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Children are working across the clothing industry supply chain, from cotton fields to mills to garment factories in developing countries. Up to 99 per cent of the world’s cotton farmers are in developing countries, with nearly two-thirds in India and China. The children working in these cotton fields receive little if any pay.
Child labor in India’s cotton sector is particularly prevalent. Almost half a million Indian children, with the majority being girls belonging to dalit and adivasi families, work on cotton seed farms. Children under 14 years account for almost 25 per cent of the total workforce on cotton seed farms in India. In Gujarat, which has the largest cotton seed production in India, children account for almost 55 per cent of all children employed in the cotton sector. Children are used to pick cotton because they are of the same height as cotton plants.
A number of factors contribute to child labor in India. One is that it is socialized and therefore accepted. Poverty and illiteracy are two other factors. When parents are trapped in dire poverty, their children are more likely to work in the garment sector and cotton fields. Poverty and a lack of livelihood options lead to a child’s need to contribute to the family income.
In the sideline of the 5th Bangladesh Denim Expo, three panel discussions, two knowledge sessions and one technical workshop were held. Participating in the panel discussions, denim manufacturers said Bangladesh’s denim industry needs technology support and low cost loans. Manufacturers also urged global brands to give fair price to their products. Issues confronting Bangladesh denim industry Taking part at a panel discussion on second day, Bangladesh’s leading denim manufacturer Envoy Group Managing Director Abdus Salam Murshedy said Bangladesh’s denim industry is in dire need of high quality washing factories. “Our denim industry has earned a good position in the international arena. Now our challenge is to produce high quality fashion denim. We need modern washing factories for that. We have to modernize our washing factories,” he said. “For that, our industry needs low cost loans,” he added. Murshedy urged buyers to give “ethical price” to the manufacturers.
Asif Ibrahim, Vice Chairman of New Age group, said as China is shifting its focus from clothing industry, many orders might come to Bangladesh, Vietnam and other countries and investment will be a big issue for Bangladesh’s industry. Similarly, Mahbub ur Rahman, Deputy CEO of HSBC Bangladesh pointed out access to loans is available for garment factories but companies must ensure financial documentation.
Taking part in the discussion, global brand H&M regional head (Bangladesh and Pakistan) Roger Hubert said that Bangladesh’s denim industry needs to invest on technology. He said the industry needs education, skill development and loans. Roger put special emphasis on using water and said denim factories should have a strategy of water consumption, “How you wash your products is important to us” he said. H&M is working with manufacturing partners to make Bangladesh’s garment industry environmental friendly.
Leoni Cuelenaere, Ambassador of Kingdom of Netherlands to Bangladesh, said her country wants to see a safer and cleaner garment industry in Bangladesh. She said the industry should be concerned about labor circumstances. “Employees of your factories are your capital. You should keep your employees happy,” she said. On second day, another panel discussion was held on ‘Branding Bangladesh through denim’. Taking part in the discussion, Shantanu Shing, General Manager, C&A Sourcing said denim can be a good way to brand Bangladesh. He said that there are lots of opportunities for medium suppliers. On similar lines, Jochen Weikert, Programme Coordinator of GIZ RMG project said Bangladesh needs to create some role models and produce high quality niche products. Talking about growing concerns about safety issues in RMG units, Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow of BIDS said that despite the bad image created by Rana Plaza tragedy, Bangladesh’s garment industry is rising and that shows the strength of the industry. Former BGMEA president Atiqul Islam said Bangladesh’s garment industry should work in a way that it can give a message to the world that Bangladesh’s garment industry is the best. Agreeing with view, French ambassador to Bangladesh, Sophie Aubert said Bangladesh’s garment industry is going through a transition and her government is working with the country to improve working conditions and other issues.
Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) has signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission (UPSDM). The aim is to advance skill sector in the state by offering 24 courses with the target to uplift 8,000 unemployed youth in the next three years in all UP centers i.e Noida, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Unnao, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Barabanki, Barailly, Shahjahanpur, Varanasi, Ajamgarh and Kannauj.
ATDC is in the process of upgrading the Lucknow center to an ATDC hub having the capacity to train 600 candidates per annum in skill development courses in the near future. ATDC will provide youngsters training in apparel design and 80 per cent of the young people will be provided employment.
ATDC is India’s largest vocational training network for the apparel sector with over 200 ATDCs including 65 ATDC vocational institutes and over 135 ATDC- Smart centers and skill camps present in major apparel clusters spread across 23 states including two centers in the northeast. The mission is to upgrade the technical skills of the human resources employed in the garment industry.
ATDC provides training for jobs such as sewing machine operator, pattern engineer, machine technician/ mechanic, surface ornamentation specialist, apparel production supervisor, quality controller, industrial engineer etc.
