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Inspectors hired by Western retailers have been checking the structural safety of factories in Bangladesh. But a dispute has erupted between Bangladesh’s Inspector General of Factories and engineers from the group of retailers called Accord. The Bangladesh government is refusing to shut down garment factories declared unsafe.
The inspector general has refused since April to review or close down six factories, employing hundreds of workers, deemed unsafe after inspections. Accord represents some 150 mostly European retailers. The dispute centers on the estimated strength of the concrete in buildings made before 2005. Accord’s inspectors put the concrete strength significantly lower than estimates from the country’s main engineering university which advises the government.
The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology says accepting Accord’s recommendation on concrete strength would prove disastrous for the garment industry and would lead to the closure of at least half the garment factories. Bangladesh is the world’s second biggest clothing manufacturer. But the sector with some 3,500 factories has a woeful safety track record, highlighted by factory collapses and disasters.
Invista has launched a denim fabric under the brand Cordura. The fabric is rugged and helps hard-working jeans last longer than traditional 100 per cent cotton denim. It’s based on a blend of cotton and Invista’s T420 nylon 6.6 fiber and offers the authentic look and comfort of cotton denim, but with added abrasion resistance and toughness. It has stretch and para-aramid properties.
Cordura has been launched in collaboration with Artistic Milliners, a leader in global denim technologies. Other durable performance denims in the Cordura denim fabric collection feature technologies designed to channel moisture and enhance airflow. These denim fabrics contain fibers with a specially engineered cross-section that helps to move moisture away in hot climates as well as hollow core fibers to help provide insulation for added comfort on colder days.
Invista is known for denim innovations with technical performance features that include thermoregulation, moisture management, water repellency, and enhanced tear resistance. Cordura applications include durable performance denims for apparel, including thermoregulation and waterproof denim solutions for hiking, skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding, motorcycling and urban cycling.
Invista is one of the world's largest integrated producers of polymers and fibers and has a manufacturing or business presence in more than 20 countries. It owns brands like Lycra, CoolMax, Cordura, Stainmaster and Antron.
China's clothing exports may fall over the next few years owing to rising labour and production costs. As a result, export growth could falter, this is the analysis by a new report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence. Rising costs in China are already forcing an increasing number of western apparel brands and retailers to cut back on their sourcing from China and have their apparel manufactured elsewhere. In response, the Chinese government is pursuing a policy of encouraging growth in the domestic clothing market in order to take up slack in its manufacturing sector caused by this apparent loss in competitiveness.
The rise in costs stems in part from significant increases in fuel and shipping costs. Also, wage rates have risen to the point where they are higher than in many other Asian countries. Moreover, wage costs are set to increase further, given the Chinese government’s commitment to raising minimum wage rates by an average of 13 per cent per annum during 2011-15.
Early signs of a shift in apparel manufacturing have been seen in EU and US clothing import trends. In 2013, China’s share of EU clothing imports from all sources in value terms fell from 41.7 per cent to 40.1 per cent, having fallen sharply in the previous year. China’s share of US clothing imports from all sources fell from 37.8 per cent to 37.3 per cent.
In most cases, the companies which are cutting back on having their apparel produced in China are relocating manufacturing processes to other low cost countries – mostly in Asia. In fact, the strongest growth in the EU clothing import in 2013 was in imports from Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan, while the strongest growth in the US clothing import market was in imports from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The potential for growth in China’s domestic market is huge. Consumer expenditure per head on clothing in China is extremely small – despite significant expansion in recent years. In 2012 it was only $290 in urban areas and just $63 in rural areas compared with an average of around $1,400 in Germany, the UK and the US.
If expenditure per head in China were to climb to $1,400, then domestic demand for clothing would be $1,560 billion per annum greater than it is at present. This additional demand would more than compensate for any likely fall in exports, given that it equates to about nine times China’s clothing exports to all destinations in 2013.
