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Bangladesh commerce minister Tofail Ahmed stated the government had extended the time frame of two separate global platforms Accord and Alliance for six more months. Bangladesh will not require any Accord and Alliance after December 31 this year, the commerce minister stated following a meeting with country’s readymade garment sector leaders on labour situation.
Nevertheless, he has suspected that a lobby involved with foreign agencies is trying to ruin the growth of readymade garment industry.
"Bruce Atherley, Executive Director, Cotton Council International (CCI) recently said disposable, fast fashion has made a big contribution to the rise of synthetic, man-made fibres that are cheap to manufacture, though not easily recycled, leaving a damaging footprint on the environment. Unfortunately, scientific research also suggests that clothes made from synthetic fibres, such as polyester and acrylic, may damage the environment throughout their usage, by releasing hundreds of thousands of tiny synthetic particles in every wash."
Bruce Atherley, Executive Director, Cotton Council International (CCI) recently said disposable, fast fashion has made a big contribution to the rise of synthetic, man-made fibres that are cheap to manufacture, though not easily recycled, leaving a damaging footprint on the environment. Unfortunately, scientific research also suggests that clothes made from synthetic fibres, such as polyester and acrylic, may damage the environment throughout their usage, by releasing hundreds of thousands of tiny synthetic particles in every wash.
The good news is that increased level of awareness of this unsustainable product lifecycle has created a desire among brands, retailers and consumers to return to higher quality garments that are less damaging and retain their value for longer. Owing to this, there has been a greater demand for natural fibres, such as US cotton. In fact, US cotton exports are estimated to reach 15 million bales in the 2017/18 marketing year, which is greater than the February US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimate of 14.5 million bales. US cotton export sales have also been very strong with early sales surpassing recent crop years.
Growing demand for cotton
Atherley says, the strong performance of US cotton is supported by the industry proactively adopting and implementing sourcing practices that put quality
and responsibility at the heart of development. In 2017, the entire US cotton industry approved industry policy and established a Cotton USA Sustainability Task Force with the purpose of setting national goals for measurable continual improvements in key areas of environmental stewardship, farm productivity and resource efficiency such as land, water, air, input and energy use.
The US cotton industry is setting goals that are aimed at building on the strong environmental gains its producers already successfully achieved over the past 30 years. The specific goals to be achieved by 2025 are: reducing the amount of land needed to produce a pound of cotton fibre by 13 per cent; reducing soil loss by 50 per cent, in balance with new soil formation; increasing water use efficiency (more fibre per gallon) by 18 per cent; reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 39 per cent; increasing soil carbon in fields by 30 per cent; and reducing energy to produce seed cotton and ginned lint by 15 per cent.
Research commissioned by Cotton Incorporated in the US, UK, India, Germany, Italy, Mexico and China in May 2017 revealed consumers responded favourably to the idea that cotton could wick moisture better than synthetics. Some 61 per cent of participants said that ‘new and innovative cotton products can now be made to evaporate sweat more quickly, making them a superior choice in athletic wear’. This clearly shows that consumers are ready and willing to hear new ideas in technology, fashion and blends. As a leading sustainable organisation, Cotton USA believes that by continuing to educate, connect and inform everyone in the supply chain about the potential of natural fibres, it can help to build a more environmentally friendly and sustainable industry.
The unemployment rate in the US has reached its lowest since April 2000.
Retail industry employment was up by 28,800 jobs seasonally adjusted in May over April and 1,00,200 jobs unadjusted year-over-year. Overall, US businesses added 2,23,000 jobs in May.
With the unemployment rate of 3.8 per cent at its lowest since April 2000, many industries including retail are hiring and creating jobs at a steady pace. This rate is expected to continue to decline as the fiscal stimulus and tax cuts are further absorbed in the economy.
Solid fundamentals in the job market are encouraging for retail spending, as employment gains generate additional income for consumers and consequently increase spending.
May’s numbers followed an upwardly revised combined increase of 19,300 jobs for March and April. The three-month moving average in May showed an increase of 19,000 jobs.
Retail registered monthly gains nearly in all segments with the most robust increases concentrated in three sectors: general merchandise stores, which were up 13,400; clothing and clothing accessory stores, up 6,500; and building and garden supplies, up 6,000.
Losses were concentrated in two sectors: health and personal care stores, down 800 jobs; and non-store, which includes online, down 1,100 jobs.
Economy-wide, average hourly earnings in May increased by 2.7 per cent year over year.
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry and Cotton Association of India are currently deliberating on the ways to make Indian cotton a global brand.
The proposal, once ready, would be placed before the Textile as well as the Commerce Ministry.
Indian cotton has no brand of its own and hence is unable to carve a niche and earn a premium, unlike US, China or Egypt. The Suvin cotton produced in Tamil Nadu and Shankar 6 produced in Gujarat are both good quality cotton and can be projected as a global brand
Recently, Union Textile Minister, Smriti Irani, asked the domestic cotton industry to come up with a proposal regarding branding of the country’s cotton, primarily aimed at the export market.
Tamil Nadu has exempted Tirupur exporters from generating e-way bills.
No e-way bill is needed for transport consignments carrying goods under a lakh of rupees. The list of textile goods exempted from the e-way billing includes hank yarn, job work and services related to yarn, fabric and garment.
