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The federation of Moroccan textile operators AMITH have come together to address the fierce competition being faced from Turkish manufacturers that has resulted in many layouts and put several factories out of business, pushing Moroccan professionals to seek a new strategy to boost competitiveness.
AMITH has recommended that more attention needs to be paid to the industry’s upstream to bolster competitiveness of output. The country has already recorded a 5.1 per cent increase in exports to EU and pledged around five billion dirhams investments by April 2019.
The Moroccon textile sector houses over 1,200 enterprises and employs 190,000 people. The country produces about one billion piece of clothes annually, of which most are exported mainly to Europe. The sector represented a quarter of Morocco’s exports last year, equal to 38 billion dirhams.
Brands are transitioning to be more sustainable. Customers have been questioning them on the subject for a while and certain brands have been ahead and already found answers -- usually young brands that are free and committed.
Fair trade sourcing business Fairly Made has managed to create a library of resources, listing around 800 eco-friendly fabrics, which have been classified as natural, synthetic, and cellulosic fibers. Mirae has small-batch production and uses the most sustainable materials possible. When selecting fabrics, the brand chooses Oeko-Tex certified materials and excludes synthetic textiles. Gentle Factory chooses to go up each level of the supply chain to ensure that all eco-friendly and sustainable criteria are met. However, since controlling each step of the value chain is not easy, the brand asks Tier I suppliers to give detailed information on their materials, who in turn ask their Tier II suppliers etc. Gentle Factory looks at each level of its value chain. One big challenge for change-makers is the durability of products. Gentle Factory is built on simple and timeless products and has its own internal laboratory where it tests textiles and then the finished products. If there is a problem with a certain product, say, a shirt that shrinks, the brand organises up-cycling workshops so that the product isn’t wasted.
Christopher Bastin is returning to Gant as global artistic director. His responsibilities will include key aesthetics, curated capsules for PR-driven projects and brand collaborations. In his new role he will work across all creative platforms in close collaboration with Karen Vogele, who serves as EVP of product and design. Vogele will continue to have full responsibility for the product and design organisation, while Bastin will oversee the brand’s artistic direction. He is seen as having a profound understanding of Gant and bringing a creative infusion not only to the design department, but to the whole company.
Bastin had quit Gant four years ago. He first joined the brand in 2005 as a shirt designer and later rose to become head of design for Gant Rugger, a sub-brand which was dropped to reduce consumer confusion. In 2012, he took up the role of creative director, a position he held for three years. During the time he spent running his own creative agency, working for brands like Frame and NN07, and gathering new experience and knowledge.
Clothing brand Gant is celebrating 70 years. The preppy label is known for the button down shirt, the club blazer, the chino trouser and the varsity jacket.
German flat knit machine manufacturer Stoll has launched a new trend collection Materialization and a knitelligence production process.
The collection deals with overcoming of material resistance – the biggest obstacle in the creation and manufacture of textiles. Stoll found its inspiration for the collection in recycled plastic bags, silver foil, jute bags and other packaging materials. Knitelligence is an innovative networking concept for future textile production. It combines all its software solutions and thus covers the entire value creation chain of flat-knitting production. From design idea to development and manufacture, knitelligence offers tailored solutions for every component. Customers will benefit from more consistent workflows, shorter, transparent production cycles, and an increase in quality, productivity, and, therefore, overall plant efficiency. Customers can not only design their processes to be considerably more efficient, but can also react far more flexibly to the requirements of the market.
Stoll founded in 1873 is a German flat knitting machinery manufacturer. It exports to more than 50 countries all over the world and offers integrated services through affiliated companies, sales and marketing centers and numerous agencies. The Stoll product portfolio comprises 3D knitting machines and patterning software, which are used for the production of fabrics for fashion as well as for technical applications. With innovative technical developments and a modern production environment, Stoll enables a broad spectrum of knitting trends.
