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As labour costs in China continue to rise, the country's apparel and textile industry is witnessing export orders move to other sourcing destinations as foreign buyers seek lower-cost manufacturers. This move could be especially damaging for smaller, low-end Chinese manufacturers, leaving China-based orders increasingly concentrated amongst larger companies, according to a report from the China Cotton Textile Association (CCTA).
“Small to medium manufacturers said their orders dropped sharply during the first quarter of the year, while big manufacturers said they had enough orders to keep them busy,” explains CCTA. In Guangdong province, for instance, the nation's major export-oriented production base, only 22.3 per cent of about 4,600 local manufacturers said they have sufficient orders. While more than 66 per cent said they only had orders for three months' work, according to a survey published in March by the Guangdong Association of Garment and Garment Article Industry (GAGGAI).
The study also revealed that of 4,647 local manufacturers in the province, 574 local manufacturers reported a combined operating loss of 573.40 billion Chinese Yuan, up 13.2 per cent from 2012. That said, the nation's largest province for textile and apparel exports is still making money, as it reported combined profits of 25.8 billion Chinese Yuan, up 19.95 per cent year-on-year.
Also, according to a 2013 report by US consulting company McKinsey, proximity sourcing is becoming more important for certain European and American clothing brands, pushing them to look for manufacturers closer to home than China. As a result, a growing number of big Chinese textile companies are moving parts of their businesses overseas. A recent example has been the Zhejiang province-based Keer Group Co's plans to invest 218 million dollars in building a cotton yarn plant in South Carolina.
Japan's flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki, together with its UK subsidiary Shima Seiki will hold a private exhibition at their revamped showroom next month. On display will be the cutting edge in flat knitting technology, represented by the latest Wholegarment machine and design system. The exhibition will be a showcase the company’s diverse line up of its latest computerised flat knitting machines.
The flagship Mach2X series features original SlideNeedle on four needlebeds and is the only machine suited to Wholegarment knitting in all needles. The new compact SWG-N2 series Wholegarment knitting machine offers increased colour capacity as well as the capability for producing industrial textiles. SRY123LP features a pair of loop presser beds mounted above a conventional V shaped needlebed and is capable of producing unprecedented knitwear with woven textures as well as technical textiles. Also SIP flatbed inkjet printing machine will be shown for the first time in the UK.
The SIP features a height adjustable printing head that allows for printing onto 3D textures, as well as finished products such as Wholegarment items. Combined with the SDS -ONE APEX3 3D design system, a fully integrated manufacturing system realizes full-colour value-added garments to be designed, colour-matched, modeled in 3D, printed and approved with significantly shortened lead times compared with traditional methods.
Demonstrations will also be performed on the APEX3 system that is at the core of the company’s total knitting system concept. With comprehensive support of the knit supply chain, APEX3 integrates knit production into one smooth and efficient workflow from planning and design to machine programming, production and even sales promotion. Virtual Sampling through photo-realistic simulation minimises the need for sample -making, effectively reducing time, material and cost from the sampling process. APEX3 also supports design and simulation in various other industries such as circular knitting, weaving, pile weaving and printing.
Also on display will be the latest collection of seam-free Wholegarment knitwear that feature superior fit, comfort and draping characteristics. New solutions in knitwear design, shaping techniques and material selection will be also be presented.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has named Juanita D. Duggan its CEO, replacing Kevin M Burke, who left the organization in January after 13 years. Burke is currently president and chief executive of the Airports Council International–North America.
Duggan is a longtime lobbyist who most recently served as policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. During her tenure at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Duggan worked with a range of clients, including some in the retail sector. From 1998 to 2006, she served as president and CEO of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. She led WSWA to victory with the 21st Amendment Enforcement Act, a law that reinforced the Constitution’s grant of authority to states over alcohol regulation. Duggan has the ability to lead organizations, develop coalitions, and successfully manage complex lobbying efforts and public affairs campaigns.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association is based in Virginia. It was formed in August 2000 through the merger of the American Apparel and Manufacturers Association and the Footwear Industries of America. Drawing from a broad, strong membership base, AAFA is the national trade association representing apparel, footwear, and other sewn products companies, which compete in the global marketplace.