"After confirming that Prime Minister Theresa will initiate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017, the Brexit impact will come into force by mid-2019. How would it impact the UK fashion industry, analyse fashion police. Everyone involved with the industry is looking at this situation as an opportunity to harness in the most efficient way. There are four key aspects that need everyone’s scrutiny before taking any major step."
After confirming that Prime Minister Theresa will initiate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017, the Brexit impact will come into force by mid-2019. How would it impact the UK fashion industry, analyse fashion police. Everyone involved with the industry is looking at this situation as an opportunity to harness in the most efficient way. There are four key aspects that need everyone’s scrutiny before taking any major step.
Secure favourable trade agreements
In the current scheme of things, UK businesses can trade with other EU countries without restriction (notwithstanding some local charges). When it leaves the EU, UK will re-assume direct responsibility for trade relations and will have to negotiate a new UK trade tariff. This move may result into higher import duties from and exports to EU countries. Many respondents to a survey by Drapers – who source from and sell to EU countries – are anxious about the additional costs.
This situation offers immense opportunities in establishing bilateral relation with countries such as China, the US and Japan. Going by the present economic activities in other parts of the world, it makes perfect sense for UK companies. The earlier the talks are initiated, the better it is for the UK government to get economy back on track.
Ensure free movement of people
After clearing the air on immigration of EU citizens to the UK post-Brexit, people are a sceptical about the future. If the country wants to opt for liberal trade policies, it needs to be flexible about immigration. Some are worried their staff – including difficult-to-replace skilled machinists – could be forced to leave the country. Others pointed out that the UK fashion industry highly banks on attracting talent from across the whole world to live, study and work here, to maintain its position on the global stage. However, not everyone believes free movement of people should continue. A few respondents argued that immigration should be controlled, and that the UK should look at how to up skill its own citizens.
Maintain education funds
Universities, the British Fashion Council, the Centre for Fashion Enterprise and myriad other institutions have access to hundreds of millions of euros in EU funding. Losing this financial support could weaken the UK’s status as the fashion powerhouse. Furthermore, British businesses are eligible to apply for certain EU funds, such as Horizon 2020, a research and innovation program that is making nearly £80bn of funding available over the seven years to 2020. In August, the Treasury pledged to underwrite Horizon 2020 projects beyond Brexit. However, it is still not clear whether the UK government will step in to replace other lost EU funding.
Also intellectual property laws are severely under scanner once Brexit comes in. Till now, UK fashion houses could take advantage of the EU trademarks and EU-wide design protection laws. The government will need crystal clear policy on this aspect to strengthen its position on the global map.
Consumers – the ultimate decision makers
Till now, all trade within the EU single market is free of import duties, while through the EU, Britain has arrangements with other countries offering preferential tariffs on imports. There is no clarity as to how the scenario will be for UK post-Brexit. Import duty may rise significantly, resulting in lower margins for companies.
However, entire situation also offers opportunities to reduce the costs of international trade outside the EU. Some of these may take time to materialise – free trade agreements typically take five or six years to negotiate. But other opportunities to liberalise trade could be materalised quickly. For instance, the UK would be free to adopt its own scheme of trade preferences for developing countries as soon as it leaves the EU, expanding the number of countries that benefit, cutting red tape and reducing the number of exemptions.
The biggest beneficiary and the perhaps the biggest decision makers will be the consumers who may win on the price war and in turn be supportive to the new government on all the decisions taken towards enhancing economic scenarios in the long term. All said, it’s still a wait and watch scenario for the nations till the actual post-Brexit economy goes live.
Le Souk, an online material sourcing network has gone into an exclusive partnership with Kingpins New York. The venture will allow buyers to access denim mills directly through Le Souk’s online portal, creating a virtual trade show or showroom. Buyers will have the opportunity to view high-resolution, optimized images of denim samples from participating mills that show the texture and likeness of the fabrics without having to be present at the show.
Le Souk works by mills’ signing up and sending samples to the company’s showrooms located around the world from Copenhagen to New York City. Le Souk photographs the samples and holds them in showrooms to send out to potential clients. Buyers can view the samples online, see them in the showroom, or receive them from Le Souk, alleviating some of the responsibility of the mill.
The website is a supplier membership platform where Le Souk provides mills with as many qualified buyers as possible, and the buyers receive prices quoted directly from the mills. Suppliers are vetted by Le Souk in order to gain access.
Kingpins online will allow buyers to connect with mills in a new way, through live chats and other perks like custom sourcing requests, real-time updates for buyers to view, special privacy settings to give special access to specific buyers, as well as transaction tools.
With help from a South Korean company, a Uzbek company is planning to manufacture and export ecological dyes for the textile industry. The South Korean company named Rainbow and Uzbekistan Company named Indikin have come together for this venture. The project involves extracting natural ecological dyes from agricultural plants and their subsequent use in the light industry in Uzbekistan and abroad. Intended for completion in 2017, the project will cost a total of a $1 million.
