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Forever Black is a denim line from Bestseller’s brand Only. These black jeans have been created in collaboration with Lenzing, the world leader in the production of wood pulp-based fibers. Tencel Modal fibers in black color, which are the primary component of Forever Black, are produced with responsibly sourced wood pulp – rather than traditional cotton – and are pre-dyed in the process of turning the wood pulp into fiber.
These fibers are certified with EU Ecolabel, which is awarded to products that meet high environmental standards throughout their life cycle. In the case of Tencel Modal fibers, there is a reduction of up to 50 per cent energy and water, as well as a 60 per cent reduced carbon footprint.
Only scrutinises the entire denim production process in the search for more sustainable solutions. For one of its 2019 collections, Only recently ordered 40,000 pairs of jeans that will use recycled polyester for stitching. On an average, each pair will use the equivalent of four 500 ml plastic bottles, meaning Only’s order will effectively recycle 1,60,000 plastic bottles. Besides the more sustainable benefits of Tencel Modal fibers compared to cotton, Only is bringing a fabric, which will truly be black forever.
"Care chief economist Madan Sabnavis has advised India to have a cautious approach at this stage as the trade war could be extended to India as well. President Donald Trump is very unpredictable, and has already indicated that Washington could levy higher tariff on some of the products imported from New Delhi. The Sino-US trade war, however, opens an opportunity to boost India’s exports to the US. India-US trade is worth over $100 billion. Both in merchandise and services, bilateral trade is loaded in favour of India. But there is also a possibility of dumping from China in the face of US restricting imports from Beijing."
The trade war between US and China, oil spike and volatility in exchange rate is likely to have a negative impact on oil importing countries like India. To mitigate this, India plans to hike tariff on 30 imported US goods including motorcycles, heavy machinery, chocolates, almonds and shrimps. This is in response to US increasing duty on aluminium and steel imported from India, resulting in a combined loss of $240 billion, which though not significant, mutes the expansion possibility.
Opportunity to boost exports
Care chief economist Madan Sabnavis has advised India to have a cautious approach at this stage as the trade war could be extended to India as well. President Donald Trump is very unpredictable, and has already indicated that Washington could levy higher tariff on some of the products imported from New Delhi. The Sino-US trade war, however, opens an opportunity to boost India’s exports to the US. India-US trade is worth over $100 billion. Both in merchandise and services, bilateral trade is loaded in favour of India. But there is also a possibility of dumping from China in the face of US restricting imports from Beijing.
New Delhi cannot remain complacent as Washington may demand enhanced market access in farm and dairy products and medical equipment. Although
India’s trade surplus with the US is little over $25 billion as compared to China’s $337 billion, America reckons India as a big market for its dairy and farm products and medical equipment. India is one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables with horticulture recording bumper harvest of 375 million tonne this year. Import of US farm products will worsen farmers and food security concerns.
A golden opportunity
Although, the US has threatened to withdraw the special and differential flexibilities for India, China and South Africa, trade experts see this as a window of opportunity for New Delhi to step up farm exports to Beijing which can help in narrowing the trade gap with China, now at over $50 billion. India can increase its global farm exports to $100 billion from the present $40 billion.
Analysts say, the trade war has certainly opened some opportunities and it is now up to the government and exporters to cash-in on it. FIEO regional head and a top garment exporter A Shaktivel said that as it is garment exports are not doing well and a trade war will definitely hit the Indian exports which of late has started looking up. India will do well to be cautious as it could be the next target. There may be a window of opportunity as well which depends on what Chinese items attract higher tariffs in the US.
American businesses want Chinese textiles to be added to the tariff roster. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is pleased that some textile products are on the second list but feels there would be a greater deterring effect if more textile and apparel end products were included.
The NCTO has been pushing for these tariffs for some time now. It cites China's predatory, illegal trade actions, including intellectual property rights theft, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the textile industry. NCTO says, China's domination of the global textile market can be attributed in part to intellectual property theft.
China is said to have gained pricing advantages through blatantly illegal activities, from the violation of patents on high performance fibers, yarns and fabrics to the infringement of copyrighted designs on textile home furnishings. NCTO believes, putting tariffs on Chinese textile and apparel exports would send a long-overdue signal that these predatory actions will no longer be tolerated.
If textiles and clothing are added to the list, this could greatly affect the promotional apparel industry. Currently, the apparel industry has been left largely unaffected by the proposed tariffs. But a textiles inclusion could lead to price increases on Chinese-made apparel, forcing promotional products distributors and suppliers to either absorb the costs or pass them on to end buyers.
Lenzing – Lenzing Group, the world market leader in specialty cellulosic fibers and Duratex, the largest producer of industrialised wood panels of the Southern Hemisphere, have agreed on the terms and conditions to form a joint venture to build the largest single line dissolving wood pulp (DWP) plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This decision supports the backward integration and the growth in specialty fibers, defined in Lenzing’s corporate strategy sCore TEN.
Lenzing will hold 51 per cent in this joint venture which involves the construction of the largest single line dissolving wood pulp plant in the world. The plant will house FSC® certified plantation ON 43,000 hectare. The joint venture has started the basic engineering and permitting process. The decision on final investment in the plant will be taken after assessing the outcome of the basic engineering in 2019.
The sixth annual Source Africa Textile and Apparel Show showcased the continent’s creativity, fashion sense, and business opportunities it opened at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on June 20th featuring 140 exhibitions by textile, shoe and clothing producers, suppliers and service providers from across Africa.