Besides boosting its online sales, Zara has been updating physical shops to integrate digital technology. The brand launched online sales in Brazil, Indonesia, Serbia, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Plans are to go online in Colombia, Ukraine, South Africa, and the Philippines.
Despite becoming one of the world’s most successful fashion brands by being faster and more responsive to shoppers than most of its competitors, Zara finally launched e-commerce only in 2010. The brand has been under pressure to innovate as customers change how they shop and a crop of ultra fast, online competitors rises up.
Sales at Inditex, Zara’s parent, grew seven per cent in the six months through July, a rebound from the three per cent it recorded during the same period last year, at the time marking Inditex’s slowest sales growth in more than a decade. Inditex’s margins, which indicate profitability, are dragging lately. But sales at stores and on e-commerce operating at least a year grew five per cent with positive like-for-like growth across all geographical areas, across all concepts and in both physical stores and online. Net income also grew ten per cent.
Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread company, is launching a new product targeting the personal protection sector called FlameProTM Splash Protect. The flame and heat resistant protective fabric is engineered to be lightweight, soft and flexible while maintaining durability for long lasting wear. It is being showcased at this week’s National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo in San Diego, California, US.
Coats FlamePro Splash Protect is specifically designed to incorporate thermal resistance and metal-shedding properties which protect against radian heat, flame, metal molten splash and other smelting hazards. The satin feel of the fabric gives it softness and comfort yet it can also withstand molten aluminium at a temperature of up to 760 degrees Celsius. It is anticipated main uses would be by aluminium, iron and steel manufacturers as well as foundries.
"A new report ‘Asia – Woven Fabrics Of Cotton – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’, reveals revenues of the cotton fabric market in Asia increased by a meager 2 per cent to reach $43.9 billion in 2018. Though the overall consumption of cotton fabric in China witnessed a steady decline during 2010 -2019, the country remains the largest cotton fabric consumer in Asia, accounting for 32 per cent of total consumption. China’s consumption exceeds almost twice that of the region’s second-largest consumer, Bangladesh which consumed 869 million sq. mt. of fabric; Turkey emerged third globally with consumption of 819 million sq. mt."
A new report ‘Asia – Woven Fabrics Of Cotton – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’, reveals revenues of the cotton fabric market in Asia increased by a meager 2 per cent to reach $43.9 billion in 2018. Though the overall consumption of cotton fabric in China witnessed a steady decline during 2010 -2019, the country remains the largest cotton fabric consumer in Asia, accounting for 32 per cent of total consumption. China’s consumption exceeds almost twice that of the region’s second-largest consumer, Bangladesh which consumed 869 million sq. mt. of fabric; Turkey emerged third globally with consumption of 819 million sq. mt.
In terms of growth in value, China topped the list by selling cotton fabrics worth $13 billion in 2018. On the other
hand, India sold fabrics worth $9.7 billion while Bangladesh sold cotton fabrics worth $4.9 billion. These two countries held a combined 63 per cent share of the total market. The countries with the highest levels of cotton fabric per capita consumption in 2018 included: Turkey (9,988 sq. mt. per 1,000 persons), Bangladesh (5,219 sq. mt. per 1000 persons) and Vietnam (2,483 sq. mt. per 1000 persons).
China remains top cotton producer
Over the period under review, cotton fabric production continues to indicate a mild decrease. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2015 with an increase of 5.9 per cent year-to-year. Cotton fabric production attained its peak level at $59.6 billion in 2008; however, from 2009 to 2018, production failed to regain momentum. In 2018, production of woven cotton fabrics in Asia was 6.2 billion sq. mt, declining -4.2 per cent against the previous year. In value terms, cotton fabric production stood at $46.9 billion in 2018 estimated in export prices.
China remained the largest cotton fabric producing country in Asia, accounting for 50 per cent of total production. It was followed by Turkey with a production of 833 million sq. mt. The third position in this ranking was occupied by India which produced 792 million sq. mt.of cotton fabric.
