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Due to massive invasion of pink bollworm pest and sukaro (para wilt) disease, cotton production in Gujarat, which is also the largest producer of this staple fibre in India, may drop by 30 percent.
Agriculture experts and farmers far that the production may fall to a five year low to less than 90 lakh bales—down from 125 lakh bales in 2014-15. The lower production threatens to hit the textile trade apart from the farmers.
Thousands of cotton growers in Saurashtra and north and central Gujarat have been forced to destroy their standing crop, rendered useless due to infection, which is unprecedented in magnitude. In fact, after the pest attack destroyed his cotton grown on 85 bigha land, a 30-year-old farmer from Supedi village near Rajkot, committed suicide, being the first victim of the crisis.
N M Sharma, Managing Director, Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation Ltd (Gujcot) beleives that cotton production will be 30 percent less this year. The area under sowing in 2015-16 was already down at around 27 lakh hectares as against 30 lakh hectares the previous year as farmers switched to other cash crops like groundnut, he added. Sharma further stated that the production may not cross 90 lakh bales, which is the lowest in five years.
Dilip Patel, President, All Gujarat Ginners Association said that the yarn market was reeling under slowdown and mills were already facing problems due to subdued textile market. Dr K L Raghvani, Head of Entomology department at Junagadh Agricultural University said that the pest can be controlled only if it's detected early and once it enters the cotton balls, pesticides are not effective.
Stating that they were confident of achieving further growth in the garment sector, textile industry Associations in Coimbatore hailed the revision of duty drawback rates and values caps by the Centre recently. Prabhu Damodaran, Secretary, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), welcomed the move and said that the industry was confident of achieving further growth in the garment sector with the timely support. He added that the importance to man-made fibre-based (MMF) yarn and fabrics would be a morale booster to the industry to focus more on MMF based value-added products, and this would in turn raise competitiveness in the global apparel market.
P Nataraj, Deputy Chairman, Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) thanked the government for this move and particularly Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, and Saumitra Chaudhri, Chairman of Duty Drawback Committee, for enhancing drawback rates and value caps for various value-added products such as yarn counts in 100s and above, fabrics with less than 200 grams per square metre, knitted and woven garments.
He said the textile industry would be encouraged to focus more on value addition, which would generate more forex, due to the attractive rates given for certain value-added products. Nataraj feels the revised rate, which also encourages the industry to follow the Cenvat route to prepare for forthcoming GST, would get enhanced rate and value when exports opt for Cenvat facility.
Synthetic yarn makers have seen sluggish demand and inventory losses in the first two quarters of the current financial year. Besides, there has been a rise in Chinese dumping of yarn in India. Prices of raw materials have dipped in the third quarter due to a fall in crude oil prices. This would most likely improve margins for yarn makers and ease costs for them in the second half of current financial year.
Polyester fibre prices came down from roughly Rs 107 per kg to Rs 86 per kg in October. This has already resulted in synthetic yarn prices responding with a Rs 3 to 4 per kg improvement in average prices, raising it to Rs 174 to 175 per kg. K Selvaraju, Secretary General of Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) feels the next quarter may improve the situation for synthetic yarn makers, with mills raising demand gradually. Mills were also bleeding, resulting in loss of margins for synthetic yarn makers for the first two quarters and many were even incurring cash losses.
Fall in crude prices and industry over-capacity resulted in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips prices falling to Rs 64 per kg in March from Rs 87 per kg in the previous year, while the price for partially oriented yarn (POY) fell 22 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in March 2015 to Rs 76 per kg according to an India Ratings & Research report. PET is an important raw material for man-made yarn.
Moreover, the extension of a two per cent duty drawback on synthetic yarn and other products, by the government recently, would also improve the scenario for the industry in the near future.
India has doubled its raw silk production in the last 10 years. Production has gone up from 15,000 tons a year to almost 29,000 tons a year. With a growth rate of 7.5 per cent per annum, the silk industry is likely to become self-sustaining by 2020. India contributes 16.12 per cent of silk to the total world output. At present, India imports 6,000 to 8,000 tons of raw silk and silk fabric from China to meet the growing domestic demand and exports silk worth Rs 3,000 crores a year.
The country ranks second after China in silk production. It has an annual output of 28,700 tons and produces 74 per cent of mulberry silk and 26 per cent of the eri, tasar and muga varieties and employs over 8.3 million people.
