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Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) with support from Brandix, organised a week-long environment awareness campaign that culminated with an island-wide sapling planting initiative and a ‘Green Walk’ in Colombo. Themed ‘Go Green – Change tomorrow, today,’ the campaign was conceptualised to celebrate World Environment Day 2018.
The ‘Green Walk’ attracted over 3,000 participants, including the Mayor of Colombo. The campaign was targeted at the general public, green business-related organisations and sustainability adopted products and service suppliers. It was organised to create enhanced awareness on the importance of environment protection and to enlighten participants on practical solutions such as savings through green building practices, conservation of the environment, and driving sustainable development to control the harmful effects of climate change and other environmental degradations.
The Green Building Council of Sri Lanka is a consensus-based not-for-profit organisation committed to developing a sustainable property industry for Sri Lanka by encouraging the adoption of green building practices. It is diverse and possesses an integrated representation from all sectors of the property industry and academia.
"China’s leading position is continuously being threatened with the arrival of low coast production regions like Bangladesh and Vietnam. A Euratex report states even though emerging countries are gradually gaining market share, it should be noted that some of the businesses are actually Chinese companies that have relocated. Mediterranean countries, which have long benefited from their proximity to the EU-28, have held the same position for the last few years. Contrary to China, SAARC and ASEAN zones have grown slowly but surely since 2010, improving gradually their share in EU textile & clothing imports. In 2017, these four zones still accounted for over 86 per cent of total extra-EU textiles and clothing imports."
China’s leading position is continuously being threatened with the arrival of low coast production regions like Bangladesh and Vietnam. A Euratex report states even though emerging countries are gradually gaining market share, it should be noted that some of the businesses are actually Chinese companies that have relocated. Mediterranean countries, which have long benefited from their proximity to the EU-28, have held the same position for the last few years. Contrary to China, SAARC and ASEAN zones have grown slowly but surely since 2010, improving gradually their share in EU textile & clothing imports. In 2017, these four zones still accounted for over 86 per cent of total extra-EU textiles and clothing imports.
China losing ground
As for products, China prevailed as the main supplier of woven garments. However, its share continued to decline only to the benefit SAARC and ASEAN regions whose shares went up. Traditional suppliers of the EU-28, the Mediterranean countries expanded their market share. In import of knitted garments, China was again overtaken by the SAARC region whose share now make up one third of total EU imports.
Clothing accounted for more than half of EU-28 exports in 2017, due to sharp rises of exports to EU’s top customers. In 2017, extra-EU exports went to
four main defined country groupings whose respective shares were Mediterranean countries: 13.3 per cent; Group of autonomous countries: 12.4 per cent; EFTA group of countries: 16.4 per cent; NAFTA group of countries: 17.0 per cent. These four groups accounted for 59 per cent of extra-EU textile and clothing exports in 2017. Woven fabrics were the major textile product in EU-28 textiles exports. The NAFTA zone and the Mediterranean countries are the biggest purchasers of textile goods. Articles of clothing accounted for more than half of all exports, almost two thirds of which was woven items. EFTA and NAFTA areas make up the two main buyers. Items of apparel continued to interest developed countries and certain consumer categories in developing countries with increasing purchasing power.
Tirupur will be organizing an international textile fair this year. This is aimed at encouraging the development of the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, including exports. Tirupur hopes for Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the European Union, the US, UK and Russia.
Exporters in the textile hub feel lack of access to key markets is hampering the growth of the sector and making India lose market share to its main competitor China. China, by using the advantages available to countries with predominant EU and US markets, has increased its exports and circumvented the Indian industry’s growth prospects in the global market.
Till such time as FTAs are signed, Tirupur wants incentives to be available to the readymade garment sector, which will help create a level playing field for the industry compared to competing nations.
Exports in the last financial year went down 5.6 per cent compared to previous year. Among the reasons are the changes in duty and tax structure such as GST. There is no customs duty levied in other countries, especially Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, on import of yarn to produce fabric and garments meant for exports, except in India.
About six lakh employees work for 6,500 knitwear and apparel units in Tirupur.
The US, in the last year and half, has not only disengaged from the WTO but is also undermining its authority by blocking the appointment of the WTO Appellate Body’s judges. In response to this, the EU is strengthening its trade relations with the rest of the world. It recently signed trade agreements with Singapore, Vietnam and Japan. These four countries are part of the trans-Pacific partnership agreement (TPP) involving other seven Pacific-rim states including Canada, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand.
In April, the EU also finalised negotiations for a new trade agreement with Mexico. The agreement also features - for the first time - provisions on anticorruption and a stand-alone chapter on animal welfare. Besides economic benefits, such agreements include provisions on labour and environmental standards as well as mechanisms to allow civil society to monitor their implementation.
The Tayal Algero-Turkish textiles complex, whose first plant commenced production in March, completed first export of semi-finished products to Turkey. Located in the Sidi Khettab (Relizane) industrial zone, on a 250 hectare, the new textile complex was built in accordance with the 51/49 rule governing foreign investment in the country. The shareholders of this joint venture are made up of state-owned clothing and apparel companies (30 per cent) and Texalg (21 per cent) for the Algerian part. The remaining 49 per cent of the capital is held by the Turkish company Intertay, a subsidiary of the Turkish group Taypa.
