BackBirla Cellulose to take Liva brand abroad
Birla Cellulose, which has already set up a Liva Accredited Partners' Forum in Indonesia and Bangladesh, is looking to set up a similar forum for vendors in China 'shortly'
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Mumbai: Birla Cellulose, part of Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries, is taking its Liva brand of viscose fabric abroad, a top company official said on Monday.
Birla Cellulose has already set up a Liva Accredited Partners’ Forum (LAPF ) in Indonesia and Bangladesh, Birla Cellulose president Manohar Samuel said in an interview.
LAPF is a group of vendors that make, spin, dye, and then supply Liva to apparel makers. The company is looking to set up a similar forum in China “shortly", Samuel said.
“We have started LAPF in Indonesia, and in Bangladesh. These (countries) are major manufacturing hubs," Samuel said. “China, we are starting shortly," he said.
“In China we will take not just Liva but will also look at Liva Crème, along with our modal fibre (a variant of rayon), spondite fibre, and others. It is a huge and complex market for us."
Liva Crème, launched this year, is a Liva variant marketed as a softer, more luxurious variant of the flagship Liva. However, the company declined to share details of the physical and technical differences between the two fabrics.
Bangladesh and Indonesia are both large textile manufacturing and garment export hubs. Readymade garments, made in Bangladesh, are the country’s single largest export, worth $28.09 billion in FY2015-16 which made up 82% of Bangladesh’s total exports for the year, as per Bangladesh government data. In 2015, Indonesia’s total textile exports were worth $12.3 billion, according to data from market research firm Oxford Business Group.
Birla Cellulose launched Liva, the lone branded viscose fabric in India, in 2015. Much like with brands like Lycra and Spandex in the US, some of these apparel brands carry the “Liva" tag on their products.
Since launching in 2015, the number of clothes carrying the Liva tag has grown from 18.4 lakh tags to 110 lakh tags currently. The largest Liva “tag carrying" client is Kishore Biyani owned apparel brand and retailer FBB. Other major clients include brands of Madura Fashion and Lifestyle, also owned by the Aditya Birla Group. Liva also sells to global apparel brands including Zara and H&M, although they do not carry the fabric’s tags on their clothing.
Of Birla Cellulose’s total 950 tons of daily production of fabric every day, Liva comprises nearly 38% or 370 tons per day, Samuel said.
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