FW
Vietnam will gain a lot from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The country's garment and textile sectors will benefit in terms of cost, market scale, and material supply. And, they will not have to bear many trade barriers. The RCEP covers 16 countries, including 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations and their regional trading partners of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
When participating in RCEP, Vietnam will have a strategic market in Asia with three major benefits. The first, lower transportation fees due to geographical proximity. Second, RCEP market will help Vietnamese firms with raw material supplies. Third, cultural similarities among Asian countries will help RCEP negotiations and the signing processes will take place faster.
Vietnamese garment and textile exports are expected to grow 13 to 14 per cent in 2017 compared to 9.2 per cent in 2016. The industry is working on providing products with more competitive prices, higher quality, and shorter delivery times. In the first quarter of 2017, Vietnam earned $5.6 billion from garment and textile exports, up 10.2 per cent year-on-year, while spending on fabric imports was up 5.5 per cent.
Ralph Lauren is cutting jobs and closing stores. The luxury retailer is moving its e-commerce business to a cheaper and more efficient cloud platform. It plans to integrate its products from the Fifth Avenue store into the Ralph Lauren men’s and women’s flagship stores on Madison Avenue and other downtown locations.
Ralph Lauren, like other luxury brands, has been struggling as Americans spend less on apparel and accessories, resulting in falling sales in the last seven quarters. The company’s margins have also taken a knock as department stores discount heavily to get rid of excess inventory.
Ralph Lauren’s lower-end Polo and Lauren brands are facing competition from fast-fashion retailers such as H&M and Inditex’s Zara. Ralph Lauren expects to incur about $370 million in charges and save about $140 million from the new measures, which are part of a cost-cutting plan.
Fashion brand Ralph Lauren, that opened in 1967, is named after its founder. Ralph Lauren has also decided to stop working with the less profitable multi-brand stores: between 20 and 25 per cent of the label’s wholesale clients will not be served any longer. Apart from Polo, Ralph Lauren owns brands such as Chaps and Club Monaco.
World cotton production is forecast to grow by one per cent in 2017-18. Global consumption may recover by one per cent as cotton prices decrease. Cotton production in India is projected to grow by two per cent. World cotton mill use is expected to remain unchanged due largely to weak global economic growth and competition from polyester.
In China, after several seasons of decline, mill use is projected to rise by two per cent in 2016-17 and by one per cent in 2017-18. The gap between China’s domestic cotton prices and international cotton prices has decreased, making yarn imports less attractive than in recent seasons. In India, after declining by three per cent in 2016-17 due to high domestic and international cotton prices, mill use is projected to recover by one per cent in 2017-18.
During the first seven months of 2016-17, China’s cotton imports were up six per cent from the last season during the same time period. China’s total volume of imports is expected to rise by two per cent in 2016-17. Imports by Bangladesh are expected to rise by six per cent and Vietnam’s imports are projected to grow by 17 per cent in 2016-17. India’s exports are projected to decline by 23 per cent in 2016-17.
Production of nonwovens in Europe grew 2.5 per cent in 2016. While output growth in the European Union outperformed Greater Europe, some countries demonstrated impressive development. Germany, Italy and Spain all witnessed growth, with Spain being particularly impressive at five per cent while recent star performer Turkey remained stable, more than compensating for the minor decline recorded in some other European markets.
Although the primary end-use of nonwovens continues to be the hygiene market, with a 30.7 per cent share of deliveries (by weight), significant growth areas for nonwovens were recorded in other sectors like agriculture and garments (both recording double digit growth), air filtration, construction and food and beverage.
Countering this, a minor decline was recorded in the automotive industry. Medical and personal care wipes sectors both remained stable with a slight fall of 0.4 per cent. Divergent trends were also observed between the various production processes of nonwovens. The production of fiber-based materials Drylaid and Short-Fibre Airlaid technologies recorded an increase of 2.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent, while Wetlaid remained relatively stable. Spunmelt nonwovens recorded a growth rate of 3.3 per cent. The highest growth rate was observed in material produced via the air-through bonding process, with a 13.1 per cent increase.
Italian textile companies working in the fashion and accessory space have come together to form a federation called ‘Confindustria Moda’. The federation represents more than 67,000 companies, having a turnover of more than 88 billion euro and employing more than 5,80,000 workers. It includes leather manufacturers, footwear manufacturers, jewelry manufacturers, optical manufacturers and tanners.
The associations will continue to maintain operational autonomy with regard to vertical and specific themes for each sector (for example, shows and exhibitions), whereas, for the moment, Confindustria Moda will provide transversal services such as legal advice, industrial relations management and a development office.
Confindustria Moda will allow what was previously a highly fragmented galaxy of manufacturers to speak with a common voice, gaining influence and visibility. It will battle counterfeiting and affirm points of view on distribution and industrial relations.
Italian products of the textile and apparel industry are known worldwide. This sector has attracted a great deal of attention because it is rare for a wealthy and developed country to specialize heavily in fashion-oriented as well as semi-customized industrial products and to base its production system on small and very small companies. Fashion companies in Italy keep the stock market at arm’s length — especially since they are able to finance themselves through their operations.
