FW
Inspections on hundreds of small and medium-sized garment and textile factories in Vietnam will be carried out soon. The aim is to improve safety and working conditions in the sector. Another goal is to improve the knowledge and skills of labor inspectors.
Over the next five months, around 160 firms will be inspected across 12 provinces. The campaign will take place across a readymade garment sector that employs around 2.5 million workers. The companies that will be inspected will mainly be small and medium-sized enterprises, outsourcing companies, those that have no direct relationship with exporters.
Inspectors will be trained on how to plan, implement and evaluate the campaigns so that similar initiatives can be carried out in future. A risk mapping exercise was carried out in 2014. Around 25 companies in the readymade garment sector were visited by inspectors trained in standard procedures. The finding then was that there were significant risks of non-compliance in the sector and identified the main causes as poor understanding of the law and a failure to grasp the benefits of compliance.
Vietnam is a strong garment sourcing destination. Gamrents making industry is one of the most important in Vietnam, accounting for 13.6 per cent of the country's export turnover and 10.5 per cent of the country's GDP.
Pitti Uomo will be held in Italy from June 16 to 19, 2015. This event takes place twice a year and remains one of the world’s most important platforms for men’s clothing and accessory collections and for launching new projects in men’s fashion.
With its dynamic continuously evolving geography, Pitti Uomo picks up all the new moods and trends in fashion. This year, a new section goes beyond gender distinctions to dictate a precise kind of style. Unconventional will present the most vibrant voices in luxury underground styles. The future look for menswear are being explored by Futuro Maschile. There are sections dedicated to fashion research such as Touch! and l’Altro Uomo.
Women’s collections no longer be presented under a gender sign but distributed around the fair according to styling criteria. Global brands use the event to launch new projects and present new concepts. Little-known brands see Pitti Uomo as the place for establishing their identities and generating business.
Over 30,000 visitors attended the last edition representing the world’s major department stores and small retailers. Forty per cent of the vendors at this edition will be coming from more than thirty countries and there will be approximately 1150 brands.
www.pittimmagine.com/en/corporate/fairs/uomo.html
Technical Fiber Products (TFP), UK-based speciality wet-laid nonwoven manufacturer is a leading nonwoven manufacturer. The company is doubling its production capacity with the installation of a state of the art third manufacturing line. TFP’s wet laid nonwoven materials have been developed specifically to significantly improve the mechanical properties of a composite with minimal modifications to the manufacturing process necessary. The lightweight veils can be interleaved between reinforcement plies to provide a means to significantly improve the interlaminar toughness of a composite structure, increasing resistance to both mode-I and mode-II fracture.
The materials have been specifically designed to provide multiple benefits and enabling a high quality surface finish whilst simultaneously imparting surface functionality such as conductivity, EMI shielding and corrosion and abrasion resistance to a composite structure.
Other benefits include the use of dielectric nonwovens to prevent galvanic corrosion, which occurs when aluminium or other metals come into contact with carbon fiber in a composite structure.
The nonwoven provides an extremely uniform, lightweight barrier between the two materials to isolate them, stopping an electrochemical reaction occurring. In addition, the ultra lightweight veils are designed as an effective carrier or support for adhesive films, ensuring a minimum weight addition whilst improving handling and setting the bond line.
TFP’s range of fire protection materials also delivers highly effective passive fire protection at the surface of a composite without compromising the integrity of the structure.
www.tfpglobal.com/
Spinners want Tamil Nadu to reduce VAT on cotton, cotton yarn and man-made yarn to two per cent from the present five per cent. Tamil Nadu has a 55 per cent share of the total spinning capacity in India. But since cotton production in the state is insufficient, mills have to source it from other states. But logistics costs and fuel prices and various other factors have hiked their production cost making them less competitive compared to mills in other states.
Sale of cotton yarn in Tamil Nadu attracts five per cent sales tax, whereas it is only two per cent for yarn from neighboring states. This difference also increases the cost of finished goods within Tamil Nadu and on inter-state sales, making them expensive as compared to the price of yarns from other states.
Considering this, mills want Value-Added Tax (VAT) to be reduced to safeguard the spinning industry in the state and save livelihood of millions of workers in the textile industry. They also want the one per cent market cess levied on cotton waste to be abolished.
The VAT is a tax on the consumption of products. It is referred to as an indirect tax because it is typically collected by intermediaries (manufacturers, retailers etc.) rather than collected directly by the government.
Apparel exporters from Tirupur have welcomed the reduction of repo rate by 0.25 per cent. However, they say the interest rate cut would be helpful to quote competitive rates and sustain in the global market only when banks pass on the measures to small and medium enterprises and exporting units.
The reduction in the interest rate comes at a time when there is no sign of a decisive economic recovery in the global market and when there is continued deceleration in China’s economy. Key policy rates have been reduced by 25 basis points from 7.5 per cent to 7.25 per cent with immediate effect and at the same time Cash Reserve Ratio has been kept at four per cent of net demand and time liabilities.
The repo rate is the rate at which Central Bank of a country lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. Repo rate is used by monetary authorities to control inflation. In the event of inflation, central banks increase the repo rate as this acts as a disincentive for banks to borrow from the central bank. This ultimately reduces the money supply in the economy and thus helps in arresting inflation.
The central bank takes the contrary position in the event of a fall in inflationary pressures. Repo and reverse repo rates form a part of the liquidity adjustment facility.
