FW
Vietnam's earnings from textile and garment exports increased 0.2 per cent in August from the previous month and up 20.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2013. Exports during the last eight months showed a year-on-year increase of 19.7 per cent.
In spite of a high export turnover, the industry recorded a relatively modest added value, which was mainly sourced from its dependence on imported raw materials for production. Domestic suppliers satisfy one per cent of the demand for cotton and 20.2 per cent of fabric needs. Particularly with fibrous materials, the sector has a capacity of producing six million spindles per year, but only 30 per cent of them were used for production.
In view of the trade agreements that will be signed soon, Vietnam has to develop domestic raw materials and promote changes in production methods. These have to be done for improving the quality of textile products that are exported. Other focus areas are reducing inventory and effectively managing imports.
Vietnam’s garment industry is mainly an outsourced manufacturing link, with inactive involvement in the dynamic global textile supply chain. Outsourced domestic manufacturers themselves are also passive in finding customers and expanding markets.
Italian contemporary fashion trade show White Milano is all set to kick-start on September 20 with several new initiatives and a contest aimed at recognizing upcoming Italian and international brands. The show will be held till September 22 in the Tortona area presenting 453 brands, with 30 per cent global exhibitors and 115 (35 per cent) new entries. Over 17,000 exhibitors are expected to visit the show.
For the first time, a contest titled ‘Time Contemporary Fashion Award’ will be held during the event, to recognize small and medium size brands within the international contemporary fashion panorama. The contest will be supported by the Italian Chamber of Fashion Buyers, the association of 117 Italian boutiques presided by newly appointed Mario dell’Oglio.
The award will have two editions per year – a Spring/Summer and a Fall/Winter. Participants can be brands of men’s and women’s accessories and apparel collections within the contemporary segment. For each edition a jury of 10 Italian buyers will select the 12 finalists. Two brands will be announced as winners for each edition– one for apparel and one for accessories. White Milano will dedicate an exclusive section, in their upcoming next edition to the winners. The first ever presentation and announcement of the winners will happen during the February 2015 edition. Moreover, the contest expects to run a series of trunk shows of the two winning brands in some of the best Italian boutiques.
For the first time, White Milano will also host a section dedicated to jewelry design.
Peter Lucas is stepping down as chairman of UK Fashion & Textile Association. He will be succeeded by the deputy chairman Nigel Lugg. Lucas has been involved in key roles with a number of fashion industry bodies including the British Clothing Industry Association, the British Apparel and Textile Confederation, the British Knitting and Clothing Export Council and UK Fashion Exports. Lucas began his career as a buyer at Liberty and then House of Fraser.
Seven years old, the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) is the most inclusive British network for fashion and textile companies. It brings together designers, manufacturers, agents and retailers to promote their businesses throughout the UK and internationally. Its members include major suppliers to high street retailers and brands.
Its affiliate members include The British Fashion Council, which runs London Fashion Week, the British Menswear Guild, the Savile Row Bespoke Association and the Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry.
UKFT guides and advises its members on all essential aspects of running a business and supplying clothing and knitwear to the global marketplace. Through its export division, UKFT Exports, it gives help and advice on how to achieve sales in overseas markets.
www.ukft.org/
Intexpo is an Indian textile exhibition and it's organized by the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council of India. The aim of the exhibition is to strengthen trade ties between the two countries particularly in man-made textiles. The show is intended to provide an unique opportunity to the textile and garment business community of Bangladesh to see the quality and range of Indian fabrics and yarns. Indian companies will display suitings, shirtings, dress materials, embroidered fabrics, high fashion fabrics, furnishings, home textiles, synthetic and blended yarns etc.
Since the readymade garment sector is one of the fastest growing of Bangladesh, the organisers hope collaboration between both countries can help achieve greater success in the textile and garment sector in the coming years. The EU is the leading destination for exports of man-made textiles. Indian man-made textiles are exported to more than 140 countries. During the past five years, exports of synthetic and blended textiles from India to Bangladesh went from $124 million in 2009-10 to $237 million in 2013-14. India is emerging as the second largest producer of cellulose yarn and the fourth largest producer of synthetic yarn in the world.
textechonline.org/textechbd2014/index.html
Denimsandjeans.com is organizing its second denim show in Bangladesh on October 15 and 16, at Hotel Radisson. The last edition of the invite only show was held in March 2014 and was a successful event with a number of important denim mills, factories, chemical and accessory companies visiting it.
With the country growing to become the second largest denim apparel manufacturing destination worldwide after China and the availability of all types of raw materials, skill-set and resources have been attracting all major brands and retailers from EU and the US to increase their sourcing needs from the country. This is the reason why, the second edition of Denimsandjeans would be held in Bangladesh.
The first show had participation from some of the important denim companies worldwide including Candiani (Italy), Vicunha (Brazil), Arvind (India), Artistic (Pakistan) and participation by major brands, retailers and buying houses including companies like Benetton, C&A, Carrefour, Celio, CharlesVoegele, Cortefiel, Debenhams, Dewhirst, El Corte Ingles, Esprit and many others. Along with all these, some of the important denim and related companies in technology, chemicals, piece dyes are expected to be a part of the show.
