India textile companies seek new partners
India textile companies seek new partners
Executives from 12 leading Indian cotton manufacturers and exporters met with their Vietnamese counterparts in HCM City yesterday to explore business opportunities.
They are in the country as part of a delegation from the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (Texprocil).
Amit Ruparelia, Texprocil chairman, said: "Vietnamese importers are keen on looking at alternative sources for raw materials … Indian exporters of cotton textiles with their product range are geared to meet the needs of any gaps created in the Viet Nam cotton textile chain through this business matchmaking".
Nguyen Van Tuan, chief representative of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association in HCM City, said the country had to import 98-99 per cent of its cotton needs at a cost of US$1 billion, mostly from the US, India, Brazil, and South Africa.
India accounted for at least 20 per cent of the imports, he said.
The industry also needed large volumes of fabric for garments, also a good opportunity for Indian companies, he said.
It needed 6.8 billion square metres of fabric last year, but domestic production was only 0.8 billion sq.m, and the rest was imported.
Nguyen The Hung, deputy director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry HCM City branch, said the garment and textile industry achieved strong growth last year.
Its exports of $13.8 million were the highest by any industry.
Despite global uncertainties, it hoped to top $15 billion this year, he said.
But it had to import up to 80 per cent of raw materials and accessories like cotton, yarn, and fabric, he said.
Abhay Thakur, Indian consul in HCM City, urged the Vietnamese industry to establish bonded warehouses to ensure stable supply of raw materials.
Tuan agreed, saying: "We should have bonded warehouses to supply cotton because nowadays many countries with large industries have to stock raw materials."
He cited China as an example, saying its demand for cotton was around 9 million tonnes a year, and domestic production is 7.2-7.3 million tonnes, meaning it had to import 2 million tonnes a year.
But this year the country imported 5 million tonnes to stockpile for future use, he said.
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