Pakistan’s exports of textile and clothing increased 0.86 per cent during the first quarter of the fiscal year. Knitwear exports grew 9.8 per cent, exports of cotton cloth increased 0.09 per cent. Bed wear exports from the country increased by 2.89 per cent. Exports of tent canvas and tarpulin increased 3.54 per cent. Exports of made up articles, excluding towels and bed wear, increased 0.34 per cent.

Raw cotton exports dropped 76.21 per cent while exports of cotton yarn decreased 2.25 per cent. Exports of towels fell 0.55 per cent and exports of readymade garments decreased by 1.55 per cent.

On a yearly and monthly basis textile exports in September recorded a decrease of 4.91 per cent and 18.53 per cent when compared to exports during September 2017 and August 2018 respectively. Textile exports make up around 60 per cent of the country’s total exports. The textile sector has the largest share in Pakistan’s exports.

Pakistan’s competitors are upping the ante on textile exports to make inroads into more global markets. While China’s share in global textile exports is 36 per cent, Vietnam contributes 12.4 per cent, and Pakistan seven per cent. For Pakistan revival of idle capacity in the textile industry would be a top priority.

Gurgaon-based Richa Global, has been awarded Responsible Leadership 2018 Award by Ascena Group, one of the top apparel brands holders of USA, for its outstanding performance in corporate social responsibility programmes like Herhealth Project, Herfinance Project and Energy Management & Saving Programmes on global level. Richa Global has also been a consistent and sustainable performer in Supplier CSR Ownership, Social Compliance of Active & Pre-Sourcing Facilities and Environment Conservation.

Richa Global has played an active role in these programmes at its factories across India by training over 6,000 workers on health and financial literacy programmes. The company is also one of the members of Ascena CONNECTS – elite global vendor group of top 17 vendors of Ascena Group.

The Ascena Group has been working for women’s empowerment worldwide and plans to cover 100,000 women workers in its various women-oriented CSR programmes.

Primark, the UK fashion chain owned by Associated British Foods, plans to open 14 new stores in FY 2018/19. The retailer recently emphasised its commitment to environmental standards and safer working conditions as its low prices came under scrutiny in 2013 after 1,129 people died in the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh, where clothes were made for brands including Primark.

The company ramped up its efforts to police its suppliers, built a team of over 100 people to focus on ethical trade and environmental and sustainability issues. The company also posted “Primark Cares” posters in its stores in the country, with information about its factories and its source of raw materials. The company, which has 360 stores globally, will launch more products next spring made from cotton planted under its sustainable farming programme in Pakistan.

Primark has slightly slowed its pace of expansion in the last year as like-for-like sales have declined, but it still plans to open 14 new stores in the 2018/19 financial year, with most in Germany, France, Spain and Britain.

As per the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USA for Mexico, production of cotton in 2018-19 in Mexico is likely to increase 2 per cent than previous marketing year, due to continued favorable prices for cotton than for other crops, such as sorghum and corn. Cotton is the only commercially grown GE crop in Mexico. Farmers have indicated that the use of GE cotton has resulted in better pest control and pest management.

The area under cotton plantation increased substantially in 2017-18 from the previous season 2016-17. This is attributed to favorable weather conditions, adequate irrigation, continued use of genetically engineered (GE) seeds, and a return to cotton planting as a result of favorable prices, after a year of crop rotations.

The country’s cotton imports for 2018-19 total are forecast at 925,000 bales due to the expected large crop production. The expansion in production is expected to encourage yarn and textile manufactures to source their needs from the local cotton industry. Production, however, in Mexico now consists of nearly 80 percent of total domestic use.

Global textile company Lenzing and Los Angeles designer Pawan Kumar have collaborated on a collection called Midnight Blues. The collection will be showcased at upcoming Kingpins Amsterdam—the denim trade show to be held from October 24 to 25. The clothing showcases the potential of Lenzing’s Tencel Lyocell with Refibra technology. Refibra fiber is made from post-industrial cotton waste.

The fiber for the collection has been sourced from facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom or Austria, the reach of the project will expand into a larger worldwide initiative to create dresses, T-shirts, sweaters and jackets.

Born in Mauritius, Pawan Kumar has worked with Spanish apparel manufacturing technology firm Jeanologia. While he understands the technical aspects of recent innovations in textiles, Kumar is also able to interpret his vision into a collection that allows the characteristics of Lenzing’s material to shine through.

Inspired by the rich indigo shades of Mauritius’s sky, he sought to elevate the Refibra brand by creating strong, beautifully crafted pieces, which include an impressive spaghetti-strap, sweetheart-neckline indigo gown whose skirt features eight layers of pleating. Instead of going for a casual look, he used a clean, sophisticated denim wash in order to enhance the beauty of the Refibra denim. He used different shades of indigo and added some sparkle to add more richness to the Tencel fabric.

Garment manufacturers in Gujarat have cut production due to a reduction in demand. Usually, traders and retailers place orders two months before Diwali and garment manufacturers dispatch orders by Dusshera. But this year the pre-festival business has gone down by about 40 per cent on account of lower purchasing power, disturbed payment systems and weak exports.

