The Maharashtra unit of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is seeking a 15 per cent increase in the minimum support price ( MSP) of cotton for the season of 2019-20.

The MSP for medium-staple variety of cotton is at Rs 5,150 per quintal, and that for long-staple is at Rs 5,450 per quintal, which are roughly equivalent to Rs 43,000-43,500 per candy (1 candy equals to 356 kg). The government had raised the MSP for cotton by 26 per cent this year. It was mulling to raise the MSP of cotton further.

The spot market prices of CAI for cotton of staple length 30 mm have dropped to Rs 42,100 per bale on March 1 from Rs 43,400 per bale on January 1. Prices of raw cotton are moving below the minimum support price levels.

The decline in the domestic prices has brought export parity, maintained traders. Prices are declining this season despite forecast of lower cotton production and higher exports figures for the first three months of cotton season that started in October.

Pakistan needs to improve cotton yields and increase the area under cultivation.
There is a crucial need for Pakistan’s textile industry to up its game where balancing modernisation and replacement as well as skill development are concerned.

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is likely to result in improved energy supply for the industry, better internal connectivity and logistics as well as new international market linkages. Chinese businesses have shown interest in setting up joint ventures with local partners. But this will benefit only a handful of players given that the majority of the firms operating in Pakistan’s garment sector are small and medium enterprises, unable to invest at the scale Chinese companies usually operate at. However, technology and skills transfer is absolutely necessary and for that the presence of a high value added textile industry in Pakistan is a prerequisite. Detailed plans need to be made which take into account the strengths of Pakistan’s domestic industry and facilitate Chinese help in weaker areas especially technology.

Competition is on the rise in global apparel and textile markets and things are going to heat up even more. Countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka have become the new disruptors and are vying to get a bigger share of the global textile pie.

Karl Mayer has launched a new platform, Textile Makerspace, to bring together innovations from both areas. The platform aims to introduce new developments, such as the Textile Circuit.

Textile Circuit, the first topic to be covered by Textile Makerspace, demonstrates the possibilities of incorporating electrically conductive yarns into warp-knitted textiles directly on the machine. Functional elements, such as sensors, conductors and coils, can be incorporated very easily, without any additional production steps or compromising the textile characteristics.

This has led, for example, to the development of comfortable cuffs for controlling robots and textile charging stations for inductively charging smartphones.

Kingpins will ask denim spinners who exhibit at its next Amsterdam edition to comply with, or exceed, current CSR regulations relating to environmental protection and the use of chemicals.

The show’s goal is to become even more engaged in promoting environmental responsibility within the industry. Advise and support will be offered to exhibitors in order to help them transform their approach. Kingpins does not wish to introduce new certifications, but the organisers are keen to promote the strictest existing ones. Once they have drawn up a set of social responsibility specifications for exhibitors, they plan to share them with other textile shows, in order to promote collective change across the supply chain.

For the time being, the new exhibitor admission criteria are limited to the show’s Amsterdam edition, but the goal is to eventually apply them to the New York, Hong Kong and China shows too.

Both the denim supply chain and jeans manufacturers have been frequently singled out for their less than satisfactory environmental and human rights records. The accusations have mostly been leveled at workshops and factories outside the European Union, as European denim weavers and manufacturers are keen to emphasise that the EU already imposes CSR regulations.

Reed Exhibitions Japan has brought together a unique Japanese trade show, combing Fashion World Tokyo and Fashion World Tokyo –Factor, which satisfies fashion needs by gathering manufacturers in one place.

Fashion World Tokyo comprises separate shows divided by themed categories of fashion items Fashion Wear Expo, Bag Expo, Fashion Jewellery Expo and Shoes Expo and Fashion World Tokyo -Factory-, consisting of Textile Tokyo and Fashion Sourcing Tokyo, a gathering of popular fashion garments/textiles companies and fashion sourcing manufacturers. The on-site meeting provides good busRiness opportunities for exhibitors and visitors.

One of the features of Fashion World Tokyo is its focus on ‘the best business platform." The show managers have developed various kinds of approaches to make the show accessible and productive, such as introducing a "Matchmaking Service" and an online appointment platform.

Researchers at Carnage Mellon University have written a sophisticated algorithm that can transform 3D designs into stitch-by-stitch instructions for industrial knitting equipment. The newfound discovery can aid textile manufacturers in producing custom sizes and designs at affordable costs. The algorithm breaks down 3D meshes into step by step instructions for V-bed knitting machines. With the algorithm, garment manufacturers with proficient designing knowledge would be able to input 3D designs or meshes as instruction for the machine to knit. The feature will, therefore, allow manufacturers to work without the requirement of expert knowledge of computer programming. The technology could pioneer the industry towards a new market for custom sized and designed apparel.

