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The 17th World Textile Conference of Autex will be organized by the Piraeus University of applied sciences shaping the future will be held on the island of Corfu also known as Kerkyra one of the most cosmopolitan islands of Greece from May 29 to 31 2017.
Continuing the tradition established by previous successful editions of the World Textile AUTEX Conferences, the forthcoming conference will encompass wider area of the textile and fibre science and engineering. The 17th AUTEX Conference aims in becoming a forum for the presentation of research novelties, exchanging of ideas, and bringing together the textile academic, industrial and business communities. Specialists from all over the world will share their knowledge, experiences and they will envisage the future of textiles.
The conference will take place in Corfu, one of the most beautiful Greek islands, in Ionian Sea. Corfu Holiday Palace hotel will host the conference and it is located in the best and picturesque position on the island. Corfu Island has numerous wonderful sights. Many conquerors arrived on the island through centuries, including British and Italians, leaving an evident mark on the local culture.
According to recent figures from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Brazilian textile and apparel export to the Middle East surged during the first two months of 2017, increasing by 87.5per cent compared to the same period a year ago, touching $3 million up from $1.6 million in January and February 2016. This growth has been led by increasing demand for synthetic fabrics and sisal rope used in ships and rigs in the Arab markets.
Brazil’s textile exports performance during the first two months of the year signify its steady growth in market share in Arab continues which is looking for quality raw materials and finished goods. The Arab countries are some of Brazil’s largest markets for textile and apparel exports, particularly for segments such as party wear, children’s wear, and beach wear. Based on ABIT’s data, the United Arab Emirates had the highest imports, followed by Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon.
To boost Brazilian textile and apparel exports, the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Agency (Apex-Brazil) have launched the Texbrasil program, which benefit affiliated exporters. Official figures showe Brazilian textile and apparel companies that participated in the program expanded their export markets to Arab countries by 40 per cent in 2016, with a total value touching $4.1 million in 2016 from $2.9 million in 2015.
"With the growing importance and acceptance of technology in textile industry, companies are looking at highly automated, environmentally conscious production facilities in the US Southeast, where the infrastructure for this industry’s success is already in place. Proposed policy changes and US border tariffs are also aiding the growth shift to the US market. As consumers become more socially aware, many retailers are encouraging their suppliers to build an environmentally safe US presence to capture the ‘Made in America’ privilege."
With the growing importance and acceptance of technology in textile industry, companies are looking at highly automated, environmentally conscious production facilities in the US Southeast, where the infrastructure for this industry’s success is already in place. Proposed policy changes and US border tariffs are also aiding the growth shift to the US market. As consumers become more socially aware, many retailers are encouraging their suppliers to build an environmentally safe US presence to capture the ‘Made in America’ privilege. Hence, the country is finally seeing a resurgence in textile industry. Within the last five years, there have been significant announcements by foreign-owned textile companies investing in the US, with site selection choices clustered in the Southeast once again. These location decisions are driven by port proximity, low utility costs, a quality affordable labour pool, and access to training.
What clicks for Southeastern US
Since Southeastern US was once flooded with textile facilities, the infrastructure necessary for the industries success is already in place. Wastewater treatment plants are designed to accommodate the fabric dyeing process and have the ability to treat this kind of effluent without much capital investment or new permitting. The cotton belt in the Southeast provides close proximity to one of the industry’s major raw materials. A history of textile manufacturing has left behind a legacy workforce with the technical know-how and work ethic to support industry newcomers. There are training program to prepare workers to operate highly automated facilities, and universities have thriving textile engineering programs.
Moreover, the shale-oil boom has given a significant competitive advantage to the US. Industrial users are seeing natural gas prices average about one-third of those in most other industrial economies. Lower natural gas prices are driving US industrial electricity rates lower. US rates are on average 30 per cent to 50 per cent lower than for other major exporters.
Changing consumer preferences and fast fashion trends have forced apparel companies to make smaller batches of clothes more frequently, that is when speed-to-market becomes crucial. For instance, Zara is delivering new products worldwide to their stores just 15 days after design is started. When every day matters to bring products to market, it is no surprise that companies want to be close to the United States, the world’s second-largest textile consumer market.
On January 23, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to end the TPP, which aimed to create an export-led growth model supporting free trade with 11 countries in the Pacific, excluding China. The agreement would have phased out approximately 18,000 tariffs among the participating countries and helped smaller companies navigate export rules, trade barriers, and red tape. Trump argued that by ending the TPP, companies would be more likely to send FDI to the US to avoid import tariffs and sluggish logistics. Trump has proposed a 20 per cent tariff on incoming goods from Mexico and up to 35 per cent from China. In a low margin business, these tariffs would create a significant impact on the textile industry’s bottom line. While there is no way to predict what these policy changes will have on the textile market, companies are strategizing and investing resources to explore capacity additions in the US.