Research and development has contributed immensely to boost production by way of new silkworm productive breeds, high yielding mulberry varieties, quality disease-free layings, scientifically-designed rearing shed, mounting devices, and high performance reeling devices.
Bivoltine silk production has doubled within a year. Output has gone up from 1,700 tons in 2013-14 to 3,800 tons in 2014-15. To boost bivoltine silk production, Rs 720 crores would be spent in north-eastern states for the next three years.
Pitti Uomo will be held in Italy from January 12 to 15, 2016. Since mature men are seen wearing T-shirts and denim, and young men wear vintage clothes and Victorian age beards, this edition’s main theme will focus on the present consumer attitude to live, dress and buy according to moods and attitudes and not according to actual age.
The motorcycle apparel brand Matchless London will participate in the show for the first time and Patrizia Pepe will launch its men’s wear line. Also debuting will be Champion by Beams, the collaboration collection with the well-known Japanese retailer.
Capsule and denim collections will be launched. A street style fashion blogger and photographer will launch a new collection with a contemporary illustrator and artist. The event will host over 1,205 brands, including 44 per cent from foreign countries. Out of the show’s exhibitors, 225 are new entries, representing 20 per cent of the total. The show expects to welcome 35,000 people out which 24,000 are buyers, with 8,660 coming from foreign countries.
The show will launch Make, The New Makers, a new section focused on craftsmanship applied to different materials and production techniques. Constellation Africa is a show dedicated to promoting young and talented designers from Africa.
www.pittimmagine.com/en/corporate/fairs/uomo.html
Italy is hosting Euratex from November 18. The convention is devoted to sustainable innovation in the textile and clothing industry. Representatives of business, industry associations and policy makers are attending the convention. Sustainable production has become an integral part of companies’ business strategy. This includes technological innovation of production processes, resource efficiency, recycling and use of sustainable textile materials as well as exploring new business models.
The convention is designed to launch a debate on tomorrow’s challenges. Experts from industry and technology will discuss if the EU textile and apparel sector has found enduring competitive advantages in its focus on quality, innovation, sustainability and high value added. During the round table discussion, textile and clothing manufacturers will share their practical experience and promising textile technologies and markets.
To retain their competitive edge, European companies are increasingly investing in innovation and introducing the latest technologies. In response to the global economic transformations, European textile and clothing manufacturing has already undergone radical changes. European companies have increased the variety of their products and found new application fields for textile materials. The industry moved to production of higher value added goods and makes considerable contribution to the other sectors – automotive, medical, construction, agriculture and others.
www.euratex.eu/
At 17th ITMA, the world’s foremost trade fair dedicated to textile machinery, being held in Milan, there is a significant presence of Italian companies. And as Raffaella Carabelli, President of ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers) says they are proud to have brought back to Milan the world’s major textile machinery fair after 20 years. He added that the numbers not only ranked Italy first among exhibiting countries, however, they were a true testament to the vitality of the sector, and confirm the good state of health of the Italian textile industry.
The event’s slogan is ‘Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation’ and here too, Italian manufacturers played a major role. Besides, this edition of ITMA is a litmus test for assessing the commitment of the global textile machinery sector to a truly sustainable textile and garments industry, given the slogan of the event.
Carabelli says their association is committed to issues of environmental and economic sustainability since 2010, with the ‘Sustainable Technologies’ project, to which over 40 companies have adhered. Italian machinery manufacturers have been focusing on the issue of sustainability for their products for quite some time now, to satisfy the demand for efficient technology solutions that effectively cut back on consumption, and thus the production costs. During the event they are presenting the specialised press the project’s effects on CO2 emissions.
Indian apparel exporters are exploring new markets amidst demand slowdown in Europe and Australia is fast emerging a good market for Indian garments. In order to succeed Indian RMG makers need to be more competitive in terms of quality and pricing. As of now the $six billion Australian market is dominated by China. India’s share is merely three per cent. Indian exporters need to do more value addition to their products and focus on branding.
For instance the Indian fashion market in Australia is significantly underdeveloped with the majority of existing stores selling outdated pieces. It's really hard to find good local Indian stores in Australia that have a really good Indian wear collection, especially for bridal. So this is one area that can be worked upon.
Australia imports gems, pearls, jewelry, leather, leather goods, footwear, light engineering components, handicrafts and ready-made garments from India. Among the readymade garment imports are women and men’s clothing, textile yarn, made up articles, and floor coverings.
