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The 120th edition of the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), dubbed as the largest international trade fair in the world, will open in Guangzhou on October 31. The Fair will go on till November 4. As usual there will be a textile and clothing zone at the fair, which is also the highlight of the fair. Liu Quandong, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Canton Fair says, exhibition zones that had 6,778 booths and 3,345 exhibitors in the last edition would see an increase this time.
The exhibition zones of the 120th Canton Fair will feature men’s and women’s clothing, home textile, textile material and fabric. It is aimed to provide the most convenient one-stop purchasing experience for buyers who can find products they are looking for regardless of scale and categories. The exhibition zone in Area A will showcase men’s and women's wear, bridal wear, formal dresses and more. A special industrial presentation focusing on products with local characteristics will be set up in the central hall way of Area A during the phase to exhibit the textile and clothing products with local and regional cultural features from leading companies.
Global suppliers from Turkey, India and Pakistan are expected to display and sell their wares including home textiles towels, bathrobes, pillows and turfs. Home textile products such as bedding, home decorative textiles and textiles for bathroom, kitchen and dining room will be highlighted in Area C. This area will also focus on textile material and fabric. Garment accessory products like fabric, fiber, yarn and more will be featured. Leading companies will join the textile material and fabric exhibition. China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is held bi-annually in Guangzhou every Spring and Autumn.
Hong Kong has been constantly wooing India to step up trade but the China bogey may come in the way of trade relations between the two, fear businessmen in that country. While HK businessmen have been lobbying with Indian government to consider Hong Kong and China as two separate countries instead, they are now getting to know that restrictions applied to Chinese companies in India are now applying to Hong Kong companies as well.
Raj Sital, Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong is of the view that Hong Kong is the super connector that ties China with the rest of the world including India. But the glue is now losing its power as far as India is concerned due to New Delhi’s security concerns over China.
In February, CY Leung, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region had led a business delegation to India to discuss bilateral trade and iron out sticky issues. According to M H Arunachalam, immediate Past Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, who was part of the 200-member delegation, three areas that seemed problematic were discussed.
These are: A comprehensive double taxation avoidance agreement (DTA) that has been in discussions for over a decade and is yet to be signed; The fact that now Hong Kong based companies cannot open offices nor even representative offices in India automatically and directly, but need prior permission from the RBI, a process that sometimes can take over a year. Citizens of Hong Kong now cannot buy property in India without prior permission. Not only that, even properties that were purchased earlier can be sold but one cannot repatriate the money without prior permission.
Sital suggests India needs to recognize that Hong Kong and China may be one country but are actually two systems. Ironically, India has a double taxation treaty with China. The Indian government feels that it is a sensitive issue and needs thinking. For Hong Kong, the India push is important as its exports were down by 3 per cent in 2015. Major export items from Hong Kong to India are telecom equipment and parts which saw a jump of over 32 per cent from that of the previous year to $5,129 million. It also accounts for 39.3-per cent share of its total exports to India.
Century Textiles and Industries may merge its textile business with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL). The aim is to bring the entire textile and fashion business of the Aditya Birla Group under one roof. In the past one year, ABFRL has undergone major restructuring under which the fashion business of Aditya Birla Nuovo - comprising Madura Garments - was merged with the company, making it the largest fashion retail player, with consolidated revenues of Rs 12,000 crores. Century earned about Rs 1,817 crores, or 8.6 per cent of total revenues, from its fabrics and denim business and is a supplier to ABFRL.
In the textile business, Century has two revenue streams: cotton fabric and denim units that can be integrated with ABFRL’s businesses. The company has a vertically integrated plant at Bharuch for manufacturing cotton fabrics. The cotton division of Century is one of the oldest players in India and manufactures a wide range of premium textiles and supplies to many international players, including Royale Linen, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Belk and US Polo.
Century Textiles’ financial metrics have declined, mainly due to its high debt. Interest costs have corroded its profit after tax. Besides, due to falling demand and pressure on selling prices of cement, the financial performance of cement units has also suffered.
