FW
The textile industry in Pakistan has urged the government to appoint a textile minister without delay and has rejected the government decision to merge the textile division into the commerce division. Textile has become an important sector for Pakistan especially after the grant of the GSP Plus status by the EU countries.
Garment manufacturers say major decisions regarding textile policy implementation and the budget preparation exercise for 2015-16 are being delayed. Uncertainty is affecting the whole textile sector and that the experiment of the textile and commerce ministry merger has failed twice in the past. Since regional competitors like India, China and Bangladesh have separate ministries of textile, Pakistan too must follow suit.
Pakistan’s exporters are confident that if the country starts converting 50 per cent of its total cotton of around 14 million bales into value-added products they can earn $42 billion in exports. In case of 100 per cent consumption of raw material, the country can earn $84 billion.
Competitor Bangladesh enjoys duty-free import of every raw material. As a result, Bangladesh value-added textile exports have surged to $26 billion without producing a single bale of cotton while Pakistan has never crossed the garment export figure of $4.5 billion.
Morocco plans to create a fully-integrated textile and garment industry from spinning to final product within 15 years. It would work to create backward linkages supporting a fast fashion segment serving nearby markets of Europe and a Moroccan fashion segment for domestic consumers drawing on strengths in Morocco-based designs and traditions.
Preparatory work and investments would be made until 2020, after which the government and industry would accelerate building a textile and clothing value chain. The aim is to create fashion brands utilising traditional Moroccan and African styles, cuts and sizes. Spain's Inditex Group has been a long-term client for around 150 Moroccan garment producers. A 100 million pieces were made for Inditex in 2014 alone.
Currently the weakest points in Morocco’s value chain are yarns and fabrics. Spain accounts for 40 per cent of Morocco's fast fashion export sales, followed by France, the UK, Germany and Italy. A potential growth market is the US.
Morocco has many attractions for overseas companies. It has tax-free ports for importing materials. Overseas companies are allowed to fully own Morocco-based operations and the country has free trade agreements with the US, EU, Turkey and Africa. Geographic proximity to Europe and direct access to the Atlantic are other pluses.
The World Bank has forecasted continued slowdown in Cambodia's economy over the next three years because of rising local production costs, sluggish global rice prices and other headwinds. It says year-on-year growth rate of Cambodia’s gross domestic product would drop to 6.9 per cent in both 2015 and 2016 and to 6.8 per cent in 2017. A 28 per cent hike in garment workers’ minimum wage, which took effect in January, is also expected to hurt.
The re-entry of Thailand and Burma into the rice market is also expected to keep revenues from Cambodia’s rice exports down. The fiscal deficit is expected to nearly double between 2014 and 2016 as a share of GDP, to 4.9 per cent. The trade deficit is predicted to grow this near and next.
While falling global oil prices have helped to keep inflation down, this is expected to do little for most families. The World Bank’s predictions differ sharply from the forecast of the Asian Development Bank. The ADB said Cambodia’s seven per cent GDP growth rate in 2014 would rise this year and that a less tense political environment at home and rebounding economies in its main trading partners would boost tourist arrivals and garment exports.
Sri Lanka's AOD International Design Campus is teaming up with UK’s Northumbria University School of Design to offer its world renowned fashion and design degrees in the country. “AOD’s vision is to open a South Asian center for international textile design and education. The idea is to work closely with industry so that designers can deliver something unique to Sri Lanka and the rest of the world,” explains Shamlee D’Silva, Head, Public Relations, AOD.
The Northumbria University International Design Degree programs 
offered at AOD International Design Campus are the only British internal design degrees that can be fully completed in Sri Lanka. D’Silva explained further, “We are partnering a lot of universities in the UK and offering their curriculum in Sri Lanka. Fashion designing and fashion marketing are two of our main degrees. We also have courses in graphic, animation and product designing. We guide our designers, students to work closely with the industry. Even before they graduate from the institute, they get a chance to work with future employers and understand industry standards which is very important today,” she opines.
