Yarn production decreased nine per cent in the first quarter of 2018 across the world. Increases of three per cent in the US and 12 per cent in Brazil cancelled out production reductions of 13 per cent in Africa, 11 per cent in Asia and 1.5 per cent in Europe.

Global yarn orders decreased five per cent on an average in all countries, except in Japan where they increased two per cent. Most countries from Africa, Asia and North America are optimistic about the evolution in the second quarter, while Europe and Brazil expect a decline in production.

Global fabric production in the same comparative periods decreased 10 per cent, with a 12 per cent drop in Asia, a five per cent decline in Africa and a two per cent falloff in Europe. Brazil’s fabric production increased one per cent in the period. World fabric output reached 96 per cent of its first quarter 2017 level.

Global fabric orders fell six per cent in the first quarter from the fourth quarter. Europe’s two per cent gain was balanced out by reductions of ten per cent in Brazil and 18 per cent in Africa, which brought the global index to 88 per cent of its prior-year level.

Although the SDGs are still a relatively new idea in the business world, a growing number of brands and retailers are turning to the United Nations–adopted objectives as a kind of turnkey framework for achieving ambitious environmental, economic and social targets. Broken up into 169 specific benchmarks, the 17 SDGs encompass poverty eradication, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, clean and affordable energy, innovation and infrastructure, climate action and education.

These SDGs, related to fashion, are coming into focus at a time of escalating discourse about the $2.5 trillion industry’s social and environmental impacts. In July, Marie Chatardová, President of the UN Economic and Social Council, characterised the state of fashion as one of “environmental and social emergency.”

According to the UN, garment manufacturing emits 10 percent of carbon emissions (SDG 13), produces 20 percent of water, is often linked to dangerous working conditions (SDG 8) and contributes to deleterious health impacts from the use of hazardous substances during production (SDG 3. These SDGs can serve as a nice menu for companies to understand where they are making an impact and how they can have an impact.

H&M’s operating profit fell 19 per cent in the three months to August, marking the tenth decline in 12 quarters. Stock-in-trade rose 15 per cent. Record apparel backlogs have hit its profit. H&M’s inventories have been a persistent problem, rising steadily as the Stockholm-based fast-fashion chain failed to keep up with consumers’ tastes and was struck by logistics woes. The company is working through the excess stocks and will be able to scale back discounting as a result, even as it irons out its supply problems.

The retailer has taken the market share in most markets, largely because its new collections have been appreciated by customers. However, H&M won’t hit its sales growth target of 10 to 15 per cent this year. Online sales were a bright spot for H&M, rising 32 per cent, though the retailer still may struggle to reach its target for a full-year increase of at least 25 per cent because first-half e-commerce missed that level.

Weakness among clothing retailers has pitted them in a battle to lower prices. Sales at Gap, discount-clothing retailer Primark and Esprit have been under pressure, and Inditex reported its weakest sales growth in four years this month.

Birla Cellulose is focused on sharing the sustainability philosophy behind its home textile fibers during the New York Home Fashions Market. The company produces a variety of home textile fibers including anti-bacterial viscose and stain-resistant fibers and is launching Liva Eco, made of Forest Stewardship Council Wood with Higg 3.0 supply chain traceability. Liva Eco is a more sustainable fiber that can be used across numerous applications including bed linens, carpets, bath towels or furnishings.

Its cellulosic fibers are best suited as blending, giving softness to polyester in pillows, luster to wool in carpets and rugs and shine to cotton in bed linen applications. These fibers offer a complete cycle for textile products. Design and price have historically influenced customers’ preferences. However, an increased environmental focus across many agencies and brands has increased enquiries related to renewable sustainable products.

As per a survey by Willis Towers Watson, automation will double over the next three years in Indian factories. Companies in the Asia Pacific region reckon that machines will account for 23 per cent of work, on average, over the next three years, compared to 13 per cent today. In India, this figure is expected to rise to almost 30 percent from 14 percent over the same period.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, this is happening as India’s ballooning working-age population needs more jobs. Over the next decade, 138 million people will be added to the workforce, a 30 per cent rise. That India’s yarn and cloth-making industries — among the most labor-intensive in the country — have become the vanguard of automation speaks about the challenge. Textile-yarn companies had to ramp up investment on hiring and venture deep into the Indian terrain to find workers through recruitment camps, luring them with housing and attendance incentives. It even has had to pay them just to return to work after the holiday season or weddings.

Portuguese designers are making in mark in Paris fashion scene. They have showcased their country’s creative and commercial potential with a number of runway shows and presentations.

