FW
Sensient has introduced a new range of high-performance digital pigment inks. Xennia Emerald PC is suitable for direct printing of textiles. Based on innovative dispersion and binder technology, Xennia Emerald PC changes the game for printers by offering excellent color strength with unrivalled printing performance.
Designed to maximise printing performance in production environments, Emerald PC inks also offer the peak in color performance with an optimized ink set to provide an extended gamut. These inks deliver minimised pre- and post-processing by including a revolutionary binder technology within the ink, eliminating the need to use a post application fixing polymer.
Key to the performance of Emerald PC is including a binder within the ink while increasing the color strength it maximizes open time and latency. A further key advantage of Xennia Emerald PC inks is their cross compatibility with printhead technologies, allowing proofing and production with the same ink set, providing ultimate flexibility for users with multiple systems.
Sensient was the first company to release a digital pigment ink for textiles. It has applied all the learnings from the market to provide a solution to take digital pigment printing to the next level. Successfully printed on a range of digital printers, the developed inks show exceptional print and color performance.
Cotton prices are becoming lower and demand for cotton is increasing in India. This has created a congenial atmosphere for profitability in the textile sector. A higher-than-expected rise in cotton acreage at 19 per cent and a consequent 11 per cent increase in crop production in fiscal year 2017-18 are likely to moderate cotton prices in fiscal year ’19.
Better margins, modest reduction in working capital requirements and subdued capex in fiscal year ’19 are expected to improve the overall credit profile. However, there are constraints due to the possible impact of pink bollworm on cotton output and prices on the outlook of the textile sector. The same was extended to the synthetic sector owing to the increase in crude oil prices.
The trend of shifting from cotton to synthetic yarns is expected to slow down as increasing crude prices will narrow down the price difference between the two categories. Operating margins of synthetic manufacturers may witness volatile margins due to crude price fluctuations and delays in passing on cost inflation. Domestic demand decelerated due to demonetization and the GST. The second half of the financial year showed the bottomed out effect due to this.
Nordstrom’s stock’s have risen close to 30 per cent since Thanksgiving, on investors’ expectations of solid profits. The company’s market capitalization is close to $9 billion. Comparable sales rose 1.2 per cent in the nine weeks ended December 30 compared with the same period last year, helped by growth at its off-price discount chain Nordstrom Rack and online businesses. The department store chain slightly raised its full-year earnings forecast at the time.
The family group, which owns 31.2 per cent of the storied retailer, is considering becoming a private company in the belief it can better manage the operational restructuring and transition to e-commerce away from the public markets.
The Nordstrom family group, which has partnered a buyout firm, had suspended its attempt to take the company private in October because of difficulties in arranging debt financing for its bid ahead of the key holiday shopping season. Investment banks at the time balked at providing the debt financing required for the bid of between seven billion dollars and eight billion dollars on terms that the family group wanted.
Nordstrom’s rival Hudson’s Bay, owner of the Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor retail chains, also explored going private last year, though these considerations did not progress.
H&M expects 2018 to be a challenging year. Same-store sales are expected to see growth only in 2019. H&M continues to battle through high levels of inventory and sub-par styles on sales floors around the world, which will weigh on profits this year. The fast fashion retailer has over 4,000 stores globally and expects online sales to grow 25 per cent in 2018.
Ultimately, investors will continue to heavily discount a more bullish longer term outlook until supportive trading evidence starts emerging. Competition is getting fierce. Primark, which is known for its ultra cheap clothing, has been attracting more cost-conscious customers from H&M and could become a bigger threat as it expands more into the US. Zara has seen double-digit sales growth. It has an advantage in following the whims of fashion as it’s able to move the latest designs to the rack within two weeks. It has also highly integrated its online and physical stores, this year debuting a popup store in London designed primarily for ordering and collecting of online orders.
Even Gap has seen its shares increase more than 40 per cent over the past year. Sales for the iconic American brand have stabilized with a push towards trendier basics and various online initiatives.