The first phase, involves the construction of eight integrated textile factories and a training school in the textile trades. Textile with annual production forecasts of 44 million linear meters for weaving, 12,200 tonne for spinning and 30 million pieces for various products, including trousers, knits and shirts. It should be completed by 2019 and create 10,000 jobs. According to the same forecasts, 60 per cent of the volume of production will be destined for export, while the remaining part will meet the needs of the local market. The
Rising price of linen is creating trouble for many exporter in the last one-and-a-half months, especially small and medium level ones who use linen as their main fabric. An exporter engaging in business of just Rs 4 crore claims to have suffered a loss of Rs 4 lakhs due to this hike, which comes out to be Rs 30 per metre.
Due to higher demand and less supply prices has gone up by almost Rs 200 per kg. Even big mills are now importing fibre on current price and have increased the price gradually. The rise in linen prices have made exports of products more challenging by making Indian exporters uncompetitive against competing exporting nations. Though experts feel there is some constancy now in prices which are predictable to remain the same till the end of 2018. Since the hike is happening after many years, the market is taking time to adjust to the change.
India’s cotton output for 2017-18 is estimated at about seven per cent higher than the previous year’s output. The season may end with exports of 70 lakh bales. Higher international prices would drive up shipments. Production of Indian cotton crop for the cotton season 2017-18 is estimated to be 8.11 per cent higher from the previous year owing to the increase in area under cotton cultivation by almost 13 per cent.
Production estimates were lower in the beginning of the season as the board expected damage to the crop from bollworm attack. Pink bollworm attacked cotton crops in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The pest attacks not only destroyed large amounts of crop but also impacted the quality of the remainder produce.
The high prices of cotton domestically and internationally would further force the consumption to either remain stagnant or slightly at the lower side. So consumption figures may not exceed beyond 316 lakh bales. The closing stock will be quite sufficient for the textile sector to smoothly run their units throughout the year.
Farmers will be encouraged to adopt global practices such as adequate spacing between plantations, avoiding bushiness etc., which will promote cotton production and improve farmers’ income.
Prices of polyester filament yarn in China inched up in June and the situation is expected to continue in July. As for downstream market, many weaving plants saw thinner business in June compared with April-May but the run rate was largely high, except for the reduction in some weaving plants and water-jet looms in Changshu and Wujiang affected by political issues.
Rigid demand for PFY has been moderate, while speculative demand was weakening. Downstream plants expect business to worsen in July but the operating rate still has support as weavers will hoard up inventory for the peak season even after orders diminish. However, weavers are still expected to worry about the uncertainty caused by environmental protection and the mounting cost because of continuously increasing dyeing fees.
Polyester filament yarn plants expect to face bigger selling pressures in July compared to June. Supply/demand fundamentals in July are supposed to be weaker than in June in anticipation of the growing supply but a weaker downstream demand. Inventory of PFY is low now. Demand is anticipated to be moderate in anticipation of a stable run rate. The sales ratio of PFY may improve periodically, and the price of PFY may be in correction.
My Size Inc, the developer and creator of smartphone measurement applications, plans to launch QSize™, a mobile measurement solution for retailers to ensure quality control throughout the apparel manufacturing process. QSize requires the user to first scan the apparel’s barcode on his mobile device, and then is a graphic illustration of how to measure the garment. The user then measures the garment with a few easy movements of the mobile device, and the data is then accurately and automatically uploaded into the retailer’s back office system each and every time.
The current process for quality control within apparel manufacturing includes measurement of each garment by hand, followed by manual entry of such measurement into the manufacturer’s back office system, creating a significant possibility for human error. My Size’s QSize will enable a retailer to fully automate its quality control process by utilizing a mobile-based measurement and data logging system.
Arvind is pursuing more environmentally responsible alternatives to cotton, the leading material used to make jeans. One of these is Zero, a collection of denim produced with no cotton fibers. Each pair of Zero denim is woven with sustainable fibers, including Tencel Lyocell, kapok, wool and recycled polyester. Zero stands for zero per cent cotton and 100 per cent denim.
Arvind selected Tencel Lyocell for both its properties and its eco-friendliness. The ultimate goal is to use low impact fibers and create fabrics that can be easily recycled. The key objective when replacing cotton with other fibers is to reduce the environmental footprint of cotton. Sustainability affects all points of the supply chain. Denim’s environmental makeover is not based on a sole product or initiative, though. Arvind urges denim makers to take a more corporate social responsibility approach to their actions in order to address roadblocks and make necessary improvements from sourcing to finished product.
Cotton production consumes roughly 20,000 liters of water per kg and can have an adverse impact on earth. By providing consumers with the option to buy more eco-conscious denim, Arvind is taking its sustainability a step further and doing its part to fuel the circular economy.
