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Hosiery manufacturers in southern India want the proposed knitwear board to be set up in Tirupur. Around 46 per cent of the knitwear exported from India originates from the Tirupur knitwear cluster. The Tirupur textile industry has units all along the value chain of knitwear starting from spinning, knitting, wet processing, printing, garment manufacturing and exports. In addition there are ancillary units supplying buttons, laces, embroidery, cones and yarn processing etc.
There are more than 500 production units involved in exports of knitwear from Tirupur. Tirupur accounts for nearly 80 per cent of basic circular cotton knit exports from India. The heartland of the knitwear industry in India, Tirupur has a supplier base which consists essentially of manufacturers who are mostly integrated forward or backward, if not vertical. There are a number of spinners of yarn integrating forward to set up knitting plants, textile process houses and then further integrating forward to become makers of garments.
If the vertically integrated unit is not wholly owned by the exporter, the exporter buys stakes or invests in a process house to become partners to ensure preference for their orders for the textile process and maintain standard quality as desired by their buyers.
The Brandix Group won two top awards at the Global Supply Chain’s 2016 Vendor Summit in Hong Kong recently. The first award was in recognition of Brandix’s contribution to Gap in business volumes, product quality, speed and flexibility, on-time delivery and response to in-market issues; the second award was for outstanding vendor performance – Bottoms.
Incidentally, the Group had also lapped up Gap Inc.’s 2015 Supplier Award for Product Innovation at an awards presentation held in San Francisco last year. One of the largest retailers in the USA with over $16 billion in sales, Gap has an extensive base of global vendors many of them considerably larger than Brandix. Gap which retails clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and Intermix brands.
Ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand in Brand Finance’s 2016 ranking of the country’s leading brands, Brandix is the pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and is a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe.
Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly apparel manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group employs more than 48,000 people in its manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka at the Brandix India Apparel City in Andhra Pradesh and its large operation in Bangladesh.
Cheap imports are threatening Ghana’s textile industry. While West African prints have made it to fashion catwalks of Western world, yet at home the fabric industry is suffering because of cheap fake imports. In response, consumers are being exhorted to support the industry and promote their culture by wearing local fabrics.
Imitated designs and fabrics are displayed at fashion shows depriving the original owners of revenue. The cost of production in the country is very high and textile companies employ creative minds at a high cost to generate designs for the fabrics.
Textile manufacturing in Ghana consists of ginneries and textile mills producing batik, wax cloth, fancy printed cloth and Kente cloth. Firms have located in Ghana to serve local and regional markets with printed African patterned fabrics. The industry has shown signs of significant growth in recent years, promoting high-quality traditionally designed fabrics as "Made in Ghana" to niche markets, especially the US.
Ghanaian textile companies prefer to locate within designated industrial areas to take advantage of Ghana's free zone regime and stable operating environment. Today, Ghana's textiles industry include vertically integrated mills, horizontal weaving factories and the traditional textile manufacturing firms involved in spinning, hand-weaving and fabric-processing. The country’s textile exports include cotton yarn, cotton fabric, printed fabric, polyester fabric, blankets and bed sheets.
Direct-spun polyester staple fiber (PSF) prices in China increased in mid July driven by cotton and polyester yarn instead of polyester feed stocks, catching the industry unprepared. Viscose staple fiber (VSF) prices moved up rapidly in line with auctioned cotton price at the end of June. Direct-spun PSF also followed up during end of June and early July, while it was completely pulled by polyester feed stocks.
Since mid-July, bolstered by cotton and VSF prices, direct-spun PSF prices have surged up, partly because of widening demand from yarn mills, which have shifted to polyester staple fiber products under pressure from surging cotton and VSF prices. And partly because of the polyester yarn mills in Fujian who revised up offers boosted by good demand.
Relatively speaking, blended yarn in North China was weak. Direct-spun PSF plants were mostly free of inventories and some even could not fully cover orders. Nevertheless, downstream showed limited follow-up trends, so the market now enters a consumption period and the focus can be returned to polyester feed stocks.
Adding to the largely stable polyester feed stocks, cash flow of direct-spun PSF widened to 400 yuan per meter, close to the high level year-to-date.
Bangladesh’s garment shipment to the US grew only 3.41 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The US is Bangladesh’s single largest export destination. With the emergence of India, Bangladesh is now the sixth biggest apparel exporter to the US, down from fourth spot even a few months ago.
India’s garment sector is fast becoming a formidable opponent for Bangladesh on the global stage. After India gave a stimulus package for its garment sector and devalued its currency, the prices of apparel items of both Bangladesh and India are almost equal, although labor cost in India is higher than in Bangladesh. Many retailers have started sourcing garments in high volumes from India.
Bangladeshi exporters are handicapped by infrastructural challenges, due to which goods cannot be delivered to retailers on time. Apart from India, other countries like Vietnam, Pakistan and even Mexico are gaining ground in the market. Vietnam has been performing well in the US as many American companies invested in the Southeast Asian country after it was included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact. The US has withdrawn from the pact but US investors have remained in Vietnam. Exports from Bangladesh have to face 15.62 per cent duty for entry to the US.
