Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) is the first fully integrated viscose rayon producer in Asia from plantation to viscose fibre. As a member of the RGE Group, which was founded by Sukanto Tanoto in 1973, APR produces natural and biodegradable viscose rayon used in textile products. APR is focusing largely on the Bangladesh market and is confident of meeting the growing demand in the Bangladesh market with their cellulosic fibers like viscose and Lyocell products.
APR organized a customer seminar titled “Viscose & Lyocell opportunities for Bangladesh textile industry” Where, Bangladesh textile and apparel industry’s key players including APR’s partners participated and shared their remarkable journey at the event. At present Bangladesh has been a major market for APR and the business has grown significantly. In the last 12 years, business has grown by 15%. Thus, the country remains a key market for APR. In fact, the market’s leading textile entities are more and more exploring cellulosic fibers to diversify their product basket. APR is committed to being a leading partner of this future growth driver.
Globally, APR will continue to invest to make its presence more prominent over the years. By next year, APR’s concern company SATERI will be the largest Lyocell fiber producer globally. Mr. Sachin Malik, Global Sales Head of APR provided he welcome speech and presentation on Global Outlook. Mr. Sachin said, “There is a significant projected increase in the demand for fibers, particularly driven by the expected growth in Man-made cellulosic fiber (MMCF). APR is dedicated to becoming the leading MMCF producer and ensuring stability in the supply chain to meet the evolving requirements of brands and customers.”
APR has achieved, in terms of addressing these targets, over the last three years. They have already explained in the last Sustainability Report, they reduced greenhouse gas emission intensity by 88%, sulfur emission intensity by 55%, water consumption intensity by 35%, hazardous waste intensity by 28%, and energy intensity by 18.6% against their 2019 baseline. The company has sold approximately in 15-20 countries globally, including key markets like Bangladesh, Turkey and Pakistan since it began operating in 2019.
Tapan Sannigrahi, Vice President, Marketing and Downstream Development, APR informed, “We are very optimistic about Bangladesh market. We are very pleased to see the response of our stakeholders attending this event, and we are positive that we can work together with them to transform Bangladesh as a hub for the region’s sustainable apparel industry. We believe we can tap into the growing demand in the Bangladesh market with our viscose and Lyocell products.”
He added, “Since APR started back in 2019, Bangladesh has become APR’s second-largest market outside Indonesia. We are constantly working with the key players in the market on an ongoing basis to provide the products they need. We are seeing strong demand from our customers for APR fibers because of our exceptional quality and service. We are also actively introducing Lyocell as a sustainable alternative in this market.”
“We are working with not only the spinning mills but also fabric and garment mills to grow the overall market for viscose. Before 2018, viscose consumption was coming in at around 2000-3000 tonnes a month, whereas today this has increased to 8000-10000 tonnes per month. So, there has been rapid growth in the last five years,” Mr. Tapan Sannigrahi added.
APR’s market share has grown steadily, and the company has also seen an increase in Lyocell consumption. Speakers also highlighted that compared to other man-made cellulosic fibres, Lyocell is more sustainable. Hence, increased Lyocell utilization in garment production holds promising opportunities to make Bangladesh a hub for sustainable textiles.
Photo: Guests include textile & apparel industry leaders, experts, stakeholders
At the event, APR’s leading Bangladesh customers also took to the stage to express their feelings about working with APR. Hasib Uddin, Chairman, APS Group said, “We find APR different as APR is a vertical fiber producing company – who have started from plantation to finished products. The company is a leader in ensuring environmental, ecological and economic sustainability. This is one of the paramount reasons for APR’s huge success.”
Taslimul Hoque, Director – Operations, SQUARE Textiles said, “We have been using APR’s viscose fiber since 2019. APR should focus more on increasing artificial cellulosic fiber scopes in Bangladesh.”
Michael Ren, In Charge of Overseas Business Department, Dymatic Chemicals, Inc. had a presentation on LYOLINK Technology- Solutions for Lyocell Fibrillation Control”
With a strong focus on sustainability, APR operates a world-class viscose staple fiber production facility that meets and exceeds multiple safety, quality, and sustainability requirements and guidelines. In the event, around 200 textile industry leaders, experts, stakeholders and APR’s high-officials were present.
In terms of sustainability, speakers highlighted that APR launched its ambitious APR2030 sustainability agenda back in 2021. Which is comprised of a set of long-term sustainability targets across four pillars. The first one is about climate and nature positivity, the second is clean manufacturing, the third and fourth are circularity lastly inclusive prosperity.
