Asia is expected to meet its growth forecasts for this year and the next on strong domestic demand and easing inflation pressures. For this year and the next, China is expected to grow at 6.6 per cent and 6.3 per cent. India is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent.

The Asian region as a whole is expected to grow at six per cent in 2018 and 5.8 per cent in 2019. However, the trade conflict between the US and China poses a risk to economic prospects in the region. Another risk is from the rising tide of trade protectionism.

The Asian Development Bank has raised its 2019 growth outlook for Central Asia to 4.3 per cent from the September projection of 4.2 per cent. The forecasts for southeast Asia and south Asia for the next year have been lowered to 5.1 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively.

Easing commodity prices and central bank policy actions could cause the pace of inflation in developing Asia to settle at 2.6 per cent this year and to 2.7 per cent in 2019. Early this month, the US and China agreed to a 90-day truce on further tariffs as they try to negotiate a deal.

Production in around 50 garment units in Bangladesh was suspended for three days recently as the workers protested against the implementation of the new wages. Of these factories, 25 are in Ashulia and 25 in Gazipur.

The new wage board for garment workers is expected to take effect from January, and the factory managements are currently working on it. BGMEA suspects a section of vested quarters are trying to instigate the workers ahead of the national election.

Subsequently, the association urged the government to take stern actions against the instigators, who are provoking the workers to go for work abstention during such an important time for the garment sector. It urged the factory owners to run their factories as normal.

"The signing of a new regional trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada, on November 30, 2018 in Argentina, augers well for the Mexican garment and apparel industry. The deal, known by the acronyms USMCA in the United States, CUSMA and ACEUM in Canada, and T-MEC in Mexico, replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), operation since the last 24 years in the three countries’ joint trading area. The T-MEC agreement will not only allow Mexico to maintain its pace of exports to the North American market but also improve quality of products and marketing initiatives."

The signing of a new regional trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada, on November 30, 2018 in Argentina, augers well for the Mexican garment and apparel industry. The deal, known by the acronyms USMCA in the United States, CUSMA and ACEUM in Canada, and T-MEC in Mexico, replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), operation since the last 24 years in the three countries’ joint trading area.

The T-MEC agreement will not only allow Mexico to maintain its pace of exports to the North American market but also improve quality of products and marketing initiatives. However, until T-MEC is approved by the USA, Mexico will continue to benefit from the NAFTA agreement signed in 1994. Other Latin American countries, however, are not likely to benefit from the deal, and will have to either find new markets or establish partnerships within the Mexican textile industry to approach the Canadian and US markets at less of a disadvantage.

Opportunity for the domestic market

Raúl García Tapia, Director of Fashion Outlet and former Director General of the Mexican National Chamber of the Garment Industry (Ca.Na.I.Ve.), believes that the new deal brings certainty in terms of customs duties, reassuring both Mexican companies and North American buyers.

However, the new treaty includes some tariff restrictions for Mexican textile manufacturers. It mandates that garment components such as sewing thread, fabric linings, elastic and coated fabrics should be sourced from the signatory countries only. This forces Mexican suppliers to stop importing certain components from Asian countries, and provides them with an opportunity to produce these materials internally, generating more employment and economic benefits.

Ensuring greater cooperating

The T-MEC will also help the Mexican textile industry fight undervaluation -- a disguised form of contraband where importers declare a lower value of the imported goods at customs. The T-MEC allows more stringent checks on the compliance of imported goods with rules of origin, and for checking for infringements of customs regulations, while at the same time it sets up a textile committee to facilitate consultations and ensure greater cooperation between authorities.

According to Ca.Na.I.Ve, the Mexican textile industry exports $6.4 billion worth of goods per year to the US, making it the largest Latin American apparel exporter to the USA, and the sixth globally.

Yarn prices in Bangladesh in the last two months have fallen at least 12 per cent. Prices, between June and July, for the widely consumed 30 carded yarn ranged between $3.40 and $3.50 a kilogram. But from November onwards the prices of the same yarn dropped to $3.05 a kg. If the trend continues, the yarn stock, the main raw material for finished apparel items, may pile up, putting the $8 billion primary textile industry under threat.

Easy availability of cheap Indian yarn and lower prices of raw cotton worldwide due to the US-China tariff war are to blame for the sliding yarn prices. The oversupply of Indian yarn has been worsening the situation.

Supply of yarn from both the domestic and Indian market is very high at present, so the prices have decreased between 10 cents and 15 cents per kg. The price difference between Indian and Bangladeshi yarn is 10 to 15 cents per kg. Yarn prices have dropped because of the fall in cotton price worldwide, said Momin Mondol, Managing Director of Mondol Group. The total demand for yarn is more than 21 lakh tonne per year.

Vietnam is taking advantage of the heightened US-China rivalry to rebalance its relationship with China. Vietnam relies on China to propel its rapidly growing economy. China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner. But now some uneasiness has crept in. China’s plan to create three special economic zones in Vietnam brought tens of thousands on to the streets in June to protest what was widely seen as a direct Chinese presence on Vietnamese soil.

In trade, Vietnam has capitalised on the fallout of the US-China trade war to become a top destination for manufacturers looking to avoid tariffs. A number of firms are relocating from China to Vietnam. The trade war has also highlighted Vietnam’s historic economic dependence on China, and increased the risks for Vietnam. The fear is that Chinese goods will come to Vietnam, be stamped as made in Vietnam and shipped on to the United States.

