Garment firms trying on locals for size

Dinh Vu polyester fibre plant in northern Haiphong city’s Dinh Vu Industrial Park, developed by Petrochemical and Textile Fibre Joint Stock Company (PVTEX), is one local firm to cash in as it made its first batches of polyester synthetic fibre, the first of its kind made in Vietnam, in late 2011.

Though still in the  test run period, from December 2011 PVTEX has sold over 20,000 tonnes of fibres and yarns through competitive pricing.

Though the Dinh Vu plant was not officially up and running, some businesses under Vinatex began to use the plant products, according to Vinatex’s deputy general director Le Tien Truong.

As scheduled, in 2012 the Dinh Vu plant will turn out 150,000-175,000 tonnes of fibres meeting 40 per cent of the garment textile sector demand.

In 2011, local supply sources could fill just 30 per cent of local demand for fibre, tantamount to 120,000 tonnes against 450,000 tonnes in total actual demand. Hence, textile firms needed to offset the shortfall with materials imported from Taiwan, Korea and India at $1.3 billion.

Fibre import value in the first quarter of 2012 came to around $350 million, down 2.4 per cent in volume and 13 per cent in value against the same period in 2011.

“If the Dinh Vu plant runs at its full capacity of 175,000 tonnes of synthetic fibre products per year, its production alone can help the textile and garment sector save at least $350 million in 2012,” said Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) chairman Vu Duc Giang.

Textile and garment input materials - raw cotton and fibre - chiefly relied on import sources, said Viet Thang Garment Joint Stock Company director Le Nguyen Ngoc, citing that skyrocketing global  fibre prices in the first half of 2011 coupled with the volatile dong-dollar exchange rate cast a big dent in firms’ profits.

“More supply from local producers will help firms take the initiative in production and in negotiating export contracts with foreign partners. This will help sharpen the sector’s competitiveness,” said Ngoc.