The 18th edition of Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition (VTG) will be held from November 21-24 at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) concurrent with Vietnam International Textile & Apparel Accessories Exhibition (VitaTex). The event will be organised by Ministry of Industry & Trade – Vinexad National Trade Fair & Advertising J.S.C., Yorkers Trade & Marketing Service Co., Ltd., Guangdong Sewing Equipment Chamber Commerce and Paper Communication Exhibition Services.

Co-Organised by Hong Kong Apparel Machinery Association (HKAMA), the event has also won robust support from both the government and industrial sectors, Association of Vietnam Cotton & Spinning Association (VCOSA), Garment-Textile-Embroidery-Knitting in HCM City (AGTEK) and China Sewing Machinery Association (CSMA). VTG 2018 features 400 exhibitors including top brands from 11 countries and regions listed as China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam.

The event will not only showcase the pavilions by strategy partners such as China Textile Machinery Association and Hong Kong Apparel Machinery Association, but also the strong performance of international delegation by Korea Textile Center (KTC), Chamber of Commerce and Industry Portugal – Vietnam (CCIPV), Taiwan Textile Federation (T.T.F.) and Turkish Textile Machinery and Accessories Industrialists’ Association (TEMSAD).

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) and WWF have announced the launch of a project to transform the textile industry into a more sustainable 'Made in Vietnam' sector. This project will engage multiple players in the sector to promote better river basin governance and contribute to water quality improvement and sustainable energy use.

The project titled 'Greening Vietnam’s textile sector through improving water management and energy sustainability' is part of the 'Driving impact reduction through the textiles value chain' project sponsored by HSBC to support the green textile industry in China, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. The 'Driving impact reduction through the textiles value chain' belongs to pillar Sustainable Network and Entrepreneurs, one of three pillars under HSBC’s current sustainability strategy aiming at supporting the shift to sustainable global supply chains.

With a vision to transform the textile-apparel sector in Vietnam, the project will be implemented from 2018 to 2020. It will focus on the Mekong and Dong Nai deltas where more than half of Vietnam’s apparel factories are located.

The main focus of the project is to improve water and energy sustainability within the sector, thus reducing its impacts to the environment. The project will also work with textile–apparel manufacturers to encourage them to be more active river stewards, practice sustainable energy planning and discuss collective actions to achieve long term sustainable investments and development in the textile-apparel sector.

Vietnam will host four exhibitions from November 21 to 24, 2018. These are a textile and garment industry exhibition, a textile and apparel accessories exhibition, a footwear machinery and material exhibition (VFM) and InterDye Asia 2018.

The first two will display technologies, equipment, products, and services used in the textile and garment industry. They will have more than 400 exhibitors, including 100 top brands from China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam. Brands like Bao Lun, Richpeace, Tajima, and ZSK will display their latest embroidery machines and Heinz Walz, Epson, Grafica, and Sulfet their printing machines. Beworth and Silk Road will have their latest flat knitting machines and Maika will present a textile CAD system. There will be Japanese sewing machines brands like Brother, Hikari, Juki, and Yamato.

VFM will introduce injection machines; footwear, artificial leather, handbag, suitcase, and shoe knitting machinery, CAD/CAM systems, and footwear materials representing a wide selection of components in the footwear value chain.

InterDye Asia is a dye, pigments and textile chemicals exhibition. It will exhibit dyestuffs, intermediates, organic pigments, textile chemicals, inspection, testing, monitoring, dyeing, and printing equipment, printing materials graphic arts, paper, paints, wallpapers and lacquers.

Istanbul Yarn Fair will be held from February 28 to March 2, 2019. This event showcases products like knitted fabrics, cotton yarns, cotton blended yarns etc. in the textile, fabrics and yarns industry. It is a platform where professional visitors, buyer groups and investors from Eurasia and Africa will meet and exchange information.

This is the world’s second biggest yarn fair. It brings together the international textile industry. It hosts participants and visitors from various countries to become a sales and marketing platform that shapes the international yarn trade and textile production.

The fair is the most important commercial gathering of the international yarn industry. It stands out as an opportunity not to be missed for yarn companies that want to access new markets.

Turkey is a major yarn manufacturer. Istanbul Yarn Fair allows the formation of new distribution channels while increasing the export opportunities of the yarn industry in Turkey. As a reflection of the Turkish yarn industry, Istanbul Yarn Fair is opening up new markets in parallel with the growth trend. The fair aims to create new export and import opportunities for the industry. Among the fabric manufacturers are those of knitted fabrics, tricot, underwear, hosiery, blankets, denims, home textile, carpets, yarns, technical and military textiles.

The 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement will be implemented on December 30, 2018. Six legislatures of member states have ratified the pact. The trade deal takes effect 60 days after at least six countries complete the ratification process. Nicknamed the TPP-11, the agreement was once known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership but was formally renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership last year.

Australia notified New Zealand that it has ratified the agreement. Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Canada had already completed the procedures. Vietnam's parliament is expected to approve the deal by mid-November. Once the trade pact comes into force, a TPP committee of ministerial-level officials from member states will meet and decide on needed steps for countries hoping to join, such as Thailand and the U.K.