It is no surprise therefore, that a number of western apparel brands and retailers are expanding their retail operations in China in order to capitalise on an expected upsurge in domestic demand. One of the biggest opportunities in Chinese retailing, however, lies in e-commerce. This is expanding rapidly in the country in the same way that it is expanding in Western markets and Japan. Online stores have already been established in China by Burberry, Cherokee, Coach, Hugo Boss, Kering, Levi’s, Neiman Marcus, Uniqlo and Zara, to name only a few.
Alvanon, the apparel sizing and fit expert plans to launch a new virtual fit form avatar, based on its AlvaForm technical fit mannequins. The new Virtual AlvaForm will be compatible with multiple 3D fashion design and prototype development systems and will enable garment designers and technologists to create, develop, fit and share their designs on avatars that are an accurate match to their brand’s target consumer.
The Virtual AlvaForm avatar will be made available from September 1, 2014 and will be an exact 3D representation of Alvanon’s widely used physical AlvaForm technical fit mannequins. Used in conjunction with the advanced functionalities of leading 3D fashion design and prototype development systems, Virtual AlvaForms will further increase the speed of the design to market process while yielding significant savings in physical fittings and sampling. Crucially the Virtual AlvaForms will also help garment suppliers apply an accurate fit and size standard consistently across the entire supply chain regardless of location.
Alvanon’s Virtual AlvaForms will be used in conjunction with physical AlvaForms to implement consistency in fit and sizing at every level of the design, development, production and quality process. Garment designs will be fitted on the Virtual AlvaForms, manipulated and edited in the 3D design environments, and shared across the supply chain to ensure everyone has the same fit intentions and information.
DyStar will showcase products based on patented new chemistry at the Interdye & Printing Euroasia 2014 being held from June 5 to 7, 2014 at the Expo Centre, Turkey. DyStar is a leading provider of dyes, chemicals, effects and services for the textile industry. It will launch Remazol SAM, a new range of reactive dyes of pale to deep shades, providing a high color yield and build-up, high fixation yield and good fastness levels.
In response to increasing ecological pressures on mordant black dyes for wool, DyStar is now launching the new patented Realan Black MF-PV, which provides a completely metal-free dyeing process. Realan Black MF-PV provides the highest wet processing fastnesses, even higher than Mordant Black 9 types and far superior to Reactive Black 5 types for wool black.
DyStar will also showcase Lava Cell NSB, a new cold, neutral bio-polish enzyme giving a superior bio-polish performance at colt temperatures of 30 to 40 °C. Visitors can also expect to learn more on the latest range of Dianix XF2 dyes. These five new dyes have been designed to offer excellent wet fastness performance on critical fabrics. As for polyamide apparel exhaust dyeing and continuous polyamide carpet dyeing, the new Telon Red M-CP closes a critical gap in the Telon range.
As per the data released by International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the volume of cotton traded internationally is expected to decline by 8 per cent to 8.1 million tons in 2014-15, driven by reduced shipments to China from a record of 5.3 million tons in 2011-12 to an anticipated 2.1 million tons 2014-15. While the increased volume of trade benefited many exporting countries and farmers, it did not reflect improved demand for cotton.
In 2011-12 when imports increased by 26 per cent to 9.8 million tons, world consumption decreased by 7 per cent to 22.8 million tons, the smallest consumption since 2003-04. While world consumption is forecast to increase by 3 per cent to 24.2 million tons in 2014-15, below the level seen in the seven years before international cotton prices spiked.
In 2011-12, China implemented its policy of buying domestic and imported cotton for its national reserve and consequently became a large importer of cotton. Since 2011-12, the high price of cotton in China hurt its spinning industry, but helped the spinning industry in other countries, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In 2012-13, the season after China’s implementation of its new cotton policy, India’s consumption grew by 12 per cent to 4.8 million tons and is expected to grow by 7 per cent to 5.4 million tons in 2014-15. Similarly, Pakistan’s consumption grew by 9 per cent to 2.4 million tons in 2012-13 and is forecast to grow by 3 per cent to 2.6 million tons in 2014-15.
Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam also saw similar growth in 2012-13 in consumption and should continue growing in 2014-15, though at a slower rate. In contrast, China’s consumption fell by 4 per cent in 2012-13 to 8.3 million tons and is expected to fall by 1 per cent in 2014-15 to 7.8 million tons.
In 2014-15, exports from Greece and the CFA zone are forecast to rise by 6 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively. However, exports from other large producing countries are expected to decrease in 2014-15. The United States’ exports are expected to decrease by 1 per cent to 2.26 million tons while Australia’s exports are expected to decrease by 23 per cent to about 800,000 tons. Additionally, India, the second largest exporter, could see a decrease of 21 per cent to 1.1 million tons in 2014-15 as more of its cotton is consumed domestically.
World ending stocks are forecast to increase by 12 per cent in 2013-14 to 20 million tons, and then to expand by another 5 per cent in 2014-15 to 20.1 million tons. Additionally, ending stocks outside of China are expected to increase by 7 per cent to 9.1 million tons in 2014/15 as China will be importing less of the surplus production than in the last two seasons. The projected accumulation of cotton stocks will weigh on international cotton prices in 2014-15, particularly as more stocks will be held outside of China.
According to the 36th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) report, shipments of the new textile machinery fell in most segments. As per the figures released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) that covers six segments of textile machinery, are compiled in cooperation with some 117 textile machinery manufacturers.
Worldwide shipments of new large circular knitting machines in 2013 remained unchanged on the record level of 2012. In comparison, global shipments of new short-staple spindles rose by 10 per cent while those of open-end rotors decreased slightly by 2 per cent and those of long-staple spindles dropped by 45 per cent. Also the number of new draw-texturing spindles shipped was down by 29 per cent, those of new shuttle-less looms by 4 per cent, and those of new electronic flat-knitting machines by 24 per cent. 
Circular and flat knitting machinery
Global shipments of large circular knitting machines increased by 27 per cent from 28,900 in 2011 to 36,640 in 2012, which set a new record. In 2013, the amount of machines remained practically unchanged at 36,575. Also in this segment, Asia was the main regional investor absorbing 91 per cent of all new machines shipped in 2013. The biggest single investor was China with a total of 27,460 (a global market share of 75 per cent) followed by India, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
In the segment of electronic flat knitting machines global shipments in 2012 dropped by 34 per cent to 46,100 machines. Also in 2013, global shipments recorded a decline of 24 per cent. The bulk of global shipments of electronic flat knitting machines was delivered to Asia (30,300 or 86 per cent), while Europe's share (including Turkey) reached 12 per cent.
Spinning and texturing machinery shipments
In 2012, shipments of short-staple spindles fell by 27 per cent to 10.51 million spindles but rose again in 2013 by 10 per cent to 11.56 million. Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles dropped in 2013 by 45 per cent from 146,400 to 80,800. Europe was the main recipient, followed by Asia and the Americas.
As far as open-end rotors are concerned global investments decreased slightly in 2013 by 2 per cent to 443,200. Asia was once again absorbed by far the most of the new rotors (351,400 or 79 per cent of global shipments). Country wise, China was the dominant investor putting in place 271,740 or 61 per cent of global shipments.
From 2010 to 2011, global shipments plummeted from 13,200 to only 1,824 by 86 per cent. In 2012, no shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles were recorded. In 2013, shipments reached 2,600 spindles, of which 2,120 went to Asia and 480 to Europe. In the segment of double heater draw-texturing spindles investments dropped from 717,760 to 505,080, a decline of 29 per cent. 90 per cent of all shipments went to Asia.
