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A group of knits unit owners, who use imported machinery in Tirupur knitwear cluster, will be launching a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for product diversification from apparels to home textiles or value-added products and set up training and testing facilities through the consortium approach. The project is first of its kind in the Tirupur cluster. About 70 per cent of the initial capital will be drawn as grants-in-aid from different government sponsored schemes with an aim to produce the requisite skilled workforce and ensure business expansion.
Nearly 25 knitting units which use high-end imported machinery have joined the initiative. The training institute, planned under SPV project, will impart skills needed for workers in a scientific manner as well as train another set of people on maintenance and repair of the costly imported machines so as to bring down the cost and loss of time incurred due to break down of the appliances.
Once the scientifically trained workforce is ready, the industry would be able to diversify the product range from readymade garments to even home textiles and niche denim products as well as value-added sports and leisure wear through the knitting method.
The proposed testing laboratory is aimed at helping knitters carry out commercial batch-wise testing of fabrics and yarns for various properties at minimal service charges.
With cut-throat competition, labour shortage, and introduction of cutting edge technology to satisfy the growing demand for quality products, companies manufacturing garment machineries are looking at India as one of the fastest growing countries with rising global exports and domestic consumption.
Technology adoption the way ahead
Amidst hundreds of machinery manufacturers, a few have made their 
presence
felt at the global level. Garment machinery manufacturers see huge possibilities of selling machines in India. As Inder Arora of Shima Seiki says, “There are more than 3,000 registered hosiery factories in Ludhiana and every unit needs at least one machine. We have nearly 2,000 of our machines in the market which means we haven’t yet met requirements. The number of factories is more than the number of machines. So there’s a huge possibility to sell. On an average, every hosiery unit needs two machines. This year we hope to sell some 6,000 machines in Ludhiana alone. Everyone is shifting from hand to computerized machines. Ludhiana is facing a labour crunch and garment manufacturers want to replace labour with machines.”
In case of innovation, not only in garment designing but also in fabrication, India has earned a niche in global market. But the domestic market seems to have lagged behind in this respect. Komal Jain, Chief Executive Officer of Nahar Spinning Mills, observers, “The market has not been favorable for last two- three years. This is the main reason why Ludhiana manufacturers have not taken to new machinery. The Ludhiana small scale industry needs government incentives. It also needs higher drawback rates. Ludhiana faces competition from brands that have come to India. There is a little room for mediators but new technology and production methods will help in boosting their businesses.” The business environment is picking up compared to 2014 and everyone is hoping for the best. The Chinese government encourages the new industry that even their capital investment was free after some years. Ludhiana has fewer incentives compared to Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh. Ludhiana has skilled labour and technology but due to lack of incentives and competition from China and other countries manufacturing is reducing.
Lalit Khosla, General Manager (Marketing), HCA, finds the need for automation in sewing or knitting so end user can get the benefits. He says, “Ludhiana is the mini Manchester of India. We see good business. People are consolidating expanding and going in for automation. They want to give their buyers better products, quality at competitive prices. At the moment, domestic market is a bigger draw while exporters are few in number.” Khosla believes the ‘Make in India’ initiative will make a difference as far as production for exports is concerned. “The initiative will promote manufacturing,” he points out.
Though there are many manufacturers, German and Italian companies seems to have a clear edge in India. Government initiatives are expected to further strengthen the country’s textile exports with adaptation of advanced machineries in the sector.
American Apparel is laying off 180 workers at its downtown Los Angeles clothing factory. The company employs 4,300 workers at its manufacturing facilities and offices and a total of 10,000 workers in its various divisions and retail stores worldwide.
The company is managing a severe decline in sales that has taken place under the stewardship of a hedge fund. The apparel venture manufactures leggings, underwear and swimwear, T-shirts, blue jeans and dresses in 4000 styles. It wholesales its garments and sells them at 239 American Apparel stores located in 20 countries. Layoffs are not new to American Apparel. In 2013, 160 employees were laid off, and in 2014, 238 employees were laid off.
This change is meant to help restore the financial health of the company. It has seen losses of more than 300 million dollars over the past five years. The company was founded in 1998. In recent years it has seen increased competition from fast fashion retailers.
