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Indian companies are finding it beneficial to operate from Ethiopia. Some big textile and garment manufacturers have entered the African country in recent times, these include Raymond and Arvind.
Arvind has set up seven apparel factories at Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia, covering a total area of 13.5 acres. Arvind has two more factories in Ethiopia outside the park. These facilities export products to the US and Europe. With the new facilities in the industrial park, the total output would go up to 30 million pieces of garments.
Several Tirupur-based garment manufacturers are also attracted by the prospects in Ethiopia. These include: SCM Garments, the export arm of Chennai Silks, Jay Jay Mills, Best Corporation and KPR Mills.
SCM Garments is setting up a 500-machine garment unit in Ethiopia. Best Corporation is also setting up a 1,000-machine factory at Rs 30 crores. Power and labor is cheap in Ethiopia. Moreover, Ethiopia has become proactive towards attracting investments. It offers a plug and play facility for investors and provides all infrastructure amenities, including buildings.
While exports from India invite duties ranging between 12 to 15 per cent, and in some categories, up to 25 per cent, Ethiopia has secured easy access to major markets like the US, Canada and the EU at lower or nil duty.
The Aditya Birla Group held a competition in Indore. The annual event, presented by Aditya Birla for the last five years, has become an exciting, knowledge-sharing platform for manufacturing professionals in plant operations, production management, quality control, technical and engineering and HR.
This year, the main focus was on women in manufacturing, under which various organizations shared their initiatives toward gender inclusivity at the shop floor level. Teams from some of India’s top manufacturing companies competed via case study presentations. The companies competed across diverse categories − cost optimization, technology, sustainability, people initiatives, safety and quality. Regional winners will have the rare opportunity to compete against other regional winners in a national-level competition to be held on September 21, 2018, in Mumbai.
Aditya Birla, one of India’s leading manufacturing companies with diversified interests, has 130 world-class manufacturing plants across the globe, with 65 per cent of its workforce engaged in the manufacturing sector.
The group’s flagship company Grasim Industries has a strong presence in viscose staple fiber and chemicals in Madhya Pradesh. Grasim believes manufacturing is a key driver of the Indian economy and sharing of best practices creates an eco-system of co-learning and knowledge-sharing among young manufacturing professionals.
Tirupur-based company AKR is currently working with local government in Fall River, Massachusetts in partnership with manufacturer Good Clothing Company, to build a state-of-the-art cut-and-sew semi-automatic manufacturing plant. The facility, which will allow US companies to produce in the country, will source textiles from India in the first phase of its project; but its goal is to eventually make fabrics in US by using zero discharge. This will require a massive investment. The company anticipates enormous growth in the North American market by 2020.
Incepted in 1994, AKR is one of the largest dyers in South Asia (dyeing 50 tons of fabric daily), and over time, has grown increasingly concerned with the toll that the textile dyeing industry was taking on the environment. The company, in 2008, 100-percent zero-discharge dyeing facility which filters wastewater through reverse osmosis. The clean water is rerouted back into the dyeing process. Remaining water is evaporated from the resulting chemical sludge and the dried chemical waste is formed into small bricks that are then sent to cement factories and other chemical factories where they are used as one of the raw materials in the finished products.
Brandix along with the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC) has launched a facility to train and inspire the group’s workforce. Brandix is Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter. It operates manufacturing units in Sri Lanka, India (a 1000-acre self-sufficient industrial park), Bangladesh, Haiti, Cambodia and UK.
CINEC is one of the largest non-state sector higher education institutions in Sri Lanka. The CINEC campus was established in 1990 with the vision of building a close working partnership with the industry, professional organisations and other stakeholders.
The center will initially cater to the associates and supervisory grade employees of Brandix, offering programs covering technical topics and behavioral aspects as part of the curriculum at a later stage. The focus is to shape well-rounded individuals. It wants to unleash the technical and leadership potential of people through a carefully curated, comprehensive learning and development process in collaboration with CINEC to create the next layer of talent to take the industry on an inspired journey.
The first batch of trainees for garment technicians has been inducted. The learning received will be further enhanced with the support and guidance of the Vocational Technical Authority of Sri Lanka to align the program content with that of the nationally-accepted NVQ.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) sees India as the biggest export destinations for the country’s apparel sector. The current export volume of readymade garments is $279 million but BGMEA expects it to grow to $1 billion in future. Bangladesh is the second largest RMG exporter globally and sourcing of raw materials from India for its RMG industry provides a win-win situation to both countries.
BGMEA imports most of its cotton, dyes, chemicals and other auxiliary items from India to produce garments. Since India is the second largest producer of Manmade Fibre and Filament based textiles, Bangladesh is a big potential market for it. Around 60 percent of the total world trade in textile and clothing is done “Intra Asia” and is bound to increase in coming years owing to expansion in installed capacities and requirement of fiber to apparel amongst the Asian countries.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Sindh-Balochistan Region has revealed that the trade deficit for the fiscal year 2017-18 has reached an all-time high at $36 billion, imports are around $60 billion while exports are around $23.5 billion. The Current Account Deficit for the year 2017-18 is also at an all-time high at $18 billion. In addition the government has to pay $38.224 billion and Rs 15.883 trillion against external and domestic public debt respectively including principal amount and interest in the next seven years.