The 30th edition of the World Fashion Convention organized by International Apparel Federation (IAF) to provide a meeting point and platform for entrepreneurs of the fashion system from all over the world would begin on September 29 in Medellin, this year. In association with Inexmoda, the event would focus on the strengths of the Latin American fashion. The IAF is giving out a 20 per cent early bird discount till July 24 for registration.
This year, the theme and topic of discussion is ‘Understanding the Challenges of the Fashion Business’, based on the fact that the fashion system today changes much faster than a decade ago and the need to understand and adapt to the challenges facing us today.
The event is held annually in a different continent. In previous years the convention has been hosted by major cities such as Milan, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Washington, Istanbul, San Francisco, Porto and Shanghai among others, with more than 200 executives attending it every time. The focus of the event has always been the fashion business, including branding, marketing and management of the supply chain.
Iafconventionmedellin.com
The United States is keenly following and negotiating for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) with 11 other Asia-Pacific countries including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. When the trade agreement gets through, it is expected to open markets, set high-standard trade rules, and address 21st-century issues in the global economy apart from boosting employment prospects in the United States and across the Asia-Pacific region.
The TPP agreement would open wide opportunities for American manufacturers, workers, service providers, farmers, and ranchers – to support job creation and wage growth. The government is working hard to ensure that TPP will be a comprehensive deal, providing new and meaningful market access for goods and services; strong and enforceable labour standards and environmental commitments; groundbreaking new rules designed to ensure fair competition between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies; commitments that will improve the transparency and consistency of the regulatory environment to make it easier for small- and medium-sized businesses to operate across the region.
It will also provide a robust intellectual property (IP) rights framework to promote innovation, while supporting access to innovative and generic medicines and an open Internet; and obligations that will promote a thriving digital economy, including new rules to ensure the free flow of data.
US textile and apparel manufacturers sold more than $10 billion worth of products to TPP countries in 2013, an increase of 5.4 percent from the previous year. Many US yarns, fabrics, and apparel currently face tariffs as high as 20 per cent upon entering some TPP countries. Through TPP negotiations, these tariff and non-tariff barriers to textile and apparel exports will be eliminated to enhance the competitiveness of producers in the Asia-Pacific region.
The last edition of Denim by Premiere Vision in Barcelona held from May 21-22, 2014, Sportswear International organized a series of initiatives in collaboration with the show. The two partners drew up a survey of opinions gathered through interviews with key insiders and personalities of denim and jeans wear markets.
The research, it undertook threw up a composite vision of the market from its present state of the art up to its future evolution, including major upcoming trends. A part of the analysis also focused on first impressions collected at the debut of Denim by PV in Barcelona and on opinions about the Sportswear International magazine. These two sections of the survey were issued to get a better understanding of what insiders are increasingly looking for and what they expect from two important players of the jeans wear and denim panorama.
When asked to describe the present denim market many were optimistic and described it as a phase of recovery, focusing on new technologies and reactivity. They expect the global denim market size to grow, even if major geographical areas will not change significantly. Comfort and additional performance will continue to be key elements, which will characterize the evolution of jeans wear, though wearable technology on the one side and sustainability on the other will become requirements.
Apart from tattoo, glittery look and bell bottom jeans, many pointed out that stretch, super stretch and skinny jeans will never go out of fashion. Others recognized that masculine denims will become the real new must-have for women, sustainability will grow in importance, and many will return to the origins.
Bangladesh finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has proposed reduction of supplementary duty rates on fabrics, garments and clothing accessories. The Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 is scheduled to be implemented from July 2015.
