FW
China is helping Pakistan set up cotton spinning mills. These mills would come up in the industrial estate of Faisalabad and consist of 6,00,000 spindles, generating thousands of jobs. Faisalabad is the textile hub of the country.
The work is undertaken by Shandong Ruyi, one of the largest textile conglomerates in China. And this is the highest Chinese investment in the textile sector of Pakistan. They are making payments in three installments. The first will cover 10 per cent of the total amount, while the second will cover 40 per cent and 50 per cent will be covered in the third. The construction of buildings, residential apartments and boundary walls has begun. Two coal-based power plants have been installed in the industrial estate to facilitate the energy requirements of the companies.
Huge Chinese investments are expected in the industrial estate in the near future. Infrastructural and construction machineries dispatched from China will arrive in Faisalabad in a few days. The Chinese are losing their competitive edge in their home country because of high wages – almost six times higher than in Pakistan – which gives them more incentive to invest elsewhere.
www.chinaruyi.com/doce/about/about.asp
Pakistan is taking steps to raise its cotton to international standards. The country also wants to increase its textile exports. Numerous initiatives have been taken up to ensure the development, production and preservation of better quality cotton in the country. Research institutes have developed some varieties with over 30 mm staple length. Provincial governments have been instructed to ensure standardization and grading of cotton according to international standards.
However, the problem is that long varieties carry a premium, which buyers may not be willing to pay. The government has approved a textiles package in the Budget 2014-15. This comprises several important initiatives like drawback for local taxes. Levies would be given to exporters of textile products on values of their enhanced exports on an incremental basis if increased beyond 10 per cent over the previous year‘s exports. Also, there is a provision for duty free import of textile machinery for two years.
Textile units in the value added sector would be provided long term financing facility for upgradation of technology from the State Bank of Pakistan at 9 per cent rate for a duration of three to ten years. Easy finance mark up rate for the export refinance scheme of the State Bank of Pakistan has been reduced from 9.4 per cent to 7.5 per cent from July 2014.
Apparel exporters in Bangladesh find production and shipment are being affected by the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami. They are protesting the death sentence awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal to its leader Mir Quasem Ali for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. They have called for nationwide general strikes.
The strikes being enforced by the Jamaat are hampering production at factories as well as transport of commodities to the port. Exporters fear they can’t make shipments in time for Christmas and that buyers will reduce the volume of orders. The strikes have taken place at a time when a good number of buyers are coming back to Bangladesh. They had shifted their business in the last year due to political instability and after the setback following the Rana Plaza building collapse.
The feeling is that growth of export earnings from readymade garments in the first half of the current financial year will be negative due to the ongoing general strikes. Exporters say that considering the well-being of the national economy political parties should apply alternative ways of protest and the government should protect the export-oriented sector from all kinds of interruption. <br/>
Itema is looking at beefing up its Asia hub based in Hong Kong. The move is in line with the company’s strategy to build up a stronger presence in important weaving markets throughout Asia Pacific. From November 1, 2014, Itema relocateed Cristiano Capitanio , Regional Head of Sales, to Hong Kong, to enhance local presence and increase efficiency through serving the company’s growing customer base.
Capitanio has been working for Itema for 20 years, the past 10 years in sales. He joined Itema in 1995 in the after sales service department. Prior to joining Itema Cristiano started his career at Swiss Sulzer in 1990, where he worked in its service department until 1994. He is fluent in Italian, English, French, and he has a working knowledge of Portuguese.
Itema, based in Italy, is the world’s largest privately held provider of advanced weaving solutions, including best-in-class weaving machines, spare parts and integrated services. The group’s combined knowledge and experience allows for optimum solutions for each application, from commodity to high-end fashion and industrial fabrics.
It’s the only weaving machine manufacturer which works on all three weft insertion technologies, rapier, air-jet and projectile, Production sites are in Italy, Switzerland and China, with distribution and service centers in the USA, India, Hong Kong and Japan.
www.itemagroup.com/
With 300 exhibitors from 20 countries, Eurovet celebrated the 10th anniversary on October 20. For the first time during Interfiliere Shanghai, the Interfeel awards were organized. Five companies were awarded for their uniqueness, expertise and knowhow.
The in-depth Asia study held by Eurovet in collaboration with Ubifrance and The French Lingerie and Knitwear Federation, had shown the growth and potential of South East Asian countries as well as the current development of South Asia as important regions for the intimates and beach-wear sectors. This edition had two trend areas, the general intimates focused trend forum as well as the new beach forum. The trend forum ‘Movements’ focused on the intimates sector showcasing the latest fabrics and materials of the exhibitors.
The new initiative of Concepts Paris called Beach-o-logy brought a new forum to Interfiliere Shanghai. The forum focused exclusively on beach fabrics and materials. This new forum exemplifies the growing swim sector in China and Asia.
The Eurovet study took place in 13 Asian countries. During Interfiliere Shanghai and Shanghai Mode Lingerie the results were released to the visitors via five dedicated seminars. Similar seminars will take place at other Eurovet shows around the world. Besides the Asia study seminars, the shows brought full schedule of trend seminars and industry business focused presentations from Concepts Paris, Carlin, Hyosung, Tengfei as well as the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association.
