FW
Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is sourcing over 35 per cent of its cotton requirement from Indian farmers. Cotton is an important raw material for the world’s largest furniture maker, which uses about one per cent of the global production of cotton every year. In 2014-15, it sourced 50,000 tons of cotton from India. Ikea is working with over 50,000 farmers across Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telengana and is expected to increase procurement over the next few years.
The company plans to bring industry players to start working with farmers to produce cotton. It wants to bring the entire textile industry together — from ginning, weaving to spinning. Ikea is trying to provide better working conditions for cotton farm owners and workers, improve soil quality, and make industry start working with farmers. Since 2005, when it started working in Andhra Pradesh, it has been trying to empower farmers by providing them technical knowhow.
The target is to work with over two million farmers and induce them to use less pesticides, less chemical fertilizers and less water. Farmers working with Ikea have recorded 26 per cent higher gross margins than conventional farmers.
The company plans to open several stores in Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
www.ikea.com/
The events’ focus is on apparel, accessories and textiles and includes major representation from China and India among an overall exhibiting group of more than 450 companies from 12 countries. Countries represented at the expo include India, China, Indonesia, Fiji, USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Africa and France.
India is leading its participation through the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, and the Handloom Export Promotion Council. Over 80 companies under the two combined associations will be showcasing. Both organisations have brought substantial exhibiting delegations to Australia over the past several years. Major partners at the expo include the FIEO, Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia, and Alibaba.com.
The Indian pavilion will be inaugurated by Manika Jain, Consul General and attended by senior representatives from the FIEO, AEPC and HEPC and the Australian industry.
Seminars on industry-related issues
The expo provides an extensive free seminar program presented by industry professionals, designed to attract and inspire trade visitors, as well as networking and business matching opportunities.
First day will witness seminars on topics such as ‘Industry Support for Australian Business’ by Kiri Delly, CEO, Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA), ‘Starting Out: Sourcing Basics’ by Mike Bellamy, Director, China Sourcing Information Center, ‘Hot Topics in Sourcing 2015-201 moderated by Mike Bellamy, Director, China Sourcing Information Center. Kirri-Mae Sampson, Project Manager, Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA), Elizabeth Formosa, Founder, Fashion Equipped, Rajni Sharma, Merchandise Planner, David Jones, and Founder, A&F Sourcing Solutions will be part of the discussion. ‘Learn how your business can succeed with online trading’ by Trevor Beuth, Managing Director, Kelly and Windsor Australia will be the last session on day one.
The second day will commence with ‘Thinking global? Growing e-commerce opportunities for Australian businesses moderated by Michael Mang, Head of International Marketing and Business Development, APAC & MENA, Alibaba.com. Benjamin Sun, Director, Think China, John de Bree, Managing Director, Capify will participate in the discussion. Seminar on ‘Sourcing Quality for Competitive Advantage’ by Adam Lloyd, General Manager Product, Jeanswest will follow. The next session would be on ‘Contracts & Purchase Orders: How to make them work for you!’ by Mike Bellamy, Director, China Sourcing Information Center followed by ‘Importing Fundamentals’ by Tim Wallis, Program Manager – Marketing, International Trade & Logistics, RMIT University. ‘7 Practical Tips for Starting your Sourcing Journey Online’ by Michael Mang, Head of International Marketing and Business Development, APAC &MENA, Alibaba.com will bring the curtains down on the second day program.
The last day will see two discussions on ‘Starting Out: Sourcing Basics (Repeat) and ‘Top 10 Tips for Sourcing Success’ by Mike Bellamy, Director, China Sourcing Information Center.
www.internationalsourcingexpo.com
Clothing retailer American Apparel has filed for bankruptcy. The company has lost roughly 75 per cent of its value since its peak before the 2008 financial crash, and has struggled to keep up with its debts over the past year.
The company employed about 10,000 workers at the end of the first quarter of 2015, but only 9,000 employees six months later, which means it has laid-off 10 per cent of its employees during that time. Dov Charney was ousted as CEO during the protracted financial decline of the company by the large hedge funds that were the company’s main creditors and that controlled the board of directors.
The board, in mid 2014, was largely dissatisfied with Charney’s performance and blamed him for the company’s financial woes. The bankruptcy deal that was recently filed includes a debt-equity swap that would essentially turn debt that American Apparel is having difficulty paying into stock that would give creditors much more direct control over the company.
