FW
Based on two-way merchandise trade in 2016, India became the United States’ 9th-largest single-country trading partner (rising from 10th place in 2015). US two-way merchandise trade with India increased 2.2 per cent to $67.7 billion in 2016, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) stated in its ‘The Year in Trade 2016’ report.
As per the report in 2016, India’s share of total US merchandise trade with the world rose to 1.9 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent in 2015, continuing a slow but steady increase in India’s share of US merchandise trade with the world over recent years.
Although US exports to India went up slightly in 2016, the US merchandise trade deficit with India rose 4.2 per cent to $24.3 billion in 2016 as imports grew even more than exports.
US merchandise exports to India increased 1.1 per cent from $21.5 billion in 2015 to $21.7 billion in 2016. Leading US exports to India in 2016 were non-industrial diamonds; non-monetary gold; civilian aircraft, engines, and parts; almonds; and petroleum coke. US merchandise imports from India increased 2.7 per cent in 2016 to $46.0 billion.
Indian and global manufacturers of fashion and lifestyle products have asked department store chains to pass on the benefits obtained from GST. The chains stand to save about 2 per cent due to the switchover to GST. Retailers have paid 15 per cent service tax on premises they rented out commercially since 2010. With GST implemented from July 1, a range of indirect taxes levied by the Centre and state governments, including service tax and value-added tax, have been subsumed into one levy. Rentals account for about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of a retailer’s costs.
With the introduction of GST, the tax on rental can be set off against input tax credits available for other goods and services. A certain margin is given when they buy goods from us, says the chief executive of a global brand. Everybody is pushing it hard. He says Shoppers Stop alone stands to save between Rs 30-50 crored a year.
The European Union (EU) has decided to increase its investment ratio in Bangladesh’s service sectors from 40 to 49 per cent. The intent is to make European investment more attractive and improve business index. Bangladesh and the EU will work together for resolving problems in trade and investment relationships. Some of these areas are: import duties and customs trade facilitation, Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector, licenses and investment in the service sector and tax regimes.
Bangladesh wants the EU to offer higher prices for garment products. The country wants to encourage FDI from EU member countries and increase trade volume with Europe by 10 per cent. Bangladesh has invited investment from EU member countries in the special economic zones being set up in 100 locations across the country. A Bangladesh-EU chamber of commerce may be formed soon. The last such meeting between Bangladesh and the EU was held in December, focusing on pharmaceuticals, financial flows and tax regimes.
Efforts will be made to identify problems and devise solutions with all-out efforts of the two sides. Meanwhile Accord and Alliance wants to extend the time for completing inspections of fire safety, electrical safety and structural integrity of garment units.
Although carbon fibers may not be the material of the future, the industry is still continuing to flourish. Continuous and chopped ceramic fibers are right at the cusp of some significant expansion. These have so far been trapped in the usual catch-22: manufacturing and cost advancements cannot occur without scaling, but scaling cannot occur without orders.
Slow growth and closed-door early adopter industries they have been operating in will finally start to come out of research and qualification to hit large-scale production volumes.
It is also expected that next generation materials will start progression away from dumb structural parts and towards multifunctional products. Functionality will be incorporated in fiber composites for energy storage, sensor technology, energy harvesting or many more reasons. CFRP has long been used and is very much the industry standard in certain application sectors. However, beyond these core sectors, newer areas including rail transport, civil engineering remediation, spars in wind turbines, prosthetics, UAVs, and pressure vessels are all looking at this as their needs and the material maturity start to align.
Alternatively, if properties or price are not currently to the end user’s standards, then hybrid parts are becoming increasingly viable options. There are numerous ways that dissimilar materials or fibers can be combined to optimise the product with an ever-increasing number of success stories.
Bangladesh's exports of apparel items to the European Union remained sluggish in fiscal 2016-17. Exports grew only 3.49 per cent year-on-year in fiscal 2016-17 while the growth was 11.66 per cent in the year before. The Brexit in June last year was mainly responsible for the slowdown in garment exports to the EU, where nearly 60 per cent of garment products are shipped in a year.
Last fiscal, garment exports to the UK declined 5.97 per cent. The year before, they registered a 21.37 per cent year-on-year growth rate. The UK is the third largest garment export destination for Bangladesh. However, it has been suffering from high inflation stemming from the free fall of the pound against the euro and the dollar.
The country’s garment exports to some major EU members increased slightly between three and five per cent year-on-year. Bangladesh logged in $34.83 billion in export receipts for fiscal 2016-17, up 1.69 per cent year-on-year. Had there been favorable exchange rates, earnings could have been at least $3 billion more as volume of shipments increased. But the receipts belied it. Competing countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India can supply to retailers and brands at a shorter lead time but Bangladesh is still lagging behind due to lower productivity, port congestion and poor infrastructure.
Aditya Birla Cellulose is a global leader in viscose staple fibers. Its premium brand, Liva, launched in 2015, is all about extending a comfortable clothing experience while being responsible toward the environment without compromising on fashion.
