Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the leading association for the apparel, footwear, and textile industry, recently released the 2018 Higg Facility Modules on Higg.org. The Higg Facility Modules are a part of the Higg Index, a suite of sustainability assessment tools to address value chain inefficiencies, resolve damaging practices, and achieve the environmental and social transparency consumers are demanding.

Factories can use the updated Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) and the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM), which is accessible online for the first time, to evaluate value chain sustainability performance.

The Higg FEM assessment measures factories’ environmental management systems, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, water use, wastewater, emissions to air, waste management, and chemical use and management. The new web-based Higg FSLM introduces the industry’s first standardized self-assessment for measuring factories’ social and labor performance.

Informed by the Social and Labor Convergence Project, the SAC developed the Higg FSLM to evaluate recruitment and hiring practices, working hours, wages and benefits, employee health and safety, and community engagement, among other areas. The SAC is working towards accreditation as a host of the converged assessment and will release a scored version of Higg FSLM at the end of 2019.

The 4th annual Performance Textile Fair, to be held from January 23 to 25, 2019 in Orlando, will launch a new racquet industry event co-located with the PGA Merchandise Show. The PGA Show, which has already been a main feeder for the Performance Textile Fair, will welcome the Racquet & Paddle Racquet Sports Conference this year. The addition of this new event promises to draw even more buyers interested in learning about and purchasing goods designed for the activewear crowd.

The show this year will feature 20 more exhibitors for a total of 60 from all around the world. Suppliers will include companies such as Brrr and Polartec from the US; Everest, Erictex and Fortune from the Taiwan; and Carvico of Italy. The Performance Textile Fair will present the Material Science Center, a designated space with illuminated displays showcasing the newest fabric technologies. The interactive area allows attendees to touch, feel and learn about each product.

Chinese investors expressed their deep desire to enter into joint ventures with Pakistan for importing high quality fabric that would help them improve bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries. A Chinese delegation from China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC) visited Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT). The objective was their keen interest in developing business in Pakistan specifically in the textile sector for changing the economic landscape of the country.

They showed immense interest in investing in Pakistan as it is amongst the largest cotton producers in the world and their high quality fabric can be exported to China thus enhancing the productivity and boosting trade relations between the two countries. They requested that Chinese investors should be provided with specific promotion incentives to deepen trade relations. They invited PBIT and potential investors from Punjab for showcasing their products in the biggest textile expos conducted in Shanghai.

Burana, CEO, PBIT told them that Minister for Industries, Commerce and Investment, Punjab is interested in visiting China with delegates from the textile sector for further economic cooperation. He proposed that a joint working group should be constituted between PBIT and CNTAC to explore possibilities of promotion & cooperation between Punjab and China specifically in textiles.

Pakistan hopes to complete the second FTA with China by June next year. Pakistan and China signed their first FTA in 2007 and since then bilateral trade – albeit increasing – has tilted heavily in favor of the latter.

The country’s trade deficit vis-à-vis China ballooned to nearly $10 billion in the last fiscal year of 2017-18. Both countries have expressed willingness to revisit products availing duty concessions, but the second round of FTA has been hanging fire for too long.

Pakistan hopes to get bilateral trade benefits with the world’s second largest economy. Pakistan will request China to remove other non tariff barriers so that it can boost exports. Duty free market access to China will boost exports of Pakistan’s made-ups.

Pakistan and China will decide how much textile, leather, and other goods can be exported to fully utilise the duty free facility. At this stage, the list of products that would be eligible for duty-free has not been prepared. There will be further discussions on finalising details of market access and the balance of payment support. Industrial cooperation will be accelerated and both sides have decided to move with the next phase with a focus on industrial expansion, agricultural revitalisation and integration of trade ties.

The Indian Cotton Federation (ICF) has estimated cotton crop for 2018-19 in the country to be 373 lakh bales of 170 kg a bale. Production in the north zone including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was expected to be 61 lakh, the central zone, 200 lakh bales (Gujarat, Maharasthra, and Madhya Pradesh), and the south zone 107 lakh bales. Production from the entire country was expected to be 373 lakh bales and imports might be 18 lakh bales. The provisional estimate for consumption was 320 lakh bales.

Without an official crop estimate, there were uncertainties about the cotton crop situation. There were also reports of a lower crop. The uncertainties were leading to hardships for cotton trade and the textile mills. According to a study by the Federation, the average crop size in the last 12 years in the country is 377 lakh bales. The average of the worst year is 348 lakh bales. For the cotton year 2018-19, around five lakh packets of cotton seeds are sold.

