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The US textile and apparel industry can hope for a good 2015. Overall mill shipments are expected to be up by about three to four per cent as per forecast. The growth would be led by basic mill products like fibers and fabrics. The more highly fabricated items that include carpets, household furnishings and industrial products also should begin to show growth at a much faster pace in 2015.
Segments like filtration, protective apparel, roofing and geo textiles and non-woven fabrics are also expected to register strong growth in 2015. The segment of active wear is also showing growth as more and more people are wearing active wear for activities other than exercising and this has resulted in sales’ growing at double the rate noted for non-active wear.
Predictions for the denim market for the rest of 2015 are also significantly better. Variants in this segment like 100 per cent cotton denim are gaining popularity. The market for traditional denim is also expected to do well.
On the whole the US clothing and apparel segment is slated to rise another five per cent or so over the rest of 2015. With a balance between shipments and demand and supply, average prices in the overall textile industry are also expected to be stable throughout the year.
Ghana's once vibrant textile industry is fast becoming a pale shadow of itself. Influx of pirated textiles has affected profitability of local manufacturers. Cheap copies are being smuggled in from abroad, especially from China. Fakes now make up about 60 per cent of all textiles sold in Ghana. And counterfeits can sell at half the price of an authentic product.
The textile industry in the 1980s had over 20 companies employing over 25,000 people, but as of 2015 only four companies are battling for survival. Collectively they employ about 1,700 workers. And even in these companies workers are not assured job security. Ghana was a prime textile producer in Africa, feeding a lot of markets. There was a whole value chain around it.
Textile manufacturing in Ghana is an industry consisting of ginneries and textile mills producing batik, wax cloth, fancy printed cloth and kente cloth. The textile industry includes vertically integrated mills, horizontal weaving factories and the traditional textile manufacturing firms involved in spinning, hand-weaving and fabric processing.
Wax-printed fabric, a source of national pride that has come to represent African fashion worldwide, plays a vital role in weddings, funerals, and traditional events throughout Ghana.
During the June 2015 quarter, India's total apparel exports to the US in value terms increased by 10.7 per cent to $972.8 million. The same trend continued in July 2015. Data released by the US Office of Textiles & Apparels (OTEXA) shows, India’s apparel export value to the US rose by 7.3 per cent year-on-year to $324.8 million in July 2015. The country’s market share in US apparel imports improved by 10 basis points to 3.8 per cent. With this, India replaced Mexico as the fifth largest apparel exporter to the US.
Growth in exports was driven by an increase in both, volumes and realisations. During the month, the country’s export volumes rose by 3.4 per cent and realisation grew by 3.8 per cent. Among the top four apparel exporters to the US, China saw an increase of 4.9 per cent year-on-year touching $3.4 billion in July 2015. Vietnam’s exports surged 12.6 per cent to $1 billion and Bangladesh’s exports increased by 3.7 per cent to $508 million, while that of Indonesia declined by 1.5 per cent to $459.9 million.
During April-July 2015, India’s total apparel exports to the US grew by 9.8 per cent to $1.3 billion. Shipments from the country increased 6.4 per cent. Realisation rose by 3.3 per cent and India’s market share in US apparel imports expanded by 30 basis points to 4.7 per cent. Cumulative apparel exports of China to the US grew by a mere 0.7 per cent to $9.5 billion during the four months ended July 2015. Apparel exports of Bangladesh and Vietnam increased by 10.3 per cent and 17 per cent to $1.8 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively. Indonesia’s exports rose by 4.1 per cent to $1.7 billion during the period.
Otexa.ita.doc.gov
Factory owners and workers in Cambodia's garment and footwear industry can’t agree on the minimum wage level. Owners say any rise in wages would devastate factories already struggling to make a profit after last increase. There is also a debate among labor unions about how high they want the minimum wage to rise. They have yet to arrive at an agreement.
The footwear and garment sector employs about seven lakh people and accounts for the lion’s share of the country’s exports. In November 2014 the minimum wage for garment and footwear workers was hiked by 28 per cent but faced strong resistance from employers. The industry meanwhile is on a downward trend. It shrank to four per cent in 2014 and has to be compared with the 35 per cent growth of only a few years ago. The 500 or so factories in Cambodia have reported reduced orders. Employers say this is because of the wage protests and strikes, which they claim has damaged buyer confidence. Cambodia’s minimum wage is now double that of competitor Bangladesh. So the sector’s ability to compete regionally is under strain.
