By Manik Mehta, IANS
Frankfurt : While the majority of the large Indian contingent at the just-concluded HeimTextil trade fair in Frankfurt seemed reconciled with the Indian rupee’s steady appreciation, some Indian exhibitors bitterly complained it was hurting their exports.
The HeimTextil trade fair, the world’s biggest and most prestigious trade fair for home and contract textiles, attracted 389 Indian exhibitors, the largest non-German contingent, followed by China and Pakistan with 309 and 162 exhibitors, respectively.
Home textile exports from India have been hurt by the “unstoppable rise” of the Indian rupee, said Vijaygopal N.V., general manager of Ashoka Fashion Home Decoration of Kannur in Kerala.
The company, which displayed home furnishing items made of “herbally-dyed fabric”, had suffered losses amounting to some Rs.18 million ($460,000) because of the rupee’s appreciation, he added.
Describing the event as “satisfactory”, Rajiv Agarwal, the owner of the Varanasi-based Fabrication, said his products – curtain fabrics, fashion silks, cottons and prints – had generally sold well at the past events in Frankfurt.
“International buyers are wary this time because of the rupee’s dramatic appreciation. Added to the problem are China’s low-end cheap products, which are very competitive against Indian products. Chinese suppliers can afford to sell at low prices because they get heavy subsidies from their government,” Agarwal told IANS.
Vikram Jaipuria, partner of Universal Textile Mills in Bangalore in Karnataka, was disappointed with this year’s participation.
“Besides the rupee appreciation, we also had a bad location in a remote corner of the hall, with buyers unable to come to our stand. Many buyers did not come to the show at all because of the outrageously prohibitive charges for hotel rooms in Frankfurt,” Jaipuria said.
“I expect things to further worsen as the rupee further appreciates,” Jaipuria added.
Suba Pradha, manager, merchandise of Wooltop Designs Pvt Ltd of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, which exhibited home furnishing decorations, table linen, curtains, and cushions, found the show participation “incredibly expensive” and the business returns “very poor”.
“We were given a makeshift booth and had to do our own construction at the stand,” she said.
In order to counter the rupee appreciation, Wooltop had begun quoting prices in euros, which has also consistently appreciated against the dollar.
“Quoting prices in euros proved to be the saving grace,” she added.
Because of the rupee’s appreciation, many traditional buyers from India had also started to source products from other Asian countries.
“I have already started to look for suppliers in other countries, particularly in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand,” said Josef Rinner, an Austrian importer who sources textiles from a number of Asian countries.
India’s Minister of State for Textiles E.V.K.S. Elangovan, who visited the Frankfurt show, told IANS that the “strength of the Indian rupee is also a reflection of the strength of the Indian economy”.
But India’s overall textile exports, which have become more expensive by nearly 10 to 15 percent, particularly where Indian exporters are paid in US dollars, were 12 percent below the textile export target during the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08.
“We are, however, confident of achieving the textile export target of $50 billion by 2012,” Elangoven maintained.
But there were also cheerful Indian faces at the HeimTextil show.
K.K. Lalpuria, the president of the Bombay Dyeing and Mfg Co Ltd of Mumbai in Maharashtra, said his company’s bed linen, comforters and other products were selling well, “although we see a lot of caution on the part of buyers because of the rupee appreciation”.
But the “bright side” is, as Lalpuria put it, that the rupee appreciation has also made imports of some raw materials, chemicals, dyes and machinery much cheaper.
“I must say, however, that the rupee appreciation continues to be a source of deep concern,” Lalpuria said.
Olaf Schmidt, vice president, textile fairs of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, which organised the HeimTextil show in Frankfurt, has been closely following the developments in India.
“I am aware that the rupee appreciation is creating some concern but India is a world player and its products, noted for their quality and designs, are finding worldwide acceptance,” he said.