Among the advantages AOD International Design Campus students have is the close network the institute has with design industry in Sri Lanka and international creative industries especially those in the UK and Italy. Through this active network, live projects and competitions are set where students design for clients directly.
Imbibing their cultural heritage
D’Silva points out even though students are working with latest technologies they also go to villages and help artisans and work with them. With hands-on experience they create products that are unique and handmade and accepted in international markets. “Sri Lanka has a vision to become the international gateway to designs in South Asia. We will have internationally educated designers with knowledge of what works anywhere in the world and they have the capacity to enrich our industry and help create something fantastic for the rest of the world,” says D’Silva
AOD international design campus also has ‘Design for Sustainable Development Project’ which is a not-for-profit initiative. It connects the skills of rural artisan communities with designers to upgrade their products for high-end exports. The project results in livelihood development for artisans and an international caliber product for the student. “We are going to work closely with industry. We keep industry and heritage craft in mind. The Sri Lankan government is supportive of what AOD is doing and sees the potential it has for tourism and exports,” she explained.
AOD International Design Campus conceptualises and organises Sri Lanka’s largest and the most prestigious national event in fashion and design, the Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF). In its 5th year, SLDF hosts nearly one 100 top international fashion and design delegates from around the world. The local participation brings together Sri Lanka’s fashion, apparel, advertising, graphic design, publishing, architectural and interior design industries together on a single international platform. “This opens a world of opportunities for AOD’s students. They are at the centre of this design nucleus that generates the future of fashion and design in Sri Lanka with top fashion and design gurus from home and abroad,” D’Silva informs.
Emphasizing on the need for collaboration with neighbouring countries, D’Silve says, “India has a unique design heritage of its own. In terms of education India has done a great job in inducing her designers to protect her heritage and make it up to date. Our relationship with India is quite strong. Our outlook towards design is very global and we have our roots in heritage. It appeals to a buyer from Europe or China. We are very keen to work with Indian talent because what we have is quite different from what India has. We would like to collaborate with Indian designers.”
IAF’s President Rahul Mehta spoke about developments in global apparel sourcing during a panel discussion at the Prime Source Forum (PSF) in Hong Kong, last week. Highlighting the journey of apparel sourcing from the age of finding capacity, to lowering costs, to responsible sourcing, to end up in the current time of fast fashion, he said that the sourcing solutions in 2015 must involve ways to reduce waste created by an inefficient system and taking into account the cost saving by bringing supply closer.
This year’s edition of Prime Source Forum gave a balanced picture of the issues that are crucial to apparel sourcing. Moving production to upcoming lower cost production markets has emerged as a reality. Africa is not a question mark anymore. Many at PSF including Mehta focused on this and agreed to this new phenomenon. However, Mehta also asked the industry to look for other options. What after Africa, was the question, he wants the industry to find answer to.
He said that it is time to start looking at cost of selling instead of just focusing on cost of purchase. PSF 2015 also tackled issues related to functioning of the supply chain and creation of attractive as well as sustainable products. Sourcing, according to experts, is now more than ever a mix of moving and improving production. And the Accord, the Alliance, strong environmental legislation in the US, in Europe and now also in China are creating more necessity for innovation. IAF believes that it’s important to keep talking together about the issues concerning the industry and it will do so at the World Fashion Conference and Istanbul Fashion Conference to be held on October 14 and 15 in Istanbul.
www.iafnet.eu
Russia is investing heavily in technical textiles and nonwovens. The plan is to take the share of domestically made technical textiles to 80 per cent of the local market by 2020. Balashov textile mill (Baltex) is one of Russia’s leading producers of technical textiles and nonwovens. At present the Russian technical textile market is estimated at $2 billion, of which the share of domestic production does not exceed 15 to 17 per cent. The same situation is currently observed with the raw materials base, which is reflected by the fact that the share of imports of synthetic fibers and yarns in the domestic market is estimated at about 71 per cent.
Currently, foreign companies are still dominating the Russian market for technical textiles and nonwovens and many are considering further expansion. US headquartered DuPont plans to build several facilities for the production of technical textiles and nonwovens in some cities in Siberia.
