India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 Sector highlights

Industry overview	Product features	Supplier survey
Having a variety of raw materials is one of the main factors contributing to the industry's competitiveness. The country sent abroad about $5 billion worth home textiles in 2017. Production hubs for are mostly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.	Cotton, wool, silk and polyester are the common options for home textiles. Prices are based mainly on the materials used. Eco-friendly inputs such as organic cotton, bamboo and jute are also gaining more traction.	Most India home textile suppliers intend to raise prices the same in the next six months. Contemporary designs will be popular in coming months. North America will be the key market in the next 12 months.

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 Suppliers & products

Products

Below is a selection of products from our featured suppliers. Click on the images to find more products and supplier information.

For a complete listing of the featured suppliers, click here.

Beddings & blankets

Pillowcases

Pillowcases

Towels

Others

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 Industry overview

India home textiles exports	Competitive advantages	Challenges	Industry composition
The country sent abroad about $5 billion worth home textiles in 2017. The US was the top importer during this period. Suppliers plan to continue exporting to EU countries in the next few months.	Having a variety of raw materials is one of the main factors contributing to the industry's competitiveness. Craftsmanship is another key advantage of India suppliers. Current policies are helping boost home decor exports.	Intense global price competition is a hurdle for many suppliers. Raw material prices and supply are major concerns for many producers. Retaining skilled labor is another issue for most suppliers.	Production hubs for are mostly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Small companies can produce up to 10,000 pieces. Larger enterprises can roll out 30 times the production of smaller producers.

India’s home textiles exports according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry were $5.3 billion during financial year 2016-17 as against $5.2 billion during 2015-16. Almost 47 percent of shipments went to the US. Other key markets include Australia, Canada, South America, the UK, the UAE, and Hong Kong.

Local home textile producers plan to target European nations such as Germany, France and Italy over the next 12 months, particularly for cotton items.

The Ministry of Textiles also aims to enhance India’s home textile market share by aligning the products with specific markets, which includes approving the Integrated Marketing Plan 2017-18 for participation in international fairs during the financial year. Hong Kong, Turkey, Australia, Russia, West Asia, Brazil, Egypt and Chile, in particular, have also been spotlighted by the Ministry of Textiles as venues for upcoming exhibitions to help boost foreign sales.

Competitive advantages

Home textiles suppliers in India consider local availability of cotton, silk and other major raw materials as the industry’s main strength. India is the largest cotton-producing and second-largest cotton-exporting country in the world. In fiscal year 2015-16, India significantly surpassed China to become the largest producer of cotton. This was due to China’s policy of introducing target price-based subsidy to replace minimum support price-based subsidies, which made cotton production in China less lucrative.

India is also the largest jute producer in the world and the second-largest producer of silk, contributing about 18 percent to world production.

In recent years, several Indian companies have installed vertically-integrated global size capacities and offer high competitive strengths from basic to premium bed & bath linen, table & kitchen linen, floor coverings, curtains, upholstery and accessories. In addition, hundreds of large and medium-sized home textiles exporters have world-class infrastructure for weaving, processing, embroidery, quilting, cutting, sewing and manufacture wide width fabrics we well as fully finished Madeups.

Mumbai, Delhi, Panipat, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Cannanore, Karur and many other clusters offer exquisite designs, innovative products and complete manufacturing solutions.

Existing policies that aim to help boost industry exports is another strength. The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council is organizing the visit of a high level trade delegation of home textiles exporters to South Korea in June 2018 eyeing the good potential to export home textiles products to South Korea. Further, the home textiles products exported from India to South Korea enjoy the benefit of zero duty under the Indo Korea CEPA.

Additionally, in 2016, the government had extended a 7.3 percent duty drawback benefit to the made-ups (including towels, bed sheets, curtains, decorative cotton products, and the like) sector. However, in a blow to the home textiles industry, the duty drawback benefit was slashed to 2 percent now. Experts feel that this move could slow down exports of these goods.

Another program that assists the home textiles industry is the Amended Technology Upgradation Scheme (ATUS), which provides interest subsidy on loans. Under the fiscal 2017 Union Budget, $226 million has been allocated for ATUS. Meanwhile, the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme facilitates import of capital goods with duty at a concession up to 0 percent and appropriate export obligations. Textiles machinery is also covered under the scheme, thereby promoting textiles overseas shipments.

Finally, the Ministry of Textiles has assisted the Textiles Committee in setting up modern facilities to ensure that textiles exported from the country meet international environmental standards.

Challenges

India home textiles makers face a number of difficulties.Infestation of pink bollworm in major cotton-producing regions of India has led to a 5 percent increase in cotton prices since mid-December last year and 2 percent reduction in cotton crop estimate for 2017/18, according to the Cotton Association of India. In addition, rupee appreciation (6.4 percent year over year) continues to remain an overhang.

Suppliers also face some manufacturing challenges, including dealing with intense global price competition, finding and keeping skilled labor, handling cost pressures, and adapting to different consumer needs. Irregular supply of quality raw materials, along with constant fluctuation of raw component prices and insufficient supply of skilled workers, also contribute to the pressure.

Industry composition

Presently, there are no official data regarding the number of home textiles producers in India.

Small enterprises are normally staffed between 200-500 employees. They focus on the low end and operate workshops covering an area of up to 50 acres. Most manufacturing steps, including assembly and polishing, are subcontracted. The total monthly capacity is 10,000 pieces. Annual revenue is $5million-$8 million.

