FW
The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) won three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals at the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva.
Among the gold medals, two were awarded with special ‘jury commendation’ meaning that these were the best among all the gold medals awarded. One of the gold’s with jury commendation was our in-house project, ‘solvent-assisted dyeing of natural fiber.’
According to Edwin Keh, HKRITA's CEO the success of HKRITA at Geneva this year is a great encouragement. This is especially because of the high praise they received for their in-house project. He said, all our projects strive to address the needs of our industry, our economy, and our community. HKRITA will continue to work on innovative solutions and disruptive technologies while driving for a sustainable future. We want these projects to be the first of many more successful collaborations. Hong Kong is the leading global centre for the textile and apparel industry. HKRITA will work hard to support and strengthen the leading position of our industry.
Express say, the burden of an unsold stock coupled with unstable demand may translate in price downtrend for cotton in India for most of the year. While unsold amount of cotton is high on one hand, there have been lower expectations of any big jump in demand for the commodity. Currently cotton price is ruling at Rs 34,200-34,500 per candy of 355 kg and may fall to Rs 33,000 in next month or two. Moreover, according to traders, even if demand rises, the stock is enough to meet the same.
According to recent estimates by the Cotton Association of India (CAI), as against production estimates of 34.10 million bales (a bale of 170 kg) in the cotton year 2015-16, the arrivals till March 31, 2016 have been at around 28 million bales, down by 12 per cent from last year's arrivals of 31.84 million for the said period. Last year, the cotton production stood at 37.5 million bales.
As per the trade estimates, India has exported about 5.5 million bales so far and nearly one million more export is expected by end of the season. On the other hand, some in the industry believe that there is about 4.5 million bales of stock with India which is not sufficient to fulfill the demand in coming days and this may push prices on upside.
Planet Textiles 2016 will take place in Denmark, May 11, 2016. Derek Vollmer, research scientist at US not-for-profit Conservation International; Javier Goyeneche, president and founder of Spanish apparel brand Ecoalf; Nicole Ryecroft, executive director of Canopy; Cecilia Brannsten, sustainability project manager, H&M; and Manohar Samuel from Indian fiber producer Aditya Birla will speak at the event. Delegates from over 30 countries will attend the event that spans the complete textile and clothing supply chain.
Ecoalf is an unique fashion brand based on recycled materials recovered from the marine environment. It is supporting the Upcycling the Oceans project that helps to remove waste from oceans thanks to the support of local fishermen. A fleet of 180 vessels is already taking part in the project, which will soon expand to the entire coastline of Spain to recover deep sea waste. The main objective for Ecoalf is to recover the trash that is destroying the Mediterranean Sea and transform it into top quality yarn to produce fabrics and tailored clothes and accessories.
Conservation International is working on a new project with leaders in the apparel sector to assess and mitigate risks to water basins in textile producing regions such as China and Cambodia through the development of a freshwater health index.
During the mid-1990s, clothing and apparel corporations began receiving pushback from consumers regarding social, environmental and economic sustainability. In an effort to qualify the process of investing in corporate sustainability, University of Missouri researchers examined two major international apparel brands, Nike and Adidas, to determine the paths taken to reach corporate sustainability. Saheli Goswami, a doctoral student in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, says that while both companies are currently models of corporate sustainability, they took very different paths to reach the end goal.
Goswami and Jung Ha-Brookshire, an associate professor of textile and apparel management at MU, in their study examined the strategies used by Nike and Adidas from 1995 to 2012 to improve their environmental impacts, working conditions in their manufacturing plants, and other factors for sustainability. The researchers found that Adidas seemed to have been proactive early, establishing that they wanted to be a leader in the corporate sustainability movement. The researchers determined that Adidas, being an international and European brand, was motivated to become more sustainable due to opportunity for exposure through FIFA, the international soccer organization that runs the World Cup.
On the other hand, the MU researchers found that Nike initially seemed to have been resistant to the idea of corporate sustainability, actively resisting change and consumer protest in the late 1990s. Nike then appeared to take a reactionary approach until 2004, when the company decided to become transparent about their production practices. By 2010, Nike fully had transitioned to view sustainability as a driver of growth and a core business strategy. Goswami says this is an important realization for other companies to observe.
IT city Bangalore saw protest as thousands of textile workers occupied roads and streets to protest against the government of India’s decision to impose some restrictions on the conditions of Provident Fund (PF) withdrawal, which was withdrawn later on.According to police, the protestors set two Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and one of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus on fire. They attacked Hebbagodi Police Station and pelted stones at the station building. Several seized vehicles parked in the police station compound were also burned.
Surprisingly, the protestors were gathered at their own will and there were no trade organizations or leaders to head them. The mob went violent in different parts of the city including Bannerghatta, Jalahalli cross, and Electronic City, where the campuses of major IT companies are situated. Bangalore-Mysuru highway and Bangalore-Hosur road, both important roads connecting the IT hub with adjacent cities, were blocked for hours by the protesters. There are about 12 lakh workers in the garment sector of Bangalore. Workers from other sectors also joined the protest.
Following the protests, the government withdrew the condition that workers can withdraw only 50 per cent of their PF savings before retirement and will have to wait till 58 to withdraw the employer’s share of the PF.
