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Nigeria feels genetically modified insect protected Bt cotton can play a role in restoring farmers confidence in cotton farming as well as reviving and repositioning the textile sector in the country. Cotton farming in Nigeria over the years has suffered because the opportunity cost of planting cotton has remained high. Cotton does not compete favorably against other lower risk crops and this has led to a dwindling of farmers involved in cultivating the crop over time. In addition, seed quality remains a problem affecting yield and by implication farmers’ income and motivation to cultivate. The prevalence of pests which leads to increased expenses in pesticides, unnecessarily hiking cost of inputs upwards, is also another contributing factor.
Lack of confidence by participants across the cotton value chain over the years has restricted the much-needed investment. Genetically modified cotton is expected to improve cotton lint quality and benefit farmers by increasing yields due to reduced insect-pest damage. Also the product is seen as safe to human, animal health and to the environment.
Nigeria is exploring non-oil revenue options to boost public finance. The cotton industry in Nigeria has a high potential for added value generation from raw material to finished goods and is a major employer of urban and rural populations.
Pakistan’s exports to the European Union fell 11.93 per cent during January to November 2015, indicating preferential market access has failed to boost dwindling exports. The main reasons for the decline are: recession in the EU, high unemployment, decline in demand and a fall in non-essential imports in European countries, and the depreciation of the euro against the dollar.
The impact of the GSP Plus scheme on the textile and clothing sector in Pakistan has also been negligible. The sector constitutes 75 per cent of Pakistan’s total exports to the EU under the scheme. Textile and clothing exports to the EU declined by 6.24 per cent year-on-year. Home textile exports dipped 8.51 per cent. Exports of cotton and intermediary goods of textiles reflected a decline of 16.94 per cent year-on-year. In the non-textile sector, exports of carpets and rugs declined by 6.70 per cent.
Pakistan got preferential market access to the EU in January 2014 under the Generalised System of Preferences. In the first year, a growth of 20 per cent was witnessed. But this growth could not be sustained. Exporters say they do not get refunds on time, and that this has created financial problems for them.
The AAP government in Delhi has decided to roll back the hike in VAT on low cost footwear and textiles which was proposed in its budget 2016-17. This was an uniform rate of five per cent on all varieties of textiles and fabrics except khadi and handloom.
Traders opposed the tax. They said this would see a flight of customers to nearby states. With raw material costing five per cent more, the finished products would cost five per cent more too. So buyers would look at Gurgaon and other parts of Haryana and because of this Delhi would lose its distribution character.
Even a five per cent hike in taxes, say traders, is significant since customers would have to bear the higher tax on both the raw material and the finished product. They say other manufacturing hubs like Surat, Mumbai, Malegaon, Erode, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Amritsar and Ludhiana levy no blanket VAT on textiles and fabrics. So they think it's irrational to slash taxes on readymade garments that cost over Rs 5,000 to five per cent but levy a 12.5 per cent tax on cloth that costs Rs 50.
It was felt that with the imposition of VAT, all types of clothes would become costly and affect the livelihood of workers in this trade.
The Indian editions of the world-renowned fairs Ambiente and Heimtextil from Frankfurt will soon return to India. In its third edition now, the third edition of Heimtextil India & Ambiente India will be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to showcase new collections and creative applications of textiles, home furnishings, homeware and interior décor from June 22 to 24, 2016.
Exhibiting companies will expose their business to domestic buying agents and a plethora of modern design concepts, native décor themes, art, colour trends and fresh business ideas through a host of supplementary events. From themed exhibits to inspiring product designs, seminar sessions and experience zones, the platform will offer a quality experience in terms of business and industry networking.
Along with leading brands such as Jindal Steel, Masterkitchen, D'Décor Exports, Raymond Home, Thanor Pottery, Ceramic Home Decoratives, Welspun India, ALPS Industries and Paramount Textile Mills the exhibition will see a state pavilion from Uttar Pradesh, known for its rich heritage of textiles and crafts. There will also be live demos by local artisans at the pavilion to showcase the growing appeal of vintage artefacts.
Well-known brands including Jabong, Fabfurnish, ShoppersStop, Harisons Furnishings, Home Saaz, Carrefour, Jagdish Stores, Sita Fabrics, Green Linen, were present at the exhibition last year making it a prime business hotspot. With a reputation of attracting serious retailers, trade buyers and design experts together with its well-timed pre-festive schedule, the upcoming edition is sure to become an ordering venue for winter and festive collections this season. Further consolidating its visitor focus, the fairs will host an exclusive day for buyers and purchase managers from the hospitality industry this year. The dedicated ‘Hospitality Day’ will see hospitality professionals conduct one-on-one meetings all day with exhibitors for their various hotel properties around the country.
