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"The European apparel industry has got a boost with advent of e-commerce. European online retail sales are expected to hit €191 billion ($249 billion) in 2017, up from €112 billion ($146 billion) in 2012 led by the current back-space facing countries of Spain and Italy, according to new data published by Forrester. Also, online retailing is expected to go up a good 2 per cent from 2013 to 2017."
Despite facing challenging economic conditions, the European fashion market is popular because of its high-end fashion labels, innovations and retailers. Accounting for one third of the world’s total textile trade, annual consumer apparel sales in Europe are over $300 billion. ‘Made in Europe’ tag is a sign of uunparalleled quality and award-winning craftsmanship. The ongoing economic crisis however, has had a negative impact on fashion business. But, experts opine with lower oil prices, further monetary easing and a weaker euro, the European economy is forecasted to grow by 1.7 per cent in 2015.
Import/export market scenario
According to IFM, Europe’s apparel imports statistics in the first semester of 2015 indicates that China is a dominant player in the segment as top clothing supplier, providing €12.6 billion of goods (+13 per cent). Bangladesh holds the second position, which showcases a significant growth of over 26 per cent, reaching €6.8 billion, while Turkey declined by 1 per cent to €4.5 billion. Significant expansion was also achieved by India with 13 per cent rise, Cambodia (32 per cent), Vietnam (30 per cent), Pakistan (28 per cent) and the US (28 per cent). At the bottom of the ranking, with €146 million worth of goods, Myanmar records a 64 per cent increase.
Industry estimates suggest that while India exports apparel worth $5 billion (about Rs 27,000 crores) to EU, Bangladesh exports apparel worth $8 billion (about Rs43,400 crores) to the 27-nation bloc. Europe registered a sudden yet steady growth percentage in the fiscal 2014, claiming the half share of the world’s clothing production pie. Earlier, European brands stuck to their own selling points, however brands are now spreading their presence. Now fast-fashion labels such as, H&M and Zara along with advent of e-commerce is creating tough competition for retail biggies like M&S and Benetton.
Almost all EU countries are forecasted to witness a surge in terms of growth owing to their efforts to bounce back implementing economic reforms. Major changes are being seen in Germany which is expected to see a GDP growth of 1.57 per cent by the end of 2016. In case of France, while domestically it is doing well owing to low inflation and tax-cuts, ease in credit conditions along with government taken supportive economic strategies, export performance has been bleak and needs improvement. The United Kingdom will prove to be the best paced one in the entire Europe with a GDP of 2.23 per cent in 2016.
Apparel market analysis across Europe
Retail value sales of men’s wear saw a growth of 12 per cent in the last fiscal in Hungary, almost similar to that of the women’s wear segment both in terms of volume and value sales, owing to the overall upsurge in expenditure on apparel products by the masses. The top spot for men’s attires have been enjoyed by C&A Mode in the country whereas H&M takes up the title for the most sold in Hungary.
Portugal has seen low improvement in the national economy. However, promotional campaigns taken up as an ultimate success method by many brands including Homino Emerito and Cortefiel which offered heavy discounts to take sales and clear stocks further up led to a rise in demand. End of season sales also saw a boom, taking down average unit prices. Zara remained the most important label in the country with a 7 per cent value share in 2014.
Both home-grown and foreign labels are doing well in Austria but menswear in particular has led to menswear taking up a larger piece of cake in Austria with H&M leading the success. The stable and high levels of disposable income in Germany served as a backbone to the consumer confidence and decisions. Especially in men’s wear, a great hike in the demand for high-quality leisurewear was witnessed along with the premium casual wear.
Fashion gets an e-commerce boost
The European apparel industry has got a boost with advent of e-commerce. European online retail sales are expected to hit €191 billion ($249 billion) in 2017, up from €112 billion ($146 billion) in 2012 led by the current back-space facing countries of Spain and Italy, according to new data published by Forrester. Also, online retailing is expected to go up a good 2 per cent from 2013 to 2017.
The top most e-retailer of Europe Zalando is a 2008 established German label, which has witnessed a steady growth from being a shoe e-tailer to a clothing one in 2010 and now it has launched its own private labels as it plans to expand its reach into new geographies.