The 56th Annual General Meeting of the Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (India) (TMMA) was held at Hotel Trident, Mumbai on September 2. Kavita Gupta, the the Textile Commissioner was the chief guest of the evening. Welcoming the gathering, R Rajendran, chairman before moving the Annual Report and the audited statement of accounts for approval of the members, he sought to enumerate the role of the Association that has been instrumental in transforming the textile engineering industry in the post-reform era. This, he said, was done by approaching governments for concessions and reliefs to initiating measures to revitalize the industries, market studies and exploration, expanding the horizon for accelerated modernization and R&D promotion.
Keeping the audience engrossed, Rajendran talked on various subjects like Indian economy, Goods and Services Tax (GST Reform) Bill, the Indian textile machinery sector, ‘Make in India’ programme, exports during 2015-16 and high tech shuttleless looms in India etc.
"In an effort to fulfil its High 5 mandate The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched ‘Fashionomics’ the economy of fashion initiative during the Bank’s 2015 Annual Meeting to boost micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in the fashion and textile industry in Africa. The continent’s history of fashion and textile has a legacy of its own. From Aso Oke & Adire in Nigeria, Kente in Ghana, Shweshwe in South Africa, Kitenge in Kenya, Africa’s history of fashion and textile reflects the country’s ingenuity and creativity."
In an effort to fulfil its High 5 mandate The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched ‘Fashionomics’ the economy of fashion initiative during the Bank’s 2015 Annual Meeting to boost micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in the fashion and textile industry in Africa. The continent’s history of fashion and textile has a legacy of its own. From Aso Oke & Adire in Nigeria, Kente in Ghana, Shweshwe in South Africa, Kitenge in Kenya, Africa’s history of fashion and textile reflects the country’s ingenuity and creativity. Africa currently accounts for 1.9 percent of the total estimated $1.3 trillion global trade. Africa’s entire textile/clothing market is already worth more than $31 billion and accounts for the second largest number of jobs in developing countries, after agriculture. In the next five years, the industry could generate $15.5 billion revenue.
Fashionomics to create a unique networking platform
The Fashionomics initiative will start off with creating a Business to Business (B2B) online platform by the first quarter of 2017. The dedicated website will be designed as a networking platform for all the links in the fashion and textile value chain- suppliers, brokers, designers, distributors and investors. It also acts as a place to share knowledge, tutorials and opportunities in the textile and fashion sector. The bilingual portal’s objective is to help members of the industry develop and boost their businesses. The Fashionomics Initiative will start off with Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire the two countries show the disparities and unique characteristics typical of the entire continent.
Initiatives to boost investment, employment
Africa’s fashion industry has already witnessed great growth and investments with AfDB’s initiatives. In Madagascar, AfDB is initiating an Investing Promotion Support Project (PAPI), investing about $10 million to boost the textile industry through the project. The Textile Sector Promotion Support Fund (FAPST) has been created under PAPI to support and improve the capacities of MSMEs within the textile sector. PAPI will also initiate the establishment of a Textile Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The fashion industry in Africa employs a large percentage of women. In Ethiopia, 78 percent of workers in the textile and apparel industry are women. Women own 80% of businesses in Cote d’Ivoire’s textile industry. Fashionomics will play a crucial role in creating the employment and empowerment opportunities for women. According to AfDB’s report, the clothing textile industry could generate 400,000 jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa and exports could double in the next 10 years.
In 2013, H&M, Swedish clothing retailer started sourcing for Ethiopian garment producers and the company has set up offices in Addis Ababa to get closer to suppliers. About 60,000 jobs have been created since H&M began chain operations in the country.
Challenges on the way
However, Fashionomics has a few challenges on the way. Africa has the lowest e-commerce penetration rate. In 2013, Africa and the Middle East accounted for only 2.2 percent of global business-to-business e-commerce. Textile production facilities are missing in most of the countries as they need more investment than apparel/clothing facilities. The huge capital requirement was one of the factors that led to the downfall of the textile industry in Nigeria. There is also constrained access to financing for entrepreneurs and SMEs as the cost of establishing a fashion business since electricity bills, labour costs, and taxes are high in Africa. Moreover, the cost of intra-African trade is relatively high as well. According to the World Bank, intra-African trade costs 50 per cent more in Africa than in East Asia. Also, Africa’s intra-regional trade costs are the highest of any developing region.
