FW
Esprit and Puma have announced a series of steps to clean up the supply chain and introduce responsible production practices. Esprit has announced that it has achieved the removal of all poly fluoro carbons from its supply chain four months ahead of schedule. The company also said that in the past 18 months, it has tested and evaluated the discharge from 33 of its core facilities in China and Bangladesh, reporting the results of 42 per cent of these on the IPE web platform.
It is committed to training all its suppliers in the Manufacturers Restricted Substance List, use of positive formulations and delivery of responsible use of chemicals. As a part of its own detox agreement, Puma said it will ensure all its products are poly fluoro carbon-free by no later than the end of 2017. Puma is committed to eliminating all long-chain carbons by January 2015 and all other fluoro carbons by December 2017.
Esprit in 2013 invested in modern in-house test equipment. It’s one of the few fashion brands with its own in-house laboratories where it can check its products for restricted substances as they arrive at the warehouse. It uses these facilities in addition to independent test reports.
The Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 was held from December 7 to 9. It was hosted by the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association. The event provided the country’s readymade garment exporters an opportunity to present Bangladesh as a strong and reliable brand before participating stakeholders. Its aim was to highlight the recent progress achieved in fire and electrical safety and the sound working environment that has been established in factory units.
Bangladesh hopes to reach a milestone of $50 billion in exports by 2021. Right now it is contributing five per cent share to the total global apparel demand. This endeavor is to open and frame a sustainable roadmap on building responsible supply chains in the textile and garment sector by regaining the positive image of the industry in the global apparel market.
The summit was attended by around 57 global speakers, along with representatives of the governments of home and partner countries, international organisations, employers, private sector employers and workers. Among the issues discussed were business and investment trends, global sourcing dynamics, compliance issues, coordination between different government agencies, product and market diversification, resource efficiency and its social, financial and economic benefits, environmental health and safety.
The International Wool Textile Organisation held a two day roundtable in Belgium recently. It was attended by 90 stakeholders. The discussions centered around how to shape and strengthen international policy for a more sustainable wool industry. The event highlighted the many knowledge gaps and misconceptions attached to wool fiber. It presented some of the latest technology for a closed loop business model, including the microwave destruction of sewing threads, and computer-aided sorting in a session on wool and recycling.
IWTO is the international body representing the interests of the world's wool textile trade and industry. Its membership covers wool growers, traders, primary processors, weavers, garment makers and retailers of wool and allied fibers in its member-countries as well as all kinds of organizations related to wool products and the wool business in general. Its mission is to connect all parts of the wool supply chain in order to strengthen wool’s credentials as the world’s leading sustainable fiber and represent the wool industry at international level.
The organization communicates the benefits and value of wool to both internal and external stakeholders; documents and disseminates the science that supports wool’s unique natural properties; links members and international agencies and organizations; governs the trading standards and regulations for wool across the world and supports a platform for information and knowledge-sharing.
www.iwto.org/
To prevent over-dependence on a single market, and to make the most of trade agreement advantages, Vietnamese textile and garment businesses are looking for new material suppliers beyond China and India is on the radar. Vietnam feels the material available in India for textiles and garments is of high quality and diverse. Moreover, under the Asean-India free trade agreement, the two sides are committed to reducing taxes for many kinds of goods, including textiles and garments. This offers Vietnam ideal conditions to import from India.
While Vietnamese businesses are good at weaving and sewing, they are weak at dyeing. And Indian companies are good at it. Therefore, the two sides should cooperate in this field. Over the last decade, the Vietnamese textile and garment sector has gradually decreased its dependence on China. A decade ago, Vietnam imported 75 to 80 per cent of its textile and garment materials from China. By 2014, this figure dropped to about 45 per cent. India has replaced China to become the second largest cotton supplier. Fabric imports from India have grown 60 per cent.
Textiles and garments are among Vietnam’s key exports, and diversifying material supply sources is one of the measures domestic businesses have taken to ready themselves for new opportunities from the upcoming trade agreements.
Companies like Ashton Apparel having a manufacturing base in Kenya are positive about making a quick move into the world’s apparel export market because of the better price they can offer. Ashton Apparel, for instance is already witnessing a turnover of over $100 million a year by supplying denim to biggies in the global market like H&M, Walmart and others. The company is now contemplating increasing the production capacities as well as factory workforce from 10,000 to 14,000 by the end of next year.
