Expo Peru Europe took place in England from March 16 to 17, 2016. It saw a record number of participants, hosting 38 Peruvian small and medium-sized export firms and 200 international purchasers.
English and European purchasers highlighted the quality of Peruvian products that materialized into purchase orders for the following 12 months. Some 500 business meetings were held during the event, which led to deals worth $20 million being clinched. Cotton and alpaca fiber-made garments, natural and organic food, fruits, Andean grains, among others, were the most in demand products.
Peruvian entrepreneurs participated in intensive induction and training courses held by experts in the market, and paid visits to main supermarket chains, super foods stores and restaurants located in the United Kingdom.
This was the first edition of Expo Peru Europe. The number of Peruvian entrepreneurs convened through Promperu and the Peru Trade Office in the United Kingdom showed Peru’s exportable supply positioning strategy —applied to this important market— was correct.
The event was organized by Promperu with the support of OCEX-London and the collaboration of the Peruvian embassy in the UK, and the UK embassy in Peru. Peru aims to promote exports of fresh fruits and vegetables to the European market so as to consolidate its presence as a supplier of these products.
In a recent development, Hong Kong-based company Belle International Holding has acquired a 29 per cent Equibox Holding Spa, majority shareholder of Fashion Box Spa, the company behind Replay, Replay & Sons and We Are Replay.
The other 71 per cent remain with the brothers Matteo and Massimo Sinigaglia who acquired Fashion Box in 2010. Belle International took over their share from Paola Dametto, widow of the Replay founder Claudio Buziol, who has now decided to fully quit the company - an option which was included in the Sinigaglia brothers' acquisition contract from 2010. Sources said Belle International intends to acquire up to 49 per cent of the holding in the future.
Incidentally, the two shareholders have also signed a joint venture for Belle Int. to manage Replay in Greater China and speed up the brand’s growth in this market. According to sources, as a part of a new three-year industrial agreement, defined by the new board of directors, they will carry out staff cuts. Replay will reduce its 400 employees to about 350.
Meanwhile, other new strategies will soon be announced and will include new partnerships aiming at increasing Replay’s expansion in the South American, US and Japanese markets and help Fashion Box refocus its activities on the European markets. Belle International is a major Chinese distributor of sports apparel and shoe brands including Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Mizuno, Merrel but also CAT and Clarks, among others.
With export earnings of at $4.7 billion, apparels accounted for 42 per cent of total exports in 2014 in Sri Lanka. The sector faces several challenges in the international market. Erosion of cost competitiveness due to higher costs and a shortage of labour at home, sluggish growth in demand from key markets (e.g. US and EU account for 90 per cent of apparel exports) and having to pay import duties in foreign markets while competitors’ products enjoy duty free access through trade deals are a few of these challenges.
For Sri Lanka, trade deals with potential emerging markets such as India and China are considered useful in overcoming some of these challenges. Between 2010-2014, total apparel imports into India and China grew at 26 per cent and 24 per cent respectively compared to lower or negative single digit growth rates recorded by leading importers in North America and Europe. Apparel exports from Sri Lanka to India and China grew at 46 per cent and 62 per cent respectively during the same period compared to single digit growth rates in exports to USA and EU.
The country already has a free trade agreement (FTA) with India since 2000 and has agreed to enter into a FTA with China.
Cotton futures slipped over two per cent on rumors that the world’s top consumer China is preparing to auction off some of its vast stockpile of the natural fiber next month, potentially unleashing fresh supply on a saturated global market. China may release about eight million bales of cotton in late April. While that is only a small portion of the state's reserve of about 60 million bales, it renewed concerns that the release would curb China’s appetite for the fiber.
Speculators upped a bearish bet in cotton to the biggest on record in the week ended March 15. The front-month May contract on ICE Futures US settled down 1.2 cents, or 2.06 per cent - the biggest percentage loss in more than a week - at 57.16 cents per lb, after touching a low of 56.82 cents. The contract ended the week down about three per cent.
The dollar index was up 0.29 per cent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was down 0.74 per cent. Speculators boosted their net short position in cotton by 3,952 lots to 40,488 lots, as prices touched fresh 2009 lows. That was the largest net short position in fiber since records dating back to 2006.
A recent capital investment will expand capacity at Invista’s Terate and Terrin polyols manufacturing facility in the Netherlands. This project is part of continued capacity and efficiency investments at its polyols plants, and will allow Invista to better serve the increasing demand in the European market.
Terate and Terrin polyols have expansive applications. Terate aromatic polyester polyols allow formulation flexibility in achieving the range of physical and flammability properties required of polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams. This comprehensive product line can be used in a variety of applications including flex-faced boardstock, metal-faced sandwich panels, spray foam and block foam.
Terrin aliphatic polyester polyols contain a minimum of 50 per cent recycled content, with some containing renewable content as well. Formulators can use Terrin polyols in lieu of or in combination with conventional polyether or polyester polyols to formulate a variety of polyurethane products.
Invista is currently collaborating with formulators to create value-added, cost-effective high resilience foams, spray coatings, adhesives, elastomeric resins and visco elastic foams.
