The rising industrial wages in China offer India an opportunity to seize the $284 billion of textiles and another $443 billion of clothing market. But India needs to first address the regulatory mess that successive governments have created over the years.

A series of imprudent regulations on fiber, wages and trade policy have made India mainly a supplier of raw material. It’s no surprise that India’s apparel export accounts for 40 per cent of its total textile export.

India’s export of $40 billion lags far behind China’s $269 billion despite its long history and obvious advantage in raw material and labor. Between 2000 and 2010 China doubled its global export share in apparels from 18.2 per cent to 36.4 per cent, but India’s share inched up from 3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Again, between 2010 and 2016 China was able to retain its global market share at 36 per cent, Bangladesh could increase it from 4.2 per cent to 6.4 per cnet, Vietnam almost doubled it from 2.9 per cent to 5.5 percent, but India managed to raise it from 3.2 per cent to 4 per cent.

The EU is thinking of revoking GSP for Myanmar.
Reasons include abuses by Myanmar’s military, including crimes against humanity and genocide.

This move is certain to devastate key sectors of the economy. The export-oriented garment sector, one of the country’s few economic bright spots, would be especially hard hit.

Garment exports account for 72 per cent of Myanmar’s shipments to the EU , making the EU one of the few markets with which Myanmar enjoys a trade surplus.

The EU granted Myanmar GSP status in 2013 following a series of political and economic reforms that eventuated in the 2015 elections after decades of military rule.

Myanmar’s garment sector employs about 5,00,000 people, and 95 per cent of these are women. The country’s business scene is increasingly dominated by Asian investors including from China. Chinese investment started to flow into the garment sector in 2013 to capitalize on Myanmar’s GSP status in the EU’s lucrative markets.

While the presence of European business in Myanmar champions European values including gender equality, transparency, accountability as well as social and environmental responsibility, Chinese-owned garment factories are not known for strictly abiding by these principles.

This is not the first time Myanmar’s garment sector has been threatened by sanctions. In 2003, the US imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar for chronic rights abuses, effectively decimating a then fledgling garment sector.

According to figures from a new paper by the US International Trade Commission (USITC), the talk of a ‘Made in the US’ resurgence in textiles may be premature. The figures show that after four years of decline, US textile shipments increased in 2017 to US$39.6bn, much of this – over 60 per cent – for the domestic market. However, this figure remained 3 per cent below the 2013 level. Textile exports also remained static. At US$10.6bn, US textile exports in 2017 were below the five-year high of US$12.1bn in 2014.

Total capital expenditures in plants and equipment for the textile and textile product sectors increased by 36 per cent during the 2013–16 periods, rising from US$1.6 billion in 2013 to US$2.1bn in 2016, the latest year for which data are available.

Employment in the textiles sector declined by 4 per cent to an estimated 126,000 in 2017. Moreover, the paper suggests labor productivity for yarns and fabrics – which accounts for most of the employment in the textiles sector – declined steadily during 2013–16.

Most countries recorded an increase in its textile and apparel exports during the first eight months of 2018. China's textile exports during the period increased marginally up by 1.2 per cent while its apparel exports declined by 1.06 per cent.

Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports during this period increased by 24.47 per cent. Its apparel exports grew by 27 per cent, while fabric exports increased by 34.31 per cent. Yarn exports were up by around 4 percent

Pakistan’s exports of most of textile product categories in August exports recorded a robust growth of 25.55 per cent over July. Its raw cotton exports shot up by 165.37 per cent, cotton fabric exports went up by 40.47 per cent, knitwear exports were up by 34 per cent and made-ups exports increased by over 50 per cent.

The Sri Lankan apparel exports in August were 6 per cent higher than in January. March recorded the highest exports at US$ 465 million. While in April, at US$ 323 million, Sri Lanka's apparel exports were the lowest.

However, India's textile and apparel exports in July were 5.82 per cent lower than in January. Exports of its woven apparel till July declined by 19.43 per cent.

Turkey's textile and clothing exports also went down by 5 per cent in August 2018, compared to exports in January 2018. Export growth has fluctuated wildly during these eight months.

The European Union has banned CMR substances from clothing, accessories, footwear and other textiles such as furniture upholstery and bed linens.
These CMR substances like lead, cadmium, arsenic, hexavalent chromium and formaldehyde are often found in a variety of dyes, flame retardants, and stain- and water-proofing agents.

The restrictions apply to textile products sold in the EU that may come into contact with human skin (or be inhaled or ingested) and aim to reduce exposures to substances identified as carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxins (so-called CMR substances).

The regulation specifies acceptable levels for the substances, ranging from as low as 1 mg/kg to 3,000 mg/kg. Amounts above these levels, whether present intentionally or as an impurity, would be prohibited.

The restrictions do not apply to products made exclusively of natural leather, fur or hide; non-textile fasteners and non-textile decorative attachments; second-hand clothing or other products; carpets, rugs, and other textile floor coverings; or medical devices or personal protective equipment as well as disposable, single or limited use textiles.

While a two year phase-in is provided to allow for manufacturers to conform to the new restrictions, a number of companies reportedly already have reformulated away from the listed substances and adopted less hazardous alternatives or are on track to do so.

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), which was gearing up for procurement operations from farmers may have to wait for a while as prices have gone above the Minimum Support Prices (MSP). Cotton prices are ruling at Rs 5,800 per quintal and have jumped up by nearly Rs 800 per quintal in last 10-12 days.