Factors in favour of growth
Kenya's apparel industry, valued at $330 million a year, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers is still small compared to its competitors with an estimated 30,000 workers against the $23 billion industry in Bangladesh that employs 4.2 million people. In Kenya, the industry comprises only six per cent of the small manufacturing sector, according to the World Bank.
But with adequate government intervention and industry friendly policies are helping the players promote their export potential. The government has introduced a hefty new subsidy, this year slashing the cost of power from Ks18 ($0.20) a kilowatt hour to Ks 9 to woo investments in the segment from textile manufacturers. The government is certain that the sector can also create 300,000 jobs opportunities if the country can take advantage of the opportunity of grabbing a larger slice of the global clothing market, estimated by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation to amount to $1.5 trillion.
ITMF is one of the fast-expanding apparel manufacturing companies in Kenya that exports to Europe. While the ITMF says factory wages reach $500 a month along China's coastal rim ($250 in the interior), monthly salaries in the same sector in Kenya are $120-$150. The death of more than 1,100 workers in the 2013 collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh is also pushing global buyers to re-evaluate their sourcing options. Though Bangladesh emerged as the second-biggest clothing manufacturer after China and quickly overtook competitors in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, the issues like fire and building collapse are putting a question mark on their production and infrastructure facilities.
Unlike Bangladesh, African countries also have duty-free access to the US apparel market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Both jurisdictions have duty-free access to the EU, so African countries still tend to be outcompeted there. Industry leaders such as ITMF’s Vice President Jas Bedi are also lobbying for a 15-year extension to Agoa when it comes up for renewal next year.
Combating competition from low cost Ethiopia
Kenya also faces considerable competition from Ethiopia. Although 46 Asian manufacturers visited Kenya this year keen on setting up manufacturing base in the region to serve large US buyers such as PVH and VF, both of which want to expand their African operations—only one is in serious talks with Kenya. If the proposed $500 million deal comes off, the textile manufacturer will source geothermal energy at the site, making overheads even cheaper. But the rest of the visiting party was more taken by Ethiopia, where energy costs are the equivalent of Ks3 a kWh and labour costs are at least half those in Kenya. The government in Ethiopia has also set up functioning business parks for factories.
The Kenyan government aware of the advantages Ethiopia can offer. And it is putting in efforts to woo buyers to source from Kenya, indicating the government's high-level support for boosting the sector. Also Ethiopian workers are not used to working in apparel factories contrary to Kenyans, who are expert clothes makers. Also the next business park in Ethiopia would only be ready by 2017. An opportunity - Kenya’s export industry must explore and take hold of before it’s too late.
Insqin, a new polyurethene coating technology from Bayer MaterialScience, will be advertised in an unusual way. The campaign is aimed at textile manufacturers and clothing brands. It will set Insqin apart from the competition by emphasising its visual appeal rather than concentrating on its environmental-friendly properties.
Insqin is a turnkey solution for a new generation of polyurethane coated fabrics. It is a waterborne coating (as opposed to solvent-based technology). Waterborne fabric coatings are more environmentally sound than solvent-based ones. While competitors have tended to focus on sustainability in their communications, the campaign for Insqin centers on the concept of inspiration. Insqin will be positioned as an inspiration to technology.
The coating results in more brilliant colors when water splashes the fabric. So the campaign features bold images of models being splashed with water. The campaign is handled by Doremus and FleishmanHillard.
Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest manufacturers of high-tech polymer materials. It’s a global market leader in polyurethanes. The company develops and produces the components for rigid and flexible foams as well as for solid materials. Diverse applications range from mattresses and ski boots to insulating materials for refrigeration appliances and buildings. The company also develops and produces polycarbonates.
https://www.materialscience.bayer.com/
The US has proposed to determine whether Indian carpets are produced by forced or indentured child labour, while it added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India. The US Department of Labor has announced its initial determination with regard to Indian carpets as it released the sixth edition of the 'List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor' as mandated by the US Congress.
