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The number of silk farmers in Thailand is decreasing. Thai silk's reputation for high quality and unique weaving techniques and patterns is well established, but its golden age has dimmed. Young urbanised Thais prefer more upscale labor to the traditional and arduous tasks of sericulture and weaving. Only their grandparents knew how to raise and harvest silkworms. Few farmers tend mulberry trees to feed the worms, and even fewer people are earning a living wage from silk cultivation.
The Modern Thai Silk project aims to keep alive classical weaving patterns and techniques. It has come up with silk in various forms--knitted, woven, stretchy like spandex, light and thin as chiffon, dyed in every imaginable hue. There is silk which is wrinkle-free, and thus suitable for daily use. These prototypes will be displayed from February 18 to 20 at Premiere Vision, Paris, the world's top fabrics fair.
Over the past year the project has been involved in R&D in all areas of the industry, from raising the silkworms, reeling the thread, spinning the yarn and actually making the fabric, to the design, dyeing, printing, marketing and consumer response.
Companies in Thailand have developed a technique to produce four-color silk melange yarn. This will allow them to produce more colors to match designers' needs.
Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan are two future textile and apparel powerhouses. In 2013, Sri Lanka’s exports achieved 4.3 billion US dollars in garment exports, an increase of 13 per cent compared to 2012. The country strives to be among the top 10 apparel exporters in the world. It has implemented ethical, practices, guarantees constant power supply to the apparel industry. A conclusion of the proposed Sri Lanka-China free trade agreement this year would propel the nation in the world apparel trade.
Turkmenistan’s annual textile turnover is 400 million dollars. Efforts are being made to establish the country as a textile and garment producing nation. Investments amounting to 1.6 billion dollars have been made in textile manufacturing units since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Turkmenistan has traditionally been a cotton growing nation. Cotton production forms the basis for the development of its textile industry. So, cotton fiber processing has gone up by 51 per cent. The Turkmen textile and garment industry has the capacity to grow further. The country is investing in infrastructure and innovation to ensure a competitive export position. International retailers and brands are already seeing Turkmenistan as a garment and textile sourcing base.
Swedish company IKEA has set out to create lasting and large-scale improvements in conventional cotton cultivation together with other international companies, NGOs, governments and authorities. It is promoting the use of sustainable cotton in all its products. The goal is that all cotton used for IKEA products shall be produced according to the Better Cotton Initiative’s social and environmental criteria by the end of 2015.
IKEA cooperates with WWF and other local partners to influence mainstream farmers to grow cotton in a more sustainable way – mainly in India and Pakistan, but also in China and Turkey. Today, IKEA-supported projects reach an estimated 1,00,000 farmers.
The projects are based on hands-on training in the field, which allows farmers to see and experience the benefits of changing the way they grow cotton. Successful farmers act as an inspiration to others, and better farming practices are being spread from farmer to farmer. As farmers start using less chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and less water, their environmental impact is reduced while cotton crop yields are maintained at a lower cost and farmers’ earnings increase.
IKEA believes an increase in sustainable farming practices leads to significant improvements in mainstream cotton farming and drastically increases available volumes of cotton grown in a more sustainable manner.
Chinese and Hong Kong companies are investing heavily in Vietnamese textile plants. They have bought entire complexes on which they plan to erect units that will enable start-to-finish production covering every process, from spinning to dyeing to sewing. A Hong Kong sewing company plans to build a factory jointly with a Sri Lankan company. Another Hong Kong business is considering investing $100 million to build a jeans factory.
The main reason for this sudden interest is that Vietnam is taking part in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations. If talks conclude with an accord, the US will very likely remove tariffs on textiles and sewn products from Vietnam. The country exported roughly $18 billion worth of sewn products last year, more than half of which went to the US.
To qualify for tariff waivers under the TPP free trade agreement, clothing exported from Vietnam will have to meet the rules regarding country of origin. This means yarn used in those clothes will have to be spun in Vietnam. That’s why Hong Kong and Chinese companies are interested in boosting the capacity of their Vietnamese plants.
However Vietnam is looking at the rising tide of Chinese investment with mixed feelings. Chinese investment may help the Vietnamese textile industry by bringing advanced production technologies. But it could also destroy local sewing companies and related businesses, resulting in higher dependence on Chinese raw materials.
The Cambodia’s garment exports grew by 20 per cent in 2013. Garments and textiles account for 80 per cent of Cambodia’s total exports. Exports grew despite the 131 strikes the sector saw during the first 11 months of the year—a 10-year high. In December, thousands of garment workers joined protests to demand doubling of monthly minimum wages. The number of lost mandays due to strikes was 825,646 during the first 11 months of last year, an increase of 54 per cent compared to the same period a year ago.
Frequent strikes lead to mounting financial losses for garment manufacturers because of missed shipments and lost orders. The number of factories in Cambodia has increased 30 per cent. Against this backdrop a growth in the value of garment exports by 20 per cent doesn’t appear to be much.
Cambodia has about 800 garment and footwear factories that employ about 600,000 workers, mostly women. Workers in Cambodia's garment sector frequently toil in poorly ventilated factories and work excessive overtime hours. Malnutrition leads to a phenomenon of mass fainting. Batches of workers in a factory collapse in some sort of phased manner.
The civil war in Syria has damaged its textile and garment industry. Many manufacturing facilities are shut. Interruptions to transport, logistics, electricity and water supply have also affected production and added to costs. Around 70 per cent of production facilities have been destroyed. There is a shortage of cotton because of damage to agriculture. Quite a few textile manufacturers have moved to Egypt or Turkey.
