Bangladesh’s exporters do not get fair and reasonable prices for their products. Reasons include lack of negotiation skills. Negotiation skills at both the entrepreneur level and government level and relationships with buyers are seen as important for reaping fair prices for export products. Exporters get lower prices for readymade garment products compared to Cambodian and Vietnamese exporters from global buyers. Buyers do not want to pay higher prices, although the cost of production will go up further with wage hike, port congestion and higher transportation cost.

Domestic competitiveness, cost of doing business, workplace safety, diversification of products and markets, skilled labor force, attracting foreign direct investment and technological advancement and automation in the production process are key to maintaining momentum in export growth.

Readymade garment workers in Bangladesh log in 60 hours a week. In Cambodia they work 47 hours a week. Also 54 per cent of workers in Bangladesh are paid below the minimum wage. The country’s entrepreneurs are being urged to provide a living wage to enhance productivity and meet the nutritional needs of workers. Another issue is that of lead time. This would be a matter of concern for RMG exports in future as the country might lose the cost advantage in coming days.

Labor and human rights and environmental practices are being violated in Bangladesh’s leather sector. Workers labor in tanneries in hazardous environments and many of them are underage despite the fact that Bangladesh prohibits work by anyone under 18 at a tannery. They are exposed to heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, lead and arsenic, as well as biocides, acids, bases and dyes, and usually have little protective gear to safeguard themselves from exposure to these hazardous chemicals. Workers are often soaked in chemicals and frequently breathe in hazardous fumes.

Tannery workers often suffer fever, eye inflammation, skin diseases and cancer as they work with toxic chemicals and rarely have any safety training or protection. They work long hours with toxic chemicals for poverty wages, making shoes and clothes for western brands. Accidents regularly occur. Machine operators get trapped. Workers cleaning underground waste tanks suffocate from toxic fumes or drown in toxic sludge at the tannery premises. Deaths often occur due to hydrogen sulphide inhalation.

Due to the absence of a fully functional waste management infrastructure, the tanneries dump thousands of cubic meters of untreated waste into rivers and fill the water with toxic chemicals. The central effluent treatment plant is yet to be fully functional and there is no effective system yet in existence to remove salt from effluent.

"A global leader in denim fabric Prosperity Textile has introduced multi fiber types. These are different fibers like cotton, Tencel, polyester rayon, etc, blended together to improve performance and the features. The company, founded in 1999 in China, will also start operating its Vietnam unit from next month. The unit has one roller dyeing for the denim. “We have around 120 looms and one full set for finishing. So our first phase capacity is 1.2 million yards per month,” explains Andy Zhong, Managing Director. The second phase of production will start in 2019 and by 2020 the aim is to reach five million yards. In China the capacity of Prosperity Textile for denim is about 80 million yards per year. “And by next year we will be close to about 100 million yards a year. Finally it will be more than 120 million. That’s the total capacity because we have 80 million in China, about 40-50 million in Vietnam.”

A global leader in denim fabric Prosperity Textile has introduced multi fiber types. These are different fibers like cotton, Tencel, polyester rayon, etc, blended together to improve performance and the features. The company, founded in 1999 in China, will also start operating its Vietnam unit from next month. The unit has one roller dyeing for the denim. “We have around 120 looms and one full set for finishing. So our first phase capacity is 1.2 million yards per month,” explains Andy Zhong, Managing Director. The second phase of production will start in 2019 and by 2020 the aim is to reach five million yards. In China the capacity of Prosperity Textile for denim is about 80 million yards per year. “And by next year we will be close to about 100 million yards a year. Finally it will be more than 120 million. That’s the total capacity because we have 80 million in China, about 40-50 million in Vietnam.”

Multiple blends within single fabrics

Prosperity Textile offers multiple blends within single fabrics. “Some fabrics have three to five blends,” Andy says. “You can see more colors like the indigo for winter. Every shade of this color has a different dyeing process, with different dyeing stuff, material etc. The dark blue shade is in demand as it is easily washable and easy to maintain,” he adds.

The company’s products are exported worldwide. “Our major markets are: Bangladesh and Vietnam followed by Cambodia, Indonesia and other Asian countries,” Andy informs. “We sell around 50 to 60 per cent to China and export around 20 per cent to Bangladesh. Exports to Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia is about 5 per cent each,” he adds.

Business under pressure from rising prices

Talking about business Andy says, “Business this year is challenging. Demand is good but costs of material, dyeing ingredients, chemicals etc, have increased.” The reason for price increase is rising costs in China. “Also, there was a lot of focus on compliance during the first half of the year though it did not affect us; it affected others like the chemical supply chain etc, price of dye stuff increased 30 to 40 per cent during the first half of the year. And supplies were tight,” he adds. Prosperity Textile believes in fast delivery and therefore, keeps fresh inventory in large numbers. “We want to maintain prices of raw material, which puts a lot of pressure on us. But after the first six months, things have become easier now. Normally, second half of the year has a larger market share than the first half. This year, we have seen a modest increase compared to last year,” he adds.