Apparel imports by the EU were up 0.22 per cent in December 2016. Full year imports reflect a rebound in clothing demand from EU buyers after the euro stopped falling from a year earlier. During 2016, the combined imports of woven and knitted apparels increased by 5.53 per cent compared to 2015.
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam registered positive hikes in both value-wise and volume-wise apparel exports to the EU whereas India and China recorded a drop in their value-wise apparel exports to the EU in 2016.
The EU is one of the largest importers of textiles and garments in the world. China is the largest exporter of apparels and clothing to the EU followed by Bangladesh, Turkey, Cambodia, Morocco, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Vietnam. India's readymade garment sector will continue to enjoy 20 per cent duty export preference for the next three years to EU markets.
The EU itself has a vibrant textile and clothing industry. It covers a wide range of activities like transferring raw fiber into yarns and then yarns into fabric and then finally using the fabric to produce a wide range of finished products such as wool, bed-linen, geo-textiles, clothing, and synthetic yarns.
Camira’s wool and polyester products have been awarded the EU Ecolabel. Camira is a UK-based textile group known for its fabrics Patina, Synergy, Synergy 170, Individuo and Rivet. Camira has 20 years’ experience in designing and manufacturing recycled fabrics. It’s known for classic 100 per cent recycled polyester fabrics like Xtreme and Lucia, and other products such as Aspect and Era.
Patina is Camira’s newest performance wool and flax blend available in 43 different color ways. Synergy is made from premium New Zealand wool and available in 75 shades. Panel fabric Synergy 170 is available in 24 carefully selected Synergy colors and Individuo has a fluid, graduated appearance where no two areas of the fabric are same.
Rivet is made from 100 per cent Repreve, a brand of recycled polyester made from used plastic bottles. EU Ecolabel is an independent label administered by the European Union which accredits the environmental sensitivity of products throughout their lifecycle.
Camira has also been awarded Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification for 13 different polyester fabrics. Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is a worldwide testing and certification scheme for textiles which focuses on chemicals of concern within textile supply chains and end products to ensure the protection of human health.
A Japanese company is helping revive silk production in Cambodia. II Brille will invest in Cambodian silk production to supply the local market and export to Asia and the United States. Il Brille specializes in silk products including lotions and shampoo. Investment from the Japanese company is expected to help diversify Cambodian silk production and generate more jobs for women in rural areas.
Mulberry trees are now a rarity in Cambodia as most of them were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era. So, silk weavers in the country have to depend on imports of raw silk from either Vietnam or Thailand. Il Brille has already sent staff for training in Thailand on growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms. The training will help reduce reliance on imports of raw silk from Thailand and Vietnam in future.
There is also a lack of skilled workers because many Cambodian silk producers have migrated to work in neighboring countries. Silk producers in Cambodia will be taught how to feed silk worms, maintain a healthy environment for worms to grow, and ensure silk production is of a high enough quality to satisfy local and export markets.
Demand for raw silk in the country’s cottage silk weaving industry is about 100 metric tons a year while local production is only one metric tons a year.
The net effect of Brexit may be positive for India. After leaving the EU, the UK would want to develop trade relations with emerging markets from around the world. India, with its strong economic fundamentals and a large domestic market, is in a better negotiating position. India’s high proportion of skilled working-age population and high growth rate will be of particular interest for the UK.
Potential sectors to benefit from a FTA between the UK and India include textile, machinery, engineering goods, information technology and banking. India could emerge as a major source of high tech exports for the UK. The country’s BPO market could see strong growth prospects if the FTA between the two countries fosters an easy visa regime and greater market access for Indian firms.
The UK’s currency is expected to remain weaker, so it would be less expensive for Indian firms to import from their subsidiaries in the UK. Brexit opens substantial opportunities for the Indian education sector. Educational institutes in the UK might offer more incentives, which could essentially make education in that country less expensive. Importantly, in the post-Brexit world, Indian students studying in the UK might get a more level playing field compared with other EU students who until now enjoyed an advantageous position.
Brazilian textile and clothing exports to the Arab world increased 87.5 per cent in January and February this year compared to the same period last year. The increment was almost exclusively a result of synthetic fabric and sisal rope for use in ships and rigs. Exports of beachwear, textile yarns and intimate wear also went up in the first two months of the year.
The United Arab Emirates bought the most from the Brazilian textile and apparel industry in January and February. Next come Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon. Arab countries are important buying markets for Brazilian companies, especially in party wear, children’s wear, and beachwear.
Brazil has the know-how across the value chain from textile to clothing, i.e. from fiber to design. Brazil is the eighth largest producer of yarns, fabric, and knitwear, and ranks seventh in the production of apparel. The Brazilian economy is characterized by moderately free markets and an inward-oriented economy. Brazil’s economy is the largest of Latin America and the second largest in the western hemisphere. It is also recognized for complying with labor laws and environmental sustainable production. Brazil is fast becoming a hub for leather manufacturing.