Rapid wage hikes, frequent strikes, political instability, and negative media coverage have damaged the competitiveness of Cambodian factories.
The company outlined the challenges and opportunities Chinese apparel manufacturers are facing in the context of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s 10-year strategic plan: ‘Made in China 2025’. This plan aims to help the Chinese economy develop its capacity for value-added manufacturing and smart industrial production.
Lectra perspective on ‘Made in China 2025’
Daniel Harari, Lectra CEO, and Andreas Kim, Managing Director of Lectra Greater China, shared their perspectives on what ‘Made in China 2025’ means for this rapidly evolving market and how technology-driven smart production can help Chinese companies speed up product development and add value to their design and manufacturing activities. This would help differentiate them from competitors in emerging markets by providing their customers with better service, more innovative style options and a superior-quality product.
“China’s apparel manufacturing industry has driven the country’s economy for the past three decades but the industry is now dealing with an economic slowdown, higher wages, bigger environmental awareness and more limited resources. Contenders in Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh can compete on cost, while advanced economies such as the US, Germany and Japan are pulling ahead in terms of technology. If Chinese brands want to stay competitive, they need to distinguish themselves by focusing on enhanced value and services, brand quality and creativity,” said Daniel Harari.
Key focus areas for Chinese manufacturers
Lectra identified five key areas where Chinese apparel manufacturers could benefit from adopting best-in-class practices to meet Made in China 2025’s ambitious goals: innovation, differentiation, industrial excellence, collaboration and transformation. The company also presented ways in which technology and lean methodologies—key components of Lectra’s offer—can help with reaching these objectives.
Daniel Harari highlighted how seamless data sharing from design to production facilitates interactive, real-time collaboration. And how using Lectra smart technology with machine-embedded intelligence across the production chain can optimize efficiency, reduce waste and improve overall product quality. He also emphasized the crucial role of effective change management in ensuring a successful transition to smart production.
“There are still variations in quality standards and efficiency among Chinese manufacturers, but the ‘Made in China 2025’ plan has put strong guidelines in place to solve these issues. China is ready to move on from its role as ‘the world’s factory’ and become an innovative global leader in apparel manufacturing. By investing in innovation and smart technology, Chinese apparel manufacturers can shift their focus to operational efficiency and product quality, reinventing their offer and ultimately turning ‘Made in China’ into a real mark of excellence,” concluded Andreas Kim.
COTTON USA delivered US cotton sourcing assistance to major apparel industry players at the Texworld and Première Vision trade shows in Paris, while continuing to display its ‘Love My Cotton’ global advertising campaign. Supima and COTTON USA together exhibited at Texworld and it jointly exhibited with Cotton Incorporated at Première Vision. For COTTON USA, this was a venue to promote US cotton and its global marketing and licensing programme as the shows represented the largest combined exhibition of the world’s apparel manufacturers.
COTTON USA had four companies from different countries expressing interest in becoming licensees. Besides, 24 COTTON USA-licensed mills from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey displayed their products at the exhibition.
Information on the Cotton LEADS programme and global developments in the cotton and apparel sectors was supplied at the booth apart from garnering support and COTTON USA licensing. COTTON USA helped buyers and manufacturers looking for cotton garments and cotton yarn suppliers to identify new business contacts, where various segments of the cotton textile supply chain met at the booths.
The booths were visited by international brands and retailers, which included, Gerry Weber and Original Marines and Marks and Spencer. USDA FAS Counsellor David Salmon and FAS Agricultural Marketing Assistant Laurent Journo also visited, which was an honour for COTTON USA and Supima. His Excellency M Shahidul Islam (The Ambassador of Bangladesh in France) was also welcomed by COTTON USA. A meeting with His Excellency Ghalib Iqbal (The Ambassador of Pakistan in France) was also held.