The knitwear hub of India produces garments worth Rs 42,000 crores annually thanks to support from job working units.
Before the packaging process takes place, the product goes around from one place to another, five to six times for preliminary processes like knitting, dyeing, compacting, printing, and ironing, etc, to ensure the best is shipped.
The e-way bill was made compulsory for textile deliveries under the Goods and Services Tax introduced in July. Under GST, transporters will need to carry an electronic waybill or e-way bill when moving goods from one place to another. A movement of goods of more than Rs 50,000 in value cannot be made by a registered person without an e-way bill.
The exemption rate has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Various tools used in the textile industry and raw materials have been exempt as well.
States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar do not allow goods without an e-way bill.
Garments made with polymer-based cloth can release as many as 1,900 microfibers per wash that eventually end up in waterways.
Microfibers may pose a threat to waterways and aquatic life. Less than five millimeters long, they’re not filtered by washing machines or water treatment plants and have been found in everything from bottled water to sea salt to fish.
The fibers are about the size of plankton, and many marine organisms may ingest the material when they’re feeding. They may end up in people as well. About 83 per cent of drinking water samples tested around the world contained microplastics.
Obviously it isn’t possible to get consumers to give up synthetic fibers altogether. Instead they should be encouraged to wash their clothes less often, use efficient front-loading washers and add another filter designed to catch microfibers to their machines.
And dissuading consumers from buying synthetic fabrics doesn’t acknowledge the environmental impacts of other materials, like the volume of land and water required to grow and harvest cotton.
It’s not even clear that fabrics are the most to blame. It could be that garments become more prone to shed as they age, or that top-loading washing machines agitate pieces into releasing fibers. Car tires have also been linked to shedding microplastics, which could be a big contributing factor to the problem.
IPDC Finance Ltd, the first private financial institution of Bangladesh, and the BSCMS jointly launched the ‘Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Award (BSCEA) 2018’ with The Daily Star as a partner at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.
The award will be given in seven different categories. These include collaborative supply chain, supply chain talent development, manufacturing excellence, supply chain finance management, excellence in logistics, distribution, transportation & warehouse management; young supply chain talent of the year and supply chain professional of the year.
A jury panel will select 15 best cases: five individuals, five local and five multinational corporations.
Awardees will receive crests and certificates. Besides, young awardees will also receive an ISCEA certification.
In anticipation of the launch of the United Nations Partnership for Sustainable Fashion in New York in July, the Global Landscapes Forum held a Digital Summit panel discussion titled Fashion for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The summit introduced current innovations expected to lead to sustainable fashion supply chains and green job opportunities for youth and women.
The discussion was moderated by Nairobi-based UN Environment Management Officer Michael Stanley-Jones. Its featured speakers included Kaya Dorey, founder of sustainable fashion brand Novel Supply Co.; fashion technologist Amanda Parker, New York-based chief innovation officer of sustainable fashion investment incubator Future Tech Lab; and New York-based runway producer Ava J. Holmes, co-Founder of Fashion For Conservation.
Dorey was named the 2017 UN Environment Young Champion of the Earth-North America for starting an innovative Vancouver-based production for comfortable basics made of sustainable cotton and hemp, and no synthetic dyes.
Pakistan’s exports of textile products grew 12.8 per cent year on year.The value of total textile sector exports grew 7.18 per cent in July-January 2018 versus the corresponding period of last year.
The textile industry in Pakistan is the largest manufacturing industry in the country.
For years, the sector has been the country’s backbone as it provides employment and export revenues. The sector contributes 57 per cent to the country’s exports, 8.5 per cent to GDP and is the second largest employment sector in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Between 1947 and 2000, the number of textile mills in Pakistan increased from 3 to 600. In the same time spindles increased from 1,77,000 to 805 million.
Cotton spinning is perhaps the most important segment in the Pakistan textile industry with 521 units installed and operational.
Synthetic fibers prepared with nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polyolefin dominate the market.
Three types of filament yarn are also produced in Pakistan. These are acetate rayon yarn, polyester filament yarn, and nylon filament yarn.
Textile products manufactured from wool are also famous across the country and they include woolen yarn, acrylic yarn, fabrics, shawls, blankets, and carpets.
Secondhand clothing imports dominate African markets.They accounted for half the fall in employment engaged in making apparel in Africa between 1981 and 2000.
African manufacturing is weak for many reasons, from clumsy privatisations to crumbling infrastructure.
The secondhand clothing industry dramatically helps close the loop on post-consumer textile waste, and provides many people around the world the only affordable access to quality apparel.
But cast-offs undercut Africa’s fledgling clothing industries. This is a trade that knits together charity and business, gift and profit. The share from China and South Korea is growing, but 70 per cent of used clothing flowing into Africa comes from Europe and North America.
In most rich countries the supply of used clothing far outstrips demand. Less than half of donations are sold locally. Most of the rest are sold to exporters.
In Africa, these motley bundles are a valuable commodity. Men’s clothes are pricier, since fewer arrive. American pieces are often too large and have to be resized by tailors. But still a person would rather buy second-hand from America instead of buying a new Chinese product. The complaint is that new Asian clothes damage easily and look like uniforms, without variety.
There is a suspicion high-quality, unworn clothes are smuggled into bales as a way for the rich world’s clothing industry to offload samples and unsold items.
