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The volume of US apparel imports from all sources edged up 0.2 per cent year-on-year in February, rebounding from a 4.2 per cent fall in January. While shipments from China, the largest supplier of apparel to the US, increased 2.1 per cent in February, those from nearest rival Vietnam fell 1.5 per cent compared to a year earlier.
Bangladesh saw apparel shipments increase 13.9 per cent, bouncing back from the 8.4 per cent decline recorded in January. India also booked double-digit growth. El Salvador and Pakistan saw apparel shipments grow 7.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively. But there were significant declines from Indonesia, Honduras, Cambodia and Mexico.
China continues to remain a compelling source for apparel buyers as rising prices are largely being offset by productivity gains. Despite its February decline, Vietnam has benefited as both producers and buyers diversify their supply chains. The country’s apparel business is also being buoyed by the expected benefits of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty with countries including Canada and the US.
India may also have benefited from orders diverted from China and Bangladesh during the month as well as the recovering US economy. Cambodia, however, continues to face criticism over working conditions in garment factories.
As per APTMA chairman, S M Tanveer, domestic textile industry has lost its competitiveness against the strong competition from other regions. As per the latest study by the GHERZI/IBA, the manufacturing of 20s and 30s single cotton yarn is around 15 per cent cheaper in India owing to factors like availability of better quality raw material and production efficiencies are higher due to the latest machinery replacement under the TUFS scheme at almost zero interest rate.
Tanveer said that while all the production factors including energy availability at affordable tariff, cheaper finance, lower wages and productive workforce are well in place in India, the textile industry in Pakistan, on the other hand, is struggling for energy availability without break over the last six years. Pakistani industry is also being burdened with various types of new taxes and inefficiencies which cannot be passed on to the buyers.
Though the textile industry is predominantly export-oriented and thus exposed to the international market, he says, it is losing sheen with textile and clothing exports declining or stagnant since February last. He further added that the situation is heading towards a serious repercussion on the farm sector, the entire textile value-chain and eventually the textile industry workforce. He has sought government intervention to restore competitiveness of the textile industry by ensuring realistic rupee value, electricity and gas availability at regionally affordable rate, immediate notification of TUFS scheme, liquidation of all pending refunds, removal of all new taxes and immediate announcement of zero rate regime for five export-oriented sectors.
www.aptma.org.pk
The RBI marginally reduced the repurchase rate (also called as repo rate) by 0.25 per cent in March 4 this year but the knitwear industry in Tirupur wants a further reduction. Small and medium enterprises that dominate the Tirupur cluster say the cost of funds is a vital element for capacity expansion and for meeting working capital requirements. Since repurchase rate is still on the higher side, borrowers are forced to pay high equated monthly installments while repaying bank loans.
The RBI had kept the repurchase rate under the liquidity adjustment facility at 7.5 per cent and decided to maintain the cash reserve ratio of the scheduled banks unchanged at 4 per cent of net demand and liability based on an assessment of current and evolving macro-economic situations. The feeling is that unless the repo rates are slashed significantly, banks are not going to reduce interest rates by a substantial margin.
The repo rate has been used as a tool to suck out excess liquidity. The repo rate was just 4.75 per cent in 2009 and has been raised subsequently with only occasional reductions. Mostly inflation has been cited as the reason for increasing the rates.
Exporters from different sectors of Bangladesh have demanded a cut in tax at source on export bill and withdrawal of tax on cash incentives in the country’s budget for fiscal year 2015-16. Exporters have sent a proposal to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to cut tax at source on export to 0.30 per cent from existing 0.60 per cent.
Currently, only apparel exporters get 0.30 per cent tax rates on export bill while others are paying 0.60 per cent. Frozen foods exporters, textile mills, jute, and plastic sectors have now sought the same amount of tax rate as paid by the apparel exports to bring uniformity. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) leaders have also urged the NBR to continue special income tax rate at 15 per cent for primary textile sectors including spinning, weaving, dying, printing and finishing mills, which is scheduled to expire in June, 2015.
The BTMA also sought tax holiday facility for new investment in spinning, weaving and other factories under primary textile sector to encourage investment in the sector. Despite being the second largest exporter after China, issues like political unrest and non-compliance are hindering the growth of exports industry in Bangladesh.
www.nbr-bd.org
The next edition of ITMA will take place in Italy from November 12 to 19, 2015. This showcases technology used for making textiles and garments. About 1,00,000 visitors from around the world are expected. It will display braiding and embroidery substances, plant operation equipments, finishing, dyestuffs and chemicals, garment and textile products and accessories, fibers and yarns, nonwovens, knitting and hosiery goods, spinning accessories and software, weaving equipments and services.
ITMA 2015 is a global marketplace, a one-stop sourcing platform for emerging trends and innovation solutions; acquiring new knowledge and best practices; and establishing strategic relationships with industry leaders. Since 1951, ITMA has been a recognized as a textile and garment machinery exhibition. CEMATEX, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, is the force behind ITMA.
The textile industry has a long way to go in improving its overall environmental performance. Sustainability remains a vital concern to manufacturers throughout the supply chain. The drive towards sustainability in the entire textile and garment value chain is increasingly integrated with enlightened business practices, and innovative technology holds the key to environmental sustainability. Textile technologists are being encouraged to consider what will happen to products at the end of their lifetime.
www.itma.com/
Market research firm Euromonitor International has released a new report on the apparel and footwear industry. In 2014, menswear grew by 4.5 per cent reaching $440 billion in sales compared to 3.7 per cent in women’s wear with $662 billion.