So far, Russia has had only two projects which have involved large-scale production of technical textiles. The National Investment and Finance Corporation, one of Russia’s largest investment corporations, is establishing a large cluster for the production of textile and technical textile products in the Russian Ryazan region.
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz from now on source fabrics only from mills it has inspected in Bangladesh. This is part of a program to improve working conditions in plants in the country.
H &M, which ranks second globally by sales to Spain’s Inditex, has extended its inspections from factories making its clothes to those supplying fabric and yarn. Its purchasing policies would benefit those sub-suppliers who measure up to its code of conduct. It will place more orders and book more material with those that take responsibility.
The program is about having a safe work environment and ensuring human rights with regards to remuneration and overtime and ensuring that there is no child labor. It is seen as a business tool to drive positive development and one that will make a difference for workers. The proportion of retailer’s clothes being made from fabric made by audited mills would rise to 50 per cent this year from 35 per cent last year. Unlike direct suppliers in the garment industry, most mills have never been exposed to demands or compliance standards from brands.
Poor working conditions in the textile industry were thrust into the limelight by the collapse in 2013 of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh in which more than 1,100 workers were killed.
Pakistan's cotton imports are on the rise. One reason is expectations of a lower domestic cotton production this year. Also, since Pakistan’s textile industry has had access to European Union market, domestic consumption of the fiber has risen by 6.8 per cent. The government plans to prioritise energy supplies for industries like the textile sector, a step that bodes well for cotton consumption.
Demand for the cotton is increasing considerably in many countries as China’s purchases wane. This, despite a crash in crude market, which has led to the lowering of oil-based fiber prices such as polyester. Pakistan cotton consumption in 2015-16 would be the highest since 2007-08. Pakistan’s cotton buy-ins will jump by 150 per cent next season. Pakistan’s cotton imports are likely to be two million bales in 2015-2016, the highest in eight years.
Turkey’s cotton imports are growing by 19.5 per cent and Egypt’s imports by 29 per cent, fuelled by improved demand. For Vietnam, cotton imports are forecast to rise by 10 per cent though that represents a slowdown for a country whose demand growth has bucked the stagnant world trend.
Reforms in China’s subsidy regime have slashed the country’s imports and encouraged lower cotton prices.
Apparel producers in Bangladesh have accused Accord and Alliance of imposing 'harsh' working conditions in the name of workplace safety in factories. Terming their demands 'illogical', they have said that factory owners are finding it difficult to meet their ever-increasing demands for work place safety and security. Accord and Alliance are two platforms by buyers from the European Union (EU) and North American countries working in Bangladesh to establish labour rights and promote work place safety in the ready-made garment sector.
At the recent joint meeting called by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), the attendees pointed out that while there is no coherent relation between Accord and Alliance themselves, they are imposing harsh working conditions in the name of safety at the local factories. According BGMEA president Md. Atiqul Islam, the demands of Accord and Alliance has become a big challenge for local factories and those don't ensure a level playing field for industry.
www.bgmea.com.bd
After a long-stretched political turmoil that negatively affected Bangladesh apparel export segment, now players are worried about possible fall in winter orders from key destinations. A decline in production during the three months of political unrest has already led to a decline in orders.
Apparel apex body-BGMEA recently held a meeting with buyers' forum, where more than 40 representatives of top global apparel buyers, brands and retailers participated. The aim was to assure them of improvement in situation and smooth supply of products. Even buyers expressed their willingness to increase sourcing from the country but players are skeptical about fulfilling demand due to a fall in production.
Industry estimates, the country's largest foreign currency-earning sector has already suffered a 20-25 per cent production loss during the last three months' due to political unrest. Almost 35 garment factories have suffered losses worth Tk 1.81 billion from January 14 to February 19 due to the blockade, according to the BGMEA. Locally-made apparel export (woven and knit) witnessed a 3.18 per cent growth during the July-March period of the current fiscal year. Knit products failed to achieve the target by 5.58 per cent and woven by 3.89 per cent during the period, under review.
www.bgmea.com.bd