Growing demand for denim

Andy points out, in the last few years, demand for denim has increased exponentially. “Brands and retailers have increased their denim portfolio, which makes us more confident of growth in the next few years,” he states. “Pressure from the other segments provides a lot of useful information, as we get better reference about denim requirements. In the past few years, denim has seen a lot of changes,” he adds.

Elaborating on upcoming denim trends, Andy says, “About 70 to 80 per cent of the denim fabric today is stretch. It is the current market trend. So, we work on four ways stretch or a comfort stretch. We also use sustainable materials, like sustainable cotton, sustainable recycled cotton, polyester etc. Ideally, this would offer more comfort and style,” he concludes.

Visitor flow remained steady and strong as 2017at Interfilere Shanghai, while the quality, as endorsed by the suppliers, was once again ensured at its premium level where all the attendees had been validated as industry professionals. In the 14 edition of Interfilere Shanghai held from September 27-28, 2018, 75 per cent of the visitors are from China and 25 per cent goes to the rest of the world which Japan, Korea, USA, Indonesia and Spain registered increases in number. nspired by the movie Black Panther, the Prototype Fashion Show presented a selection of finished products around the theme Tribal Tech, articulating to the visitors the technology, motifs and substantial elements engraved in each showpiece.

Visitor flow remained steady and strong as 2017at Interfilere Shanghai, while the quality, as endorsed by the suppliers, was once again ensured at its premium level where all the attendees had been validated as industry professionals. In the 14 edition of Interfilere Shanghai held from September 27-28, 2018, 75 per cent of the visitors are from China and 25 per cent goes to the rest of the world which Japan, Korea, USA, Indonesia and Spain registered increases in number.

Delivering values to the audience

Inspired by the movie Black Panther, the Prototype Fashion Show presented a selection of finished products around the theme Tribal Tech, articulating to the visitors the technology, motifs and substantial elements engraved in each showpiece.

Interfiliere Shanghai in collaboration with Taobao iFashion presented the GenZ Fashion Show on Sept 26, featuring 5 iFashion lingerie and loungewear brands - Miss Curiosity, Ubras, Miss Kiss, PJM and Six Rabbit. By connecting digital world with real life experience, the fashion show facilitated the communication between brands and Gen Z consumers, supported brands in delivering their strong identities and values to the audiences.

Optimising the resources

With inspirations from the world as a global village, and handpicked spectacular pieces of craftsmanship from the exhibitors, the Trend Forum encouraged the audience to be creative and indulge in a healthy life environment where a balance of comfort & aesthetics, culture & wellness could be reached.

The Innovation Forum curated by the French Knitwear and Lingerie Federation provided the visitors with a thought-provoking experience to rethink the textile clothing industry from a sustainability perspective, with reduce, reuse and recycle as pillars. The exhibits enlightened the industry players to optimise the environmental impact whilst maintaining the product performance through various eco-approaches.

Awarding the experts

With the belief that young talents will significantly contribute to the future of our industry, Interfiliere Shanghai launched the very first edition of Young Label Awards dedicated to new industry forces, with the wish to assist them in going a step further by linking with industry experts.

The 5th Interfeel’Awards , which recognized professionals of the intimates, swimwear and sportswear industry, rewarded the know-how and collections of 6 Interfiliere Shanghai exhibitors.

A thought-provoking experience

Specialists from Concepts Paris, WGSN, Carlin Creative Trend Bureau and Daxue respectively shared their insights on the upcoming body fashion trends and helped the audiences to navigate towards new markets. On the other hand, experts from Redress and Support Ltd dived deep into the intersection of fashion and sustainability, motivating the audiences to undress wastes issues and explore circularity for fabrics and product design.

Eurovet signed a partnership agreement with Jinjiang Swimwear Industry Association (JJSIA) during a press conference. Marie Laure BELLON, CEO of Eurovet Group stated the vision of the collaboration: “Interfiliere Shanghai 2018 is only a start, the first stone of our cooperation, and today we are signing with the Association an agreement, that will be the framework of a more global cooperation between us. She also emphasised: “With China being the largest market in the world, swimwear will experience exponential growth in the coming years, and associations such as JJSIA will play an important role in this industry.”

World Wide Fund for Nature and the Việt Nam Textile and Apparel Association launched a project to make the textile industry more environment-friendly in Hà Nội The project is a 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 Việt Nam.

The project will be implemented from 2018 to 2020 with a vision to transform the textile-apparel sector in Việt Nam. This will be achieved by engaging the industry and influencing environmental governance in order to bring social, economic and conservation benefits to the country. The main focus of the project is to improve water and energy sustainability in the sector, thus reducing its impacts on the environment.

It will also work with textile–apparel manufacturers to encourage them to be more active river stewards, practise sustainable energy planning and discuss collective actions for long-term sustainable investments and development in the sector. One important target of the project is to influence Vietnamese textile investors to implement more sustainable practices.

