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World’s leading manufacturer of technical textiles, Freudenberg Performance Materials has launched an open innovation competition under the name ‘Next-Generation Nonwovens’. The company has invited external developers, scientists, students, organizations and other interested parties to submit their ideas in response to two questions. First, how can nonwovens be developed from polyester, which will then be biodegradable within defined time period and the second is how can highly transparent fibers be developed that are suitable for the production of polyester nonwovens. The deadline of the competition is November 30, this year.
Elaborating on the background Frank Heislitz, Chief Technology Officer at Freudenberg Performance Materials said the company wants to encourage all experts, not just its internal teams to get involved at the very earliest idea-development stage. The competition is part of Freudenberg’s ideaTrophy program through which the Group has in the past sought external responses to various topics, such as renewable energy, water and health.
Despite having what it takes for a thriving textile industry, Nigeria spends around over $4 billion yearly on imported textile and other readymade clothing. The industry, that is said to be the second largest employer after the government, has been going through a bad patch due to lack of infrastructure and smuggled textile from Asian countries, especially China. Brushing away fears, Director-General, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA), Hamma Kwajaffa said despite the prevailing harsh operating environment, the situation is redeemable.
He believes what is required to turn around the industry is for the government to address key issues raised by operators in the cotton and textile value chain. This, is the only way recent initiatives unveiled by government to revive the sector will yield results. The NTMA boss feels influx of smuggled textiles into major markets in the county not only undermines local industry but also denies Nigerians the opportunity of getting employed. Worse still, uncontrolled import of fake and sub-standard textiles into the country deprives the government of revenue while also draining the country’s precarious foreign exchange reserves.
It is understood that about eight issues have been brought to the notice of the government and that most of the issues for which its intervention was sought are within the ambit of existing policy framework whereas some require new initiatives. Summing up, Kwajaffa says these measures to revive the textile industry have become necessary in view of the fact that the country has the potential to produce for the local market and also export to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) market of 175 million people as well as to the developed world.
American company Wazoodle, which provides a variety of different fabrics and sewing materials online through its official website Wazoodle.com, is working towards the bringing leadership back to the American textiles. It would also help in making the fabric available at an affordable cost and create more job opportunities for fellow Americans. Since 2010, the company has managed to create more than 500 jobs in the country. Aimed at reviving the textile industry in the United States, Wazoodle wishes to promote in-house manufacturing in the country. It specializes in selling high-quality fabrics, diaper sewing supplies and sewing accessories at an affordable cost. The company happens to be the brainchild of a bunch of highly educated professionals Arch and Sid who left their managerial jobs to move to the US for their college-bound children Karishma and Ashrey.
As a quality and change management expert, Arch found a position in the medical device industry while Sid, being a textile engineer started working in a mill. Together they formed AKAS, (for Arch, Kay, Ash, and Sid) which will be committed to full-time manufacturing and supplying fabrics to the customers.
The group’s mission was to make textiles in the US and within a few years they started making good sales. While they were looking for the opportunity to expand, they decided to buy an in-trouble textile company in Canada called Wazoodle Fabrics. After the purchase, the company started doing well and gained popularity among the customers across the country.
At Wazoodle, they care about the environment and believe in reuse and recycling as well as minimize wastage. All the fabrics are made under Sid’s supervision who has an experience of 40 years as a textile engineer with strong attention to detail. He ensures that the fabric is made without toxic substances using the best raw material available.
Aimed at building a transparent and ethical apparel supply chain in the Americas, Nike Inc has entered into a new strategic partnership with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC. Through the partnership, the company aims to increase its regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability. To establish the partnership, Apollo has established a new apparel supply chain company that has been acquiring existing apparel suppliers in North and Central America. It plans to invest in advancing their manufacturing operations and expertise to produce innovative, technical and customized apparel.
