FW
US apparel imports posted a 1.77 per cent gain in April over March, but were down 4.94 per cent compared with the same month a year ago. Consumer spending on non-durables such as clothing rose 1.4 per cent in April, the biggest increase in more than six years. But April’s positive result may not be the start of a rebound. Weak demand and muted growth remain the forecast for the sector.
Leading apparel retailers like Macy’s and Nordstrom’s have reported disappointing first quarter results, following a slump in sales that began in second half 2015. Consumers are bypassing these mall anchors to shop at fast-fashion chains and online. Amazon overtook Wal-Mart as America’s largest retailer last year. It is poised to overtake Macy’s as the largest clothing retailer next year.
The shift in apparel production from China to lower-cost markets continues apace. China’s share of US apparel imports has eroded from 38 per cent in 2011 to 31 per cent this year through April. The biggest winner, Vietnam, now accounts for 13 per cent. For US apparel imports from January to April 2016, the biggest share was held by China, followed by Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Mexico.
"Cotton sustainability ranking released recently by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK, Solidaridad and WWF had just eight out of 37 companies make it out of the red zone while home furnishing giant IKEA which tops the list, is in the green zone. Cotton is one of the most commonly used and versatile textiles, everyday product from T-shirts to bank notes. But conventional production can have serious environmental and social impacts, from excessive water and pesticide use to poor labour conditions."
Cotton sustainability ranking released recently by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK, Solidaridad and WWF had just eight out of 37 companies make it out of the red zone while home furnishing giant IKEA which tops the list, is in the green zone. Cotton is one of the most commonly used and versatile textiles, everyday product from T-shirts to bank notes. But conventional production can have serious environmental and social impacts, from excessive water and pesticide use to poor labour conditions. The companies using the most cotton globally, from apparel brands and supermarkets to furniture manufacturers and household stores are failing to deliver on cotton sustainability should be of major concern.
The independent cotton sustainability ranking released recently by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK, Solidaridad and WWF, saw some others too in the green list including Adidas, C&A, H&M, Kering, M&S, Nike and VF Corporation (owner of Timberland, The North Face, Lee and Wrangler among others). The remaining 29 companies appear to do little or nothing to mitigate the impact of this essential raw material - Hermes International, Nordstrom, Ralph Lauren and Richemont are examples of those not yet in the starting blocks.
Problems related to cotton farming
To anyone who is motivated by sustainability and the agenda set out in the UN's new Sustainable Development Goals, this is worrying news. Cotton production is associated with depletion and pollution of water sources, long-term damage to soils and loss of biodiversity. Cases of pesticide poisoning are prolific, and the health dangers for cotton farmers and their families and communities are significant. Despite these issues, cotton farming has received very little attention in comparison to the well-documented problems in garment manufacturing.
For many developing economies, cotton farming is a mainstay that provides livelihood to millions of farmers worldwide - an estimated 40 million small cotton farmers produce around 75 per cent of the world's cotton - it is imperative to improve the way cotton is grown. Various sustainable cotton initiatives from Organic and Fairtrade to Better Cotton Initiative and Cotton Made in Africa have been trying to do just this by instigating more sustainable practices that cut farmers' costs and improve productivity, for a decade or more. Today, around 13 per cent of global supply is more sustainably grown. However, less than a fifth of this amount is actually sourced, bought and used by manufacturers and retailers as sustainable, with the rest being sold as conventional due to lack of demand from top brands and companies.
Lack of supply, so often cited by companies as the barrier, is no longer the problem. Excuses for low uptake of available supply given by companies include low consumer demand, complexity of supply chains and additional costs. In reality, sourcing more sustainable cotton has never been easier and these excuses crumble under close examination. There is no reason for companies not to improve cotton sustainability and offer more responsible products to customers. Moreover, this would give recognition and reward to farmers for the efforts they have made to improve.
Some are showing the way
Companies like IKEA, C&A and H&M are showing how cotton sustainability is good for business while others are failing to deliver. Manufacturers and retailers are simply not buying enough sustainable cotton, even though it is available and the price differential negligible. This inertia signals potential disaster for efforts to transform the cotton sector for the better. Consumers expect top brands to produce their goods in ways that at the very least don't harm people, communities or the wider environment in the name of profit. All major companies need to get on board and any caught napping will risk their brand reputation.
