SHANGHAI, PRC — Babei Textiles, China launched its Trevira®CS collections during Intertextile in Shanghai this August and added a new line catering to marine, contract, hotel and yacht applications. 

“Our focus is now greatest in China, Singapore, Taiwan and other Asian markets”, said Yak Wang, President, Zhejiang Babei Textile Co., Ltd. 

Babei is now aiming at the hospitality and cruise line markets and has started with its first collection of 26 patterns and that it expects to shortly enrich with a new range of colors soon. 

“I do think there is a potential big market for these amazing performance fabrics in Asia,” Yang said. The new lines are priced between $10-20 for yarn dyed jacquards, he said. Yak Wang

Babei expects to remain equally focused in its core competencies and will be cautiously treading the growth path for the next three quarters, he added. Silk will continue as Babei’s main stay. Babei is one of the largest global suppliers of silk including to its domestic market. 

About 70% of Babei’s staple product is in its apparel division which produces high end silk ties, which are exported to the developed countries such as the US, Europe and Japan. In respect to decorative fabrics, Babei has built a strong design team for furnishings in China and is backed by its own upholstery design studio in Como, Italy. 

Babei said it is the leading supplier of double width silk jacquard fabrics for bedding and is reportedly the strategic supplier for the top five bedding brands in China. The company also supplies readymade sets to Italian high end customers with dedicated 38 jumbo jacquards with Dornier Rapier looms, which will enable it to satisfy diversified customer needs. “The market conditions have changed in the last nine months and I am concerned about European turbulence but Wang said he is encouraged by steady American markets that are showing signs of stability. 

Within China, real estate and purchase of new homes are dull. As a result, fabric inventories have to be controlled to make sure that Babei continues to remain healthy in all respects. In general, home buying sentiment has slowed down and is likely to remain sluggish for awhile. The average cost of new homes fell to the lowest in Shanghai in September while purchasing activities also dropped notably, according to latest market happenings. Unfortunately demand in general for both domestic and external markets is dull.

“Sales of newly built homes (high end soft decoration market) are crucial but are subdued while the good news is that our important fabric segment for ladies handbags is on the upswing. We had a 20% increase in this segment in the last eight months and the market is healthy for the near future”, Wang observed. He further added that bedding fabrics constitutes 50% in up-market collections for the domestic market. Asked about the way to manage the tight market situation as both domestic and global markets are strained, Yak replied that next few months are critical and the main strategy will be to focus on high quality and innovation. 

About controlling costs in China textile factories, Wang commented that the labor has become expensive (due to inflation) between 10-30 percent and there is not much scope to contain the input costs; but the best efforts are made to keenly contain inventories, he said. Very importantly, Wang is keen to make his best efforts to keep the capacity utilization healthy, which currently varies between 70 to 90 percent. He noted that many small textile companies in China are under stress and are busy in liquidating the finished goods inventories and their continued existence is challenging.

Babei is a vertical integrated company equipped with dyeing, weaving and finishing facilities that produce a pure silk range and silk blends for interior decoration applications. Babei was founded in 1993 and after a decade of rapid growth, it is now the largest necktie manufacturer in China. 

Babei has many leading buyers as its regular customers in the world catering to high-end needs of furnishing and bedding fabrics catering to names such as JAB, Zimmer+Rohde and several other top-end customers. Babei said it owns intellectual copyrights for all of its collections.