June 2000 incepted high-fashion retailer that operates via a website designed in the style of a magazine, Net-a-porter has been a success story too. The website takes up approximately 2.5 million unique visits in internet traffic to their website every month and has a series of sister and brother portals Mr Porter and Neta- Sporter. In early 2014, Net-a-Porter launched a print magazine called Porter, with an associated app and digital version of the magazine.
Several foreign fashion retailers too are exploring the European shores. South African fashion retailer Truworths for instance was recently in talks to acquire the UK’s Office Retail Group, making it the nation’s latest retailer to pursue offshore expansion. With over 650 stores in South Africa, the brand already has 23 franchise stores in the rest of Africa and the Middle East. It offers a collection of leisure wear, formal wear, evening wear, lingerie, shoes and accessories for women.
After Chennai floods, now Supreme Court’s (SC) order banning entry of goods vehicle in Delhi and hiking environment compensatory charges by 100 per cent has hit the textile traders and transporters from Surat, who supply man-made fabrics (MMF) including saris and dress materials worth Rs 20 crores to the national capital.
Textile traders believe Supreme Court's orders will increase the prices of textile goods supplied from Surat and other textile manufacturing centers. According to Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry's (SG textile committee Chairman Devkishan Manghani, it's going to be tough for wholesalers in Delhi to manage loading and off-loading of textile goods given the SC ruling. The overhead expenses, including transport and labour costs, will increase go up and the wholesalers may have to bear extra expense of Rs 200 per parcel containing around 150 saris and dress materials.
According to the industry players, textile goods are further sent to Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal from New Delhi. The court clarifies that no vehicle registered in 2005 or prior years shall be allowed to enter Delhi even after payment of enhanced green cess. For the rest of the commercial vehicles registered after 2005, the cess has now been doubled - Rs 700 to Rs 1,400 for light commercial vehicles and Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,600 for heavy commercial vehicles.
Since most of the transport trucks were registered before 2005, they will now have to deliver the goods on national highway outside Delhi. They have let the textile traders know about the situation, who will have to make an alternative arrangement for loading and off-loading of the goods at additional expense.
www.sgcci.in
Grasim Industries named Dilip Gaur as its new Managing Director beginning next financial year, replacing KK Maheshwari. Maheshwari will continue on the board as non-executive director, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.
The company said the appointment has been made on the basis of recommendation of Nomination & Remuneration Committee, and is subject to approval. The Aditya Birla Group company has Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF), cement, chemical and textile businesses.
The company produces viscose staple fibre (VSF) used in apparel and cement that makes more than 90 per cent of their revenues. “The company will continue to focus on expanding its domestic market through product development activities, working closely with brands, designers and retailers. A better customer connect through brand Liva is leading to growth in demand for VSF based products in the textile value chain,” it said in a statement after releasing in September quarter results.
www.grasim.com
A recent study report of USA-based New York University's Stern Centre for Business and Human Rights has said that millions of people working in the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh still face unsafe conditions. The report, released on Thursday, also said that Bangladesh has more factories engaged in the global RMG business than stated by its industry.
The findings of US organisation came at a time when Accord and Alliance's safety inspections have reportedly indicated that most of the RMG factories in Bangladesh are maintaining 'stringent' safety standards laid down by the Western retailers' bodies. However, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has ruled out findings of the report.
According to the report, Bangladesh's US$25 billion garment industry has been suffering from safety problems since the 2013 collapse of a complex, the Rana Plaza, in which more than 1,100 people were killed. Thousands of factories have been undergoing inspections and dozens closed over safety concerns. But at many functioning factories, employees fall outside the purview of those improvements, the report said. It said, more than 7,000 factories in Bangladesh are producing goods for the global fashion business, nearly double the 3,600 exporting factories that the BGMEA operates. Many of those are small- and medium-sized factories, the workers of which indirectly produce goods for foreign brands through larger factories.
Sarah Labowitz, Co-Director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, in a statement, said: "Though global brands assert they have strict policies against subcontracting, in reality, millions of workers and thousands of smaller factories are producing their goods. Working in these factories is often highly risky." The US study documented 7,179 factories, and those previously uncounted factories are largely informal and unregulated, meaning they're the ones that tend to be the most dangerous.
www.stern.nyu.edu
Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Harish Rawat has hinted at legalisation of hemp cultivation in the state, where hemp cultivation already takes place on a small scale at the moment. Handing out licences to farmers for the same may boost the state’s trade prospects.