The event will witness participants from Brazil, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Germany, Hong Kong and China. Bangladesh, despite some unfortunate incidents like fire and building collapse in last two years, has become the favourite sourcing destination among retailers and brands worldwide. The country has now also started producing value added jeans and apparel using skills and technology installed from around the world. The country is not only able to import fabrics and accessories from other countries, but its textile industry base is increasingly supporting its garment export sector. Its current denim fabric production covers about 40 per cent of its requirements.
India's polyester imports have jumped substantially over the past two months after country-specific dumping duties — on top of a five per cent basic customs duty — were imposed on a key raw material in July, hurting domestic producers’ competitiveness. Anti-dumping duties were imposed on imports of purified terephtalic acid (PTA) from China, Korea, the European Union and Thailand.
Purified terephtalic acid is used in making polyester staple fibre, polyester filament yarn and film. Subsequently, imports of polyester staple fiber more than tripled in July-August this year. Similarly, purchases of polyester filament yarn from overseas climbed 130 per cent in the last two months from a year earlier. Companies using PTA have sought the removal of anti-dumping duties, arguing that no industry can work on the inverted duty structure whereby imports of raw materials are taxed higher than those of finished products.
If that’s not possible, they say, the government should scrap the five per cent basic customs duty on the yarn and raise the import duty on the finished goods so that domestic industry isn’t harmed and India’s export competitiveness in synthetic or blended textiles and garments is not undermined. India produced 3.47 million tons of PTA in 2012-2013 compared with the demand of 4.12 million tons.
Jeanologia, the Spanish company, awarded with the WGSN Global Fashion Award for best sustainable design team in the world, shows its latest developments in Paris during Premiere Vision from September 16 to 18, 2014. The company would be presenting J-Knits in Wash & Dye space. It is a collection of indigo knit garments produced using sustainable technologies to create Jeanologia worn effects, vintage or even quilting and embroidery, among others.
The company designs and develops sustainable solutions such as laser, ozone and nano-bubbles that reduce the consumption of water, energy and eliminates waste and harmful emissions in the process of garments finishing. The uses of these techniques enable automation of processes and the development of sustainable production that reduce costs and increase productivity in the textile industry.
The textile laser of Jeanologia reproduces in an automatic and efficient way, rips or textures in green way, saving energy, water, chemicals, hand labour and time in the production process. The company, with more than 20 years of experience, is the world leader of sustainable technologies development. The Spanish company has customers across five continents. Jeanologia products and solutions are currently being used in more than 45 countries including: México, Colombia, Brazil, USA, Germany, Italy, Portugal, India, China, Russia, Japan, Morocco and Bangladesh.
www.jeanologia.com
Pakistan is grappling with severe floods and this has affected cotton prices, which have shot up by 7 per cent and yarn prices are up by 20 per cent . This is because vast tracts have been completely submerged. Whenever the price of cotton increases, there is a resultant increase in yarn prices. This will make the country’s products less competitive in international markets.
Crops worth billions of rupees have been destroyed. The fields saved from the floods are vulnerable to pest attacks. If it were not for the floods, Pakistan would have had a higher cotton production this year. Multan and surrounding areas in Punjab province are on high alert as the Chenab river continues to surge south at extremely high levels. Multan, one of Pakistan's largest cities, is surrounded by vast tracts of agricultural land and is one of the country's major cotton producers.
The downpour this year has come at the end of the monsoon season, and its severity has been restricted to the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Much of this water fed into the Chenab river sending down its worst floods since 1992. The people that had colonised those parts of the river bed that had turned dry over the last two decades are those most affected by the deluge.
The UAE has emerged as the world's fourth largest trading center for fashion and apparels. It has 150 apparel manufacturing companies and exports of materials and finished products have now reach more than 50 countries across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. The region’s sales account for about 5.5 per cent of the world’s annual textile and clothing sales. Textile products produced in the UAE include car seats, tents and curtains, in addition to garments. Knitted fabric is the most in demand in the UAE, accounting for around 49.7 per cent, followed by woven fabrics.
The textile industry occupies an important place in UAE’s economy, particularly in Dubai, because of its contribution to industrial output, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings. Its textile and garment companies have improved and upgraded their raw material storage, packing and transport facilities for large-scale operations.
But the industry is now facing a rise in production costs. And apparel industry owners are shifting to other low cost centers like China, India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Ethiopia. They see the African market is an emerging one with disposable incomes and people wanting to buy merchandise. Already the African market is expected to account for a growing proportion of the UAE’s re-exported auto parts market during the coming years.
Bangladesh readymade garment exporters have developed the skills to outsource export orders on their own initiative. Skilled human resources, better production, forward linkages, fashion and designing technology and offshore negotiation skills have helped them do this.
Due to this, big exporters prefer free on board ways than cutting and manufacturing. They bypass dealing with buyers and their dependence on buying houses has fallen by 60 per cent over the last three decades. But small and medium exporters rely on buying houses as they do not have enough capacity for offshore dealing and cannot fulfill buyers' requirements. They still pay five to 15 per cent commission to buying houses.
These small exporters’ forward linkage and other backward linkages are not enough to export on a free on board basis. They get export orders on a CM basis and the buying houses manage their buyers from getting orders and shipment so they need to pay the buying houses at different stages.
Three decades back, when Bangladesh just started readymade garments exports, it was completely dependent on buying houses and paid a good portion of the profit to them. It’s expected that within the next five years at least 80 per cent exporters would depend on direct negotiations with buyers.