In 2013-14, garment exports from India to Australia were Rs 707 crores and increased to Rs 881 crores in 2014-15, a growth of 25 per cent. Many high-level meetings and interactions to increase trade flow between the two countries have taken place.
Biggest supplier of recycled products in Asia
Abbas says, Artistic Milliners is one of the biggest suppliers of recycled products in Asia. Elaborating, he says, “We source garments from nominated sources, from Europe or India, shred and turn them into yarn again. From that yarn we make recycled products. We recycle denim, we recycle knits. Recycled products are a bit expensive because we add extra processes. These products are then marketed by the European brands and they promote them as recycled products under some brand name. H&M is our largest consumer for these products. So H&M’s Close Look denim is a 100 per cent recycled product. We do blends of organic cotton with recycled cotton or recycled polyester.”
Pakistan is known for denim and non-denim fabrics and the players here concentrate on a narrower range. “Most industries sell basic products. Globally denim business is growing. Denim as a product is growing. We keep participating in various trade fairs such as Denim Playground, Premiere Vision, Kingpins New York and Amsterdam with our denim range,” Abbas exclaims.
Patent holder of Cordura denim fabric
Cordura fabrics is specially used for biker and sports denim. The company also produces thermolite fabrics and knitted products. “We do dobby weaves, lightweight and heavy weight denim. We do stretch selvedge in different colours. Some brands use the full fabric. Some brands use part of the fabric for patches. We supply denim fabric to them as per their requirement,” states Abbas.
The company uses nylon fibre since it has tear and stretch properties. It is a 20 per cent nylon blend with cotton. It also produces different weaves like twill weaves and fabric is of different weights. The price of this patented product is up to five dollars a yard and it is consumed mainly in the countries that experience cold climate. Artistic Milliners produces 30,000 meters of Cordura fabric a month.“We make water repellent products with special finishes. We also have suede and fire retardant products. We add tencel to denim. Dobby weaves give a knitted look. We are not actually into circular knits but into looms. We supply to brands like H&M, Levis, Esprit, Inditex, Zara,” avers Abbas.
www.artisticmilliners.com
The Textile Association (India), Delhi Unit, recently organised the ‘National Textile Conference 2015’ based on the theme of ‘Make in India: Destination Textiles’.
The two day conference witnessed a healthy mix of presentations and panel discussions involving renowned textile sector stakeholders of the country. The key topics included facilitating investment, fostering innovation, enhancing skill development, protecting intellectual property and building best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure which is the underlying aim of ‘Make in India’ campaign.
Several industry veterans were honoured during the event. While Sanjay Jain, MD, TT received an award on behalf of RC Jain, Founder Chairman of TT Group for his unparalleled service to the textile industry as an entrepreneur, SK Khandelia, President, Sutlej Textiles & Industries was honoured for his contribution to the textile industry; RP Soni, Founder, Sangam India for social service; JP Saria, Chairman of Spintex Group of Companies for his selfless service to the Textile Association and Balwant Rai Bhatnagar for promoting textile education in the country.
The discussions revolved around India's manufacturing competitiveness in terms of raw material availability, manpower resources, technology and infrastructure and key growth constraints. ‘Synthetic Textile: Key to Increase Global Textile Share’ was the prime subject that got the delegates engaged into a healthy debate. Experts like Pankaj Kapoor, MD, PARK Nonwoven, and Ex-President, Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, VK Ladia, CMD, Shree Rajasthan Syntex, Udaipur and Past Chairman, CITI/ SRTEPC, Anant Kishore, ED and CEO, Indo Rama Synthetics and Prashant Agarwal, Partner, Wazir Advisors shared their thoughts on the subject.
The conference also saw industry veterans such as R Dhamotharan, VP and Head (Buying & Merchandising), ITC, Manish Maheshwari, Head/VP, Seller Ecosystem, Flipkart, Rohit Bhatiani, Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, Sonal Jain, VP, Lotto, and Sanjiv Mehan, Head-Production, Ritu Kumar discuss about ‘India’s Multibillion Dollar Domestic Market Opportunity’. Baqar Naqvi, Business Director, Wazir Advisors moderated this session. Facilitation of investment in India was one of the key objectives of the conference. The focus was on ways to foster investment in the sector and importance of partnership to bring investment as well as technical know-how.
www.textileassociationindia.org