Regardless of these challenges, the regional governments need to foster the development of local suppliers, entrepreneurs, and regional value chains, ensure access to low-cost financing, build a more conducive business climate, buy from locally owned companies, invest in infrastructure and establish more educational institutions. Textile and apparel suppliers also need to improve productivity by investing in new equipment and training, upgrade and diversify product portfolio, and establish long-term partnerships with buyers thereby increasing their customer base. Along the way global recognition and strategic investments need to flow in the continent.
The spread of Zika virus has led to an increase in sales of apparels with built-in insect repellent. Now a supplier has recently unveiled a line of insect-repelling activewear in response to the concern. Since early 2015 when Brazil first notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an illness characterized by a skin rash in its northeastern states, the Zika virus has been rapidly spreading across the Western Hemisphere. The virus is now present in almost every country from the United States, through Central America and south to Argentina.
So far, Florida’s Miami-Dade County is the only area with cases of Zika fever being passed via mosquito bite in the United States while all other US cases are travel-associated. In other words, this means that patients traveled to countries that had active Zika transmission, contracted it there and brought it back to the U.S.
Expert Brand has officially announced it has partnered with startup Nobitech to offer a line of insect-repelling activewear. The collection includes T-shirts, pullovers, hoodies and pants treated with Nobitech’s Skintex technology, which contains Permethrin, a synthetic insecticide that repels ticks, ants, flies, fleas, chiggers, midges and mosquitoes, including those carrying the Zika virus.
Other companies like OMNi Apparel Inc. and Gamehide offer apparels treated with Insect Shield that uses a formulation also containing Permethrin. OMNi Apparel has been a licensee of Insect Shield International since 2008 and manufactures and distributes Insect Shield/Zorrel Dri-Balance Moisture Management Tees.
The insect shield process involves binding a proprietary Permethrin formula, a registered EPA product since 1977 that’s proven effective in repelling insects, to fabric fibers, resulting in an odorless insect protection that lasts the apparel’s lifetime, the equivalent of 70 launderings.
The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is taking smart initiatives for the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) sector. In its latest decision, the civic body has decided to upgradate its existing tertiary treatment plant (TTP) at Bamroli by increasing the capacity at 40 million liters per day (MLD).
The new facility will supply 40 MLD extra water to the textile dyeing and printing mills at Pandesara, GIDC. For this, the civic body will be spend close to Rs 100 crore for the construction of the TTP plant at Bamroli. The waste water will be collected through pipelines and brought to the TTP where it will be treated as per the industrial grades.
There are around 325 dyeing and printing mills at Sachin, Pandesara, Kadodara and Palsana. Pandesara GIDC has the highest presence of 100 dyeing and printing mills. The total turnover of the dyeing and printing mills is pegged at Rs 125 crores per day. Pandesara GIDC has 100 dyeing and printing mills that need round the clock water supply. Bore well water is not suitable to maintain quality in the textile industry that need 85-90 MLD water. The present 100 MLD tertiary plant of SMC at Bamroli is capable to supply about 40 MLD treated waste water to industries. Industrialists of Pandesara have requested the SMC to set up second 40 MLD capacity tertiary plant.
A new tertiary treatment plant with the capacity of 40 MLD per day is going to be set up soon. This will help the place gets around 40 MLD industrial water in the next three to four months. This will take the total treated water supply at 80 MLD, informed Vakharia, president of South Gujarat Textile Processors Association.
As the cotton season draws to a close this year, small spinning mills are seen churning out yarn in large volumes from factories in Tamil Nadu though they are winding up the year on a disappointing note with cotton prices remaining at higher levels dashing hopes of any relief. After reports of short supply coupled with frenzied speculation by traders Cotton prices have spiraled and touched close to Rs 50,000 a candy over the last few months.
