FW
A seminar-cum-exhibition on investment opportunities in technical textiles and non-wovens was held in Coimbatore on December 22. It threw light on market opportunities for new entrants in the Indian technical textile space. Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Office of the Textile Commissioner, the event focused on encouraging domestic players to invest in the technical textile sector and highlight the initiatives taken by the government towards attracting investments in technical textiles and drive growth.
The Indian market for technical textiles is projected at close to Rs 92,500 crores, growing at a CAGR of 11.8 per cent. The market is expected to reach Rs 1, 16,217 crores in 2017-18. India is looking at technical textiles. As GDP grows, demand for technical textiles in India will grow. India has special technology missions for technical textiles. Different centers of excellence have been identified for various segments of technical textiles. Geo textiles are used in roads and infrastructure. There are schemes for the use of geo textiles in the north east and in hilly areas. The country is promoting the use of agro textiles. Agro textiles are used in agriculture for conserving water and improving crop productivity. Medi textiles are used in hospitals and health care. There are industrial textiles, protective textiles.
The 13th AGM of Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) was held recently. Prominent among the speakers was Noel Priyathilake, outgoing president of the forum. He said Sri Lankan authorities must request India for removal of quotas imposed on textile and apparel sectors. Citing the reason, he said that this was to create a sectoral balance in trade between the two countries whereby Sri Lanka would have a high potential to cater to emerging middle income population in India. However, if the removal of apparel quota is not done local apparel industry would not see significant benefit through the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA).
Bilateral trade happened to be a priority item in their agenda. He said Singapore was not an important trading destination yet, and they have not offered significant market access to Sri Lanka. The country is now targeting more towards regional economic partnerships or regional economic integration. The Asian focus of these negotiations would be culminated in a strong manner depending on the way the new US administration focuses on fair bilateral trade in place of regional partnerships. Perhaps, this approach may change the trade development agenda and Asia will become important even within our trade and Big Asia may be writing the trade rules for the world if they foster strong regional or Asian economic partnerships.
Pakistan’s textile exports were up 9.7 per cent for the second consecutive month in November 2016. One reason is the better performance of value added sector. However, lower exportable surplus along with weak demand from China remains a drag on basic textiles. The sector is showing some early signs of recovery and a favorable textile package will provide further impetus. Enhanced drawback of local taxes and levies on FOB prices would be a game changer.
Sequentially, textile exports declined 0.5 per cent in November 2016. Exports of basic textiles fell by 1.9 per cent year on year during the first five months of the current fiscal. In July to November, exports of readymade garments increased by five per cent year on year whereas quantity exported went down by one per cent year on year. Despite a four per cent year on year decline in prices, bed wear exports increased by four per cent. Knit wear exports remained flat year on year with an 18 per cent increase in quantity being offset by a 15 per cent decline in prices.
Pakistan’s cotton yarn exports shot up 47.8 per cent year on year in November 2016. This is due to the weakening dynamics of Vietnam as the country is currently suffering from higher material costs due to its reliance on import of cotton.
Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions for industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, has taken on the challenges of man-made materials faced by suppliers with an all-new Vector fabric-cutting solution. The company’s VectorAuto iX6 has been specially designed to cut synthetics with an ultra-precision cutting head to produce perfectly cut parts for interior and seat components, optimizing the cost per cut part. The new cutter increases cutting capacity by 20 per cent or more compared to models currently available on the market. The increase in productivity is achieved by minimising the risk of layers fusing, which enables a greater number of plies to be cut.
By optimizing the marker to reduce spacing between parts, the new solution also enables potential material gains of up to 3 per cent that can save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year per cutting line. Japanese vehicle-seating cut parts supplier Ark has already achieved increased production volume since its recent acquisition of the new cutter.
However, newly developed synthetic materials used in components like headrests and arm rests, present a wide range of challenges. The shapes required to produce increasingly sophisticated seat designs are gradually becoming more complex. The technical limitations of fabric cutters restrict the number of plies that can be cut due to the risk of fusion. Additionally, the extra spacing necessary to achieve small, intricate parts can result in material losses and low cutter productivity. Lectra’s newest Vector model has been designed to efficiently overcome the complexities involved in cutting imitation materials and also benefits from the advanced technology, such as predictive maintenance, which ensures a high machine availability rate of up to 98 per cent and Eclipse, Lectra’s patented continuous cutting functionality.
India’s first of its kind, Organic Herbal Lifestyle Wellness Garments manufacturing plant has come up at Sadhupul near Chail and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. It is located in the lap of nature amidst green and serene environment. Organic products represent the next stage in lifestyle, Advantage Organic Natural Technologies Private (AONTPL) is the 'state of the that uses world's first truly Organic Herbal Lifestyle Wellness Garments manufacturing plant using its indigenous green cleantech, low carbon footprint, patented technology.
It is launching the 'Joy of Life' range of Under Garments, Night Wear, Yoga Wear for Men, Women, Kids and Infant wear. Joy Of Life' aims to integrate ‘Ayurvastra’ (Health Garment), the ancient science of clothing using modern Nano-Bio Technology applications. These are used to dye and process garments using medicinally rich USFDA approved (Safe List) Herbs and other Bio-materials for anti-microbial, Invigorating, moisture regulating and other value-added properties.
AONTPL was incubated in IIT Delhi campus and owns three patents in the US, Europe and India. One more patent ‘Method for Dyeing a Textile product using Neem and Holy Basil Extract’ is pending in India. The company has developed first of its kind Green Proprietary Textiles Bio-processing Technology to produce Organic Herbal Garments with Skin Fortifying & Wellness properties using Modern Biotechnology Applications and with the help of Bio-engineering Natural/ Organic Herbal ingredients only.
