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Some time back, Nepal’s readymade garments received duty-free facility in the US market. The special trade preference allows duty-free tariff benefits for up to 66 types of garment items including certain carpets, headgears, shawls, scarves and travel goods. Nepali garments will now be competitive in the US market. The US accounted for over 80 per cent of Nepal’s total garment exports at one time. The US had been imposing an average 16 to 17 per cent duty on Nepali garments.
Nepal’s garment manufacturers welcome the duty-free facility to the US market but say there are other issues to be resolved. Only 40 per cent of Nepali garments being exported to the US are eligible for Generalised System of Preferences facility. The rest 60 per cent are excluded from GSP. Nepal’s garment manufacturers have been lobbying for duty-free entry to the US for over a decade.
Meanwhile, Nepal is wrestling with the slow pace of economic recovery following the earthquake. Infrastructure needs to be developed. Attention is being sought for timely completion of the proposed hydropower projects, tourism development and productive use of remittance. Garment makers are being urged to expand their production capacity to ensure regular supplies to their main export destinations.
Cambodia's garment and footwear exports continued to see strong growth during 2015, though it grew at a slower rate than the year earlier. Despite an increase in exports, garment prices overall remain on a downward trajectory, although those shipped to the European Union went up for the first time in four years.
The latest data on industry exports, employment and factory openings are included in the most recent Cambodian Garment and Footwear Sector Bulletin released by the International Labour Organization (ILO). They also appear to show that a rise in wages has not dented trade. Not only did minimum wages increase from $128 to $140 at the beginning of the year, workers' average monthly wages jumped 20.7 per cent to $175 in 2015, up from $145 the year before, once a range of mandatory allowances were factored in.
However, the ILO warns: "While there do not appear to have been negative effects from past increases, Cambodia's minimum wage was low by international standard. For the year as a whole, total garment and footwear exports reached $6.3 billion, up 7.6 per cent over the $5.8 billion booked a year earlier. Even so, this is slower than the 9.6 per cent growth seen between 2013 and 2014.The footwear sector continued to accelerate with a 21.8 per cent surge in shipments to $538 million, while exports of garments rose by 6.5 per cent to $5.7 billion.
The European Union (EU) remains the largest market for Cambodia's garment and footwear exports, with a 46 per cent share, while the US accounts for 30 per cent. The remaining 24 per cent were destined for other markets, mainly Canada and Japan.
Despite the strong export performance, Cambodian garment producers faced the challenge of a continuing decline in the prices paid by their buyers, especially in the US and Japan. The average price of garments (per dozen) sold to the US in 2015 was 29 per cent lower than in 2005. Similarly, prices for garments sold to EU markets were 18 per cent lower in 2015 than in 2005.
American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) released the 17th edition of Restricted Substance List (RSL), the industry's chemical management resource for banned or restricted chemicals and substances in finished home textile, apparel, and footwear products around the world. According to Rick Helfenbein, AAFA's president and CEO the organisation supplies the industry with valuable tools that are needed to manage a responsible and compliant supply chain, and to mitigate the associated risk. AAFA continues to develop the RSL to update international and national regulations restricting the use of certain chemicals in product manufacturing, he added.
RSL’s 17th edition covers 12 chemical categories with more than 250 chemicals and is updated to reflect additions or changes to regulations and laws that restrict or ban certain chemicals in apparel, footwear, and finished home textile products. AAFA's Environmental Taskforce and Peer Review teams review and update the RSL every six months.
AAFA's RSL has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. With its commitment to supporting responsible production throughout the supply chain, AAFA offers access to the RSL for free to the entire apparel and footwear industry.
Representing more than 1,000 world famous name brands, AAFA is the trusted public policy and political voice of the apparel and footwear industry, its management and shareholders, its four million U.S. workers, and its contribution of $361 billion in annual U.S. retail sales.