By far the biggest single investor in this type of draw-texturing machinery was again China where 366,480 new spindles or 73 per cent of global shipments were installed, followed by distant second Japan, India, Vietnam and Egypt
Weaving machinery segment
Worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms fell by 4 per cent in 2013. The main reason for this development was a further decline in shipments of water-jet looms. After a skyrocketing jump of 537 per cent in 2010 and in 2011, global deliveries of water-jet shuttle-less looms dropped by 65 per cent to 39,920 machines in 2012 and by 13 per cent to 34,580 in 2013. In the shuttle-less loom segment of rapier/projectile looms shipments increased marginally from 23,250 in 2012 to 23,830 in 2013.
Also deliveries of shuttle-less air-jet looms increased from 23,300 in 2012 to 25,010. As in previous years the main destination of shuttle-less looms was Asia, where 76,390 or 92 per cent of all new shuttle-less looms were installed.
Shima Seiki Italia will hold a private exhibition at its Italian office next month, following its successful show at Milan this March. The exhibition will be a showcase of the company's diverse line-up of computerised flat knitting machines covering all aspects of knit manufacturing. It will feature the flagship Mach 2X series with slide needles mounted on four needle beds as well as the compact SWG-N2 series whole garment knitting machine for industrial textiles.
The ultrafine gauge SWG-First series with 21G capability and the Mach 2Sir with the highest possible number of intarsia carriers will also be presented. The comprehensive line-up will also include the Sry123LP with loop pressers that produce unprecedented knitwear with woven textures and the new SVR workhorse series.
Demonstrations will also be performed on Shima Seiki's SDS-One Apex 3 design system that is at the core of the company's total knitting system concept.
With comprehensive support of all aspects throughout the knit supply chain, the Apex 3 integrates knit production into one efficient workflow from yarn development, product planning and design to machine programming, production and even sales promotion.
Shima Seiki Italia is the Italian subsidiary of the Japanese computerised knitting machine manufacturer.
Staubli will show a selection of its modern textile machinery at ITMA Asia, June 16 to June 20, Shanghai. This includes cam motions, dobbies, and electronic jacquard machines with harnesses as well as weaving preparation systems with automatic warp drawing in, leasing, and warp-tying machines.
Four complete jacquard installations on weaving machines will be demonstrated. One installation is equipped with a type LX3202 jacquard machine with 12,288 hooks and Stäubli harness weaving tapestry and upholstery fabric on a 180 cm wide rapier weaving machine. A second installation consists of a rapier weaving machine and a type SX jacquard machine with a Stäubli harness of 13,450 cords producing 220 cm wide car seat fabric. The third is a type SX electronic jacquard machine with 2,688 hooks and Stäubli harness of 6,000 cords weaving car seat fabric 190 cm in width on an air-jet weaving machine operating at approximately 1,000 weft insertions per minute.
At a special demonstration stand the full range of Stäubli harness types will be shown with a type DX jacquard machine including harness for any standard application. At another demonstration stand the LX32 type jacquard machine for weaving narrow fabrics such as ribbons and labels will be shown with 192 hooks and harness with four repeats
Companies in Vietnam's garment and textile sector are actively seeking new suppliers of materials to reduce their dependence on imports from China.
Finding material suppliers from countries other than China, which is currently the main supplier to Vietnam, is seen necessary for two reasons. First, is to reduce dependency on China, and second is to prepare for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, expected to be signed later this year.
The TPP agreement is likely to apply the yarn-forward principle, where fabric and garments made from yarn imported from China, which is not a part of TPP, would not enjoy duty-free benefit for exporting to other TPP-member countries.
For the first five months of 2014, Vietnam’s exports of garments showed a positive trend. Vietnam’s fabric production from natural fiber during January to May 2014 was 129 million sq m, registering an increase of 17 per cent year-on-year. However, production in May dropped by 5.4 per cent over April figures. In May 2014, Vietnam’s exports of garments and textiles showed a decrease of 8 per cent compared to April exports.
The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association has asked enterprises to explore importing materials from countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.