The Budget proposes to reduce supplementary duty on woven fabrics from the existing 30 per cent to 20 per cent, on most knitted or crocheted fabrics from 45 per cent to 30 per cent, on track suits and other garments from 45 per cent to 30 per cent, and on various clothing accessories from 60 per cent to 45 per cent. The target growth for the next fiscal year 2014-15 has been pegged at 7.3 per cent, which would increase to 10 per cent by 2021. To achieve this target, a number of measures, including stimulus packages, will be taken for readymade garments and other sectors to add further momentum to the export sector.
The Budget also names the garment industry among the six priority sectors identified for imparting training of international standards over a period of three years. The FM has proposed reduction of tax at source from 0.80 per cent to 0.30 per cent for garment exports. For the textile sector, in addition to the facilities given in the previous budget, the proposed budget has reduced duty to five per cent from the existing 10 per cent for a few raw materials used in this sector.
Cotton farmers in Zimbabwe are going through troubled times. In the past they could pick cotton and get good earnings but after 1990 things have started getting worse. The liberalisation policies brought about by the 1990s economic reforms imposed limits on most cotton growers. They are no longer motivated to grow cotton.
It has become increasingly difficult to make decisions to grow cotton, to obtain credit, to hire labor as well as all productive activities, harvesting, delivery, and stalk removal. Many cotton growers can no longer afford to hire labor to spray insecticides in their field crop. Most have accused ginners, who contract them to produce cotton, for being insensitive and buyers for offering poor prices. As a result, cotton output has declined. Farmers shifted to tobacco production, which offers better prices.
Cotton is no longer the white gold that farmers once sought. Problems include poor market prices, high production costs, migration of young people to neighboring countries and high labor costs. In 1991, when the government liberalised the economy and began introducing reforms, thousands of cotton farmers were placed at the mercy of international commodity markets. Government subsidies were scrapped and small-scale cotton producers who could once depend on a meager but stable rate of return, now found themselves unable to viably grow the crop.
Serge Piolat has been elected president of Euratex (European Apparel and Textile Confederation) for the period 2015-2016. Piolat , 63, is co-owner of Schappe, a French group of companies specializing in the production of technical spun yarns supplied to various industrial sectors. He was a member of Euratex board of directors since 2009 and acted as vice-president since 2011.
He wants to work toward strengthening and consolidating Euratex as the single European voice of textile and clothing industry. In the following year, he would like also to focus on a number of strategic priorities, among them enhancing the competitiveness of European manufacturing and lobby for a genuine European industrial policy, increasing knowledge and access of companies to European programs, achieving concrete results in market access across the world and promoting a level playing field in international competition.
Piolat also wants to ensure adequate inclusion of technical textiles, new technologies and assembling methods in Europe and increase communication on the excellence of European products notably with respect to environment, consumer safety.
Euratex is the European confederation representing the interests of the European textile and clothing industries. Euratex's member federations directly or indirectly represent, in the EU, some 1,86.000 companies of an industry employing 1.8 million workers. The companies which are overwhelmingly small and medium-sized enterprises cover a broad industry cross-section in terms of product, market segment and geographical spread.
The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) has begun court proceedings against companies for violating laws preventing the exploitation of freelance workers. Nearly 23 clothing companies will join the ranks of over 170 others previously taken to court by the TCFUA for failing to abide by minimum legal standards in the clothing industry.
Textile, clothing and footwear freelance workers in Australia, almost uniformly migrant women, labor at home at the end of long and complex supply chains. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation given the hidden nature of their work and their isolation. Despite their high level of skill, most are forced to work long hours for very low wages.
The law imposes obligations on the whole supply chain to make transparent where work is being done, by whom and under what conditions. TCFUA is fighting for supply chain transparency. Without supply chain transparency, it is impossible to identify sweatshops, how much workers are being paid and whether other labor standards are being complied with. TCFUA wants to ensure that sweat shop workers and freelance workers receive their minimum legal wages and entitlements. It has called on companies to embrace ethical manufacturing of beautiful clothes in Australia.