As the bridge between Europe and Asia, Turkey remains the central hub for the textile manufacturing industry, making the 2018 ITM textile machinery exhibition which will take place from April 14-17.
The company will provide information on the latest developments for its advanced Montex stenters, which have already proved highly successful with Turkey’s leading textile manufacturers.
Integrated heat recovery and exhaust air cleaning systems are two of the latest innovations that ensure manufacturers maximise production and keep energy consumption down, by containing and recycling both process heat and exhaust fumes. These devices can now be integrated into the design of complete finishing lines without the need for additional floor space.
Intuitive, fingertip control of all parameters is provided with the latest Qualitex 800 PLC-controlled visualisation system and its accompanying 24-inch monitor system.
Other industry-leading Monforts systems now finding rapid acceptance with manufacturers include the texCoat modular coating unit, offering an unprecedented range of coating options, and the Eco Applicator – an alternative to the traditional wet padder for significantly reducing energy and raw material costs.
The government needs to resolve the issue of illegal hybrid cotton seeds being sold in the country. Around 3.5 million packets of these illegal herbicide tolerant (HT) seeds are estimated to have been sold in the country in kharif 2017.
As about 40 million legal Bollgard II seeds are sold by Monsanto, this means illegal seeds are around 8-10 per cent of the total. The number of illegal seeds, according to South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), have increased the problem of resisting weeds and are responsible for the new threat of pink bollworm that devastated the cotton crop.
SABC noted, “Widespread cultivation of substandard and spurious Bt cotton and illegal HT cotton is spoiling the technology as the management of such improved technology needs proper supervision and control …”
Monsanto first complained, about illegal HT seeds coming into the country, to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) about ten years ago.
The government felt Monsanto’s Bolgard II seeds were too expensive and in December 2015, it came out with a seed price order that reduced the price from Rs 930 per bag to Rs 800 and also reduced Monsanto’s royalty from Rs 170 to Rs 49.
Yet, while the government wanted to keep prices low for Indian farmers, as SABC points out, the illegal HT seeds are selling at between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,500 per pack, this works out to an average of 1.7 times Monsanto’s Bollgard II seeds.
If farmers were paying so much, it is because they felt the seeds would help increase productivity by reducing the cost of weeding in the same way that Bollgard II did.
It is claimed that because of Bollgard I and then II that India’s cotton production tripled from 13 million bales in 2002-03 to 35 million bales in 2016-17, and that is what, at one point in time, made India the world’s largest exporter of cotton.
Aquafil and H&M have teamed up to make sustainable fashion mainstream through the H&M Conscious Exclusive collection.
This JV marks the first time that the Conscious Exclusive collection showcases items made from Econyl yarn, which is Aquafil’s regenerated nylon made from waste diverted from landfills and oceans.
The collection’s is the shared vision, of two key industry players, for a more sustainable future. ‘May the force be with them.’ Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of Aquafil exults, “Aquafil is thrilled to have Econyl adopted by H&M’s Conscious Exclusive collection. This partnership represents great progress for the fashion industry and environment. Collaboration between brands and ingredient manufacturers is key. When we work together, it creates more sustainable options for consumers and a cleaner future.”
Launched annually, H&M’s Conscious Exclusive collection is comprised of high-end environmentally friendly apparel. The collection aims to steer H&M’s fashion and sustainability development towards a more sustainable (fashion) future.
This year’s collection will be available worldwide in stores and online from April 19, 2018 and features two laces dresses made from Aquafil. Cecilia Brännsten, Acting Environmental Sustainability Manager at H&M elaborates, “We’re proud to feature Econyl in this year’s Conscious Exclusive collection. At H&M, we’re constantly on the lookout for innovative materials and processes that can make our products more sustainable. The Conscious Exclusive collection has always been an important testing ground for us as it allows us to try out the latest sustainable fabrics on a smaller scale. On numerous occasions, we have incorporated them into our regular collections.”