Dubai is the leading buyer of readymade garments. But exports of readymade garments have fallen due to the value added tax in Dubai. GST and demonetisation have affected the payment cycle of the industry and because of this the overall business has gone down. There are over 5,000 garment manufacturers in Gujarat. Gujarat’s textile and garment exports have fallen by 30 per cent after the cut in incentives that came with the implementation of GST.

Export incentives for cotton and polyester have reduced roughly by four per cent. This makes products more expensive in the international market and reduces exporters’ competitiveness. Gujarat accounts for 12 per cent of all apparels exported from India. Sri Lanka and Middle Eastern countries are some of the key markets for garment manufacturers from Gujarat.

With a cut in duty drawback, there is stiff competition from the likes of Bangladesh and Vietnam, both of which get tax incentives in addition to export incentives. Besides, these countries are preferential importers for several global markets.

There is a lot of attention on the fashion industry’s impact on water and climate. But more focus needs to be given to the role it is playing in declining biodiversity. Fashion is having a devastating impact on ecosystems around the globe.

The extinction of fish species in the Aral Sea is linked to intense cotton farming in the region. Deforestation in Canada and Brazil for the cellulosic fiber market is destroying ecosystems which provide a home for a plethora of endangered species. Sumatran orangutans, tigers and Indus river dolphins have been pushed to brink of extinction by the actions of industries including fashion manufacturing.

The insatiable thirst for buying more clothes more often is putting the Earth’s most precious wild places at risk, pushing species towards extinction, destroying livelihoods and communities.

The link between unsustainable fashion and the loss of biodiversity is the last orangutan in a clear-cut forest. Whether it is pollution from farming cotton, plundering species such as eucalyptus for rayon fabrics, or the harvesting of wild animals for fur, the natural environment is being eroded and weakened.

Now is the time for businesses, including the fashion industry, to think seriously about how they can mitigate their impacts on biodiversity and contribute to global efforts to improve the status of biodiversity.

Electronics For Imaging launched its latest innovations for digital textile production at ITMA Asia. These included EFI Reggiani Colors, a digital textile printer offering high-end production in up to 12 colours; the EFI Reggiani Terra solution featuring new pigment ink with binder for a greener, faster and competitive textile process; EFI Optitex® 2D/3D CAD design software; and the EFI Fiery® DesignPro software suite for print preparation and production.

With these products, designers, brands and manufacturers alike benefit from the ability to speed time to market and deliver stunning, digitally printed apparel, home textiles and more. The Reggiani Colors printer offers a unique imaging configuration especially important for customers seeking to establish a distinct competitive advantage. The printer runs at speeds up to 560 square meters per hour, delivering unmatched printing quality and uniformity with an extended colour gamut, superior colour depth and increased penetration into fabric.

The Reggiani Terra solution for direct-to-textile production eliminates the need for steaming or washing on direct-to-textile applications using a greener, more-efficient polymerisation process that takes place as printed textile goes through the printer’s on-board dryer.

The EFI Optitex® 2D/3D CAD design software delivers a faster, more customisable, user-friendly experience, saving time and resources with a faster time to market. It includes an all-in-one avatar solution that allows users to customize avatars, adjust morphs, create sizes and define poses to visualise a final draped result and enable accurate fit.

The new version 4 of EFI’s Fiery DesignPro software includes new and updated plug-ins that significantly reduce the time and effort needed to create repeat patterns and sophisticated colorways directly within Adobe® Photoshop®.

Most countries recorded an increase in textile and apparel exports during the first eight months of 2018. China's textile exports during the period increased marginally up by 1.2 per cent while its apparel exports declined by 1.06 per cent. Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports increased 24.47 per cent. Its apparel exports grew by 27 per cent, while fabric exports increased by 34.31 per cent. Yarn exports were up by around 4 percent

Pakistan’s exports of most of textile product categories in August exports recorded a robust growth of 25.55 per cent over July. Its raw cotton exports shot up by 165.37 per cent, cotton fabric exports went up by 40.47 per cent, knitwear exports were up by 34 per cent and made-ups exports increased by over 50 per cent.

Sri Lankan apparel exports in August were 6 per cent higher than in January. March recorded the highest exports at $465 million. While in April, at $323 million, Sri Lanka's apparel exports were the lowest. However, India's textile and apparel exports in July were 5.82 per cent lower than in January. Exports of woven apparel till July declined 19.43 per cent.

Turkey's textile and clothing exports also went down by 5 per cent in August 2018, compared to exports in January 2018. Export growth has fluctuated wildly during these eight months.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) may take effect early next year. The 11 member free trade pact in which Japan has a leading role was earlier known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The accord will come into force 60 days after at least six countries have worked on their domestic procedures. So far, Japan, Mexico and Singapore have completed the process, with Australia, Canada and New Zealand seeking to do so by the end of the year. Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru and Vietnam are also part of the pact.

After the US pulled out of the TPP in January 2017, the remaining eleven members signed the revised TPP in March this year. The UK, Colombia, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea are believed to be interested in joining the CPTPP. This agreement will focus on goods and will be different from a free trade agreement that is more comprehensive.

TPP was previously negotiated by the US with Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia and seven other Pacific countries. It was touted at the time as an alternative framework to the World Trade Organization amid criticisms that the current trade enforcement regime was outdated and failed to address issues related to services, intellectual property and the digital economy properly.