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At a buyer forum meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, representatives from 65 international retailers including Walmart, Gap, JC Penney, C&A, Tesco, G-Star, H&M, Target, Inditex and Carrefour, who source garments from Bangladeshi factories, sought an immediate solution to the current political unrest in the country, which is affecting country’s apparel exports.
The group of retailers also demanded that the government must keep political tension away from Dhaka-Chittagong highway to enable smooth supply chain. Usually, around this time of the year, buyers discuss future course of negotiations with the manufacturers in Bangladesh, however, the current situation has led them to demand resolution to the internal issues impacting exports and imports. Out of the total $25 billion worth of garment exports a year from Bangladesh, the retailers who attended Dhaka meeting place garment orders worth $22 billion.
In 2014, export earnings saw slow growth due to the impact of political uncertainty and two major industrial accidents viz. Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse that claimed several lives. In the first six months of 2014, export earnings registered single-digit growth and in the last five months, the figure registered below one per cent growth. Export earnings in January-June period amounted to $14.42 billion, according to the statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau.
In the second half of 2014 the readymade garment sector straggled with shortfall of order due to non-compliance issues as after Rana Plaza tragedy buyers shifted their orders from the factories housed in shared buildings. The export earnings in the July-November period of 2014 grew by only 0.92 per cent to $12.07 billion.
www.bgmea.com.bd
As per new rules being implemented by the Mexican government, textile and apparel importers will lose their authorisation to conduct business unless registration is submitted to the authorities. Legal firm Sandler’s Travis Rosenberg has said the rules, which require the submission of a registration for new sectorial importers registry by March 1, could have a significant impact on companies importing. The deadline was extended by a month from Feb 1, 2015.
In December, the Mexican government had announced measures under which textile and apparel importers had to register on the sectorial importers registry before they could import goods classified within Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of Mexico. Registration was opened from January 1, and failure to register by March 1 deadline could lead to a denial of entry for imports, along with the resultant costs and supply chain delays. Separately, minimum reference prices for textile and apparel goods will enter into force on February 2.
Another new requirement now in effect is that importers must notify Mexican customs at least five working days in advance of any textile and apparel import operation to give authorities time to evaluate whether the goods are undervalued.
Pitti Filati the trade fair for textile fibers took place in Italy from January 28 to 30. This edition attracted nearly 100 exhibitors. It brings a complete range of knitted clothing under one roof. The show gives an excellent opportunity for designers and retailers to work along with top designers to get an international exposure and find their target customers, retailers and manufacturers.
The show attracts professionals from textile, apparel, knitting, knitwear, fashion, wool and yarn background. It often does the unconventional. An earlier edition had a selection of underground international luxury brands. One of the highlights of the January show was the specialized denim section ‘Denim Italiano’. It presented general denim trends. Nearly 20 exhibitors from Italian denim industry, accessories and trimming manufacturers, garment makers and laundries took part.
The show provided each company a mood board and a mannequin they could personalize. The previous edition had six specialized denim consultants who interpreted the exhibitors’ new material collections and designs and produced actual garments according to trends that will influence the market. Another highlight of the show was yarn from organically grown raw materials.
www.pittimmagine.com/en/corporate/fairs/filati.html
In a move that aims to set out responsible and ethical business practices for its burgeoning apparel industry, the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) published the country’s first ever Code of Conduct. The document is designed as a benchmark for responsible business practices in Myanmar’s rapidly growing garment sector and it comes from extensive workshops with the European Union’s SMART Myanmar project.
A first for Myanmar’s apparel producers, the Code embraces International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions and the strictures of Myanmar’s national laws. Myanmar’s garment sector consists of around 300 companies with some 1.5 lakh workers. Garment exports went past the $1 billion mark in 2013-’14, accounting for about 10 per cent of the country’s overall exports. For Europe in particular, exports to the EU doubled in 2014. Nearly all these orders went to producers able to pass international social compliance audits such as: BSCI, WRAP, SEDEX, SA8000 and the Ethical Trading Initiative, among others.
Factories adhering to the full Code of Conduct will open themselves up to the massive influx of international orders coming from Europe and the US who demand socially responsible manufacturing practices from their producers, the MGMA says.
Sri Lanka hopes to achieve this year's target of $5 billion export revenue. The country is keen on signing a Free Trade Agreement with China and a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan. The loss of GSP Plus status was a big blow to the country’s economic development as EU countries account for 60 per cent of the country’s exports. America and Europe are the main buyers for Sri Lanka.
Buyers placing orders have the choice of selecting fabric and accessories from any part of the world to be brought to Sri Lanka for conversion into finished apparels. There is an advantage in sourcing from Sri Lanka due to its central location, which provides the shortest shipping times to Europe. The European Union in 2010 suspended trade concessions under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus for Sri Lanka because of violations of human rights agreements.
As of now, Lanka’s exporters have lost their duty free access to EU and their shipments are charged an import duty of about 9.6 per cent. But the country hopes to get the status revived possibly through some concessions like guarantees of future compliance.
