FW
Bangladesh's knit clothing exports to Japan are set to rise as Asia's economic powerhouse has relaxed origination rules. Japan has relaxed the preferential rules of origin under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted.
As per the new rule, knitwear exports from Bangladesh will enjoy GSP (zero tariffs) even if the knitwear product is made of imported fabrics. For further relaxation of GSP rules, local exporters will get more preference in the Japanese market. It will also help knitwear items to grab more market shares in that country.
In April 2011, Japan relaxed its GSP rules of origin from 2-stage to 1-stage for woven apparel and 3-stage to 2-stage for knitwear. Now Bangladesh can export any readymade garment item (woven or knit) free of duty to Japan, even though the fabric is local or imported.
Japan is one of the most important non-traditional markets for Bangladeshi apparel products. Some non-cotton knitted items have a good demand in the Japanese market which Bangladesh earlier could not export under the GSP scheme as such fabric is not locally produced.
The new relaxation will not have any negative impact on local textile millers. Rather exporters will be able to import the fabrics that are not locally produced and add more value.
The Better Cotton Initiative has become a member of the International Cotton Association (ICA). It now joins Supima, the Bangladesh Cotton Association, the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers, the Spinners & Weavers Association of Korea, the Australian Cotton Shippers Association and Turkey’s IPUD, who have all signed up to ICA membership and safe trading.
As a part of ICA’s strategy to promote safe trading, it now has an affiliated association membership category, specifically aimed at like-minded cotton associations to help reinforce and support contract sanctity across all areas of the cotton supply chain.
BCI believes companies that respect contract sanctity are also more likely to respect their environmental and social commitments. Part of BCI’s mission is to assist in improving the well-being of the entire cotton industry and membership of the ICA is entirely consistent with this important objective.
Founded in 2009, BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future. BCI aims to transform cotton production worldwide by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
One of ICA’s primary goals is to expand what is known as the safe trading environment.
bettercotton.org/
Several textile mills in Coimbatore region have agreed to train workers through the Textile Sector Skill Council, which is supported by the Centre. The move will standardise training in the textile units. CEO of the council, J V Rao, has reportedly said that though there are several State and Union government schemes that support skills development in manufacturing sector and the units have in-house training programs, the skill council has standardised the training syllabus for 56 jobs in spinning, weaving, knitting and processing.
The textile industry is transforming with units investing huge amounts in automation. The focus now is on skills, knowledge and performance of the workers. The Centre provides Rs 2 crore annually for the first two years and Rs 1 crore to the council for the third year. The industry contributes Rs 20 lakh a year for two years and Rs 10 lakh in the third year to create the training eco system, Rao informed.
The proposal is to have approved agencies to train the trainers and they will in turn train the employees. The council’s immediate focus is on textile units in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh as the number of spinning units is high in these States. The units can have in-house trainers or employ trainers from outside, he said.
Each unit that is willing to take part in this project will have to be affiliated with the council. The trained workers will get a certificate and the units can avail of assistance under different schemes of the Union fovernment.
The early cotton sowing in current season in Pakistan registered a substantial decline of over 47 per cent as compared to the same period of the preceding year. Due to low cotton prices and unprecedented rains in the current season, wheat harvest was prolonged and a significant decline in cotton sowing was registered.
Due to the delay in cotton sowing, production would also be affected. Due to lower cotton prices, growers are being hit hard and cannot get returns for expenses. This puts off farmers from growing cotton. The initial target for cotton was set at 15.1 million bales for 2014-15. However, later the target was revised downwards three times and finally it was set at 13.48 million bales due to multiple issues including water scarcity, rains, floods, and shortage of certified seeds.
Cotton was sown on 2,05,000 acres of land in the current season across the country against 3,83,000 acres during the same period last year. Surplus cotton production was recorded last year in the international market, including Pakistan, and the same is expected for the current year. Due to surplus cotton production, there is no chance of an increase in commodity prices next year as well.
When consumers talk about their favorite things to wear, they mention comfort, fit and that the item makes them feel good. And more often than not, their favorite clothes are made of cotton. Even though cotton has experienced a contraction in market share, it is still something consumers want. More than one in two shoppers is willing to pay a premium for natural fibers like cotton.
Research shows more than nine in 10 consumers prefer their jeans (96 per cent), tees (96 per cent), socks (93 per cent) and casual shirts (91 per cent) be made from cotton and cotton blends. Beyond that, nearly nine of 10 (89 per cent) prefer cotton or cotton blend underwear followed by pajamas/sleepwear (86 per cent), dress shirts (78 per cent), casual slacks (74 per cent) and active wear (65 per cent).
In general, eight in 10 consumers prefer to wear cotton and cotton blends. And 79 per cent say better quality garments are made from all natural fibers like cotton. More than eight of 10 consumers describe cotton as comfortable (88 per cent), soft (85 per cent), good quality (85 per cent), casual (83 per cent), durable (82 per cent), and natural (81 per cent).
