Denim and jeans manufacturers are finding their way through the sourcing complexities created by the US-China trade war. They are shifting their sourcing strategies to counter the trade climate. But production development has never been more at the forefront to meet new consumer challenges and sustainability requirements.

What’s happened as a result of the trade war and actual and threatened tariffs is that China has lost jeans market share mostly to other Asian nations. However, a lot of Chinese fabrics are now being exported to countries like Vietnam and Cambodia to make apparel, since they don’t have a textile base.

Changes are also taking place in the market thanks to smaller companies being able to make an impact with the growth of direct-to-consumer channels. These brands are working directly with fabric mills to develop materials to meet their customers’ needs. Brands have a sustainability strategy now that is built into their raw material buying plan. They want a certain percentage of sustainable cotton. They want a percentage of recycled polyester and they want reused materials. They want an aesthetic, but it has to include a sustainable or ecological element to meet their company goals and to be able to tell a brand story.

China offers great prospects for sports brands. Adidas has more than 11,000 retail outlets across China. It is also expanding operations in China, with some 1000 new store openings a year. Adidas saw a year-on-year sales growth of 29 per cent in 2017 in China. It also saw sales grow by 26 per cent on an annual basis in the third quarter this year.

Decathlon, a France-based sporting goods and equipment retailer, had 267 stores in China by the end of 2017. The rapid growth of overseas sports brands in China has been spurred by increased spending on sporting goods, whether sportswear and active wear, fitness facilities or products like protein powers for body builders. Consumers are spending more and more on sports products as they pursue more outdoor hobbies like diving, kayaking and paragliding. They are buying outdoor gear like clothes, shoes, professional watches, socks and so forth.

Overseas sports brands are flourishing at a time when many other overseas brands are facing a tough time with Chinese consumers, due to the country’s economic downward pressure, fiercer competition from domestic brands, and tough global trade environment.

The news of a delay in implementation of tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods imported by China, was welcomed by retailers as a way to de-escalate the looming trade war that the industry fears that such tariffs will spark. Referring to the delay as a ‘breakthrough,’ Hun Quach, VP for international trade at the Arlington-based Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), believes it will keep America competitive, grow its economy and support the millions of American jobs impacted by trade. Achieving a resolution that forgoes a 25 per cent increase and any additional tariffs placed on everyday consumer items will benefit millions of American families across the country. In a recent letter to President Trump, RILA laid out retailers’ issues with the tariff increase and lack of exclusion process for List 3, encompassing thousands of everyday consumer items like apparel items and paper goods.

A new report by KnowTheChain, a benchmark that measures companies' efforts to address forced labor shows, clothing and footwear companies have failed to tackle the exploitation of workers in their supply chains. The analysis gives the apparel and footwear sector an average overall score of just 37 out of 100.

While the 2018 benchmark shows improvement from the sector since KnowTheChain's previous benchmark in 2016, the majority of companies scored poorly with more than two-thirds of companies scoring below 50/100. Industry-wide progress is uneven and lacking on key issues such as responsible recruitment—one of the areas with the most direct impact on vulnerable workers' lives.

Despite decades of public scrutiny over labor conditions in the industry, workers, particularly migrants and women, are often exploited through force, fraud or coercion. Many work for little or no pay, cut off from their homes or families, and with restrictions on their movement or opportunities for recourse. Compounding the issue, workers are often charged exorbitant recruitment fees that they can never repay, further trapping them in debt bondage and forced labor.

Li & Fung is supporting its Indian vendors through technical training and effective production systems like the lean manufacturing concept. Technical experts from Li & Fung’s Bangalore office and Hong Kong trained production team members, supervisors and operators of apparel manufacturing units and export houses at Delhi NCR.

Earlier checkers at export houses would submit a manual report but now after this training and with the use of a tab the report is online and action can be taken immediately on this report. It gives effective results as far as alteration or rejection are concerned.

Though these factories already use the best production practices the training is focused on various areas of improvement as well as minute things, besides emphasizing on energy saving.

Global trading house Li & Fung uses gadgets with specific software to provide training on the above-mentioned subjects and the initiative is expected to boost the efficiency of apparel shop floor and play a key role in increasing apparel sourcing capabilities of Li & Fung as it is associated with renowned apparel exporters of India.

Li & Fung is among the top sourcing and supply chain companies in the world. In April the company divested its three product verticals–furniture, beauty and sweaters–to simplify its business and allow senior management to focus resources on growing the core business of supply chain solutions.

The global jeans retail market is expected to grow by 4.9 per cent in the next five years. Particularly strong growth is expected in developing markets. South America is in the lead with a 12.1 per cent growth rate, while the rest of the world (all markets excluding North America, Europe, Turkey, Asia and South America) is set to increase in value by 19.7 per cent during the period.

