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The chemical laboratory of TÜV SÜD in its recently expanded textile testing facility in Tirupur, has been awarded ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation by The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). ISO/IEC 17025:2005 specifies the general requirements for TÜV SÜD to undertake tests, including sampling. It includes testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods.
The NABL accreditation enables the laboratory to provide improved customer satisfaction, faster turnaround for test results that subsequently reduces time to market. With a strong industry reputation for quality, TÜV SÜD's Tiruppur lab offers a comprehensive range of services with expertise encompassing all textile and knitwear testing requirements. The lab was recently enhanced by adding extensive chemical testing capabilities to an existing world class physical and mechanical facility; thus, making it an all-inclusive testing solutions provider for international and domestic markets. The laboratory will also offer value added services like sampling pick-up, technical support and training support.
TÜV SÜD with its wide network of labs and experts across key markets such as South Asia, European Union, ASEAN, US and UK, has thorough knowledge of compliance in importing nations.
WRAP, the UK’s resource efficiency agency, has identified leasing as an innovative business model to increase the durability of clothes while reducing material use and carbon dioxide emissions. A recent survey by the Westfield Shopping Centre in London also suggested clothing rental as a key future trend.
The potential value of the clothing rental market in the UK is estimated at £923 million, and the model is already well established for certain items, such as dinner jackets and wedding suits for men. However, only a few fashion companies have adopted leasing. Mud Jeans, for example, offers consumers a pair of organic jeans on lease for year after which consumers can either swap or return them. Girl Meets Dress, founded in the UK in 2009, also operates with a view to make garment ownership obsolete.
Although a growing trend, clothing rental is largely available for luxury market, rental of lower priced items is not preferred as they can be easily bought. Clothing rental has the potential to reduce waste and extend the lifespan of garments, but to achieve a more sustainable industry a systemic change in business practice and consumer behavior is needed.
The Bihar government plans to emboss the Handloom Mark to all handloom cotton and silk products woven in the state to bring in authenticity and transparency in subsidy distribution. The process will also help the government to identify which product has been woven where and by whom. The government will provide subsidy ranging from 10 to 20 per cent only on those products that carry the Handloom Mark. This step will bring transparency in subsidy distribution, as the number printed on the label will denote who wove what and where.
Bihar, currently, houses around 6,741 active handlooms with unique identification numbers, which the state government is trying to increase to 10,000. The Handloom Mark scheme was launched in 2006 under the office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, with the textiles committee under the Ministry of Textiles as the implementing agency to give a collective identity to handloom products that would help guarantee for the buyer that the product being bought is genuinely hand-woven. The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, had designed its logo from the interlocking of the warp and the weft to form a three-dimensional cube.
So far, Bihar has been using Handloom Mark labels in the satrangi chadar - the hospital bedsheet scheme meant for government hospitals since 2017-18. The government now wants to expand to all products, except low-priced ones such as gamchha (towel), lungi and handkerchief. The challenge was to supply enough Handloom Mark labels to weavers, as the textile ministry offices in Varanasi and Calcutta are not providing it in adequate numbers.
"A study by the US Fashion Industry Association indicates almost 67 per cent respondent’s expected value or volume of goods sourced from China to decrease over the next two years. A striking example of this is Steven Madden, which expects to source 15 per cent of its handbags from Cambodia this year, with this percentage doubling in 2019. Similarly, Tapestry, the luxury company behind Coach and Kate Spade handbags, is boosting Vietnamese production and sourcing only 5 per cent from China. Vera Bradley, meanwhile, is planning to shift its manufacturing operations to Cambodia and Vietnam from China."
Increasing tariffs on Chinese products has led to the rise of countries like Cambodia and Vietnam as attractive investment destinations from consumer-goods like Steven Madden and Tapestry Inc.’s Coach. And while the Trump administration has slapped duties on goods from many of its largest trading partners this year, it has allowed some Cambodian products to continue duty-free access to the US market.
