Amidst the trading houses in Vietnam, what makes Sudima International Pte. Ltd. stand out is its consistent commitment to support the nation for its fabric needs. Also, the company has been focused to pick specialized fabrics from Vietnam and export it to several countries – Not many have been doing it consistently. “Our commitment to deliver quality product to customers builds a relationship based on trust, and this is what has taken us so far,” said Alok Bharti, Chief Representative, Sudima International Pte. Ltd. when Team Apparel Resources met him recently.
Sudima International Pte. Ltd. was established in Singapore in 1994. Within 3 years, the company started its operations in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Considering that the company started in Vietnam at a time when the country was struggling to find a place in the world arena, the achievements of Sudima International became more commendable. “Sudima started as a source of raw materials in Vietnam and spinning industry was very small here at that time. However, it was a strategic port catering to many Asian countries and we knew that it’s not too long before we leave a mark in Vietnam,” averred Alok.
Today, the company has business interests in international trading, manufacturing and distribution. Besides textiles, Sudima is into timber, agriculture commodities, iron ore and pharmaceuticals as well. However, textile sector constitutes almost 38 per cent out of all the 5 divisions currently handled by the enterprise.
Sudima International majorly supplies raw materials to almost all prominent garment factories in Vietnam. Additionally, the company exports the yarn produced in Vietnam to other parts of the world. Though the locally produced yarn has a huge demand in China, the company has been mainly exporting to other countries as well like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Columbia, Brazil, Peru and Argentina. However, the European market has been a bit on the slower side for the firm.
Sudima also exports cotton yarn, but has always faced strong competition from India. “India has 52 million spindles, whereas Vietnam has only 7.2 million, but Vietnamese yarn has a special benefit of zero duty,” reasoned Alok. Poly cotton yarn exported by Sudima International has a huge demand in countries like Turkey and Brazil, who don’t have a spinning industry. Alok avers, “Our customers are pleased with the quality of yarn exported by us and there is nothing more satisfying than having satisfied customers.” The company today produces 500 containers of (combined) filament yarn, cotton yarn and poly cotton yarn every month.
Vietnam, sadly, lacks textured yarn. Though the country has a good industry, yet it imports around 30,000 tonnes of textured yarn every month and Sudima too imports them. Alok substantiates by saying, “We import filament yarn, Lycra and so on from other countries and cater directly to our customers – local industries and small scale industries. These industries order every month according to their demands and needs.”Sudima International mainly imports from China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and some parts of Indonesia.
Sudima’s commitment and competence in international trading and business assures best quality exports worldwide. They have also ventured into technical upgradation system wherein the team visits the garment units to study and analyse the production efficiency. While explaining how the system works, Alok mentions, “If necessary, our team visits garment factories for 2 or 3 days and records all the productivity details, and based on these details, we tell the factory what exactly is their productivity level and efficiency level. We also tell them that with the existing set-up and similar machinery, we have a scope of so much percentage of growth.”
The company believes that if people are trained with a good system, it can help the factory witness a significant growth of 8 to 10 per cent in a defined time frame. It is ensured that training is provided to groups and not individuals, so that knowledge is shared easily and quickly. Additionally, Sudima is also into the sale and purchase of renowned textile machines – be it spinning machines, knitting machines, weaving machines and so on. “It’s all trading,” said Alok.
Some of the renowned factories Sudima is associated with are Formosa from Taiwan and several Vietnamese establishments like PhongPhu Corporation, Vinatex, Hanoi Textile, 18th May, and so on. Notably, the company has been working with lot of Korean factories as well.
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a country grow with the company. “The real worth of your company is when you see it as a contributor to country’s growth and that’s what Sudima has been doing all these years,” said a confident Alok. The export of Vietnam in 2016 was 28.2 billion and so the growth is very significant – 10 per cent growth every year is no mean achievement.
Alok adds that if Vietnam is able to maintain a similar volume of export, the garment industry here will be at the top by 2022. He supports his statement by saying, “Vietnam has so many advantage. In addition to being politically stable, the country has well-connected ports here, which makes transportation easier. Import is doing good. There are no strikes here which are common in other south-east Asian countries. Importantly, the workers are efficient and they learn everything very quickly.”
In addition to having an impeccable infrastructure, the country has surplus power supply. Uninterrupted power supply enables steady production which results in producing a better quality output. Alok feels that there is no place better than Vietnam for doing textile business. He adds, “The world is now taking Vietnam as an authentic and quality-oriented destination.”
Alok is vocal in expressing his views on the country doing exceedingly well without Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). “The industrial growth is 48%. If TPP was there, we would have been dependent. Vietnam is now free to cater to the globe without any restrictions. We are going to be world leaders in next 3 years,” claimed a confident Alok. The free trade agreements (FTAs) too will help the country procure lot of orders and do the exports – So the nation is only going to grow.
Alok is not even perturbed by the emergence of countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Cambodia seems to have lost the race to Vietnam despite being there for a long time. He reasons, “Cambodia has lot of issues like child labour and non-payment of minimum wages. If you pay less, you cannot expect any efficiency.” Despite good infrastructure and numerous opportunities available, Ethiopia seems to be infected by the germ of political instability. Alok mentions “Political instability breeds corruption. Putting money in an industry is not just to make profit, but also to give something to the country you are based.”
If none of these countries can pose any threat to the growth of Vietnam, then how can the rise of electronics sector be a cause of alarm? The garment workers will never be at ease working in electronics sector despite the latter paying good remuneration. Alok adds, “The level of knowledge required in electronics sector is different from that required in garment sector. Even with less education, the worker can be good enough for garment and textile industry but they will not be competent to be fit for electronics industry. So, there is nothing to worry for the garment industry.”
Talking of challenges, Alok says lack of dyeing houses in Vietnam makes fabric expensive than other countries. “You can’t have everything in white; apparel has to be colourful. With dyeing parks coming up, I believe that in next 2 to 3 years, the cost of dyeing will come down and the quality of dyeing will go up,” said Alok.
For Sudima, quality has always come first. It caters to the market with the brand name. The company has always put the name of the buyer on the product and even goes an extra mile to make their buyers visit the factories and vice versa. “We keep everything transparent and transparency builds trust. This makes all of us happy. We are providing service, which grows on trust. Trust is personalized. We say with pride that we have honoured all our commitments and that is what has made Sudima what it is today – An embodiment of quality, trust and commitment,” concluded Alok.