Designer Diogo Miranda has offered a collection entitled Two Thousand Nineteen, inspired by the works of American photographer Irving Penn. Focusing on ethereal, feminine silhouettes, Miranda designed his pieces with dramatic images and shapes, a mature, independent woman who is sure of herself in mind. In the runway structured silhouettes, three-dimensional volume and batwing sleeves were centre stage among designs in silk, crepe and linen which shifted from nude and pastel tones to darker shades of violet, burgundy and black.

Another designer Luis Buchinho is inspired by the Japanese tradition of Gyotaku, a natural printing technique which is reflected in marine-inspired designs that play with metallic tones and different textures to create a contrasting fish-scale effect. The technically complex collection mixes a slight sportswear influence with more couture elements that accentuate the feminine form with a simultaneously casual and sophisticated effect. The result is a collection of futuristic-looking disco-toned pieces with real commercial potential.

Paris is a city where trends begin and where designer fashion companies see the highest growth. Parisian shows have a positive impact on a brand's sales.

Luxury lifestyle brand Stella McCartney has joined Fashion for Good, a sustainability initiative which connects disruptive innovators with major apparel companies. Among other partners with this initiative are: Adidas, C&A, Galeries Lafayette, Kering, PVH, Target and Zalando. These brands through Fashion for Good’s network are introduced to the textile industry’s up-and-coming innovators and given access to market-ready sustainable technologies.

To symbolise its newly-established relations, Stella McCartney has launched a new dress. The garment has been dyed using Colorifix’s proprietary bio-synthetic technology, which converts agricultural by-products such as sugar molasses into colorants suitable for textile dyeing. This process drastically reduces the environmental impact of conventional textile dyeing methods, using just a tenth of the amount of water while eradicating metals, acids and solvents from the process.

Fashion for Good encourages the adoption of the five goods-- Good Materials, Good Economy, Good Energy, Good Water and Good Lives. The initiative works with Plug and Play, a leading Silicon Valley accelerator, to give promising start-up innovators the funding and expertise they need in order to grow. Funding of startups is provided by Plug and Play and Fashion for Good, and support is provided by Fashion for Good’s corporate partners.

Prices paid for recycled textile materials have weakened. One textile recycler had to stop exporting material to Nigeria due to the February 2019 elections and legislative change. This, mixed with trading implications tied with Brexit, meant the business was forced to drop prices by around 30 to 40 per cent. Nigeria has introduced legislation banning third-party payments. However, there was a surge of used clothing and textiles for recycling in August and into September.

The real impact however will be in November, if recyclers still have a lot of material that they can’t get rid off by Christmas. The excess material, coupled with a decline in demand from export markets, has led some in the field to stop collecting from shops, where they are not tied into a contract, and have also forecast a possible market crash, as was seen earlier this decade.

While there is always a plethora of reasons prices fall, an ongoing reason is a surplus of unsorted clothing. There is simply too much of it, which is unsorted. There has been a retraction in sorting operations. There used to be 150 grades, which has now dropped, and that could show people are exporting lower grade material, and there is simply more available, which lowers the price.

Malaysia has yet to decide on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The country feels the trade pact is not a fair one as it gives companies the power to sue governments for loss of future profits, and something too dangerous for a small country to be associated with. Another concern is that TPP tends to take a stand that is almost anti-Chinese, while a trade agreement ought to include all countries without discrimination. Signatories to the TPP represent 13.5 per cent of the global economy and a market of 500 million people.

Malaysia does not want to be manipulated by big players in the TPP. Malaysia wants the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be renegotiated and has urged protection for small countries in international trade.

The CPTPP is a renegotiated trade deal after the US pulled out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). CPTPP was signed by the remaining eleven TPP member countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will reduce tariffs in countries that together amount to more than 13 per cent of the global economy. Malaysia’s ideal is a broad trade pact such as the East Asian Economic Caucus.

Lenzing will set up a new production facility in Thailand. Thai production volumes would be around 90,000 tons a year. Thailand is one of the few countries with free trade agreements in the Asean region as well as with China and India. This will enable Lenzing to supply to customers worldwide. Lenzing expects 2018 earnings to be lower than in the last two years, partly due to increased commodity prices and strong competition on the fiber market.

The company has halted a project in the US partly due to rising tariffs between the United States and China, where much of the project’s production was destined. Chinese textile exports to the United States now face a 10 per cent tariff, with the possibility tariffs might increase and China would respond with counter-duties. Lenzing’s assessment is that products such as its Lyocell fiber may be affected.

Lyocell, a fiber produced from wood, is one of the group’s top-sellers. Lenzing remains on track for specialty expansions such as Tencel Luxe filaments and Lenzing Ecovero viscose fibers. No substantial additional lyocell volumes, over and above the successful 25.000 tons expansion in Austria, will be added to the market in 2019 and 2020 by Lenzing.