FW
India's exports shrank in January for the 14th straight month on continued weak demand from Europe, but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would not follow countries such as China and Japan in pushing down the currency to help. The country’s exports fell 13.6 per cent from January a year ago, while imports contracted 11.01 per cent, data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed.
However, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has resisted pressure from exporters and policy makers to devalue the currency to support exports. The trade deficit for January narrowed to $7.64 billion, mainly due to soft demand for imported crude oil and falling prices of imported commodities, versus $11.66 billion a month ago.
However, Asia's third largest economy is expected to grow 7.6 per cent in the 2015/16 financial year that ends in March, overtaking a slowing China to be world's fastest growing major economy.
Cornell University has put up a shimmering, seven-foot-high knitted textile pavilion made on a Shima Seiki computerized fat knitting machine at a new exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. The multi-coloured structure was designed by Jenny E Sabin, Cornell University’s Arthur L and Isabel B. Wiesenberger, Assistant Professor of Architecture. It was made from photo-luminescent and solar-active threads, is one of two works commissioned by the museum for Beauty – Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, which includes more than 250 projects by 63 designers and teams from around the globe.
According to Lipps, the museum decided to commission a textile pavilion by Sabin because of her pioneering work using emerging technologies in architecture. In addition to her PolyThread pavilion, the exhibition includes a glass display case with several 3D-printed ceramic PolyBricks and other objects designed by Sabin.
Sabin’s 400-sq. ft. PolyThread pavilion is the largest work in the exhibition, taking up half of a third-floor gallery. Covered with a maze of variegated cellular shapes, the pavilion’s 15-minute illumination sequence mimics the transition from day to night, changing from pale blue to white. The structure is Sabin’s second textile pavilion commissioned for installation in New York City. The first was designed for the release of Nike’s Flyknit Collection in 2012.
In a significant development, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a detailed probe against Monsanto as it found the global agricultural giant to be violating competition law in the market of Bt cotton technology in India. The move follows a complaint filed by the agriculture ministry and three Indian seed companies.
As per the ruling passed by six out of seven members of CCI, recommends investigation against Monsanto, Monsanto Holdings (MHPL), Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) and MMBL (Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India) for forcing anti-competitive agreements and abusing their dominant position in the country's Bt cotton seeds market.
According to the fair trade regulator, the termination conditions of the sub-license agreement entered in between MMBL and the informants are found to be excessively harsh and do not appear to be reasonable as may be necessary for protecting any of the intellectual property rights… Such agreements discourage and serve as a major deterrent for the sub-licensee from exploring dealing with competitors.
Esmetex has announced its first collection of casual and dress shirt fabrics that combines the cooling and moisture wicking properties of Sorbtek, with the recycled benefits of Repreve. The company is a leader in producing and sourcing fabric.
Esmetex is the first company to launch Repreve and Sorbtek, both products of Unifi, in lightweight shirting fabric. According to the company, these lightweight fabrics are ideal for bringing performance benefits to the casual and dress shirt market.
In an effort to continue offering the latest in fabric development to the industry, Sorbtek is designed to offer properties found in athletic wear, such as moisture wicking, along with the convenience of soil release technology. Each shirt made with Repreve will contain an average of two recycled plastic bottles, according to the company.
Esmetex is launching two yarn dyed fabric blends, one with 54 per cent cotton/46 per cent Repreve, and the other 70 per cent cotton/30 per cent Repreve. The weight for both fabrics is 4.5 ounces per sq. yard, and the width is 57 inches.
Many textile-garment enterprises in Vietnam secured export orders until the end of the second quarter and some have tight production schedules until the end of this year. According to Le Quang Hung, Chairman of Saigon Garment Manufacturing Trading JSC (Garmex Saigon), there are plentiful export orders which will keep their factories busy until the end of the year and that the firm looks to raise revenue by 20 per cent to VND1.8 trillion this year over last year. Garmex Saigon obtained VND1.53 trillion ($68.3 million) revenue in 2015.
Said, Pham Xuan Hong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) that most of the companies have won export contracts for the first and second quarters and some even prepare goods for export until the year’s end. Vietnam’s apparel export turnover reached $27 billion last year and is projected to rise by over 10 per cent to some $30 billion in 2016, Hong observed.
Ministry of Industry and Trade statistics reveal that the manufacturing index of the textile industry went up 12 per cent in January and the index for the apparel sector up 11.2 per cent year-on-year. Nearly 30 million sq. mt. of woven fabric made from natural fibers was turned out last month, up about 10 per cent year-on-year, artificial and synthetic fiber products grew 6.5 per cent to 63.3 million square meters, and clothes were up 9.2 per cent with 305.8 million items. Overall, the textile-garment sector posted $2 billion in export revenue in January, a rise of 5.8 per cent against the same period of 2015.
France is hosting two shows, Première Vision Paris and Texworld. Both end on February 18. Economic uncertainty and terror fears failed to dampen the mood on the first day of Première Vision Paris, with the textile show on track to attract 58,000 visitors across its three days.