The upcoming 2016 edition of Irantex, to be held in Tehran from September 3 to 6 will feature a significant contingent of Italian textile machinery manufacturers. Nearly, 25 Italian companies will be exhibiting at the Italian Pavilion, the common area set up by the Italian Trade Agency and Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT). The companies associated with ACIMIT to exhibit at the Pavilion are: Beta Machinery, Bianco, Bonino, Caipo, Cogne, Carù, Durst, Fadis, Ferraro, Fk Group, Itema, Jk Group-J Teck 3, Laip, Marzoli, Ramallumin, Rf Systems, Santex Group, Smit, Srs, Ssm Giudici, Stalam, Tessilgomma and Zonco.
International sanctions of the past years had delayed modernisation of the Iranian industry in 2004, Iran was ranked among the top 10 markets for Italian exports in the sector. After years of stagnation, Italian sales to Iran registered a recovery. In the first quarter of this year, Italian sales to Iran totalled €2 million, while 2015 sales were worth €8 million. Iranian demand is spread out over all types of production but Italian finishing and spinning machines are the primary exports.
Nearly 27 Italian companies participated in a roadshow and a series of technological workshops in Tehran, Yazd, Isfahan and Mashad. They held meetings with textile authorities and visited local companies. The next edition of Irantex, will give local companies an opportunity to get a close look at the excellence of Italian technology.
The European Union wants Cambodia to improve its human rights record. There are demands within the EU that aid to Cambodia should be withheld if matters don’t improve. Cambodian exports to the EU are duty free. Last year the EU bought about $3.83 billion of garments and footwear from Cambodia. Over the years, EU-Cambodia cooperation activities have touched the lives of millions of Cambodians. The EU is Cambodia’s largest partner in terms of development assistance. The three sectors in the focus of the EU’s development cooperation are agriculture and natural resource management, education and skills and good governance and administration.
However, Cambodia doesn’t mind forgoing aid from the EU and is instead turning towards China, which makes no such demands. China is also Cambodia’s biggest aid partner. China invested nearly $5 billion in Cambodia from 2011 to 2015. It’s the main source of loans for infrastructure in Cambodia. China has also beefed up the nation’s military capabilities, both with hardware and training. Cambodia has been sold helicopters, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft rockets, and even given loans for the purchases. In all, Chinese investments and loans have helped Cambodia’s rulers stay in power.
The biannual fair for denim ‘Denim Premiere Vision’ will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from November 16 to 17, 2016. The fair sees international manufacturer’s present latest fabrics, colors and trends of the coming season. The event showcases accessories, fabrics, laundry, promotions products and more in the lifestyle and fashion industry. Denim Première Vision brings together all the trades in the denim industry. From weavers and tailors to fiber-makers and accessory-manufacturers, companies from all over the world will be at the show to showcase their expertise.
This is the first trade show devoted exclusively to denim fabric. Denim Première Vision is the leading international event for every professional involved in the denim industry. Every season, the teams from Première Vision come up with bold, original ideas to showcase the latest products and services.
The last edition of Barcelona, Denim Première Vision brought together 3,803 visitors, eight per cent less than in the previous edition. However this decline in the number of visitors was because companies came with smaller teams. The fair gathered 95 exhibitors, half of them weavers. However, the fair continues to be a meeting point for key players in the sector, especially in Europe and the United States.
A pioneering group of forward-thinking farmers have given a boost to organic cotton production in Texas since the early 1990s. It now covers over 20,000 acres thus turning the Texas High Plains the largest organic cotton-growing region in the United States. In recognition of the group's hardwork, farmers of the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) will receive the prestigious Organic Farmer of the Year Leadership Award from the Organic Trade Association (OTA). They will be given the award as one of the leadership awards presented at the Organic Trade Association's Annual Awards Celebration on September 21 in the kickoff event for Natural Products Expo East.
It may be noted that in 1993, Texas farmers formed a cooperative when they realised they were producing more organic cotton than the market could absorb. Bonding together, they began efforts to develop markets and to avoid being at the mercy of cotton brokers and merchants. Many of these early pioneers still are involved in promoting organic farming and educating the public about organic practices.
The cooperative began with 30 farm families producing 1,400 organic bales and 4,900 transitional bales from about 5,000 acres in 1993. In 2015, its 50 farm family members harvested 14,000 organic bales and 1,200 transitional bales on over 20,000 acres. They produce 80 to 90 per cent of the organic cotton grown in the United States.
Malaysia will strengthen trade ties with India. Malaysia and India established the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2010. This is a comprehensive agreement that covers trade in goods, trade in services, investments and movement of natural persons. It value-adds to the benefits shared from the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement and will further facilitate and enhance two-way trade, services, investment and economic relations in general.
The two countries recognize each other’s responsibility in the promotion of peace, development and security of the Asia-Pacific region, and beyond, based on a convergence of political and socio-economic interests and aspirations.
Malaysian investments to India have continued to grow and so has Indian investments to Malaysia. Indian investments in Malaysia have created jobs in various sectors including printing and publishing, textile and textile products, petroleum products, electrical and electronic sectors. There are over 150 Indian companies in Malaysia and 170 flights between the two countries with 125 flights from South India alone. About 30,000 people fly every week between the two countries and about 1.56 million people annually either through direct flights or connecting flights. In 2015, India was Malaysia’s tenth largest trading partner and 12th biggest importer.
