As per Textile, Apparel and Leather Industry Organisation affliated to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade of Iran, the country exported around $715 million worth of clothing and garments in the first seven months of the current fiscal (March 2018-October 2018) registering a significant 28 per cent growth compared to last year’s similar period.

Skyrocketing rates of foreign currency in the past months and the promising boost in the sector’s productivity were the two triggers of growth in the exports of clothing and apparels. Import of basic raw materials, such as fibers, also witnessed a significant growth as compared to the same period of last year, which proves the development in the industrial and production units’ activities.

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles will be held from March 12 to 14, 2019. Around 200 suppliers from China and around the world will showcase their products including beds and towels, carpets and rugs, table and kitchen linen, home textile technics, textile design and more.

Spring is traditionally regarded as the start of the new year in China and Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles facilitates industry players to capture the market potential during the peak sourcing season for home textile finished products. It also offers valuable opportunities for exhibitors to tap into the China market. It is one of the important platforms for brands to launch products for the year as many suppliers and brand buyers look for new items during this prime sourcing period.

For the 2018 spring edition more than 20,000 buyers came from 68 countries and regions. Bedding products account for half of home textile sales in China. Thanks to the rising number of middle class citizens, and a steady rise in the number of marriages every year, there is a growing demand for bedding products. Domestic sales of bedding enterprises above a designated size increased 6.2 per cent year-on-year. Demand for quality finished products is expected to keep growing due to the rising living standards.

The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) headed by the Textile Commissioner in its first estimate released this week, forecasts cotton yield will decline to 501.47 kg per hectare (ha) for the cotton season October 2018–September 2019 from 506.07 kg the previous year. As a result, average cotton output for the season is the lowest in three years. During the crop year 2016-17, the yield was reported at 459.2 kg per ha. With this, the 2018-19 cotton season is set to become the second slowest year in nearly a decade.

The CAB estimates India’s cotton output at 36.1 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) for 2018-19 compared with 37 million bales in the previous year. The statistics collated by the CAB showed Maharashtra as the least yielding cotton producing state in the India with an average productivity (yield) of 334.3 kg per ha this year compared to 343.48 kg last year.

To capitalise on benefits, such as procurement at minimum support price (MSP), offered by the government, farmers had brought additional area under this natural fibre last kharif sowing season. As a result, total acreage under the crop rose to 12.24 million ha from 10.83 million ha in 2016-17. However, uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall in Gujarat — deficient in cotton growing belts and surplus elsewhere — coupled with drought in major cotton cultivating areas in Maharashtra such as Marathwada, is set to pull down India’s average yield this year.

As per Synthetic and Rayon Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), plagued by recession and tax issues, India’s export of polyester fabric declined 13 per cent to $945 million in April-September compared to $1 billion in the same period last fiscal. Polyester fabric export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bangladesh fell by 23 per cent and 32 per cent respectively in that period.

Export of Indian MMF during April-September increased by just 1 per cent to $3.1 billion compared to $3 billion during the same period last year. The export of fabric to Bangladesh and UAE decreased due to external factors. The United States, UAE and Brazil were the leading markets for Indian MMF and polyester fabrics, a leading Indian newspaper reported quoting SRTEPC.

Polyester fabric manufacturing has been adversely affected due to power loom weavers reducing their capacity by almost 60 per cent in the last 12 months due to goods and services tax (GST) and recession. The production of polyester fabric has come down to almost 2.5 crore metre per day, against the daily average of 4 crore metre.

Invista’s Fitsense technology allows the use of finer and technically more advanced fabrics called second skin. The main aim is to reduce the number of seams in sports garments while guaranteeing support and comfort properties of traditional corsetry garments. The technology has been developed to help apparel producers to reduce manufacturing costs, improve the fabric quality along with the fit of the garment in clothing such as tops, leggings and lingerie.

US-based Invista, is the world largest integrated fiber, resin and intermediates company. It has about 10,000 employees in over 20 countries worldwide. It is the leader in production of high performance and quality elastane for high technology and performance fabrics for a variety of sectors such as athleisure, activewear, hosiery and intimate wear.

This technology is used by Nextil, a Spanish company with expertise in the athleisure segment. Nextil has powerful design teams in fabric technology and high-quality printing and makes garments for leading brands including Inditex, Mango, Desigual and El Corte Inglés.

Fitsense is expected to reinforce Nextil’s positioning in the sector, boosting the design and sportswear manufacture business unit and allowing it to continue expanding its portfolio of services and products.

United States and China have suspended trade hostilities for 90 days following the G20 summit over the weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 25 per cent hike in tariffs that President Donald Trump had threatened on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods will not come into effect on January 1 as was originally planned. Instead, the 10 per cent tariff will remain in place as the two countries begin negotiations that also address China’s alleged forced technology transfers and cybercrimes.

The most recent set of tariffs already affect clothing and accessories, including handbags and wallets, while the fourth set, which would hit $257 billion in goods, can hugely affect the footwear industry. Since the levies encompass a wide variety of consumer products, retailers would have to raise prices to accommodate soaring import costs. A number of companies, including Steve Madden, are planning to relocate their factories from China, which could potentially disrupt their supply chains as well as affect shipping times and sourcing strategies.

Vietnamese textile and garment firms hope to boost their exports to Canada once the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) takes effect in early 2019. Both Vietnam and Canada are members of the CPTPP, which also gathers nine other countries. The agreement covers a market of about 500 million people and has a combined GDP of 10.1 trillion dollars or 13.5 per cent of worldwide GDP.