A new variant the Liva Crème has now been launched. It’s a premium fabric with perfect drape, fall and fluidity. Liva Creme is about luxurious softness. The signature collections are designed by fashion designers like Nikhil Thampi (Allen Solly), Shivan-Naresh (Van Heusen) and Ka-sha (Shoppers Stop). These collections were launched on the same day as Liva Crème and these designers have brought in their own personalities and unique creativity in the collections.
Liva is a high quality fabric made using natural cellulosic fibers. It is delivered through an accredited value chain. Unlike other fabrics which are boxy or synthetic, Liva is a soft, fluid fabric which falls and drapes well.
Birla Cellulose which represents the pulp and fiber business of the Aditya Birla Group is India's pioneer in viscose staple fiber. Birla Cellulose fibers are of 100 per cent natural origin, highly absorbent, having a good feel, and are completely biodegradable. As an extremely versatile and easily bendable fiber, VSF is widely used in apparels, home textiles, dress material, knitted wear and non-woven applications.
Michael Kors confirmed $1.2 billion purchase of luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo. While Michael Kors brand has been struggling with overexposure that’s resulted in uninterested shoppers and slumping sales, Jimmy Choo is a footwear darling. The coveted, high-end, red-carpet-friendly brand will certainly give Michael Kors the much-needed reputation boost in fashion space.
Michael Kors CEO John Idol says it’s part of a larger strategy and this will not be the last acquisition for the company, which he hopes to turn into a ‘luxury group’. With Kate Spade joining the brand, Coach will be the first New York-based house of luxury lifestyle brands says Coach CEO Victor Luis.
While brands like Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, and even Jimmy Choo fall short of the names in LVHM and Kering's portfolios, the budding empires of Michael Kors and Coach are battling for a different type of customer.
It is a guess on who will be the next acquisition in the war between Michael Kors and Coach to become the great American luxury conglomerate as Coach reportedly tried and failed to buy British heritage brand Burberry late last year but they continue with the fights.
Turkey's clothing sector, a main driver of foreign sales, may miss this year's export target if a row with Germany is not resolved. Despite signs of a sales turnaround to other countries, some German buyers have canceled trip to Turkey after a rise in political tension between the NATO allies. This may make it hard to match exports of $17 billion in 2016 which were already about a billion dollars short of an initial target due to the attempted military coup of last July.
Relations between Turkey and Germany deteriorated after Turkey arrested 10 rights activists, including a German, three weeks ago as part of a wider security crackdown. Turkish exports were hampered by last year’s coup attempt, which continued into the first and second quarters of the year. Some German companies have canceled their visits recently. Germany is Turkey’s biggest export market for ready-to-wear clothing.
Ready-to-wear clothes constitute Turkey's second largest export sector after automotives. The European Union buys more than 70 per cent of Turkish clothing exports, with 2.5 billion dollars going to Germany. In the first six months, Turkey’s total exports increased by 8.2 per cent while readymade clothing and apparel exports fell by 5.8 per cent.
The Target Accelerator Program’s fifth edition is set to pioneer new technologies for both their business and the garment sector including AI and machine learning. Target India has selected eight companies to work on the planned technology solutions and a rigorous four month program will be carried out. During the program, the eight companies will refine their technologies and pilot them at Target stores and headquarter locations. The fields in which the eight companies selected reside include artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, digital experience, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning.
The eight companies selected by Target India include Jumper.ai which enables shopping on social media using hashtags, Streamoid which uses natural language processing to create personalised product recommendations, and vPhrase which uses structured data to give insights into natural language. Also, Light Information Systems will use natural language processing to add to customer support functions and Cognitifai will enable video analytics on both live and recorded video footage.
The addition of these new technologies to the online retail experience will certainly transform the e-commerce landscape in India. AI is increasingly being used in online stores. With the rise of e-commerce and online payments as a whole, Target India is backing development in a sector sure to continue expanding.
Taiwan is presenting innovative products at the ongoing Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in US on from July 26 to 29. New product categories include cutting-edge fabric printing technology; smart textiles measuring heart rate and motion data; textile innovations utilizing fewer chemicals, water and raw materials while preserving function and complex colors; and the world’s first PFC-free durable water repellant polyester filament, PFC-free soil release polyester filament, and bio-based membrane and foam from coffee oil.
Taiwanese suppliers have devoted research and development to green technologies to meet demand and achieve sustainability goals and corporate social responsibility. Taiwan’s competitive advantage in functional, environmental, and smart fabrics comes from its strong development of functional artificial fibers, which helps produce a wide variety of fabrics. Taiwan’s fabric industry also incorporates semiconductor, biomedical and cross-industry innovations.
The output value (including overseas production) of Taiwan's functional fabrics accounts for roughly 50 per cent of the global output value of functional fabrics, making Taiwan the world’s largest functional fabric production base.
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market connects outdoor gear manufacturers with retailers. From small shops and regional chains to retailers, the event attracts buyers looking for outdoor products, services, fresh ideas, apparel launches and outdoor innovation. The bi-annual event connects around 46,000 attendees for its summer and winter shows every year.