For the fourth quarter, American Apparel had a net loss of $28 million on $153.5 million in sales compared with a net loss of $20 million on $169.1 million in sales for the same period in 2013.
www.americanapparel.net/
With its new textile policy in place, Gujarat has been able to attract investments in textile sector like weaving, knitting, fabric processing, apparel manufacturing. The state has also attracted investments in over 1.2 million spindles which have either been commissioned or are in the process of being installed. The Gujarat textile policy aims at installing around 2.5 million spindles by 2017-18 and taking the number of spindles installed from 1.2 million to 3.7 million by 2017-18. As per latest statistics, there are around 700,000 weaving looms operating in Gujarat, out of which 25 per cent are shuttleless, approximately 600 medium and large, 2,000 small and hand fabric processing units, and around 1,000 technical textile units, including converting units.
According Chandan Chatterjee, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship Development, the main purpose behind the policy is to add value to the cotton that is produced in the state and also provide a thrust to the labour-intensive apparel manufacturing sector and also the technical textile sector. The new policy will also target technology upgradation, specifically in weaving and fabric processing segments. Interestingly, Gujarat is the largest manufacturer of weaving and processing machinery in the country. The recent announcement of the capital goods policy with its focus on textile machinery by the Union Ministry of Heavy Engineering is expected to give a boost to the sector.
The state also expects investments in spinning will act as a driving force and a force multiplier for investments in other segments like knitting, weaving, processing, apparel manufacturing, etc. Investors have committed investments in the knitting sector too, which till date was not as strong as in, say, Tirupur or Ludhiana. The existing fabric process houses too have begun upgrading their technology so as to be able to process knitted fabrics too.
DyStar, the leading provider of dyes, chemicals, effects and services for the textile industry, will showcase its new patented black for wool Realan Black MF-PV. It is metal free and enables higher levels of processing requirements. These and some other innovations by DyStar will be showcased at the 15th China International Dye Industry, Pigments and Textile Chemicals Exhibition (China Interdye) to be held in Shanghai from 15-17 April 2015.
A new reactive dye range Remazol SAM for exhaust dyeing of pale to dark shades whose main features are good fastness profile, strong build-up and high fixation yield will also be showcased in the show. Visitors that are looking for new solutions for active wear will also be introduced to the new Dianix XF2 range, which is said to offer excellent wet fastness performance on critical fabrics. In addition, Digital Printing Solutions (Jettex), as well as Evo, Lava and Sera Eco auxiliaries’ solutions will be on display.
DyStar is a leader in both product and application innovation for the textile and leather industries with over a century of heritage. From being specialised in coloration, the business has since evolved into a sustainable solution provider, offering the industry an extensive range of colorants, auxiliaries and services. With a presence in over 50 countries, DyStar Group works with global and local customers in brands and retailers, mills and dye-houses. The company’s subsidiaries include DyStar Textile Services, which houses Color Solutions International (CSI), Texanlab and Sustainable Textile Services.
The Central Bank of Bangladesh will create a $500 million Green Fund for the textile sector. It’s aimed at benefitting the country’s vertically integrated knitting mills that operate their own dyeing and finishing facilities. Atiur Rahman, Governor of Bangladesh Bank says, the fund will help the sector adopt eco-friendly technologies and practices. The announcement follows the recommendations made at a seminar organised by the World Bank Group’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice and the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI).
Textile processing like washing, dyeing, and finishing (WDF) are the key pillars of Bangladesh’s economy. The country has 1,700 WDF units and 200,000 workers contribute a net value added of up to 20 per cent to the textile value chain. The entire textile industry generated around $24 billion in 2014 and employed 4 million workers, 80 per cent of whom are women. Despite earning good margins, WDF units are the second largest polluter, consuming 1,500 billion litres of groundwater a year and relying on inadequate wastewater treatment. Many mills use 250 to 300 litres of water per kilogram of fabric, far beyond the global best practice of 50 litres per kilogram or less.
At least six major policy recommendations on finance issues were proposed by working group members to the central bank governor on February 14, 2015. As a result, US$500 million for resource efficiency financing in textile sector was announced by the governor.
The jute sector in Bangladesh has been facing a major setback due to a severe disruption in transport of raw materials to mills and movement of export items to ports amid a countrywide blockade and hartal. Transport cost has doubled due to violence. As a result, purchase of raw jute and production of finished products have marked a sharp fall.
Many export consignments can’t be sent to ports due to the disruption in transport network amid widespread arson attacks on vehicles. Some 154 raw jute purchase centers operated by the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation bought 10,382 tons raw jute in December last year, which came down to only 2,785 tons in January this year.