A recent report by the Textile Exchange, 2014 signified the beginning of a turnaround for the organic cotton market. After three years of steady decline, year 2014 saw 10 per cent growth in overall organic cotton production.
The report says that the news is a sign that the textile industry is moving together towards finding solutions to reduce carbon footprint. Across the industry, there has been noticeable improvement in business practices, stronger communication between supply chain tiers, increase in certifications, and evidence of longer-term planning to increase sustainability efforts.
The reports says that while many factors contribute to this important shift, most of the growth can be attributed to increased market demand with more and more companies showing commitments towards including organic cotton and setting targets explicitly for increasing their organic cotton use; improved supply chain linkages with brands and retailers working to secure their supply of organic, resulting in better connections between organic cotton farmers and the textile supply chain.
www.textileexchange.org
While it has been a hot topic of discussion at all textile and clothing conferences and seminars, the shift in manufacturing is being noticed in major importing countries such as the US and UK. For instance, as per recent UKFT data, there are 58,000 businesses in the fashion and textile supply sector in the UK, which contribute around £12billion in gross value to the UK economy per year. These companies contribute annual exports of more than £8.6billion ($13billion) at wholesale.
Also according to the British Fashion Council research, the value, including retail sales, of the UK fashion industry to the UK economy grew from £21billion in 2009 to £26billion in 2014, with the fashion sector as a whole estimated to support 797,000 jobs in the UK. Brands like Margaret Howell, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Jaeger, Arcadia Group and River Island are increasingly sourcing from within UK.
Experts point out that closer to home sourcing is on the rise owing to factors such as speed to market, quick accessibility and easier visits to factories, check on production quality and a better gross margin. The shift is also being witnessed in the US. Textiles and apparel segment still lags behind but there has been an increase in production of about 2.4 per cent domestically, up from 1.75 per cent in 2003. The New York-listed American Apparel, for instance, operates one of the largest sewing factories in North America.
www.ukft.org
Shima Seiki has made strong contributions to the field of technical textiles. The leading Japanese knitting machine manufacturer is showcasing its latest offerings at the onging Techtextil North America exhibition (June 2-4, 2015) being hosted in Houston, Texas. On display is SRY123LP, Shima Seiki’s latest computerised knitting machine with loop presser beds mounted atop conventional needle beds, providing improved control over press down of individual loops. This presents unprecedented capability especially with partial knitting patterns and inlay patterns. Inlay fabric is produced by inserting yarn into existing knit fabric in a weave fashion, opening opportunities for expansion into markets for wovens. Inlay also suppresses typical stretch characteristics of knitted fabrics, and since new materials such as metallic and monofilament yarns can be used for inlay structures, new applications in industrial textiles are realized.
Known for its pioneering whole garment knitting technology wherein a knitted item is produced in its entirety without seams, Shima Seiki has also introduced the SWG061N2 compact whole garment knitting machine that features the company’s original SlideNeedle. Capable of producing small knitted items from safety gloves and compression socks to more sophisticated industrial applications such as tubular shields and harnesses, the SWG061N2 can knit all of these items in 3D without seams.
Another offering is the new yarn unwinding option. Normally when knitting with stiff materials, such as metallic and monofilament yarns, the yarn has a tendency to kink, making it practically impossible to feed smoothly into the knitting machine. A motorized bobbin actively unwinds yarn to provide smooth and stable yarn feed with careful control over feed amount and tension.
www.shimaseiki.com/
Italian weaving major Itema has made significant impact on Indian textile industry. Steps such as restructuring within the top management, implementing lean production systems and the customer-centric approach have helped restore faith among customers across the globe. Itema Version 2.0 has started paying rich dividends to the parent company.
Itema India sales of weaving machines more than doubled in 2014. Marking another milestone, Itema India generated the first order for its high-performance airjet A9500p weaving machines at the GTTES textile event held in Mumbai at the beginning of the year. The company is also gearing up to revamp its existing service centers in an approach to assure its customers of the best after sales and service-related activities. India is indeed the center of attraction for global investors, thanks to the massive slowdown of Chinese textile industry. More and more machinery manufacturers are looking at India for their expansion plans.
As electricity and labor costs are rising in emerging nations such as China and India, which are the main markets for air jet looms, demand for products with greater energy efficiency and enhanced productivity is expanding. Customers are willing to pay a premium for higher and guaranteed performance.
https://www.itemagroup.com/contactus.php
Businesses are mapping their global supply chains and gaining an understanding of whether their production is sourced from areas where water is scarce or suffers from quality issues. A report by WWF-UK points out that businesses sourcing from water-scarce regions face physical, regulatory and reputational risks. China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, account for almost 60 per cent of clothing imports – all have high risks across at least two water risk categories. Turkey is also a significant sourcing country and has a high physical water risk as a result of water scarcity.
If a company relies heavily on clothing from Faisalabad in Pakistan, or the Yellow River area in China – both centers for clothing production – their water risks will be high as a result of water scarcity or quality problems. Another important consideration is the indirect risks for clothing through supply chains. For example, the production of cotton, a key raw material for the sector, relies heavily on water. Even if textile production sites are not located in areas of high water risk the cotton supply chain is likely to be exposed to high risks, given that the top three producers, China, India and Pakistan, all have high water risks for cotton production. More than half of UK clothing imports are sourced from areas of high water scarcity risk.
