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A World Bank report suggested that apparel export industry could be an ideal sector where India's female workforce can find more jobs. This was close on the heels of a United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) survey which highlighted the linkage between higher percentage of women workforce and high economic growth.
According to the World Bank report ‘The Stitches to Riches? Apparel Employment, Trade and Economic Development’, export-oriented apparel production in India and other South Asian countries has the potential to create more and better jobs, especially for female workforce.
Women are expected to benefit the most as their share in the total apparel employment is much higher than their share in other industries. A one per cent increase in expected wages in the textiles and apparel industry could raise the probability of women entering the labor force by 18.9 per cent, says the report. South Asia’s top four apparel producers - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - have made big investments in world apparel trade and account for 12 per cent of global apparel exports. India also has a more diversified export structure and has a well-developed fiber (cotton), textile and apparel manufacturing base.
Given the strong enthusiasm within Chinese market seen at the Spring Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, Messe Frankfurt’s next Intertextile fair – Intertextile Pavilion at the Shenzhen International Trade Fair for Apparel Fabrics and Accessories 2016 – will provide international apparel fabrics and accessories industry with further opportunities to benefit from this time in South China.
Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) explained that Guangdong province’s garment production output has been growing rapidly over the last year. In 2015, a total of 6.5 billion units of clothing were produced there, representing a 2.5 per cent growth compared to 2014. Because of this, the demand for apparel fabrics and accessories in the South China market has been steadily increasing.
Exhibitor profile shows that Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen is particularly popular with Asian suppliers. As of this month, not only have the Taiwan Pavilion, organised by the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF), and the Korea Pavilion, organised by the Korea Fashion Textile Association (KFTA) and Daegu Gyeongbuk Textile Industries Association (DGIA), confirmed their return but also a debut Japan Zone is also set to be formed by a number of leading Japanese suppliers. A range of high-quality cotton and man-made fabrics for ladieswear as well as causal wear with quick delivery service will be featured in the zone.
Held from July 7-9, 2016 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center across 30,000 sq. mt., nearly 700 exhibitors will showcase an array of high-quality fabrics.
Robert Fraley, Chief Technology Officer at biotechnology giant Monsanto, believes communicating science and training next-generation STEM graduates are just as important as doing science. Texas Tech University, hosted a team of six Monsanto executives lead by Robert Fraley recently. Fraley, a much accomplished scientist with World Food Prize and US National Medal of Technology engaged the whole afternoon with researchers and students to talk about the importance of science, communicating science and training next generation workforce with science and technology education.
He emphasized the need for not only geneticists but also people who are trained in social sciences, statistics and data analytics, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary knowledge in the future R & D industry. Fraley’s group was the first team in the world to put a gene into a plant that resulted in technologies such as Bollgard and Roundup Ready, which basically enhanced the yield of cotton in countries like India, which became the world number in cotton production last year. Nearly 25 per cent of Monsanto’s R&D budget is set aside for collaborations involving start-ups, academia and small businesses.
This March, Monsanto broke ground for a $140 million cottonseed production facility in Lubbock to be operational in summer 2017, will cater to the cotton seed requirement of the whole United States.
By expanding its selection of high-tech fabrics and bringing together, in a single venue, the Interfilière Lyon is consolidating its position. The show that is set to take place from July 9 to 11 at the Eurexpo Lyon, will offer three spaces, designed to offer visitors an opportunity to explore the variety of fabrics on display. These Include the Intimates General Forum, Momenti di Passione and the Innovation Forum.
This session at Interfilière will explore functionality, versatility and technical features for an ultra-modern look with a foothold in the future. Intimates and loungewear will be at the heart of the Forum for the Autumn-Winter 2017-’18 season. New York-based designer, Tina Wilson, has designed a Pop-Up store for Interfilière featuring loungewear and sleepwear inspired by Art Nouveau.
With the EURO 2016 being held in Paris, Interfilière and Mode City are revisiting their birthplace in Lyon for the duration of a summer, transforming Halls 5 and 6 with a sport-inspired show design. The graphic lines of race tracks, light wood panelling and vertical display offer visitors a clear and effective overview of products and trends.
