FW
From January through July 2022, Tajikistan’s imports of textile products from Uzbekistanincreased as per a Trend reports referring to the State Committee of Uzbekistan on Statistics.
According to the committee, Uzbekistan exported textile products worth $21 million to Tajikistan in seven months of this year, which is almost 2.3 times more than in the same period of 2021 ($9.2 million). The largest share of Uzbek textile exports from January through July 2022 was held by Russia ($698.3 million) followed by Türkiye ($373.8 million) and Kyrgyzstan ($273.2 million).
Meanwhile, the total value of Uzbekistan's exports to Tajikistan in the reporting period increased by 6.3 per cent to $257.2 million compared to the corresponding period of last year ($241.9 million).
According to OTEXA, the Sub-Saharan region has seen an increase in its apparel exports to USA during Jan.-Apr. 2020 period both in volumes and values, according to OTEXA.
The region shipped 126.59 million SME of apparels to the US worth $462 million and noted a surge of 10 per cent and 6.10 per cent in volumes and values, respectively.
The growth of Sub-Saharan region has come at a time when OECD, NAFTA and ASEAN all fell in their value-wise apparel exports to USA in the same period by 23.37 per cent, 29.21 per cent and 1.92 per cent, respectively.
Kenya remained the top exporter to USA from Sub-Sahara with $153.36 million worth of exports, marking 11.82 per cent growth on Y-o-Y basis. Volume-wise, Kenya marked 6.20 per cent growth and shipped 40.13 million SME of apparels to the US in the mentioned period.
USA, however, fell in its import from second top African destination Lesotho by 2.68 per cent in values. The shipment from Lesotho to the US valued $90 million in the first 4 months.
Madagascar witnessed growth in both values and volumes by 9 per cent and 13.92 per cent, respectively. The country shipped 21.69 million SME apparels to USA in Jan.-Apr. ’20 period which were worth US $ 81.52 million.
The most impacted destination proved to be Mauritius which drastically fell both in volumes and values of its apparel exports to USA this year. The country shipped 4.68 million SME of apparels (down 30.88 per cent) to USA clocking at US $ 35.49 million which is a whopping 30 per cent fall from a year earlier.
UKFT has extended the dates for its Climate Change Levy (CCL) rebate scheme till September 2020. The scheme can save textile companies an average of £30,000 a year. The CCL rebate scheme has been running very successfully since 2002.
The CCL scheme was introduced as an energy tax payable by all business in 2001. However, some industrial sectors were offered a rebate in the levy in return for agreeing to specific energy reduction targets. For the textile industry, there are two separate schemes one covering the wet processing sector (dyeing, printing coating and associated drying and finishing activities) and the other covering spinning, weaving and knitting (and other similar processes), according to a press release by UKFT.
Companies joining the UKFT CCL scheme will be eligible for a rebate of some 92 per cent on the CCL on electricity and 81 per cent on the levy on electricity. On average companies are currently saving over £30,000 a year, but for large companies the savings can be over £100,000 a year. In order to maintain the discount, companies must meet set energy reduction targets. New entrants to the scheme will need to demonstrate that by 2022 they will have reduced the amount of energy used by 7 per cent compared to 2018.
The CCL rebate scheme for the textile industry is administered by UKFT. UKFT will help companies complete all the necessary paperwork, will submit all necessary registration details to the Environment Agency. UKFT collects and monitors company’s performance every three months and helps companies develop strategies to meet their energy reduction targets.
Style Group, a UK-based manufacturer and supplier of window blinds, has launched two innovative fabrics that are proven to fight against COVID-19. These two fabrics known as Antiviraltex and Aircleantex, protect against the virus in different forms.
While Antiviraltex is a fabric that eliminates coronavirus and other such viruses on every contact, Aircleantex is a fabric that transforms ultraviolet light and purifies the air.
These fabrics have been a long time in the making and are set to revolutionise the market. Anti-viral protection is a priority for hotels, homes and businesses. The effectiveness of these fabrics novelty has been tested and approved by UK-based LTC – a provider of wide range of consultancy, training and testing services for the laundry industry. Moreover, it also meets the requirements of ISO.
Style group has three manufacturing units in Spain, Romania and Netherlands for manufacturing fabrics for home business and hotel industry.
Invista has started construction of its nylon production plant in Shanghai that will produce 400,000 tonne of the fiber’s key ingredient per year.
