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Sritex is an Indonesian textile company that exports military uniforms to 35 countries. Half of its garment sales are military uniforms, although it also supplies fashion brands such as H&M. While some Indonesian companies have been buffeted by a volatile local currency, Sritex has managed to shield its supply chain from currency risks.
Sritex is less exposed to currency risks because it produces its own raw materials in its home base for yarn spinning, weaving and garment finishing. Indonesia’s currency, the rupiah, is one of emerging Asia’s worst performing currencies this year, having lost nine per cent against the dollar and is trading at its lowest for 20 years, hurt by rising US interest rates and global trade tensions.
While currency depreciation should in theory benefit exporters, it is often not the case in Indonesia where an estimated 70 per cent of raw materials used by manufacturers have to be imported. Sritex has a RS&D center in Germany, which has helped it develop special fabrics for the German military, such as those that are able to offer protection from mosquitoes.
Sales at Sritex jumped 35.6 per cent in the first six months and net income rose nearly 70 per cent, which would support the company’s plan to invest in a new weaving factory next year.
Makers of worsted fabric in India are set to face a squeeze in margins this year as global wool prices have reached a new high. International wool prices have increased by up to 180 per cent in the last two years, but Indian worsted fabric makers are unable to pass it on to consumers. Indian consumers are not ready to pay for the price rise and so manufacturers are using more manmade fiber.
Leading makers of winter garments, such as Raymonds, Reid and Tailor, Indoworth India, Jayashsree Textiles, OCM and Reliance are now increasingly moving to polyester viscose from polyester wool to lessen the impact of high wool prices on their margins. Wool is categorised in terms of fiber diameter of between 14.5 microns to 32 microns, and prices are higher for lower micron wool. The price has increased by 70 per cent for the category of wool used by the knitwear industry.
There is a sharp gap in the demand for and supply of wool due to adverse climatic conditions in Australia and it has caused a major rise in wool prices in the last couple of years. India produces about 2.2 million meters of worsted fabric every month.
Porto will host next year's largest textile congress in the world, the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), from October 20 to 22, 2019.The event will be organised by the Textile and Clothing Association of Portugal (ATP). It is expected to attract 300-350 participants comprising businessmen and managers of large sector companies.
An international forum for the world's textile industries, ITMF is dedicated to keeping the world-wide membership constantly informed through surveys, studies and publications, participating in the evolution of the industry's value chain and through the organisation of annual conferences as well as publishing considered opinions on future trends and international developments.
H&M has collaborated on a water strategy with WWF. The aim is to enable the company to become a leading water steward in the fashion industry. This integrated strategy goes beyond factory lines, taking into account the whole supply chain and also covering climate action and strategic dialogue to tackle broader sustainability challenges at an industry level, such as circular production processes and the use of sustainable materials.
Transforming the textile industry’s water management to reduce pollution is a critical part of WWF’s work to conserve freshwater resources. WWF’s global partnership with the H&M group has led the way by improving H&M group’s water management and encouraging other companies, NGOs and policymakers to collectively engage on water issues on a global level.
Clean freshwater is becoming a scarce resource. In the textile industry, water plays a critical role. Growing cotton, dyeing fabrics, creating washed-out looks — all have an impact on water resources. As a part of the strategy H&M will assess footprint and risk in its stores, warehouses and suppliers’ factories, improve the use of water and reduce pollution within its operations and suppliers’ factories and engage with public policymakers to manage water basins in a sustainable way.
The group feels its long-term success depends on access to water, the sustainable management of shared resources and a consideration for the needs of local communities.
The MSME Ministry has approved a proposal by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to increase wages of artisans along with payment of government subsidy -- modified market development assistance (MMDA), by over 36 per cent, from Rs 5.50 per hank previously to Rs 7.50 per hank. Under the MMDA programme, 30 per cent of the prime cost is paid to the khadi institution as production subsidy. Out of this 30 per cent, 40 per cent goes to artisans as wage incentives and the remaining 60 per cent goes to the institutions.
The wage incentives are paid by KVIC directly to the accounts of the artisans through direct benefits transfer. As a result, if an artisan makes 20 hanks in a day – he will get Rs 150 per day as wage at the rate of Rs 7.50 per hank, plus incentives like MMDA, which would be approximately 35 per cent on Rs 150, that is Rs 52. Wage enhancement will draw youth towards spinning as a profession. It will also attract new and younger artisans to khadi – who were earlier skeptical about their income comparing it to the wages given to the daily wagers under MNREGA.
Brazil could become the world’s second largest cotton exporter. The country is expected to export 1.12 million tons of cotton lint in the 2018-19 harvest, which would place it second to only the United States. The US-China trade war is set to directly benefit Brazilian cotton growers, with Chinese cotton processors indicating they would buy any additional supply of cotton that Brazilian farmers can produce.