Last July, American Apparel had announced that it would be eliminating $30 million in operating expenses over the subsequent 18 months. There was an investor takeover in December 2014. Workers have received pay cuts of up to 50 per cent since the takeover.
store.americanapparel.net/
At the Kingpins Denim Show in Amsterdam recently, Invista, owners of the Lycra brand, launched what it calls a transformative patent pending technology for knitted denim fabrics. The fabrics are said to combine the best of both worlds—the comfort and flexibility of a knit with the authentic aesthetics and performance of a woven, under the platform of Lycra HYBRID technology.
Jean Hegedus, Invista’s global director for denim said that the Lycra HYBRID fabrics integrate a true denim look and feel with low growth, low shrinkage and multi-directional stretch, which is what distinguishes this technology from existing knit denim. Besides, the fabrics can be engineered for use in a range of different garment types, each serving different consumer needs, he said.
The Lycra HYBRID fabrics have been segmented into three different categories, each with unique performance levels, based on extensive trials with fit models and Invista’s proprietary wear force testing protocols. Everyday denim fabrics that meet Invista’s standards can carry the Lycra brand, which is offered in Level 1, while fabrics that meet Invista’s shaping technology standards can qualify for the Lycra BEAUTY brand in Level 2. Level 3 is about fabrics that meet Invista’s athleisure standards that can qualify for Lycra SPORT branding.
Malaysia Fashion Week is being hosted from November 4 to 7 in Kuala Lumpur. This is Malaysia’s leading trade fashion and lifestyle event. The event features established and emerging designers with varied collections from Islamic fashion, office and casual wear to high fashion. The fashion week gives visitors a chance to get first-hand inside knowledge and style advice from Malaysia’s designers in a unique fashion experience. It features 290 booths with 68 per cent Malaysian and 32 per cent international businesses from 14 countries.
The event is expected to generate 10 per cent higher sales this year compared with the sales recorded last year. Malaysia’s fashion and textile industry offers huge potential for trade, given the many talented local designers, especially global fashion icon Jimmy Choo. Malaysia’s continued trade surplus in the past 216 consecutive months, despite current economic challenges, has showcased the country’s healthy and strong fundamentals. Malaysia has never experienced a trade deficit since the financial crisis in 1997.
The fashion week has been assigned to form a committee to look into technical and vocational training for youths who are not academically inclined but are talented in technical and vocational aspects. This committee will help these gifted young people to explore their talent in fashion and design.
www.malaysiafashionweek.my/
Workers woes never in Bangladesh and the latest in the list is the firing of 152 workers by the authorities of Dacca Dyeing Garments, a concern of Palmal Group recently as tried to form a trade union in the factory. However, the allegation was denied by factory authorities who stated that they terminated some extra workers as the factory’s export orders had declined in recent months.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) officials, more than 100 officials of the Palmal group along with police and the officials of factory inspection department entered the factory located at Moghbazar in the city in the morning, alleged workers.
Md Alam, President of the proposed trade union of Dacca Dyeing Garments said the employees of the head office and police started calling the listed workers from several factory floors and forced them to receive an amount and put their signature on a blank paper. The factory authority used police to compel them to receive an amount as termination benefit without showing any reason, he added.
Director of Palmal Group, Mahatab Uddin, said that they had terminated some extra workforce from the factory as per the law. Refuting the allegations by the workers over the trade union issues, Uddin said that the authority was not aware who were involved with the process of forming trade union and added that they were forced to cut the workforce due to the recent decline in export orders.
China’s textile makers are said to be moving away from the recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) market, as their production margins continue to shrink despite falling raw material prices, indicated market insiders.
On November 3, 2015, prices of clear/white hot-washed R-PET flakes with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) content of 300-1,000 ppm (parts per million) flakes were assessed at $575/ton CFR (cost and freight) China, according to ICIS data. Prices have remained soft after hitting $560/ton CFR China – the lowest since ICIS started tracking the market three years ago – on September 1, 2015, the data showed.
According to a downstream Chinese textile manufacturer, the company has stopped production of recycled polyester due to weak margins after considering upstream and downstream conditions. The producer has also stopped making polyester from virgin PET fibre sighting sustainability issues and is focusing on nylon production.
China is a major import market for R-PET flakes with 300-1,000 ppm polyvinyl chloride (PVC) content, which is used mainly in the production of recycled polyester. In September, China’s total R-PET imports were down 8.6 per cent year on year at 173,818 tons, China Customs data showed.