With the arrival of global crop priced around Rs 45,000 a candy and the Centre's announcement restricting cotton with the government procurer Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) for small mills, prices dropped nominally. Now, the Gujarat Cotton, Shankar-6, trades at around Rs 43,400 a candy and is expected to slide some more but industry representatives rule out the possibility of normalisation.
While the government banks on monsoon to offset the 10 per cent reduction in cotton acreage, entrepreneurs believe that pre-emptive action by the government can insulate the industry against price shocks. Mill owner Prabhu Remarked Damodharan says they had exported cotton at Rs 94 a kg in the middle of the season and within one quarter they are importing the same type of cotton at an average of Rs 124 a kg.
When cotton prices raged recently, entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu had scaled down their manufacturing time. And after prices zoomed, the same mills lessened work weeks in a production cut to not hurt operating margins. Manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh had even announced weekly holidays till the price rise passed over. The trend had emerged even as a brightening market recovery in European nations offered hope to Indian millers.
Over the last year, yarn manufacturers have been calling for the government to create a cotton reserve that could be sold in market in times of supply shortfall to conytol prices. After the inflation this year, mill associations have begun lobbying the Centre for procuring 70-80 lakh bales every year.
Leading viscose speciality fibre manufacturer, Kelheim Fibres, is looking into a new area of applications and exploring the suitability of its innovative hydrophobic Olea fibre for emulsion separation. Olea is a viscose fibre with durable hydrophobic properties. The additives used in production are approved for food contact by the FDA and the BfR and at the same time free of silicones.
In a series of tests in the coming months, the company will analyse how these hydrophobic properties influence the separation of water/oil mixtures. Initial trials have shown an accumulation of oil on the fibre’s surface which then enables the separation of the larger oil droplets.
As a follow up, Kelheim will examine the efficacy of separation of different emulsions as well as the influence of the nonwoven construction and suitable blend partners. The incorporation of functional additives into viscose fibres is said to allow the optimization of the fibres in respect of the intended application, for example for the removal of tannins from beer.
One of the advantages of use of functional viscose fibres is that they do not affect the physical properties of the filter and cannot migrate into the filtered product but can still function effectively as additives are incorporated in the fibres. As these fibres are manufactured from renewable raw materials, the incineration at the end of filter life is CO2 neutral, or if the residue in the filter allows, they can be composted, an ideal disposal route for precoat filter cakes in the beverage industry.
According to Kelheim, the use of viscose speciality fibres from the manufacturer is completely safe both for people and for the environment. This is one of the reasons why fibres are being used in medical products. ISEGA certifies the fibres for food contact and the absence of harmful substances in the products is confirmed by their certification to the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 in the most demanding product class.
Finnish clothing brand Torstai is the world’s first sports clothing brand to take part in the Fairtrade Cotton Programme. The company aims for a strong growth in Europe’s sports clothing markets and is committed to grow its Fairtrade cotton purchases at least with 100 per cent during the next five years. Torstai’s first collection that is produced using Fairtrade cotton was released in Finland this summer. In addition to the Nordic countries, the new collection will be available in Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy and Russia.
The Fairtrade Cotton Program comes up with new methods to connect the Fairtrade cotton farmers with growing number of businesses seeking to make sustainable cotton a core part of their business. Resultantly, more and more companies are going in for the particular cotton brand.
Riikka Karppinen, Head of Marketing and Commercial Relations at Fairtrade Finland At the moment said that the cotton used by Torstai comes from Fairtrade farmers in India, and for them the long trade relationship means that they venture to acquire fertilizers and tools and plan the future. On the other hand, Finnish sportswear company Luhta Sportswear Company. The company happens to be the world’s first sports brand to acquire all of its cotton from Fairtrade farmers.
Luhta Sportswear Company is a Finnish family business founded in 1907 in Lahti, Finland. The company makes a turnover of about EUR 241 million and employs 1,592 people. Exports activities cover in total over 50 countries. In addition to these brands, Torstai has other brands such as Luhta, Rukka and Icepeak.
