FW
Around 1,000 of the 33,000 power loom units in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts of Tamil Nadu have become sick units. And a a few thousand more units are in deep debt, with interest mounting every day. The situation is fast worsening. The monthly interest alone comes up to Rs 20,000 a month. This apart from the amount paid for labor, electricity bills, replacing spare parts and paying for dyeing, fitting, knotting charges.
A large number of units have not been able to pay off their bank interest regularly and that keeps accumulating over the years. In 2014, textile units had reached an agreement with power loom unit owners, whereby textile units would give a 30 per cent hike in job working charges. But this arrangement lasted for hardly three months. The textile units then went back to their old rates claiming business was dull. Textile unit usually give power loom units the yarn to be spun into fabric.
An average unit with around 10 looms gets to weave around 600 meters of cloth. It gets paid about Rs 5 a meter but labor and other charges have to be paid and working costs like electricity, spare parts, knotting and dyeing have gone up.
The textile industry in India has warned the government that if goods and services tax (GST) is levied on maximum retail price (MRP) as proposed, it would have multiple ill effects on the entire sector. The industry has recommended the government to levy GST on ex-factory price, which is always much lower than the MRP, as it would leave some leg room for periodic discount offers. The textile industry offers heavy discounts on MRP of branded garments not only in their factory outlets but also in organised retails to attract business. Even branded garments are available at affordable prices especially in the lean season which otherwise remain un-affordable for the average middle class buyers.
Considering expenses incurred on branding, transportation and a host of other aspects, it is important to have GST levy on ex-factory, which would be determined on the basis of actual manufacturing cost. The ex-factory price can easily be arrived at on the basis of the current system of Central Sales Tax (CST) paid to the government, industry represented to the Finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The industry has also urged the government to keep this employment intensive industry in the lowest slab of GST. Trade sources believe that 12.5 per cent of GST would be a logical level without any ill-effect on the industry. India's textiles exports are set to record a marginal decline at $40 billion in the financial year 2015-16 as compared to $41.4 billion reported in the previous financial year.
In a recent development, Pakistan’s Chairman of Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Textile, Khawaja Ghulam Rasool Koreja threatened to resign if the government fails to resolve the issues facing the industry. Koreja, talking to the office bearers of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) recently said the committee will call officials of finance and commerce ministries as well as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to discuss the matters especially related to sales tax refunds.
The Standing Committee’s chief, heading a 19-member delegation, assured the representatives of the value-added sector of solving their problems. Koreja said the committee will also hold a meeting with the Prime Minister and Finance Minister apprising them of the sensitivity of issues. He identified four issues pertaining to value-added textile sector, including refunds, export development fund, new markets and cost of production. He also constituted a sub-committee to discuss the difficulties with other representatives of the value-added sector.
Standing Committee member Abdul Rashid Godil said sales tax threshold should be eliminated and a reduced and uniform rate should be introduced. Godil said that he had raised voice for the important sector but it appeared that the government was more focusing on trading instead of manufacturing.
The global smart textile market is projected to expand at a remarkable CAGR of 30.80 per cent during 2015 to 2023. Smart textiles are fabrics that come embedded with electronics that are connected with each other.
The use of nanotechnology has grown tremendously in the smart textile industry due to its valuable and unique properties. It enables textiles to become multifunctional and supports embedding electronic components into the fabric. In addition to this, nanotechnology supports the production of fabrics that come with special functionality such as water and stain resistance, UV protection, and anti-bacterial.
Smart textiles are materials and structures that sense and react to environmental conditions or stimuli, such as those from mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, magnetic or other sources. The technology of smart textiles is an integration of almost all disciplines of applied sciences like textile chemistry, fiber technology, telecommunication, artificial intelligence, organic chemistry, electronics and instrumentation, molecular engineering and nanotechnology and biotechnology.
Smart textiles, however, are not just restricted to clothing and apparels. They extend to many other applications like automobiles, robotics, aircrafts, medicine and surgery. Military clothing that can change color in order to produce camouflage effects for protection uses smart textiles.
Many garment units in Bangladesh are not submitting tax returns, pointing to the fact that tax compliance is poor in the country’s main export industry. There are 4,500 readymade garment companies operating in Bangladesh, including knitwear and woven factories, and about half of these do not submit returns. There is a suggestion that the various incentives the sector is given should be linked with tax compliance and only compliant companies should be eligible for enjoying incentives.
Right now tax at source is deducted at the rate of 0.60 per cent on export bill of apparel exporters. Later, exporters adjust the amount by calculating their income at regular corporate tax rates of 35 per cent. Until June 30, 2014, exporters had enjoyed a special rate of tax at 10 per cent at the time of calculation of their income. Apart from export-oriented garment industries, local garment companies have to pay tax at regular corporate rates.
However, BGMEA, the association representing garment owners says none of their members are defaulter. BGMEA says all readymade garment companies submit tax returns and that members can renew their license only by submitting a copy of the tax receipt. The association says there may be pending cases with some companies due to disputes with the taxmen that causes delay in submission of tax returns.
India’s overall exports of textiles and clothing in 2015-16 may be similar to last year's level. The slowdown in China may be an opportunity for India. However there is a need to act fast since India is losing share to Bangladesh and Vietnam.