The show aimed to promote African-made products to national and international buyers and manufacturers and encourage intra-regional trade between African countries.
Source Africa is owned by the global exhibition firm Messe Frankfurt. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub continues to encourage buyers and producers to take advantage of business opportunities available through the U.S. African Growth and Opportunities Act, known as AGOA. The trade preference program offers duty-free access to the U.S. market for some 6,500 African product lines.
USAID Southern Africa Mission Director John Groarke opened the 2018 event, he stated that Source Africa offers a model for private sector-led economic development in Africa, where untapped sourcing and export opportunities abound. Source Africa brings together industry leaders and decision-makers from across Africa, Europe and the United States, providing opportunities for buyers, manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to network and find new business opportunities.
The USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub advances enterprise-driven solutions to unlock Africa’s growing markets. Through innovative public-private sector partnerships, the Hub promotes trade and investment to drive international commercial expansion and encourages resilient economic growth.
The committee of creditors for Alok Industries has approved a joint resolution plan submitted by Reliance Industries and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction valued at around Rs 5,000 crore, the resolution will use 4,000 crore to repay financial creditors. As per the claims admitted by the resolution professional in the case, financial creditors have submitted claims worth over Rs 29,000 crore.
Seventy-two per cent of creditors by value of loans voted in favour of the resolution plan. After a recent amendment to the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 66 percent of creditors by value now need to approve a resolution plan for it to go through, as against 75 percent earlier.
Alok Industries is one of the 12 large companies to have been sent to the National Company Law Tribunal for insolvency proceedings after the Reserve Bank of India shortlisted them in June 2017. These companies together accounted for Rs 2.77 lakh crore worth of bad loans in the banking system.
As per PwC, Hong Kong retail sector is poised to grow at an annual growth rate of 8 per cent to reach HK$484 billion (US$61.7 billion) this year and surpass its 2013 peak of HK$494 billion (US$63 billion) by 2020. Total retail sales for the first four months of 2018 surged by 14 per cent, with all sectors recording positive growth.
Luxury goods, especially jewelry and watches, along with consumer durable products remain the best-performing areas propelling further recovery this year and onwards. In addition, changing consumer behaviors and preferences have led to the rise of new shopping experiences and e-commerce in Hong Kong.
The upward trend in electronic payment is promoting a wider adoption of mobile retail payments However, challenges including the Sino-US trade dispute, strong US dollar against Renminbi, a global interest rate hike, and the imminent end of QE in Europe and Japan is likely to impact consumption.
Global luxury group, Kering plans to hand over the Christopher Kane brand back to the designer. Both the designer and Kering wish to collaborate to achieve a gradual and harmonious transition. As a consequence, the group will apply for IFRS 5, non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations to this asset in its half-yearly accounts to June 30, 2018, which will be published on July 26. The brand is currently consolidated according to the full consolidation method. In 2013, Kering had acquired 51 per cent of the brand created by Christopher Kane.
Label Christopher Kane was launched in 2006. The designer is acknowledged as the powerhouse of British fashion with one of the biggest international profiles. Developing his playful signatures of constant innovation, rebellious femininity and extraordinary skill, his clothes continue to surprise and seduce with their ineffable sense of chic.
Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Maisons in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watchmaking: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Christopher Kane, Tomas Maier, Boucheron, Pomellato etc. Kering enables its Maisons to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting future luxury in a sustainable and responsible way.
The US retail industry plans to fight back against the negative impacts of the tariff wars. And they want consumers to understand the implications of tariffs as they did with the border-adjustment tax. What retailers hope to make clear to the general consumer is that they can expect prices to increase at some of the places they shop. Retailers like Target that import much of their inventory from China will be paying higher prices to bring those products with new tariffs attached to them.
For now, the first $50 billion in tariffs on China could add a 25 per cent tariff to a handful of machinery used for apparel and footwear manufacturing, though there’s no direct target on apparel or footwear finished goods. The newly proposed additional $200 billion tariffs on China, however, could still include apparel and footwear products, though there’s been no mention yet of the potential product targets for the tariffs.
It is estimated the first set of $50 billion tariffs alone could reduce US GDP by nearly $3 billion and cost the country 1,34,000 jobs. Imposing an additional $100 billion in tariffs could be a $49 billion hit to GDP and lead to the loss of 4,55,000 jobs.
More than 50 Inditex textile and garment suppliers in India gathered in Bangalore and Delhi to ensure effective implementation of IndustriALL’s Global Framework Agreements (GFAs). Representatives of Inditex, which is the world’s biggest fashion retailer, joined the meetings for the sessions on improving social dialogue, industrial relations and sustainability along the supply chains. The first meeting took place in Bangalore on June 11 and the second meeting was held on June 13 in Delhi.
The meeting was intended to help to protect and promote workers’ conditions throughout Inditex’s supply chain. IndustriALL is strengthening industrial relations and social dialogue in the textile and garment industries. Industry-wide GFAs have the capacity to ensure living wages and decent conditions for workers in the industry. The active involvement of suppliers in the process would help IndustriALL to build a stronger social dialogue and powerful industrial relations.
Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia Regional Secretary, addressed the meeting to talk about textile and garment workers’ conditions and rights in India, the importance of being a union member and being paid living wages and the benefits of GFAs.
Javier Díaz Pena, Inditex Social Sustainability Manager, gave a presentation on the commitment of the global brand by signing the GFA with IndustriALL Global Union.
