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Nylon fiber maker Invista has firmed up plans to slash a significant part of its Chattanooga plant production. The nylon 6,6 polymer made at the Chattanooga factory is used in apparel and automotive air bags. This move is expected to eventually lead to a significant cut in its 300-person workforce, it is gathered. The Koch Industries division that bought DuPont's Access Road plant in 2004 is totally stopping production of nylon 6,6 polymer in Chattanooga and shifting the work to two other facilities in South Carolina and Canada, according to Invista.
The company has made this announcement to ensure employees, contractors, site tenant companies and customers have as much time as possible to plan for the future. Since the move is a multi-phase restructuring process, it's premature to know as to how many employees would be impacted and when, officials of the company said.
The company anticipates an ongoing need for "a consistent workforce" into 2017. They'll assist with the transfer of production in addition to completing steps to safely secure the nylon 6,6 polymer assets not needed in the future, the company said. One thing that is noticeable is that other products are made by the company in Chattanooga though the plans for these functions are unclear.
Just three years ago, Invista made one of the biggest investments ever in the plant that spans more than six decades in the city to help the company penetrate the growing automotive parts market. The Invista decision is due to impact Kordsa Global, a company that's a tenant in the plant and on its own employs about 200 people.
Late last year, DuPont announced that it was closing the last of its operations at the plant. About 40 workers including 26 employees and 14 contractors lost their jobs at the end of last year.
In order to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skills development and vocational and professional education and training, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Swiss State Secretary Mauro Dell’Ambrogio and India’s Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Winterthur, Switzerland on June 22 last.
The agreement was signed at the second International Congress on Vocational and Professional Education and Training held in Winterthur. With this agreement, the two countries intend to complement existing commitment of Swiss and Indian players to professional skills development and vocational and professional education and training. The agreement is consistent with the strategy of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI on international cooperation in vocational and professional education and training.
The agreement institutionalises cooperation between the two countries in these areas and aims to promote Swiss vocational and professional education and training internationally. The first such congress was held in 2014. Switzerland and India have fostered excellent bilateral relations in the field of education, research and innovation for many years.
In 2008, the Swiss VET Initiative India (SVETII) was launched to mark the 60th anniversary of the bilateral friendship agreement between Switzerland and India. It is based on the initiative of the Swiss private sector and is implemented by vocational training experts of both countries in different locations in India.
India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support the textiles industry of the West African country. This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria set up in partnership with its government, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement. It was inaugurated on June 22. The centre has been established in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Indian Department of Commerce.
"The center is aimed to support and catalyze the initiative of Nigeria in realising the objectives to rebuild the cotton and textile value chain and address the need for skilled workforce for domestic as well export-oriented apparel industry in the west African region," the statement added. Nigeria is an important trading partner of India. The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $12.17 billion in 2015-16 as against $16.36 billion in the previous fiscal. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, and its major export to India is crude. There are over 100 Indian companies present in Nigeria mainly in telecom, hydrocarbons, textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, plastics, IT and autos sectors.
India's exports to that country includes machinery and instruments, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, transport equipment and electronic goods. The major items of import are petroleum, crude, non-ferrous metals, wood and wood products, cashew nuts.
India is against the total elimination of duties on goods arriving from China and other members of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Instead the country is trying for moderate tariffs and feels zero tariffs can be disastrous.
But India is yet to decide on the peak level of tariffs. The peak tariff rate would indicate the floor below which import duties would not be reduced and could be subject to negotiations if other members agree to India’s proposals. Apart from China other members of the 16-member RCEP include Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Faced with several complaints from the industry on the negative fall-outs of free trade pacts signed so far with partners such as Japan, South Korea and Asean (where it has agreed to gradual tariff elimination on most products), India is coming up with a model for future trade pacts where duties would not fall below five per cent.
A submission against tariff elimination is likely to be made by India in the forthcoming inter-sessional meeting in Jakarta this month. India is uncomfortable with the pressure being exerted by RCEP members, especially China, to agree on tariff elimination on a wide range of products.
The 32nd World Fashion Convention in Mumbai is going to be truly world class with a speakers list that is worthy of one of the industry’s main international arena. The IAF and the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) have combined forces to bring a strong combination of international speakers and the real top of the Indian apparel business. The Conference part of the Convention is scheduled for September 26 and 27. Most of the speakers for the conference have confirmed well in advance.
Alex Thomas, Vice President of Manufacturing Excellence and Technical Services at VF, Sanjeev Mohanty, MD&CEO of Jabong, Mark Jarvis, managing director of WTiN, Adriano Goldschmied, truly the godfather of denim who co-founded Diesel and Replay are the confirmed speakers among others.
The final session on branding, is a real star studded affair with the CEO’s of the Indian organisations of global brands Nike, Bestseller and Tommy Hilfiger are in the panel. The way these large global brands operate in one of the fastest growing markets in the world will give all delegates a great insight into the fascinating challenge for global apparel brands: combining global brand consistency with necessary local adaptations.
With a cast like this, the IAF’s 32nd World Fashion Convention in Mumbai is promised to provide the insights into the development of apparel industry.
The crisp clothes by Varana, a new luxury fashion label, might be rooted in Indian tradition, but the brand’s absolutely certain about one thing cut out the kitsch.
Sujata Keshavan design maven says that in 2012, in tony Mayfair, Alexander McQueen’s flagship London store opened to the public. “Boudoir chic”, the fashion spreads called it “Poky,” She’s been responsible for stripping the space of its dark and dingy corners and transforming it with the help of architect William Russell into a cathedral of light and warmth; home, since May this year, to Varana, possibly India’s first international luxe fashion and lifestyle brand.