Polyols, also called sugar alcohols, are a group of versatile, reduced-calorie carbohydrates that provide the taste and texture of sugar with about half the calories. These sweeteners are neither sugars nor alcohols. Instead, they are a group of low-digestible carbohydrates used as sugar replacers.
www.invista.com/
India’s spun yarn exports in February 2016 were up by 22.8 per cent in volume terms while it declined 17.3 per cent in value terms. In the same month 87 countries imported spun yarn from India, with China accounting for 27.4 per cent of the total value with imports edging down 1.3 per cent in volume terms plunging 45.3 per cent in value. Bangladesh, the second largest importer of spun yarns, accounted for around 17.8 per cent of all spun yarn exported from India. However, export to Bangladesh surged 178.2 per cent in volumes and 16.4 per cent in value. Egypt was the third largest importer of spun yarns, which saw volume rising 3.3 per cent and value declining 5.3 per cent.
These three top importers together accounted for more than 50 per cent of all spun yarns exported from India in February. Pakistan, Turkey, Poland and Thailand were among the fastest growing markets for cotton yarn, and accounted for 9.1 per cent of total cotton yarn export value. Eleven new destinations were added for cotton yarn exports, of which Honduras, Finland, and Bulgaria were the major ones.
Chinese demand for Indian yarn has reduced due to rising imports from Vietnam.
China is helping develop a textile park in Nigeria. When established, the park is expected to accommodate more than 40 textile industries. Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy. Nigeria has become the biggest overseas customer of Chinese construction companies. It is an important market for Beijing, at a time when China’s own growth is slowing.
To support its swelling trade in Nigeria, China is funneling billions of dollars to build roads, rail lines, airport terminals, power plants and other desperately needed infrastructure. China is the top lender to Nigeria, where political instability and violence have made Western interests skittish.
Across this populous African nation, low-cost Chinese goods are everywhere, evidence of Beijing’s growing dominance in global trade. The trade flow has helped keep life affordable for millions of Nigerian families, at a time when the country is struggling with economic stagnation and plunging prices as well as the deadly costs of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Employment in Nigeria’s textile and apparel sector has plummeted to 20,000 people, from 6,00,000 two decades ago. Since the mid-1990s, China has become the leading exporter worldwide of manufactured textiles and clothing. And Nigeria is one of China’s major trading partners in Africa.
Reliance Industries has entered into a brand alliance with Coimbatore-based sewing threads leader Precot Meridian. This is a non-commercial deal. Reliance will allow the Coimbatore company to use its Recron SHT brand on its sewing threads brand.
Reliance Industries is the world’s second largest synthetic fiber manufacturer. With Rs 700 crores in sales, Precot is a leader in the domestic threads market. Out of its total income, exports contributed around Rs 200 crores last fiscal.
As per the agreement for co-branding for the polyester sewing thread yarn range, Precot will manufacture grey and colored polyester sewing thread yarns using Reliance’s Recron SHT, claimed to be one of the quality super high tenacity fibers. This yarn will then be sold co-branded with Recron SHT.
The alliance will ensure standardised high quality products reaching end customers and will help both companies strengthen growth and customer trust. Apart from branding, RIL will also provide marketing and branding support to Precot to establish Recron SHT as a leading brand.
The grey sewing thread market in the country is around Rs 1500 crores and polyester threads lead it with a 85 per cent share, the rest being cotton/nylon threads.
www.precot.com/
The Marriott hotel chain in the US will offer customers bath terry towels and mats that are made using home grown cotton. Marriott has entered into a partnership with Standard Textiles to develop these goods to be used in its 3,000 US hotels.
A vertically integrated company, Standard Textile is a leading global provider of end-to-end solutions for the institutional textile and apparel markets. It was founded in 1940. It serves customers in the health care, hospitality, decorative products and industrial apparel marketplaces worldwide. Among its products are healthcare apparel, blankets, hamper bags, incontinence products, mattresses, surgical and terry products, blankets and comforters, robes, sheets, top covers, and towels.
The United States has been long importing textiles and apparel goods from low cost wage countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam but is focusing on manufacturing high end textile categories such as industrial textiles and nonwovens. This means Marriott will use bath terry fabrics made from US cotton grown and manufactured in the United States.
The use of home grown cotton has brought cheers to US cotton producers. They are appreciative of Marriott’s decision in recognizing the importance of supporting the US cotton and textile industry.
After its first promotional campaign at ISPO Munich trade fair that took place recently, the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF), is now planning to promote the country’s textile industry at the upcoming SaigonTex that will be held from March 30 to April 2 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC), in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Under the slogan ‘Think Taiwan for Textiles,’ it plans to display all kinds of textiles samples at the exhibition, including eco-textiles, functional and fashion textiles, dyes, and trimmings.
Recognised brands like Nike, The North Face, Adidas, Jack Wolfskin, VF Corp, Columbia, Lululemon, Under Armour and others rely on Taiwanese companies for innovation and sustainability. The Taiwanese textile industries have been long time leaders in the development of environmentally friendly concepts, recycled polymer and polymer blends.
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