Catering to customers in 15 countries, Ludhiana based Square Corporation is an international supplier of yarn, working from country to country on their strengths. From a small agency in early ’90s, catering only to Bangladesh market, Square has grown into a robust yarn sourcing and service company of India with an annual turnover of US $ 236 million in 2013. “I entered Bangladesh in 1991 and at that time the RMG sector was typically an owner-driven small/medium enterprise, the capacities were small and very few companies had vertical setup (composite setup) because of which the factories were dependent on Indian spinning mills for their yarn requirements. Sensing a business opening and seizing the opportunity, there has been no looking back,” shares Vivek Verma, Managing Director, Square Corporation.
No doubt, the scaling up of the spinning sector in India with companies adding capacities and many new spinning mills coming up between 1991-1997, coincided with the growth of the RMG sector in Bangladesh as many new and large garment factories were set up during that period, presenting an opportunity of logical growth for Square Corporation. Today, with own offices in Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey, and associate offices in Korea, China, Hong Kong, Colombia, Peru, Tunisia and Brazil, Square is catering to leading European and US brands and department stores by offering competitive sourcing of all kinds of yarns from Asian countries, having different strengths.
So, while India and Pakistan’s strength are 100% cotton, poly cotton and mélange yarns, China is strong in synthetic (100% polyester, polycotton and acrylic) and mélanges. Thailand is strong in 100% polyester and polycotton and Korea in 100% cotton, while Vietnam’s strength lies in its polycotton and 100% cotton (mainly carded). Specialty yarns such as mélanges, value-added cotton and its blends are being sourced from Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam. “Our services go beyond being a supplier of yarns; we give competitive sourcing and quality assurance. We do pre-shipment inspections and continuously feed our customers with information on market news, trends and fluctuation in prices,” informs Vivek according to whom, the continuous endeavour is to reduce cycle time for samples, production and shipments.
Besides the wide variety of yarn that is available to its clients, the information sharing that Square Corporation provides is also a winning edge. “Our buyers prefer working with us instead of working directly with spinning mills because over a period of time we have won their trust by sharing honest market feedback. Based on our information network we advise when to buy; we try to locate correct supplier for each buyer depending on their quality needs; they also have faith in our quality testing procedures and they expect us to resolve any problem that arises during the course of business. In a way we work like their yarn buying department,” avers Vivek.
Recently, the company celebrated 25 years of association with Bangladesh, inviting several business associates both from Bangladesh and India to be a part of the merriment. The event drew in big names including the MD’s & CEOs of Envoy Textiles, Knit Asia, Benetex Industries, GMS Composite, Robintex, Anowara Group, Comfit Composite, to mention a few along with senior management of the Indian yarn manufacturing companies like Vardhman Polytex Ltd., Nahar Spg. Mills Ltd., RSWM, Ahuja Cotspin.
Though the company has an enviable track record of service, the biggest challenge in the present scenario is lead times, which are getting shorter even as the prices are constantly under pressure. However, the margins for value-added yarns are still good. “Price is definitely important but not the main concern especially for value-added yarns,” concludes Vivek who is now looking at increasing the product basket by supplying related products like raw cotton, woven and knitted fabrics in future.