Customs.gov.cn
The Government of India held the annual conference of state textiles ministers November 4, 2015 to assess the existing position and formulate strategy for exploiting the potential of the textile sector. The Conference was chaired by Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for textiles.
Ministers in charge of textiles from nine states including Bismita Gogoi (Assam), Chander Prakash (Jammu & Kashmir), H. Rohluna (Mizoram), Amenba Yaden (Nagaland), Snehangini Chhuria (Odisha), Gajendra Singh Khimsar (Rajasthan), S. Gokul Indira (Tamil Nadu), Brahma Sankar Tripathi (Uttar Pradesh), Jupally Krishna Rao (Telangana) and B.D. Chakma (Mizoram) attended the conference. Apart from ministers of these nine states, senior officials of 16 other states too participated in the conference.
Addressing the delegates, Gangwar said that since the last conference in September 2014, the government has intensified its focus on improving governance and service delivery to the common man in the textile sector. He said that to this end, the government has endeavoured to maintain close liaison with state governments for supporting the textile industry, with a view to promoting production and employment in various segments of the sector.
He also highlighted successful initiatives in the areas of textile parks, apparel and garment making centres in the North Eastern Region, handloom promotion, cotton procurement, skill development and turnaround of National Textiles Corporation, to name a few. He invited suggestions from the states in meeting national development goals the nation has set for itself.
The minister also launched the revamped website of the Ministry of Textiles: texmin.nic.in. The redesigned website is more user-friendly, allowing for easy navigation; it is disabled-friendly and has multi-language support as well. The website provides information on all aspects of the textile sector, such as sectoral developments, schemes, initiatives and has links to all attached offices, subordinate offices, PSUs, statutory bodies and export promotion councils under the ministry.
S. K. Panda, Secretary (Textiles) gave a brief presentation on various schemes, programmes and initiatives being undertaken by the ministry, for the promotion of Indian textile sector. He outlined the vision and strategy of the government for the textile sector, based on the philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas’. He also highlighted achievements of the ministry.
Texmin.nic.in
ITMACH India in association with Textile Excellence is organising ITMACH Bhiwandi 2015. The event has already proved its reach and reputation across the textile manufacturing hub in India following the success of its premiere edition in Ahmedabad.
With its motto 'To bring textile machinery manufacturers closer to their customers', ITMACH Bhiwandi in its 2nd edition aims at bringing together visitors and exhibitors from all sectors of the industry within India and neighbouring countries. The event aims to create conducive business environment, generate business ideas and create investment opportunities in the Indian market.
Scheduled to be held from December 17 to 19, 2015, it will showcase a wide range of latest textile machinery and technology at Indian Corporation premises in Bhiwandi, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The timing of the show is crucial as this is the first textile technology show in the country, after the much-awaited ITMA 2015.
Over 125 exhibitors, primarily, machinery and technology providers from the post-spinning, weaving preparatory, weaving, dyeing, printing and processing as well as garmenting sectors have booked the space at the show. With investment decisions expected to get finalised post-ITMA, ITMACH Bhiwandi 2015, will play the role of a catalyst. The show is expected to attract over 30,000 visitors from across the country.
The exhibition is supported by leading industry associations including PDEXCIL, SASMIRA, SDC, China Textile Machinery Association. The exhibition has garnered the support of leading textile industry media. In addition, local textile manufacturers associations of Bhiwandi and around have extended their cooperation and extensive support to make ITMACH 2015 a successful show.
www.itmach.com
The Indian textile and apparel industry is cutting down on the number of jobs due to the global economic slowdown. Job creation in the apparel and textile industry dropped 70 per cent in the quarter ended March 2015 as compared to the December 2014 quarter. A lot of handloom and power loom units shut down or had their capacities slashed to half in the last few months because of policies like withdrawal of interest subvention and duty drawbacks.
Yarn and fabric verticals have trouble dealing with excess stock and inventory pile-up as China has reduced cotton yarn imports from India. This too has resulted in a decline in capacity by five to ten per cent and a fall in job creation.
The apparel sector has almost stopped expansion work. Slowdown in exports has damped outlook. And the domestic market, too, is not booming. There has been hardly a seven to eight per cent growth in recent times and this rate of growth does not require any expansion to be made. So there has been no expansion on the labor front as well. However, the apparel industry still hopes to bounce back after November with an increase in exports.