Exports remain flat
Exports of cotton fabrics indicated a relatively flat trend pattern from 2010-2018. The total exports of woven fabrics of cotton in 2018 totaled 2.2 billion sq. mt, leveling off at the previous year. China was the major exporter with 56 per cent of the total exports. It was distantly followed by Pakistan with exports of 422 million sq. mt, India with exports of 118 million sq. mt. and Turkey with exports 109 million sq. mt. Together, these three countries generated a 29 per cent share of total exports.
Import of cotton woven fabrics in Asia increased 4.9 per cent in 2018 with the region importing approximately 2.1 billion sq. mt. of fabrics against the previous year. The total volume of imports increased at an average annual rate of +2.1 per cent over the period from 2007 to 2018 with the pace of growth being most pronounced in 2017 when imports increased by 42 per cent year-to-year.
Bangladesh was the topmost importer of cotton woven fabrics in Asia, with volume of imports reaching 873 million sq. mt, nearly 42 per cent of the total imports in 2018. Vietnam followed with 12 per cent share of total imports, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Cambodia and Turkey made up the list.
At the 60th general meeting of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), Ashwin Chandran was elected as the new chairman for 2019-2020. Speaking on the occasion, P Nataraj, Ex-Chairman, noted that the textile sector was facing a crisis due to the volatility in cotton prices and currency values, steep fall in exports, piling-up of stocks, production cut, severe liquidity crunch, significant increase in cheaper imports of MMF spun yarns, synthetic fabrics and ready-made garments huge arrears of government dues. To deal with this, SIMA has requested the Government to take appropriate remedial policy measures, clear all the dues on a fast track and extend the rebate on the state and central tax and levy benefits to all manufactured textile goods across the value chain.
Nataraj further said the total production of yarn during 2018-19 increased by 3.2 per cent to 5,862 million kg and on three months up to June stood at 1,591 million kg. Export of cotton yarn declined by over 35 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal to 57 million kg.
Revenue from the leather and hide market in the US fell 12.1 per cent last year compared to the previous year. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2015 when the market value increased by 0.6 per cent against the previous year. However, from 2014 to 2018, demand remained at a lower figure. Leather and hide exports from the US in 2018 were flat with the previous year.
The main destinations for leather and hide exports from the US are: Italy, China and Vietnam. And these combined account for 84 per cent of total exports. Vietnam recorded the highest growth rate of exports of the top countries over the last five years, while the other leaders experienced a decline.
Leather and hide imports into the US in 2018 increased 16 per cent and have increased at an average annual rate of 10.7 per cent over a five-year period. Brazil is the largest supplier of leather and hide to the US, comprising 38 per cent of total US leather and hide imports. The second position in the ranking is occupied by Italy, with an 18 per cent share of imports. Leather imports into the US are likely to see steady growth in the near future.
Texworld Denim Paris will be held September 16 to September 19, 2019. Among the participants are Bhaskar Industries, from India, with a vertically integrated mill and an annual production capacity of 44 million meters, which is actively engaged in reducing, reusing and recycling in its production; Chittagong Denim Mills, from Bangladesh, focused on using innovative processes, technologies and machines while being responsive to their customer’s requirements and anticipating changes in market trends; and Mekotex, based in Pakistan, a manufacturer and exporter of denim and other cotton fabrics, having s a fully integrated vertical unit with its own in-house spinning, denim preparatory, weaving, denim finishing and power generation. The company is GOTS certified, BSCI, Oeko-Tex 100, Oeko-Tex STEP. A new exhibitor is the TM Group, a Franco-Chinese company specializing in fashion and renowned for its denim and garment dye collections, basic pieces sublimated by varied finishes and perfectly adapted to market trends: buttoned, zipped, belted, studded with embroidered stones, sewn or inlaid, added leather.
Texworld Denim Paris offers an expanded international range of denim textiles and denim clothing manufacturers, allows retail chains and designer labels to find inspiration for additions to their collections and identifies suppliers for materials, expertise or finished products.
