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Asian garment manufacturers are eyeing North Korea as the region’s next low-cost sourcing destination. The country’s garment and textile industry was estimated to be worth $725 million in 2016, a substantial proportion of its economy, and even with sanctions in place, apparel manufacturing employs a significant number of North Korean citizens in state-run factories around the country.
Manufacturing in North Korea allows manufacturers to move sourcing closer to existing supply chains, while making goods in one of the cheapest markets. Wages in the country are less than half of what they are in China and North Korean workers are reported to be more productive than Chinese workers.
Also, as China focuses on producing more complex, technical garments and Vietnam’s continues to grapple with labour shortages, a reformed North Korean manufacturing sector could solve a number of regional supply chain problems. For many years, low-cost industries had to move to countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh; the arrival of North Korea on the scene would certainly provide them a welcome change.
Kenya has opted to commercialise Bt cotton. This is expected to revive the textile industry and promote the economy while creating jobs by 2022. Hybrid cotton is expected to increase production threefold as compared to traditional cotton.
There will be a shift from traditional farming methods. Bt cotton remains confined to field trials. Adoption of technology to produce Bt cotton is seen as one of the solutions that can help the continent produce sufficient cotton and also revive the collapsed sector. Kenya can save on foreign exchange which is spent on imports from neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania.
Bt cotton has benefits like reduced exposure to pesticides, reduced spraying, reduced workload and reduced use of water. At present only 40,000 farmers are involved in cotton production instead of the projected 2,00,000. The sector is characterized by a low lint production of 4,000 tons against a market demand of more than 25,000 tons.
Cotton production in Kenya has been on the decline in the past two decades mostly due to neglect of farmers and the collapse of cotton mills following massive imports of second hand clothes. While the country has the capacity to produce 3,68,000 bales annually, it produces less than 30,000 bales.
Cinte Techtextil will be held in China from September 4 to 6, 2018. This is Asia’s largest biennial event for the entire technical textile and nonwoven sector. It will feature some of the industry’s biggest machinery brands. Andritz Nonwoven whose specialty is technologies for dry laid, wet laid, spun bond, spun lace, needle punch and textile calendaring will highlight its aXcess product portfolio, which has been especially designed for medium-capacity production. Its neXline spunlace eXcelle line features state-of-the-art TT card web forming and JetlaceEssentiel hydro entanglement units for high capacity and speed.
Lindauer Dornier will offer a number of weaving machine varieties including rapier, air-jet, open reed weave and more. Its rapier weaving machines have set the technological standard in the high quality wool textile market for decades, and this quality will be on display at its booth with the Dornier P1 rapier weaving machine.
Oerlikon will introduce spun bond technology to the Chinese market this year. As the Chinese domestic and export markets’ demand for quality technical textiles and nonwovens products continues to increase, overseas machinery brands enter the country, using Cinte Techtextil China as their starting-out platform. China is the world’s largest producer of technical textiles and nonwovens.
After years of stockpiling cotton, China is re-emerging as a major consumer of US cotton. This shift together with poor growing conditions in Texas has sent prices surging to a six-year high. The world’s most populous nation has purchased futures contracts covering more than 3,61,000 bales of US cotton for 2019-20. That is enough to make 400 million T-shirts. China has never booked that much cotton that far in advance at this time of the year, in data going back to 1998.
China is the biggest taker of forward sales. China’s return to global cotton markets is likely to mean a period of higher prices for a fiber used in most apparel, textiles and upholstery. It is also a boon to US producers who have long labored under a market whose prices investors perceived to be capped by China’s cotton stores, which for years have accounted for more than half of all global stocks.
The shift has revived interest in markets that were until recently seen as being overshadowed by Chinese policy. Open interest has reached all-time highs for this time of the year. China intends to raise cotton import volumes, a move that could increase Chinese purchases of American fiber.
Global sales of personal luxury goods, such as handbags and clothing, are expected to increase six per cent to eight per cent this year. Growth is expected to continue at four to five per cent a year to 2025. But China – and especially the country’s younger consumers – will account for the lion’s share of growth in 2018. The luxury goods market in China is expected to grow 20 to 22 per cent this year.
Year 2018 has been off to a strong start. Currency fluctuations will have an impact but the healthy trend is expected to continue across all regions and customer segments. Brands are adapting to the tastes of local consumers, especially the young and tech-savvy users of social media.
Local influencers and social media are also key to younger consumers in Japan, where the luxury goods market is expected to grow by six per cent to eight per cent this year. The rest of Asia, including key markets of Hong Kong and Macau, is expected to grow nine to 11 per cent. The Americas are expected to grow by three per cent to five per cent this year and Europe by two per cent to four per cent.