For the first time, government of India and the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) have zeroed in on Surat's textile industry to promote its fabrics as an emerging brand. A two-day long buyer-seller meet will be organized under the 'Source India' programme from August 13 in Diamond City, Surat which is also the country’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) industry.
More than 100 fabric importers and garment manufacturers from across West Asia, Africa and South America will come down to Surat for direct sourcing of fabrics manufactured in Surat. The city has emerged as a leading centre of production of synthetic fabrics, especially polyester filament fabrics. The daily production of fabrics is pegged at 4 crore meters.
SRTEPC officials said that around 35 per cent of fabrics manufactured in Surat go into manufacturing of garments of men, kids and women. Most of the fabrics are supplied to buyers in Delhi, from where they are supplied to garment manufacturers across the country and even abroad.
According to SRTEPC vice-chairman Narain Aggarwal, the two-day buyer-seller meet will provide an international platform to Surti entrepreneurs. The fabrics manufactured in Surat reach international market via different channels. This is the first time that importers and garment manufactures from across the world are coming to Surat to deal directly with the fabric manufacturers here.
India’s cotton output is estimated to be 341 lakh bales for the 2015-16 season. The total output for the 2014-15 crop year stood at 382.75 lakh bales. The lower crop estimate is mainly due to crop damage in the northern region due to whitefly attack. The total crop estimated in the northern zone during the season 2015-16 is 40 lakh bales, down from 53.50 lakh bales last year.
Arrivals of cotton during the ongoing 2015-16 season continue to lag behind last year’s arrivals. Arrivals during the 2015-16 season up to the end of March 2016, which are estimated at 280.15 lakh bales, are lower by about 12 per cent than the 318.45 lakh bales that had arrived till the same period last year.
This reduction in arrivals during the ongoing cotton season is also a clear indication of a lower crop this year. Total cotton supply for the 2015-16 season is estimated at 428.60 lakh bales with domestic consumption likely to account for 305 lakh bales. That would leave a surplus of 123.60 lakh bales.
Deliveries of raw cotton to Indian mills have fallen 12 per cent this season. Cotton plays an important role in the Indian economy as the country's textile industry is predominantly cotton based. India is one of the largest producers as well as exporters of cotton yarn.
Turkey’s plan to impose anti-dumping duties on US cotton imports will drive up costs for its own textile producers, hurting the competitiveness of their exports. Turkey has decided to place a three per cent duty on US cotton imports, saying that US cotton is hurting the domestic cotton industry.
The spat is likely to put strain on trade relations between one of the world's top fiber growers and one of its biggest customers at a time of weak global prices and demand. Imports on a cost, insurance and freight basis will incur due to anti-dumping duties.
Turkey’s decision is expected to push up raw material costs of textile producers by two or three per cent and affect price competitiveness of Turkish exports. Turkey is the second biggest buyer of US cotton, with shipments ranging from 1.5 million to 2 million bales per year. Turkey exported 17 billion dollars worth of garments and ready-to-wear clothing last year and eight billion dollars worth of textiles and raw materials.
US cotton prices have been under pressure from huge global inventories as demand for manmade fibers like polyester has stolen market share. In fact the world’s cotton farmers are struggling with weak prices.
Annual clothing sales in China will grow 25 per cent in 2019 compared to 2014. Which means China will surpass the US as the world's largest apparel market by the end of the decade. Despite strengthening of Chinese currency and rising raw material and labor costs which directly impact the Chinese clothing market, China still continues to be a global leader.
Chinese e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and others will constitute up to 50 per cent of the global e-commerce market by 2018. Apparels made in China for the US export has an applied tariff rate as high as 9.63 per cent for textiles and 16.05 per cent for clothes; free trade agreements under negotiation may see that replaced by products made in Asia.
China is one of the world’s biggest apparel producers and apparel retail markets. The country’s apparel retail sales in 2013, increased 11.6 per cent from the previous year. However, the double digital growth rate was still lower than the 18 per cent year-on-year growth in 2012 and 24.2 per cent in 2011.
Household spend on clothing in China in 2013 accounted for 10.6 per cent of their total annual expenditure compared to around three per cent of household annual expenditure in the US.
Clothing and accessories fair Chic Autumn will be held in China October 11 to 13, 2016. The exhibition will take place in an area of 53,000 sq. mt. Approximately 700 exhibitors from 23 countries and 65,000 trade visitors are expected, arriving mainly from all over China and other, principally Asian, countries.
Chic will continue and strengthen the accompanying support for exhibitors such as match-making and public relations activities, as well as further network measures. Chic is considered the bridge into the Chinese consumer market. The personal, face-to-face business at the fair deepens knowledge and requirements for the entry into this market. Simultaneously the participants who are already represented in China are gradually expanding their market presence with their participation in Chic.
Chic 2016 will integrate brand and channel ecology, fully display and help garment brands find themselves in the fast-changed ecology and match and evolve with the channel ecology swiftly. The show will extend the information of distributors, agents and franchisees, optimize the resources of department stores and shopping centers, mine e-business platforms, buyers and multi-brand stores, absorb the resources of financing mergers and cross-border cooperation.
The main product categories to be showcased are men’s, women’s, children’s, casual, leather, fur, accessories.
