FW
Post the release of foreign trade data for December 2017 by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Sanjay Kumar Jain, CITI, Chairman, has expressed apprehension over the 3 per cent fall in CAGR in textiles and apparel exports as against the corresponding period of December 2016. Textiles and apparel exports were $2996 million in December 2017 when compared to $3075 million a year ago. However, the cumulative export has slightly improved by 2 per cent CAGR as exports recorded $26,136 million in April-December 2017 as against $25,721 million in April-December 2016.
Jain noted the share of textiles and apparel exports in the All Commodity Exports (ACE) also fell by 2 per cent in December 2017. Jain, was happy with the cumulative increase in textiles and clothing exports during April-December 2017, but was unhappy with the consistent increase in imports of textiles and clothing during the same period. Imports during December 2017 stood at $165.34 million as compared to $137.24 million in December 2016, registering an increase of 20.48 per cent.
Jain further pointed out that as per latest data from Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, India’s imports of garments from Bangladesh touched $111.3 million during July to December 2017, indicating a sharp rise of 66 per cent as against $66.9 million during the same period last year. This situation is negatively affecting the domestic yarn, fabric and garment manufacturers. There is a greater need now to impose safeguard measures such as Rules of Origin and Yarn Forward and Fabric Forward Rules on countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have FTAs with India to prevent cheaper fabrics produced from countries like China sent via these countries. Garment manufacturers in India have to pay duty on imported fabrics, while Bangladesh can import fabric from China duty free and convert them into garments and sell to India duty free. This is putting the Indian garment industry at a major disadvantage.
As per provisional figures from The State Bank of Pakistan, textile trade surplus dropped year-on-year in 2017 up to December by 1.9 per cent due to imports rising by a larger amount and at faster pace than exports. Exports rose 4.5 per cent to $12.93bn as against $12.37bn the year before. The main segment increase in exports came from an increase in exported readymade garments, knitwear, bed wear, cotton yarn and towels.
From January to December 2017, Pakistan largely exported knitwear, readymade garments, bedding and cotton cloth. All together, they account for over two-thirds (71 per cent) of the total value of export, with readymade garments and knitwear each accounting for 19 per cent of total export receipts and bedding accounting for 17 per cent of total export receipts. Import payments rose 22.4 per cent to $3.98bn as against $3.25bn the year before. The bulk of the increase came from ‘other textile items’ followed by synthetic fibre, synthetic and artificial silk yarns, and worn clothing. Raw cotton made up the bulk of Pakistan’s textile import payments, making up one-fifth of its total value. Synthetic and artificial silk yarn accounts for 17 per cent, while 13 per cent of textile import value came from synthetic fibre. Worn clothing accounts for just 2 per cent of the total import value. All other textile items account for 47 per cent of the total import value.
The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the Ministry of Commerce, says the imposition of anti-dumping duty is not needed on imports of polyester staple fibre (PSF) from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The period of investigation was from April 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
The investigation started due to an application filed by Alok Industry, Indo Rama Synthetics and The Bombay Dyeing for imposition of anti-dumping duty on import of non-dyed PSF ranging from 0.6 to 6 Deniers, excluding recycled PSF and specialty fibres such as cationic dyeable, fire/flame retardant, low melt and bi-component fibres from the above mentioned countries.
Non-dyed PSF from 0.6 to 6 Deniers are used to spin yarn of 100 per cent PSF or in blends with natural, artificial and/or synthetic staple fibres to manufacture textiles, sewing thread, other industrial textiles, nonwoven applications, and more DGAD said in its final findings, “Though the import of product under consideration (PUC) has increased during POI as compared to base year, however, the quantum is not substantial as compared to total demand in India. The share of imports is only 7 per cent which is not significant enough to cause material injury to domestic industry. The PUC has been exported to India from all the subject countries at dumped prices as compared to its normal value in the respective subject countries. However, the same are not solely responsible for causing material injury to the domestic industry as reflected by the analysis of various economic parameters,” it added.
The investigation concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to conclusively establish that dumping has caused material injury to the domestic industry. It is evident by the positive growth in domestic industry’s production capacity, production, sale volume, market share etc.”
One of the largest fashion weeks and trade shows in Asia, the Hong Kong Fashion Week organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, has drawn 1,400 exhibitors from 23 countries every year. The fashion institute selected four students from its collaboration project Jessica Welia Halim, Julianto, Raegita Zoro and Rilya Krisnawati — to present their collections at HKFW 2018.