A major highlight at the exhibition last year, the ‘Experience Zone’ in the Interior Lifestyle Awards (ILA) will once again make its way to the show. The concurrent events are sure to attract architects and interior designers on the lookout for distinctive décor concepts. Additionally, Heimtextil India will be hosting expert discussions on trends in the furnishings and textile sector – an exciting value-add for exhibitors, manufacturers and home fashion buyers visiting the fair.
Organised by Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India, the co-located fairs will provide an opportune framework for business to domestic and international brands looking to hit the Indian market with their home fashion collections of the season.
"The fifth edition of the Denimsandjeans.com Bangladesh show ended on a high note. The event saw about 30 exhibitor companies from Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Pakistan, China, Turkey, Indonesia and UAE. The highlight among the buyers’ was the visit of Diesel teams from Italy and India. Nearly 455 companies and over 1,620 visitors from around the world visited the show. These included top retailers, buying houses, major factories and agents."
The fifth edition of the Denimsandjeans.com Bangladesh show ended on a high note. The event saw about 30 exhibitor companies from Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Pakistan, China, Turkey, Indonesia and UAE. The highlight among the buyers’ was the visit of Diesel teams from Italy and India. Nearly 455 companies and over 1,620 visitors from around the world visited the show. These included top retailers, buying houses, major factories and agents.
Top denim trends create a buzz
The show is being pitched not just as a trade show but a denim event where a number of activities take place to bring together global denim fraternity. Here visitors can share their views to enable a closer bonding among them. Denimsandjeans organized a direct live video presentation by the Denim Connoiseur– Leopoldo Durante from Italy. Leopoldo is a denim veteran with over 25 years of experience in denim. Leoploldo has worked with some of the most respected brands in the industry including: Evisu, Versace Jeans, Martelli, Levi’s , Vf, D&G , Cavalli , Mustang and a host of other important names .
He is also the Creative Director of his own eco friendly brand ‘Care Label ‘. Leopoldo gave insights into the denim latest trends for A/W’17 and how there was a large difference in the denim created in US, Europe and Asia. He also explained how these differences would gradually be reduced to bring out more natural and authentic denim over the next two years.
Another live video presentation took place directly from the showroom of Pizarro laundries which enabled visitors to view the latest wash trends in denim . Vasco displayed a large collection of Hi Fashion washes, which their company is undertaking for A/W ’17 .
He brought out some intricate washings on jeans including distressing on multiple patchworks, multiple dyeing , intricate color spotting on jeans and distressing. One of the highlights of his presentation was sublimation printing on various denim and even non denim products including wool. One amazing wash which he showed was a complete change in wash look in the front and back panels of the jeans without having washed them separately !
Zafer Bozdag, a denim consultant from Turkey, threw light on how super stretches are being used by in-brands and the problems faced by producers in using these fabrics . He explained with the help of a big collection of jeans how the varying degree of stretches used can affect the garment and can cause great style or create problems.
There was a panel discussion organized by the GIZ which brought out some of the practical things that companies in the supply chain were doing to create sustainable denim production. Panelists were from reputed companies including H&M, Archroma, Gizpses, Zaber Zubair and Envoy Textiles.
The show also conducted for the second time a competition among the fashion students under the theme ‘ Hi-Fashion Denim’ and for the first time, these students’ collections were part of the runway event FASHIONIM, whereas runway also showcased exclusive collections of Vicunha , Brazil and Envoy Textiles, Bangladesh.
"The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce marketplaces. And the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has clarified that the FDI is only for the marketplace format of e-commerce and not for inventory-led models. It has defined e-commerce as buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic networks."
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce marketplaces. And the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has clarified that the FDI is only for the marketplace format of e-commerce and not for inventory-led models. It has defined e-commerce as buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic networks.
The announcement comes just ahead of Chinese major Alibaba’s proposed entry into India. Also, the move coincides with a recent markdown of valuation of e-commerce companies. Some prominent e-commerce marketplace players in India are Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm and Shopclues. American major Amazon, Flipkart’s biggest rival, entered India as a fully-owned online marketplace player two years ago. Till now, only 51 per cent FDI was permitted in multi-brand retail. The sector had got an estimated $10 billion (Rs 65,000 crores)FDI since its beginning a decade ago. In 2015, around $5 billion (Rs 32,500 crores) of foreign funds were raised by e-commerce companies. Till now, policy guidelines had stated that no FDI was permitted in e-commerce.
