Today, we have the privilege of interviewing Sarthak Singh, the Director at SSR POLYPLAST PVT Ltd in Tanzania. Mr. Singh will provide us with insights into the company’s operations and its ambitious project aimed at recycled yarn production
1- Kindly provide a concise overview of SSR company, including information about your products, history, and notable successes.
SSR resonates from SSR consultants and engineers LLP company in India which has Indian ROC. Its primary business is of consultancy of recycled Polyester staple fibre in Indian market project execution and project set up. Now it has done a project of continuous polymerisation also for poly Gurteks in Gaziantep. In the Middle East, it has already tied with Emirates Fiber LLC as a consultant.
As said before, SSR’s primary business is in consultancy of the polyester and PET recycling market in Turkey, and the Middle East and now it is entering into manufacturing with Pet Flakes Transparent being the core product as of now. We will be producing pet flakes of 14,000 tonnes per annum in Dar es Salaam Tanzania.
Our success story in SSR LLP has being very ecstatic my father Mr Rakesh Singh who is an Indian consultant has commissioned 14 lines of recycled PSF and continuous polymerisation in Gaziantep poly gurteks customer of 300 tonnes per day.
So he has achieved 30,000 tonnes per month of recycling PSF in the Indian market customers JB Ecotex, BLS Ecotech, Saheb Fibre, Jai Narain Fabtech and many more. SSR LLP was started in 2007 as a project management consultancy and has tie with Shanghai Pacific in China and Tonghui Chemical Engineering Technology.
This company has aimed to serve customers worldwide with the intention to set up and execute turnkey projects. In SSR LLP we have currently 14 process engineers and 4 mechanical engineers.
2- Could you provide further details about your new project in Tanzania focused on recycled yarn production?
Yes sure, SSR POLYPLAST PVT ltd is being established in Tanzania Dar es Salaam with aim of serving its customers, Meltim kimya Adana will be one of them. it is a washing line which will produce pet flakes white clear transparent flakes only as of now. The plant is expected to be commissioned in June 2024.
As of now for the first 3 years, we are focused on pet flakes only as we will expand our production line with core products being solid and hollow conjugated fibre in recycled PSF. We will also set up a recycle POY DTY from RPET chips in the next five years. Our flakes production capacity is 14,000 tonnes per annum.
Textile industry in Tanzania?
The textile industry in Tanzania is rapidly growing and expected to grow in the next 10 years if I see. The main players in the Tanzania market are METL, and Nida textile mills and more washing lines are coming in Dar es Saleem of Bortech china machine.
PET bottles are one of the fastest-growing segments in plastics providing a hygienic, durable and user-friendly packaging solution for all kinds of bottled drinks, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other liquid products.
As the consumption of PET is growing, so is the quantum of PET waste generated. Pet bottle waste is non-biodegradable in nature (takes thousands of years to decompose) and hence poses a serious threat to soil, water sources and forests and thus is harmful to human beings and other living creatures. Thus, recycling is an environment-friendly activity. So in conclusion, the textile industry market size is huge.
4- How would you assess the potential of the textile and apparel sector in the Middle East and Africa overall?
Apart from its strategic importance in economic terms, the establishment of the project under consideration will provide benefits to the country by saving its valuable foreign currency and generating tax revenue for the Government.
Moreover, it will provide crucial employment and support the development of other industries that are within the company’s supply chain. Finally, the proposed project’s ultimate aim is to supply consumers with high-quality and affordable products, giving them more value for money.
With a solid marketing and sales strategy, effective management, and sound financial planning. The company is well-positioned to become a leading player in the industry. So I presume that the textile and apparel sector in Tanzania has passed through various stages since its independence to date, from a period where most of the textile industries were owned by the government to a period where private companies are the main owners.
The evolution and performance of the textile sector before and after trade liberalization with a focus on the current challenges facing the sector and the ways forward to boost the sector.
The growth of any country’s economy depends on the country’s investment in industries and its ability to export finished goods to other countries has tried to assess the performance of the textile sector in Tanzania.
5- Sustainability and recycling are pivotal topics in the textile sector, particularly in Africa, presenting a golden opportunity. What are your thoughts on this?
We can see that recycling is an upcoming market from Africa and the Middle East. Yes, we can assume that it’s a golden opportunity for us as due to the large demand in the Middle East from Africa and Tanzania. In Tanzania raw materials are cheap and supply is also in good numbers.
The market for plastic materials in the world is very huge; this is because the majority of plastic industries in the world demand plastic material as a raw material; the higher the increasing number of industries, the higher the demand for plastic raw material. The population of plastic industries in the world is approximately 78% which means the demand for plastic raw materials is huge.
This market is so huge suppliers can claim to suffice the needs of the market although there are so many suppliers in the market. There is a huge demand for plastic raw materials in Eastern and Central African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Malawi, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Namibia Ethiopia and also internationally.
The Government of Tanzania also realizes the manufacturing sector’s role in its economic and social development, and as a result, it has developed fiscal and non-fiscal incentives which are instrumental in improving the business and investment environment in the manufacturing sector.
The policy adopted by the Tanzanian Government, which allows a free market economy, has initiated many individuals who are able and willing, to invest in various business ventures.
In addition, foreign investors are coming to Tanzania due to its impressive market size as well as tremendous growth potential. Commitment from the government to development, as reflected by the continuous effort to expand the country’s infrastructure, has led to ever-growing investment activities in every economic strata. The industry sector as a whole is amongst the economic sectors of the country that are benefiting from the prevailing conducive economic policy.
The industry sector is an essential contributor to the economic development of the country. The Government of Tanzania has given due emphasis to the manufacturing sector to accelerate production and productivity so as to bring rapid industrialization and economic transformation, particularly focusing on the expansion of large and medium-scale manufacturing industries, and micro and small-scale manufacturing enterprises.
Thus, the proposed project is in line with the Government’s stand to increase the role of the manufacturing industry for the economy, and eventually realize the long-term vision of industrialization and economic transformation. Because of the above-mentioned factors, the country’s manufacturing sector has a great potential to contribute to the economic growth of Tanzania.
Tanzania has an abundant and resourceful labour force which, if proper training and guidance is given, will bring about remarkable economic growth for the country. Tanzania is also geographically strategically located to its neighbours, which provides it with a strategic advantage and proximity to other East African markets such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Tanzania is also a member of the East African Community, embracing markets with huge potential for exports and imports between member countries and enjoys preferential tariff rates.
Hence, the project sponsors having studied market conditions and the infrastructure in Tanzania is that we are convinced that the project will be able to operate favourable establishment of manufacturing companies that can play a significant role in boosting the country’s export and generating valuable foreign currency influx into the country.