Four Indonesian fashion students from Istituto di Moda Burgo Indonesia (IMBI) had a rare chance to present their Fall/Winter 2018 collections in this international event. This opportunity was the result of the teamwork between the Italian fashion institute and one of the biggest fashion associations in the country, Indonesia Fashion Chamber (IFC).
Between August and October 2017,Ali Charisma, the chairman of IFC, mentored six of the institute's final-year students. Jessica used songket fabric from Palembang for her collection, traditionally recognized as "the queen of all fabrics. Besides connecting with Hong Kong buyers, Jessica is also in correspondence with buyers from India and France.
Raegita Zoro's collection, called "Rebellious Part 2," also won the attention of Hong Kong's fashionista. Julianto on the other hand has presented a women's ready-to-wear collection called embrace it features elegant evening dresses in soft natural hues, embellished with crystals, pearls and sequins
Raegita's punkish collection is subjugated by black fabric with occasional bursts of yellow, lime green and pink. Buyers from India and Dubai have expressed their interest in Raegita's collection.
To increase vote bank, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has adopted an interesting strategy. He visits to garment and footwear factories that employ some 700,000 citizens nationwide. Sometimes he has lunch with the workers. Apart from Hun Sen, there are other Southeast Asian leaders who are following suit. In Cambodia, garment workers and their families constitute a major voting bloc among the population of 16 million. In December while addressing 14,000 workers from 15 factories and enterprises in Phnom Penh, he said that workers will receive a basic monthly salary increase from $153 to $170 in some days. Apart from this, they would also be getting other welfare measures, such as free health checks and treatments in state hospitals. This led to an 11 per cent minimum wage hike effective from January 1, 2018. Employers and workers had previously agreed to raise the wage to $165 a month, but Hun Sen added on an extra $5. All this has been done in order to secure the Premiership position for the next two terms. Owing to this, Cambodian workers now earn a minimum monthly wage of $170.
This measure had earlier helped the Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, gain seats in the 2013 general election and the June 2017 communal elections. Malaysia, too, is headed for a general election before August, and there are talks of a minimum wage increase as well. The government will conduct a biannual review of the monthly wages, currently 1,000 ringgit ($253) for peninsular states and 920 ringgit for island states, in the middle of the year.
The commercial tax commissioner, P D Vaghela has asked leaders of Surat’s man-made fabric (MMF) industry to put together a report detailing GST losses in the textile sector. Vaghela met leaders from Surat’s textile industry including the Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI), Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) and individuals from the power loom weaving sector. They were unanimous in demanding the state government give yarn exemption from the state’s e-way bill system to ensure freedom of movement.
Following the meeting, Vaghela asked leaders of the Surat textile industry to put forth their list of demands in a report that will also specify losses incurred by the textile sector post GST’s implementation last July. The report will then be reviewed by the GST Council who will decide on methodologies to resolve the issue.
FIASWI chairman Bharat Gandhi said, “The commercial tax commissioner heard the delegation members patiently and assured all possible assistance from the state government in resolving the issues related to e-way bill and GST. We have been asked to submit a detailed report on the losses and other issues to the government and the finance ministry for consideration in the upcoming GST Council meeting. The industry leaders have decided to wait for the GST Council meeting before deciding on their next course of action.”
Environmental not-for-profit Canopy announced 20 new brands are now committed to eliminate the use of endangered forests in their textile supply chain by 2020. With the addition of companies zLabels, MQ Retail, Koala, TAMGA Designs and Spell & The Gypsy Collective, the CanopyStyle initiative has now crossed 125 brand partners representing over $134B in annual revenue.
This initiative will be working for the long-lasting transformation of the rayon-viscose supply chain to protect these ecologically-rich forests. CanopyStyle partners are also prioritizing the development of next generation solutions such as alternative fibres and circular economy sourcing.
All partner brands have committed to eliminate use of ancient and endangered forests. Looking at just one example, Vancouver Island is ground zero for many of the last remaining stands of thousand year old cedars, ancient Douglas Fir and spruce which store vast amounts of carbon and support biodiversit.
Lizzy Abegg, Co-Founder & Chief Brand Officer of Spell & The Gypsy Collective said, they are committed to not source from the world’s ancient and endangered forests, and to encourage our suppliers to shift to more innovative recycled fibres.
Nicole Rycroft, Founder and Executive Director at Canopy was happy with the growing consensus, the addition of 20 brands and designers from three continents is a clear signal of CanopyStyle’s continued and strengthening momentum around the world. The transformation of the viscose supply chain is going to be a game changer for our climate, for the lasting protection of forests and for the advancement of traditional communities’ rights.
