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Cape Town is hosting the fourth edition of Source Africa from June 8 and 9, 2016. This is an annual pan-African textile, clothing and footwear trade event. It brings together manufacturers, buyers, suppliers and service providers from across the continent, Asia and even the United States of America.
The aim is to promote African-made textiles to international buyers and to boost trade between African countries and to promote investment into manufacturing capacity in Africa and accelerate job creation. In 2016, the trade show has more of an international flavor with exhibitors from China and the US. There will be African country pavilions, informative business seminars, fashion shows and networking functions.
Thirty-seven Mauritian enterprises are participating. The main objectives of this participation is to maintain visibility as the next door preferred partner and to further boost exports to South Africa. Mauritius is occupying more than 25 per cent of the floor space and the companies are showcasing a wide range of products like knitwear, T-shirts, polo shirts, jeans, high-end suits and accessories.
The 2015 expo attracted over 1,300 decision makers who had the opportunity to meet with more than 220 exhibitors from 15 countries. What they found was a supply chain that is featuring innovation, high quality fabrics and yarns and compelling products and designs.
Simparel president Roberto Mangual is now taking over as its CEO. Mangual brings more than 17 years of executive-level apparel manufacturing and information management experience to his new role. As CEO, Mangual will expand his current duties and assume overall responsibility for all day-to-day operations and strategies.
Mangual has rapidly advanced with Simparel, serving as president, COO and vice president of operations since joining the company in 2012. For the prior 13 years, he held the position of CIO and vice president of operations for branded sleep and leisurewear company Richard Leeds International.
Designed for apparel, footwear, accessory, home furnishings and other soft goods industries, the Simparel Enterprise Solution empowers brands, manufacturers and vertical retailers reach their full potential by accelerating and improving performance across the entire business and global supply chain.
This advanced, natively integrated system provides global process visibility, control and collaboration by combining traditionally independent Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Warehouse Management (WMS), Mobile Wholesale Solutions (MWS) and other productivity tools into a single, fashion-focused business system.
The end-to-end capabilities of Simparel keep teams and vendors working on the same page by providing always up-to-date tech packs, forecasts, sampling, costing, order status, quality control, production, logistics, inventory management, accounting, compliance and other mission-critical activities and reporting.
The Reserve Bank of India has kept short-term bank rates unchanged. And manufacturers in the capital-intensive knitwear sector have hailed the decision. The repo rate was cut by 25 basis points during the monetary policy review in April. But they say banks should reduce the base rates proportionately in tandem with the reduction in credit policy repo rates, which did not happen on the previous occasions when the repo rates were cut.
The apex bank has kept the policy repo rate (the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks) under the liquidity adjustment facility unchanged at 6.5 per cent and the cash reserve ratio at four per cent of the net demand and time liabilities.
There is also an opinion that the RBI should effectively monitor the calculation of base rates to ascertain whether the banks use only the marginal cost of funds method. Presently there is no transparency in the banking system for consumers to understand how the base rates are fixed by various banks after every reduction in the short-term bank rates announced by RBI. Without the proper transmission of the rates, especially in the case of older loans, consumers are not going to get loans at lower interest rates.
Pitti Uomo is warming up for its number 90th edition, which will take place from June 14 to 17, 2016 in Florence, Fortezza da Basso. The event will host 1,219 brands and collections, including 536 exhibitors from abroad (44 per cent of total companies participating); all focusing on men’s fashion novelties for spring/summer 2017.
While paying tribute to their number 90th edition, Pitti will play with numbers according to this season’s main theme ‘Pitti Lucky Numbers.’ Installations, graphics and layout solutions will be inspired by numbers and figures, a trend also influencing many fashion brands for some seasons now.
The event will host various newcomers including some significant younger fashion and sneaker brands. Among them there are Department 5, a military inspired sportswear brand, and Doppia A, a casual chic men’s line. Another new brand is Dictionary Project, offering tops and sweats characterized by prints and applications. Also debuting sneaker brands include Pony, a historical US sneaker brand returning to Europe, Master of Art-MOA, an innovative sneaker brand designed by artist Thoms, and Mizuno 1905, a new capsule collection originating from the renowned Japanese sports brand.
Piave Maitex, the Italian knitted fashion fabrics producer has come up with a double sided fabric for shape wear, providing moisture management and thermal regulation. The company uses a double-sided knit-mode. One of the sides aims to ensure freshness and breathability. The other side, in microfiber, is designed to ensure wicking and moisture dissipation to the outside. Piave Maitx offers a range of new technological fabrics as well as a new collection of printed lingerie.
The company is a leader in stretch mesh. It combines the sensuality of extreme lightness and transparency with the technical features necessary for comfort. The new mesh fabrics are made from extremely fine yarns, microfiber to enhance softness, monofilament for a touch of sensuality, with a high percentage of elastomer for a perfect fit. These fabrics aim to embody seduction in intimate apparel.
Neotech 2.0 is the company’s latest cutting-edge knitting solution, especially soft and comfortable thanks to fine microfiber yarn, expressing the ideal application for a sophisticated, seductive and modeling lingerie mainly characterized by transparency. Romantic is all about floral designs, colored with soft hues to make this the most romantic theme of the collection, in which delicate petals of flowers lie on transparent water colored, cream and powder pink grounds.