To broaden and diversify its capabilities and product offerings, the new company also expects to acquire additional textile and apparel suppliers in the Americas. This will create a more vertically integrated apparel eco-system from materials suppliers and apparel manufacturers to final embellishment, warehousing and logistics.
While the terms of agreements have not been disclosed, Apollo said that the new supply chain company has already acquired two businesses to form the cornerstone of this strategy: the apparel manufacturer, New Holland; and the embellishment, warehousing and logistics operator, ArtFX. The investment is made by the Apollo-managed Special Situations I fund.
This isn’t Nike’s first move to create ‘the supply chain of the future’. Last May, the sportswear giant unveiled the latest expansion of its European Logistics Campus in Belgium. The expansion will make Nike’s European operations more efficient, responsive and sustainable and would enable its growth by serving consumers across Nike.com, as well as its retail and wholesale partners in 38 countries, all from a single inventory location.
Monsanto’s decision to withdraw its application for Bollgard II Roundup Ready Flex technology is posing a big challenge to the government’s policy on licensing seeds technology. The move is significant as it comes at a time when the government is in the middle of a consultation on whether to limit royalty rates of seed-tech companies at 10 per cent of the seed price for the first five years followed by a 10% reduction in each of the following years.
Since this order, by way of a gazette notification, came just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, media attention forced the government to pass it off as a discussion paper. Last year, the government came out with a seeds price order which not only resulted in the price of the GM seeds being cut sharply, the cut was far sharper for trait values, or the royalty that firms like Monsanto charge for giving their technology to seed-producing firms.
While the Bollgard II seeds price was cut from Rs 930 per bag of 450 grams of seed and 120 gram of refugia seed to Rs 800, the trait fee was cut from Rs 163 to Rs 42. While the seed company took a hit of Rs 121 per bag, other seed companies took a hit of just Rs 9 per bag.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Agriculture made a complaint to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and asked it to probe allegations of anti-competitive practices by Monsanto. This was based on the complaints of seed companies who were selling Monsanto’s seeds under license.
India has agreed to cut off tariffs on an equal number of products for all member countries of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the condition that it be allowed to stagger implementation of the cuts over a longer period of time depending on the country involved and the item/items. New Delhi has also insisted that services be part of a single undertaking, together with goods and investments and not a separate agreement. RCEP countries, including the 10-member ASEAN, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Australia and New Zealand, are trying to create one of the largest free-trade bloc in the world and want to conclude the negotiations by next year.
Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the three-tiered approach was given up in favour of a single-tier tariff cut at the RCEP as it was reasoned that in a bloc, it could lead to complications. On its part, India insisted that agreement on services should be part of the single undertaking and that tariff cuts should be staggered and time period for each country would be different.
This is a step back from India’s original position of giving China, the country Indian industry is most apprehensive about in the 16-member bloc, the lowest opening (on about 42 per cent items) in the three-tier structure and also its subsequent proposal of not bringing down tariffs to zero. However, if India is allowed a long-term staggering of the tariff cuts for China, it may lower damage to the Indian industry. While RCEP members were working on eliminating tariffs in 10 years, the staggering would logically be done over a longer period, although the details are yet to be culled out.
On the demand of leading textile industry Associations, the Federal Textile Board (FTB) is thinking of exempting the export-oriented textile sector from the provincial/local holidays in Pakistan. In a statement, the Associations said that the FTB was planning to recommend to the provincial governments for exempting the value-added textile industry from holidays in their respective notifications. The Board has further proposed to the export-oriented textile units that they should only observe holidays notified by the Federal government.
Textile industry associations had sought a reduction in the number of public holidays to bring down the cost of doing business for the export-oriented production units. The demand was raised in a meeting of the FTB held recently in the Ministry of Textile Industry under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Commerce/Chairman FTB Khurram Dastgir. Representatives of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA), All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA) and Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) among others pointed out that they paid all the taxes and banks' mark-up for the period of holidays. Despite that, majority of the factories either remain closed or operate partially after paying double overtime to the workers.
