Stovec eyes China for textile machines exports

For this, the company has begun expansion of its textile capital goods manufacturing capacity like printing machines and printing rollers.

"Bulk of the textile market has shifted from the West to eastern countries, especially in the high-end product segment. We are in talks with potential partners in the Chinese market for exports in the coming year," said Ashish Kaul, managing director of Stovec Industries.

To begin with, the company is participating in the International Textile Machinery Association (ITMA) Asia 2008, an Asian international exhibition of textile machinery, to be held in Shanghai, China by end of July.

Stovec, recently, expanded its textile machine manufacturing capacity from 10-15 machines to 25-30 machines per annum to meet the demand from China. The company also plans to gradually expand its label printing consummables capacity at its Ahmedabad unit.

"There is a huge growing market for label printing, especially among fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). Our next focus of expansion after machineries will be label printing consummables and coating applications," said Kaul.

Stovec's parent company, Netherlands-based Stork Prints is soon planning to shift its label printing consummables business to the Ahmedabad unit completely, he added. Recently, Stork also scaled up its stake in Stovec from 51 per cent to 71 per cent.

Operating in the high and mid tier category of textile machines, Stovec holds a market share of 55-60 per cent in the country.

Among other things, the company also manufactures around 1,30,000 rotary screens per annum from the Ahmedabad plant.