FW
Pakistan's textile policy for 2015-19 has provisions for special duty drawback rates, duty exemption on plants and machinery, subsidy on long term loans and development subsidies. The country’s production chain has inherent potential for value addition at each stage of processing, from cotton to ginning, spinning, fabric, dyeing and finishing, made -ups and garments. Barring seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, textile products have maintained an average share of about 54 per cent in national exports.
The textile sector contributes nearly one-fourth of industrial value added, provides employment to about 40 per cent industrial labor and consumes about 40 per cent of banking credit to the manufacturing sector. However, the sector has remained stagnant over the last decade.
Resistance to grading and standardisation of cotton bales by ginners and spinners alike has consistently lowered the value of Pakistani cotton by around 10 cents per pound in the international market. The value added garment sector has shown marginal growth due to its limited product range, low use of manmade fibers and the inability of manufacturing units to restructure in order to meet changing international requirements. Cotton production has remained stagnant at about 13 million bales per annum.
With 600 members already onboard, the Better Cotton Initiative a (BCI) has apparently reached a milestone. The organisation, which works with cotton farmers to promote fair working conditions and aims for Better Cotton to become a mainstream commodity, describes this figure as a ‘tipping point’.
BCI believes that this figure will help it build a more transparent and trustworthy cotton supply chain. It aims to hit the 700 mark in membership by the end of this year. The organsation states that its recent members include Thomas Pink, HEMA, G-Star Raw, and Cone Denim—the first US based fabric mill to join BCI, supplying member Levi Strauss with Better Cotton.
After this phenomenal growth in membership, BCI is confident of achieving its target of 700 members by this year. This is the fifth consecutive year when the organisation has seen a rise in membership, with an increase of 50 per cent or more of new members. An average of 25 new companies per month become members of BCI each year.
BCI further states, 44 brand and retail members have played a key role in this growth so far. They have invested in farmer capacity consequently building and driving supplier engagement. It also mentioned that these members remain committed to the uptake of Better Cotton and its aim of building a transparent and trustworthy chain of cotton supply.
Ruchira Joshi, Programme Director stated that the BCI membership exhibits the power of collaboration. She also feels that their solidarity will help BCI’s goal of 30 per cent of cotton production as Better Cotton by 2020.
India will observe August 7 as National Handloom Day. A national level function will be held to mark the first National Handloom Day. The aim is to boost the morale of handloom weavers of the country.
In order to promote good quality genuine handloom products in a campaign mode, the India Handloom brand has been prepared to provide quality assurance to domestic as well as international consumers. Sant Kabir awards and national awards will be presented to distinguished handloom workers for years 2012, 2013 and 2014. An exhibition showcasing master creations of the awardees will also be organised.
The Swadeshi movement was launched in August 7, 1905, in order to promote genuine, global quality products in international markets. The movement involved boycotting British products and the revival of domestic products and production processes. India has a heritage of handloom weaving that is unique and the largest anywhere in the world. But that is dying because of lack of support and policies that are killing the handloom industry.
Handloom weavers are known for their unique designs on saris, dress material, bed sheets and furnishings. These items are meant to be produced only by weavers under the Handlooms Reservation Act. However that has not safeguarded the brand against imitation by power looms.
Spinning mills in Tamil Nadu are upgrading their units to produce compact yarn. One reason is that a large number of textile mills in the region are opting for faster air jet looms. Air jet looms require compact yarn that have less hairiness, better strength and can be used to make higher quality fabric.
Spinners are opting to upgrade their units to make compact yarn through retrofits. About 40 per cent of the upgradation to compact yarn is happening through retrofits. Mills are opting for retrofits as the costs are lower. They are installing compact yarn spinning systems in their greenfield projects as well as for expansion.
While retrofitting costs only around Rs 1,350 per spindle, installing a new compact yarn unit costs about Rs 6,000 per spindle. This could be one of the reasons compact yarn spinning systems account for less than 10 per cent of the total installed spinning capacity in the country. Branded items are mostly made using compact yarn. Even hosiery units are demanding compact yarn now. Textile mills in Tamil Nadu have added nearly a million spindles that are capable of producing compact yarn in the last seven to eight years. The demand for compact yarns is expected to grow in future.
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) plans to form a Cambodia Garment Training Institute. It is seeking technical advisors to assist in creating the institute. French development body, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), loaned GMAC approximately $3 million and the association has since begun advertising for advisors to support and formulate curricula for students who wish to enter the garment business.
Some courses will be long-term and offered to 240 young people with no garment background and short-term courses will be offered to 1,600 people who are already a part of the garment industry. Both these course will be offered every year. About 700,000 people are employed in the country’s garment sector, but the new institute aims to replace more than 8,000 skilled expatriate-held positions with competent local personnel. This would help increase the local industry’s sustainability.
GMAC, with its institute hopes to fill the current gap of 4,000 skilled workers by training enough people per year.
A large number of garment factory workers in Cambodia are fainting on being overwork and harsh factory conditions. The president of one Cambodia’s largest labour unions representing the apparel sector, Ath Thon expressed concern over this matter. Thon, who heads the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, an independent union affiliated with the Cambodian Labor Confederation (CLC), stated that around 100 workers had fainted over the past few days. He added this was because of lack of enough food, physical exhaustion and exposure to chemical odours. Apart from this, he said that the most important reason for their ill-health was the low salary they get.