China slapped a 25 per cent tariff on US cotton imports, among a raft of duties that took effect in July in response to tariffs announced by the US. Brazil’s overall production is expected to rise to 2.3 million tons of cotton lint in 2018-19 from two million tons the prior season.
Chinese demand will be driving growth in planted areas, with a record 1.4 million hectares of cotton expected next year, and two million hectares by 2022. Right now India is the second largest cotton exporter and Brazil is the third. Brazil has a wealth of arable land, plentiful rainfall, a large group of professional growers using the most advanced technologies, and a strong network of cotton industry associations.
Despite its many advantages, Brazil does have several significant obstacles to overcome before it can take its cotton production to the next level. Foremost on that list are logistics and transportation. Brazil is a huge country—larger than the continental United States—but its road and rail systems are either nonexistent or underdeveloped.
Bräcker will show its latest applications at ITMA Asia, to be held in Shanghai from October 15 to 19, 2018 at the National Exhibition Convention Centre. The company will exhibit latest innovations in key components for ring spinning machines. Its products enable spinning mills to increase their production output at an efficient price-performance ratio. The surface treatment of the ONYX travelers facilitates a higher efficiency. The improved gliding characteristic allows for an increase of the spindle speed by up to +1000 rpm and prolongs the life of the traveler by up to +50 per cent. On top of that the running-in period is considerably reduced.
The large contact surface between SFB traveler and ORBIT ring allows increased spindle speeds even with fibers like viscose or with fibers, tending to thermal damage, e.g. polyester. Higher traveler speeds of 10 – 20 per cent are achieved compared to the T-flange ring / C-shaped traveler system. To cover the new demands, the SFB traveler portfolio was substantially expanded in regards of traveler profiles and weights.
The Asia Pacific region has the largest market share for textile printing, followed by Europe and North America. Within Asia, China and India hold the largest market share for textile printing. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth and maintain its dominance till 2021.
The key objective of textile printing is to produce fabrics with an attractive design and defined pattern. This lucrative market expansion can be attributed to several factors such as the rise in customer demands, faster go-to-market strategy by companies and also the rapid expansion of the healthcare, real-estate, hospitality, education and retail sectors.
There has been a growth in demand from across various vertical industries. The growth has been due to the rapid expansion of retail malls and the hospitality industries. Progress in technology paired with increasing method of printing is driving the global textile printing market.
Among all forms of printing, digital printing is expected to garner the highest growth in the coming years. On the basis of technology the global market for textile printing can be split into direct printing, white/ color discharge and resist printing. Other forms of printing include block printing, roller printing, duplex printing, screen printing, stencil printing, transfer printing, blotch printing, jet spray printing and electrostatic printing.
Jacob Holm has simplified the supply chain for its production of Kevlar and Nomex protective fabric products. Jacob Holm will deliver Kevlar and Nomex directly from its production site. This site at one time belonged to DuPont and it’s from this site that DuPont first introduced the proprietary aramids containing spunlace technology to the market 31 years ago.
Jacob Holm acquired the site in 2014 and maintained production of the aramids containing protective fabrics while implementing significant production asset upgrades, quality enhancements, and other process improvements.
Jacob Holm is a global leader and innovator of spunlace nonwoven fabrics and finished goods. Founded in 1794 it has production facilities in France, Spain and US. It produces spunlace nonwovens for consumer wipes, industrial, beauty care, hygiene and health care markets.
For the past four years, Jacob Holm has sold the aramid containing fabrics through DuPont as a toll manufacturer. While the aramid containing spunlace base offering has not changed, the innovation team at Jacob Holm has developed an exciting pipeline of products.
Jacob Holm will continue providing aramid fabrics under this simplified supply chain and it looks forward to strengthening partnerships with its valued customers through the addition of Kevlar and Nomex fabrics to its product offering.
As per ICRA analysis, India’s apparel exports are expected to grow at a modest pace of 1-2 per cent year-on-year for the rest of FY19 vis-a-vis a sharp degrowth of 14 per cent y-o-y in 4M FY19. This would mean a 4 per cent y-o-y decline in the country’s apparel exports in FY19, the fourth consecutive weak year for India’s apparel exports, following the 4 per cent degrowth in FY18 and modest growth rates of 1 per cent and 3 per cent in FY16 and FY17, respectively.
India’s apparel exports have exhibited an discouraging trend, with a marginal de-growth of 1 per cent in FY18 as well as 4M FY19, even after adjusting for apparel exports to the UAE, which have declined inexplicably and sharply over the past one year. Growth of apparel sector in India is being constrained by the challenging of the export subsidy schemes by the US at the World Trade Organisation.
