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Pakistan’s textile exports rose 10 per cent in December 2017 compared to December 2016. Textile exports during the first six months of the current fiscal year were up 8.07 per cent compared to July-December 2016. Among the reasons for the increase are flow of cash under the PM's incentive package, payment of sales tax refunds as well as the depreciation of the local currency, which improved exporters’ liquidity situation.
Also, 50 per cent of the rate of drawback of local taxes and levies was to be provided, without condition of increment, and the remaining 50 per cent to be provided if the exporter achieves an increase of ten per cent or more in exports during fiscal year 2017-18 as compared to fiscal year 2016-17. An additional two per cent was allowed for exports to nontraditional markets - Africa, Latin America, non- EU countries, Commonwealth of Independent States and Oceania.
Major measures have been introduced to facilitate duty drawback of local taxes. The energy cost in Pakistan is more than 30 per cent of the total conversion cost in the spinning, weaving and processing industries. Industrial gas tariff in Pakistan is about 100 per cent whereas the electricity tariff is about 50 per cent higher than their regional competitors’.
Supima has entered into an agreement with Oritain Global— an international forensic science firm — to provide a testing platform to verify the origin of Supima cotton. Oritain Global, will use their scientific technology to measure the naturally occurring elements that exist within the cotton fiber — based on the geographical production area the cotton is grown in. The project will cover the entire American Pima cotton growing region and create a unique ‘fingerprint’ for Supima® cotton.
Grant Cochrane, Oritain’s CEO says, “The unique fingerprint analysis identifies different levels of chemical attributes that are found in the product itself and enables the cotton to be verified against its claimed origin. This platform offers a solution to address the traceability challenges that have been faced by the global cotton industry in recent years.” Manufacturers, brand owners and retailers are increasingly focused on ensuring there is transparency within their supply chains. A huge part of this is knowing – and trusting – where their product comes from.
This is of particular importance as brands make claim associated with provenance and want to be reassured their product – in this case, Supima® cotton – isn’t being contaminated by inferior products coming from undesirable sources, he added. Supima® CEO Marc Lewkowitz says the partnership fulfils Supima’s decade long objective to find a simple and natural way to use the fiber to verify provenance. The Oritain methodology simply measures what is naturally inside the fiber.
Apparel Textile Sourcing will be held in Miami, May 21 to 23, 2018. The event will bring together hundreds of international apparel and textile manufacturers from China, India, Bangladesh, the US, Turkey, Pakistan, Mexico and many other countries and territories from across Central and South America and all around the globe. Small businesses, retailers, manufacturers and designers across the United States and Latin America will get a boost.
Next to the hundreds of manufacturers’ booths and exhibits, ATS Miami will deliver three days’ worth of an unprecedented platform of global connections in manufacturing and fashion. Attendees will gain new insights and information to best navigate and profit in the international sourcing process.
The ATS brand has established itself internationally with Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada, held every August in Toronto. In 2017 the event grew by more than 50 per cent in attendees and international exhibits. The same formula of success is the basis for ATS Miami.
The fair is committed to making Miami the nexus for commerce between Asia, North America, and Latin America. ATS Miami provides a unique opportunity for apparel and textile importers and retailers to intersect and access the most current importing information from top industry insiders.
The ATS Miami design pods and fashion show will include international apparel producers, Latin American artisans, Made-in-Americas manufacturers and active design students.
The European Outdoor Group (EOG), the association of sport industry players, including brands, retailers and distributors, is shifting the sector's main summer trade show. From 2019, the Outdoor trade show will be organised in partnership with Messe Munchen, making the Bavarian capital the European sport industry's trading centre. Three destinations were under consideration, Munich, Friedrichshafen and Hamburg. A poll of 94 per cent of the EOG members ensured Munich gained 65 per cent votes so the Outdoor trade show will move to a new location in Germany. A section of international visitors preferred Friedrichshafen for its lake and alpine environment but others felt travelling there was a hassle.
Obviously Messe Friedrichshafen’s management was not happy with the vote, "We look at the vote's result with huge disappointment. The Outdoor show was born a quarter of a century ago on the shores of Lake Constance and here we have written a unique success story for this industry," said the CEO of Messe Friedrichshafen, Klaus Wellmann. The EOGs retort was the poll "was wholly democratic" and “Munich received three times as many votes as its closest competitor." EOG further added the move was consistent with its 'Vision 2020' for the European outdoor industry.
The show's 25th edition will still be held in Friedrichshafen from June 17 to 20, featuring nearly 900 exhibitors from 40 countries.
Aquafil will acquire Invista’s nylon 6 business activity in Asia Pacific. Aquafil is one of the main players in Italy in the production of synthetic fibers, particularly for polyamide 6 applications. Invista is a leading integrated producer of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers. This deal will accelerate Aquafil’s investment program in the area of the Asia Pacific that remains the region with the highest potential in terms of demand growth for synthetic fibers.
Founded in 1965, Aquafil is present in three continents with a workforce of over 2,700 at production sites in Italy, Germany, Scotland, Slovenia, Croatia, USA, Thailand, and China. Aquafil is a pioneer in the circular economy also thanks to the Econyl regeneration system, an innovative and sustainable process able to create new products from waste and give life to an endless cycle. The nylon waste is collected in locations all over the world and includes industrial waste but also products (such as fishing nets and rugs) that have reached the end of their useful life.