The US has also created a niche and competitive advantage in highly technical material manufacturing. Capital investment in yarn, fabric, and non-apparel textile product manufacturing has risen from $960 million to $1.7 billion from 2009 to 2015 — a 75 per cent increase. It is poised for growth in smart textiles or nanomaterials. The US textile industry saw $2 billion in capital investments in 2015. Medical applications are being introduced that monitor and communicate physiological changes. These materials will be able to administer drugs and detect blood clots. These types of technologies will require the presence of an extensive university research network and the ability to transfer technology to the labour force.
In an effort to modernise the apparel industry, Atlanta-based SoftWear Automation, recently introduced a solution called the ‘sewbot’. Sewing was once thought to be a delicate job only for human hands, but sewbots are using cameras to track needle stitching and coordinate precise movements of fabric using lightweight robots. If sewbots gain traction, changes could be even more drastic for the industry.
The textile industry in the US, specifically the Southeast, is poised for growth. Textile and apparel markets will grow across the globe but the United States will attract the more complex, higher-paying jobs, while providing access to one of the world’s largest consumer markets.
Vietnam’s market shifted from a centralized communist market to a mixed economy thereby boosting FDI in the country. Today, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing market in Southeast Asia. Vietnam’s textile and garment industry are exported to 40 countries including the US, European Union, and the far eastern countries like the People’s Republic of China, Japan and South Korea.
United States is the largest export market of Vietnam’s garment fabrics followed by EU. However, Vietnam has captured only 1.9 per cent share of the union’s total import value, According to the association, presenting opportunities for growth. Vietnam’s narrow growth is due to lack of modernization in designs. But many countries are opting for Vietnam instead of China because of cheap labor and raw materials. South Korea has heavily invested in the country followed by Luxembourg and Singapore.
The Trans Pacific Partnership plays an important role in the economy of Vietnam. Hence garment enterprise expect the Association of South East Asian Region (ASEAN) where Vietnam is also an active member to sign a Free Trade Agreement between the latter and the EU, this can benefit local garment enterprises in gaining more options to get material for garment production from other ASEAN countries.
According to General Department of Customs figures, in 2016 textile and garment sector’s total exports value was $23.8 billion, an increase of 4.6 per cent year-on-year. Many enterprises invested in building textile and dying factories on an extensive and intensive scale to boost opportunities in production and business for the planned Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), says association. But now that TPP with the US is no longer happening, experts say these facilities would help the textile and garment industry complete production processes and actively source material, focusing on significant opportunities offered by other FTAs, such as the Vietnam-EU FTA and the Vietnam-Republic of Korea FTA.
Ensuring the continuation of EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences with countries such as India and Vietnam is a more pressing priority for the UK rather than securing new deals. The cost of importing clothes could fall by up to 12 per cent, and leather handbags by up to three per cent, if the UK can secure new deals with countries such as China.
GSP countries account for 38 per cent of total general merchandise imports into the UK, of which clothing and footwear makes up 96 per cent. The EU accounts for just 12 per cent of total general merchandise imports, of which clothing is just more than half.
Countries such as China are classed as most favored nation (MFN) states with which the UK has no current trade agreement beyond World Trade Organisation rules. MFN countries account for 49 per cent of total general merchandise imports, of which clothing and footwear makes up 61 per cent. As a member of the EU, the UK does not pay tariffs on imports from certain countries as of now.
The EU does not have a trade deal in place with China. As a result, if the UK does not strike a deal with China, consumers will be no worse off – but there are opportunities to bring down tariffs if a deal is struck.
With the US almost certainly out of the TPP, other members of the grouping are assessing their options. Countries like Australia, Japan and Chile have been discussing the idea of taking the TPP forward. These countries had invested years on end in negotiating a high-quality agreement to benefit the Asia-Pacific region which is hungry for trade and they are unwilling to see their efforts go waste.
Vietnam could have gained 14 per cent under the TPP as it would have become the hub of low-end manufactured goods like textiles and garments. Australia has decided to focus on bilateral agreements with the Pacific alliance states of Mexico, Chile, Columbia and Peru, and also pursue agreements with India, Indonesia and the EU.
The global trade environment could transform with the focus of countries being on bilateral trade deals and what suits them best. The US is negotiating bilateral deals with Japan, China and the EU. The TPP would have covered 40 per cent of the global GDP and nearly a third of world trade. The US could have accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the TPP’s GDP. The deal could also have unleashed potential gains of as much as $1.9 trillion in the Asia-Pacific region through free trade.
