Yarn Expo China – a successful event (China)

For three days from 29 March 2012, more than 4,500 buyers from 44 countries and regions sourced from an international group of upstream fibres and yarns suppliers at the 17th edition of Yarn Expo China.

“Fuelled by rising labour and materials costs in China, international cotton yarn and fibre related suppliers are finding the market in China very lucrative right now,” said Wendy Wen, Director for Trade Fairs, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. She added: “Domestic fabric suppliers are now more willing to look for higher quality imported yarns which are more competitively priced than domestic manufacturers.”

Amit Ruparelia Chairman for TEXPROCIL (The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council), the India pavilion co-organiser at this season’s show was equally as optimistic in regards to the Chinese buyers. “We could see the maturity level of the trade visitors has tremendously improved over the past five years, and for the first time in China, we noticed that visitors were highly conscious of quality rather than lower prices.

Another important change was that almost all of the serious business visitors came with their own English speaking translator for easy communication with the exhibitors. That shows the seriousness of the buyers. At the present level of demand and supply, Indian companies will surely return to Yarn Expo Shanghai and Beijing for the next few years, mainly to showcase their continued presence in the market.”

Nearly 150 suppliers from 11 countries and regions featured a great variety of natural fibres and yarns including cotton, wool, flax/ramie specialty products; elastic, fancy and blended yarns as well as regenerated and synthetic man-made fibres.

Return exhibitor, Hussain Mills Limited presented their line of 100% cotton siro spun yarn in a larger booth this season. “China is a big market, and this show gives us direct access to the end-users,” commented Syed Wagas Khaleel, General Manager Marketing for the company that is based in Pakistan. He added: “We’ve met with many knitting garments and towel manufacturers, giving us the extra benefit of bypassing traders and agents.”

More than 75 percent of the buyers represented manufacturing companies of woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, knitwear, hosiery & socks, and home textiles while the remaining buyers represented garment factories, import & export corporations, and wholesalers.

For the first time Linificio E Canapificio Nazionale SpA brought their pure linen yarn and cashmere/ silk blend collections produced in Italy to China. “We’re very happy with the results at this fair and certainly hope to return with a better booth next season,” praised Xu Kui, Business Export Manager for Normlin, a Beijing based trading company representing the Italian brand.

Many exhibitors spoke optimistically of business conducted on-site. “This is our third time participating and we’re always pleased to be here. Business is good, in factwe’ve already confirmed three orders,” said Surachai Wong, Director for Aswakowit Co Ltd from Thailand, a supplier that manufactures cotton, polyester and viscose yarns.

“I am pleasantly surprised to see that business has drastically changed here in China,” said Dinesh Mauja, Vice President Marketing for Alps Industries Limited, who took a five year hiatus from participating in any trade fairs outside of India. “So far, the response has been very good. Buyers are quite strong in negotiations and very knowledgeable in the quality of products – it’s certainly important for us to be here and we hope to come back.”

Exhibitors and visitors also felt that they benefited from the concurrent events held in Beijing. “It’s been a good opportunity for us to reach a much wider buying market with the two events held at the same time, which is why we decided to host a presentation and introduce our new SPH products,” commented ZhiJun Tao, Deputy General Manager for Nantong Yong Sheng Fibre New Material Co Ltd.

Visitors were equally as impressed. “With the free shuttle bus services provided between Intertextile Beijing Apparel Fabrics and Yarn Expo Spring, I have been able to visit both shows,” said Cleto Barberis Organista for Dessytl Desginers & StilystsTextile Associated, Italy who also noted that the events were a good place to find new business partners in China.

Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s leading trade fair organiser, with 457 million euros in sales and more than 1,769 active employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international Sales Partners, giving it a presence for its customers in more than 150 countries.