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Finding signs of recovery in Spain and Portugal, Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt, hopes to see the European economy getting better soon. Commenting on India’s prospect of generating interest in the European market, Scherpe says, “India can do much better as the country has good products in some ranges but has not capitalised on her strengths. In no way is India inferior to China or Turkey. Texworld and Apparelsourcing Paris can be the platforms. India needs to project herself and be present in many platforms. It is important to have visibility and an image.”
Throwing light on global sourcing scenario Scherpe says, “More and more countries will enter textile sourcing. Everyone knows Vietnam, Cambodia but Myanmar and Ethiopia are set to follow. Africa will assume importance in the next 10 years. Some of the countries will have more to do with their home market. Some countries like China will upgrade but to have more local market.”
Commenting on the slow growth of global consumption of textile, Scherpe feels, price is a problem. No one likes to pay more but it’s not possible to give discounts. “Buyers must realise that the minimum has been reached. It is also true of turnover. Every time you can’t grow 10 or 20 per cent. Growth will come in volumes. Volume of turnover is the other problem. This is a war between different product groups. If someone gives the customer a lower price he will take it. So retaining the customer is a problem,” he explains.
The Messe Frankfurt chief ruled out allegations that fashion industry has not been able to retain customers like other industries have done. He said, “Today customers are brand oriented and brands are concentrated in some companies. If I have a strong buying power I can keep the price down. It is a problem of concentration. There are a handful of brands, a problem of micro economy. The macro economy has to be organized to suit everyone.”
He believes European buying pattern has not changed. “Buyers have to consider the aspirations of European customers. They want sustainable products. They would like to give these at the same prices. At the moment there is something starting in Europe but it’s not strong enough. It is wrong to say Europe is sinking. People live better than in other regions. I think Asia has better living today than 30 years ago.” The European market is the most difficult market. It’s more demanding than the US.
An apparel and garment making centre is coming up at Arunachal Pradesh. This is part of a plan to have apparel and garment making centres in all Northeastern states. Work on such a centre has begun at Nagaland, Manipur and Sikkim.
Each apparel and garment making centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people. Each state will have a centre with three units, each having 100 machines. For local entrepreneurs with the requisite background, required facilities to start a unit will be provided in the plug and play mode. Once such entrepreneurs get established, they can set up their own units, allowing the facility to be provided to new entrepreneurs.
The initiative comes under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the ministry of textiles. NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the development of various segments of textiles i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and apparels and garments. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs 1038 crores in the 12th Five Year Plan.
The project is beginning in the direction of setting up an organized textile industry in the north east. The estimated expense is Rs 18.18 crores for each state. Central assistance would be towards construction of physical infrastructure, purchase of machinery and capacity building for the next three years.
Garmon SpA, Italian textile chemical specialist, has launched a range of denim bleaching products that do not use permanganate, chlorine or any other halogenated chemicals for producing washed out or vintage looks in jeans. It is the first textile chemical company to have certain products certified to the ‘Greenscreen’ criteria developed by the US NGO ‘Clean Production Action’, the company also claimed.
Spraying fabrics with potassium permanganate reduces the risk of fibre damage to the cotton or other cellulosic fabrics used in denim and has become widespread. However, there is a potential for high concentrations of manganese (an essential micronutrient) to be released in the effluent, and in high concentrations this can be toxic.
Fabio Forti of Garmon said that a new, safer denim bleaching product has been launched because the use of permanganate to bleach denim is being scaled back by many large brands due to concerns about its environmental profile. ‘Avoloxy White’ denim bleaching system which is free of managanese, chlorine, iodine and bromine is presented to address this issue. It is safe to handle and produces high quality denim fabrics, he claimed.
The company is working closely with Turkish denim company Orta Anadolu, which supplies brands such as Gap, Levi Strauss and Uniqlo but Forti refused to say what the active ingredient of the new formula actually is. Garmon now has around 30 products certified to the Greenscreen criteria including enzyme treatments, resin finishes, softeners, pigments and auxiliaries such as its new ‘Avoloxy White’ denim bleaching system.
Greenscreen works with Nike to help its supply chain select safer chemical alternatives and the programme is also recommended by the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Group (ZDHC) for substitution purposes.
Innerwear, and especially undergarments, as a product category is doing very well in Tirupur. There are hundreds of small scale stitching companies which undertake job work for domestic innerwear brands. More than 500 stitching units with around 30 tailors each are undertaking stitching and finishing work for domestic innerwear brands.
While most of Tirupur garment export units directly employ tailors, garment manufacturers who supply innerwear to the domestic market largely depend on small and medium stitching units on a job work basis.
Jupiter Knitting Company, Tirupur based an export is celebrating its golden jubilee in 2017. It makes briefs and has a total of 1,100 machines. It’s expecting at least 20 per cent growth this year. It exports most of its production to Europe.
On the other hand, six month old Kotan Apparels has just entered into vest and brief export. The company shipped orders to Saudi Arabia and is now exploring other markets. Right now Kotan is outsourcing the stitching process. Later it may start its own manufacturing. It is also targeting the domestic market with its brand Zyoke.
The Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB) is working on increasing value chains in the sector and empowering farmers to process cotton themselves in a bid to increase their revenues. Under the new system, cotton growers will reap the fruits of value addition. Currently ginners are the ones who enjoy the lion’s share of cotton profits making double income, because more than fiber they also earn from oil extracted from cotton seeds.
Ginners buy cotton seeds from farmers and they extract oil from cotton seeds and oilcake which they sell and obtain a lot of money compared to farmers. TCB is now working towards empowering farmers so that they can process their cotton and benefit from selling both cotton and its seeds.