Two separate platforms of western fashion brands and retailers namely Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety and , the European Buyers’ Group, Accord on Fire and Building Safety have snapped business relations with four more readymade garment factories in Bangladesh for their failure to comply with the safety standard of the Buyers’ Groups. While the Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety has cut business ties with three readymade garment factories, Accord on Fire and Building Safety terminated business relations with one of its suppliers as the factories failed to make required progress in remediation.
Alliance has suspended ties with Hi-Fashion, Fortune Fashion and Knitex Apparels in Chittagong while Accord suspended ties with Fresh Fashion Wear of Gazipur. With the four, the total number of RMG factories with which global buyers cut business relations in different times on workplace safety grounds reached to 130. Of them, the Alliance has cut business ties with 93 factories and the Accord with 37 supliers.
Alliance says, Hi-Fashion and Fortune Fashion failed to provide evidence of remediation; and also have failed to remove lockable gates from the factories. On the other hand, the Knitex Apparels was suspended from the supplier list of the buyers’ group due to closure of the factory, Alliance said. The Accord says the platform terminated business relations with Fresh Fashion Wear due to non-compliance with Occupational Safety and Health complaint mechanism.
With the four, the total number of RMG factories with which global buyers cut business relations in different times on workplace safety grounds reached to 130. Of them, the Alliance has cut business ties with 93 factories while the Accord with 37 supliers.
Special envoy of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Gender, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has thrown open a new project within the Fashionomics initiative. Launched last year under her leadership, Fashionomics is a B2B website dedicated to fashion and textiles in Africa that is ready to launch. All fashion enthusiasts in New York, London, Milan or Paris agree that African fabrics are inspiring more and more famous designers. Fashion is not just about design or inspiration; it’s also a multi-million dollar industry that creates millions of jobs including in textile and clothing manufacturing.
In Africa alone, the fashion industry could generate €15.5 million in the next five years. Of course, that’s a far cry from the €1.3 billion that it generates worldwide. Based on these figures, the AfDB’s Office of the Special Envoy on Gender launched the Fashionomics initiative during the Bank’s 2015 Annual Meeting in Abidjan.
This initiative will offer the Bank’s support to Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses (MPME) in the fashion and textile industry in Africa. The Bank has already invested €10 million in Madagascar, in the support of Project for Investment Promotion (PAPI), focused on MPME in these industries and in particular on women and young people.
US officials are of the view that consumption of Turkish cotton will hit a 10-year high next year as the country's cotton industry invests in new technology. Turkish mills have been investing in new machinery and technology to increase quality and lower costs in order to get ahead in the very competitive international textile trade. Thanks to increased sales in Europe, as well as thawing of relations with Russia, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) bureau in Ankara saw exports of Turkish textile rising.
The country’s domestic cotton consumption is expected to rise to 6.89m 480 pound bales in this fiscal (2016-17), This sees a climb of 115,000 bales from the previous session. This is also 285,000 bales above the USDA's official 2016017 forecast.
Political instability among many of Turkey's neighbours is forcing the industry to focus on competing in the European markets. Talking of political instability, it is an atmosphere of war in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine and also stalling of exports to Russia after the Turkish downing of a Russian plane in November 2015, it is gathered. Meanwhile, the mills in the country had to lower their margins to keep their market share in the European market to continue operating. Also, the bureau is quoted to have said heavy production will shrink imports but by less than expected, due to robust demand. The bureau saw imports at 4.02 million bales in 2016-17, down from 4.13 million bales in the previous season. This is some 216,000 tonnes above the USDA's official forecast.
On the imports side, imports from the US will fall due to anti-dumping legislation. Some time ago, after a lengthy anti-dumping investigation, the Government of Turkey had announced three per cent anti-dumping duty on the US cotton imports starting from April 2016. But all said and done, the US will remain the top seller to Turkey.
