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The University of Georgia has partnered with a new national public-private consortium called Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, or AFFOA. The aim is to revolutionize the fiber and textiles industry through commercialization of highly functional, advanced fibers and textiles. The AFFOA partnership is built on recent breakthroughs in fiber materials and manufacturing processes that will soon allow them to design and manufacture fabrics that see, hear, sense, communicate, store and convert energy, regulate temperature, monitor health and change color.
The AFFOA mission is to transform traditional fibers, yarns and textiles manufacturing into a highly sophisticated functional system that will ensure America remains at the leading edge of fiber science. It brings together Fortune 500 companies, universities, fiber and textiles manufacturing facilities, state workforce development programs and federal agencies to co-invest in key technology areas that can encourage investment and production in the US.
The market for revolutionary fabrics range from apparel, health care and consumer products to defense, transportation, software and architectural and structural textiles UGA President Jere W Morehead said that the University of Georgia is proud to play a role in transforming fiber and textile manufacturing in America through their involvement in the AFFOA initiative. Participation in this outstanding public-private partnership is aligned perfectly with their heritage as a land-grant university and their strong commitment to advance economic development in the 21st century.
Members of the consortium include Fortune 500 companies such as Corning, DuPont, Nike and Intel, as well as small and medium-sized companies spanning the electronics, materials, apparel, transportation, fashion, defense, medical and consumer good manufacturing sectors. It also includes leaders of the fabric industry, such as Inman Mills, and leading research universities MIT, Cornell University, Drexel University, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Davis and the University of Texas at Austin.
The effort is funded by a $75 million federal commitment and cost share matches from AFFOA partners totaling $317 million. UGA will receive at least $5 million over five years, with an additional investment of state matching funds. UGA researchers who will play critical roles in AFFOA include Sergiy Minko, Georgia Power Professor of Polymers, Fibers and Textiles, College of Family and Consumer Sciences and professor, department of chemistry, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences amongst others.
"For China’s leading denim manufacturer, Prosperity Textiles softer denim remains the buzzword as the company is ranked among the top global suppliers. Founded in 1995, Prosperity Textile the company always stands out with its innovations. And now, the company has launched Series S1-S3 (‘S’ as in stretch) for better comfort. Four-way stretch is also making a splash by virtue of being ultra comfortable where some engineering has been done at the warp and weft level."
For China’s leading denim manufacturer, Prosperity Textiles softer denim remains the buzzword as the company is ranked among the top global suppliers. Founded in 1995, Prosperity Textile the company always stands out with its innovations. And now, the company has launched Series S1-S3 (‘S’ as in stretch) for better comfort. Four-way stretch is also making a splash by virtue of being ultra comfortable where some engineering has been done at the warp and weft level. Andy Zhong Marketing Director, Prosperity Textiles says, “For many wanting to experiment with innovations, it blends cotton, poly and spandex judiciously.” Zhong says they have been innovating and using brilliantly the blend of cotton, poly and spandex very judiciously.
Increasing capacity to boost business
The company is looking to expand in Vietnam. “Currently, we are ramping up denim capacity from existing roughly 60 million tons in China to 80 plus million tons. After the Vietnam unit is up and running, we are hoping for heightened exports capability with Vietnam joining TPP.” Zhong believes additional access to this market augurs well for Prosperity Denims. As of now all Asian demand comes for basics but Europe definitely is fashion forward. “Overall global demand is sluggish but our mill continues to grow well because of constant innovation,” explains Zhong.
He feels there are challenges to denims from athleisure. “So, in the short run, denim is trading down to this trend. But mid to long term denim still remains the favorite But fashion segment continues to ride on the bandwagon of innovation especially the way forward for small to midsize mills is to be disruptive else scaling up is the only solution,” opines Zhong.
Prosperity Textiles has 20 offices around the world, and sells all over the globe. However, 50 per cent of their sales come from Chinese customers. Speaking about latest trends in denim Zhong says, “White and black are in. While white is denims without indigo nonetheless it's not bleached. Knitted denims has a limitation of being lumpy hence, is doing well in a limited way in women’s category but in men's it has failed to make much inroads.”
Prosperity Textiles has experimented with woolen denim and has got an encouraging response though it's a limited segment but accentuates functionality in some ways, making it more elegant but expensive. Therefore, it's doing well only in selective markets like Europe.