The three ‘Intimate Extravaganza’ fashion showcases on October 20 were a success attracting a lot of media attention. Some exclusive vintage pieces from ‘Nuit de Satin’ were also showcased on the catwalk as the final. The ‘Lycra Moves Lingerie Treasures’ exhibition at the heart of Shanghai Mode Lingerie had 60 unique vintage pieces of lingerie giving the visitors the opportunity to learn more about the history.
The new ‘business lounge’ format of Shanghai Mode Lingerie which was launched in 2013, was again a success. With approximately 100 business meetings set up for the eight international lingerie and swimwear brands.
www.interfiliere.com
Global synthetic fiber price index fell by 6.3 per cent in October on top of an almost five per cent drop in September, capping a 13-month slide in the measure. Though falling price of cotton has put tremendous pressure on synthetic pricing in the past several months, declining crude oil prices, which have fallen by more than 10 per cent since early September, and the resulting ingredients’ cost declines, have been the most recent cause of the downward pressure on manmade fiber pricing, helped along by overcapacity in fiber and raw materials production in Asia for both nylon and polyester.
In Asia, the world’s largest fiber producing region, synthetic fiber prices fell by more than almost 8 per cent in the month, their biggest decline in five months. Most of the drop was due to declining polyester filament and staple prices in both China and India. The biggest drop in polyester prices actually occurred in the first three weeks of the month, followed by a bottoming out and slight rise in the last week. However, these remain far below their pre-holiday levels of September, and are not expected to firm appreciably as long as intermediates prices remain low and apparel market growth remains sluggish.
A large number of garment factories in Bangladesh aren't members of registered association like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) or the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). There are about 800 such factories, out of 3,500 now in operation. Since they don’t come under a regulatory framework, they pose a problem. Many of them disregard safety rules. Generally these units are small and medium enterprises and are doing subcontracting jobs for big factories.
These factories are rife with irregularities. They don’t follow the government-announced wage structure, don’t issue appointment letters, identity cards and deny employees benefits like maternity leave and allowance. The Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety, comprising 26 North American retailers and brands, has said that the government of Bangladesh must decide whether it would be responsible for the country's readymade garment sub contractors.
Apparel trade bodies have declined to take responsibility for those units saying they are not affiliated with them. The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments prefers dialogue to convince these units to be members of any of the two associations. The commerce ministry has drafted a policy to bring those factories under a regulation, but it is yet to be finalised, though more than one year has elapsed since the move was taken.
European retailers are confident Bangladesh's apparel sector will continue to thrive and the country will be able to supply garments at competitive prices. They base their optimism on the fact that buyers have good links with Bangladesh and a good relationship with factory owners. Once garment owners become more responsible, they will not require foreign firms to coach them on compliance issues for sustainability.
The country’s garment sector has been going through major reforms since the Rana Plaza building collapse in April last year. Bangladesh needs responsible entrepreneurs as the garment industry is already a mature. Retailers have been working with factory owners, managers and workers to improve their compliance with labor laws, workers' rights, fire safety, management styles, wages and working hours and environmental issues. There have been training programs on fire safety.
These efforts seem to be paying off. Industrial relations have improved a lot in Bangladesh. The incidents of unrest in the sector have declined a lot over the years. These foreign retailers are willing to consider a price hike, an issue that’s bothering factory owners a lot, but only if they are certain the extra amount will go to workers.
Labor unrest over wages continues in Cambodia. Activists have decried a decision by the Ministry of Labor to disregard union pleas for a hike in the minimum wage for some of the country’s 500,000 garment workers.
In December 2013, the minimum wage was set at $100, prompting workers and unionists to protest in thousands. But the movement was violently shut down on January 4, when military police forces opened fire on striking workers, killing five people. The process of trying to establish a minimum wage in Cambodia is proving to be tortuous. The industry has already seen its fair share of unrest over the past 12 months.
There is a demand that the process of fixing a minimum wage should be transparent and that it should involve unions, factory owners and government officials. Now virtually every brand investing in Cambodia has called on the government to be proactive. Brands on their part have committed to adjusting their costs in order to see an increased minimum wage.
The Cambodian garment industry produces clothes for brands such as Gap, H&M and Zara and exported 5.5 billion dollar worth of garments last year, which accounts for 80 per cent of its exports. In the first nine months of 2014, garments worth $4.44 billion were exported.
The Pakistani textile industry wants to enhance its competitiveness in South Asia. Hence it is working toward improving the efficiency and quality of some of its products to increase its market share in the region. One of the ways this will be done is by comprehensively studying the textile value chain within Pakistan and India. It will identify potential synergies, prospects for growth, benefits to the economy and challenges faced by businesses and policymakers on trade between Pakistan with India.
The country feels there is a huge demand for fine textile products within the region which it is in a position to meet if some hurdles are removed. Pakistan stands at the crossroads as it is slowly becoming uncompetitive. Textiles mills have to move from producing raw materials to the final stage of garment manufacturing. One of the most important reasons for that is that manufacturing consumes only one per cent of electricity compared to 30 per cent of power used in the spinning process.
Another important factor is that the garment industry gives the highest number of employment opportunities. And this is something Pakistan desperately needs at this point in time. In addition there are challenges of future regional integration in South Asia.