The next edition of Bread & Butter is poised to take place from July 2 to 4, 2015, in Germany. The show will have a new concept, based on the assumption that the industry’s challenges cannot be solved with conventional trade shows alone. But it will stick to its motto of fun and profit. The objective is to enhance the brands’ appeal and not mere coverage of necessities.
Bread & Butter event showcases contemporary clothing culture and presents an exclusive collection of designer clothing, denim, sportswear, street fashion, function wear and casual dress up. It provides a communication and marketing platform to exhibitors. The July show will have fashion events, festivals and concerts. There will be lifestyle and fashion brands.
Bread & Butter was founded in 2001 and has been held in January and July ever since though the January 2015 show didn’t take place. The trade show succeeds in attracting a large number of visitors who get the flavor of only select brands. The event also conducts various performances and attractive forums.
It is the exclusive brand portfolio and the recognition from European and global textile industry that has made Bread & Butter a leading trade fair and superior trademark.
The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) will link fabric mills to the Better Cotton Tracer. This is an online traceability platform used by ginners, spinners and retailers. It records purchases and sales of Better Cotton. This means retailers and brands belonging to Better Cotton Initiative will now be able to trace their cotton purchases more accurately and transparently.
Initially this program will only be run as a pilot. It will give fabric mills access to the Better Cotton Tracer for one year and allow members of BCI to track the use of Better Cotton more easily throughout the supply chain. For the first time, some retailers will have full transparency from the raw materials to the end product.
BCI aims to recruit 250 fabric mills as users in 2015, before assessing the success of the fabric mill pilot category. BCI hopes that by extending the use of the Better Cotton Tracer across different actors, it can contribute to more trusting relationships between these actors and a more transparent cotton sector as a whole.
The Better Cotton Tracer brings BCI closer to the possibility of having full physical traceability as an option for retail and brand members in 2016. BCI exists to make global cotton production better for people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future.
bettercotton.org/
A sharp fall in euro is affecting Bangladesh's garment exports. The euro has fallen to a four-year low in January and its value has eroded by 12 per cent. Some developing countries considered rivals to Bangladesh in the export market have depreciated their currencies to tap the benefits from a falling euro.
Exports of Vietnam and Cambodia to the eurozone grew 28.9 per cent and 23.9 per cent respectively in July to September. Even Pakistan’s exports which also enjoys GSP Plus status from the European Union, surged by 30 per cent during the period under review. The 27-member eurozone remains Bangladesh’s largest export destination.
The decline in euro’s value is affecting the garment sector in terms of price cuts. Buyers will procure reduced amounts from Bangladesh if they get the same items from cheaper sources where the currencies have been depreciated against the dollar. The competitiveness of Bangladesh exports is being eroded following the rise in the real effective exchange rate of the taka.
If buyers from the eurozone lower their imports from Bangladesh, it will adversely impact export volumes. European buyers pay in euro and in terms of dollar the value falls.
Claiming improvement in plant efficiency and productivity, Huntsman Textile Effects has launched a new range of high-performance ‘Terasil’ branded disperse dyes for polyester, polyester/cotton and micro-fibre and elastane blends. The dye is compatible with a range of key environmental standards such as bluesign, Oeko-Tex 100 and satisfies the RSL needs of major brands and the ZDHC Group.
The new ‘Terasil TC’ range comprises a complete set of intelligent mixes for dyeing medium to dark shades, with six colours currently available: yellow, orange, rubine red, blue, turquoise and black. The dyes fulfill Oeko-Tex 100 requirements, are bluesign-certified, and satisfy the Restricted Substances List (RSL) requirements of the major brands and the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Group.
The high performance, most wash-fast dyes are uneconomical for many end uses of polyester and its blends. Mills require high-quality disperse dyes that are fit-for applications adding that the economical Terasil TC range has been engineered to deliver optimal fastness and reliable operating performance at competitive cost. These dyes provide minimum sensitivity to reduction, good fastness to dry heat, good pH stability, good coverage of barriness and minimum staining on adjacent cotton fibre, claims Huntsman.
Bangladesh's garment exports to new destinations are increasing substantially though shipments to traditional markets have come down. New markets are promising mainly due to the government’s stimulus package, aggressive marketing by exporters and relaxation of the rules of origin by some countries.
Apparel exports to new destinations, all markets except the EU, the US and Canada, rose 15.47 per cent year-on-year in July to December of the current fiscal year. Major new export destinations are: Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey.
During the six month from July to December, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US declined 5.18 per cent, to EU 3.53 per cent, and to Canada 14.60 per cent. Exports to South American countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Chile are growing at a faster rate. Garment exports to non-traditional markets got a boost when the government offered an incentive package to businesses in fiscal 2008-09 to offset the impact of the global financial crisis on the sector.
Generally, 60 per cent of Bangladesh’s garment items are destined for the EU, 23 per cent to the US, six per cent to Canada and the rest to other countries.