Stakeholders have been asked to submit their comments on the proposed determination by January 30, 2015. The US also added cotton and sugarcane to the already existing child labour produced list from India, which now has crossed the two dozen mark. According to the report released by US Department of Labor more than two dozen Indian items are produced by employing child labour. These include bidis, brassware, bricks, carpets, cotton, embellished textiles, fireworks, footwear, garments, gems, glass bangles, hybrid cotton seed, incense, leather goods and accessories, locks, matches, rice, silk fabric, silk, thread, soccer balls, stones, sugarcane and thread/yarn.
Nearly 11 goods made with child labour have been added to the sixth edition of the said list. These are garments from Bangladesh, cotton and sugarcane from India, vanilla from Madagascar, fish from Kenya and Yemen, alcoholic beverages, meat, textiles, and timber from Cambodia, and palm oil from Malaysia. Electronics from Malaysia has been added to the list for being produced with forced labor.
www.dol.gov
Welspun India plans to invest Rs 2,500 crores to expand manufacturing capacities over the next year. The home-grown textile major has set up the country’s largest spinning facility at Anjar with an investment of around Rs 800 crores. The new facility will be instrumental in doubling Welspun's spinning capacity to over 3,00,000 spindles, thereby fulfilling nearly 70 per cent of the fine and super fine yarn requirements of the company. Welspun will invest in modernisation and expansion of its towel manufacturing capacity at its Vapi unit in Gujarat.
The Rs 2,500 crore expansion will be funded through internal accruals and debt. While Rs 700 crores would be contributed from the company's side, the remaining will be raised through borrowings. Currently, export contributes almost 97 per cent of Welspun’s total textile revenue of over Rs 6,000 crores. Its export markets are US, Europe, Japan and Australia.
The Welspun Group has registered a CAGR of 30 per cent over the last decade. It is a fully integrated player within the pipes, plates and coils and the home textiles sector. It also has a presence in other verticals such as steel, infrastructure and energy. In the home textiles sector, Welspun is the largest integrated towel manufacturer in Asia.
www.welspunindia.com/
Almost 30 per cent of the cotton used by Marks & Spencer is grown to Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) standards. These products include underwear, school uniform, dresses and bedding. The Better Cotton program covers environmental, social and economic criteria, and is said to earn for the farmer by reducing input costs and helping them manage crops better.
In addition, 7,000 workers from M&S suppliers and their local communities in Kenya and South Africa have taken part in the ‘Emerging Leaders’ training program which takes place in factories, farms, and in local communities, with the support of M&S suppliers. The training aims to give participants the skills to take charge of their own situation, encouraging them to start entrepreneurial projects in the workplace, at home or in their own communities.
There is also a scheme by which customers can donate used or unwanted items of clothing when they shop at an M&S store. The clothes are then collected and distributed to a local charity for recycling, re-use, or re-sale. The clothes exchange program has been launched in 20 M&S stores in the Czech Republic and 17 stores in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile Marks & Spencer is examining the potential for sourcing from Myanmar. Gap and H&M are so far the only two apparel retailers to have gone on record as saying they are sourcing from Myanmar. However concerns have been raised in some quarters about human rights abuses as well as social and environmental issues in the country’s garment manufacturing sector. Child labor is also a major concern in Myanmar.
www.marksandspencer.com/
Insqin, a new polyurethene coating technology from Bayer MaterialScience, will be advertised in an unusual way. The campaign is aimed at textile manufacturers and clothing brands. It will set Insqin apart from the competition by emphasising its visual appeal rather than concentrating on its environmental-friendly properties.
Insqin is a turnkey solution for a new generation of polyurethane coated fabrics. It is a waterborne coating (as opposed to solvent-based technology). Waterborne fabric coatings are more environmentally sound than solvent-based ones. While competitors have tended to focus on sustainability in their communications, the campaign for Insqin centers on the concept of inspiration. Insqin will be positioned as an inspiration to technology.
The coating results in more brilliant colors when water splashes the fabric. So the campaign features bold images of models being splashed with water. The campaign is handled by Doremus and FleishmanHillard.
Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest manufacturers of high-tech polymer materials. It’s a global market leader in polyurethanes. The company develops and produces the components for rigid and flexible foams as well as for solid materials. Diverse applications range from mattresses and ski boots to insulating materials for refrigeration appliances and buildings. The company also develops and produces polycarbonates.
