Indian plastic processing machinery manufacturing industry will begin to see gradual recovery from September onwards as demand is expected to pick up with economy slowly gets on the path of recovery, SV Kabra founder of Mumbai-based Kolsite Group told Nidhi Verma of ElitePlus Business Services in an online interview.
“April-June quarter will be a washout. However, if everything is under control and movement of people and goods go back to near normal by June, I see recovery coming in from September onwards for the machine manufacturers,” Kabra said.
The Kolsite Group is a leader in plastic extrusion machinery in India and offers various technologically advanced plastic extrusion solutions. Kolsite Group under its roof has four flagship companies dealing in different avenues like extrusion machinery, masterbatches, secondary packaging, and agency work.
The Kolsite Group companies are Kabra Extrusiontechnik Limited which makes plastic extrusion machines; Plastiblends India Limited which is a manufacturer color and additive masterbatches and thermoplastic compounds; Maharashtra Plastic & Industries Limited which manufactures strappings, strapping tools and stretch films; and Kolsite Corporation LLP which is involved in agency work.
Kabra said that during the lockdown period, the plastic extrusion industry was significantly impacted. Even Kolsite Group’s operations took a hit and have yet to fully recover. The Group’s Daman and Pune plants are operating at 25-30% capacity.
“We are working with only 30-35% of our regular workforce. At present we focusing on fulfilling old orders as I think it will be challenging to process new orders,” Kabra added.
Kolsite Group focuses on exports
The Kolsite Group has a good footprint in overseas markets such as Africa and Middle East. The Group is confident of further solidifying its presence in these markets.
“We see huge pent up demand in African and Middle East markets. Also, we hope that Indian machine manufacturers will be preferred over Chinese ones,” he said.
Kabra argued that even Indian plastic processors should favor Indian machinery over Chinese ones. “India imports a lot of processing machinery from China. I agree that it depends on the processors which machinery they want to buy. However, I feel there is no need for them to import machinery from China as far as plastic processing it concerned as Indian companies can compete well with Chinese companies,” he argued.
Low raw material prices a positive
The global crude oil prices have declined sharply this year and, according to Kabra, this will be very beneficial for the plastic processing industry. A drop in crude oil prices helps the processing companies as plastic is derived from by petroleum refining products. Lower the cost of oil, lower is the cost of plastic raw materials used across product manufacturing units to produce finished goods.
“The plastic processing industry gets a huge boost when oil prices fall sharply,” Kabra said.