Scores of workers in garment factories of Kandal, Kampong Seau and Takeo provinces in the south of the nation had fainted in the past few days. This region has the most garment factories in the country. Moreover, more than 100 workers fell seriously ill and many reported feeling unwell.
Thon recommended the government should resolve the issue and suggested improving the minimum wages of the workers, which is currently $128 a month. Besides, he also requested factories to improve their physical work conditions. According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor, about 500 factory workers in 11 provinces had fainted between January and June 2015, a dip from the 890 during the same period last year. Meanwhile workers have demanded minimum wages be increased to $177 per month and their work conditions improved.
India is losing its market share in cotton and man-made fiber, as most products are made of coarse count yarn and man-made fiber prices are at least 25 per cent higher than rates prevailing in competing countries. Of the 864 textile and apparel commodities traded in 2012, India’s share was less than one per cent in at least 317 commodities. This is mainly because of the high duty structure on man-made fibers and the basic customs rate.
Unlike other sectors of the Indian textile industry, the synthetic fiber industry is an organised sector. The main products of synthetic fiber industry include man-made fiber and yarn. These man-made fibers and yarns constitute textiles of both cellulose and non-cellulose origin. The products includes polyester staple fiber, acrylic staple fiber and polypropylene staple fiber.
Slashing duty on man-made fibers is also expected to increase cotton consumption as demand for cotton-blended fabric is growing exponentially. Blends like cotton rich polyester, viscose, bamboo and modal are gaining traction to take advantage of the feel of cotton and the functionality of synthetic fibers. So the more synthetic blends the country spins, the higher will be the consumption of cotton.
Ahmedabad-based Globe Textiles is an exporter of yarns, fabrics, home textiles and readymade garments. It has set up a 50,000 sq. ft. facility for manufacturing and exporting denim jeans. This new cut, make and stitch facility has the capacity to manufacture 50,000 garments a month, raising the group’s combined capacity to 1,50,000 pieces currently. The plan is to hike capacity to 4,00,000 pieces per month.
The facility has stitching machines from Juki. Right now 80 per cent of Globe’s denim production is exported and it wishes to tip the scales to 40 per cent in favor of the domestic market. Singapore, Malaysia and the US are potential export markets for Globe Textiles. Last year, Globe forayed into the home textile segment with bed sheets. It now exports on an average three to four container loads per month.
Despite the volatility in foreign exchange which troubled both exporters and importers, Globe Textiles performed satisfactorily last year. However, large volume order programs extending over five to six months are tapering off. Customers are now placing orders on a container-to-container basis. Globe Textiles’ forte lies in contract manufacturing. By offering its best services to clients, growth is assured.
www.globetextiles.net/
Shanghai Tex 2015 was held on June 15 to 18 the focus was on textile industry. The expo creates an important platform for purchases of textile machinery and related products, and for the exchange of information technology. In the last exhibition in 2013, the exhibiting area reached 1,03,500 sq. mt. witn 1,000 companies from 25 countries and regions displaying their products.
The expo showcased latest development in textile technology related to fashion and apparel, footwear, functional clothing, car interiors, medical, health care, agriculture, civil engineering and construction clothing. It assists companies to reduce costs, improve efficiency and competitiveness.
This year’s expo focused on the application of automatic technology to textile and other industries. Among the exhibits were bleaching, dyeing, printing, finishing and packaging machinery. Natural and chemical fiber spinning machines and twisting machinery; nonwoven machinery, rope twisting machinery; weaving machines, knitting machines, hosiery machines; sewing equipment, packaging machines and washing machines.
China’s textile and garment industry has entered a phase of transformation. Rising labor costs are becoming a tremendous challenge for the labour intensive industry. Applying new technology to improve productivity, improving product quality and exploring new markets will be the key factors affecting companies’ long term development.
www.shanghaitex.cn/en/
The joint show of ITMA Asia and CITME will be held in China, October 21 to 25, 2016. This is the fifth edition of the show and from 2016 it will be held in October instead of in June.
The combined show takes place every two years. It has become the most influential professional event for the Asian and global textile machinery industry, with exhibition space expanding from 1,20,000 sq. mt. in 2008 to more than 1,50,000 sq. mt., attracting near 1,600 exhibitors and over 1,00,000 visitors.
The upcoming event is expected to take up 1,80,000 sq. mt. with participation from some 1,600 exhibitors. It is a large showcase of cutting-edge solutions for textile makers that is supported by all major trade associations. There will be a huge showcase of cutting-edge solutions for textile makers. The exhibition is being showcased by product category for the convenience of visitors. There are stringent controls in force to protect intellectual property.
The Chinese textile industry, with its rapid growth and one-third share of global textile production capacity, is one of the largest consumers of textile machinery, especially European textile machinery. Shanghai sits at the hub of the country’s textile industry, with more than half of its textile mills and more than 60 per cent of its textile machinery manufacturers located near the city and its provinces.
www.itmaasia.com/