The Asia Pacific cellulose fiber market is anticipated to reach CAGR of 9.5 per cent over 2016-24. Presence of a large number of textile industries in Asian countries along with high production of jute, cotton, and bamboo in India and China is likely to accelerate industry growth.
Advanced consumerism, rising fashion awareness and increasing disposable income among consumers are driving growth of the Cellulose Fiber Market. Global textile and apparel market, which recorded over $1 trillion in 2015, is anticipated to boom with increasing GDPs of the emerging regions such as India, China, Brazil, and Africa. Presence of numerous manufactures providing competitive prices in these demanding regions will further accelerate the growth of the cellulose fiber industry.
Brian A. Spaly and Cindy L. Davis are on Deckers’ board of directors. Currently, Spaly is serving as the executive chairman at Tecovas, a direct-to-consumer western boot brand. From 2009 to 2017, he was the founding chief executive officer of Trunk Club, a personal styling start-up that focused on making it easy for customers to discover and acquire stylish clothing without the hassles of the traditional shopping experience. He holds a BA in economics from Princeton and a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Davis has been with Nike. She is a BA in economics from Furman University and a MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Maryland College Park. Davis and Spaly will work to drive profitable results, build shareholder value and deliver on the exciting potential of the company’s premium brands.
Deckers is a leader in designing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories for everyday use and high performance activities. It is a dynamic organisation that is skilfully navigating the rapidly transforming marketplace and is a company that continues to create powerful emotional connections with a global consumer base. Along with these appointments, Deckers has also announced that Karyn O Barsa has resigned from the board.
US gross domestic product is set to increase 2.9 per cent in 2018 and 2.8 per cent in 2019.
The recent US tax reform combined with higher public spending ceilings in 2018 and 2019 will provide a fiscal stimulus of around one per cent of GDP in both years, representing a sizeable short-term boost to growth.
First-quarter GDP growth was revised down 0.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent, a sharp but temporary downshift from the approximately three per cent growth over most of the previous year.
Greater domestic demand is being choked off by a stronger dollar.
US economic recovery and expansion has been remarkable and appears set to continue for the coming two years. But there are also some serious risks on the horizon, including trade policy, that could threaten much-needed growth. Further policy reforms are needed to sustain the expansion and ensure that all Americans benefit from stronger and more sustainable growth.
While Americans appear to be doing well on average in comparison to other OECD countries, job losses have become more persistent in areas hit by structural shocks, especially in the industrial heartland. This has created areas of high unemployment, non-participation in the labor force and poverty.
German fashion brand Tom Tailor will design and manufacture some lines in India that will be retailed globally.
These are Tom Tailor Contemporary, in line with Indian motifs on western silhouettes, and Tom Tailor Polo, focused on premium pique polo for men.
The brand works with multiple manufacturers across the globe. Some of the countries are Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Turkey and Bangladesh.
Tom Tailor is present in 35 countries with over 1,400 company stores and more than 11,600 other points of sale. It has seven exclusive brand outlets and more than 50 shop-in-shop counters in India. The plan is to open 55 stores in three years. It will look at opening more stores in the four metros to create a stronger presence and will also aggressively expand in Tier I and Tier II cities.
The brand came to India in April 2017 and managed to close the last fiscal with a top line of over Rs 15 crores in the first year of operation.
Ten per cent of the total sales are through the e-marketplace while the majority comes from retail.
Tom Tailor focuses on the industry's best practices resulting in sustainable procurement and sourcing operations.
Inceptra Lifestyle owns the exclusive rights of the brand in India.
Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas took place May 22 to 24, 2018.
The co-located events brought together the latest innovators in technical textiles, nonwovens, textile machinery, sewn products, equipment, and technology.
Cooling fabrics, smart light technology, recycled fibers, 3D body scanning, and cloud connected smart machines were just some of the highlights.
The events brought 567 Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas exhibitors together representing 32 countries, while total attendance grew by four per cent over the 2016 events.
Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas have become premier events where professionals from all industries come to see the trends and technologies that are coming their way.
The co-located events were buzzing with visitors and speakers discussing new technology, game-changing research and cross-industry collaborations. Among the topics presented, smart textiles, wearables and the future of the technology that powers them proved to be top of mind for many attendees. In addition, how automation, robotics and connected machines are contributing to the industry‘s evolution made an evident impression on both visitors and exhibitors alike.
Evident was a focus on Industry 4.0 - communication between fabrics, the machine, the human, the CAD.
The events had lots of new equipment, products and a lot of interest from visitors in what’s next for the textile industry.