China’s MY16/17 cotton production is forecast to continue falling at 4.9 million tons (MMT), down from the estimated 5.2 MMT in MY15/16 and 6.5 MMT in MY14/15. Lower earnings resulting from China’s government cotton policies implemented since MY14/15 are expected to reduce the planted area further by 9 percent to 3.1MHa in MY16/17.
The government’s recent cut to the MY16/17 target price for Xinjiang cotton farmers by RMB500/ton ($78/ton) is expected to reduce cotton returns and negatively impact cotton planting intentions in this province. Similarly, in the Yangtze and Yellow River regions, the anticipated low government production support (not yet confirmed as of this report) and more profitable alternative crops will reduce MY16/17 cotton acreage in these regions.
Slower economic growth, strong imports of yarn, and greater use of increasingly more competitive fibers, in particular polyester, continues to impact the recovery of Chinese cotton consumption, estimated at 7.2 MMT in MY15/16 and forecast to grow slightly to 7.3 MMT in China’s large state cotton reserves – built during the government cotton state purchases during MY11/12- MY13/14– remain a challenge due to the low use of domestic cotton. As a result, at the beginning of MY15/16, China’s cotton stocks are estimated at a record 14.8 MMT, roughly about 61 percent of global stocks.MY16/17.
High carry-in stocks, slowdown in consumption growth, and the government’s ability to control domestic supplies –through state reserve sales and by limiting additional tariff rate quotas (TRQ)—will continue to reduce cotton imports to an estimated 1.1 MMT in MY15/16.Given the expected drop in China’s total cotton imports and increased competition from other cotton suppliers such as India and Australia, China’s imports of US cotton are expected to fall further in MY15/16.
Given the expected drop in China’s total cotton imports and increased competition from other cotton suppliers such as India and Australia, China’s imports of US cotton are expected to fall further in MY15/16. tons in MY14/15.
However, in order to stay competitive in export markets, the Chinese textile industry is likely to continue sourcing higher grade cotton from abroad. This supports a slight recovery in total cotton imports for MY16/17 forecast at 1.2 MMT. Correspondingly, imports of US cotton could recover slightly in MY16/17 but still at a lower level than the 587,000 tons in MY14/15.
World Patent Marketing, a vertically integrated manufacturer and engineer of patented products, has announced a new invention called My Size. This apparel invention has been created to hide size tags in clothing and make people feel more confident about the size of clothing they wear. My Size is an apparel invention which will provide acceptance and confidence about one's size.
"People can be quite harsh and judgmental towards others when they are required to wear a certain size of clothing," according to Jerry Shapiro, Director of Manufacturing and World Patent Marketing Inventions. For this reason, sometimes women end up purchasing smaller or ill-fitting sized clothing in order to make them feel better about themselves. My Size is set to provide people with a way to gain confidence in wearing clothing that fits their bodies without anyone being critical about them.
One can easily sew this invention onto the portion of their clothing that has the sizes indicated. My Size is soft and comfortable when it comes into contact to the skin, thus preventing any form of skin irritation or scratches. With this invention, one is now more confident to wear the right size of clothing without anyone judging them.
We need to celebrate the feeling of clothing that fits, rather than sulk because the number in the tag isn't our ideal. Imagine a line of clothing that doesn't show a size; a fitting room where sizes don't exist. A perfect fit and nothing else - that's My Size." "The global apparel market is worth $618 billion, “according to Scott Cooper, CEO and Creative Director of World Patent Marketing. "Increasing population and disposable income will boost industry revenue in the next five years."
World Patent Marketing is an innovation incubator and manufacturer of patented products for inventors and entrepreneurs. The company is broken into eight operating divisions: Research, Patents, Prototyping, Manufacturing, Retail, Web & Apps, Social Media and Capital Ventures.
India has decided to continue regulating prices of seeds and other products whenever required. Since there was no uniformity in pricing of Bt cotton seeds across the country, an uniform price of Rs 800 per packet for Bt cotton seed has been fixed.
