Topics covered at MMF textiles conference impress delegates

The conference was hosted by Fibre2fashion the leading global B2B portal for the textile, apparel and fashion industry in association with the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) & Surat Art Silk Cloth Manufacturers Association (SASCMA).

More than 25 eminent speakers from the global and Indian manmade fibre textiles sector had lined up at the conference and kept the 300 plus delegates enthused with their informative presentations and panel discussions.

Topics lined up at the conference ranged on shortcomings of cotton fibre supply in the future to why manmade fibre textiles will dominate consumption in coming years along with presentations on latest global textile technologies.

Dr PR Roy – convener of the conference and also Director of fibre2fashion began the proceedings by saying, “One needs to keep eyes and ears open to the changes in the global textile scenario. Land to cultivate cotton is going to fall, with the same land competing with other remunerative food crops.

“Secondly water consumption across the whole cotton textile value chain is also very high. This puts a question mark on long term viability and prospects of the production of the natural fibre, since water is not a renewable resource.

“Two fibres in particular will dominate the global textile sector – polyester and viscose staple fibre. This conference will deliberate on what role manmade fibres will play in the future”, he winded up by saying.

This was followed by an address from Mr Arun Jariwala– Chairman, SASCMA, who said, “Between 1980 and 2010 Indian cotton output has grown by 81.36 percent while manmade fibre production has grown by 367 percent. The ratio of consumption of manmade fibre vis-à-vis cotton fibre in India is 39:61, while globally it is 60:40. This conference will help to plan the future course of the manmade fibres textile industry”.

Next to speak was Mr Rohit Mehta – President, SGCCI. He said, “Surat is one of the main centres in India for manmade fibre textiles. At a time when the industry is looking for answers to a host of questions, this conference will help in addressing the same. The renowned speakers will definitely throw light on these and many more”.

Mr Maheswar Sahu – IAS and Principal Secretary (Industries & Mines) – Govt. of Gujarat, began the inaugural address by saying “With the impetus given by Gujarat government, I hope 2-3 million spindles will be added in the next 3-4 years in Gujarat. However, value added in the Indian textile industry, will come from the technical textiles sector.

“In the next 5-6 years, there will be more than 5-6 million automobiles per year, rolling out of the state. This will create a big opportunity for the technical textiles sector in Gujarat”.

The last speaker at the inaugural session was global expert, Mr Robin Anson – Managing Director, Textiles Intelligence, UK who presented a paper on ‘Manmade fibre textiles to 2030 –