Vietnam is yet to sign a free trade agreement with Canada, therefore, the CPTPP will help accelerate textile-garment shipments to the North American market in coming years. Canadian retailers and importers have shown interest in textile and garments from Vietnam.

One Vietnamese company Phong Phu has succeeded in implementing the original design manufacturer production model. By applying advanced technologies, the company now only needs a few days to create new product models, instead of the previous period of two months. The time needed to bring a new product to the market has also been reduced from eight weeks to two weeks.

Another company, Hanosimex, has introduced 40 knitting products and cotton towels to Canadian partners. In order to optimise the advantages generated by the CPTPP, Hanosimex will step up capitalising on material supply sources to satisfy the yarn forward rule of origin under this deal.

"As the US trade dispute with China gains momentum, experts analyse which countries would benefit most from the dispute. Asian countries like Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia are luring electronics and computer companies to their shores while Cambodia, Philippines and Bangladesh are seeking more opportunities to increase their market share in apparel and footwear segment. Similarly, Thailand and Vietnam plan to explore the global household consumer goods market like washing machines and refrigerators. A study by American Chamber of Commerce South China (AmCham South China) published on October 29, 2018, surveyed 219 companies for the impact of US and China tariffs."

As the US trade dispute with China gains momentum, experts analyse which countries would benefit most from the dispute. Asian countries like Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia are luring electronics and computer companies to their shores while Cambodia, Philippines and Bangladesh are seeking more opportunities to increase their market share in apparel and footwear segment. Similarly, Thailand and Vietnam plan to explore the global household consumer goods market like washing machines and refrigerators.

Fewer opportunities outside China

A study by American Chamber of Commerce South China (AmCham South China) published on October 29, 2018, surveyed 219 companies for the impact of US and China tariffs. Less than one per cent indicated any plans to relocate their manufacturing to North America. Similarly in a joint study of 430 firms by AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai in September 2019, only 6 per cent respondents indicated any plans to relocate production to the US.

There are limitations on how much production can be moved out of China. The country, over the years, has nurtured a highly trained, skilled and disciplined workforce. Its infrastructure, roads, ports and integrated logistical support is best in terms of its ability to handle the volume of goods produced. Furthermore, its workforce is more than double that of all Southeast Asia combined. So, the limitations of other counties to takeover China’s capacity nullify the cost benefits they offer of moving production out of China.

Trade disputes impact on Asian countries

A recently released Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) by various Asian countries suggests which countries could be benefiting from the US-China trade dispute at the moment. The monthly Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) published on November 2 was below the 52.2 forecast of economists polled by Bloomberg.

Similarly, Indonesia’s PMI last month declined to 50.5 from 50.7 the previous month, Malaysia's was lower at 49.2 compared with 51.5 a month earlier, Taiwan, 48.7 from 50.8, Thailand 48.9 from 50, Hong Kong 47.9 from 48.5, South Korea 51.0 from 51.3. China saw a minute increase from 50.0 the prior month to 50.1 last month and in the Philippines the same 0.1 point increase to 52.0.

Vietnam saw largest gain among major Asian economies reaching 53.9 from 51.3 in the previous month. This is not surprising considering Vietnam has been consistently identified by certain US companies as the preferred location in Southeast Asia.

Advantage India

India gained 0.9 points from a month ago to 53. If it puts its strategies in place, India might play a major part in the re-shaped global supply chain. A study by India's Department of Commerce recently identified about 100 products where India can replace US exports to China due to higher import tariffs imposed by China on US farm products. These include corn, grain sorghum, oranges, cotton, almonds and durum wheat.

Another report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) concluded with concerted effort, India can increase its exports of products like pumps, parts of taps, parts for the defence and aerospace industry, vehicles, automobile parts and engineering goods among others. At the moment, this is still an aspiration. These figures indicate that in general no one gains from the trade gain which will have a negative impact not only in the US and China but also on various industries, companies and countries.

A delegation of Uztekstilprom Association and representatives of garment and textile companies recently attended the International Textile Fair 2018, held in Ptak Warsaw Expo, Poland. The delegation also explored possibilities of increasing textile exports from Uzbekistan to Europe, particularly Poland. At the exhibition, Uzbekistan showcased all aspects of textile production under a single stand ‘Made in Uzbekistan.’ Some of the prominent companies from Uzbekistan which displayed their collections were Bulut Tex, Orange Tekstil, Bahmal Group and others.

The presence of Uzbekistan companies in the exhibition holds huge relevance considering the event saw participation of more than 500 textile firms from countries like Russia, India, Pakistan, Poland, Thailand and many others. Many agreements focusing on textile exports from Uzbekistan to Europe were signed during the event

Inditex, the parent company of the Spanish apparel and accessories retailer Zara has expanded it’s outwear range by launching outwear capsule collection. The new collection named; ‘TRF Recycled’ portrays its commitment towards a sustainable future. The collection is curated using recycled polyester taken from plastic bottles.

In line with the group’s pricing scheme, the variants are marketed at an affordable range for up to £ 160. A silver puffer jacket is up for sale at £ 95.99, while a puffer coat is placed at £ 119. The sustainable line also offers joggers, a technical backpack and chunky trainers. A waterproof, two-in-one parka in the collection is priced at £ 159.

Earlier this month, Zara forayed into over 100 new markets, as it expanded its online presence, bringing the total number of countries where it operates an e-commerce channel to 155. At present, the chain operates via brick-and-mortar retail in 96 markets and is progressing towards the group goal of selling all of its brands online globally by 2020.