The prices have shot up by nearly Rs 800 per quintal on reports of short supplies, the typhoon in the US that has hit the crop and China announcing a quota of nearly 48 lakh bales.

P Alli Rani, CMD, CCI pointed out that arrivals are weak, to the tune of 50,000 to 60,000 bales a day. Moreover most of the cotton does not meet the FAQ parameters with more than 12 per cent moisture.

Meanwhile, industry experts pointed out that the traders are buying cotton at Rs 50 or Rs 100 more than MSP and once arrivals peak, prices are set to drop and then it will be difficult for them to buy at MSP.

Market sources pointed out that prices are up due to buying by mills, which are running out of stock amid lower-than-expected supply of the new crop in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.

Higher labor costs in China and political pressures were supposed to drive US manufacturers to bring production home.
That has yet to happen. The reshoring trend has yet to materialize in any major way.

US imports of manufactured goods from the 14 countries that would be typically associated with offshoring actually grew by eight per cent in 2017. By comparison, US domestic manufacturing output grew only 5.6 per cent.

The US is growing, manufacturing jobs are up, but imports are growing faster.

The reshoring wave that was supposed to start back in 2011 really never took off. In fact more and more products are coming into the US from those offshoring countries. Some of these countries are China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.

One reason is that US consumers are still looking for a bargain. That means they are buying products that are cheaper because they’ve been made offshore.

Even US companies that have reshored over the past few years have been reluctant to invest too much. In fact some have actually scaled down their reshoring. They have discovered that any product with labor-intensive manufacturing processes is still more economical to produce in low-cost countries.

Electronics For Imaging, Inc launched its latest innovations for digital textile production at ITMA Asia. These included EFI Reggiani Colors, a digital textile printer offering high-end production in up to 12 colours; the EFI Reggiani Terra solution featuring new pigment ink with binder for a greener, faster and competitive textile process; EFI Optitex® 2D/3D CAD design software; and the EFI Fiery® DesignPro software suite for print preparation and production.

With these products, designers, brands and manufacturers alike benefit from the ability to speed time to market and deliver stunning, digitally printed apparel, home textiles and more.

The Reggiani Colors printer offers a unique imaging configuration especially important for customers seeking to establish a distinct competitive advantage. The printer runs at speeds up to 560 square meters per hour, delivering unmatched printing quality and uniformity with an extended colour gamut, superior colour depth and increased penetration into fabric.

The Reggiani Terra solution for direct-to-textile production eliminates the need for steaming or washing on direct-to-textile applications using a greener, more-efficient polymerisation process that takes place as printed textile goes through the printer’s on-board dryer.

The EFI Optitex® 2D/3D CAD design software delivers a faster, more customisable, user-friendly experience, saving time and resources with a faster time to market. It includes an all-in-one avatar solution that allows users to customize avatars, adjust morphs, create sizes and define poses to visualise a final draped result and enable accurate fit.

The new version 4 of EFI’s Fiery DesignPro software includes new and updated plug-ins that significantly reduce the time and effort needed to create repeat patterns and sophisticated colorways directly within Adobe® Photoshop®.

The Albini Group in partnership with Oritain has created the first 100 per cent traceable Supima organic cotton.

Using forensic science, Oritain analyses the naturally-occurring chemical properties of the actual fiber itself, creating a unique chemical fingerprint for the product that links it back to the field in which it was grown – which cannot be altered, copied or adulterated.

Oritain can test the product at every stage of the supply chain to verify that the fabric is consistent with the original fingerprint and has not been substituted, blended or tampered with. Only an exact match shows that the product is authentic. Thanks to this procedure, each step is traceable and it is therefore possible to go back, from the finished fabric, precisely to the field in which the cotton was grown.

Albini is an Italian textile business. Oritain, based in New Zealand, is an origin verification expert.

Through this innovative project to promote sustainable fashion, the cotton grown and picked by members of the Supima association in the US, and then dyed and woven by Albini, will be fully traceable thanks to a vertically integrated supply chain and state-of-the-art scientific methods.

Cotton samples are picked from the fields and analysed using forensic science methods, to verify their chemical properties. Oritain then uses statistical models to transform this information into a unique digital fingerprint for that particular fiber, whose journey can be monitored across the entire supply chain, making sure that it has not been substituted, contaminated or tampered with.

Using this procedure, it will be possible to trace the fabric's origin to the field where the cotton it is made of has been cultivated, a hitherto unprecedented level of traceability.

Anup Chandra Pandey, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh recently conferred the prestigious Ajay Shankar Memorial Awards for the best design and display stands at the 46th edition of IHGF-Delhi Fair Autumn 2018. These awards for the Best design & Display Stand are awarded in the categories of houseware, table, kitchen and hotelware, fashion jewellery & accessories, furniture, furniture hardware & home accessories, home textiles, furnishing & floor coverings, lamp lighting & accessories, Christmas decoratives and festive décor. In each of these categories Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies were distributed.

Pandey also appreciated EPCH for setting up various infrastructure projects in the state for the promotion and development of handicrafts such as the Common Facility Center, National Centre for Photo and Picture Framing Technology, Technology Upgradation Center at Saharanpur, Resource Center at Moradabad and State-of-the-art Exposition Centre i.e. India Expo Centre and Mart at Greater Noida. He urged the state government to set up more common facility centres as required by the artisans and exporters.