Deep discounts: A thing of past
The new policy will hit big e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India who till now made a killing through deep discounting. The new policy puts at risk high-profile events such as Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale during the festive season and Amazon’s Independence Day sale. It was the high flying sales of these companies which were dependent on the high discounts offered by the companies. And the sales resulted in the high valuation of Flipkart, Snapdeal and Paytm. These deep discounts had attracted the ire of brick-and-mortar firms who were losing customers to online retailers. In fact, they had lobbied with the government to rein in the e-commerce firms.
Online marketplace platforms, with players like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal among others hosted thousands of sellers, were described as technology enablers rather than e-retailers. They claimed to have no inventory of their own. That kept them going even with a ban on FDI in e-commerce. The government has now put an official stamp on how these e-commerce majors have for many years operated their business.
The deep discounting by e-commerce firms has attracted the ire of offline stores, which are fighting to survive after losing customers to their online rivals. Offline retailers have lobbied hard with the government to rein in e-commerce firms. “E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain level playing field,” according to a note released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). This means that the imaginative methods used by Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India in funding discounts may have been outlawed.
For instance, Amazon funds discounts by sellers indirectly through a route it calls “promotional funding”. This is how it works: Amazon recommends the amount of discounts to its sellers on products, but doesn’t force them to adopt these suggested prices. Sellers, however, end up keeping these suggested prices because Amazon finances the discounts. At the end of a certain period, sellers send a debit note to Amazon. This note contains the amount of discount that the seller gave on apparel, electronics, toys and other products sold on the site. Amazon then pays the seller by cheque.
Payments and e-commerce firm Paytm offers discounts through so-called cashbacks. Often, the company gives cashbacks—anywhere between 10 and 80 per cent—on products instead of direct discounts; these cashbacks are then returned to customers’ Paytm wallets and are used to buy other products. Then, there’s the matter of sales contributed by a single seller. Flipkart’s largest seller WS Retail Services easily generates more than 25 per cent of the company’s sales; Cloudtail India, the biggest seller on Amazon India, contributes even more. Cloudtail India, a joint venture between Amazon.com and N R Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures, is now the key growth driver for Amazon India, generating at least 40 per cent of the company’s sales in some months,. Cloudtail is particularly dominant in electronics and fashion sales, two of the three largest categories for Amazon India (promoted by Amazon Seller Services). The new regulations mean that Flipkart and Amazon India may have to find new seller entities on their platforms.
Less discounts, blessing in disguise
Many in the retail industry believe that curb on deep discounting will help e-commerce companies spend less on advertising, thus helping them to control their losses. So even if there may be a drop in sales, the companies would be cutting down on their losses. Also, the clause provides a more level playing field between the better-capitalised companies, and those that haven’t received the same amount of funding. It will, as Anil Talreja, Partner at Deloitte Haskin & Sells, points out, will sanitise the whole supply chain. The worst hit by the discount clause, consumer electronics and cellphone makers, are hoping that pricing parity will put an end to predatory pricing in the industry and lead to sustainable growth of the e-commerce marketplace. And as Amarjeet Singh, partner, tax, KPMG in India opines although, some of the structures practiced by existing players may require alteration, it will give the much-needed clarity to undertake business with certainty in longer term. Also, this will further boost foreign investment in this sector. And Kishore Biyani, Chief Executive of Future Group, believes the policy addresses brick-and-mortar retailers concerns and will also prove beneficial for online retailers in the long run.
The government has also made it clear that no one group company or seller on a marketplace can contribute more than 25 per cent of the sales generated on the site.
E-commerce took off in a big way around 10 years ago. Since then the sector has got an estimated 10 billion dollars (Rs 65,000 crores) of foreign investment. In 2015, around 5 billion dollars (Rs 32,500 crores) of foreign funds were raised by e-commerce companies.
The 9th International Symposium of Intimate Apparel, was organized by the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently. The idea was to promote the exchange of the latest knowledge and development of intimate apparel among academics.
The event was supported by world’s leading lingerie and beachwear trade show organiser Eurovet, The Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (HKIAIA), Intimate Apparel Journal, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), Cotton Incorporated, Society of Dyers and Colourists Hong Kong, Textile Institute Association (Hong Kong), as well as The Hong Kong Institution of Textile and Apparel. Under the theme ‘The New Frontier of Intimate Apparel’, the symposium discussed latest trends and development in the global lingerie market. It also sharpened the industry’s competitive advantage to develop its future business and marketing strategies.