In an attempt to revive their war-devastated industry, Syrian manufacturers, trade associations and international buyers are holding a three-day trade fair, the Syrian Fashion Fair, in Beirut. They hope to secure sizeable new export orders for children’s wear and lingerie.
However, the war has also had some beneficial effects. The decrease in the value of the Syrian pound has made products highly competitive and labor cheaper. The cancellation of the Turkish Free Trade Agreement in 2012 means Syrian manufacturers are no longer competing with cheaper and often higher quality Turkish imports.
Textiles was the cornerstone of Syrian export in the years leading up to the crisis, as a part of its efforts to diversify the country’s economy away from oil. But three years of conflict have cost the industry dearly.
Munich Fabric Start is being held from February 4 to 6, 2014, in Germany. This is a bi-annual trade show for German designers, manufacturers and suppliers of fashion fabrics, accessories and garments. The show presents the latest textile innovations and industry trends for Spring/Summer 2015. This time it’s hosting around 900 exhibitors from 35 countries presenting around 700 fabric manufacturers and 190 accessory makers. It is divided into eight areas and is showcasing a range of textiles, accessories and trims.
This edition’s theme is Haute Sporture, where high-tech textiles meet clear styles and the high art of couture meets sporty influences. Blue Zone focuses on denim with 70 international weavers, finishers and washers showing the latest denim innovations, washes and finishes.
Alongside skin-tight jeans some new styles such as jeans with a pleated waistband will also be presented. The diverse repertoire consists of contrasts from loose, trashy, baggy denim looks juxtaposed with accurate, slender silhouettes, combined with repaired patching, bleaching, coded statements, laser motifs, chic biker styles and lots of stretch denim.
The show’s S/S 2015 trend areas will characterise the play of opposites between denims and flat woven fabrics.
www.munichfabricstart.com/
Cellulosic fiber production is set to grow rapidly in the next few years. Cellulosic fiber production worldwide rose by 11 per cent in 2011. Over 85 per cent of the increase in global cellulosic fiber capacity between March 2013 and December 2014 will take place in China and India alone. Chinese capacity will represent 64.2 per cent of the global total while India will account for 9.9 per cent.
Faced with soaring raw cotton prices in 2011, many textile and apparel producers switched to manmade fibers. Demand for cotton fell by 7 per cent in the 2011-12 season and rose by only 2.3 per cent in the 2012-13 season. In China alone, cotton demand is forecast to fall by 0.6 per cent as the industry continues to switch to alternative fibers because domestic cotton prices remain high relative to world cotton prices.
Demand for cotton will be hindered because of higher prices compared to substitute fibers. Cellulose is a fibrous material of plant origin and the basis of all natural and manmade cellulosic fibers. Natural cellulosic fibers include cotton, flax, hemp, jute, and ramie. The major manmade cellulosic fiber is rayon, a fiber produced by regeneration of dissolved forms of cellulose.
The arctic vortex across the United States has had a negative impact causing rare winter power interruptions for US spinning mills in North and South Carolina, including Frontier Spinning Mills, the second-largest yarn producer in the United States. The mills had to stop operations on requests from their power supplier, Duke Energy.
American cotton traders, ginners and buyers have already been dealing with tight supplies and the late processing of a small crop in the world's top exporter. Now with the spinning mills forced to stop work has affected spinning of about 2,000 bales of cotton. Sources say that while the figure represents just a fraction of Frontier's annual demand for some 940,000 480-lb bales, but it also means opportunity lost including loss of production.
Duke Energy, the nation's largest power supplier twice had to ask industrial customers in the Carolinas to curtail power usage this month as snow and cold continued to make an impact. Duke Energy witnessed a record energy usage on January 7, 2014 of 20,246 megawatt-hours, surpassing December 2010's record of 18,985 megawatt-hours.
Experts say, though the impact of power cut on the textile industry is minimal at the moment, the blow comes at a time when companies around the world are looking at setting up shop in the United States, due to lower-cost and reliable energy coupled with shifting trade flows and improving technology.
www.frontierspinningmills.com
Nearly 180 yarn and fibre exhibitors from the Mainland China region will participate at the Yarn Expo Pavilion, a designated fibre and yarn exhibition area within Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition 2014 from March 3 to 5, 2014, providing opportunities for suppliers around the world to get a glimpse of products on offer. During the first 11 months of 2013, China imported 1.93 million tons of cotton yarn worth 6.27 billion dollars, up over 40 per cent from the previous year.
The pavilion, located in Hall 4 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, will feature the foremost yarn makers from Mainland China, HongKong, India, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland,Turky and Uzbekistan. A wide variety of cotton yarns and innovative man-made fibres featuring advanced technology will be on display. Concurrent fringe activities – including the trend area, a series of interactive seminars and fashion shows – will provide more insights into trends and market developments in the yarn industry.
In addition to relocating from Beijing to Shanghai, Yarn Expo Pavilion will now be held in the first half of March, which is the peak spring sourcing time in China. This change of date and venue offers more opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors, and strengthen the fair as a leading platform in one of the world’s fastest growing marketplaces for fibres and yarns.
Yarn Expo Pavilion is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK); the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; China Cotton Textile Association; China Wool Textile Association; China Chemical Fiber Association; China Bast & Leaf Fibres Textiles Association; and China Textile Information Centre.
www.messefrankfurt.com.hk