After a disappointing end to 2016 and a sluggish beginning to 2017, spinners in India are finally beginning to regain some optimism. They have been getting a steady stream of orders for the past five or six weeks and enquiries are on the rise.
Ring-spun and air-jet yarns are getting a lot of attention. Positions are beginning to get a little tight again. Orders for open end yarns, in general, are still a bit light, but are improving. Interest is particularly high in specific categories like organic products, fire retardant yarns and products used for filtering. As the oil industry continues to recover, these categories may continue to grow.
One area that has not revived much, however, is home furnishings. But even here spinners expect business to pick up substantially in the near future. Despite renewed optimism among spinners, there are still a few concerns. Pricing and margins top the list. They feel selling all the yarn they can make is of no use, if profits are low. Margins continue to be a lot thinner than they would like. Spinners are doing everything they can to keep prices as low as possible but in a lot of cases, they have to rely on value-added advantages to create differentiation — quality, delivery and service.
New manufacturing yarn processes and finishes are pushing towards a more sustainable delivery with a reduction of water. The textile industry uses billions of liters of water throughout all processing from dyeing to specialty chemical finishes that are applied to textiles in water baths to scouring, bleaching and softening. Through the Detox campaign Greenpeace has highlighted the damage of water pollution and use from the textile chain has had on the environment.
Greenpeace is campaigning to stop industry poisoning our water with hazardous, persistent and hormone-disrupting chemicals and the textile industry is embracing change in eco-friendly chemical use as well as water conservation. The importance of sustainability was featured at ISPO Texttrends in February and is now become a custom than a passing fad as the textile industry looks to new processes in reducing water and energy.
Textile manufacturer Schoeller and auxiliaries and dyes specialists at Textilcolor have developed Ecodye, a new auxiliary concept used, in particular, in polyester dyeing processes. The technology accelerates the dyeing process and contributes to cutting costs, while at the same time helping to preserve the environment with a low level of demand on resources. Ecodye also improves the dyeing levelness in polyester textiles. Spots and dye agglomeration are almost completely avoided, and the precipitation on the goods that arises as a result of polyester oligomers are no longer evident. On the other hand Ecodye provides good shade stability and avoids reproduction problems from batch to batch, reducing the rate of double staining and increasing the capacity utilization and productivity of the dyeing mill on a long-term basis.
SpinDye, which is a new company exhibits at ISPO this year, the company offers a different approach in the production of synthetics, in particular nylon and polyester. Final laundering of fabrics is becoming a process of the past. An innovative collaboration held at the recent Kingpins Show in Amsterdam for denim highlighted the company’s technology in this area, in creating finishes that have now water or chemicals involved. The Laser Blaze machine creates graphics on surfaces using light, whilst NoStone is a system that create stonewash effects with the use of pumice stones through ozone finishing.
Italian company specialising in high-end fabrics Brugnoli, has launched a new high-quality, zero-kilometer fabric line based on recycled yarn called B.Recycled. In order to guarantee fabrics with exceptional quality and undisputed performance, Brugnoli has a partnership with the Italian company Fulgar.
This zero-kilometer product line means the supply chain is monitored and certified throughout. The creation of B.Recycled by Brugnoli starts with a raw material recycling process carried out entirely at Fulgar laboratories and mills. Work then continues at the Brugnoli plant, where all the fabrics are created, produced and dyed in the same location.
In 2015 Brugnoli broke new ground with the launch of its Br4 technology for the creation of bio-based fabrics. The eco-sustainable production process enables the creation of extremely high-quality fabrics made using Evo by Fulgar, a bio-based yarn obtained from castor bean. Evo by Fulgar is an eco-friendly yarn that aims to provide total comfort and technical performance combined with light weight, stretch, breathability and fast drying, plus naturally thermo regulating and bacterio static properties.
Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on May 17 and 18, 2017. This is an international platform showcasing the wealth of opportunities available in Bangladesh covering all aspects of the denim supply chain with exhibitors displaying fabrics, garments, threads, machineries, finishing equipments and accessories.
This season’s expo will deliver a dynamic environment to welcome all denim lovers and offer the perfect platform to develop new business relationships. The expo, with the participation of 12 countries and 58 exhibitors, will help promote the importance of sustainability, addressing environmental and ecological issues that affect business apart from promoting ways to improve and develop best working practices.
Participating countries are: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey and San Marino. The event will feature the platform, Sustainable Apparel Forum, which is the first-ever forum in Bangladesh which will present the future potential, sustainability and competitiveness of the apparel industry in the country. In 2015, Bangladeshi denim products made up 22.88 per cent market share in the EU and 11.35 per cent share in the US.
Annual global denim sales amount to more than $56 billion, which is expected to touch $64 billion by the end of 2020.
