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According to the documentation sent by the Alyternative Fixed-Income Market (Marf), one of the biggest European retailers is in its way back to profitability after being in low for three years. The company recently concluded the investment phase of the last years,
The levers that Mango is using to improve profitability combine product with distribution and operations. The company is focusing on improving brand positioning, increasing its online sales, continuing to reduce its store of stores and cutting its costs.
Marf gave the company the green light to a payment program for 200 million euros. Through this program, the company plans to diversify its financing sources. Mango has undergone a reorganisation process during the last years to face the weak evolution of its sales and, above all, to the fall in its profit.
In 2018, Mango had net losses of 35 million euros, although it managed to improve its gross operating result (ebitda), which stood at 135 million euros. The company’s debt stood at 315 million euros at the end of 2018. At the end of that year, Mango refinanced a debt of 500 million euros with its main banks to postpone its loans four more years.
The US has imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese and Indian polyester textured yarn exporters. The justification is that exporters from China and India have dumped polyester textured yarn in the US market at margins ranging from 76.07 per cent to 77.15 per cent and 17.62 per cent to 47.51 per cent. The decision was taken after companies in the US, Nan Ya Plastics and Unifi, brought a petition against Chinese and Indian exporters.
With heavy tariffs now imposed on Chinese polyester textured yarn, Taiwanese companies see a chance to enter the US market. Though they are not sure whether the ruling will result in any benefits, they think it will serve as a bargaining chip for the US in its negotiations with China as the two countries seek to resolve their trade disputes. Chinese firms that face heavy tariffs in the US are likely to sell their products on the domestic market, which would tighten the competition for Taiwanese companies operating in China, including Nan Ya Plastics.
After the petition was filed with US authorities, polyester textured yarn exports from China and India to the US fell to 229 tons and 341 tons per month on an average, respectively, as of September of 2019 from 1,939 tons and 1,006 tons as of January 2018.
Lycra’s long-term goal is to get to a fiber made with post-consumer content. The company is moving ahead on multiple fronts to support and expand its sustainability platform. This includes Lycra T400 EcoMade fiber made from 50 per cent recycled PET and 18 per cent plant-based materials, and technologies geared toward reducing waste, extending garment life and reducing or eliminating chemical use.
By 2021 the products in Coolmax will be converted to EcoMade, made with 97 per cent recycled PET. Standard Coolmax is made from virgin polyester. Coolmax fibers deliver cooling performance to garments by transporting moisture away from the body to the surface of the breathable fabric, where it evaporates quickly and helps the wearer stay dry and comfortable. The fiber is used as an ingredient in several product areas, including denim. Lycra’s Thermolite fiber, an insulation that delivers lightweight warmth, is also being coverted similarly to EcoMade recycled content.
Lycra EcoMade fibers have been certified to the Global Recycled Standard. Lycra EcoMade fiber is the company’s first branded spandex that is made with pre-consumer recycled materials. The EcoMade fiber offers the same lasting comfort, fit and freedom of movement as the original Lycra, but is made partly with fiber waste collected at the company’s manufacturing sites and blended with virgin polymer at specific concentrations. This reduces waste and puts it back into production.
The cotton crop in Maharashtra has been damaged by unseasonal rains. Due to the high moisture content the damaged crop is estimated to fetch prices that will be 30 per cent to 35 per cent lower than the minimum support price.
India's raw cotton exports fell 75 per cent during the first half of the current financial year due to high domestic prices and the availability of cheaper cotton from Brazil, the United States and Vietnam. The spinning industry saw disruptions in production in the second quarter because of reduced demand and volatility in cotton prices. While demand from China improved marginally in August and September, further improvement will be healthier for the spinning industry which has been facing margin pressure and low capacity utilisations. Manmade fibers saw the second consecutive month of stabilisation on the back of stable crude prices.
Fabric exports improved in the first half of the new year due to an improvement in the quality of Indian fabrics and addition of newer markets. The main markets were Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. A sharp rise in imports of cheap apparel from Bangladesh has rendered the Indian textile value chain uncompetitive. Readymade garments recorded a de-growth of 14 per cent month-on-month in September due to a steep fall in demand from the United States and Britain.
UK based Coats world’s leading industrial thread company offers more than 20 products in 10 sizes of thread. But in color it supplies more than a hundred thousand colors. Coats launched many ranges of innovative threads. One of these is the waterproof AS thread, used in footwear and down jackets. The company has also made investments in its effluent treatment plant, where it reuses 30 per cent water after treatment and is looking to increase that to 100 per cent. In Bangladesh Coats is the first company which offers garment factories recycled thread. The company uses plastic bottles to make chips, which are then converted into plastic threads. It also aims to make all its premium polyester threads from 100 per cent recycled material by 2024.
Coats, has been operating in Bangladesh for 30 years and wants to be a partner to the garment factories by offering solutions that add value to their operations. Other value solutions Coats offers customers are speed, innovation, digital and sustainability. The company has expanded its capacity by around 40 per cent in the last two years.
MySize takes the guesswork out of buying jeans. Users can now receive their size recommendation without having to download the application by easily entering their gender, height and weight. This data is then analyzed by MySize’s proprietary machine learning database in order to calculate the appropriate size. The second feature of the widget is guest mode, which allows guest users to enter their information and receive a size recommendation. The widget can then follow the user across the site and predict a size on different products.