Brugnoli, the leading Italy based producer of stretch knit jersey for swimwear, lingerie, fashion, sports and athleisure, is the Interfilière’s 2016 Designer of the Year in the Beachwear category. Meanwhile, the Momenti di Passione section of the event will be focus on the preview of Summer 2018 trends. This dedicated swimwear, sportswear and activewear space is designed to highlight new products and provide a forward-looking overview of these markets.
In 2005, Pakistan imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to 18 per cent on imported filament yarn from Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia. At that time, 17 local yarn manufacturers were operating in the country. Since then the number of local manufacturers has come down to just four units.
In 2005, stakeholders agreed that in order to bring fabric trade under a legal umbrella, the maximum duty on fabric should not exceed 15 per cent. Hence the duty on yarn was fixed at seven per cent. But over the years the duty on yarn has escalated to 11 per cent without any reason, causing distortions and making raw material for the downstream industry more expensive. Yarn merchants say the yarn duty should be brought down to nine per cent to give benefits to the weaving and knitting industry.
Makers of polyester filament yarn in Pakistan can only meet 25 per cent of the downstream industry’s demand, while the remaining 75 per cent requirement is met through imported yarn. Yarn merchants say, the long term solution for dealing with this issue is to modernise and upgrade plants of local manufacturers besides enhancing their capacity to achieve economies of scale. They emphasise the regulatory duty is not the right solution.
A team from the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences has won the first prize at maiden ‘Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge’ for their environmentally friendly textile dyeing technology using nanocellulosic fibers. The idea involves the production of nano-structured cellulose and the use of nano cellulose in a sustainable dyeing process that significantly reduces the amount of wastewater and toxic chemicals.
Conventional dyeing processes require large amounts of water and create toxic effluent, or waste, that can be costly to treat. The wastewater from dye facilities often contains synthetic dyes and toxic chemicals, which leave substantial ecological footprints.
The process involves using cellulose to dye materials. During a homogenisation process, cellulose, a readily available natural polymer found in the primary cell wall of green plants, is converted into a hydro gel material consisting of nano cellulose fibers.
Compared to cotton fibers, nano cellulose fibers have 70 times more surface area with high reactivity, allowing for the efficient uptake and attachment of dye molecules. Dyed nano cellulose hydro gels are then transferred to a textile by a conventional printing method.
By this method the amount of water and dye auxiliaries such as inorganic salt and alkali can be significantly reduced. Most textile dyeing industries are located in developing countries in which the regulations and societal concerns for environmental issues are loose compared to those in developed countries.
Although synthetic fibers are on the rise, quality cotton is still ahead, providing endurance that it offers. Cotton has long been one of the world’s most valuable commodities. It’s one of the 10 largest agricultural products worldwide, and the farming of cotton is a $23 billion global business. This year alone, 105.5 million bales of cotton is expected to be harvested across the world. Cotton production around the world has only increased being a staple fiber for the apparel industry and among the many countries that produce the fiber, here are the top eight producers from across the world. The ranking is based on statistics from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
China
As the largest producer, China leads the pack with a total production of 6,298,989 tons. Not only is it the largest producer of cotton, as one of the largest apparel producer, China also consumes a lot of what it produces within the domestic market. Since there has been a decrease in production, from 2007 and 2008 when the country produced more than 7,000,000 tons of cotton, China needed to import large amounts of cotton to satisfy the domestic market’s needs. However, now the country has come up with a new Cotton Policy. China consumes about one-third of cotton’s annual global production, making it the most important market in the world, while sitting on 60 per cent of the world’s cotton stock. Some of the stockpiled Chinese cotton sold at auction last year at prices 26 percent less than what the government paid for it. A rumored sale of more stocks this summer will likely result in greater losses.
India
With a total production of 6,052,000 tons of cotton, India is one of the rare countries on the list that managed to keep a steady growth in cotton production through the years. Since the beginning of 2000s, cotton production in India has been increasing 5 to 10 per cent almost every year. It is estimated that with this pace India could easily emerge as world’s number one cotton producer. As per estimates, in 2015-16 global cotton production is projected at 99.8 million bales, 16 per cent below last season. India and China account for over half of the global crop, with India contributing 27 per cent and China supplying 24 per cent of the 2015-16 production, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has estimated.
United States
US is among the top cotton producer with total production of 2,842,000 tons. Cotton had a major influence on the history of the United States, with some history experts claiming that increased cotton demand led to the increase of slavery in the United States, causing American Civil War. It’s up to you to decide if there is a major connection. Regarding cotton production, the United States had their ups and downs over the past couple years, but they are still the world’s number one cotton exporter.