According to Muni Mehta of the Nanda Devi Handloom and Heritage Centre of Excellence in Kasar Devi near Almora, run by the Panchachuli Women Weavers' Co-operative hemp is like nettle in its tensile strength and grows widely in the region and could be beneficial if people can cultivate it. Cannabis is a plant which grows in different climatic conditions and consists of two main species, Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. A third kind, Cannabis ruderalis, is not so common. There are hybrids, too, with one of the species being dominant. Cannabis has been used recreationally, industrially and medicinally for centuries in different cultures, including in India.
Uttarakhand has now asked three state research institutions to develop cannabis plants with a THC concentration at 0.3-1.5 per cent for industrial use. At the moment, most of the hemp used in textiles or for food is collected from the wild and not cultivated. The stalk of the hemp plant is used to make rope, apparel, shoes, upholstery, geotextiles and packaging and hemp seed can be used to make oil, flour and animal feed. Hemp cultivation can provide employment to people from the state.
Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO), a three-year-old startup which provides the Nanda Devi centre a link to the market for its products, has joined hands with an institute under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to carry out research on the 150-odd different seeds it has collected, with an aim to standardise seeds which are low in THC. The company will sell hemp to textile manufacturers and hemp-based foods directly to consumers. Sections 10 and 14 allow for the cultivation of cannabis for industrial, medicinal and scientific purposes, under the government's watch.
According to a ministry of textiles report, the annual potential for hemp-based textiles in the state is at Rs 240 crores. The size of the global hemp market is estimated at $800 million - $1 billion (Rs 5,320 crore - Rs 6,650 crores). China is the biggest producer of hemp products. Other countries where hemp cultivation is legal include Canada, The Netherlands, Germany, France and some states in the US.
Hempfoodsindia.com
During a press conference held by Hikmet Eraslan, CEO of Dosso Dossi Holding to announce the inauguration of the biannual Dosso Dossi Fashion Show in the resort city of Antalya, he said that textile firms from China, India, Italy and others are looking at improving their trade relations with Russia to take advantage of the space vacated by Turkish exporters.
After the jet crisis, wherein Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet over an airspace violation along its Syrian border on November 24, Moscow initiated several economic sanctions against Turkey in retaliation. On the other hand, the Dosso Dossi fair, manufacturers and thousands of companies from different countries are meeting since it serves as an intermediary platform in supply chains where the products end up in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan or elsewhere. The fair is held to support the opening of new markets, domestically and sector heads from abroad , bureaucrats, businessmen, academicians, bringing the industry to create an international platform to shed light on the development, sales and bilateral negotiations for partnership.
At the previous fair [in June] Turkish exhibitors reported $55 million in revenue, however due to the jet crisis, now the target is to reach around $50 million this time as Russian firms attending the fair have dropped from 1,500 to between 1,000 and 1,100. Since Russia still maintains its grip over former soviet countries, embargoes aimed at Turkey are expected to spread to such countries as well. Belarus has already followed suit and banned chartered flights to Turkey, also restricting the access of some Turkish products.
According to official statistics, Turkey's ready-to-wear textile exports declined by 10.3 per cent year on year in the first 11 months of 2015, totaling $15.6 billion. Following the jet crisis, total volume of Turkish exports decreased by 8.6 per cent to $132 billion between January and November, compared to the same period a year ago.
www.dossodossi.com
The West Bengal government has requested for more time to respond to the Centre regarding its further jute dilution plan, since raids and action against alleged stockpiling of jute by mills and traders. According to the sources, the Centre has proposed four lakh bales for dilution, apart from 1.34 lakh bales it had already notified earlier.
State Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak is said to be talking to the ministry on behalf of West Bengal government. Sources add that the state Enforcement Department has already raided three jute mills out of 17 mills and is monitoring 48 traders. The industry has witnessed closure of 12 jute mills with 70,000 jute workers losing their jobs.
Raw jute crisis has forced the government's jute procurement plan for the forthcoming Rabi crop season up to March 2016 to get diverted in favour of plastics as packaging material for food items. The government has already diluted 1.34 lakh bales or 10 per cent of the proposed 13.34 lakh bales in December 2015 to April 2016 period. If the proposal to dilute additional four lakh bales gets a green signal, it will go in favour of plastics resulting in further unemployment in the state.
Bangladesh may overtake China as the world's biggest cotton importer in the current crop season thanks to strong demand from apparel makers, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. In the year ending July 31, 2016, Bangladesh may import a record 5.75 million bales of the fibre, up 6.5 per cent from a year earlier, said the USDA last week. One bale weighs 480 pounds, or 218 kilograms.
