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Despite stalling growth across Asia led by a slowdown in China, the Chip Bergh, Global President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co remains upbeat about consumer spending in the region. According to him, the demographics work to their advantage and they are strategically focused on Asia as a result of that.
China’s economy, whose explosive growth over the past decade propelled the country to one of the world’s fastest-growing consumer markets, has been stumbling of late. Gross domestic product (GDP) for 2015 was 6.9 per cent, marking its weakest pace in a quarter of a century. Most parts of Asia, especially those with close trade ties with China, have felt the chill from the slowdown in the region’s growth engine.
Analysts say, the region still boasts of a rapidly-growing population and a booming middle class. In China, for instance, only 11 per cent of the 1.3 billion population has reached ‘middle class’ status, according to a January report from Goldman Sachs. ‘As their ranks swell, so will their effect on the global economy,’ the report added.
For a global brand such as Levi’s, this is good news.
Indian textile major Welspun India has reported a 21.3 per cent increase in consolidated profit to Rs 174.08 crores for the third quarter ended December 31. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 143.57 crores in the October-December period a year ago. Domestic retail sales continue to witness robust growth and year to date growth stands at 52 per cent. Net sales of the company on a consolidated basis were up 12.19 per cent.
Operating EBITDA zoomed by 17.8 per cent in the third quarter of financial year ’15. Operating EBITDA margin increased 161 bps at 26.9 per cent, versus 25.3 percent in the third quarter of financial year, mainly on account of higher share of innovative and branded products. Net worth stands at Rs 18,332 million as on December 31, 2015.
Welspun India, part of the $3 billion Welspun Group, is among the top three home textile companies in the world. With a distribution network in more than 50 countries and world class manufacturing facilities in India, it is the largest exporter of home textile products from India. Supplier to 14 of the top 30 global retailers, the company has marquee clients like Bed Bath & Beyond, Costco, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart and Macy’s.
www.welspunindia.com/
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles-Spring Edition, will commence from March 16 to 18 at Hall 5.2 Shaghai’s National Convention & Exhibition Center. This is follows Messe Frankfurt’s successful conclusion of Heimtextil Frankfurt in January 2016. March is the peak sourcing season in China for finished products, particularly bedding items, and this market has been growing rapidly in recent years. According to market research conducted by CCPIT, 2015 domestic bedding sales in China reached $49 billion, an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to 2014. Reflecting this growth, a number of top domestic bedding suppliers, including Bejirog, Beyond Group, Esteem Home, Fuana, Luolai, Menglan and South Bedding Series have confirmed their participation in March’s Spring Edition.
Held alongside this fair are four other textile events. These include Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, Yarn Expo Spring, PH Value and CHIC, and together these five fairs create an unrivalled platform in the textile industry to meet potential buyers. The Autumn Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles will be held from August 24 to 27, 2016 and is expected to extend from three to four days in order to assist exhibitors to take advantage of these strong market conditions prevailing in China.
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring & Autumn Editions are organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK); the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Home Textile Association (CHTA).
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) will hold the 15th Textile Asia 2016 International Textile & Garment Machinery Trade Fair incorporating Clothing, Fabric & Textile Asia in Karachi in collaboration with Ecommerce Gateway . Termed Pakistan’s biggest B2B textile, garment, embroidery, digital printing machineries and chemical and allied services, the 3-days trade fair will be held from March, 09-11, 2016.
The trade fair will provide an effective podium for joint ventures/ collaborations to the textile SMEs and provide a platform to its international participants to meet respective Pakistani business personals to make future business leads in Pakistan.
The event will focus on the immense buying selling potential of textile and garment industry and poised to introduce overseas suppliers of textile and garment materials, accessories and parts and machinery to the textile industry of Pakistan. This will complement their efforts for high quality, value added products and assist them to further develop their business in the export markets.
The trade fair will have more than 550 International Brands displaying their products in over 700 booths and over 500 foreign delegates mainly from Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy,Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, UK,USA etc. will grace the event.
The organizers are expecting a visitor turnout of over 65,000 during the event.
Century Textiles and Industries has said its standalone net loss has narrowed down to Rs 10.41 crores in the third quarter ended December 31. Century had reported a net loss of Rs 63.58 crore in the October-December period a year-ago. The company’s net sales on a standalone basis were up 4.58 per cent at Rs 1,875.66 crores as against Rs 1,793.51 crores in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Revenue from textiles division, which manufactures yarn, cloth, denim, tyre yarn and VF yarn, was up 4.72 per cent to Rs 453.32 crore as against Rs 432.85 crore.
However Century’s, cement division was down 1.12 per cent to Rs 1,047.38 crores as against Rs 1,059.28 crores a year ago. The pulp and paper division sales were up 26.53 per cent to Rs 499.15 crores in Q3 FY2015-16 from Rs 394.47 crores. Others which include salt and chemical business was down 4.85 per cent to Rs 26.68 crores as against Rs 28.04 crores.
The spinning industry in India still faces problems despite power tariff reduction at Rs 3 per unit that is insufficient to bring back its competitiveness, but its quality yarn is bringing back global buyers being disappointed by inconsistent and low quality Indian yarn.
