For the first nine months this year, Vietnam’s footwear exports increased 10.2 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of footwear to the US behind China. US sports apparel company Brooks Running is considering shifting its manufacturing operations from China to Vietnam to avoid trade war tariffs.

Vietnam will be a new supply chain for Brooks. The impact of the US trade war with China is going to put a 45 per cent tariff on the company’s running shoes. The move will allow Brooks Running to be more competitive in the US and in the world as tariffs are lower in Vietnam. Brooks sells sports footwear, apparel, bras and accessories in 50 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile Adidas too plans to shift footwear sourcing from China to Vietnam. Vietnam has in fact overtaken China as Adidas’ top supplier, with Vietnamese factories producing 44 per cent of its shoes by volume last year against 19 per cent by Chinese manufacturers.

The US-China trade war escalated last month as the US levied new tariffs of ten per cent on Chinese products, with the tariffs set to go up to 25 per cent by the end of this year. China retaliated immediately with five per cent and ten per cent tariffs on US products.

Diwali vacations have hit productivity at Tirupur knitwear units. When workers take leave at a stretch, utilities lie idle. Exporters are worried delivery delays will lead to order cancellation, which will have a cascading effect on working capital, leading in turn to severe financial stress. They feel this situation will be an advantage to competing countries. Exporters fear if this happens, buyers will turn to Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Myanmar and once this happens bringing them back will not be very easy.

Tirupur’s exports of readymade garments fell by 12.12 per cent from April to August compared to the corresponding time period last year. GST, reduction in duty drawback, and remission of state levies were responsible for the export trends.

Meanwhile the rupee falling to an all-time low might help exporters’ cause as it will narrow the price difference between Made-in-India textiles and competing nations, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, and help exporters compete with these countries. The development comes at a time when exporters are going to finalise agreements for the next set of orders.

The gap between Tirupur and competing countries would be reduced by around two or three per cent. Currently, the gap ranges between ten per cent and 15 per cent.

The country has already been growing brown and light-brown cotton. However, varieties of red, green, light pink and blue cotton are in the offing. The climate of Azerbaijan makes it possible to grow such varieties of cotton. The seeds come from China.

Cultivation of colored cotton makes it possible not to use chemical dyes for dyeing children's clothes but to make clothes from colored cotton. This variety of cotton is superior to traditional cotton in quality and fineness of the fiber. The country is reviving cotton production. The plan is to increase the crop area of cotton by about three times. The goal is to bring cotton production up to 5,00,000 tons by 2022 from the current 2,60,000 tons.

At the beginning of the eighties, Azerbaijan harvested up to a million tons of cotton a year. But then cotton growing declined and it could not receive the necessary investments for revival for a long time after that. Cotton is a drought-resistant plant, but it does not tolerate frost and low temperatures, and Azerbaijan meets these parameters. Cotton is seen as an alternative to the non-oil sector since it is used in various areas of life.

Subcontracting opportunities in the Bangladesh garment industry have nearly evaporated following the nation’s deadliest back-to-back industrial disasters, the 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire and 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse. These days, subcontracting is rarely allowed in garment factories owing to the poor compliance records of the small units. Anybody seeking to set up even a small factory and wanting to become a member of the BGMEA now needs to pass the association’s rigorous audit and inspection, something which had been lax in the past..

Nearly1,200 small and medium-sized factories were shut after the Rana Plaza collapse due to their failure to either achieve factory remediation or meet strong compliance requirements of buyers. According to the association’s estimate, the number of active garment factories affiliated with the BGMEA stood at 5,150 in the fiscal year of 2010-11and it reached 5,876 in 2012-13. But the number of factories, especially subcontracting ones, has begun to decline after the collapse, following which two foreign bodies, the Accord and the Alliance, started inspection and remediation. In just a span of one year, the number of BGMEA members declined to 4,222. Subcontracting still occurs in Bangladesh but on a very limited scale. As a result, factory owners are planning to subcontract work orders to some Sri Lankan factories.

The Lagos Fashion Fair, held from the October 17 to 19 at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, in Victoria Island, included Fashion shows by the best of local and international designers; exhibitions to showcase the finest fashion apparels and accessories; masterclass facilitated by top industry experts; celebrity appearances by Africa’s finest and talented stars; music performances by popular artistes; African Nail competition, Raffle draws and the celebration of Icons gala.

The three-day event brought together fashion and beauty enthusiasts, industry experts, designers, buyers, retailers and consumers, for an unparalleled shopping experience from the best local and international brands. The fair afforded exhibitors and visitors the chance to meet and network with other industry professionals, explore export opportunities, direct investment prospects, and view and buy the latest collections and innovations in the ready-to-wear garment industry.

