LohiaCorp builds fibre capability through US and Italian deals

Lohia Corp Limited is building fibre and monofilament capability through the 2019 Leesona acquisition, Leesona’s 2024 purchase of JJ Jenkins and OMGM in Italy, alongside further deal screening; management targets a high-performance-fibres market it says can grow at an 8-10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to more than US$28 billion by 2030.

How is LohiaCorp expanding beyond woven-raffia machinery?

LohiaCorp is expanding beyond woven-raffia machinery through three overseas transactions that added fibre winding and monofilament-extrusion activities. It acquired Leesona Corp assets in the United States in 2019, and Leesona acquired JJ Jenkins in the United States in 2024. The strategy presentation also identifies OMGM in Italy as an acquisition for monofilament extrusion.

These additions sit alongside LohiaCorp’s established machinery for polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) woven fabric and sacks, also called raffia. Its core equipment covers tape extrusion, tape winding, circular weaving, coating and lamination, printing, bag conversion and recycling. The acquired businesses add high-speed take-up machines for high-performance fibres and monofilament extrusion lines, rather than replacing the established raffia range.

LohiaCorp’s plan includes more than completed transactions. Management says a dedicated team is screening further mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances for the high-performance-fibres strategy. The presentation does not disclose purchase consideration, revenue, profit or order-book contribution for Leesona, JJ Jenkins or OMGM.

What products do Leesona and OMGM add to LohiaCorp’s range?

LohiaCorp adds high-speed take-up machines for high-performance fibres through Leesona and monofilament extrusion lines through OMGM. OMGM’s lines process PP, HDPE and major engineering thermoplastic polymers, expanding the group’s equipment range beyond machinery primarily used for woven-fabric and sack production.

The technical distinction is visible in LohiaCorp’s wider portfolio. Its tape extrusion lines produce PP and HDPE tapes with melt capacity of 150 to 1,000 kilograms per hour, while its circular looms weave tubular or flat PP and HDPE fabrics at widths from 15 to 295 centimetres. Its extrusion coating and lamination machines have working widths of 1,600, 2,500 and 4,000 millimetres.

Woven raffia remains the group’s disclosed market base. LohiaCorp reported a 15.4% global market share by value in woven-raffia machines in calendar year 2024 and a 40.7% India market share by value in financial year (FY) 2025. Packaging accounted for 84% of global woven-raffia market volume in calendar year 2024, compared with 16% for non-packaging uses including geotextiles, ground cover, roof underlayment, ropes and twines.

The strategy identifies high-performance fibres as a separate growth market that management says could exceed US$28 billion by 2030. That market forecast is management’s target context for the acquisitions, not a disclosed LohiaCorp revenue forecast. The presentation gives no target for fibre or monofilament sales, market share or profitability.

What international platform can LohiaCorp use for this expansion?

LohiaCorp has six manufacturing facilities, including sites in Burlington, North Carolina, and Como, Italy, which support its international footprint. The Burlington site covers 735 square metres and the Como site covers 1,350 square metres; the presentation lists 700 winders and 12 extrusion lines across the two overseas manufacturing facilities.

The commercial network reaches about 100 export countries across FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026. LohiaCorp had five international offices, stockists in eight countries, 17 exclusive sales agents in major overseas markets and service engineers stationed in 13 countries. Overseas revenue represented 42% of FY2026 revenue.

The order book was Rs 1,358.5 crore as of March 31, 2026, but LohiaCorp does not split it by product category, geography or acquired business. Management plans to grow international market share in new geographies, cross-sell to existing and new customers, and expand international warehousing and distribution operations. It also plans to push exports of block-bottom conversion, lamination and printing machines.

Customer concentration decreased in FY2026 compared with FY2025. The top 10 customers accounted for 12.6% of revenue in FY2026, down from 18.1%, while the largest customer accounted for 2.1%, down from 4.2%. These figures cover LohiaCorp’s overall customer base and do not separately identify sales by Leesona, JJ Jenkins or OMGM.

What financial and development resources support LohiaCorp’s plan?

LohiaCorp reported revenue from operations of Rs 594.3 crore in the second quarter of FY2027, up 42% from Rs 418.4 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations for the first half of FY2027 was Rs 1,097.4 crore, up 50% from Rs 733.8 crore in the first half of FY2026. The presentation does not attribute either increase to fibre equipment, monofilament equipment or the acquired businesses.

First-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 76% year on year to Rs 215.6 crore in FY2027, and the EBITDA margin increased to 19.7% from 16.7%. In the second quarter, however, EBITDA margin was 19.4%, versus 20.7% a year earlier, while material margin was 41.4%, versus 45.3%. The figures show higher first-half profit and margin but lower quarterly margins against the prior-year quarter.

Research and development (R&D) spending reached Rs 51.8 crore in FY2026, up from Rs 37.1 crore in FY2025 and Rs 36.8 crore in FY2024. R&D expense represented 3.0% of FY2026 revenue, compared with 2.7% in FY2025. As of March 31, 2026, LohiaCorp had 251 R&D employees, equal to 12.5% of on-roll manpower, as well as 127 patents across India and international markets.

Management is also running its Zero Error Excellence Programme across the production chain and has implemented customer relationship management, stock automation and human-resource management systems. The presentation says these systems are intended to improve efficiency and machinery utilisation, but it provides no quantified operating target or timetable for the programmes.

Conclusion

LohiaCorp’s strategy combines a large woven-raffia equipment base, including 15.4% global market share by value in calendar year 2024, with acquired capability in fibre take-up machines and technical monofilament extrusion. Its 42% overseas-revenue share in FY2026, five international offices and two overseas facilities provide the commercial and manufacturing footprint management intends to use for cross-selling.

The next disclosures to watch are any further transactions from management’s screening of acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances, and progress on its plans for overseas warehousing, distribution and cross-selling. Management also identifies ReclaPro and ReclaMax in the recycling machinery pipeline, but the presentation gives no timetable, investment amount or revenue forecast for those products or for the fibre expansion.