Baltex2000 to Open Distribution Point on Spanish-Portuguese Border
March 26, 2001
Tallinn, Estonia – The 100-year-old mill Baltex2000 has just added an agent to increase sales in Spain and is open a distribution center on the border between Portugal and Spain, according to Mati Sirkel, business development and research. It will be the second Continental distribution center for the Eastern European mill.
Sirkel, who has a background in both business and law, drove the creation one year ago of a Baltex distribution point in Germany.
"Some clients prefer to receive the goods from European Union centers," he said. "They dislike export and import trade procedures and currencies, so we established the warehouse in Germany."
While new agents and distribution points are part of Baltex's natural growth, they are also a response to a changing industry in which Eastern European countries have not only lost a viable trading partner in Russia but are also beginning to feel the heat of competition from companies in Asia and Russia.
In reaction, the company has switched production to more high value, technical products. "We were starting to face what European weavers had to face 10 to 15 years ago: coming out of commodities. We needed to make more specialized products. It gives us more work to produce something like 30 different qualities at least, which is quite large for a weaving mill."
However, Sirkel said that these competitors aren't a full-fledged threat yet. "They are still five to 10 years behind us in terms of quality and general business-mindedness. "You pay for one thing and you get something else. Or you get it one year later or not at all."
In the course of its annual production of some 20,000,000 meters of greige cotton, Sirkel said that Baltex adheres to European Union quality standards. Baltex, which also weaves fabric, buys the raw material for its weaves from the U.S., Egypt and Asia. "We're looking for certain qualities and blends for products." It weaves heavy and light, and wide and narrow pieces, ranging from 150 centimeters to 360 centimeters. The average price is $1 a meter but it ranges from $.60 to $2.50, or $3 if the products are spun with the highest quality yarn, Sirkel said. Overall, its output is evenly split between apparel and textiles.
Lately, the company has been searching for more trade partners. "Business is slowing heavily and now the dollar is weakening so it's a double whammy," he said. 98 percent of its product is exported to E.U. countries, including Italy, the U.K. and Germany. It does a "small business" in Spain, Portugal, France. "We're also starting some trading in Hungary, Romania, Poland," Sirkel said. "We hope to increase relations with U.S. partners and companies. In most countries, we sell directly to converters and end-users, but in the U.S., we still work with importers."
Sirkel said that company ships orders within five days if the product is in stock. Ships leave the Estonian harbors two times a week. He said that the longest time required for goods to arrive at U.K. points is seven days. The company asks for 15,000 meter minimums, but it fills sampling requests occasionally and sends palettes of 2,000 to 3,000 meters. It sends goods to its German warehouse frequently, so that shipping to France, Spain, Belgium and Italy may take from two to five days.
Sirkel, who has a background in both business and law, drove the creation one year ago of a Baltex distribution point in Germany.
"Some clients prefer to receive the goods from European Union centers," he said. "They dislike export and import trade procedures and currencies, so we established the warehouse in Germany."
While new agents and distribution points are part of Baltex's natural growth, they are also a response to a changing industry in which Eastern European countries have not only lost a viable trading partner in Russia but are also beginning to feel the heat of competition from companies in Asia and Russia.
In reaction, the company has switched production to more high value, technical products. "We were starting to face what European weavers had to face 10 to 15 years ago: coming out of commodities. We needed to make more specialized products. It gives us more work to produce something like 30 different qualities at least, which is quite large for a weaving mill."
However, Sirkel said that these competitors aren't a full-fledged threat yet. "They are still five to 10 years behind us in terms of quality and general business-mindedness. "You pay for one thing and you get something else. Or you get it one year later or not at all."
In the course of its annual production of some 20,000,000 meters of greige cotton, Sirkel said that Baltex adheres to European Union quality standards. Baltex, which also weaves fabric, buys the raw material for its weaves from the U.S., Egypt and Asia. "We're looking for certain qualities and blends for products." It weaves heavy and light, and wide and narrow pieces, ranging from 150 centimeters to 360 centimeters. The average price is $1 a meter but it ranges from $.60 to $2.50, or $3 if the products are spun with the highest quality yarn, Sirkel said. Overall, its output is evenly split between apparel and textiles.
Lately, the company has been searching for more trade partners. "Business is slowing heavily and now the dollar is weakening so it's a double whammy," he said. 98 percent of its product is exported to E.U. countries, including Italy, the U.K. and Germany. It does a "small business" in Spain, Portugal, France. "We're also starting some trading in Hungary, Romania, Poland," Sirkel said. "We hope to increase relations with U.S. partners and companies. In most countries, we sell directly to converters and end-users, but in the U.S., we still work with importers."
Sirkel said that company ships orders within five days if the product is in stock. Ships leave the Estonian harbors two times a week. He said that the longest time required for goods to arrive at U.K. points is seven days. The company asks for 15,000 meter minimums, but it fills sampling requests occasionally and sends palettes of 2,000 to 3,000 meters. It sends goods to its German warehouse frequently, so that shipping to France, Spain, Belgium and Italy may take from two to five days.