Aquafil, a global producer of nylon yarn, launched the Econyl Regeneration System in 2011 to produce nylon made from 100 per cent regenerated waste. The nylon yarn, which can be regenerated an infinite number of times without any loss in quality, has been taken to heart by a large and growing number of sportswear, fashion, luxury and carpet brands, including Outerknown, Stella McCartney and Adidas.
The partnership marks a firm commitment by both brands to create a more sustainable world, while keeping fashion accessible for the average consumer.
Today, several designers and fashion brands are targeting a range of customers by creating luxury apparel at affordable prices — where earlier only the millionaires could afford.
Big brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada and Versace are expanding to developing economies, which has not only enhanced their geographical reach but also managed to grab a larger consumer base who could earlier only desire to own them in fashion magazines such as Vogue.
The transparency market research report states that the opportunity in the global luxury apparels market will be valued at US$60,793.7 mn by the end of 2024 when compared to US$ 1,8842.69 mn in 2015.
During 2016 and 2024, the global market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 13.2 per cent. The increasing affordability of today’s luxury apparels is due to mass production.
The international luxury apparels market is segmented into leather, cotton, denim, silk and others. The report indicates that cotton dominates the international market holding a share of 35.87 per cent in 2015.
The preference for cotton is because of its convenience in hot and humid weather in regions such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Further the natural fibre has become widely used in the clothing and fashion industry due to its high absorbency, comfort and breathable nature of its fibre. High cotton productions in India and China have also made Asia Pacific a leader in the global market.
Silk is also gaining popularity following its smooth texture, softness, and the elegance it adds to the overall design. The significant production of silk in India and China has also acted as a growth engine for the luxury apparels market in Asia Pacific.
Some of the key players in the international luxury apparels market are Kering, Versace, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Burberry Group Inc, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, and Giorgio Armani S.p.A.
Fabrics, tapes, organic sheets: Dornier presents machines and system solutions for efficiently manufacturing semi-finished composite fibre products at JEC
Dornier will present its Composite Systems business unit at the JEC World composite materials exhibition in Paris from March 6. - 8. The machine builder continues to establish its reputation as a system partner for component, fibre and polymer manufacturers for all matters relating to machinery and systems for manufacturing semi-finished textiles made from high-performance fibres.
Handcrafted single-item production, small lots – these keywords still characterize the production of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) in all sectors which count on lightweight, fibre-based structural applications, including aerospace, automobile construction, machine building and even architecture.
This is why textile research institutions and sector enterprises are pushing to develop reliable, economical processes for manufacturing FRP components on an industrial scale. Their efforts are concentrated on new developments and advancements of machinery used to make semi-finished goods from carbon, glass, aramide and basalt for composites.
For more than 40 years, weaving machines by Lindauer Dornier GmbH are the benchmark for processing high-performance fibres like carbon. But with the innovations of its Composite Systems® division the highly respected family business now also covers a large portion of the semi-finished goods production spectrum for FRP components as well.
Josef Klingele, Product Manager for Dornier Composite Systems said, “At the JEC, we are going to demonstrate that the expertise we have acquired over decades in building machinery for producing semi-finished goods has also been applied to production equipment.”
KNEO with offices in Pune, Mumbai and Chennai is the exclusive Sales and Service Agent for Autefa Solutions nonwovens activities in India, since January 2018.
Autefa Solutions and KNEO, under the leadership of N. Krishnamurthy and Raju Kulkarni, already look back to a long lasting and very successful cooperation in the business fields of Autefa Automation and Autefa Baling technology as well as global service assistance in nonwoven equipment. In January 2018, Amar Surve complemented the KNEO team, taking over the position as sales manager for nonwovens machinery. He is located in Mumbai.
The overall market responsibility of Autefa Solutions is with Alexander Stampfer from Autefa Solutions Germany.
As a full line supplier for carded- crosslapped nonwovens lines, needlepunch nonwoven lines, spunlace and thermobonding Autefa Solutions meet customers’ requirements for quality web formation and web bonding, active weight regulation and minimal maintenance.
The brand combines expertise of the former companies Fehrer, F.O.R, OCTIR, AUTEFA and Strahm.