China is projected to import 5.5 million bales, the lowest since 2003, according to Bloomberg. Bangladesh's share of the global cotton-export market doubled from 1995 to 2012, mostly because of the strong performance of the garment sector, the World Bank said in an October report. Since 2009, the country has been the world's second largest exporter of clothing after China.
China is grappling with wage inflation. It has more-than-ample stock: most of the 104.4 million bales of global stockpiles predicted by the USDA in the current crop year are in China. Also, unlike Bangladesh and several other Asian nations, China has curbs on imports in the form of quotas and tariffs, and Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia are gaining market share.
While cotton use by Bangladeshi mills is forecast to rise 10 per cent in 2015-16, it will jump 20 per cent in Vietnam, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee. The International Monetary Fund's most recent macroeconomic outlook projects global income growth in 2015 at its slowest in 6 years. Low polyester prices relative to cotton, issues associated with China's transition to new cotton policies and adjustments to higher wages are also factors limiting consumption growth in recent years, the USDA report also said.
World cotton production in 2015-16 is forecast to be 103.7 million bales, which is 13 per cent below last season, as lower area combined with a reduced yield will push the global crop to its lowest since 2009-10. Production for the top two producers -- India and China -- is projected to account for a combined 51 per cent of the world total, with forecasts of 28.5 and 24.3 million bales, respectively. For India, production will decline for the second consecutive year in 2015-16. The decline is more dramatic for China, as production is forecast to fall by 5.7 million bales to 24.3 million bales in 2015-16.
www.usda.gov
Vietnam's local garment industry relies upon imported raw material from countries such as China which accounts for 50 per cent of the imports. Also most of the machines, chemicals and textile dyes that Vietnam's garment industry are imported from other countries. To strengthen the existing weak supply chain in Vietnam's garment sector, the industry has initiated steps to join the processing stages of cutting and sewing in the global supply chain, said Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas).
Giang said that to increase added value of the garment industry, its enterprises must focus on developing production of material and changing production methods. These solutions would improve the quality of exported textile and garment products and encourage co-operation among garment enterprises to create a domestic supply chain.
According to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), the local textile and garment firms should change its strategies in production and management and develop skilled workers to create favourable conditions for firms shifting the production modality from Cut-Make-and-Trim (CMT) to free-on-board (FOB) practice and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). Vinatex has already planned investments in a series of plants in central Ha Tinh province to form a competent production chain serving domestic and foreign markets. At a total capital of nearly VND1 trillion ($45.14 million), four factories, wastewater treatment, and water supply centres will be built in the local Nam Hong industrial park, covering 19 hectares.
The construction of two sewing plants, Hong Linh 1 and 2, costing VND190 billion ($8.6 million), will start in February 2016 and early 2017. In late 2017, the Hong Linh plant for scarf weaving, with designed capacity of 1,500 tonnes per year, will be built under a VND314-billion ($14.17 million) investment. The last of the four is a factory for dyeing and knitting worth VND410 billion ($18.5 million), which is capable of turning out 1,400 tonnes of products annually. Vinatex has launched a drive to increase productivity which is vital when the country accelerates international integration.
www.vietnamtextile.org.vn
A team from Brussels will be visiting Sri Lanka next month to review the progress made by the government in implementing the 15 demands set out by the European Union (EU) before it decides to withdraw the ban on the GSP+ tax concessions. The planned visit comes after a three member team from the Foreign Ministry visited Brussels last week where they held a day long talks with EU officials on the GSP+ facility.
Once the team assesses Sri Lanka’s status, Colombo would submit a fresh application to the EU to seek withdrawal of ban on GSP+ facility. The EU withdrew the GSP+ facility three years ago citing labour, human rights and several other issues and called on the then government to addresses these issues. On the other hand, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has appealed to the government to implement, at the very earliest, the eight Core-Conventions if it is to regain the GSP+ trading facility with the European Union (EU).
The Conventions include elimination of forced, slave and child labour, the elimination of on grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion and disability, and the enforcement of labour rights – meaning the freedom of association and collective bargaining, the minimum age of a worker and equal remuneration. ILO has also suggested that wage policy must be reformed in the public sector, since it impacts wage trends in the whole economy including the private sector.