By 2019, menswear will contribute close to $40 billion in the global apparel market, offering opportunities for category development. Men’s shirts, jeans and jackets and coats are forecast to be the top performers between 2014-19. No wonder, over the past couple of years, men’s wear sales have escalated with men shifting their outlook towards fashion. Even renowned labels are taking note of this change. Recently, luxury brands like Coach introduced a full men's range and CFDA decided to host its first-ever men's fashion week, indicating that this trend is here to stay.
The report further states that while Western markets still spend the most on clothes future growth will be driven by Asia Pacific. In some of these key markets, menswear has already surged ahead of traditional female-oriented fashion. A recent e-commerce report from Ibis World too confirmed the trend, which said that online sales of menswear have grown at a faster rate over the last five years than every other category measured, including computers and tablets, cosmetics, shoes and even online groceries.
As per a report, brands traditionally focused on women’s wear have started opening separate menswear stores, while department stores are starting to revamp menswear areas. This has been particularly true in the luxury market, with a number of luxury and mass fashion brands like Burberry or Zara opening standalone menswear stores to take advantage of the growing trend.
www.euromonitor.com
The Bluesign Technologies conference will be held in Switzerland on July 13 and 14. Bluesign is an emerging standard for environmental health and safety in manufacturing textiles. The Switzerland-based organisation provides independent auditing of textile mills, examining manufacturing processes, from raw materials and energy inputs to water and air emissions outputs. It ranks its audit findings in order of concern and suggests ways to reduce consumption while recommending alternatives to harmful chemicals or processes.
This is the fourth conference and for the first time it’s open to the public. Top speakers from science and industry will speak under the topic ‘The Blue Way’. The conference will be divided into three sections: Blue Economy, Blue Chemistry and Blue Competence, which will, respectively, give an insight into economical and sustainable thinking, the chemical industry's greener solutions and alternatives, and sustainability options in textile processing and machinery.
Bluesign has gained serious traction in the last few years among some of the leading brands in the outdoor clothing and gear business. Eco conscious consumers can feel confident purchasing clothing items with the Bluesign label that they are buying the most environmentally-friendly, socially conscious jackets, shirts, sweaters, pants, hat or gloves.
www.bluesign.com/
Russia's technical textiles and industrial nonwovens industry is witnessing growth on the back of a number of new investment projects that were announced in recent months. For example, the Balashov textile mill (Baltex), one of Russia’s leading producers of technical textiles and nonwovens, is investing $200 million for expansion of the production of polyamide fibres and fabrics over the next few years.
While, the company is experiencing a shortage of raw materials, preventing it from further increasing its production, commissioning of a new factory is expected to partially solve this problem. Currently around 30 per cent of its production is fully utilized and this figure is expected to significantly increase in the coming years due to increase in production of technical textiles by 2017-2018.
Other leading Russian producers of technical textiles and nonwovens like Kuibyshevazot, Kurskhimvolokno and BTK Group, have also announced their expansion plans in Russia. The increase in production of technical textiles is part of the ambitious plans of the Russian government. It aims to increase the share of domestically made technical textiles to 80 per cent by 2020. At present, the Russian technical textiles market is estimated at US$2 billion, of which the share of domestic production hovers around just15 to 17 per cent. anstepan.rusmarket.com
Value-added textile producers in Pakistan have opposed the move to merge textiles and commerce ministry. Finance minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar had recently mooted a proposal to merge the two ministries. In a letter to the Prime Minister, value-added textile sector associations have expressed surprise at this recommendation made without consulting them and other stakeholders in the industry.
The letter adds that the textiles ministry was earlier set up due to their demands, since the sector makes up for 54.63 per cent of overall exports and generates 42 per cent of total employment. It was also noted that India has a full-fledged textiles ministry, despite the fact that Indian textile exports account for only 11.9 per cent of its exports. As per the letter, the textiles ministry should be given more powers to take vital decisions, since in its absence, it is not able to take vital decisions regarding implementation of the Textile Policy.
Swedish retailer H&M has released its latest “Conscious Actions Sustainability Report 2014,” which underlines the company’s commitment toward reducing carbon footprint, while going green. The 13th annual report highlights successful initiatives implemented by the company over the last year which include use of only renewable energy and increasing the number of products made from recycled materials.
According to the recent research paper by Textile Exchange, ‘Organic Cotton Market Report 2013’, H&M continues to be the world’s No. 1 user of organic cotton. In addition, 7,684 tons of used garments have been collected for reuse or recycling since its in-store program kicked off in 2013 that’s as much fabric as what’s in more than 38 million T-shirts and in 2014, the retailer released its first closed-loop products made with 20 per cent recycled cotton. The goal now is to collect 100,000 tons of used garments by 2020.
The company also made use of around 40 million PET bottles to make recycled polyester, 24.6 per cent of the retailer’s shoes are now made with mainly water-based glues and it pledges to use only certified down from this year onward, as well as only 100 per cent certified wool from 2017. The company also unveiled its debut ‘Conscious Denim’ collection, which on average used 56 per cent less water and 58 per cent less energy during the production process. It has also decided to include second-tier fabric and yarn suppliers involved in making about 35 per cent of its products, in public supplier factory list.
Keeping the situation in Bangladesh in sight, the company apart from monitoring factory compliance, has collaborated with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Fair Labor Assocation (FLA) to promote industrial relations and social dialog between its suppliers and their workers.
www.hm.com