Exhibitor numbers were also on the rise, climbing to 1,725 companies from 52 countries in the February 2015 edition of the show. On country basis, Italy led the way, followed by France, a growing contingent from Turkey, the UK and Spain. British mills have acquired a newfound confidence. There were many agents and customers looking for British fabrics, in particular, tailoring fabrics.
But the self-service ticketing system and heightened security measures slowed footfall into the halls. Texworld was quieter. China continued to dominate the 659 exhibitors at Texworld, with participation also strong from Hong Kong, Korea, Pakistan and India. There was a 30 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of exhibitors in the Apparel Sourcing section, taking the total in this area to 200 manufacturers.
Texworld is a very international show. Companies from the UK, Scandinavia, Spain, Greece, Poland and Russia participated. There were some people from the US but not as many as usual from Japan.
www.premierevision.com/
Kerala’s Kozhikode district wants to revive its legacy as a textile hub. Vastramandala is a consortium of apparel units formed for this purpose. The objective of the consortium is to promote the products of these apparel units under a brand, Kudumbashree, across the state. The products which mainly include children's apparel and other readymade clothes would undergo strict quality checks so as to compete with the top brands in the field.
Two apparel manufacturing units have been set up. The new units have been named Calico Designs and Calico Fashions. Workers have undergone training in apparel designing at the National Institute of Fashion Technology and would be soon provided further training with modern technologies in the field.
Kudumbashree is an all-women collective of members selected from poor households. There is a huge number of women in Kerala who are members. Their sheer number allows Kudumbashree members to access linkage banking, insurance schemes, grants, interest subsidies and the like. Kudumbashree includes nearly half the households in Kerala. In other words, half the state's population makes a living out of this program.
Kudumbashree today runs about 35,000 microenterprises in fields as diverse as food processing and handicraft and cosmetics.
Indonesian textile and garment makers want greater economic partnership with European and Pacific Rim countries in order to boost the country’s exports. Indonesian companies hope to have a boost in demand from the partnerships’ participating countries.
Garment makers basically welcome any partnership with other countries as long as they help reduce both tariff and non-tariff barriers for Indonesian textile products. Indonesia’s textile exports increased from $11.2 billion in 2010 to an estimated $22.65 billion last year, with import value always below export value.
Indonesia is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Indonesia is one country that has been quite active in concluding free trade agreements. Indonesia has FTAs with trading partners that account for 67 percent of its total trade. For context, Chile, Peru, and Mexico have FTA coverage ratios of more than 80 per cent, while Canada, Singapore and New Zealand are at more than 50 per cent.
For small economies there are at least two positive outcomes to be derived from regional trade agreements. The first is an expansion in investment. While the direct impact on trade might be debatable in the beginning, rising investment usually follows. Second, regional agreements can drive unilateral domestic reforms.
Indian garment exporters want the free trade agreement to be signed with the European Union as soon as possible. They feel Indian garment exports have a competitive advantage over Bangladesh in the EU since India has natural as well as man-made fibers coupled with top designers and people in the EU are very fashion conscious and there is a very sophisticated segment for niche garments.
In January 2016, India’s readymade garment export contracted by five per cent. The industry has been raising concerns over Vietnam securing zero-duty access to the European Union market from 2017. Vietnam has already toppled India from position as the world’s third largest garment exporter. Indian products face restrictions such as a 9.6 per cent import duty as an India-EU broad-based trade and investment agreement has yet to be finalised.
Two-way commerce in goods between India and the EU was $98.5 billion dollars in 2014-15. In the US, India is the second biggest garment exporter after China. India is looking at boosting exports in markets where she has an edge over the others to make up for the losses made in other countries. For instance Bangladesh is offering stiff competition to Indian garment exports in African countries.
Vietnam is set to gain a lot from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Pakistan are worried. Bangladesh and China are the world’s number two and the top garment exporter respectively. Indonesia and Pakistan have large textile and apparel sectors.
Vietnam is already the world’s fourth biggest garment exporter. The TPP deal could see Vietnam’s exports — from clothing and footwear to coffee and seafood — increase by 30 per cent and boost the country’s economic growth by 10 per cent by 2030.
Access to TPP for Vietnam is certainly a concern for apparel exporting countries, especially for Bangladesh. Bangladesh will continue to face average duties of 16 per cent on garment exports to the US while Vietnam’s duties will be eliminated. However, TPP still needs to be ratified in the US and several other countries, delaying implementation at least until next year. The EU-Vietnam FTA will take seven years before duties on Vietnam’s garment exports to Europe are completely eliminated.
Even so, key regional apparel producers such as Cambodia and Myanmar are alarmed that if the trade pacts proceed as planned, Vietnam could undercut their vital garment industries. Myanmar garment makers look to Europe as both a market and a source of investment, with garments a key part of the country’s plans to become a manufacturing economy.