Such waste is processed so as to obtain a raw material, caprolactam, with the same chemical and performance characteristics as those from fossil sources. The polymers produced from Econyl caprolactam are distributed to the group’s production plants, where they are transformed into BCF yarn and NTF yarn.
The Asian Development Bank has inked a deal with Bangladesh’s Eastern Bank for a $20m loan in support of the country’s textile and garment industries. Christine Engstrom, Director, ADB’s private sector financial institutions division disclosed says the textile and garment sectors are essential parts of the Bangladesh economy, raising incomes for large numbers of workers, particularly women. “We are confident that our partnership with Eastern Bank, a trusted financial institution in Bangladesh, will contribute to the development of the textile and garment sectors in the country.”
The country is the second largest exporter of textiles and garments which accounts for around 15 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP. These sectors employ over four million people of whom around 85 per cent are women. The money will be used to finance socially and environmentally sustainable projects largely those that meet structural, fire and electrical safety standards.
For the fourth quarter Lectra had a strong growth in income from operations, on a like-for-like basis. Net income was up 16 per cent at actual exchange rates. Orders for new systems were three per cent lower. Revenues were up seven per cent. Income from operations was up 13 per cent like-for-like. The operating margin was up 0.8 percentage points like-for-like but down 1.1 percentage points at actual exchange rates.
Currency changes mechanically decreased revenues by four per cent and income from operations by 16 per cent at actual exchange rates compared to like-for-like figures.
In 2017 the company proceeded with its first sales of software with a software-as-a-service model to a deliberately limited number of customers, in selected test countries. The company has been debt free since March 31, 2015. Cash and cash equivalents, and the net cash position, were up sharply compared to December 31, 2016. This is also a record level, which will enable the company to self-finance its internal and external development.
For 2018, the company is targeting six to ten per cent revenue growth, like-for-like, and seven per cent to 15 per cent growth in income from operations before non-recurring items, like-for-like.
Uzbekistan will open some 13 cotton textile enterprises by autumn 2018. These enterprises will promote efficient and rational use of land, water and other resources, increase in yields and timely harvesting of raw cotton, and also ensure its further in-depth processing and production of products with high added value.
The new companies will receive a number of benefits and preferences. Among them are: preferential crediting, exemption from payment of customs payments until January 1, 2020, exemption from payment of profit tax and property tax, single tax payment for micro firms and small businesses, payment of mandatory contributions to the Republican Road Fund, deferment of customs payments during the import operation.
These production facilities will buy raw material directly from farms. So far there was no such mechanism for purchasing raw materials first hand. Currently Uzbekistan is the world’s sixth largest cotton producer among 90 cotton growing countries. It produces about 1.1 million tons of cotton fiber annually, which accounts for about six per cent of global cotton production. The country exports cotton mainly to China, Bangladesh, Korea and Russia.
One of the policy priorities of Uzbekistan is further development of its textile industry. Uzbekistan takes consistent steps to increase the volume of cotton fiber processing.
Textile manufacturing units in the Tirupur knitwear cluster will be classified under new criteria as micro, small or medium enterprises based on the annual turnover. Units with an annual turnover less than Rs 5 crores would be termed micro enterprises. Units with an annual turnover of more than Rs 5 crores and less than Rs 75 crores would be put under the small enterprises category. Units with a turnover between Rs 75 crores and Rs 250 crores would be classified as medium enterprises.
This is a significant step which will enable almost 98 per cent of the textile manufacturing units in Tirupur to get classified under micro, small and medium enterprises. They can avail government benefits extended for such units following the changes made in classification criteria of industrial units. The new classification will trigger growth and encourage the ease of doing business.
The earlier criterion was based on investments made on plant and machinery. It prevented units having more than Rs 10 crores capital investment on plant and machinery from being classified as micro, small and medium enterprises. Tirupur is the knitwear capital of India. This is the right time for the knitwear sector to capture the market that’s leaving China, due to an increase in the cost of manufacturing.
The athleisure trend has ensured that many retailers and brands have begun to launch their own collections. A study by market research firm NPD Group reportd the ‘sport leisure’ style has become the largest category in the US sneaker segment, beating ‘performance’-oriented footwear. In contrast, while demand for sport leisure styles rose 17 per cent last year to $9.6 billion in sales, sales of performance apparel fell by 10 per cent to $7.4 billion, NPD said, noting that the performance category’s decline has speeded up in the last two years.
Sales of ‘running-inspired’ sneakers skyrocketed by 39 per cent and ‘casual athletic’ styles went up by 24 per cent, driving 2017 growth, NPD stated. Matt Powell, senior sports industry advisor at NPD says. the bubble around leisure will not burst anytime soon no. Athleisure rules the runway and the line between what is an athletic shoe and a casual shoe continues to blur. Brands and retailers must continue to feed this trend.
NPD reported that the German company Adidas’ 2017 US sneaker sales skyrocketed by over 50 Adidas last year, the fastest of all players. Adidas’s classic three-stripe Superstar and Tubular Shadow sneakers, both part of its athleisure segment, made NPD's top 10 selling shoe list. Adidas is aware of the importance of fashion; on its website, it describes the Tubular Shadow knit shoe as an update of its original Tubular running design for “contemporary street fashion.” For its Superstar line, Adidas claims it is “an authentic reissue of a classic sneaker” fit for anyone from “basketball MVP to street wear queen.” The brand also has added fashion buzz through well known partnerships with celebrities and designers including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Stella McCartney.