Through the ranking, campaigning organizations - PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF are calling on all companies using large volumes of cotton to set, report and deliver on targets to use 100 per cent cotton from more sustainable sources by 2020 at the latest.
Sutlej Textiles and Industries (STIL) have achieved a turnover of Rs 2,302 crores, an increase of 20 per cent year on year for the year ended March 31, 2016. Net profit for the year was Rs. 143 crores, an increase of 24 per cent over the previous year.
According to C S Nopany, Chairman, Sutlej Textiles and Industries, the financial year 2016 has been a challenging one due to the global economic slowdown. Despite these challenging times, Sutlej, with its strategy of focusing on operational efficiency, organic and inorganic growth through capacity expansion both in spinning and home textiles, has reported increased revenues and profits during the year.
Meanwhile, discussions on acquisition of Birla Textile Mills (BTM) successfully concluded on September 30 last on receiving statutory approvals. BTM, located at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, has a capacity of 83,376 spindles and manufactures cotton, synthetic & blended yarn in grey & dyed form. STIL’s total spinning capacity has gone up to 377,688 spindles as on March 31, 2016. The company had spent around Rs. 20 crore on de-bottlenecking and value-additions at the BTM unit during the year.
Nopany informed that the work on the project for adding 35,280 spindles at the Bhawani Mandi facility in Rajasthan has commenced. Civil work is progressing, and orders for key plant and machinery have been placed.
The company, with a strong global clientele, exports to nearly 60 countries. It has presence across major developed and emerging economies like Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada and China.
Exporters in Tirupur want issues that are hampering the growth of exports to be addressed. They want a list of fabric items to be included for import under the Export Performance Certificate, without payment of duty, so as to get the real benefit of the announcement in the budget and enhance their competitiveness in the global market.
They are also interested in a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. Last year, the European Union received 36.97 per cent of the value of garments exported from India. Exporters feel that if the FTA with the EU takes place in the month of September this year, exports to EU can grow and witness a growth rate of 30 per cent in successive years and double in the next three years.
Exporters also want the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Canada to be formalized and the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Australia to be expedited.
So they say that once the FTA with the EU, CECA with Australia and CEPA with Canada are signed, there will be 30 per cent increase in exports to these countries from the existing level and, at the same time, exports to the rest of countries will grow by 10 per cent. All in all they estimate India’s total garment exports can grow to 33 billion dollars once these agreements are signed.
A World Vision Canada report says, Canadian consumers may be unwittingly buying goods made by child labourers. And those who want to make ethical buying decisions are largely in the dark about what companies are doing to prevent child labour in their supply chains, the report says.
World Vision Canada is calling for a new law to force companies that do business in Canada to report annually on the measures they take to ensure that factories in other countries aren't using minors to make products for the Canadian marketplace. Similar legislation exists in other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom and California; the US Congress is reviewing a proposed federal law.
Simon Lewchuk, who has been heading the initiative for World Vision Canada says, there is an opportunity for Canada to get on board. It's an issue of promoting the Canadian brand for responsible business; it's an opportunity to ensure that we are competitive too. The recommendation is one of several in the report, which comes one day after Canada ratified an International Labour Organisation convention on child labour that proclaims the minimum age for work should be 15.
One of the biggest and only Indian manufacturer of digital printers in India, ColorJet Group will bring a paradigm shift to the Indian home furnishing industry at Heimtextil 2016 by introducing its wider width direct-to-fabric digital home textile printer Fabjet Grand which is suitable to print on all inks, viz. Reactive, Pigment or Disperse.
The company will showcase live demonstration of home textile printing on products like bedsheets, pillow cover, curtains, table covers, etc on the Fabjet Grand. Exhibitors are encouraged and invited to witness the live demonstration and see the magic of home textile digital printing unfold at the ColorJet stall.
Fabjet Grand is especially targeted at the customised home furnishings textile segment, particularly for producers of home décor products like curtains, bed covers and sofa covers to directly print on cotton and polyester-based fabrics and use environmental friendly aqueous based Pigment, Reactive or Disperse inks.