A study by the US Fashion Industry Association indicates almost 67 per cent respondent’s expected value or volume of goods sourced from China to decrease over the next two years. A striking example of this is Steven Madden, which expects to source 15 per cent of its handbags from Cambodia this year, with this percentage doubling in 2019. Similarly, Tapestry, the luxury company behind Coach and Kate Spade handbags, is boosting Vietnamese production and sourcing only 5 per cent from China. Vera Bradley, meanwhile, is planning to shift its manufacturing operations to Cambodia and Vietnam from China.
Cambodia gains with changing dynamics
This move to shift production has impacted China severely. Stocks of Hong Kong-based Stella International
Holdings, developer and manufacturer of footwear brands like Prada SpA and Guess has dropped to its lowest point since 2009.
On the other hand, according to an annual report by the National Bank of Cambodia, the country’s footwear exports rose 25 per cent in 2017, while its garment exports increased 8 per cent in the same period. Vietnam, meanwhile, has enjoyed a foreign investor-led economic boom for years, attracting billions of dollar investments from the likes of Samsung Electronics and Intel Corp. It is transforming from mainly an exporter of agricultural commodities, such as rice and coffee, to a Southeast Asian manufacturing hub.
Even before China and the US escalated their trade tensions, Cambodia enjoyed duty-free privileges for products such as handbags, suitcases and wallets, part of a US program to help boost development in low-income countries. This designation has so far been maintained by the Trump administration. Cambodia also is one of the lowest-cost countries when it comes to labor. Oxford Economics estimates labor cost in Cambodia to be a quarter of China’s.
The down side
However, the country’s productivity rates are low compared to China, making it a challenge to manufacture more elaborate products. A survey by the Hong Kong Development Council, which promotes trade and investment for the territory, suggests average labor productivity of Cambodian workers was about 50 to 60 per cent that of Chinese workers. Cambodia’s infrastructure also lags behind China’s. The nation’s infrastructure was ranked 106 out of 137, behind Vietnam and Laos, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. This can cause difficulties in getting merchandise out of the country.
As per the US government, the recent Cambodian elections held in July, where the ruling party won all 125 seats in the National Assembly, were ‘flawed’. As a result, the US and Europe are likely review their trade policies and potentially stop giving tariff preference to Cambodia’s garment industry. This can prove to be a fatal blow for the nation, where garments make up 64 percent of total exports.
Uzbekistan has initiated several measures to focus on the textile industry. The country is trying to grab foreign investments to implement various projects worth over $70 million. As an additional incentive for Chinese investors to kick-off their operations in Uzbekistan, a delegation of 33 representatives of China’s associations and textile companies was hosted recently by the Uztekstilprom Association in Tashkent. The Chinese delegation was headed by the Chinese National Council for Textiles and Clothing.
The event aimed to boost cooperation between Uzbek and Chinese companies involved in the textile and apparel-knitting as well as the production and supply of finished textile products to the Chinese market. The forum was attended by the the leaders of the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Investments, UzTrade JSC of the Foreign Trade Ministry, the Economy Ministry. Representatives of the textile industry of the two countries were also present in the meeting. Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Samarkand and Syrdarya regions were represented as major locations where investment can be made.
The combination of reshoring and related foreign direct investments in the US jumped 52 per cent in 2017. Apparel saw one of the largest increases, while transportation remained the strongest overall. Of the total manufacturing jobs that were added, 90 per cent were reshoring and FDI related.
The US apparel consumer flexes their muscle on deciding how, why, and where they will purchase their sewn goods products. The effect of this ability extends into the very fiber of the industry, reflecting in more orders in smaller quantities with shorter lead times, while slowing the sales cycle, putting pressure on existing e-commerce infrastructure, forcing the adoption of fast fashion, and digitalisation of the value chain and as costs increase, the consumer pushes for the same if not a lower price.
While US imports of textiles and clothing increased in value by 1.3 per cent in 2017, this increase came after a 6.5 per cent decline in the previous year and, as a result, imports remained below the levels seen in 2014 and 2015. Total apparel imports were at their lowest levels in several years. With consumer spending on the rise, there is no time like the present for locally manufactured apparel, furniture, and transportation interiors.
