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Features : Products

Product Development Drives India toGrow its Competency in Terry Towels

Terry towels or originally known as Turkish towels, a core strength of countries like Turkeyand Portugal, has in past decade moved its base from Europe to Asia, which is nowbecoming a hub for textiles. Countries like India, Pakistan and China have become worldleaders in terry towel manufacturing. India’s terry towel manufacturing in the last decadehas seeped into the organized sector with biggies like Welspun, Abhishek Industries,Modern Terry Towels and Sharadha Terry Products leading the group, which was earlierconfined to decentralized handloom and powerloom clusters like Panipat, Karur, Erode,Mumbai, Solapur, Ahmedabad and Delhi. Major buyers for this product category areWalmart, Target, JCPenney, Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, Nantica, Ikea, Li & Fung to name afew.

Terry Towels – A Growing MarketTerry Towels, which in India’s total exports of cotton made-ups, accounts a major share of 14.06%, likeevery other segment of the textile industry, also went through a rough phase during the global recessionof the past one-and-a-half years. India, according to TEXPROCIL, exported 293,114,939 terry towelsworldwide in the period November 2008 – November 2009, a 10.71% drop compared to the same perioda year before. However, as the recession fades away, both the manufacturers andbuying houses are very positive about the coming year as they see hugegrowth prospects for the terry towel segment. “The market is showingsigns of revival from the bad year, last year. Now from past 3-4 months,situation has seen a positive change. Retailers are looking at launchingnew programmes in June-August period. Others are trying to build up theirinventory levels. This has meant a better order position for manufacturers.”avers P.K. Markanday, Business Head, Abhishek Home Textiles, the thirdlargest producer of terry towel in the world.

Abhishek Industries

Rajesh Mandawewala, Joint Managing Director, Welspun India Limitedadds, “The market for Terry Towels has been growing since the secondhalf of 2009. During the financial meltdown in 2008 a lot of marginalcapacity closed down which has also led to a demand supply balance.Also the sales for Home Textiles have been higher than expected.”Welspun retains its position as the fourth largest producer worldwide,following Coteminas of Brazil and Hilasal of Mexico.

To the manufacturers’ credit, India has started taking over competenciesof countries like China and Pakistan, which lies in design and catering tothe lower segment, respectively. This is because of a wider base to the

product profile offered by the country. While small players and clusters are

concentrating on value addition by providing decorative aspects likedesign, embroidery, etc. bigger players are bringing various structural

innovations for better performance like better absorbency, eco-friendlyinputs, fragrance, etc. thus collectively catering to the needs of all

segments of society.

Welspun

“Terry towels is a diverse and growing segment for India. With cost of production relatively higher in

Turkey and Portugal today, India is a gainer and in fact we are even seeing some influx of queries for lowtier category which has always been the strong hold of Pakistan. Big Indian Mills are doing major back

wall programmes for prime retailers of Western world.” says Vikas Mathur, Vice-President, PardeshAgencies.

Developments in Terry TowelsDevelopments are an integral part of any industry and are required in order to enhance the offerings time

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Developments are an integral part of any industry and are required in order to enhance the offerings timeand again. In terry towels, manufacturers always try to be innovative in various techniques be it in terms of

designs, fabrics and developing key characteristics of the towels which include improving softness, highwet strength (hydrophilic), dye well, washability, while keeping the product fashion forward and value for

price.

Some of the new fibres that are being well accepted by the market for this category are Bamboo, Modal,Hemp and Eucalyptus; though products made with superior cotton – Egyptian and Supima – still

command a good price and market. Some of the new weaving techniques used by manufacturers are lowtwist, thick & thin yarn, low weight ZT, 3 ply, longer loops, etc. while anti-microbial, colour fastness, bleach

resistant, etc. are some of the new surfaces being increasingly demanded by buyers.

