Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of Astral Pipes – Leading CPVC Piping Producer In India

Quick Stats on Astral Pipes

Founder	Sandeep Engineer
Year Founded	1996
Origin	Gujarat, India
No. of Employees	4,500+
Company Type	Public
Market Cap	Rs 42,870.34 Crore (2022)
Annual Revenue	Rs 2,507.00 Crore (2021)
Net Income/ Profit	Rs 127.3 Crore (2021)

 

Products By Astral Pipes

The following are the best-selling products of Astral Pipes:

• Plumbing Pipes
• PVC Pipes
• CPVC Pipes
• Water Tanks
• Cable Protection

Competitors of Astral Pipes 

Astral Pipes competes on a global level with many other plumbing industries,  the top 4 competitors of Astral Pipes are

• Finolex Inds
• Epl Ltd
• Mold-Tek Pack
• INEOS Styrolution

Now that we know everything we need to know about Astral Pipes, let’s start with the SWOT analysis of Astral Pipes.

SWOT Analysis Of Astral Pipes

SWOT analysis is like a formula for identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) that a market possesses for a company. The main objective of this analysis is to help us, as investors and the company, to make business decisions wisely.

By using this method, we analyze where the company is falling short, where it is excelling, and what needs to be worked upon.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of Astral Pipes, refer to the infographic below:

So let us first start by looking at the strengths of Astral Pipes from the SWOT analysis of Astral Pipes

Strengths of Astral Pipes

The strengths of a firm can be positive qualities that help the company to maintain goodwill in the market or give it a competitive advantage. Mentioned below are some of Astral Pipe’s strengths: 

• Talent Management: Human resources are integral to the success of Astral Pipes in their pipes, plumbing & drainage industry.
• Rising Returns: In the last, over 5.9 years Astral Poly Technik’s returns for Nifty 500 are about 375.3%.
• Strong Brand Recognition: Astral Pipes products have strong brand recognition in the plastic & rubber industry. This has enabled the company to charge a premium compared to its competitors in the fabricated plastic & rubber industry.
• The Success of New Product Mix: Astral Pipes provides exhaustive product mix options to its customers. It helps the company in catering to various customer segments in the plastic & rubber industry.
• Associate Partner: Astral Pipes are associated with IPL i.e. The Indian Premier League. The company is the official partner of the team Chennai Super Kings and associate partner of Mumbai Indians & Gujarat Titans in 2022. Being a sponsor and partner of such a big event gives Astral Pipes solid brand recognition and increases revenues. 
• Quality Products: Astral Pipes provide quality piping solutions that cater to today’s consumer needs. Astral Pipes offers innovative product designs, created using extensive industry know-how coupled with the latest technology to assure world-class quality.
• Strong Corporation: The Astral Pipes corporation has a strong brand name, high-profit margins and revenues and employees of more than 4,500 people.
• CSR Initiatives: Astral Pipesoration is always ahead to build a better tomorrow for the youth of the nation through continuously working on CSR activities including digital education programs, women empowerment, environment and health safety of people in rural areas. This in turn has increased the brand’s reputation in the public’s eye.
• Successful in its Market: It is the most successful corporation in the pipes, plates & coil market and it is one of the top companies in India in the line pipes sector. The firm has strong advertising and branding, as well as recognition from various awards.

Weaknesses of Astral Pipes

Weaknesses are the areas where the company is lacking behind and needs improvement. Let’s have a look at the weaknesses of Astral Pipes:

• Declining Market Share: The pipe industry is growing at a rapid pace as compared to the company. Hence, Astral Pipes needs to analyse what it needs to do to continue to capture the rising market.
• Expensive Supply Chain & Logistics Network: with the changing market, Astral Pipes has to come up with a new more effective and holistic robust supply chain.
• No More a Monopoly: With the declining cost of setting up a company and building a brand, conglomerates like Astral Pipes are having a hard time remaining a monopoly in their sector.
• Inability to Pivot: Even after so many years, Astral Pipes hasn’t extended its product line significantly. This will be a drawback as and when new players enter the market.
• Business Model: Astral Pipes can be easily imitated by competitors in the fabricated plastic & rubber industry. To overcome these challenges Astral Pipes needs to build a platform model that can integrate suppliers, vendors and end-users.

Opportunities for Astral Pipes

Opportunities are uncontrollable external events a person can potentially leverage. These are favourable external factors that could give an organisation a competitive advantage.

• Increasing Government Regulations: It is difficult for the unorganised and illegal players to operate in the pipes, plates & coil industry. This will ensure that Astral Pipes’ customer base increases.
• Customers Migrating to Higher End Products: Customers are increasingly making choices based on quality rather than the price which will help Astral Pipes as it has a strong brand value.
• Local Collaboration: Tie-up with local players can also provide opportunities for growth for Astral Pipes in international markets. The local players have local expertise while Astral Pipes can bring global processes and execution expertise to the table.
• Strategic Acquisitions: Strategic acquisitions will help the company to achieve further economies of scale and enhance its product portfolio. The joint ventures between rural companies in India have made Astral Pipes the largest pipes & fabricated plastic manufacturing company in India.

Threats to Astral Pipes

Threats are the external factors that may cause loss to the firm over time or all at once. Some of these are stated below keeping Astral Pipes in mind:

• Competition: Competition from existing and foreign players is a huge threat to Astral Pipes. Some of the competitors are Finolex Inds, Epl Ltd and Mould-Tek Pack etc. Finolex is its biggest competitor and is the market leader. Due to this ongoing competition, there are price cuts which lead to a decrease in profit margin.
• Government & Environmental Regulations: The government has slightly different and more strict laws for the pipe industry to maintain its control over the consumption of natural resources. While on the other hand organisations concerned about the environment also have their eyes on Astral Pipes’ activities.
• Changes in the Prices of Raw Materials & End Products: For pipe making, it requires PVC resin, DOP, stabilisers, processing aids, lubricants, colours, fillers etc. All these resources are scarce and procuring them is a difficult task. Sometimes it’s very difficult to mine in certain areas hence the prices of these materials keep on increasing and even the end products prices tend to change, this is a backdrop of Astral Pipes.
• Local Distributors: Growing local distributor strengths pose a challenge in some areas since competition pays larger margins to local distributors.

This ends our comprehensive SWOT analysis of Astral Pipes. Let us conclude our learning below.