Terry or Turkish Towels were originally woven in handloom and originated in Constantinople of Turkey. Now, it is produced either by weaving or by knitting, wherein woven terry towels are much more popular. Methods of chemical processing have also a significant role in determining the quality, besides the role of different fibres and yarns mainly for manufacturing bathrobes with soft and cooling effect.
Terry fabrics, basically belong to the group of pile fabrics, wherein additional loose (with lesser tension) yarn is introduced to form loops called as piles to give a distinct appearance and effect. In the present age, pile formation is microprocessor controlled with high level of accuracy and distinct features. Some of the prominent terry towel weaving machinery suppliers in the Indian Industry are Vamatex, Saurer, Dornier, Nuore Pignone and others. After the inclusion of “Soft Flow Machine” in chemical processing decentralized sectors have also improved quality of terry towel fabrics significantly, targeting International market.
Till last decade, Indian terry towel industry was dominated by decentralized Handloom and Powerloom sectors of Panipat, Karur, Erode, Mumbai, Sholapur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, constituting the share of over 80% of the total production of Towel Industry. But, for the last 10 years, many of the organized sectors have entered in this segment.
The estimated annual production terry towels is 100,000 tons and will likely to go up to 115,000 tons with ongoing expansion and new investment by 2012 in the country. The leading players like Welspun and Abhishek Industry together account nearly 70% of the country’s production from organized sector. Other notable players in the field are Bombay Dyeing, Shri Renuga Textiles Ltd., Modern Terry Towels, Regency, Sharadha Terry Products, Santogen, Transpak Industries, Vanasthali, etc., with an average production capacity of 10-20 tons per day. Many new players of textiles like Alok Industries are also in the process of entering in to the field.
Organized Sectors are mainly moving from mid low end to mid high end market whereas decentralized Sholapur, Panipat are concentrating more on low end and domestic market. Some of the high quality powerloom fabrics from decentralized sectors are being slowly accepted in leading markets of USA and EU. In the recent past, many of them installed shuttleless rapier looms with modern processing facilities for high end solid, dobby and jacquard velour beach towel.
USA is the World’s single largest buyer for Made-ups and Terry Towels. India, China and Pakistan together supply 65% towels, 81% of sheets and 79% of comforters imported by USA. While India has a dominant position in America’s terry towel import with a share of around 26%, India’s home textile contributes around 22% i.e. US $ 4.1 billion to India’s textile export of US $ 19 billion. However, the share of terry towel is just 5.8% of total home textile export i.e. US $ 255 million in 2005-06 and US $ 239 million in 2006-07, and there is a room to grow. Till recent time, marketing effort was concentrated in USA, but many are looking for other markets of the EU and other parts of the World.
Small players are concentrating for value addition by providing decorative aspects like design, embroidery, etc. whereas bigger players are bringing various structural innovation, with better absorbency, eco-friendly inputs, fragrance, etc. Most of them are in the combined business of bed and bath terry towel products.
India still has cost advantage on availability of raw material and cheap labor for manufacturing terry towel. Looking to the growing economy and vast middle class population, domestic market is also expected to grow significantly. Many of the Indian companies are also expected to enter in the World Market predominantly through acquisition and branding with this segment in the years to come. Even some of the smaller players are moving towards export market prominently. Towels are subject to changing fashion and demand new designs with different fabric finish, loop pile and flat structures. Major functional proportion such as moisture absorbency, water retention, drying ability, resistance to abrasion, softness and feel are predominantly going to influence the consumer all the time. This should be an ongoing exercise by using different quality of yarn, fiber, proportion of water-soluble fiber component, piles’ length, fabric design and structure.
Indian Terry Towel Industry has already made a strong presence in global market and a major suppliers of Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penney, Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, Nantica and is entering World Textile with its own brand of terry-towel /Home textile in the years to come.
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