The clampdown on Chinese polluting units is restricting overall production capacity in the country. Adoption of green technology is the way forward which is happening both out of voluntary action and increasing buyer pressure. And Zhong sums up, “Our group is conscious of the environmental impact; so green is the way to go,”
India is inching closer to a free trade agreement with Australia. India is very interested in the services sector in Australia and wants wider access for its professionals. There is significant potential to expand trade in services between India and Australia. An FTA could facilitate growth in services trade by reducing barriers faced by Australian service suppliers and by increasing regulatory transparency.
Australia is pushing for a tariff reduction in dairy, fresh fruit, pharma, meat and wines. On the other hand, India wants zero duty on textiles, auto parts and fresh fruits, including mangoes. A comprehensive agreement would assist in broadening the base of merchandise trade by addressing tariff barriers and behind the border restrictions on trade in goods.
India is the world’s largest democracy and is a market of 1.2 billion people. Its youthful population, diversified economy and growth trajectory present significant opportunity for Australian business, especially in the agriculture, energy, manufacturing, mining and services sectors.
The negotiations began in May 2011. There have been issues related to market access in services and goods, with an added complication on tariff reduction. While Australia wanted India to significantly lower or eliminate tariffs on several agricultural and industrial goods, India asked Australia to ease rules on temporary movement of skilled professionals and intra-company transfers.
The US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has recently announced that Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) was selected to lead the Revolutionary Fibers & Textiles Manufacturing Innovation Institute (RFT-MII). The RFT-MII is a collaborative effort between government and the private sector to accelerate development of the next generation of highly functional textiles from both commercial and military perspective.
President Obama announced the formation of the RFT-MII on March 18, 2015 as a part of his National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) initiative. The NNMI brings together industry, academia and federal partners to increase US manufacturing competitiveness, by promoting a robust and sustainable manufacturing research and development infrastructure.
Total funding is expected to be almost $320 million. The Department of Defense (DoD) has committed $75 million, a figure matched by almost $250 million in money and other in-kind contributions from the US textile industry and other sources.
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has welcomed the announcement. And NCTO president Augustine Tantillo says they are pleased that the RFT-MII has gone from concept to reality. This investment in advanced manufacturing will add to the substantial ongoing efforts associated with innovation in fiber and textile science in the United States.
This long range investment will help the United States maintain its current position as the most innovative and technically advanced textile industry in the world, according to Tantillo. They expect it will ultimately spur jobs and investment in our sector while also making our military stronger. He also noted that domestic industry supplies more than 8,000 different textile products to our warfighters. There are 579,000 jobs in US fiber, textile and apparel production. The sector exports were $27.75 billion last year capital investment within industry reached $2 billion in 2014, an increase of 50 percent since 2009. NCTO represents domestic textile manufacturers and related industry.
Accord and Alliance have terminated and suspended their business with 83 garment units in Bangladesh on grounds of their failure to implement workplace safety measures and ensure a safe working environment.
Accord is a platform of more than 200 buyers, brands and trade unions from mostly the European Union. It terminated business with a total of 23 garment factories. Alliance is a grouping of 26 North American apparel companies, buyers and retailers. It suspended 60 factories from its compliant factory list.
Both Alliance and Accord are conducting fire, electrical and structural integrity assessment in their listed factories. Accord inspected some 1,600 factories while Alliance assessed some 800 units. Where corrective actions to eliminate safety hazards are identified, the factory is required to implement the corrective actions according to a schedule that is mandatory and time-bound.
If a supplier fails to implement the corrective action and cooperate in Accord or Alliance inspections, the supplier will receive notice that its business with Accord/Alliance signatory companies will be terminated. The garment factories with whom Accord and Alliance have severed business ties are now being scrutinised by the Bangladesh government. If they are indeed found unsafe, action will be taken.
The Made in America movement appears to be picking up momentum but the apparel industry is not reaping the rewards.US manufacturing in March has shown a slight improvement.
While generally improving global economic conditions have helped to counteract some of the strong dollar’s negative impact on exports, production volumes are low and backlogs of work have fallen again.
Sustained weakness across the US manufacturing sector means that overall growth through the first quarter has slowed to its lowest since late 2012. Subdued client spending patterns within the energy sector, ongoing pressure from the strong dollar and general uncertainty about the business outlook are cited as factors weighing on new order flows in March.
