Abhishek Industries Limited (AIL), flagship of the Rs 2500 crore Trident Group has emerged asone of the world’s largest agro-based producer of printing paper and as part of its strategy to move up the value chain, the company has launched its own brands of copier paper—Spectra and My Choice.
Having successfully achieved economies of scale and being one of the largest agro-based producers of printing paper, AIL is strategising to increase margins and market share. It is in line with this strategy that the company has now launched two branded copier paper products—“Spectra” and “My Choice” entailing investments of around Rs 825 crore on paper machines for the two projects.
One of the major reasons for AIL achieving huge competitiveness in international markets has been the company’s eco-friendly manufacturing processes and products, a primary concern in the global sourcing business where stringent eco-standards have been set for global procurements, particularly in US and EU markets. AIL’s paper production is based on wheat straw that is estimated to save more than 5000 trees per day.
“Usage of wheat straw as a raw material for paper production is a win-win situation for Abhishek Industries and the wheat growing farmers in the state of Punjab where wheat straw is available in abundance,” said Mr Rajinder Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AIL. “While farmers get remunerative prices for agro residues, we have been able to successfully overcome the constraints on availability of raw material, primarily wood pulp, faced by the industry. Our presence in Punjab, an agricultural hub, has also helped us save on the transit cost of raw material,” Gupta added.
The total branded paper copier market in India is estimated at 3,50,000 tonne per annum and with the strengthening of its product portfolio, the Trident Group will be targeting a 10-12% market share. The company is also putting in place strategies to increase export markets in the Middle East, African and European markets.
"My Choice will enable jobbers to offer high-speed copying on far higher quality paper and satisfy their customers in turn. At the same time, Spectra is targeted at corporate customers for their varied needs of photocopying, printouts and various other printing needs where premium quality and performance are major prerequisites," said Mr KP Reddy, Marketing Head, Abhishek Paper Division.
The major attributes of the company’s new launches are superiority in terms of GSM and Brightness that would give customers greater value. Spectra Copier offers 75 GSM and 88% brightness and My Choice 70 GSM and 86% Brightness with the latter predominantly targeted to jobbers for doing high-speed copying on good quality paper. Spectra can be used for printouts, photocopying, and multipurpose office use and is primarily targeted for corporate customers.
AIL is targeting an export turnover of Rs 100 crore from its paper business. It is currently a major unbranded bulk supplier in the domestic market tobrands likeBig Bazaar and Oxford.
AIL, an integrated paper mill was established in 1993 and has capacities of 175000 tonnes per annum of printing and writing-paper using wheat straw as the main raw material. The company’s high eco-friendly production benchmarks, critical in achieving success in US and EU markets have been achieved since it is the first mill in the world to adapt soda recovery for wheat straw soda chemical pulping and one of the world’s largest wheat straw based paper manufacturers. Ensuring stringent quality control, Abhishek Industries has been successful in ensuring high level of customer acceptance for its eco-friendly products. The company is the major manufacturer of ECF bleached pulp based paper in northern India and is a BIS, ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 18001:1999 accredited company.
Abhishek Industries currently has an installed capacity of producing 400 tonnes per day or 175000 tonne per annum for production of paper of which 22% constitutes production of copier paper and the target is to increase share of copier paper production to 60% of total installed capacity.
The diversified Trident Group with businesses ranging from printing and writing paper, terry towels, cotton yarn, information technology, energy and chemicals, targets an incremental turnover of Rs 400 crore from the expanded branded copier paper portfolio, in the near and long term.
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About Trident Group
The Rs 2500 crore global conglomerate, Trident Group was incorporated in Punjab in 1990. Within just a decade, the group has grown manifold, driven by vision and entrepreneurial capabilities of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Rajinder Gupta.
From a modest beginning today the group businesses encompasses yarn, terry towels, chemicals and paper. Trident is today the world’s largest agro-based paper manufacturer based on wheat straw, employing more than 6,000 people across its various operations.
Abhishek Industries Limited, part of the Trident group, exports to over 54 countries and over 75% of exports shipments are to quality conscious and cost competitive markets in US and Europe. The company has been awarded the “International Supplier of the Year Award’ by Walmart in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
To further enhance global competitiveness the company has taken the following initiatives:
* Additional 42 looms of terry towels at an investment of Rs 36 crore
* 1,00,800 spindles of yarn at an investment of Rs 373.70 crore.
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