Foreign coir mat cos set up base in India

International floor products manufacturing companies like Giacomini & Gambarova of Italy are moving their production base to India to take advantage of the cheap labour and input cost.

In a span of two year, nine units have been set up in Kerala as independent or joint venture units to produce runner mats using coir and rubber, a Coir Board official told FE. This has also resulted in greater value addition for coir exports from the nation and presently, these manufacturing units have a share of almost a third of the total coir exports from the nation. Interestingly, these products, which have great demand in Europe for their flexibility and natural base, are mostly machine produced and does not need the skill set of the coir workers. From an export base of 6,429 tonne valued at Rs 34 crore in 2002-03, the tufted mat category exports has risen to 29,000 tonne valued at Rs 182 crore in 2006-07. The total coir exports from India for 2006-07 stands close to 1,36,027 tonne valued close to Rs 600 crore. This trend has in fact resulted in a new dynamics in the coir sector, which was originally skill based and limited to the Alapuzha region, known for its expertise in manual mat production. The new units catering exclusive to the European and US interior decoration industry are mostly based outside the traditional area and some as far as Goa and Tamil Nadu. Other factors like, lesser availability of quality fibre in Kerala and the declining labour force has also contributed to the shift, which may give a new thrust to the industry which has seen worse days, KC Eapen, seceraty of Coir Shippers Council told FE. Indian exporters are also waking up to the opportunity to set their units in the industrial parks with or without the support of the international trading companies, sources said. Many traditional coir exporters are setting up new mechanized units that can bulk produce these mats. The first few companies had Indian traders as managers with a nominal stake but increasingly Indians are moving on to ventures, which have equal stakes, sources said.