The company will export over 80 per cent of its production at full capacity. It plans to manufacture a wide range of powder and natural food dyestuffs. The South Korean side has provided advanced laboratory and production equipment. The method of obtaining ecological dyes will not differ from the South Korean technology, thereby guaranteeing their quality and competitiveness in the global market.
Rainbow is currently working on the opening of a specialized research center which will issue certificates of product safety for the textile industry. The first trial plantings for paints were made in 2014 in Samarkand and Tashkent regions. The first dyes of red, yellow, green, indigo and other colors were extracted in October. Test seedlings were also planted on 45 hectares in the spring of 2016.
The United States is increasingly importing less of textiles and apparel as manufacturing remains in a slump and consumer confidence isn’t faring all that much better. In September, US imports of apparel saw a 5.8 per cent fall from the same time last year and a greater decline than October’s 4.3 per cent. Textile imports were down six per cent in the month.
In dollar terms, textile and apparel imports were down 13 per cent this September over last September. Consumer confidence fell to 98.6 in October after a nine-year high of 104.1 in September, as consumers’ outlook about the economy grew a little more tepid. American manufacturing, however, appears to be on an upswing. The Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for October rose to 51.9 compared to September’s 51.5, and both above 50 readings indicate growth.
However, when it comes to textile and apparel manufacturing, growth may be more tame as textile mills cut jobs in September. Pakistan lost the greatest market share in September, with its textile and apparel exports to the US falling 11.9 per cent. China also lost a 9.7 per cent share in the month after falling 7.5 per cent in August. Vietnam’s share slipped 8.3 per cent, while Bangladesh saw a slight 1.3 per cent uptick in its textile and apparel exports to the US.
UK retailers Primark’s revenues rose five per cent in September 17 while pre-tax profit soared 47 per cent. Primark is owned by the food and retail giant Associated British Foods. The huge jump in earnings was down to a favorable comparison with the year before, when ABF was hit by a number of exceptional costs and other one-off charges. Stripping these out, adjusted profits rose five per cent.
Primark’s sales climbed 11 per cent as it opened 22 stores in the year, although like-for-like sales, which exclude store openings and closures, fell. Fast-selling items last year included bomber jackets, while this autumn denim jackets, colored skinny jeans and striped dresses were fast moving.
The plan is to open a further 25 Primark stores next year in the UK, Europe, and three in the US. The devaluation of the sterling will hit Primark’s UK sales next year because it sources goods in dollars. The retailer will not, however, pass this on to consumers, and will instead take a significant margin hit, which will affect profits. The company’s food supply chains are short and do not involve crossing euro-sterling boundaries.
The devaluation of the pound should help ABF’s manufacturing business, such as sugar and muesli, allowing it to replace cheap imported goods with its own products and to build export markets.
Bangladesh needs investment to go into the high-end denim segment. It is doing well in basic items but is gearing up to cater to the needs of high-end and branded fashion segments. For this, manufacturers need to put emphasis on research and development and forward linkages. Focus needs to be put on a skilled workforce, especially on the mid- and upper-level management.
The country is the second largest readymade garment exporter in the world. The EU and the US are two main export destinations of Bangladesh’s denim. In the EU market, Bangladesh has a 25 per cent share and in the US market it has a 11 per cent share. Bangladesh is exploring non-traditional markets like Brazil, Chile, China, Russia, Australia, South Africa and Japan. But a high tariff rate in some non-traditional markets is a major bar to increasing denim exports to those countries. These tariff and non-tariff barriers have to be removed through diplomacy.
Investment can happen in Bangladesh’s denim fabric mills only if sufficient electricity and gas can be ensured. Right now lack of infrastructure is hampering investment. Bangladesh presently has 30 denim producing factories which can meet about 60 per cent of the domestic demand for fabrics.
Pakistan’s cotton production in 2015-16 declined by 28 per cent. Reasons include: climate change, competition with other crops, lower market prices and the outbreak of pink bollworm. In Pakistan, economic losses from contamination cost the cotton value chain, from raw cotton to garments, $1.4 billion per year.
Pakistan’s future cotton policy envisages a number of strategies which include germ-plasm improvements, development of hybrid cotton, improved farm and crop management, bringing additional area under cultivation, minimising post-harvest losses, increasing cotton production, improving yields per hectare, evolving disease resistant varieties, promoting Bt cotton cultivation and improving the overall quality of cotton.
Cotton in Pakistan is grown by 1.3 million farmers on over 3.1 million hectares of land, which is 15 per cent of the cultivable area of the country, with the average production hovering around 12.7 million bales to 14 million bales. This is consumed largely by the country’s 521 textile mills, although a significant quantity (up to a million bales) is also exported. However, to meet the demand for extra-long staple cotton, about two million bales are imported annually.
The country is also encouraging multinational and national technology providers to introduce the latest and most effective insect protection technology.