Canopy and its brand, retail and design partners have catalysed significant transformation of the viscose supply chain. Through work with producers and other industry stakeholders, 25 per cent of the global viscose supply has now been verified at low risk of originating from ancient and endangered forests. An additional 35 per cent of rayon supply is currently in the CanopyStyle Audit process and six next generation solution enterprises are working with Canopy to bring their innovative technologies to market at scale.
H&M is entering strong competition in the off-price UK market in an attempt to steal market share from existing players using its new discount retail platform, Afound. Afound which stocks both H&M group’s own and third-party brands is expected to launch online and in stores in Sweden this year in advance of an international launch.
The UK is expected to be next on the drawing board. Drapers is of the view that H&M is looking at having an agreement with several young fashion women’s and men’s wear UK brands. Operating profit for H&M group dropped 13 per cent to SEK20.6bn (£1.85bn) in the year to 30 November, while sales including VAT fell by 4 per cent to SEK232bn (£20.8bn).
Charlotte Pearce, associate analyst at GlobalData Retail, said, “Considering H&M’s recent results, Afound seems like it could be a further distraction to its core business. With H&M’s online platform falling short of the likes of online pureplays Asos and Boohoo, the retailer will need to work hard to bring Afound up to industry standards. TK Maxx has firmly established itself in the UK as an off-price retailer and is synonymous with designer brands, but Afound’s positioning is still unclear.
Rob Feldmann, chief executive at off-price e-tailer BrandAlley, was of the view that Afound’s launch should not pose a threat to bricks-and-mortar outlets. Afound will need strong brands, if they’re working with low selling prices initially, it will be hard to make the economics work. But if they can get a selection of good, more expensive brands to work alongside them, it could work.
Première Vision has once again been chosen by Archroma to present its developments combining creativity, technology, and sustainable approach. Color Atlas, Archroma's innovative colour system dedicated to designers, brands, retailers and the entire industry is the ideal tool to bring fashion inspiration to life, while enhancing functionality in all stages of the process.
The attendees of MintModa's trend presentations will receive a limited-edition MintModa x Archroma SS19 color card. Archroma, a global leader in colour and specialty chemicals, will showcase the latest in its advanced colour-management solutions at Première Vision Paris, Hall 6 Booth 6U2. The Colour Atlas system will also be featured in MintModa’s SS19 seasonal inspirations, presented on February 14.
Color Atlas is a game-changer for fashion design. Color Atlas by Archroma®, has around 4,320 hues and colour swatches, truly gives shape to any imagination. This is Archroma Color Management’s ground breaking platform specially devised to address the needs of designers, brands, retailers, and manufacturers, enhancing creative possibilities for the industry as well as manageability and time to market through key complementary tools: The Color Atlas Library is the six-volume physical reference to the 4,320 colour swatches and cotton poplin samples, secured yet easily removable and absolutely intuitive to be browsed thanks to the accordion-fold design of the catalogues.
A compact edition of the Color Atlas is also available, including the very same colour variety while being slimmed down from six to two volumes for increased portability. Color Atlas Online is the mobile-friendly designer’s companion to find the perfect colour matching while on-the-go or in the office. Through this feature, it’s possible to capture an inspiring image using a smartphone and immediately identify the closest Color Atlas shade palette, with the possibility to purchase a colour sample instantly.
A new patent-pending technology powered by NFC, exclusively introduced by Archroma, also adds swatch-specific information to each Engineered Colour Standard, giving retailers, brands, and mills instant access to dye recipes and more colour information than ever. The online system also allows to create personal special collections of colours or products that can also be shared, both internally and with suppliers.
Archroma, a global leader in colour and specialty chemicals, says it has signed a MoU with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, Pakistan). The MoU paves the way for formal cooperation between the two institutions in Pakistan, leading to projects mainly related to water conservation in the textile industry there.
The MoU will build strong ties between Archroma and WWF Pakistan’s initiatives in promoting sustainable practices within the textile industry using Archroma’s technical expertise toward zero liquid discharge, software simulations in production lines and the Archroma ONE WAY Process Simulator tool, together with research methodologies in reducing water consumption and re-using water. Both institutions will jointly strive to raise awareness amongst the textile sector through training programs by introducing new process models with a futuristic approach
Mujtaba Rahim, CEO, Archroma Pakistan says Archroma they strongly believe water conservation is the key to the sustainability of our industry. “We believe in continuous improvement, and through this important initiative, we are confident to improve upon the depleting water reserves, especially in Sindh. Water conservation by recycling and reuse will definitely save fresh-water reservoirs. The technical expertise of our team and enthusiasm of WWF Pakistan in conserving natural resources is an ideal partnership and we look forward to working on many projects in the future,” he added.