Except for a few pockets in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, all the cotton growing areas have received sufficient rain. So, the cotton production this year should be higher.

As per Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), FDI in Malaysia’s clothing and textile sector is increasing more this year on the back of a robust performance in 2017. From January to June 2018, the total investments in the sector reached MYR244.8 million ($58.73 million) of which FDI accounted for MYR112 million ($26.87million). This compares with MYR428.8 million ($102 milliion) of investments approved across 12 projects for the garment and textile sector last year where MYR322.3 million ($77.35 million) – 75.2 per cent – came from foreign investors.

All these projects put together generated 1,850 jobs comprising skilled positions for engineers, quality controllers, and highly skilled technicians. MIDA expects investments to continue to rise in 2018 based on the performance in the first half of the year. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also sounded positive about a rise in FDI in general during 2018.

Latest Otexa figures reveal, export of Bangladeshi-made cotton trousers fetched $1.13 billion in revenue during the January-September 2018 period. This was a 9.31 per cent gain on a year-to-year basis in comparison to the same time period last year. Cotton trousers made up for 27 per cent of Bangladesh’s total apparel exports to the US, the country’s single biggest country-wise export destination, in 2018.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US, during the period, amounted to $4.16 billion, up 5.84 per cent from last year. The major garments exported were cotton trousers, cotton dress, knit blouse, slacks, cotton underwear and sweater. Export of slacks marked a significant rise, fetching over $59 million. This was an impressive 9.32 per cent gain from the $54 million during the period in 2017. On the other hand, export of woven shirts declined. It fetched $41 million during this time, down 1.14 per cent from previous year.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement is expected to aid Vietnam's exports, especially textiles and footwear industries. One of the key contents of the CPTPP is removal of 95-98 per cent of tariff lines as soon as the agreement enters into force. The remaining tariff lines will be cut over the next seven years, moves predicted to aid the growth and export turnover of the two industries.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the CPTPP will help Vietnam accelerate its growth and make the export market more balanced. The zero-per cent tariffs will help the country’s textile and garment industries expand market share in countries with high tax rates like Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The CPTPP sets strict requirements on product origin, which is a big challenge for Vietnamese enterprises and the textile and garment and footwear sectors in particular, as they are heavily dependent on material sources imported from China, India and other ASEAN countries.

Egypt is one of the largest textile and apparel centers in the Middle East. The industry manufactures a variety of fabrics, garments, and knitted garments, bed linen and terry cloth products. Approximately 5,00,000 workers are employed in textiles and apparel -- a quarter of the total employment in manufacturing.

Taking labor costs into consideration, Egypt's textile and apparel products are not competitive when compared with China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Restrictions on imports have been sustained and some products have even been barred altogether. Aside from a few exceptions, imports of cotton fabrics and readymade textile products are prohibited.

Currently, there is a 150 per cent tariff on imports from the European Union. Although there are no quantitative restrictions on cotton yarn, the imported product is subject to a flat 30 per cent tariff, plus 10 per cent sales tax and a three per cent surcharge. The tariff charged on imported raw materials used in goods for exports is refunded to the importer through the drawback system.

High subsidies have led to wasteful use of extra long staple cotton. Egypt produces a variety of extra long, and medium-long staple cotton. While long staple production began to fall during the mid ’70s, the production of medium-long varieties increased.

Coloreel has won an award for innovation from the Skapa foundation. The Swedish company has developed a unique machine for digital thread coloring that will revolutionize the textile industry.

The innovation revolutionizes the technological possibilities for industrial embroidery; shortens production times and allows embroidery in the precise colors wanted. Also, for the first time, it is now possible to produce gradients in the embroidery. In September this year, Coloreel launched its first thread coloring unit. The patented base technology can also be used for sewing, knitting, weaving and more.

Today's thread dyeing plants can only color thread in a single solid color. With Coloreel technology, it is possible to get a fast and high-quality coloring of a textile thread while using the thread in production. The first product based on this technology is a ground-breaking thread coloring attachment that will be used in existing embroidery machines. By coloring a white thread during embroidery production, Coloreel offers complete freedom to create unique embroideries without any limitations in the use of colors. This technique not only contributes to increased efficiency, but also in an innovative way to the efficiency of the global textile industry, development and growth.