Midsize companies typically have 6,000 personnel. Factory size is at least 100 acres. All production processes are performed in-house. As many as 300,000 pieces are turned out every month. Yearly income is up to $20 million.

Large suppliers are usually ISO-compliant and employ more than10,000 workers, including design and QC teams. They own one to three plants measuring over 500 acres. Factories can assemble over 1 million pieces per month. Earnings go up to $50 million annually.

Production hubs for home textiles are mostly in the districts of Karur and Chennai (Tamil Nadu state), Panipat (Haryana), Kannur (Kerala), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Jaipur (Rajasthan), and Mirzapur and Badhohi (Uttar Pradesh).

Supplier locations map

The highlighted areas on the map show the locations of the head offices and factories of the home textiles suppliers featured in this report.

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 Product features

Materials & designs

Different components are used for specific products. Cotton is utilized for bedsheets, blankets, pillowcases, towels, table cloths and napkins, carpets, and rugs. It is obtained from the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Panjab, Telangana, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha (Orissa), and Andhra Pradesh.

Silk is often used for bedsheets, blankets, pillowcases, towels, table cloths and napkins, carpets, curtains, drapes, and rugs. It is procured from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Manipur, and Maharashtra.

Wool is made into blankets, rugs, and bedsheets. It is purchased from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.

Polyester is used for bedsheets, blankets, pillowcases, towels, table cloths and napkins, carpets, curtains, and drapes. It is procured from Gujarat and Coimbatore.

Bamboo is utilized on towels, carpets, bedsheets, and blankets. It is bought from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Karnatak, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala.

Other eco-friendly fibers such as coir, jute, water lily, wood, and seaweed are made into bedsheets, blankets, towels, table napkins, carpets, curtains, and drapes.

In terms of design, India home textiles and textiles in general are highly influenced by the “green” movement. For example, organic cotton-based products, of which India is the largest producer in the world, are currently in high demand among foreign buyers. Combining ethnic and modern elements, and traditional or vintage designs are the other significant trends in the industry now, especially among younger clients.

An average of two to seven models are released monthly by the largest manufacturers. Lead time for the development of samples is four days to one week.

Manufacturing & QC

The first step in the production process is cleaning, after which carding is done, mostly through machines. The machine used for carding is set with hundreds of fine wires that separate the fibers and pull them into parallel form. Blending is then applied by joining laps of different fibers. The next steps are combing and twisting. The final stage is spinning, which is also done by machines.

Designing, stitching and printing are usually done in-house by large and medium manufacturers. Many major producers own spinning mills, where fiber is turned into yarn. Medium and small-scale manufacturers usually outsource the entire process of turning raw materials into yarn to reduce initial costs. Small producers also outsource printing and embroidery.

QC involves two checks. First is product standards, which includes ISO 9001:2008 and SA-8000, which are independent certification systems that assess a company’s social accountability and quality processes, respectively. The next check is manufacturing standards, which includes Oeko-Tex Standard 100, a certification system that ensures that textiles are free from harmful chemicals. The average QC team is composed of up to two professional inspectors.

Pricing

Quotes are mainly influenced by the raw material used. Home textile products made of expensive components such as silk, wool and cotton are priced higher in the market. Although machine-printed designs do not significantly increase the price, customized styles with embroidery do. For example, a blanket made of 95 percent polyester and 5 percent wool is significantly more low-cost than a blanket made of 60 percent wool, 30 percent cotton, and 10 percent polyester. A decorative pillowcase with floral embroidery is more expensive compared with a machine-printed model.

Raw material costs, especially cotton, is expected to hike in the coming months. Pink bollworm infestations on cotton crops continue to hurt this year’s yield, which will affect supply.

Inflation also affects quotes. Economic experts in India predict that the country might face high inflation and low growth rate in the coming months, which could lead to increase in the manufacturing and labor costs.

All home textiles goods have experienced a nominal hike in their prices due to inflation over the last three years. In the past eight months, however, the newly introduced goods and services tax pushed quotes up significantly.

Price guide

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 Supplier survey

Export markets & sales

Overall, India home textiles makers have a positive outlook on export sales for the next 12 months. Nearly one-third expect foreign shipments to surge up to 10 percent. Suppliers said that local handicrafts have remained popular among foreign buyers as they are handmade. Demand for wooden items have also remained robust. With global market conditions improving, domestic companies expect export sales to increase.

North America, particularly the US, is cited by more than one-half of surveyed companies as their target destination over the coming months, due to the region being the single largest market for handicrafts exporters from India.

Of the 15 percent who are targeting the Asia-Pacific region as their export destination, they indicated Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, and South Korea as the key markets in the area.

Some enterprises will also highlight environment-friendly materials. Organic cotton, bamboo and jute are the main eco-friendly components used in home textiles. Fibers from water lily, wood, seaweed, and soybean are also utilized by some manufacturers.

Instead of applying harsh chemicals during the production process, companies use alternative components such as barberry stem pieces, banyan bark indigo crude extract, eclipt a fresh leaf extract, soot carbon, pomegranate peel, and vembadam tree bark.

Labor-related concerns also add to the pressure faced by home textile manufacturers. While there is no shortage of labor in the sector, there is a problem of absenteeism. In India, a country with multiple festivals, local workers occasionally take leave without notice, making production planning a challenge. Migrant workers, in particular, who take most jobs in textile mills and manufacturing facilities, take two to three months holiday in total every year for various festivals, death, marriages, family gatherings and religious gatherings.

India Sourcing: Home textiles 2018 PDF download