The US is predicted to maintain its position as the largest jeans market globally, with China following in second place. Nearly half of China’s jeans production stays inside the country, marking a significant increase from data collected five years prior. Around 22 per cent of the jeans manufactured in China are traded outside of traditional retail markets in exchange for goods or services rather than currency.

The global jeans market benefits from its unique position as a category that has surpassed trends, allowing consumers to buy any jean style they prefer without being out of step with fashion.

Denim jeans are trousers typically made from denim fabric and are a very popular article of casual dress around the world. They come in many styles and colors. Although denim jeans are mostly known as a fashion garment, they are still worn as protective garments by some individuals, such as motorcycle riders, due to their high durability as compared to other common fabrics.

Colombiatex will take place from January 22 to 24, 2019. This is Latin America’s most important trade show for textiles, raw materials, chemicals and machinery will connect approximately 600 national and international exhibitors, with close to 13,000 national buyers and 1,800 international buyers from approximately 60 countries.

Top export companies such as Enka, Lafayette, Fabricato, Coltejer, Textilia, Primatela, Eka, Jordao, Sutex, John Uribe, Toptex, Coats and Eliot, will participate in this global event, representing 50 per cent of the total Colombian exports of textiles, fibers and yarns.

With a commitment to sustainability, the show will highlight the best practices of 25 companies that are known for innovation, social and environmental responsibility. Another highlight will be the denim apparel category, one of the most dynamic ones in the country. There will be a discussion of this textile and its different innovations, increasingly valued by the final consumer.

The show will assist companies interested in sourcing in the country, giving personalized advice in foreign trade, taxes and free trade agreements. Companies from the United States, Europe, Canada and South America are invited to find the common point between sciences, disciplines and professions that make up the fashion system.

Students, designers, entrepreneurs, academics and fans of the world of textile and apparel will be able to access free knowledge in the Inexmoda-UPB knowledge pavilion.

As per Textile, Apparel and Leather Industry Organisation affliated to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade of Iran, the country exported around $715 million worth of clothing and garments in the first seven months of the current fiscal (March 2018-October 2018) registering a significant 28 per cent growth compared to last year’s similar period.

Skyrocketing rates of foreign currency in the past months and the promising boost in the sector’s productivity were the two triggers of growth in the exports of clothing and apparels. Import of basic raw materials, such as fibers, also witnessed a significant growth as compared to the same period of last year, which proves the development in the industrial and production units’ activities.

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles will be held from March 12 to 14, 2019. Around 200 suppliers from China and around the world will showcase their products including beds and towels, carpets and rugs, table and kitchen linen, home textile technics, textile design and more.

Spring is traditionally regarded as the start of the new year in China and Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles facilitates industry players to capture the market potential during the peak sourcing season for home textile finished products. It also offers valuable opportunities for exhibitors to tap into the China market. It is one of the important platforms for brands to launch products for the year as many suppliers and brand buyers look for new items during this prime sourcing period.

For the 2018 spring edition more than 20,000 buyers came from 68 countries and regions. Bedding products account for half of home textile sales in China. Thanks to the rising number of middle class citizens, and a steady rise in the number of marriages every year, there is a growing demand for bedding products. Domestic sales of bedding enterprises above a designated size increased 6.2 per cent year-on-year. Demand for quality finished products is expected to keep growing due to the rising living standards.

The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) headed by the Textile Commissioner in its first estimate released this week, forecasts cotton yield will decline to 501.47 kg per hectare (ha) for the cotton season October 2018–September 2019 from 506.07 kg the previous year. As a result, average cotton output for the season is the lowest in three years. During the crop year 2016-17, the yield was reported at 459.2 kg per ha. With this, the 2018-19 cotton season is set to become the second slowest year in nearly a decade.

The CAB estimates India’s cotton output at 36.1 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) for 2018-19 compared with 37 million bales in the previous year. The statistics collated by the CAB showed Maharashtra as the least yielding cotton producing state in the India with an average productivity (yield) of 334.3 kg per ha this year compared to 343.48 kg last year.

To capitalise on benefits, such as procurement at minimum support price (MSP), offered by the government, farmers had brought additional area under this natural fibre last kharif sowing season. As a result, total acreage under the crop rose to 12.24 million ha from 10.83 million ha in 2016-17. However, uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall in Gujarat — deficient in cotton growing belts and surplus elsewhere — coupled with drought in major cotton cultivating areas in Maharashtra such as Marathwada, is set to pull down India’s average yield this year.