FW
For July to September of this year, Bangladesh apparel exports to US, Canada have fallen. Moreover, export earnings from France, the Netherlands, and Japan have also declined. Exports to the US declined by 8.4 per cent and exports to the Canadian market fell by 13.8 per cent.
A drop in knit and woven garment exports to the US and Canada has contributed to the overall export decline in the North American market. In the first quarter of this fiscal, knit export earnings from the US and woven export earnings registered a drop of 5 per cent and 8.8 per cent from the previous year. Knit garment exports to the Canadian market showed a decline of 14.63 per cent while woven garment exports registered a fall of 14.38 per cent from the previous year.
Knit apparel exports to the Netherlands have fallen by 9 per cent and non-knit apparel exports have declined by 13.23 per cent. Despite an increase in knit exports, exports of woven garments to Japan have fallen by 4.44 per cent. Bangladesh garment exporters say the fall in export is due to a rise in wages, foreign buyers' preference for alternative countries due to agitations in Bangladesh and drop in orders for non-compliant factories.
The eighth international garment, textile machinery and accessories exhibition, IGATEX, was held in Pakistan from October 21 to 24. IGATEX 2014 gave textile machinery manufacturers the opportunity to directly market their equipment to quality buyers and decision makers in an exceedingly competitive global business environment. The show included working and stand alone demonstrations of various cutting edge industry tools and technology.
This is the largest textile machinery and accessories exhibition of the textile sector in Pakistan. It was attended by leading textile houses. The event hosted over 550 exhibitors from 35 countries including China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Taiwan and Switzerland. A huge number of trade buyers and business professionals visited the exhibition. It facilitates the textile industry by providing networking opportunities.
World renowned manufacturers of textile machinery get the opportunity to introduce new technology to the Pakistan textile industry in the backdrop of the recent GSP Plus duty-free facility allowed by the European Union to Pakistan from January 2014 for 10 years.
The textile industry is considered the backbone of Pakistan's economy. Pakistan has an edge with state-of-the-art plant, machinery and technology in the textile sector. It is considered one of the important regional textile hubs for quality textile products.
www.igatex.pk/
Thailand's garment exports for the first eight months of 2014 rose by one per cent compared to the same period last year. However, Thai garment producers and exporters are unsure of growth in 2015 because of the economic uncertainty in China, United States, European Union and other large markets.
Weak recovery in the EU and US, a slowdown in Chinese growth, and the loss of EU import duty privileges for Thai garments because of the country’s coup d’état in May this year are some of the impediments to growth. The Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA) predicted a wider than usual range of 0 to 5 per cent growth for next year, and an expansion of two or three per cent in the industry as a whole.
Meanwhile exporters have increased shipments to the EU before the preferential trade status expires in the beginning of 2015. However, TGMA does not believe that the loss of this status will have much impact, as the EU waives just 2.4 per cent of its duty on Thai garments compared to the standard rate of 12 per cent.
Thai businesses have also compensated for the loss by raising their investment in other Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. These countries have a lower labour cost and have not lost their preferential trade status with the EU, providing companies a way around higher tariffs.
The Asean Economic Community is set to come into effect in December 2015 and will bring greater integration, flow of capital, and trade incentives for the ten member nations of Asean.
Global fiber producer Invista has introduced a new bio-derived spandex that uses fiber from a renewable source made from dextrose derived from corn. The use of renewable feedstock results in lower Co2 emissions than spandex produced using traditional raw materials. The bio-derived spandex is called T162R. The sustainable spandex fiber, the only commercial offering of its kind, will be available worldwide and for use in a wide variety of apparel fabrics and garments. With this new Lycra brand offering, Invista is providing retailers and manufacturers of stretch fabrics a new spandex fiber option.
Production of commercial quantities is planned for Autumn/Winter 2015 and Spring/Summer 2016 collections. The overall lifecycle of a garment using T162R is the same as a garment using other Lycra fibers, only the fiber contains renewable raw materials.
Invista is limiting production of the fiber to fine deniers and is targeting the active wear and denim segments because these segments have a strong interest in sourcing sustainable materials. The industry now has an option to produce fabrics and garments using a Lycra fiber based on renewable raw materials.
Sustainability topics are becoming increasingly important in the textile and apparel value chain, with growing awareness and building education on the subject at the consumer, brand or retail and mill levels.
www.invista.com/en/index.html
BTK Holding, one of Russia's largest producers of technical textiles and apparel is commissioning a large-scale facility for this purpose. The company has already completed preparatory work for the launch of the 1,20,000 sq. mt. production facility, which employs more than 1,000 people.
On full commission the new plant will become Russia’s most modern and high-tech production facility in the domestic technical textile industry. It will have a good technological infrastructure and operate more than 250 units of modern equipment, which were purchased in Italy, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and France.
The plant would focus on the production of synthetic fibers as well as heat retainers. The capacity of the plant will be in the range of five to six million meters per year. At present the technical textile industry in Russia remains practically undeveloped, with local production currently meeting only15 per cent of domestic consumption of technical textiles. By 2025, the level of consumption of technical textiles in Russia is expected to grow three to five times. Demand for technical textiles from the domestic automotive industry alone exceeds 200 million meters of fabrics.
