Established in 1965, Century Enka Ltd. (CEL) manufactures synthetic yarn, nylon tyre cord fabric (NTCF) that finds its application in making bias tyres, and nylon filament yarn (NFY) that finds its application in making sarees, dupattas, dress materials and athleisure, among others.
Plans are afoot to use CEL’s existing fabric capacities and dipping facilities to offer polyester tyre cord fabric (PTCF) that will find application as a reinforcement material in radial passenger vehicle tyres. The manufacturing facilities located in Gujarat and Maharashtra are equipped with state-of-the-art production technology. With continuous innovation, the company has consistently delivered new and high-quality products. Today, it enjoys a strong presence in both NTCF and NFY products.
As part of the business re-engineering, CEL has converted polyester spinning machines into nylon spinning machines with strong in-house technical support. The company has enhanced NFY capacities by about 10,000 MT per annum.
CEL has emerged as a market leader in the nylon filament yarn market which remains fragmented with a large number of small size spinners. The company is further focussing on value-added products such as dope dyed, deep dyeable yarn and textured yarn to maintain its competitiveness in the market.
The NTCF plants in both the sites are currently operating at full capacities. The levy of anti-dumping duty on import of radial tyres and increase in customs duty on NTCF imports have helped in stabilization of demand for domestic NTCF. CEL is making efforts to expand the customer base, including exports, and diversify the product portfolio by entering the polyester tyre cord fabric market, thus diversifying its product base.
Expansion and modernisation
CEL continues to enjoy its leadership in nylon filament yarn in terms of product range, quality parameters as well as in volumes. In order to further consolidate its position into value-added segments, the company proposes to install additional air texturising capacity. Besides, it will also undertake conversion of additional polyester spinning machines into nylon spinning machines to enhance its production capacity. CEL has also commissioned new twisting machines and looms at the Bharuch plant to increase conversion capacity of NTCF, thus, enabling the company to increase production of NTCF.
CEL is also diversifying its product range by offering dipped polyester tyre cord fabric. Trials have been carried out for dipping the fabric, and the samples provided to the tyre companies have been approved. Encouraged by this successful trial, the company is planning to consider commercial proposition for converting polyester tyre yarn into dipped polyester tyre cord fabric. It is also exploring the possibilities of offering dipping services for rayon tyre cord fabric.
The CEL turnover increased by 19%, from Rs. 1,185 crores to Rs. 1,416 crores, with the additional NFY sales resulting out of higher production from conversion of polyester spinning machines into nylon spinning machines.