FW
Leading computerised flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki has created a new range of performance textiles, in collaboration with Redaelli Velluti. Shima Seiki and Redaelli Velluti are exploring new avenues by taking a different approach to classic textile technologies. What the two companies have in common is their use of distance fabrics. For Shima that means flat knitted spacer fabrics and for Redaelli Velluti it means double plush woven fabrics which are split down the middle to create velvets.
Shima’s latest technological contribution to the field of technical textiles is the SRY123LP computerised flat knitting machine. The machine features loop presser beds mounted above conventional needle beds that provide improved control over the press down of individual loops.
This presents unprecedented capability especially with partial knitting patterns and inlay patterns. Inlay fabric is produced on the SRY123LP by inserting yarn into existing knit fabric in a weaving like manner, opening opportunities for expansion into markets for wovens.
Inlay also suppresses typical stretch characteristics of knitted fabrics and since new materials such as metallic and monofilament yarns can be used for inlay structures, new applications in industrial textiles are realized. Shima Seiki exhibited the machine at Techtextil in Frankfurt this month.
www.shimaseiki.com/
Polyester manufacturer Indo Rama Synthetics has reported over 2.5 times jump in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 31. The quarter’s volume was almost 17 to 18 per cent higher, although net sales on a standalone basis declined by 6.72 per cent because of lower price of raw materials.
The company’s profit jumped as input prices have come down due to falling crude oil prices. It’s getting better margins as raw materials are cheaper now. However, for the financial year ended March 2015, Indo Rama's net loss on a consolidated basis widened to Rs 20.69 crores as against a net loss of Rs 13.55 crores in the previous fiscal.
The company’s consolidated net sales were up by 4.95 per cent to Rs 2,741.41 crores in 2014-15 as against Rs 2,611.89 crores in 2013-14. During the quarter under review, the company sold 84,138 tons as against 71,563 tons in the same quarter of last fiscal.
Indo Rama hopes to continue growing between 10 to 15 per cent with turnovers going up. Moreover, prices are also expected to stabilise this year. Meanwhile, the board of Indo Rama has recommended a 10 per cent dividend of Rs 1 per share for the financial year 2014-15.
www.indoramaindia.com/
Turkish denim manufacturer Calik Denim has launched a line of eco-friendly denims. The Oxygene fabric can be treated more quickly (about 50 to 60 per cent faster than with normal denim) and uses smaller quantities of chemicals, water and consumes less energy.
Oxygene is made with a special technology that combines specially dyed 100 per cent cotton yarns with regular finishing processes. A variety of laundry treatments can also be used including laser, ozone, sandpaper and enzymes. In addition, treated fabrics are soft to the touch and retain their shiny look after treatment even though no resins are used.
Calik was established as an integrated yarn and weaving factory in 1987. It has an annual production capacity of 40 million meters. The company leads the industry with its unique collections that include both commercial and innovative fabrics. It not only provides additional value to the economy by manufacturing sustainable and organic denim fabrics within its wide denim and gabardine fabric lines, it protects the environment as well.
The company has novel products with special finishes and sophisticated fabrics for indigo shirting. Calik Denim ranks among the top 10 premium denim manufacturers of Turkey and is one of the top denim exporters in Turkey.
www.calikdenim.com/
Lenzing profits for the first quarter of 2015 climbed by 115.3 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2014. Consolidated revenue for Q1 saw a rise of 5.1 per cent compared to the previous year. EBITDA improved by 28.7 per cent from previous year. Earnings before interest and taxes for the first three months of 2015 saw a sharp rise of 61.3 per cent.
The upgraded product mix, slightly higher fiber sales volumes and the improved cost situation enabled Lenzing to achieve a clear improvement in earnings. Lenzing continued the good operational development achieved in the fourth quarter of 2014 with respect to its core business of manufacturing man-made cellulose fibers in the first quarter of 2015 as well.