A flurry of advancements in technology is enabling textile manufacturers to continuously enhance the quality of their products. The novel loop transfer technology incorporated in circular knitting machines allows for the seamless transfer of stitches thereby enabling manufacturers to produce structured designs and shaped fabrics. Some other mechanisms and equipment that allow manufacturers to have more control over the quality of products are ultra-fine gauge circular knitting machine and pile and silver insertion mechanism. The new-age technology has allowed textile manufacturers to gain more control over the design, shape, and quality of the finished products.

Indorama Ventures has bought Invista Resins and Fibers.

The acquisition is aligned with IVL’s strategy to grow and support customers’ needs with differentiated solutions in both packaging and in industrial fibers. It provides Indorama with competitive advantages, obtaining the intellectual property rights of Polyshield and Oxyclear, Invista’s barrier technology, in all markets globally.

Polyshield and Oxyclear brands are known for their oxygen barrier packaging, mainly used by the food and beverage industry, to extend the shelf life of juice, wine, beer, diary as well as ketchup.

Indorama Ventures is a chemical producer. With additional tailwinds from strong volumes and industry supply tightness, due to financial problems being faced by certain competitors in Europe and America, the company has further grown its top line and margins. Meaningful developments in the PTA and PET businesses, the announced capital expenditure programs and the newly acquired businesses will all play a meaningful role in enhancing earnings growth in 2019 and beyond. Its strong performance demonstrates the resilience of its business portfolio, and the benefits of its uniquely diversified and integrated business model, which are clearly bearing fruit with increasing momentum.

The company is ranked among the top five chemical companies globally. The goal is to double ebitda every five years.

H&M has taken on a professor of computer science as board member.

Danica Kragic Jensfelt has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for her contributions to vision-based systems and robotic object manipulation.

The appointment underscores the importance of digital to mass-market fashion retailers. A great transition is taking place in fashion retail as a result of increasing digitalization. Fashion retailers are increasingly using artificial intelligence in their customer services and supply chain operations with robotics, augmented reality and virtual reality also making an ever-larger impact on stores, websites and back office ops.

H&M plans to use Jensfelt’s unique expertise within computer science and AI for robotisation, logistics and recycling as well as within fashion and the shopping experience. The company also cites recycling as an area in which her expertise can be applied as fast fashion firms find themselves under increasing pressure to lessen the environmental impact of their products.

The clothing chain, that runs nearly 5000 stores worldwide, reported a five per cent increase in yearly sales globally. It stocks fast fashion items created in-house and teams up with designers for one-time collections. It keeps a large inventory of basic, everyday items sourced from places including India and Bangladesh that carry a lower price tag than that of most of its rivals.

India has disputed the US claim that it imposes tremendously high tariffs on American products.

The country says its import duties are consistent with the bound rates that it is entitled to in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and that these tariffs are very comparable to more liberal developing economies and some developed economies.

Duties which are imposed on imported goods are called applied rates and the extent to which a country can increase those duties are known as bound rates. India’s trade weighted average tariffs are 7.6 per cent, which is comparable with most open developing economies and some developed economies. There may be a few tariff peaks, but this is true for almost all economies.

The US says India imposes tremendously high tariffs on American products like Harley Davidson motorcycles. India has a trade surplus with the US, and the US has also raised this issue. Due to various initiatives resulting in enhanced purchase of US goods like oil and natural gas and coal, the US trade deficit with India has substantially reduced in 2017 and 2018. The reduction is estimated to be over four billion dollars in 2018, with further reduction expected in future years on account of factors like the growing demand for energy and civilian aircraft in India.

Hong Kong investors have set up production sites in Bangladesh.
They are shifting from China, where costs are rising, including wages, rent and other fees. They have chosen Bangladesh because of its abundant labor and low production costs, including wages and land.

Hong Kong firms have invested 800 million dollars in 150 projects in Bangladesh, making them the eighth largest investor. The largest sector is services. Textiles come next and third is chemicals. Another factor driving Hong Kong and other foreign companies to Bangladesh is the Sino-US trade war. Goods made in China face tariff or other barriers to enter the US – so it is safer to diversify risk and spread production over different countries.

Their investment in Bangladesh is secured by law against nationalization or expropriation. There is equal treatment for local and foreign firms. Investors can have 100 per cent foreign equity ownership and unrestricted exit of capital. Bangladesh has bilateral investment treaties with 31 countries and double tax treaties with 28. Because it is a least-developed country, its exports pay no duty in Australia, Canada, Japan and the European Union. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter and the country is suitable for labor-intensive industries.