The product delivers high productivity, since it has two heads per colour in staggered position, which increases production and also has an extremely high practical printing speed, enabling high daily printing volumes and outstanding runability for overnight printing without banding and colour deflection.
Russia plans to create conditions that would attract foreign investments in its national technical textiles industry in the next few years. The planned measures will mainly include provision of tax and customs benefits to foreign investors and the allocation of funds for the establishment of facilities for the production of technical textiles and nonwovens within Russia. One of the biggest purchasers of the products that will be produced at the future plants, to be operated by foreigners, will be Russia itself.
Chinese investors have expressed interest in acquiring some of Russia’s leading nonwovens and technical textiles mills in order to produce and export finished products for their domestic market, where the demand for technical textiles in recent years has significantly increased.
In addition, German and French enterprises have also expressed interest in the Russian technical textiles industry. The companies are planning to supply the latest technologies in the field of technical textiles production.
However, the potential sale of some of Russia’s leading industry players to foreign companies, especially Chinese, has sparked criticism. There are fears foreign acquisitions may pose a threat to the Russian state security, since many of the Russian companies involved in the negotiations supply their products for the needs of the domestic defense and space industries.
Sangam India a B2B player in the textile segment will launch seamless fashion wear, active wear and inner wear. The warp and weft of all the categories will be tweaked in a seamless fashion, and the forthcoming line will be branded as Airwear.
Airwear fits into the casual garment category and is targeted at women 18 to 35. Airwear sets women of today free from uncomfortable side seams, thereby giving them unrestricted freedom of movement. This is apparel that feels light and is extremely versatile in its use. This seamless wear is an option for clothing right from the morning when one exercises till the evening when one is lounging around. Airwear comes with features like odor resistance and moisture management.
The seamless garments will be made with the help of 36 circular knitting machines imported from Santoni, the world leader in seamless knitting technology, and installed at the existing production facility in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. Together these machines have an installed capacity to manufacture 10,000 pieces of seamless garments a day. The huge potential and performance capabilities of these machines come from the technology that enables them to shift easily from one segment in the textile sector to another.
Vardhman Textiles a dominant player in yarn, fabric and sewing threads is now planning to foray into printed fabrics. Besides cotton yarn and blends, it may look at more synthetic and blended yarns and addition to the existing fabric processing capabilities. The company has a committed capex of Rs 800 crores in the next two years.
With its strong position in acrylic staple fiber and wide presence in garments, it has 25 manufacturing facilities employing over 26,000 persons. The largest yarn manufacturer in India with a capacity of one million spindles, including 7,188 rotors, Vardhman is the leading manufacturer and exporter of cotton yarn and piece dyed fabric. It is also the second largest producer of sewing threads and a market leader in hand-knitting yarn in India.
One-third of its total yarn production is exported, one-third is sold in the domestic market and balance is utilised for captive looms. The company has been focusing on automation and customer base expansion. It has de-risked business through value-added and specialized products.
One of the few fully integrated fabric suppliers in the country, and the largest producer of stretched fabric, the company produces a variety of fabrics for tops and bottoms for men, women and children. Vardhman also specializes in finishes like liquid ammonia, Teflon, nanocare, ETI etc.
https://www.vardhman.com/
Pakistan’s exports have come down by 12 per cent last fiscal year due to taxes, levies and surcharges. These have made exports 10 to 15 per cent costlier against regional competitors’. Bangladesh’s exports rose 6.5 per cent in May from a year earlier on stronger garment sales.
But Pakistan’s exports from July to May, the first 11 months of the country’s 2015-16 financial years, rose 8.9 per cent from a year earlier. Sales of garments, comprising knitwear and woven items, were up 9.4 per cent from a year earlier.
Pakistan’s textile sector contributes around 50 to 55 per cent in the country’s exports. The Textile Policy 2014-19 seeks to double textile exports to 25 billion dollars by 2019, increase the share of value addition and improve the product mix, especially in the garment sector, from 28 per cent to 45 per cent.
The Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) scheme would continue under the new policy. Under it, if any textile exporter achieves incremental textile exports beyond 10 per cent over the previous year, he will be given DLTL at the rate of four per cent for garments, two per cent for made-ups and one per cent on processed fabrics.
