Induction of Lycra leather treatment technology
will help Din Leather increase its export earnings by 40 per cent
By Syed M.
Aslam
Feb-04 - Feb-10, 2002
Din Leather (Pvt.) Limited signed an agreement with
Dupont Apparel and Textile Sciences to become the first licensee is
the Asia Pacific to use Lycra technology. Lycra in a the
state-of-the-art stretch and recovery tanning technology without
affecting the natural qualities unique of leather.
The treatment makes it possible for leather to be
conform to any shape and design in the production of value-added
products such as garments, shoes, upholstery, and other. In addition,
it also offers comfortable fit allowing much greater freedom of
movement. Leather garments with Lycra retain the characteristic look
and feel of leather and yet are much more comfortable to wear
retaining their original shape through repeated wearings.
Talking to PAGE, S. M. Naseer of Din Group
said that the induction of the new technology will not only help
increase the revenue of both Dupont and Din Leather but will also help
earn more foreign exchange for the country. Din Group is one of the
leading groups with diversified investments in leather, textile and
power generation with a combined turnover of Rs 2,422 million per
annum. It is one of the top exporters of leather and leather garments
contributing over $ 25 million annually. It produces over 2 million
square feet of goat and sheep leather and around 60,000 leather
garments annually.
Naseer said that the induction of Lycra leather
treatment technology will help Din Leather increase its export
earnings by 40 per cent by placing it into a high segment retail
market. It is not the first time that Din Leather and Dupont has
signed an agreement — Din was also the first to become Lycra
authorized processor in Pakistan to use it in their textile spinning
to produce cotton yarn with Lycra three years ago. The Lycra-blended
cotton yarn is very popular across the world.
He said that the technological partnership will
help Din Leather to expand to play a more significant role in leather
and leather garments exports. "It will help us to expand and grow
to diversify the base of our value-added products to produce a range
of unique products. It will also serve as a spring board for the
Pakistani leather industry to enter new product segments and retail
markets which thus far have been captured by the European
countries."
Asked to explain the new technology, he said that
leather + Lycra is a technical and marketing programme which
integrates the supply chain for leather and leather products to
produce garments and shoes with superior comfort, fit and appearance.
Dupont, he said, has developed the know-how on shoe-upper materials to
deliver maximum comfort to the foot. This know-how is applicable to
virtually any shoe design or material.
Presently, he said, Dupont has developed two
technologies for combining leather and Lycra while it has others in
the pipeline. The first involves lamination of fabrics with Lycra to
pre-cut leather components mainly used in shoe manufacture. The second
involves lamination of a backing fabric to full hides from which
garments, shoes or other leather products are subsequently cut from.
He said that lamination process is a confidential
propriety information which is exclusively shared with 'our licensed
partners.' Many leather garment and leather shoe brands are testing
Lycra in their products while some of them have already commercially
launched their products in 2001 in the US, he added.
Asked if the new technology will add to the cost of
shoe or garment he said that leather products are generally mid to
premium market products within their category. "We expect our
leather-Lycra products to be competitive at all price points in this
range. However, it will be up to the manufacturers to decide how much
they charge for the significant addition benefits which it brings to
the consumers."
Leather plays an important role in the economy of
Pakistan and any measure to help increase the value of leather and
leather manufacture exports is thus always welcomed. Leather
contributed an average of 8 per cent to the total exports from
Pakistan in term of value during the last decade making it the second
top foreign exchange earner after the cotton commodity group which
contributed an evarge of over 60 per cent to the foreign exchange
earnings.
In term of quantity, production of tanned leather
increased from 32.7 million meter to 37.2 million meter for goat and
sheep hides while production of cow and buffalo hides increased from
5.9 million meter to 7.6 million meter during the last decade.
One significant change during the last decade is
that the value of leather garment exports surpassed that of tanned
leather export in term of value. Twelve countries collectively
contribute over 82 per cent to the total export earnings from the
leather garments including the US which contribute 20 per cent,
Germany 16.5 per cent, UK over 13 per cent, France almost 10 per cent
and Spain 5.16 per cent.
On the other hand, the major markets of Pakistani
tanned leather exports in the recent years are — South Korea 16.89
per cent, Hong Kong 16.66 per cent, Italy 14 per cent, Germany 11.75
per cent and France 5.6 per cent.
The induction of the new technology is expected to
give a boost to the exports of leather and value-added leather
projects from Pakistan to help make a headway into the premium-priced
markets.
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