All production plants were once again operating at full capacity. Demand for the specialty fiber Lenzing Modal, as well as Tencel, was gratifying. Lenzing also reported a comparatively good development for standard viscose fibers used in textile applications in the first quarter of 2015 thanks to the selective focus on attractive sales markets and higher value fiber qualities, continuing the positive trend of the fourth quarter of 2014. The share of specialty fibers in the product mix was significantly increased.
www.lenzing.com/
MS Printing Solutions, known for its range of digital printing machines is set to launch MS steamers that do not depend on steam from a boiler but generates the steam on its own. “Our aim is to deliver consistent quality. We also plan to launch special effects for digital printing, which would be related to pattern making,” explains Lasse Pilgaard, Sales manager, M S Printing Solultions.
Wide range of digital printing machines
The company is known to treat the fabric after printing. “It is the only company in the world to have a full range of products for fabric and for sublimation,” says Pilgaard, adding, “Our machines go from a production speed of 100 mt per hour to 75 mt. a minute. The Lario machine is the fastest machine in the digital market today. This is a single pass machine. The machine is built in the same way as a rotary printing machine. But instead of screens we have a bridge with digital pinheads. Each bridge prints one column like in a rotary printing machine. This machine can print up to 75 meters in a minute. There is no comparable machine in the market today.”
The way this machine is built differs from the way other machines are. All other machines are usually scanning machines, wherein pinheads are installed on a carriage that moves back and forth and prints on the fabric or paper. MS Printing machines use the same pinheads for all models. So from its smallest to the biggest machine, the company guarantees the same print results. So if a client starts with a small machine and later decides to upgrade to a bigger one in future, he will get the same print result. This is an important feature for any printer in the world. The small machines have a standard working width of 1.8 meters and the JPK Evo and Lario can work on up to 3.2 meters.
“In our machines we have an open ink system. So you can choose any ink manufacturer you want as long as the ink has been approved by the print-head manufacturer. We use Japan’s Kyocera print heads in all our machines, which is the fastest print-head in the market today,” elaborates Pilgaard.
Stronghold in production and distribution
The company sells its machinery range in more than 50 countries around the world. It makes 15 to 20 machines a month. Elaborating on the distribution strength, Pilgaard says, “We are the largest manufacturer worldwide. China is our biggest market. We have sold some 100 machines in the Chinese market. These machines have been sold to different buyers, but one buyer may take two or three machines. Turkey is also a big market. Pakistan is coming up very fast. We are very competitive in terms of cost. Chinese machines are cheaper but they don’t have the same speed and reliability.”
MS Printing range is produced in Italy and it has offices in China, Brazil and India. “India is picking up and will soon become a big market for us,” he avers, adding, “Compared to the entire printing market, digital printing is only three percent. So there is a huge potential. In three to four years, I expect it to be 15 percent of the total printing machinery market. In the digital printing market my brand has a 50 percent share.”
The spinning sector in India needs immediate attention. In view of the weak financial position and reduced cash flows, the sector needs immediate extension of interest subvention. A huge proportion of spinning mills in the country have a low non-investment grade rating that could deny them any scope for further borrowings from banks. This means, the financial health of the mills has been deteriorating and non-performing assets (NPA) rising.
Not only is profitability of spinning mills diminishing, the average EBITDA margins (earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization) declined sharply in the case of large mills from 14.8 per cent in 2013-14 to 11.3 per cent in 2014-15 fiscal. Similarly, EBITDA margins of small sized mills declined from 7.7 per cent in 2013-14 to 4.7 per cent in 2014-15.
Extending interest subvention would boost the prowess of labor-intensive spinning sector and reduce NPAs of public sector banks. Every additional Rs 10 lakh revenues in the spinning sector could generate employment for 16 more people.
As of December 2014, public sector banks reported gross NPA of 10 per cent of their advances to the cotton-based textile sector against five per cent registered in December 2012.
Only one per cent out of garment factories surveyed in Bangladesh have trade unions while 55 per cent don’t even have any participation committees. Some 643 factories were surveyed from January to March 2015. Of these, 356 are members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and 129 are members of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) while 158 others don’t have affiliation with either of the two trade bodies.