Hyosung Corporation, a leading spandex producer, along with Best Pacific will launch a new range of fabrics with Mipan Aqua X and Creora Fresh at ISPO Munich, which takes place from February 5-8, 2017. The strategic co-operation of Best Pacific and Hyosung was designed to offer active wear brands and retailers a concept to meet consumer needs for confident performance with moisture management, UV protection, comfort, fit and freshness from odour neutralising technologies.
The new fabric collection features a combination of technologies. These include: Mipan Aqua X cooling, UV, and moisture management nylon with creora fresh spandex odour neutralising elastane; Freshgear odour neutralising polyester with creora Fresh elastane; and Aerowarm hollow core polyester and creora Powerfit elastane.
Hyosung Corporation is one of Korea’s leading multinational conglomerates, with annual worldwide sales of more than $8.7 billion. The conglomerate maintains a network of more than 73 subsidiaries and international branch offices around the globe. It operates in seven performance groups that include textiles, industrial materials, chemicals, power and industrial systems, construction, trading and information and communication.
The Georgia Cotton Commission will hold its 10th Annual General meeting on January 25, 2017 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center. The Commission has announced the list of guest speakers. The meeting is to be held along with the UGA Cotton Production Workshop conducted by the UGA Research & Extension Cotton Team.
The speakers would be Reece Langley, VP, Washington Operations, National Cotton Council; Tom Wedegaertner, Director of Cottonseed Research and Marketing, Cotton Incorporated and Bruce Atherley, Executive Director, Cotton Council International. Langley became the VP of Washington Operations at the National Cotton Council in 2014. He is responsible for coordinating Washington’s activities for the Council which includes working with Congress and the Administration. This to ensure that the seven segments of the US cotton industry competes effectively and profitably in the global market. Before joining the Council, Langley was the VP of government affairs for the USA Rice Federation.
Wedegaertner began with Cottonseed in 1980 as assistant director, Research and Education with the National Cottonseed Products Association in Memphis, Tennessee. After almost a decade with NCPA, Wedegaertner began working as a cottonseed products marketing specialist for the Anderson Clayton Company in Seattle, Washington.
Atherley has a long and successful track record in global marketing and management. Earlier, he served as VP, Global Marketing for Kao, Inc, a Tokyo-based global manufacturer of personal care and household products.
After having filed a complaint in the US Bankruptcy Court to retrieve nearly 250,000 pounds of greige fabric from Tri-Star Dyeing & Finishing, American Apparel has agreed to dye the fabric. The fabric in question was sent to the dyeing facilities in Santa Fe Springs, California before American Apparel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 14.
But Tri-Star refused to dye the rest of the fabric until American Apparel paid a $100,000 invoice issued for fabric dyed before the Los Angeles clothing manufacturer declared bankruptcy. According to an American Apparel spokesperson, a consensual resolution was reached and the parties have decided to work together.
In the December 15 complaint, American Apparel noted that the undyed fabric worth $500,000 was essential for completing the orders promised to Gildan Activewear, the Canadian stalking horse bidder that has offered $66 million to buy American Apparel’s intellectual property rights and its wholesale merchandise.
American Apparel said it contacted Tri-Star shortly after filing for bankruptcy protection and explained it could not immediately pay the dyeing and finishing company’s invoices sent before the bankruptcy filing. In response, Tri-Star changed its payment terms to cash on delivery and tried to increase the dyeing price by adding a $1 per pound surcharge until it received its $100,000. American Apparel said that in some cases the surcharge amounted to a 150 per cent increase over the normal price. American Apparel said that it rejected the surcharge price increase and requested that its fabric be returned so it could use an alternative dyeing company to get the goods done in time to complete its orders. But days later, an agreement was worked out.
Pakistan has lifted the ban on import of Indian cotton. So 12,000 bales that were detained at the port will be freed for entry. The decision was taken since the local crop has fallen short of target. Indian exporters had signed contracts to export 3,50,000 bales to Pakistan since the start of the marketing year on October 1 and out of that nearly 3,00,000 bales for shipments in December and January had got stuck.
Pakistan is the world's third largest cotton consumer. It usually starts importing from September. Last year, Pakistan bought 2.7 million bales from India. In 2015-16, Pakistan surpassed Bangladesh to become India's biggest cotton buyer, accounting for 40 per cent of exports. Pakistan bought 822 million dollars worth of cotton from India last year.
Currently, Pakistan’s cotton arrivals have recorded an increase of 12.33 per cent to 10.14 million bales till December 15 against 9.03 million bales last year. However the crop remains far below the consumption demand of 14.5 million bales. Last year Pakistan imported 2.7 million bales from India that also contained binola. Ginning in Gujarat and Maharashtra is done on the roller technology, under which some cut seed (binola) remains part of the lint that is later removed by local spinners.
Operating income for the US retail industry is expected to grow between four and five per cent for the year ahead. Sales are expected to grow in the three to four per cent range. Pressures from foreign exchange and excess inventory will ease, with operating profit up five to seven per cent after a very weak 2016. Sales growth will accelerate six to eight per cent, supported by direct-to-consumer selling and international growth.
Larger apparel sellers will continue to emphasize top-line organic growth through direct-to-consumer channels, buoyed in part by the significant international expansion opportunities for many brands. Though input costs are rising, they remain manageable. Apparel and footwear sellers, on the other hand, will be squeezed as consumers continue to spend more on healthcare, rent, home-related products, electronics and cars, while weak traffic trends and competitive pressure will continue to impact operating performance of department stores.
Discounters/warehouses will see operating income decline two to three per cent, and Walmart, which accounts for 75 per cent of this subsector, will continue to see weak performance as wage hikes and investment for future growth squeeze its profits. Meanwhile, operating profit will grow less than one per cent in the office supply subsector in the year ahead.