Last 18 months have been a nightmare for the energy intensive Indian spinning and weaving sectors due to high power tariff and general energy shortages despite the Indian government’s efforts to boost its yarn and fabric exports by providing subsidies on the export of these two items. The government later announced further subsidy on a few focused market that included Pakistan. Chinese shifted their orders from Pakistan to the Indian spinners. Some large fabric manufacturers also preferred cheaper Indian yarn over the expensive domestic product.
Yarn exports from Pakistan are slowly picking up as some Chinese importers have agreed to buy at higher rates. Still around 110 spinning units are closed creating supply concerns. The spinners are determined that they will not export their goods at loss. The current prices offered by the Chinese buyers though a little higher are not attractive enough to warrant reopening of the closed units. Industrial slow down in China a month before the Chinese New Year which is cited as the reason for low prices offered by few Chinese importer, which was not attractive enough. Pakistani weavers in the meantime have stopped importing Indian yarn and are buying it locally at a higher price.
Pakistan’s spinning industry has for the last one decade been operating at much higher power tariff than regional economies and still remained competitive. The reason for high tariff was dependence on high cost furnace oil for power generation. The other regional economies generated minimal power from furnace oil.
California-based American Apparel, after a win in US bankruptcy court, during which a judge ruled in favor of the retailer's reorganization plan, the company's new chief is out to remind shoppers about what makes American Apparel unique: Its dedication to US manufacturing.
‘Made in the USA’ has been rooted in American Apparel's DNA since the company was founded 27 years ago. But CEO Paula Schneider, who took the company's reins one year ago, said that message had gotten lost amid some ‘salacious’ advertising, and controversial headlines regarding founder Dov Charney.
The new strategy of the American Apparel is introduced after years of raunchy advertising and a slew of allegations against its former CEO. Now, the company is hoping a renewed interest in American-made products will bring shoppers back into its stores. We have the opportunity to keep people employed, and it's kind of a bit of call to action for people to come to shop, Schneider said.
About 7,500 of American Apparel's 8,700 employees work in Los Angeles, where it manufactures all of its apparel ‘right down to the strings that are in the hoodies. Over the next few months, the American Apparel will up the ante on its ‘Made in the USA’ promise, via a new a crowd sourcing campaign. Through this campaign, the retailer will invite local artisans to submit their designs to management, with the intention of bringing a yet-to-be determined amount onto its selling floor.
Ralph Lauren Corporation reported better-than-expected bottom-line results for the third quarter of fiscal 2016, but sales fell short of expectations. The company lowered the outlook for fiscal 2016 following the dismal third-quarter sales results.
Its adjusted earnings of $2.27 per share fared better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.11 but declined 5.8 per cent from $2.41 reported in the last year quarter. The company’s earnings jumped 4 per cent on a currency-neutral basis where as on a reported basis it posted earnings of $1.54 per share, down 36.1 per cent from the last year.
The luxury apparel retailer’s net revenue was down 4.3 per cent year over year to $1,946 million in the reported quarter and short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,043 million. On a currency-neutral basis, revenues inched down 1per cent year over year as the 6 per cent constant currency revenue growth at the international business was offset by a 4 per cent decline in North American revenues. The drop in North American revenues stemmed from unfavorable weather conditions during the fall season and the holiday period, along with lower tourist traffic and unappealing collections at the Lauren brand.
The textile industry in Indonesia is currently facing severe pressure. In the domestic market, slowing economic growth has led to a decline in people’s purchasing power resulting in low demand for textile products. Declining demand, accompanied by increased production costs, has caused manufacturers to reduce their production capacities. As a result, the performance of the industry over the first quarter of 2015 was relatively poor, suffering a contraction with a negative growth of 0.98 per cent year-on-year.
Given the large share of exports, the performance of the textile and clothing industry is sure to be greatly influenced by global economic conditions, particularly in the US and Europe, which represent Indonesia’s largest apparel export markets. One constraint is the lack of free trade agreements in place with key export destinations, such as the US and the EU, with whom Indonesia’s major textile competitors, such as Vietnam and Malaysia, already have free trade agreements.
In the domestic market, an obstacle facing the industry comes from the influx of imported products into the country, particularly those from China and Korea. This increasingly reduces the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the domestic market where imported products could be up to 20 per cent cheaper.
An estimated 384 million square meters of fabric were printed digitally via dye sublimation in the year to the first quarter of 2016, having grown by just under 18.4 per cent in the past year 2015-16. This is set to rise to 892 million square meters in 2021. This was revealed by a study ‘The Future of Dye-Sublimation Printing to 2021’.
The four major end-use segments are garments, household (carpets, wall coverings and upholstery), technical and visual communications (displays and signage) and technical textiles. This last category includes automotive (seats, seat belts, seat head lining, panels, sound absorption), bags, medical and scientific textiles, sails, tents, parasols or umbrellas, accessories and sports equipment.
The garment segment is the largest end use sector, with 75 per cent of the market share by value in 2016. The other segments each take a five to ten per cent of the market. Globally digital textile printing output grew at more than 45 per cent annually between 2004 and 2009. From 2009 growth slowed somewhat because of the global economic slowdown.
At a compound annual growth rate of 18.4 per cent, dye sublimation is a fast growing market that is expected to more than double in terms of volume printed and value in the near future.