The International Apparel Federation (IAF) has announced that registration for the 31st IAF World Fashion Convention and 8th Istanbul Fashion Conference is now open. Early bird registrations can avail of a substantial discount until the end of May. People can now log into Iafconventionistanbul.com to learn more about the conference details. With organising partner TGSD and support from IHKIB, this year’s World Fashion Convention will be held concurrently with the 8th Istanbul Fashion Conference on October 14 and 15, 2015.
IAF President Rahul Mehta recently visited Istanbul to meet Hikmet Tanriverdi, President of the Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association (IHKIB) and Şeref Fayat, President of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers' Association (TGSD). Elaborating on the reasons behind finalizing Istanbul as destination for World Fashion Convention, Mehta said, “IAF is creating bridges between continents. We aim to provide maximum value to our members in international cooperation. Manufacturers, retailers, brands, solution providers and associations are working together to improve our industry together. That is why we are hosting this year’s convention in Istanbul, close to the bridge that is literally connecting the continents.”
With the 31st edition of the IAF World Fashion Convention coming to Istanbul, Turkey will be at center stage of the international apparel industry. IHKIB President Hikmet Tanriverdi expressing his views said, “We hope to make significant contributions to the world apparel industry.”
Iafnet.eu
Premiere Vision will host a new show, the Sourcing Connection Première Vision, to address the needs of high-volume for mid-range European fashion and accessory brands. Première Vision aims to cover all major global supply areas for textiles and apparel for which it is putting in place a global sourcing strategy through its various manufacturing shows.
Through Made-in-France Première Vision, the trade show organiser presents the cartography of French fashion industry to high-end and luxury fashion and accessory brands and designers. This includes, specific know-how, French expertise, proximity to sourcing solutions or materials, manufacturing and fabrication techniques, production services, etc.
Première Vision Manufacturing held in Paris in February and September is a show dedicated to fashion manufacturing specialists and presents techniques from specialised fashion manufacturers. According to Première Vision, production heads and sourcing professionals will find manufacturers, sub-contractors and garment makers for their everyday apparel and fashion collections at the show.
The first edition of this third and new event will be held from September 4-6 in Hall 6 of the Parc des Expositions de Paris Porte de Versailles. Exhibitors at Sourcing Connection Première Vision will be chosen by a special selection committee for fashion manufacturing industries, at all the shows organised by Première Vision S.A. For its first edition, The Sourcing Connection Première Vision is foreseeing participating from around 100 to 120 exhibitors.
In an impressive gesture to improve profitability and competitiveness Tirupur is building five mini-clusters. Four of the mini-clusters comprise garment production units and the remaining cluster has textile printing units. According to T R Vijayakumar, coordinator of Tirupur Thozhil Pathukappu Kuzhu which is facilitating the implementation of the project, a few more mini-clusters comprising knitting units would soon be constituted. Each of the clusters had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Quality Council of India and MSME Ministry to get employees trained for lean manufacturing practices that were followed in industrial units in Japan.
Each mini-cluster has 10 homogeneous units involved in identical activities of the garment production processes. The mini-clusters have the privilege to select the trainers from among the approved list of people published by the Quality Council of India for such purposes.
Once the training cycle is over, the profitability of the units involved in the scheme will go up considerably through minimization of material wastes and reducing unwanted procedures in the manufacturing process.
Coats is launching Coats Signal thread, an innovative reflective thread which will be exhibited at Texprocess , the international fair for processing of textile and other apparel materials, in Germany from May 4 to 7. The specially developed premium thread has a high level of retro-reflectance when illuminated in dark or low visibility conditions. Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business.
Coats Signal thread is silver and designed primarily for fashion applications. It can be used as an embroidery thread to differentiate products by creating decorative reflective features in logos, stitching patterns and seams. While it is mainly decorative, when sewn on outdoor and active wear it also helps enhance visibility at night time or in difficult weather conditions. The thread combines the tenacity of a polyester filament cover with a retro-reflective core and has excellent strength and durability.
A special lubricated finish protects it from needle heat and ensures smooth sewing so it retains its reflectivity after the intense sewing process during apparel production. When used in the top cover of flatseams, the combination of an intricate stitch formation and reflective property of the thread gives an eye-catching appearance to the seam which adds a premium look to the product.
www.coats.com/
Chinese, Japanese and South Korean companies are flooding into Myanmar as the country’s neighbour Bangladesh is struggling with problems such as low wages, plentiful labour and image in the international market. The international textile sector has discovered Myanmar as the next best destination on the basis of 200,000 workers in more than 300 factories in compared to Bangladesh which has around 4,000 textile factories.
As per Myanmar Garment Makers Association (MGMA), one new factory opened every week in 2014. In 10 years, Myanmar wants to have 3,000 factories. The aim is to increase exports from the current $1 billion a year 10 times over and to provide a million jobs. And investors are answering the call.
Experts say Myanmar is benefiting from waning Bangladesh, where factory mishaps drew attention to poor working conditions in garment factories. The timing is also good in the politics of Myanmar, which is opening up after decades under a closed military junta. There is a sense of opportunity since a nominally civilian government came to power in 2011. Garment makers in Myanmar are evidently in the starting blocks.
The smaller Myanmar companies at present sew and package, but the big clients want a complete service, from supplying fabric and thread to dealing with customs and loading for shipment.