Farmers’ marketing expenditure will be reduced. A national agriculture market is being set up for electronic trading. In this program, 585 agricultural mandis of India will be connected to each other. It’s felt these efforts would minimise the interference of mediators to a great extent and help farmers get the maximum price for their crops. Foreign investment will also be encouraged for this initiative. Indigenous cotton varieties would be promoted in states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Steps will be taken to remove debt problems of farmers. The agricultural credit target of Rs 9 lakh crore will be increased for the year 2016-17 to bring farmers within the institutional fold.
As a matter of policy big companies and multinational corporations will not be allowed to charge arbitrary prices. The prices of items like cotton will be regulated whenever required. The Cotton Seed Price (Control) Order fixes an uniform price of Bt cotton seed in 2015 for the benefit of farmers.
H&M has 32 supplier factories in Bangladesh. But many of these lack safe fire exits. The Swedish fast fashion retailer is facing growing criticism for worker rights abuses in its supply chains. Among the steps it has to take are removal of locks from fire exits, removal of sliding doors and collapsible gates, and installation of fire-rated doors and enclosures in stairwells.
There was a huge fire at an H&M supplier, Matrix Sweaters, in February. There were just a few injuries, largely due to the fact that most workers had yet to arrive for their shift. It was later revealed the factory had missed dozens of deadlines to eliminate fire hazards and make the structure safe.
In reply H&M launched a series of events styled Conscious Exclusive Collection at the Louvre in Paris to promote itself as a sustainable company. H&M would launch a video featuring the pop star Mia to promote the company’s World Recycle Week on April 18 to 24, the same week that labor rights activists will commemorate the 1,134 workers killed in the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013. That devastating garment industry disaster prompted a series of initiatives to promote the industry.
But workers’ rights advocates have called on H&M to prove its commitments through action rather than symbolic gestures.
https://www.hm.com/in/
"Call it smart clothing or functional fabric, these innovations are ground breaking. Electrical engineers, software developers, manufacturers, and fashion designers have all collaborated to merge the age-old industry of textile materials with nano-technology and the Internet of things (IoT). Today’s smart fabrics are far more complex than a blend of wools, cottons, and polyesters. They incorporate a variety of metals, fiberglass, and ceramics."
A lot of innovation has crept into textiles sector with the use of digital technology. With the help of electrical and software engineers the face of the industry is changing fast. Soon smart technology will be quite literally woven into the fabric and clothes. Merging traditional textiles with cutting-edge technology to create a new frontier for both industries is the in thing in the US, and its spreading across the world with the ‘Made in USA’ tags.
Taking textiles to a new level
Call it smart clothing or functional fabric, these innovations are ground breaking. Electrical engineers, software developers, manufacturers, and fashion designers have all collaborated to merge the age-old industry of textile materials with nano-technology and the Internet of things (IoT). Today’s smart fabrics are far more complex than a blend of wools, cottons, and polyesters. They incorporate a variety of metals, fiberglass, and ceramics. Rather than being superficially glued together, these make up the basic elements of the fiber, itself. These innovative fabrics not just make a fashion statement but serve a much-needed purpose of safety and protection.
The textile industry is reinventing fabrics to allow them to collect and store data to address many unresolved human needs. Already, scientists have developed fabrics that react not only to the signals our body emits but also to the elements it faces. After collecting the data, high-tech fabrics can actually process that information. This means that the fabric will be able to see, hear, communicate, and store energy. Ultimately, the fabric will monitor the health of and heat or cool its wearer, accordingly.
Some clothing currently in the making include safety gloves for industrial businesses and body armor for the military. Weaving chips into the fabric of these items is practical for mountain climbers and athletes, as well as our nation’s defense. There are some amazing possibilities: like temperature-controlled uniforms for military and law enforcement, fabrics that are incredibly lightweight and durable, as well as flame resistant.
These technical textiles can forge protective gear for firefighters, rendering them impervious to flames, replicate the sensing capabilities of a smart watch, or detect when a wounded soldier needs to be treated with an antimicrobial compression bandage.