MySize is a measurement app that provides sizing recommendations. The measurement solution bolsters buying confidence in customers by quickly generating their ideal size, which further increases brand loyalty and conversion rates for the retailer while reducing returns. Based on customer engagement, the technology allows retailers to optimize their customer sizing data and maintain appropriate inventory levels on relevant items.
While the widget produces accurate results, the app fine-tunes these measurements using proprietary measuring technology without taking photos. The tool not only benefits brands in the sense that they’re ultimately able to reduce returns, but they’re also better able to plan inventory—one of the biggest hurdles to providing customers with a successful in-store experience.
This year’s lower cotton yield in the High Plains of Texas has impacted the cotton ginning sector. “Yield is about 30 per cent lower than what was expected earlier,” stated 46-year veteran in the sector Steve Moffett, general manager of Lubbock-based Lubbock Electric Company.
He was speaking at a special dinner organised in Lubbock, Texas where several executives of the ginning sector met to discuss the growth of the ginning industry over the past 30-years.
Another aspect of the discussion was how the seed turn out and weight has reduced over the years. This has helped with the productivity, stated Shankar Venkatachalam, president of Bajaj ConEagle, LLC,
“Ginning machinery has not seen a whole lot of changes with regard to its functionality,” quoted Ray Moore, a 31-year veteran with the industry. Certainly, productivity has increased from 25 bales per hour to 100 bales per hour added Moore of Bajaj ConEagle, LLC.
Utilisation of technology for productivity has supported the growth of the cotton ginning industry.Ginning contributes to the cotton sector by cleaning, drying and maintaining/enhancing the quality of the fiber. Ginning plays an important role in enhancing the quality of the fiber. The ginning industry should effectively utilise technologies such as image processing to control trash, contamination, etc.
As Bajaj ConEagle is a subsidiary of India-based Bajaj Steel Industry, discussions at the event focused on the Indian ginning sector, which is roller gin-based. “India should soon invest in saw gins to reduce trash content,” stated Shankar.
Very soon China is expected to become the largest fashion market in the world. This rise in Chinese spending coupled with the new preference for Chinese brands is giving a boost to the country’s fashion and footwear makers. Many Chinese shoppers have typically viewed foreign brands as superior to home-grown labels. The mindset has begun to change, and more shoppers are starting to look to domestic labels.
Heilan Home is one of China’s biggest clothing companies, operating some 5,000 stores. Anta Sports is China’s biggest sports company. Both are now among the ranks of the world’s top performing fashion companies. Chinese companies are growing and becoming competitive in an industry long dominated by American and European businesses. The success of Anta and Heilan reflects shifting attitudes in favor of local brands by Chinese consumers, as local heroes increasingly compete with international high-street brands in areas such as value for money, innovation in design and quality, and customer service.
Chinese millennials and Gen Z are responsible for the lion’s share of luxury consumption globally. China is poised to reach a milestone that signals how the rebalancing of economic power in the world is reshaping industries with it. There is an ascendance of young shoppers and policies are encouraging shopping.
Between May and September 2019 India’s imports of viscose yarn were 195 per cent higher than the same period last year. In July 2019, imports were 342 per cent higher and August saw a 816 per cent rise. China and Indonesia have been dumping cheaper yarn into the country affecting the spinning industry severely. India is self-sufficient in yarn and does not need imports. While most spinning mills are running on lower capacity, some smaller mills in South India are facing a tough time. Availability of cheaper viscose yarn will also affect cotton yarn demand as fabric makers will use more viscose than cotton in their products. The industry wants an anti-dumping duty on yarn as well, the total tax incidence to be 15 per cent or at least 10 per cent on yarn to deter increasing imports.
But this will put the industry in a difficult situation. If yarn duties are increased, either fabric imports will go up or the entire value chain will become costlier, affecting the competitiveness of Indian products in the global market. But if the duties remain the same, imports will continue to impact the domestic spinning industry.
While the US-China trade war has slowed down the demand for viscose yarn globally, India has been witnessing dumping of viscose yarn.
Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is releasing a revised version of Better Cotton Claims Framework. This follows a realization that the need for members to communicate about sustainability is growing and evolving and that the framework must evolve in parallel with growing market and consumer demands. The updated framework includes key changes that allow members to communicate about their sustainability efforts in a clear and compelling way, while at the same time ensuring that the information is accurate and credible. The latest version includes a new type of sustainability claim for eligible retailer and brand members. The Better Cotton Claims Framework is one of six components of the Better Cotton Standard System and equips members to make credible and positive claims about Better Cotton. The framework is an important tool that supports BCI’s efforts to drive demand by building market awareness of the production of Better Cotton in partnership with BCI members.
Better Cotton Initiative is a global non-profit. BCI also gives members the guidance they need to report on their achievements in a way that is credible and transparent. The BCI on-product mark – one-way retailer and brand members can communicate directly to their customers – now references mass balance directly in the required BCI logo. Customers wanting to know more about a member’s sustainability claims and about BCI can have access to more detailed information.