To increase exports therefore, the PTI government led by Imran Khan should address major odds hurting the industry and exports such as high cost of doing business, availability of energy both gas and electricity at an affordable price as compared to our regional competitors, adequate supply of raw cotton, timely payment of sales tax and income tax refunds to avoid liquidity problem, rupee dollar parity, shortage of skilled manpower, lack of institutional support/infrastructure facilities, etc.
"As per a new research report by the market research and strategy consulting firm, Global Market Insights, Lyocell fiber market will reach over $1.5 billion by 2024. Fashion trends have changed rapidly over the past few years and will continue to do so in the coming years, which will drive industry growth. Modern technology and fibers have been developed which have escalated the use of better quality materials and has driven lyocell fiber marker demand. Brands have started focusing on fibers that can be recycled and reused after the end of a product’s lifecycle."
As per a new research report by the market research and strategy consulting firm, Global Market Insights, Lyocell fiber market will reach over $1.5 billion by 2024. Fashion trends have changed rapidly over the past few years and will continue to do so in the coming years, which will drive industry growth. Modern technology and fibers have been developed which have escalated the use of better quality materials and has driven lyocell fiber marker demand. Brands have started focusing on fibers that can be recycled and reused after the end of a product’s lifecycle.
Government has taken various initiatives to adopt sustainable fibers. The apparels segment in North America accounted for a major chunk of the product share (over 40 per cent) in 2016. The environment friendly production process of the material also acts as a major driver to boost the lyocell fiber market. There has been a significant impact through social media on the apparel segment, which in turn has positively influenced the industry.
Lyocell fibers emerge as a strong alternative
Petrochemical fibers have been substituted by cellulosic man made fibers, which has spurred product adoption
in manufacturing processes. The pressure on synthetic fiber manufacturers has increased due to increasing demand for naturally derived fibers. The product finds its application in various segments such as baby diapers, home textiles, apparels, automotive filters, surgical products and many more. The healthcare and wound care textiles segment is likely to grow at a robust pace, owing to the evolving technologies for recovery of surgical wounds, thus propelling lyocell fiber market.
Despite numerous opportunities, lyocell fiber market will face challenges due to its expensive pricing compared to eco-friendly alternatives. Extra caring of delicate fabrics such as cold rinse, hand wash, and dry-clean can increase maintenance costs as well. Also, the product shrinks up to 3 per cent after the first wash. These factors will act as restraints for lyocell fiber market in coming years.
Cellulose fibers are used for the manufacturing of superior quality textiles which have boosted the lyocell fiber market. The fiber is biodegradable, natural and economical, obtained from natural cellulose found in wood pulp. Also, the fabric has natural breathability and with a superior moisture absorption capacity than cotton. Moreover, due to its moisture management properties, lyocell is anti-bacterial by nature. These properties will open up new growth vistas in new products for lyocell fiber in coming years.
Some major industry players in lyocell fiber market include: Birla Cellulose, Lenzing AG, Baoding Swan Fiber Co, Acegreen Eco-Material Technology, China Populus Textile, Chonbang, Qingdao Textiles Group Fiber Technology, Acelon Chemicals & Fiber Corporation and smartfiber AG.
Having invested in the largest Monforts Montex stenter installation in Europe three years ago, Portugal-based Riopele has placed a new order for a further machine of similar dimensions to be delivered before the end of 2018. This next ten-chamber Monforts Montex stenter, currently being built, will be operational in 2019, as part of a new €10 million investment plan.
A long-standing partner with Monforts, Riopele has a variety of the German machine builder’s equipment, and dominating the finishing department is the Montex stenter, with 12 chambers and a full installation length of some 70-metres. The line was installed as part of a €14 million investment programme between 2014-16. This stenter combines production efficiency with excellent energy efficiency, ensuring a continuous production flow with a positive impact in terms of delivery time.
The machine boasts of unique features designed according to their specifications. These include special J-boxes at the stenter’s inlet and outlet, for the gentle storage of a high volume of material. The special heat recovery system was also tailored specifically to the company’s needs.
PricewaterhouseCoopers BD and the BGMEA recently organised a seminar on ‘Driving Transformation in Bangladesh’s apparel industry’ in Dhaka. It was inaugurated by Mamum Rashid, Managing Partner, PwC Bangladesh, who made the welcome address. This was the first ever PwC-organised seminar in the port city. Experts at the seminar were positive about achieving the target of $50 billion apparel exports by 2021. They believe there is no significant change in the market share of RMG exports in the EU countries over the last few years and export diversification to non-traditional markets including India and Russia can provide a big opportunity for growth.
Experts at advised the Bangladesh government to establish environment-friendly apparel factories by ensuring 9.0 per cent interest on loans. These loans will be disbursed to entrepreneurs who intend to establish green factories, raise local textile plants with modern machinery, management practices, infrastructure development and enhance port facilities for efficient logistics in this fiscal year.
The ongoing indefinite transporters strike has resulted in a staggering loss of upto 1,500 crore for the textile industry. The knitwear export has been declining since October 2017, and in the second half of 2017-18, the decline was to the tune of 21 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2016-17. In the first quarter of the current financial year also, the export has declined by 21 per cent as compared to the same period in 2017-18.
The strike has affected the entire textile industry hitting its production, fund flow, employment, credibility and reputation. It has forced the units to suspend their production in the absence of no supply of raw material. Many units work on the basis of just-in-time arrival of raw material, and this strike would lead to loss of livelihood for lakhs of casual workers. Even regular workers would have to do with lower wages in the absence of production incentives and overtime.