The major markets for cotton from Tanzania are Indonesia, Thailand, India, China and Madagascar. The TCB has formed various associations in regions where the system is being implemented to simplify the process of obtaining loans and farm implements such as pesticides. It has launched a registration book for all farmers.
Cotton production levels are dwindling so much that several textile factories have stopped operations due to insufficient supplies. Farmers who are under the contract farming system have received financial support from Cotton Development Trust Fund.
www.cotton.or.tz/
Readymade garment factory owners in Bangladesh have alleged that the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a consortium of North American retailers, is incorporating additional corrective action plan to factories during its follow-up inspection. They feel this may hamper the smooth progress of the remediation process. Factory owners say Alliance is making never-ending inspection visits.
Alliance has assured garment factory owners that the final inspection Alliance declared factories compliant or noncompliant is based on the implementation of corrective action plans on initial findings. It says it is giving follow-up findings to some factories to help owners to ensure safer working conditions in their establishments but the progress of follow-up corrective actions will not be considered during the final inspection.
After the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, North American retailers formed the Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety. The initiative launched in Bangladesh readymade garment factories from where their members procure products and completed their primary safety assessments in their listed 600 factories. The retailers’ group targets completing final inspection by July 2017.
A. Sakthivel, Chairman of Apparel Made-ups and Home Furnishing Sector Skill Council (AMHSSC), functioning under National Skill Development Council (NSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bruce Wilson, President, Fanshawe College, Ontario, Canada yesterday on April 15, 2015. The MoU was signed during the meeting held in Parliamentary Hill, Ottawa in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.
The MoUs are expected to bring expert trainers in the skill sector, which will ensure the quality of training, leaving a positive impact on the number and quality of manpower being skilled and provided to the AMHSSC, Sakthivel said in a release. The MoU with Fanshawe College is aimed at greater cooperation between the Canadian partner and AMHSSC in the field of training of trainers and also enriching the Indian expertise in the apparel sector.
Sakthivel is also the President of Tirupur Exporters Association and is a part of Indian skills mission, a high-level trade delegation comprising Chairmen and CEOs from 15 skill sector councils, who are accompanying Modi on the current three- country tour. www.sscamh.com
Korea Textile Centre (KTC) is gearing up to create a stronghold in BRICs countries of Russia, China, India, and Brazil by establishing permanent exhibition rooms and support companies to export goods to these countries. The KTC has been striving continuously for progress and change. Talking about Korea’s outlook towards fashion retail business Kim Hong Ki, Managing Director, KTC says “The Korea Textile Centre was formed 10 years back. We have branches all over the world including Shanghai and Los Angeles. We help Korean companies in export of fabric and reduce their cost by helping in marketing. The factories can use our overseas branch, laced with showrooms, with no costs. Customers can contact our branches for more information on Korean products or fabrics,” said Hong Ki.
Elaborating on KTC’s role he said, “The KTC is not a government body. It comprises some 65 contributing member companies from all across Korea. But the government also contributes its share. These factories export fabrics worth US$ 50 million. These factories are in export only. They don’t sell within Korea.”
Hong Ki points out Korean companies are in competition with China and their products are almost similar. “We have to develop different products, so we use different fabrics, yarns, and dyeing processes etc. We keep developing new products and that’s how we compete with China. Our products are more expensive than Chinese products. Our fabrics are $5 a yard. These are polyester and fabrics mixed with cotton, nylon to be used for men’s wear and women’s wear.”
For Korean exporters the main markets are the United States, Europe and China but they also lay stress on expanding to India. Hong Ki explains, “We can take part in exhibitions like Texworld to boost Korean exports to India.”
On the growth trajectory of Korean textile exports he says, “Our exports are growing 10 to 15 per cent a year. The KTC was founded to streamline the growth of Korean textile export and promoting fashion. We have to execute ‘Daegu Textile Industry Overseas Marketing Project’ that is one of the four local industry promotion projects in Korea.”
The turnover of the textile sector in Germany slowed down in January 2015. On the other hand, turnover of retailers increased in January 2015 as compared to December 2014. Turnover in technical textiles, including nonwovens, is tending upwards. This is in contrast to the classic textile segments.
Domestic production has fallen in clothing by 9.4 per cent and in textiles by 2.5 per cent. The order situation also shows lower values in January 2015. It dropped in textiles by 3.3 per cent and in clothing by 23.6 per cent. Exports fell in comparison to January 2014 by 3.7 per cent. Textile imports increased 0.2 per cent. Clothing exports were 8.4 per cent lower in January 2015 whereas imports increased by 3.9 per cent. Trade surplus of both segments increased 16.6 per cent against January 2014.
Raw material import decreased in January against the same month of 2014 by 6.2 per cent. Working hours are decreasing in both sectors. Textile working hours dropped by 3.1 per cent and clothing working hours by 4.8 per cent. Thus the total working hours in both sectors were 3.7 per cent lower than in January 2014. Producer prices increased further slightly in January 2015, in clothing by 1.3 per cent and in textiles by 0.3 per cent.
Bangladesh sees China as the next major export destination due to its rising middle class and the duty free benefits it enjoys under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). Because of the low cost of production and the duty free allowance, Chinese buyers can save up to 15 per cent on garment imports from Bangladesh. Almost 90 per cent of the garments Bangladesh exports to China without duty include T-shirts, jeans, sweaters and casual trousers.
Industry estimates indicate that garment exports to China, which is Bangladesh’s second largest apparel market after Japan, increased 73.5 per cent year-on-year in the fiscal year 2013-14 to $241.37 million. Besides apparel, jute, jute goods, leather and leather goods from Bangladesh are also gaining popularity in China.
Bangladesh currently enjoys duty free trade with China on more than 4,000 items and at the moment, the country is working on ways to gain duty-free access under more product categories. From July 2014 to February 2015, Bangladesh exported 513 million worth of goods to China, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
