By Seshadri Ramkumar
COIMBATORE, INDIA: Indorama Industries Ltd., will commence domestic production of Spandex in India in February-March 2012.Mr.Shalendra Vasudeva, General Manager (Marketing), Indorama Industries, Ltd., told this scribe that India’s first plant for Spandex will begin its production in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh state in February-March 2012.
The total capacity of the Spandex facility will be 15,000 tonnes per annum and the capacity will be achieved in three phases. The initial capacity will be 5,000 tones in 2012 and an additional 5,000 tonnes will come online by 2013.
Mr Vasudeva said that far India has been importing Spandex from Vietnam, China, Korea and Taiwan. The domestic production will enable textile Industry to have indigenous Spandex on time and at competitive rate. India’s current market size for Spandex is 6,000 tonnes per annum. Indorama will launch its brand identity in February 2012 in New Delhi.
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia. When first introduced, it revolutionized many areas of the clothing industry including swimming and sports.
(The writer is Associate Professor of Non-Wovens at Texas Tech University, USA and is currently in India in connection with an international textiles meet being held in the South Indian city of Coimbatore)
