandemic, how has your way of functioning got affected and what are the difficulties you may be facing even now? How are you adapting to the same?
The pandemic completely changed our ways of working. Employee and worker safety is of paramount importance to us, and therefore we had to plan carefully the opening of offices across the world amidst the various Covid waves. Limited customer interaction, delays in shipping, high freight charges have been some of the major difficulties we have faced. We have adopted digital wherever possible to reduce the dependence on physical presence. Even trade shows and customer bookings in certain Strategic Business Units (SBUs) are now being done online.
What are the current consumer trends where you would want to pitch in? What new innovations is your team working on?
The shift to casualwear, especially loungewear is one trend that we see a major potential. We are coming up with new products that can cater to this segment – some of them are uncrushable linen, linen knitwear, etc. The other trend is increasing safety regulations in most developed/developing countries that we plan to cater to through our technical textiles portfolio. Besides these two, sustainability and circular economy have been a major focus for us for quite some time now and we continue to launch sustainable products.
Another trend borne out of the pandemic last year is the demand for products in hygiene as well as non-hygiene applications, with better anti-microbial properties. Our anti-viral and anti-microbial Amicor fibre is increasingly finding use in medical textiles (such as PPE and masks), home textiles (bedsheets, curtains) as well as popular consumer segments such as jeans.
Can you name the key global markets and potential emerging markets in which TAF performed well during 2020?
2020 has surely been a down period for most industries owing to the Covid pandemic. Thai Acrylic has continued to stand by its customers through this period, further strengthening our partnerships. While we have continued to remain the supplier of choice with our key customers in Asia, we have managed to establish our fibre with select customers in new regions such as South America and Africa. Our gel dyed (Radianza) product continues to be well accepted in the Chinese market and we have done considerable business in the highly competitive Turkish market.
You are touted as one of the 5 quality acrylic fibre producers in the world. What should you do to reach the top spot?
The acrylic fibre industry is highly consolidated in the hands of few top players. What will set one apart is collaboration with the value chain to deliver superior value to the end customer. This would require working directly with brands and educating the consumer on the benefits of acrylic to create a “pull” of sorts. Of course, quality, consistency and service levels have always been a top priority at Thai Acrylic, and we will continue to strive in these areas.
What is your roadmap for your technical textiles portfolio for the next few years?
There will be an increased focus on protective gear and industrial applications. Use of technical textiles in medical/health is also an area of interest to us, especially for our anti-microbial products. To cater to customers worldwide, we are working on setting up a global value chain through collaborations with regional players.
How do you incorporate sustainability in the whole scheme of production that happens at your end and the products themselves?
Sustainability is at the core of our business and we consider it throughout our production cycle. We continuously strive to reduce our carbon footprint and discharge. Our Domestic Textiles unit in Rishra (West Bengal, India) is now a certified ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) plant. Many of our plants have most of their energy being generated from renewable sources. We are also focussed on innovation to come-up with products that are recycled and environment friendly. We have many yarns/fabrics in our portfolio that are made with blend of natural fibres. I already spoke briefly about the great work being done in this space at Thai Acrylic such as the Bluesign certification and Higg Index.
What kind of demand growth has each of your businesses of acrylic fibre, overseas spinning and domestic textiles seen in the last few years? Which of them has seen the highest growth?
Most textiles businesses have seen muted growth which spirals down the value chain. This has also been affected by the pandemic that have hit retail operations and demand worldwide. The technical textiles business has seen the highest growth – this is a part of Overseas Spinning.
How are factors like availability of substitutes like polyester, rising prices of raw material and stringent worldwide regulations affecting the production of acrylic fibre? What steps are you taking to mitigate these challenges?
The rising raw material prices have been a grave concern for the industry in the recent period, this volatile price environment has led to some spinners preferring polyester over acrylic in the short term. However, the superior functional properties of acrylic as well as the more sustainability aligned performance of gel dyed acrylic (lower life cycle impact on the environment) is sure to bring back some of this lost demand. In that context, we are also working on improving the understanding of the value chain about the benefits of acrylic especially related to warmth retention and dyeability into more vibrant colours as compared to other fibres.
Where do you want to lead TAF to next? What would be your focus areas?
We hope to be known as a service-oriented solutions provider, as against being considered an ordinary commodity player. TAF should be at the forefront of innovation and sustainability, working with our customers on developing premium products and new application segments for acrylic.
Any major announcements or tie-ups to look forward to this year?
We are constantly working on new collaborations and product offerings, which we will announce in the near to medium term. Idea ofcourse is to work with end retail brands and develop a value proposition that bears fruit for the entire textiles value chain.
What kind of business you are looking at the current year?
We expect normalcy to return this year, although not to Pre-Covid levels, since some key segments such as school sweaters is not expected to bounce back quickly. We remain eager to work with new partners in the coming years. (PC)
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