Vijay C Roy
Chandigarh, November 1
Winter is almost here, but winter wear manufacturers in Ludhiana say they have been stumped by this year’s warm start to the season. The industry is staring at losses due to lacklustre demand, especially from the retailers spread across the country.
Sale not as per expectations
The traders are cautious as the summer wear sales were not as per their expectations. Moreover, ast year’s 20% inventory is still with the industry. So, everyone is acting cautiously. — Sudershan Jain, Partner, Sarjeevan knitwears
October used to be a hectic time for city’s winter wear manufacturers, as by this time, a significant percentage of retailers used to lift their orders from the manufacturers or wholesalers. However, this year the industry is staring at losses due to significant drop in offtake of winter wear orders. The economic uncertainty and high inflation considered to be main reasons keeping the customers away from anything, which is priced a little higher.
“In my 25 years of business, this is worst start to winter. Over the last few years, people have built their capacity, but its utilisation is not optimum because of slowdown in demand,” said Akash Bansal, proprietor, Rage.
“The brand catering to the middle class has been hit. Among the reasons include the expenses of middle class have gone up with resources being dried up. Secondly, online business is making a killing with various portals offering huge discounts to customers, which is not sustainable. Thirdly, whether it’s a customer, retailer or wholesalers, all of them have invested in real estate and now they are in situation where they can’t walk out. So there capital is stuck,” he added.
Ludhiana in Punjab accounts for over 90% of the total winter wear production in the country, which is pegged at Rs 12,000 crore. There are around 12,000 units, a majority of them in the MSME category, who are engaged in the production of winter wear in Ludhiana. Winter wear category comprises basic sweaters, hoodies, sweat shirts, jackets, shawls, cardigans and trousers.
“On one hand, the share of Bangladesh in winter wear is growing while on the other, the size of the woollen industry is shrinking, may be because winter duration has shortened. People are spending more on travel and eating out than purchasing new winter garments,” said Munish Avasthi, MD, Sportking India Ltd.