For the first half of 2018, spandex supply in China significantly outstripped demand. Spandex was purchased on demand, and inventory of several weavers and dealers slightly went up. Spandex prices continuously dropped, but prices of MMDI, one of the main feedstocks for spandex, increased by around 20 per cent year on year. PTMEG prices slightly declined year on year, while overall feedstock cost was higher than the same period of last year. Cash flow of spandex 40D deteriorated slightly year on year, while several brands with low financial costs, efficient units and differentiated products showed meager profits. The concentration ratio of the spandex industry is expected to gradually rise in the next few years.
Compared with the great volatility in the past two years, the inventory fluctuation of spandex industry was slight in 2018. Spandex plants focused on selling, while the operating rate of downstream weaving plants was higher than in the previous two years. Downstream buyers purchased spandex mainly to cover the pressing demand this year, and spandex inventory slowly increased. The monthly sales ratio was largely balanced.
The operating rate of the spandex industry was mainly above 90 per cent entering the third quarter. The operating rate of spandex downstream weaving plants was 30 per cent to 70 per cent.
A few manufacturers are planning to opt for man-made fibres like acrylic and polyester blend to counter increasing rising wool price. Price of raw Merino wool imported from Australia rose between 30 and 200 per cent depending on microns in the past 7-8 months. Raw wool, which was available at Rs 1,200 per kg around 7-8 months ago now costs Rs 1,600 per kg.
Price volatility of raw material is likely to impact manufacturers, resulting in increase of prices of shawls, pullovers, coats and other woollen garments. Exporters will, however, face the heat due to their export commitments at negotiated rate. Exporters fix rates with buyers much in advance. Punjab is the main cluster of India’s woollen units, followed by Haryana and Rajasthan. The increase in prices of raw material will adversely affect the Rs 3,000-crore Punjab shawl industry, mainly concentrated in Ludhiana and Amritsar. The other shawl industry centres are Jammu & Kashmir, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh and in the North-East.
Santoni and Lenzing will pioneer a concept called den/IM Tech.
This consists of innovative den/IM knits with indigo yarns that have now moved beyond apparel to shoes and accessories.
This den/IM Tech capsule project captures the most important features of Santoni’s technology—versatility, sustainability, and technical performance.
The target of the Santoni-Lenzing venture is to further sustainability and efficiency while at the same time up the ante in product performance.
Lenzing fibers, derived from wood, possess some of the most sought-after properties, including high levels of softness and strength, and an exceptional ability for moisture transfer—key features of the den/IM shoe and backpack.
Santoni Spa, known for its seamless knitting and speedy, efficient, reliable construction, used two machines for these projects—the X Machine, developed for footwear, and Mecmor, the only machine on the market with needle-shifting movement.
The electronic X Machine supports 3-D patterns and can knit countless intarsia items for seamless shoe uppers. It maps different areas according to types of yarn, producing a final product ready for application of the sole. Mecmor’s versatile Variatex technology produces a variable fabric panel for weft-knitted garments. Its many feeds allow for high capacity in short times, and fabric scraps are almost non-existent.
Urging India to rethink its trade barriers, tariffs and regulations to become a hub for innovation and production, US Ambassador Kenneth Juster emphasised on the need for India and the US to see trade relations as an important strategic element of their ties. He particularly emphasised on the barriers in the technology industry, including a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) order telling technology companies to base all their servers in India. Juster warned that the issue that had become one of a growing number of economic differences between New Delhi and Washington over the past few months.
India agreed this month to defer its plan to hit the US with retaliatory tariffs worth $ 235 million on 29 American products till late September. This was in response to the U.S. raising tariffs on steel by 25 per cent and aluminum products by 10 per cent, which India has failed to get a waiver on. The US is also pondering over the issue of cancelling India’s Generalised Systems of Preferences (GSP) status over the tariffs issue.