Pakistan
Producing 2,171,300 tons, Pakistan’s economy largely depends on the cotton industry and its related textile industry. The country had its biggest production jump of 40 per cent from 2003 to 2004. In the recent years, the production is rather steady and goes around 2,000,000 tonnes.
Brazil
Brazil was one of the largest suppliers of cotton in the world until the 1990s when government’s reforms decreased the production. Now, with a production of 1,127,675 tons, Brazil is trying to climb up the list of eight countries that produce the most cotton in the world by increasing its cotton production thanks to government support.
Uzbekistan Cotton is a major contributor to Uzbekistan’s economy due to the fact that production is mainly aimed towards exports. Uzbekistan produces 1,094,000 tons and is the world’s second largest exporter of cotton, supplying markets of China, Bangladesh, Korea, and Russia.
Australia
With a total production of 898,000 tons Australia has emerged as one of the largest cotton producing countries in the last few years. The country has rapidly increased its production in 2011 when they produced around 60 per cent more cotton than in 2010 and kept the production on a similar level in 2012 and 2013.
Turkey
Turkey productes 832,500 tons of cotton. Turkey has been increasing and decreasing its cotton production through the years. For example, they were producing close to 1,000,000 tons at the beginning of the 2000s but cut the production by almost 50 per cent in 2009. The main reasons for these ups and downs were increasing production costs and lower demand.
A World Bank book titled ‘Stitches to Riches’, offers specific policy recommendations for stakeholders to better leverage the apparel manufacturing sector's potential in South Asia. The book is focused on identifying key bottlenecks and areas for improvement in the South Asian countries compared with those of their closest competitors in the South East Asian region (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia).
The recommendations include:) removing trade restrictions to allow easy access to manmade fibers as inputs; increasing efficiency along the value chain such as integration between textile and apparel; and third improving social and environmental compliance by introducing better human resource practices.
At the country level, policy highlights include suggestions that Bangladesh should improve performance on non-cost factors important to buyers. Stitches to Riches says India must address constraints to firm growth (like integration of textile and apparel, and access to manmade fibers), and Sri Lanka should position itself as regional hub and take advantage of emerging markets.
The book also suggests that Pakistan should increase product diversity and reliability, and take advantage of new markets. Stitches to Riches has been motivated by South Asia's urgent need to create more and better jobs for a growing population.
Garment exporters in India say raising the minimum wages for contract labour to Rs 10,000 could result in a sharp drop in exports and lower employment. They say that with the proposed increase in wages, the industry will not be able to exercise its flexibility of engaging more labor to meet its peak-time requirements and will lose to competitors in Bangladesh and China, who already have a cost advantage.
The industry witnesses peak demand between October and February, while orders decline by around 30 per cent in other seasons.
According to exporters the higher wage burden could lead to a 10 per cent decline in export turnover and a proportionate decline in employment. The higher contract wages would also lead to a violation of wage parity norms (vis-à-vis workers on the rolls of a company) and lead to unrest in the industry.
The proposed wage hike is an effort to check exploitation of labor employed by the industry on a contract basis. If the provision is uniformly implemented across all states, the result will be an over 90 per cent increase in wages for contract labor in states such as Orissa and Rajasthan and over 30 per cent in most other states.
Pakistan’s textile industry faces high cost of doing business. About Rs 200 billion of refunds relating to sales tax, income tax, rebates and previous policy initiatives are yet to be paid. This is proving to be a major stumbling block in the smooth running of the industry.
The textile industry is not able to utilise resources due to sustained losses earlier and a liquidity shortage now. This is hindering the production of an exportable surplus.
The industry now wants refunds to be released on priority, the complete withdrawal of the Gas Infrastructure Development cess from the entire textile chain, payment of drawback of local taxes and levies at five percent to remove incidentals of taxes, cess, levies and duties on all textile exports. It wants a 15 per cent regulatory duty on imports of yarns and fabrics made from synthetics including polyester, viscose and acrylic, which have made serious inroads into domestic commerce.
The industry says the stuck up refund amounts are reflected in the revenue account, which is not a fair practice. It wants the eight-point textile industry package to be implemented in totality and not partially as is being done now. Also Pakistan’s currency is seen to be having an unrealistic value.