The symposium was officially kicked off by Prof John Xin, Chair Professor and Head of ITC, and Mrs Rita Wong, Vice Chairman of HKIAIA and Managing Director of Cerie International.Distinguished local and overseas lingerie experts shared their insights and experience on the new marketing development in the intimate apparel industry. How should brands and retailers position themselves for the new market requirements? What does the educator do to meet the market need. These were some of the topics discussed along the sidelines.
In line with the symposium, three workshops were conducted. Terri Meichner Fisher, President/ CEO of Platinum Coast Retail Consulting, shared her views on ‘Panoramic View of the Intimate Apparel and the Athleisure Market in the US’. Prof. Andrew Sia, Publisher of Intimate Apparel Journal, spoke on ‘South Asia & Southeast Asia Country Reports – The Perspective from an Industrial Veteran’; and Spike Ngai, Manager, Technical Marketing, Supply Chain Marketing Asia of Cotton Incorporated, talked about ‘Opportunities to Use Advanced Cotton’.
Established with strong industrial support in 2005, the Ace Style Institute of Intimate Apparel of ITC is the first lingerie institute in the Asia Pacific. Over the years, the Institute’s research has reaped fruitful results and gained international reputation.
Textile mills in Pakistan want a 15 per cent regulatory duty on the import of manmade fibers, particularly polyester viscose yarn, polyester cotton yarn and pure polyester yarn. The industry sees the surge in imports of manmade fibers as a matter of serious concern. It feels an unchecked import of yarns has hit the viability of the domestic spinning yarn industry, which is also threatening the survival of domestic polyester staple fiber producers and the purified terephthalic industry by and large.
So the 15 per cent regulatory duty is expected to stop the inroads of subsidised yarns into the domestic market. Pakistan’s imports of manmade fiber yarn for domestic consumption have increased by four times in the last four years and are likely to reach 57,000 tons per annum by the end of 2015-16.
Pakistan’s textile mix is 80 per cent cotton versus 20 per cent manmade, compared to the global trend, which is closer to 70 per cent manmade fibers and 30 per cent cotton.
Textile mills feel lowering the import duty on polyester staple fiber to zero will help the country enter new products and markets. Pakistan has an opportunity to export synthetic based textile products under GSP Plus.
US net imports of textile and apparel fiber products increased for a third consecutive calendar year in 2015 to the highest on record, reaching 15.7 billion pounds (raw fiber equivalent), compared with 14.5 billion pounds in 2014.
US net imports consist mostly of cotton and manmade fiber products as demand for linen, wool, and silk products remains relatively small. With manmade fiber imports expanding steadily in recent years, cotton’s share has declined consistently.
In 2015, cotton textile and apparel products accounted for 44 per cent of total imports while manmade fibers contributed nearly 49 per cent. By comparison, in 2007, cotton accounted for 56 per cent of all textile and apparel imports while the share of manmade fibers was 37 per cent.
Cotton is clearly losing the battle to manmade fibers. After years of demand erosion, cotton has lost its top spot to synthetic competitors. Yarn mills have switched spindles to polyester and its cohorts due to years of high cotton prices and improving synthetic technology.
Falling polyester prices have complicated the hope that lower cotton prices will renew demand. Polyester prices are also down, partially in sympathy with their cotton competitor and partially due to the freefalling price of oil, a key raw material.
Recently, global cotton prices declined for a second consecutive month. Values for the nearby May NY Futures contract set a series of life-of-contract lows over the past month, with prices dropping from nearly 59 cents/lb a month ago to those near 56 cents/lb. In latest trading, values have rebounded above the 58 cent mark but current levels are among the lowest since 2009. The A Index also lost about three cents/lb. Recent values have been between 64 and 65 cents/lb.
However, since September, every monthly update to USDA’s supply and demand figures has featured decreases to both world production and consumption. This month’s report was no exception, with the global harvest number dropping 1.2 million bales (from 101.4 to 100.2 million) and the global mill-use projection falling 400,000 bales (from 109.6 to 109.2 million). Current estimates for both production and mill-use are the lowest since 2003/04.
No price-related details, however regarding an upcoming set of auctions have been officially released. If the expectations for the drop in Chinese prices expressed by CNCE and ZCE markets are confirmed by an upcoming government announcement, there is potential for Chinese spinning mills to become more competitive internationally and for Chinese mill-use to increase. The USDA is expecting China will start to more aggressively move cotton from reserves by lowering prices, and that Chinese mill-use will increase by one million bales in the coming crop year (from 32.0 to 33.0 million bales).