For instance, with a 13 per cent share, technical textiles is emerging as a sunrise sector. The technical textile industry is projected to grow at 20 per cent year-on-year and the segment’s potential is largely untapped in the country.
Exports of readymade garments are expected to reach $17 billion in 2015-16 as against $16 billion in the previous year. The domestic apparel industry is facing slackness but sentiment is likely to improve after implementation of GST.
The country's exports to South America, Eastern Europe and Middle East have increased significantly, but uncertainty still prevails in Europe, which is a major market. Several larger overseas buyers wanted a reduction in prices in the wake of a drop in cotton prices.
Exports of readymade garments from India grew faster than China for most of 2014. Also, India is emerging as one of the top sourcing and compliant destinations for buyers in the world.
Japan’s Mimaki wide format manufacturer that develops and manufactures industrial inkjet printers and distributes them throughout the world is set to acquire Italian textile machine manufacturer La Meccanica Costruzione Tessili. This would strengthen Mimaki’s position in the global textile printing market. The conclusion of the formal agreement is expected to take place by the beginning of March.
The acquisition was first mooted in July 2015, when an Italian sales agent introduced Mimaki to La Meccanica, a manufacturer of conventional and digital textile printing machines. La Meccanica was established in 1977. The acquisition is aimed at further expanding Mimaki’s positon in European textile and apparel market.
The company has also unveiled the super-wide format TS500P-3200 inkjet printer, a dedicated transfer paper printer for the textile industry, with applications including home furnishing textiles and indoor soft signage.
Mimaki has been involved in textiles since 1998. It has shown its products at international textile manufacturers’ trade fairs. Textiles in general and fashion, home interiors and soft signage are all giving the company tremendous growth in different areas; soft signage in western Europe, fashion in eastern and Asian countries and home interiors in Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.
eng.mimaki.co.jp/
Central American nation Gautemala is turning out to be a favored sourcing destination for apparel and textiles in the US. Guatemala’s textile and apparel industry is known for its prowess in producing performance fabrics and sportswear and its clients span Walmart and Target to Old Navy and Gap to Puma and Reebok, among others.
The clothing industry in Gautemala accounts for roughly 19 per cent of all non-traditional product exports surpassing traditional shipments such as coffee and bananas. The country’s 150 apparel manufacturers, 39 textile mills and 200-plus trims and services firms can handle small, specialised runs as easily as they churn out mass-produced goods.
About 70 per cent of the apparel sector’s foreign investment is from Korea. Gautemala’s factories are more flexible, so they can easily accommodate whatever the client requests. They have speed-to-market compared to Asian countries. The turnaround is good and this is important for people in the fashion business. For some US companies, from the moment they place the order to when they receive it, it’s not more than six weeks.
As China increasingly falls out of favor with foreign companies, smaller markets are positioning themselves as a low-cost, high value solution for US brands and retailers. The US is the largest market for Gautemala.
Europlasma has launched Plasma Guard, a durable water repellent solution for sportswear and outdoor apparels. Belgium-based Europlasma, is a specialist in low pressure plasma technology, which is used for the coating of consumer electronics, medical devices, filtration products and functional textiles and textile products.
Plasma Guard is a 3D-treatment applied in vacuum by dry and clean plasma technology. It is designed to make the wearer’s shoe, glove or garment resistant to water and dirt, while maintaining its breathability, flexibility and light weight. This technology is a step towards putting social responsibility into practice and a significant step towards zero discharge of water and hazardous chemicals and a carbon neutral performance. It eliminates the use of cross-linking agents, chlorides, formaldehyde, and other toxic products and has a low environmental footprint.
Customers, by using only one kg of Plasma Guard chemical, can save five kg of traditional wet chemicals, more than 115 kg of waste water, and almost 80 kg of Co2 emission. Europlasma is a global technology leader in innovative nano-coating solutions based on low pressure plasma technology, for which it develops proprietary processes, designs and builds turnkey vacuum plasma treatment equipment and supplies process chemicals.
www.europlasma.be/
Designers and brands are turning to sustainable fashion as there is a global agenda to reduce waste in the fashion industry. Emerging fashion designers are demonstrating that they, as tomorrow’s leaders, are more in tune with solutions as they are creatively cashing in on environmental and economic opportunities by reducing and re-using textile waste. These designers are cementing a positive future for fashion. They are coming up with sustainable design techniques.
So with up-cycling and reconstruction design techniques they make fabrics by tufting damaged textiles and unraveled secondhand garments. Conventional textile production is one of the most polluting industries on the planet. It’s estimated the textile industry is responsible for as much as 20 per cent of the industrial pollution in our rivers and land.
Finding ways to curb environmental pollution caused by textile production starts with finding new ways to produce fabrics that don’t require toxins and large amounts of water, and which minimise harm to the ecology. One way is by the use of low-impact dyes.
Textiles made of organic cotton require less water to manufacture than conventional cotton textiles and are often more comfortable. Organic cotton is grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Eco-friendly silk is produced primarily in India, North Asia and Africa. Sustainable products use methods that don’t kill the moth.