TPP-11 will lower tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods, as well as unify rules for business. Tariffs on 99.9 per cent of Japan's industrial products and 98.5 per cent of its farm, forestry and seafood products will eventually be abolished. Tariffs on agricultural products exported from Australia and New Zealand to Japan will also go down.

Oerlikon’s orders for the third quarter increased year-over-year by 22.2 per cent. Sales were up 28.9 per cent. The group’s ebitda came in higher year-over-year at 15 per cent of sales. Ebit for the third quarter corresponded to a margin of nine per cent. The third quarter performance resulted in a significantly improved rolling 12-month Oerlikon Group return on capital employed of 11.7 per cent.

Ebitda margin of 15 per cent reflects the higher operating costs related to investments and a larger share of revenues generated by equipment and project businesses in this quarter. The company continued to grow its surface solutions business, increasing orders and sales in almost all of its end markets. The surface solutions segment sustained topline growth, delivering double-digit increases in both year-over-year orders and sales.

For the manmade fibers segment, Oerlikon recorded significantly higher orders and achieved a historical high in sales. It has delivered strong results and is on track to deliver on its guidance for the full year of 2018. For continued operations for the full year of 2018, ebitda margin is expected to exceed 15.5 per cent after accounting for increased operating expenses from higher investments, particularly in additive manufacturing and impacts from the divestment of the drive systems segment.

As per report from Citigroup economists, the US is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports by early December and their impact may be as much as 10 times higher than earlier rounds of levies. The new penalties, which could take effect in early February, will encompass Chinese-made consumer goods like Apple iPhones and Nike shoes that the Trump administration has so far left untouched. The impact of a 10 percent tariff on the $267 billion of imports could be 10 times larger than the first $50 billion round and double that of the $200 billion tariffs in the second round, the analysts wrote.

According to Stephen Lamar, Executive Vice President of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, producers and retailers of apparel and footwear are already planning for the higher tariffs. As companies consider switching to suppliers in other parts of Asia, the law of supply and demand is putting upward pressure on costs in neighboring countries.

Amsterdam Denim Days was held last weekend. Dutch labels, artisans and a mix of global denim mills came together. The festival immersed denim heads in the world of denim, from mill to retail, with exhibitors spanning Naveena, Berto and Boss, to Kings of Indigo and Nudie Jeans.

For We Wear the Pants creators, Marta Goldschmied and Gabriella Meyer the event was an opportunity to continue to spread their collection’s message about gender equality in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Denim Days was also an effective platform to explain why the collection’s premium price point was required in order to achieve its sustainable attributes. The designers didn’t skimp on quality. The collection showed their devotion to sustainability.

Sustainability was also top of mind for Naveena. The mill partnered with Dutch designer Jonathan Christopher Homme to make and sell unisex, multi-purpose kimonos made with its Horizon fabrics. The fabrics combine eco-friendly dyeing and finishing processes that use 81 per cent less water, 40 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less steam compared to conventional processes. Italian mill Berto sold specially made screen-printed denim table runners, aprons and accessories like tote bags and laptop cases.

Nudie Jeans showcased jean jackets with Dutch-themed chain stitching.

Profit margins of Indian textile mills improved during the second quarter. Input costs were low, driven largely by a fall in cotton prices. Welspun India’s net profit for example grew 21.4 per cent. Sales grew 11 per cent. Raymond’s sales increased 16 per cent, ebitda by 36 per cent and net profit by 63 per cent. Better capacity utilisation in garmenting, higher gains from currency depreciation and continued focus on efficiencies may drive Raymond’s margin expansion in the second half.

Raw material prices remained subdued during the quarter, though cotton demand from domestic textile manufacturers was robust, as mills needed to prepare stocks for the festival and seasonal demand in October-November. These dynamics might change in the coming quarters with demand for cotton coming from Pakistan, China and other importing countries at a time when output of the natural fiber is estimated to decline. As against the earlier forecast of 36 million bales of output, the new estimate is about 33 million bales this year.

Cotton prices in major producing centers such as Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have declined to nearly 10 per cent below the minimum support price. China has since turned to India for import of cotton due to a higher import duty levied on its traditional supplier, America. Pakistan is also likely to procure from India this year.

Invista, owner of Lycra, Thermolite and Coolmax brands, and an innovation leader in the legwear segment, has introduced three latest hosiery innovations at the fifth edition of Lycra Fiber Moves conference that took place in Lake Como, Italy on October 18, 2018.

The first of these included the Lycra Fusion True To You technology, a patent-pending innovation allowing the creation of transparent 3D hosiery that delivers a natural-looking shine to the legs. The innovation is a combination of a new Lycra Fusion yarn with new 3D knitting construction, therefore combining the ‘no ladder’ benefits to the fit and uniformity, all in a natural shine sheer hose.

The Thermolite FIR technology comprises a spun dyed black fibre embedded with special ceramic pigments that absorbs the wearer’s infrared radiation and reflects it back to them as heat energy. This improves the body’s heat retention and keeps legs warmer, longer. Knitted with Lycra Black technology, it fulfils consumers’ expectation for true black leggings that won’t fade or wash out after wearing or washing.

The third technology was Lycra Made to Fit You technology, originally created for knee-highs, which has been expanded to offer the same benefits to stay-ups (thigh-highs). The technology uses a patent-pending construction that can be knitted on a standard hosiery machine. It features a single-layer tube with a special knit structure on the edge to limit roll-over.