The company has invested $1 billion investment in the adiponitrile (ADN) plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) which will help meet the growing demand for nylon 6.6 chemical intermediates in China and the Asia Pacific region.
The plant will deploy Invista’s most advanced, energy-efficient ADN technology in China to satisfy the strong local demand for the intermediate ingredient used in the production of nylon 6.6. When complete, the new ADN plant will integrate with Invista’s existing HMD (another nylon ingredient) and polymer facilities to supply domestic customers, as well as those throughout the Asia Pacific region, with the inputs they need for production.
The plant will also help to cultivate local talent, bring more employment opportunities and promote the development of relevant collaborative industries to further enhance the local community’s economic strength.
The Indonesian Government declared a tax break for all manufacturers of PPE including N95 masks and gloves along with the makers of antiseptic hand sanitisers, ventilators, reagents for diagnostic tests of COVID-19 and disinfectants.
According to the country’s tax department’s website, manufacturers will be able to offset 30 per cent of their production costs for the months of March through September 2020 against their taxable income.
Earlier in March, the Indonesian Government had imposed a ban on exporting of 10 commodities, including antiseptics, PPE and raw materials to make surgical masks, in order to fight any paucity of necessity equipments in the country. However, they received a lot of backlash as the export ban would not only block Indonesia’s potential for further growth but also negatively affect Indonesia’s trade partners’ capacity to produce raw materials.
The decision was relaxed into export licensing quickly after a G20 meeting in late March regarding the decision to support trade and global supply chains.
PVH Corp announced additional actions it is taking to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on its associates and the company’s business and financial position.
The measures announced by the company include abolition of cash compensation for its board members during the period of crisis, reduction of 50 per cent salaries of approximately 250 senior leaders and executives globally, salary reductions for all office associates in Asia, pursuing governmental relief packages, including governmental salary subsidiaries, to retain associates and which would significantly offset payroll expense and 50 per cent reduction in performance bonuses for 2020.
On World Rainforest Day today, 45 brands, including Walmart-owned ASDA/George, Ralph Lauren, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Bestseller, Ivy & Oak, Masai, Fiber X Finland, Nanushka, and Ted Baker—which together represent $100 billion in annual revenue—have launched CanopyStyle policies to transform the viscose supply chain and protect the world’s forests.
The addition of the 45 companies shows great momentum for the CanopyStyle and Pack4Good initiatives, and the efforts to protect the world’s ancient and endangered forests. The CanopyStyle initiative now represents 259 brands worth over $370 billion in total revenue working together to create demand, shift supply chains, and implement more sustainable sourcing practices.
According to a new survey named “Sedex Insights Report: COVID-19 impacts on business, the revenues of export-driven Bangladeshi clothing and shoe producers have decreased by 77 per cent due to the pandemic effect of COVID-19.
Of the total suppliers surveyed, 469 are from China, India, Bangladesh, and Turkey from the clothing and footwear industries. According to the results, 68 per cent of member countries reported a substantial decrease in their sales, while only 38 to 55 per cent reported helping their customers during the pandemic on average.
Almost, 43 per cent respondents viewed disruption to supply chains and inability to get input of raw materials as the biggest challenged they faced. Reasons for this included delay in raw material delivery, suppliers stopping production, and higher prices of raw materials or transport.
On the other hand, 20 per cent respondents have had orders cancelled by customers and 4 per cent experienced delayed payment terms
According to Brian Cornell, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of the Target Corp feels, the COVID-19 pandemic will create a heightened propensity towards online shopping amongst US consumers besides increasing their demand for curbside pickup or home delivery, curbing their desire to visit stores.
In addition, Cornell believes there will also be an even greater focus on safety in the future, and retailers need to offer more contact-free options for their customers. And with growing economic challenges, consumers will increasingly focus on the value of their purchases.
In the past few months, though Target has benefited by being deemed an essential business, it has also been hurt by the rioting surrounding the killing of George Floyd that was centered in its home town on Minneapolis. To further accelerate its initiatives to understand the psyche of its Black associates and start to drive change, the company donated $10 million to organizations that work against racism and pledged 10,000 hours of consulting to minority-owned small businesses. It also vowed to rebuild and reopen its Minneapolis-area stores that were damaged during the looting that was on the fringes of the otherwise generally peaceful protests.