Already the US has come down on Vietnamese products. In May the US slapped tariffs on Vietnamese steel, saying China was using Vietnam to avoid US-imposed anti-dumping measures on Chinese steel. Therefore, Vietnam has resolved to diversify its risks, and build on its already highly active efforts to pursue trade agreements with a wide variety of partners.

The revised duty drawback rates are expected to boost textile and apparel exports from India, in particular exports of cotton textiles and other products in the value chain. The removal of drawback cap in the case of export products where the drawback rates are less than two per cent will benefit cotton textile exporters.

There is a significant increase in drawback rates for cotton made-ups which will encourage exports of value-added products like home textiles. The increase in the duty drawback rates would help exporters face the competition in the overseas market. The maximum increase of drawback rates on manmade fiber textiles is by about 1.5 per cent. Also, nylon filament yarn (dyed) has been added under the drawback scheme.

Global markets have turned favorable for Indian exporters because of China’s decision to reduce activities in the labor and energy-intensive industries, including textile and apparel. China has reduced its global market share in the textile and apparel segment to 38 per cent from over 40 per cent nearly two years ago.

India’s textile and apparel exports are expected to reach $82 billion by 2021. The country’s textile and apparel exports grew two per cent in April to October 2018.

The Sensitive Fabrics collection by Eurojersey for the Spring/Summer 2020 season focuses on its technical performance. The collection is expressed in two macro themes centred on the Ecoprint and digital printing processes. The company uses the Ecoprint technology to reproduce tone-on-tone and contrasting affects on the smooth surface of Sensitive Fabrics, thanks to the use of lacquers, color and metal pigments, which create patterns with amazing effects of transparency and high-definition luminous contrasts.

In the new collection, brocade effects are reminiscent of the 18th century-style charm of decoratively embossed textiles and precious jacquard-like patterns applied to the surface of Sensitive Fabrics; at the same time, the use of metallic pigments and glitter confer sheer glamour thanks to the luminosity of the lurex effect. A play of transparent effects in neutral shades is intertwined with a foliage pattern traced in white pigment. A sequence of shiny-matt effects spring from a cascade of lacquers or metallic glitter, combined with white pigments on the extremely smooth surface of Sensitive Fabrics.

Digital printing, thanks to 3D print technology, successfully creates designs and structures which are textural-looking and endowed with realistic 3D effects. With this printing technology, colors and graphic designs benefit from an extremely precise definition, as well as generating high-resolution textures.

Khondoker Latifur Rahman has been elected as first Vice-President and Mozaharul Haque the second Vice-President while Zahir Uddin Haider has been elected as Vice-President and Monir Uddin Ahmed as Vice-President Finance of Bangladesh Garments Accessories & Packaging Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGAPMEA)

BGAPMEA started operation in 1989. The association is the prime organisation to safeguard the interest of Garments Accessories and Packaging manufacturers & exporters of the country. The BGAPMEA represents more than 1600 export-oriented garments accessories & packaging industries in the country. The GAP sector acts as a backward linkage industry of RMG as well as other export oriented industries like frozen food, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, leather goods, vegetables, etc. Now almost all requirements of garments accessories & packaging of readymade garments and other export oriented industries are being met up locally which is about 95 per cent.

Lenzing is expanding its environmental leadership commitment. The group is changing from coal-fired boilers to gas-fired boilers in China. Lenzing, a leader in sustainability in the textile and nonwovens industry, is passionate about addressing the challenges the industry is facing. Lenzing plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

Lenzing supports the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. Signatories will work together on topics like decarbonization of the production phase, selection of climate friendly and sustainable materials, low-carbon transport, improved customer dialogue and awareness of all stakeholders as well as exploring circular business models.

Lenzing also supports Refibra technology, a circular business model which uses cotton scraps as a raw material for the production of a new virgin fiber. These initiatives underpin the Lenzing Group’s ambition to help greening up the textile and the nonwovens industries by extending collaboration with partners in the industry.

Business has an increasingly vital role to play in accelerating the shift to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. Fashion plays a crucial role on both sides of the climate equation – as a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and as a sector with multiple opportunities to reduce emissions by the targeted 30 per cent while contributing to sustainable development.

Clothing manufacturers in Laos are encountering ongoing hurdles to survive and thrive. Shortage of skilled labor is a chronic problem. Customers want quality products and manufacturers hold little power to bargain as their costs rise while the prices received remain constant.

Laos is unable to compete due to a lack of raw materials within the country and the high transportation costs with no direct sea routes. In 2015, Laos had 92 garment factories with just 78 now remaining. Seven of these are owned by Lao businesses, seven are joint ventures and the remainder are owned by overseas interests.

The Japanese are large investors in the garment sector, followed by Thai nationals. Currently, a total of 50 factories are members of the association with 40 manufacturing exclusively for export and six catering to the domestic market as well as exports. These factories employed 26,000 people at the beginning of this year with women comprising 90 per cent of the workforce and 0.5 per cent foreigners.

Most foreign employees are in the administration and technical divisions, especially those from Thailand, Japan, China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Laos’ garment exports in 2016 were down by 7.25 per cent compared to 2014. The main export markets are the EU, Japan, the US and Canada.