The weak rupee may not really benefit Indian apparel exporters since the duty drawback rates are lower than expected. Overseas buyers are not passing on the benefit to exporters. The Indian rupee has hit an all-time low against the US dollar after having fallen more than 12 per cent this year.

The industry wants at least a 7.5 per cent rate of duty drawback. Exporters were expected to benefit from a weak rupee as they get more rupees while converting their dollar export earnings into Indian currency. The weak rupee was expected to give a cushion to apparel exporters who were heavily burdened by the sharp rise in the cost of imported raw materials. Especially for auto component players, the going has been good, with marquee vendors expressing happiness on the back of the shining dollar bringing cheer to exporters.

Businesses that are transacted in dollars (the IT, apparel, leather or textile sectors) would have made a substantial gain of seven to eight per cent. Those raising funds from the Indian market can rest assured as investments typically pour in with a one-year timeline. The current slide augurs well for those intending to raise money from the domestic market. However, the sentiment is that having a stable currency should be the way forward.

The 9th edition of International Apparel and Textile Fair (IATF), the industry's biggest showcase platform in the MENA region, will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, from November 12-14, 2018.

Organised by Nihalani Events Management, the fair will feature nearly 110+ exhibitors. It will bring together manufacturers and their agents along with some of the most influential buyers and designers to the MENA region. The event will provide an extensive platform to connect and network with industry professional, create long and promising professional relationship and giving all exhibitors an opportunity to expand their business boundaries.

The show’s new and past exhibitors will showcase fabric, haute couture, machineries and ready-made apparels and garments along with a new edition to the categories this year, footwear and hand bags. The exhibitors will travel from Turkey, China, Japan, Thailand, India, etc. They would also introduce new fashion trends, color creations and design solutions to the Middle Eastern and North African markets while making an impact within the industry.

China will not accept textile or plastic waste from the rest of the world any more. The country used to take in more than half of the world’s rubbish, importing almost nine million metric tons of recyclable plastics a year. It started in the 1980s, helping to fuel the burgeoning economy, and grew into its own billion-dollar industry.

Unfortunately, this resulted in some of the worst pollution in the world, especially air pollution. People died and as a result there was a crackdown on pollution. Thousands of factories that didn’t meet environmental standards were closed. Since then China has been a leader in renewable energy, developing solar and wind technology, and building some of the world’s largest farms.

The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union were among those who exported most of their waste to China. Other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have seen a spike in recorded plastics imported, showing that western countries are simply finding somewhere else to dump their waste. However these countries have nowhere near the capacity or the infrastructure to deal with the numbers involved. The textile industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world, with clothing production having doubled in the last 15 years.

Benetton’s global footprint and brand recognition have shrunk but it is attempting a comeback. The brand is known for its controversial advertising campaigns with an emphasis on social issues such as race and religion. Benetton assembled a network of branded stores. A franchise model let it distribute direct and expand quickly. It used commission-driven agents to oversee regions, often planting several outposts in the same shopping districts. At one point, Benetton had six shops on New York’s Fifth Avenue, some virtually within sight of each other.

The brand built a sophisticated data network to track sales right down to store level and automated its factories and warehouses with Italian robotics, raising fashion from the artisanal to the industrial. It aimed to be flexible enough to respond to shifting taste and demand. It prided itself on its ability to produce, distribute and sell flash collections of products that were proving popular.

However, rivals learnt how to copy or defeat these same strengths. The family wrestled with generational change and the introduction of outside managers. The shock ad campaigns started to look pointlessly provocative. Benetton is now revisiting 30-year-old product lines and emphasising durability over speed.

A bill in Bangladesh has proposed labor-friendly measures. Some of the salient features of the bill are: giving workers more facilities — including reducing the percentage of workers’ participation required for forming trade unions at factories from 30 per cent to 20 per cent, prohibiting children from working in factories, and giving employees who work during festivals leave and wages for two days.

It also says support of 51 per cent workers would be needed as against the present two-thirds to call a strike. In case of natural death the family of the worker concerned will get enhanced compensation. In case of injury too the compensation amount has been hiked. Mentally and physically-challenged laborers cannot be employed in any risky work.

Registration has to be given to a trade union within 55 days of receiving the application. Earlier it was 60 days. The labor court has to deliver judgment in a case within 90 days from the date of filing. If it is not possible to announce the verdict in the stipulated time, the court will have to pass its order within 90 days. If a female worker gives birth before informing the authorities she will get an eight-week leave within three days after informing the authorities.