The government is willing to provide a number of incentives to BTK and in particular to provide subsidies for the purchase of raw materials.
www.btcgroup.ru/en/about/about-company
Vietnam expects the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be signed in 2015. Meanwhile Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors have started increasing their investment in the garment and textile industry in Vietnam.
The Texhong group’s plant in Quang Ninh province will provide materials for markets in the southern region of China. The Hong Kong based TAL group has built a $40 million garment plant in Thai Binh province. It’s now working with Hai Duong province authorities on a 40 hectare fabric weaving and garment project.
When the FTA and TPP are signed, Vietnamese garment and textile products will enjoy zero per cent tax rate in the US and EU. The average tax rates are 17.5 per cent and 9.6 per cent in these two markets respectively. One of US’ conditions for the zero per cent tax rate is that fiber must be produced in Vietnam or other TPP countries. Most countries with TPP have not developed the fiber industry yet, forcing Vietnam to produce domestically.
The EU and Vietnam intend this agreement to be a modern, comprehensive and balanced agreement that supports the two sides' economies in meeting today's and future challenges and an essential building block in strengthening the relationship between Europe and South East Asia.
The International Labor Organisation has urged the Bangladesh government to waive around $1 million of value-added tax generated from the spending on a project involving readymade garment factory inspection. ILO made this appeal to the finance ministry through the labour and employment ministry saying that development partners were giving $7.5 million for factory inspections. But they are not willing pay VAT.
The government has taken a three-and-a-half-year initiative under the ILO’s program for improving working conditions in the readymade garment sector to ensure fire, electrical and building safety. The ILO has hinted at further investment by development partners from countries like the UK, Japan and Canada for repairing faults at the factory buildings. However, further investment depends on a VAT waiver.
The factory compliance issue is also linked to the demand for duty-free access of readymade garment products to the US market. The US has already scrapped duty advantage under the GSP for a few Bangladeshi products since June 2013. A team comprising teachers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has been appointed for inspecting more than 1,500 readymade garment factories.
The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has no money to buy raw jute. This is because of a delay in financial disbursement from the government. The procurement of raw jute started two months ago. BJMC had targeted purchase of 2.6 million quintals of raw jute this year. And so far it has procured minimal quantity of raw jute due to unavailability of funds required for purchase. It needs funds to purchase raw jute that will help keep the wheels of the mills running.
This fall in buying may result in a slump of jute goods production. About 80,000 employees have been engaged in the BJMC-run 26 mills. But due to lack of modernisation, the mills could not utilise their production capacity fully. The BJMC has signed three memorandums of understanding to receive technical assistance from China that will help modernise the mills. All the jute mills of BJMC will be surveyed with the Chinese government’s financial grant. In addition, the Chinese government will also provide technical support for manufacturing the latest and diversified goods at the jute mills of BJMC.
BJMC sells jute sacks and hessian to Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, ministry of food and other organisations.
www.bjmc.gov.bd/
Despite a recent spat over territorial dispute between Chinese and Vietnamese ships in the South China or Eastern Sea yet companies from Taiwan or other places in Asia, the country remains a hot investment destination. The unrest hasn’t affected Hong Kong-based manufacturer TAL Group, the world’s biggest producer of men’s wear, selling shirts to brands such as Brooks Brothers, L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer, and Burberry.
The Group is looking at increasing its investments in Vietnam to increase its production from 12 to 15 per cent to 25 per cent, over the next two years. Apart from garment making, the company is also investing in a new business to make textiles in the country. In fact, many other companies too are exploring Vietnam as a low cost and good investment option for manufacturing against China, where production and labour costs are on the rise.
For now, TAL relies on Chinese factories for the bulk of its production. Out of a total workforce of 25,000 people, TAL has about 7,000 to 8,000 workers in China, and the country accounts for about one-third of the group’s total production.
www.talgroup.com
ITMA 2015 will be held from November 12 to 19 in Italy. This edition will showcase end-to-end solutions for the entire textile and garment making chain. To date, 1,380 exhibitors from 47 countries have signed up to take part in the exhibition. ITMA is one of world’s most established textile and garment machinery exhibition since 1951. It is a global marketplace and one-stop sourcing platform for emerging trends and innovative solutions and acquiring new knowledge and best practices.
Since demand for space is high, with applications still streaming in, an 11th hall has been added to the show which will house the fiber and yarn, research and education, colorants and chemicals, software and recycling sectors. The exhibition, with a gross size of over 200,000 sq. mt. will be complemented by several knowledge exchange and networking platforms.
In addition, a new initiative has been launched, the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award. This award recognises outstanding industry members and post-graduate students for their contributions to the sustainable development of the global textile and garment industry. The award comprises three categories: Industry Excellence Award, R&E Excellence Award – Masters and R&E Excellence Award – Doctorate.
The drive towards sustainability in the entire textile and garment value chain is increasingly integrated with enlightened business practices, and innovative technology holds the key to environmental sustainability.
www.itma.com/
