Hyosung Corporation, the largest global spandex producer with its creora brand, has made rapid inroads into the Indian market in recent times. Its Indian subsidiary, Hyosung India Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in sales and technical support of spandex yarn, polyester, nylon, tyre reinforcement material, GIS, transformers, motors, pumps, PTA, steel products, ATM machines and gear reducers. India is a key focus market for Hyosung, which is working with several leading Indian players in the textile field.
In an exclusive interaction with The Textile Magazine, Mr. Dinesh Keswani, General Manager (Marketing & Technical Services), gave detailed insights into the company’s focus areas vis-a-vis the Indian market, the global trends in the area of spandex and its future plans.
Hyosung continued its excellent run in the global spandex business in 2014. According to Mr.Dinesh Keswani, Hyosung increased its capacity in China and Vietnam. The expansion in Vietnam was made to serve the growth in demand in South East Asia, including India.
Going into further details, Mr. Keswani observed: “We see continued growth in spandex penetration in wovens and denim to meet the consumer demand for comfort, so that is a key market for us. We also see growth in active wear and the leisure wear market which is really lifestyle oriented.”
When quizzed on the company’s performance, specifically in the Indian market in recent years, Mr. Keswani said: “Hyosung creora has always focused on the Indian market since Hyosung started spandex manufacturing in 1992. We have seen the Indian spandex market growing for more than a decade and reached monthly demand of about 1300~1400 metric tons now. Hence our concentration on creora service and quality. Our primary mission has been to support the growth of the Indian textile manufacturer”.
Globally Hyosung is the largest producer of spandex in the world with the creora brand, with its manufacturing capacity projected to touch 190,000 tons in 2015. It has its plants at several locations. It has three plants in China, and one each in Korea, Turkey, Vietnam and Brazil. “In order to meet additional demand, we have expanded our facilities in China and Vietnam in 2014,” added Mr. Keswani.
Dwelling on the topic of total market size globally for spandex yarn and the growth rate of this particular industry year on year, he pointed out, “we believe the global spandex market is about 500,000 tons and has been expanding at a double-digit growth rate”.
Globally competition in the spandex yarn business has been intensifying by the day. In such a scenario, when queried as to what distinct advantages the creora brand offers, Mr. Keswani stated: “Customers should buy from Hyosung because of the creora commitment to excellence: product quality, service and innovation. We offer a number of specialty products which have a distinct competitive advantage. For example, we offer a low heat set spandex, creora eco-soft, which we have demonstrated as ideal for use as warp yarn for 4-way stretch denim with improved shrinkage and better recovery”.
Some of the top global brands and retailers Hyosung works with include reputed names such as Victoria’s Secret, GAP, JC Penney, Hanes, Nike, Underarmour, etc.
As mentioned earlier Hyosung has made significant inroads into the Indian market and is now working with several leading Indian textile companies. “Hyosung creora is working with most of the leading Indian textile firms engaged in manufacturing woven/denim/knitted/narrow fabric elastic/warp knitting and diaper like Vardhman, Ginza, Pratibha, Maral Overseas, Arvind, Loyal, Raymond, Nandan, Hemlon, Page, etc.,” said Mr. Keswani.
The company has established a firm and widespread presence in the Indian market. “At the moment we have our Indian headquarters located at Gurgaon with six regional offices handled by experienced textile professionals. We are still expanding our team to serve our users with more effective and efficient service,” said Mr. Keswani.
As for a potential Indian manufacturing facility, he said: “Our project team is studying the feasibility and the intent is towards future investment in a spandex factory in India”.
Sounding optimistic about the Indian market, Mr. Keswani remarked: “Our expectation is that the spandex consumption in India will growth at a continued rate of about 12~15% every year”.
According to him, the driving factor for the increased consumption is the fact that with India being the world’s number one country, when it comes to population of young people and with rising awareness about textiles and fashion trends, the Indian market holds tremendous growth potential.
“Hyosung creora as a world largest spandex manufacturer can assist to meet the growing demand of spandex in India”, added Mr. Keswani.