The US saw a collapse in housing sector in 2008-09 which had ripple affect across the globe. But now it is looking up which means a good spell for Indian producers of bed linen and towels, as they are a major part of the home textiles segment. In June this year, new home sales in the US rose sharply by 26.6 per cent, according to the US commerce department. Apart from this, existing home sales in the US are now at their highest since 2007 as the boom returns to rental market. 

Indian home textiles sector soaring

Anil Jain, Chairman, Indo Count Industries said that the current boom home textiles-2in the US home segment is good for home textiles division here. When families or individuals in the US or other developed regions move to new homes, they always buy fresh sets of bed linen and towels. This is exciting for exporters, as US is the world’s biggest importer of home linen. The European Union follows the US in imports, he added. Besides, Jain explained that the house building in UK remains buoyant with required supply of homes seen at 240,000 per year, which again is a good sign for home linen manufacturers.

Increasing number of customers in developed markets such as the US were becoming demanding about quality and are ready to pay a little extra a towel or linen. Experts say, Indian manufacturers benefiting from lucrative markets for home textiles largely depend on one factor: how efficiently the chain, from procurement of raw material (in this case mostly cotton, which comes in a range of quality) and various stages of manufacturing, to finally delivering the product to buyers in good time, is managed.

Quality, a prime focus

Quality is important as the length of individual fibres or staples decides the quality of cotton. Indo Count enjoys cost advantage in raw material procurement as its mill is in Kolhapur, a major cotton-growing centre in Maharashtra. However, as experts point out, for success in the increasingly competitive markets of West, companies shouldn’t compromise on using state-of-the art machinery. Indian companies need to be convincing about their production base with outstanding execution capability, whether they wish to cater to the mid-market Walmart, or high-end Bloomingdale’s, Debenhams or UK’s Jon Lewis range, to become their strategic supply partners.

Bed linen constitutes about 21 pr cent of the world’s home textile industry, says Jain. This will be growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of five per cent in the next few years. The global home textile market is set to expand to an estimated $96 billion in 2017 from $86 billion in the current year, says Technopak. Thus, manufacturers such as Alok Industries Indo Count and Welspun are sniffing big opportunities here.

The global home textile market looks promising for Indian manufactures of bed linen, etc. However, China's attempt to improve its textile products’ acceptability on price points is a major concern.