As jute mills are not getting sufficient raw materials, and facing problems in delivering finished goods, mills have scaled down their production. There is a fear export of raw jute may see a steep fall this fiscal due to internal shocks coupled with a global economic recession. Jute export was also meager in the first six months of the current fiscal.
Truck owners are reluctant to carry jute, which is highly flammable, due to events of setting vehicles on fire during blockade and hartal. Truck owners agreeing to transport jute charge double amount as fare.
The Ramanathapuram District Cooperative Spinning Mill, started exclusively for dalits by former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran in 1982, has remained defunct for the last 10 years. The mill was reopened again at a cost of Rs.28.02 crores. The mill became defunct owing to labor problems and other factors, and based on the suggestions of the South India Textiles Research Association, the mill was modernized and reopened once again. About 200 dalits in the area are now employed with the reopening of the mill.
With an installed capacity of 12,096 spindles, the mills would start commercial production in a month and produce about 3,700 kg of cone yarn and hank yarn per day. The grey yarn would be supplied to the government for distribution to the cooperative societies which produced saris, dhotis and school uniforms for free distribution.
After receipt of funds, in a month’s time, the department would set in motion a revival package and place orders for new machines. The existing machines have become obsolete, the government therefore install modern spinning machinery (long frame automatic machines) to compete with private mills.
The government is also gearing up to modernize five cooperative spinning mills in the district. These mills are presently producing 10,000 to 25,000 spindles a day and the capacity would double after modernization.
The higher ups of different textile export associations in Pakistan have appealed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately appoint a federal minister for textile industry so that major issues of the sector are speedily resolved in the larger interest of the country’s exports. The absence of a textile minister and the proposed merger of textile and commerce ministry under the Ministry of Commerce is creating uncertainty and negatively affecting the major export earner of the country.
Most of the important decisions regarding textile policy, Export Development Fund (EDF) and budget preparation exercise for the next financial year are hanging in the balance as Senator Abbas Khan Afridi left as Minister last month on completion of his tenure as senator and no new appointment has so far been made to fill the slot.
Further, the Cabinet Committee on Restructuring (CCoR) in its meeting held last week proposed to club Textile division and Commerce division under the umbrella of Ministry of Commerce. Textile industry is a complicated and vast subject and it needs a separate ministry. They further said that keeping in view the strategic importance of textile sector, the government established a separate Ministry of Textile Industry in September 2004. Pakistan’s textile industry comprises cotton spinning (yarn), cotton weaving (cloth), cotton fabric, fabric processing, home textiles, towels, hosiery and knitwear and apparels. These are manufactured both on large scale as well as by small and medium cottage units.
The new Oeko-Tex certification 'Sustainable Textile Production (STeP)’ is required for environmentally friendly and socially responsible production facilities from April 1. Certification is possible for production facilities of all processing stages. From July 2013, STeP replaced the previous certification of production sites according to Oeko-Tex Standard 1000. According to David Pircher, Business Development Manager of Oeko-Tex, the interest in STeP goes well beyond the penetration known as the Oeko-Tex Standard 1000, which was the precursor to STeP. The acceptance of STeP is expected to rise.
In the future, production sites certified in accordance with STeP must comply with new criteria relating to their waste water. Also, STeP standard requires all employees to comply with ethically correct behavior and therefore, companies must provide employees with a written Code of Conduct defining company’s ethical principles.
With a view to exclude the worst forms of child labour, the STeP criteria for ‘Social Responsibility’ have also been modified. STeP certified companies must, in the future, also be able to provide evidence of compliance with ILO standard C182. All forms of slavery and forced labour, such as Sumangali, practised in India, are categorically excluded. Two new processes have also been included in the list of banned processes. These are: Sandblasting for the treatment of jeans and other articles.
Appropriate storage areas must be provided immediately to ensure that, wherever possible, pollution of the immediate environment and groundwater is excluded. This also specifies that the storage of production waste must be protected from external weather conditions and from fire.
The list of banned and regulated substances for the manufacture of textiles (MRSL, Manufacturing Restricted Substances List) has been updated. The list of exclusionary criteria includes aspects such as specifications that each employee must receive a written employment contract, the company ensures specific workplace conditions for young employees and payment of deposits for the recruitment of new employees is not permitted.
The STeP standard can now also be applied to production companies for accessory parts for textile manufacture with immediate effect.