The export value of the Myanmar garment industry is expected to reach over $2 billion. Previously, garments were exported only to the US and the European Union. Over 50 per cent of Myanmar garments were exported to the US while 40 per cent went to the EU. However, after economic sanctions were lifted, Myanmar industry has turned towards South Korea and Japan as well. Entrepreneurs from EU nations have aim to invest in Myanmar companies.
Garment factories in the country are required to maintain workers’ rights and stable workplace industrial relations. Around 300 companies are exporting their products to foreign markets. Currently, there are a total of 240 garment factories in Yangon with a total labor force of 2,20,000.
Myanmar is a former British colony known as Burma. The country emerged from decades of military dictatorship in 2011 and major US and European sanctions shortly thereafter. It now offers some of the cheapest labor in the world combined with easy access to Asian markets -- both attractive features for corporations looking to source low-cost, readymade garments for export. The country has lower labor costs than do Vietnam, Cambodia or Bangladesh.
Due to tight supplies during the drought, cotton exports from India, the world’s biggest producer, have nearly halted as local prices have rallied, forcing key importers like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam to turn to other suppliers.
The freeze in Indian export will prompt Brazil, Australia and United States to raise shipments and has pushed global prices to near their highest since August. The price rise could subsequently push up fabric and clothing prices and put pressure on the margins of garment makers. In last three-four weeks Indian exporters could not sign a deal.
Meanwhile, the landed cost of Indian cotton for buyers in Pakistan and Bangladesh is at 75 cents to 76 cents per lb compared to around 73 cents for Brazilian cotton. Pakistan and Bangladesh prefer Indian cotton due to lower freight charges. Local cotton spot market prices have surged 10 per cent from a month ago to Rs 38,400 per candy of 356 kg (73.5 cents per lb) due to limited supplies after consecutive droughts cut production. A candy is equivalent to about two Indian bales of 170 kg each.
According to Cotton Association of India, India may produce about 34.1 million bales of cotton in the 2015/16 season that started on October 1, down from last year’s output of 38.3 million. India has exported around 6.5 million bales of cotton so far during the 2015/16 season, with Bangladesh and Pakistan accounting for more than half of the total exports. In 2014/15 India exported 6 million bales.
Sensoria a leader in a global leader in wearable fitness and smart garment technology, has come up with a new smart line of colorful sports bras and tees and training plans offered through a new version of the Sensoria Fitness v2.0 app. The new app connects to heart rate monitoring garments and can detect cardiac irregularities. The algorithm will constantly monitor the user’s probability of cardiac irregularities during exercise and alerts selected family or friends through text message.
This means athletes can get advanced cardio training through comfortable heart rate zone, heart rate variability and cardiac irregularity alert tracking. This new smart garment line has been designed with distance runners, cyclists, and fitness enthusiasts in mind.
Sensoria has colorful and stylish heart rate monitoring garments. Each Sensoria garment is made with Emana yarn, the technically advanced and durable fabric that uses far infrared technology. Along with keeping the wearer dry, comfortable and protected from the sun’s harmful UV rays, Emana yarn improves skin elasticity to reduce the appearance of cellulite and aid with muscle fatigue prevention.
Sensoria has always been at the forefront in developing new smart garment, sensor-infused technology. Fitness enthusiasts not only want to have access to the latest tech but also be fashion forward. Sensoria garments paired with the new fitness app seamlessly combine these needs and offer high quality, comfortable heart rate monitoring available in exciting new colors and sleek styles.
Bangladesh’s exports are homing in on the target of $33.5 billion for this fiscal after May's receipts took the tally to a touching distance. According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh received $3.03 billion from exports in May, up 6.69 per cent year-on-year. May's exports take earnings in the first 11 months of fiscal 2015-16 to $30.67 billion. The government has set a doable target of $2.83 billion for June. Full-year receipts of $33.5 billion would be a record for Bangladesh.
Garment, which typically accounts for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings, led the charge, bringing home $2.45 billion last month, up 9.35 per cent year-on-year. The future trend for garment exports from Bangladesh is good, believes Siddiqur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
According to BGMEA, Bangladesh's garment exports are looking up for two reasons: the country is receiving the work orders that are being shifted in bulk from China and are producing value-added items. The international retailers have been placing work orders in Bangladesh due to the higher costs of production in China, the largest garment exporter in the world.
Bangladesh’s export earnings from the United Kingdom in 11 months of the current financial year grew by 19.10 per cent to $3.44 billion from $2.89 billion in the same period of the financial year 2014-15 due to an encouraging performance of the readymade garment sector.
Besides, Japan has already appeared as an emerging market for Bangladesh and the earnings from the market in the July-May period of FY16 stood at $981.92 million with a 17.12-per cent increase from $838.34 million in FY15, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released recently.
Both the markets have shifted their procurement orders to Bangladesh from China due to price competitiveness and they hoped that export growth in the destinations would increase further in the coming days, experts and exporters.
Moreover, Britain is a cosmopolitan nation and the huge number of tourists in the country is the buyers of garments and they want middle and lower-end products. The UK is shifting their procurement orders to Bangladesh from China as the world’s second biggest economy is shifting its production to high-end and high-tech, according to Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, a former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
He said that Vietnam could be the China plus country (import source alternative to China) for the UK but Vietnam shifted its production to high value-added products and Bangladesh gained the market share previously held by China in the UK.