New orders and increased production means the US manufacturing sector registered overall growth in March for the first time since last August. While textile mills reported new orders rose last month, the same could not be said for the apparel, leather and allied products industry which recorded a drop, in addition to declining levels of production and employment.
The current period of decline has been extended to four out of the past five months. Signs of recovery are faint but there has been quiet and steady progress on the economic front.
The cotton market may be global, but international commodity merchants are showing a preference for cotton futures contracts that are local.
While trading of US cotton futures often tops 20,000 contracts per day, volumes in the world contract totalled just 38 contracts over the entire month of March. The world contract was a sellers’contract, as it gave them a wide choice of delivery points. It never made sense to a number of people in the industry, and the odds of any new contract becoming successful are not very high.
The new world contract reflects the global nature of production, permitting cotton grown in locales from West Africa to Brazil to be delivered to warehouses in Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan and the US. The contract would provide a new price discovery and risk management vehicle for the large volume of commercial cotton that moves from key origins to the multiple Asian consuming countries that dominate global exports and imports of cotton.
Cotton executives have been cautious ahead of the first delivery month in May. Among their concerns are that lower quality bales would be sold from countries where cotton bolls are still picked by hand.
Volumes in Intercontinental Exchange’s world cotton futures, backed by bales from nine countries, have evaporated since their debut five months ago. Four in five trading sessions saw no transactions in February and March.
Pakistan will do away with the value added tax (VAT) for textiles. Pakistani readymade garment exports are currently gaining momentum in the international market. Hence the move to abolish VAT is expected to support this development further. In addition there will be a reduction of the power tariff.
A reduction of VAT on textiles from 15 per cent to zero should give Pakistan a competitive edge over other readymade garment-producing countries; in comparison, VAT on textiles is 15 per cent in Bangladesh, 12.5 per cent in India, 10 per cent in Cambodia and 17 per cent in China.
The textile and garment industry is Pakistan’s largest manufacturing industry and, after agriculture, employs the second largest number of skilled and unskilled workers, about 15 million people or roughly 30 per cent of Pakistan's overall workforce. In Asia, the country is the eighth largest exporter of textiles and garments.
Textile Asia was held in Pakistan, March 9 to 11, 2016. It attracted participants from more than 45 countries, among them Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and USA. The fair’s focus was on textiles, garments, embroidery, digital printing machinery and chemical and allied services.
India’s merchandise exports have been contracting for the last 15 months. Merchandise exports, the top 20 categories account for four-fifth of the total exports. Even in top export categories like textiles, India is exporting low value commodities such as cotton yarn or apparel rather than technical textiles.
India's trade pacts have exacerbated inverted duty structures – high import duties on raw materials and intermediates, and lower duties on finished goods – that discourage the production and export of value-added items. Several trade pacts have been signed, more for geo-political reasons than commercial reasons. Bangladesh and other countries have free access to European markets but India’s exports are 10 to 12 per cent costlier than theirs.
Textile exporters feel India’s trade agreements are not helping them much in competing globally. They say lower internal transaction costs and port charges will make them competitive. Vietnam has become India’s competitor now. About 40 per cent of India’s total exports are handled by the medium and small scale sector.
The South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) has not resulted in any significant export gains. India’s trade deficit has widened with Asean. Further, most of India's preferential trade agreements are shallow in terms of product coverage.
International cotton prices have advanced in the past month, influenced by upward movements in New York, and has returned to the lower end of the previously well-established trading range, which had prevailed for several months.
International business activity has remained much the same as in the past several months, with spinners generally unwilling to extend demand beyond hand-to-mouth requirements. Mills have remained concentrated mainly on cotton for nearby delivery. The steady pace of business during the past few months has resulted in a fairly well-sold position for many trade sellers, with the result that the volume of cotton available from certain origins during the remaining months of the season appears to be becoming tight. However, little demand for cotton further forward has been in evidence, with the exception of some Brazilian new crop into Far Eastern markets.
US export sales reports released during March have painted a rather mixed picture, with strong numbers in the first half of the month and a less robust pace in the succeeding weeks.
Turkey continues to feature quite heavily as a destination for US exports. An overall decrease of around ten per cent, meanwhile, is foreseen in China. India has instructed farmers to adhere to a sowing window as one measure that might help in the effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s insect damage.
