Revival of orders boosts textile activity in the western districts of Tamil Nadu

The increase in international demand in the last few months has revived production activity and investments at the garment units in Tiruppur. This has, in turn, buoyed up demand for yarn produced by the textile mills.

According to K.M. Subramanian, president of the Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA), several retail buyers who are sourcing garments from Bangladesh are exploring the potential in Tiruppur. Some of them have started conducting audits at the units and this indicates that orders will be placed in six months. Almost 90% of the garment export units in Tiruppur are running to full capacity now.

“The machines at the garment units are mostly outdated as the current generation machines come with artificial intelligence. The efficiency is 30% higher. Hence, the garment manufacturers are going in for new machines to replace the old ones or to build additional capacity,” he said.

A garment exporter said the requirements of the buyers and the customers in other countries have changed in the last couple of years. Several small retailers have gone out of business and customers prefer to buy from large retailers. These retail buyers and their sourcing agents are looking at higher capacities in the garment units here. Hence, a manufacturer or exporter should have at least 150 machines to get good orders.

“The manufacturers and exporters in Tiruppur who are able to adapt to the changing demands of the buyers are doing good,” he said. Further, at least 18% of the fabric needs of Tiruppur are imported now to meet the needs of the buyers.

In the case of the spinning mills, the smaller mills that supply to the garment units have seen a revival of orders for yarn. “Almost 40% of the small mills were affected because of the slump in business last two years. The other units are doing good and operating almost to full capacity for the last three months,” said a small-scale spinning mill owner in Coimbatore. The government should remove the import duty on cotton and relax the Quality Control Order norms for the textile industry to capitalise on the opportunities in the international market, he added.

According to the Southern India Mills Association, the cotton prices cannot get lower. The low and stable cotton prices, which is the main raw material for the textile industry, are supporting the mills.

However, the weaving industry continues to face slowdown in orders. Those who went in for auto looms are struggling to get viable prices. Exports to Bangladesh has taken a hit as there are delays in payments by the buyers there. This will take a few more months to settle down, said K. Sakthivel, chairman of the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council.