Unveiling the innovations in yarns, Zaid Hasan, Head – Home Division, JCPenney India says, “Differentversions of cotton PVA blended yarns have been created to improve loft and absorbency; zero twist

continues to be the hot favourite for people who love softer hand feel. Using polyester in the base helpsachieve better drying time and also makes towel stronger to withstand multiple washes. Moreover,

suppliers are currently researching to cater to strong demands for towels with colours resistant to Benzoilper oxide and Salicylic acid and Retinoid, chemicals widely used in cosmetics, anti-ageing creams and

also dental creams.”

For Welspun jacquard and new borders is still in focus. In the terry towels it has launched the Hygro towelwhich provides high absorbency, durability and loft to the product. It has also launched Ecolite towel which

dries 30% quicker in the dryer, has a soft hand and good bulk.

In the meanwhile, Abhishek Home Textiles, sees huge demand for colourful trendy designs withcoordination of dobby border, partial velour, variable pile height and self mild and mix textured towels in

terms designs self textured towels, wave effect with differential pile height with optimum construction andlight borders are in trend to avoid or minimize differential shrinkage. Combination of rich and medium

construction, fibre blend with optimized functionality of the towel are also in demand. Last year’s biggesttrends ‘Energy Saving’ and ‘Quick Dri’ by JCPenney are still one of the bestselling terry towels, offering a

judicial combination of being comfortable and eco-friendly.

Major and Emerging Markets“USA and Europe account for nearly 70% of the total home textile consumption. Japan is another big

market for home textiles and hence terry towels.” avers Rajesh.

Though US has been and still is the largest buyer of terry towels from India, according to TEXPROCIL

export of terry towels to the country dipped by 16.18% in November 2008 – November 2009, due to the

recessionary phase. But during this recessionary phase countries like Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UK andItaly saw an increased import of India made terry towels by 186.32%, 52.96%, 12.41% and 45.92%,

respectively.

Quality IssuesAbsorbency in terry towel is considered as prime parameter. Absorbency of 50% is considered as

good and above 80% as excellent.

Feel and softness are attractions to the customer.Lint or loose fibres on the surface of the towel is another quality parameter which manufacturers

have to watch out for. Cotton made from combed cotton and long staple fibre doesn’t exhibit

noticeable lint on the surface after washing.

Yellowing after repeated washed in hotel towel is a concern. White towels should be bleached withsuch process and chemicals so that it lasts long.

Durability in hotel towel has to be very good as frequent washes are done.

Colour fastness is important as a towel can bleed and stain other products. Bleach, if not used as

per care instruction, affects the colour.Pile pulling while usage is a common problem in terry fabric.

The major quality issues in terry towels relate to its appearance (bowing, shrinkage, hem opening,

etc.) and absorbency and feel.

Major ExpansionsWelspun India Ltd.Welspun India Ltd. has reportedly planned to spend Rs. 300 crore in FY’11 to enhance capacity in

towels, bed linen and bath rugs. Aiming at debottlenecking of existing equipments, the investment will

help in enhance productivity with the same machinery. “Our current capacity for Terry Towels is around

41,500 MT and we are planning to debottleneck by adding some machines to take our capacity to45,000 MT per annum. This additional capacity will be available to us in the first quarter of FY’11. In

addition to this we are also looking at adding some more capacity by 2012,” reveals Rajesh

Mandawewala.

Abhishek Home TextileAbhishek Industries current capacity is approx. 3000 MT of terry towels per month which translatesinto approx. 13.5 million pieces of terry towel. The manufacturer is considering a major expansion in

2011-12 for home textiles for which it has purchased 800 acres of land near Bhopal in Madhya

Pradesh. The production here will start by the beginning of 2011 and capacity details of which are yet

to be finalised.

EMERGING PLAYERS FOR TERRY TOWELSChilka Weaving Mill, Solapur

Yellows Spun & Linens Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

Rajesh International, SolapurIchalkaranji Textiles Private Limited, Ichalkaranji

Srinath Cotton Combines, Solapur

Devinarayan Enterprises, Mumbai

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