She further adds that together, the three bring untold experience to the brand, but, interestingly it’s the first foray into fashion for all of them. Varana sells “everyday luxury” womenswear, pretty much a genre of one in the international market, but this is something Keshavan’s been pondering for over a decade.
According to her there are lots of B2B brands in software and engineering products, but there’s nothing in the lifestyle, fashion, apparel, or home spaces. India is the manufacturing hub for so many private labels.
Varana’s is not the east-meets-west of kitsch mirror-work slapped onto a jacket, or a Jaipur kurti masquerading as a dress. The amalgamation of the aesthetic begins with Varana’s design team, which has Indian textile designers from the National Institute of Design, but French and Italian pattern makers and designers.
The brand’s first collection takes inspiration from the Taj Mahal, and comes not only with floral and geometric motifs, but also with a layer of history. Buttery muslin blouses are rendered in jamdani weaves; pantsuits are painstakingly wood-block-printed with inlay patterns from the Taj; dresses are worked with aari needlepoint all three crafts contemporaneous with the construction of the Taj Mahal.
All these people have just stumbled onto the store, because we’ve done no promotions.” Interestingly, they haven’t had much of an Indian clientele, because Keshavan says Indians abroad tend to spend more on traditional outfits, and, “there’s always a feeling of, ‘Oh, we’ll get this in India.’”
The F/W 2017-18 men’s and women’s international fashion begins in Milan: PRIMA MU, the jewel of Milano Unica’s textiles and accessories. The Fair would open its September 23 in the new exhibition area of Milan Rho with a complete restyling dedicated to men’s and women’s high-end textiles and will showcase the textiles-accessories collections developed thanks to close interaction with clients and with the trends identified at PRIMA MU when the collections are still in progress and can be further personalized. Personalization is the new code for excellence, luxury and the increasingly demanding clients, attentive to highlighting their unique characteristics.
The 22 edition of PRIMA MU was a success, the second in a row. In a location that anticipates the elegance that will characterize the new exhibition area in September, exhibitors would unitedly underscore that each contact has been targeted and profitable. Exhibitors are also unanimous in confirming that this appointment is exactly what top-end fashion urgently needed.
The market, increasingly fragmented into numerous niches in terms of trends and products and also more demanding in terms of quality and sustainability, has found a home that anticipates production times. Branded shops will fill their spaces with innovative content, according to the new timeline of today’s fashion.
Through them, Italian accessories and textiles, supported by a select European and Japanese offering, will reach the most important display windows in the world, with that touch of originality that springs from product customization.
Milano Unica has thanked the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, its international operating arm ICE Agency (Italian Trade Promotion Agency), Sistema Moda Italia (category association) and the Municipality of Milan, which, with different roles and modalities, have financed and supported Milano Unica’s global initiative.
Hawassa Industrial Park, Ethiopia’s first, is scheduled to be inaugurated on July 13. Located 275 km South of the country’s capital Addis Ababa, the industrial park is expected to create job opportunities for 60,000 people in two shifts. It is expected to host textile and garment manufacturing factories.
Arkebe Oqubay, Board Chairman of Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister said that Hawassa Industrial was a pioneer park and could be a model for other industrial parks which Ethiopia aspires to build in the future. According to him the Park will earn 1 billion USD for Ethiopia. Currently 20 companies have set up offices in the Park. Among these, 15 of them are foreign companies while the rest are local manufacturers. The most notable of these manufacturers are PVH and NHM.
Hawassa Industrial Park is equipped with one stop service center and its own renewable electricity sources to address power supply problems.
BASF along with Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry (“Markor”) opened a new PolyTHF® (polytetrahydrofuran, chemical name: polytetramethylene ether glycol) plant in Korla, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China. With this, commercial products will now be available for delivery to local customers in China.
The plant, with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons of PolyTHF, will be operated by a joint venture between BASF and Markor registered under the name of BASF Markor Chemical Manufacturing (Xinjiang). It will support the increasing demands of the customers. The plant complements BASF’s existing Asian production facilities in Shanghai, China and Ulsan, Korea.
BASF also produces PolyTHF in Geismar, Louisiana and Ludwigshafen, Germany, with a global annual PolyTHF capacity of 350,000 metric tons. PolyTHF is primarily used to make elastic spandex fibers for a wide variety of textiles including swimsuits, sportswear, underwear and outerwear. It also serves as a chemical building block for thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) used to make hoses, films and cable sheathing mainly for the automotive industry.
Other applications include thermoplastic polyetheresters, polyetheramides and cast elastomers for the production of (for example) wheels for skateboards and inline skates.
National Cotton Council (NCC) has signed an agreement with the China Cotton Textile Association (CCTA) to foster enhanced communication between the two. The agreement was signed in Beijing during a recent visit of an NCC leadership delegation to share information with the Chinese cotton/textile industries and update them on the US cotton industry, the NCC said in a press release.
With a focus on quality and in an effort to combat growing competition from synthetic fibres, the two Associations will explore opportunities to jointly promote both US raw cotton and US-manufactured yarn as well as Chinese cotton.
Coordinated by the NCC's export promotions arm, Cotton Council International (CCI), the visit was the seventh by a US cotton industry delegation to China since the establishment of the US-China Cotton Leadership Exchange Programme by the NCC and the China Cotton Association (CCA) in 2006.