Key stakeholders in the project include international brands with suppliers in Việt Nam, factories around the country, in particular in the Mekong and Đồng Nai deltas in areas around HCM City, financial institutions, development partners, and other relevant stakeholders.

For the first nine months this year, Vietnam’s footwear exports increased 10.2 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of footwear to the US behind China. US sports apparel company Brooks Running is considering shifting its manufacturing operations from China to Vietnam to avoid trade war tariffs.

Vietnam will be a new supply chain for Brooks. The impact of the US trade war with China is going to put a 45 per cent tariff on the company’s running shoes. The move will allow Brooks Running to be more competitive in the US and in the world as tariffs are lower in Vietnam. Brooks sells sports footwear, apparel, bras and accessories in 50 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile Adidas too plans to shift footwear sourcing from China to Vietnam. Vietnam has in fact overtaken China as Adidas’ top supplier, with Vietnamese factories producing 44 per cent of its shoes by volume last year against 19 per cent by Chinese manufacturers.

The US-China trade war escalated last month as the US levied new tariffs of ten per cent on Chinese products, with the tariffs set to go up to 25 per cent by the end of this year. China retaliated immediately with five per cent and ten per cent tariffs on US products.

Diwali vacations have hit productivity at Tirupur knitwear units. When workers take leave at a stretch, utilities lie idle. Exporters are worried delivery delays will lead to order cancellation, which will have a cascading effect on working capital, leading in turn to severe financial stress. They feel this situation will be an advantage to competing countries. Exporters fear if this happens, buyers will turn to Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Myanmar and once this happens bringing them back will not be very easy.

Tirupur’s exports of readymade garments fell by 12.12 per cent from April to August compared to the corresponding time period last year. GST, reduction in duty drawback, and remission of state levies were responsible for the export trends.

Meanwhile the rupee falling to an all-time low might help exporters’ cause as it will narrow the price difference between Made-in-India textiles and competing nations, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, and help exporters compete with these countries. The development comes at a time when exporters are going to finalise agreements for the next set of orders.

The gap between Tirupur and competing countries would be reduced by around two or three per cent. Currently, the gap ranges between ten per cent and 15 per cent.

The country has already been growing brown and light-brown cotton. However, varieties of red, green, light pink and blue cotton are in the offing. The climate of Azerbaijan makes it possible to grow such varieties of cotton. The seeds come from China.

Cultivation of colored cotton makes it possible not to use chemical dyes for dyeing children's clothes but to make clothes from colored cotton. This variety of cotton is superior to traditional cotton in quality and fineness of the fiber. The country is reviving cotton production. The plan is to increase the crop area of cotton by about three times. The goal is to bring cotton production up to 5,00,000 tons by 2022 from the current 2,60,000 tons.

At the beginning of the eighties, Azerbaijan harvested up to a million tons of cotton a year. But then cotton growing declined and it could not receive the necessary investments for revival for a long time after that. Cotton is a drought-resistant plant, but it does not tolerate frost and low temperatures, and Azerbaijan meets these parameters. Cotton is seen as an alternative to the non-oil sector since it is used in various areas of life.

Subcontracting opportunities in the Bangladesh garment industry have nearly evaporated following the nation’s deadliest back-to-back industrial disasters, the 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire and 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse. These days, subcontracting is rarely allowed in garment factories owing to the poor compliance records of the small units. Anybody seeking to set up even a small factory and wanting to become a member of the BGMEA now needs to pass the association’s rigorous audit and inspection, something which had been lax in the past..

Nearly1,200 small and medium-sized factories were shut after the Rana Plaza collapse due to their failure to either achieve factory remediation or meet strong compliance requirements of buyers. According to the association’s estimate, the number of active garment factories affiliated with the BGMEA stood at 5,150 in the fiscal year of 2010-11and it reached 5,876 in 2012-13. But the number of factories, especially subcontracting ones, has begun to decline after the collapse, following which two foreign bodies, the Accord and the Alliance, started inspection and remediation. In just a span of one year, the number of BGMEA members declined to 4,222. Subcontracting still occurs in Bangladesh but on a very limited scale. As a result, factory owners are planning to subcontract work orders to some Sri Lankan factories.

The Lagos Fashion Fair, held from the October 17 to 19 at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, in Victoria Island, included Fashion shows by the best of local and international designers; exhibitions to showcase the finest fashion apparels and accessories; masterclass facilitated by top industry experts; celebrity appearances by Africa’s finest and talented stars; music performances by popular artistes; African Nail competition, Raffle draws and the celebration of Icons gala.

The three-day event brought together fashion and beauty enthusiasts, industry experts, designers, buyers, retailers and consumers, for an unparalleled shopping experience from the best local and international brands. The fair afforded exhibitors and visitors the chance to meet and network with other industry professionals, explore export opportunities, direct investment prospects, and view and buy the latest collections and innovations in the ready-to-wear garment industry.