US government backs the initiative
With so many incredible possibilities, the US government is backing this initiative. The Obama Administration has just announced the new revolutionary fibers and textiles manufacturing innovation hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a reported $2 billion in manufacturing research and development (R&D) investments. This leading consortium of 89 manufacturers, universities, and non-profits organizations by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will spearhead a new manufacturing innovation institute in partnership with the Department of Defense.
Having already brought in over $300 million in public-private investment from leading universities and manufacturers, this initiative aims to accelerate the revival of the US textile industry. It expects to generate over 50,000 jobs in multiple fields the next 10 years. Genevieve Dion of Drexel University examined future knitting capabilities and explains that, by adding conductive yarn to different types of knit structures, knitting as a digital fabrication can mimic 3-D printing.
According to Juan Hinestroza of Cornell University one of the big transformations of the 21st century is going to be taking fabrics and apparel and turning them from something that has a fairly low functionality into a functional high-tech industry. So, there are concepts like digital fabrication, the Apple watch wherein the material becomes the function with automatic abilities.
Just like the materials worn by Spiderman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, the average person will have almost super human abilities to keep themselves healthy and safe inside their clothes.By adjusting both the size and the space between nano-particles, Hinestroza’s team was able to control the interaction between light and matter, meaning we can make and control colors.
Weaving in Profits
As this exciting new innovation spans multiple industries, the investment opportunities are incredibly diversified. First, there are all of the integrated device manufactures and chip makers such as Intel Corp. Analog Devices Inc, and Texas Instruments. Then, there are designers and sellers of chips that outsource the manufacturing, such as Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Further, textile manufactures like International Textile Group, apparel companies such as VF Corp and Columbia Sportswear, materials businesses like Corning, as well as health and biotech companies like Amgen will all see major growth from the imminent success of smart fabrics.
Denim in India and across the globe has become the flavour and trend at fashion weeks and fashion forecasts with its various innovations in its fabric weaves, yarn blends and surface textures. The overall field-based perception in the market is that demand for denim cloth and its products have never been so good.
The denim sector is on a growth path vis-a-vis other sectors of the textile industry, riding high on upbeat demand for denim in India; and many existing players are also expanding their capacities. Similarly, new ones are making investments so as not to miss the TUFS subsidy and concessions from state governments, especially the US, which are cotton producers and/or are predominant in textile production, and doling out concessions and special incentives to get investments from textile corporates and projects.
Due to the industrial slowdown and tapering out in textile production, China will become a marginal player in the future, while India, Vietnam and Bangladesh are all set to emerge stronger. Bangladesh is more active in denim products, for which it has achieved export of $2billion, and having ambitious target of exporting denim products worth $7billion by the year 2021.
Meanwhile in India, demand for denim apparel such as jeans, shirts, tops, short trousers and jackets etc is growing fastest in all apparel segments, driven strongly by the urban and semi-urban aspiring youth. In addition, demand is fuelled and unleashed by unprecedented growth and the rise of online consumerism via a growing trend for shopping malls and e-commerce. This is leading to the increasing share of denim apparels in the fashion segment of retail markets.
With Vietnam’s increasing participation in trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the EU free trade agreement, local textile sector is poised for faster growth, creating increased demand for sustainable energy and water use practices. The textile, apparel and footwear sector is a significant contributor to Vietnam’s economy. In 2015, the sector's exports reached $39.2 billion and generated approximately three million jobs, mostly for women.
While this sector is energy and water intensive, there are opportunities for reducing resource consumption by 20 per cent or higher by using the latest technology and good operating practices.
Energy and water efficiency assessments will be conducted at about 30 factories over the next 12 months to help them reduce operating costs and improve productivity while contributing to the country’s green growth and climate change targets.
This manufacturing sustainability initiative will promote resource efficiency by systematically assessing performance improvement opportunities, conducting benchmarking studies, sharing technology best practices, and raising sector-level awareness for broader uptake.
Factory assessments at supplier factories across the textile value chain, including cut-and-sew, dyeing-and-printing and garment-washing operations, will identify and develop cost-effective measures to improve energy and water efficiency while helping suppliers improve productivity and competitiveness.