Bangladesh is still seen a good sourcing destination by German retail giant Lidl, as it is set to increase its garment purchase from there by 20 per cent this year. The company purchased 251 million apparel pieces from Bangladesh last year. Lidl purchases garments worth $700-$800 million from Bangladesh per year. The country is an important source for apparel items for Lidl and they purchase a substantial volume from there. Other sourcing countries have become expensive due to higher costs of production and a shortage of workers there.
Thus, Lidl will increase their purchase of garments from Bangladesh in the near future. The company has long-term plans for Bangladesh, as the country is on the road to improvement in terms of compliance and diversification of fashion and technology uses in garment production.
Lidl prefers purchasing garments from factories that invest in water saving and green technologies. The company is set to start a water-saving technology or WST next month in the factories from where it purchases garment items in Bangladesh. It will pay higher prices to buy the garment items, if any company invests in WST. Initially, 30 factories will have WST, those that are capable of adopting the new technology. Gradually, it will be adopted in other factories too. Lidl aims to reduce water use by 50 per cent.
Australia’s wool market dipped a little last week, it produced only 33,000 bales. On the second selling day though, it improved and prices began moving upwards again. The market registered a small loss of 6 cents as measured by the EMI, overall. Buyers supported the best superfine wool, which was found in a designated superfine sale in Sydney. The Merino fleece types were generally only down 10 cents for the week.
The overall market tone affected the crossbred wools and dipped, then recovered, while a small supply of carding wools saw prices increase marginally. Prices in USD terms were 28 cents lower because of lower Australian dollar, and prices for European customers closed 26 cents lower over the course of the week. Overseas buyers generally decided to wait and watch because of the falling prices and hesitated to purchase large quantities.
Purchasing managers this year prefer to continue to purchase smaller quantities on a hand-to-mouth basis. For them, the risk is lower, though the cost is higher. This attitude does not allow for the regular forward planning for shipment of greasy wool from country of origin, combing of the wooltop and then further shipment to the spinning factory. Eventually, raw material would need to be secured, or contract prices for delivery at some point in the future by the companies planning price offerings for final garments in the 2016-17 season.
There’s a huge risk given the inherent volatility of the wool market in allowing the raw material price to fluctuate on the open market when the delivery price of the finished product has been contracted. Thus, the market should see the forward buying activity go up when the larger orders are placed in the next couple of months.
Apparel retailer American Apparel has received a cautionary letter from the New York Stock Exchange. The letter mentioned it was not adhering to compliance guidelines because “it has sustained losses which are so substantial in relation to its overall operations or its existing financial resources. that it appears questionable, in the opinion of the exchange, as to whether the company will be able to continue operations and/or meet its obligations as they mature.”
American Apparel has been asked to come into compliance by November 15, 2015. If their plan is approved, the exchange will continue monitoring the company and review its progress on executing the plan, the filing by American Apparel said. If the company doesn’t submit a plan or if the exchange deems the plan unacceptable, it will start delisting process.
In a securities filing, the company said it was reviewing the exchange’s issues and has started preparing a plan on how to return to compliance. However, it added, there is no assurance that it will be able to submit a plan that addresses all problems and concerns of the stock exchange.
American Apparel, for its second quarter ended June 30, 2015 reported that net sales decreased 17.2 percent to $134.4 million from $162.4 million for the same period in 2014. Excluding the year over year impact from foreign exchange and stores closed in 2014, net sales decreased 14 percent from the same period in 2014.
www.americanapparel.net
Commerce and Industries Minister Govindas Konthoujam distributed cheques under the North East Region Textiles Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) among 110 Self Help Groups (SHG) of 11 Handloom clusters from Bishnupur district.
Konthoujam in his speech said that such useful schemes should be properly utilised by weavers and they should work with sincerity and dedication. “To receive the second instalment, weavers must show interest and provide their best efforts to bring out the best quality products and take part in the upcoming training sessions so that the textiles ministry grants weaver with the remaining payment,” he added.
He explained that the present schemes will be strictly monitored by the ministry of textiles through the Geographical Information System (GIS). With GIS, the ministry will be able to monitor all activities of the weavers ranging from training to weaving online. The broad objective of the NERTPS is to develop and modernise the textile sector in the North East Region by providing government support in terms of raw material, seed banks, machinery, common facility centres, skill development, design and marketing support.
www.texmin.nic.in