However, 53 per cent of BGMEA factories and 43 per cent of BKMEA factories have participation committees. Participation committees comprise representatives from both factory owners and workers that, according to labor leaders, actually work in favor of owners.
Some 3,740 garment factories are now operating across the country. In 2013, the government amended the Bangladesh Labor Law, 2006, simplifying trade union formation for garment workers to bargain for their rights, amid pressure from local and international arenas, especially after the Rana Plaza building collapse.
Since then, more than 300 new trade unions have got government registration in the last two years, raising the total number to 427. Non-cooperation from owners, fear of losing jobs and some legal complexities are major reasons for the relatively low number of unions in the country’s readymade garment sector that employs some four million workers.
Cotton Council of India (CCI) has sold 6.68 lakh bales through e-auctions out of their procured stock of 86 lakh bales, while the Maharashtra Federation is holding a stock of 4.75 lakh bales procured by them. All India pressing figures till April 30, 2015 are approximately 336 lakh bales, while all India arrivals have dropped to approximately 40,000 bales per day. As per the report of Indian Cotton Federation (ICF), unsold stocks lying with ginners and traders are approximately 20 lakh bales. The increase in duty drawback for garments exporters from 6 to 7.5 per cent and for export of yarn which has been increased from 2.08 to 3.10 per cent will offer boost to industry, it said.
ICF noted that in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, arrivals of cotton are insignificant as the season is at its end in this region. The price quoted for good J-34 r/g in Punjab is Rs 3,915 while in Haryana it is Rs 3,860 and in Rajasthan it is Rs 3,840 per maund spot. Cotton sowing has already begun and there is good demand from farmers for BT and conventional varieties as per reports from many tracts from Northern India.
Exports of raw cotton stands at approximately 50 lakh bales and CCI could release more stock to consuming mills to keep cotton lint prices steady. The CCEA has approved extra funds for government federations and CCI to meet losses on their MSP operations, adds the report. Farmer groups are of the view that the cotton area may not shrink during 2015-16 season as land conditioning has begun in many cotton producing states.
Suggesting the need for export interest subvention for spinning textile sector, credit rating agency Crisil has warned of a major crisis to farming community due to rising NPA levels in textile, falling EBITDA, Net Margin and fall in credit rating. Crisil’s interim report, prepared based on the request of Texpreneurs Forum and a copy of which was presented to the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, further stated that if the same trend continues, in next stage, fall of spinning sector will lead to a major crisis to farming community, because every year cotton output is increasing in our country.
Commenting on a governmental view, the report says that government was of the opinion that spinning was well organised and well grown and self-sustainable, because of 2011-12 historic losses due to cotton volatility and subsequent development in China in the last two years and also new capacity addition in spinning sector, created big trouble in finances of ‘stand alone spinning mills.’
Cotton as commodity only has limited export potential, because only 10 countries will import cotton, the report said in case of yarn, export potential was more as it can be exported to more than 60 countries, indicating that cotton farming is also directly linked with the health of spinning industry.
Pakistan's textile exports have started showing progress in the EU due to its GSP plus facility. Exports have recorded an increase, especially in apparels by 24 per cent in volume and 30 per cent in value terms from January to December 2014. The European Union has granted Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) status to Pakistan from January 1, 2014 for 10 years.
The GSP Plus status allows almost 20 per cent of Pakistani exports to enter the EU market at zero tariff and 70 per cent at preferential rates. EU trade concessions will benefit Pakistan’s textile and clothing industry to compete with those of regional rivals like Bangladesh, which already have duty-free access to the bloc’s market. The increase in exports is expected to facilitate economic growth and help in generation of additional employment.
GSP Plus status is extended to countries that have applied for the tariff scheme and implemented the 27 international ratified conventions. GSP Plus is granted to those countries that ratify and implement international conventions relating to human and labor rights, environment and good governance. The preferential trade status is subject to review every two years. GSP is a facility granted to developing countries by certain developed countries. It is not negotiated with them. The preferential treatment is non-reciprocal.
