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A drop in the currency and a smaller offering are driving the Australian wool market to a new record. Buyers scrambled for wool during last week’s sale.
Superfine wools also moved upwards while medium Merino wools continued to be the most sought-after category.
The emergence, or increasing importance of China as a consumer market, has reduced some of the seasonality of demand from past years. Adding to the mix is the trans-seasonal garments that make up the new consumer’s wardrobe. Chinese demand for medium Merino wools last August saw the fake-fur product in frenzy, creating a 100 per cent rise in 21-micron wool over two weeks, which then completely dissipated again over the following three weeks.
The current market is not being driven by any single product, other than an increased demand from Chinese mills.
The medium Merino wool segment is having a run at present but the largest users including suit fabric manufacturers are facing severe price pressures. Their maximum purchase price is nowhere near the current greasy market.
Fine wools were just moving in sympathy, not creating new highs.
Chinese mills’ key concern is the level of supply of Merino wool from Australia. Chinese mills now understand Australia’s dry seasonal conditions are holding back production increases.
In order to deal with the possible crisis brought by the fourth Industrial Revolution, Vietnamese firms proactively conduct training sessions in order to improve their human resources’ capacity.
Incentives are being given to encourage firms to invest in technological advances. Workers’ welfare is also of focus to boost productivity sustainably. Technology in many Vietnamese firms is outdated. So labourers have little chance to use high-tech machines.
Automation makes up only 20 per cent of the production chain. This is true especially of the garment and textile industry. Firms are coming up with measures to help labourers access the trend of Industrial Revolution 4.0.
The productivity of neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia has exceeded that of Vietnam. In fact Vietnam’s productivity is only one tenth compared to Singapore’s.
Successfully addressing issues regarding the labor force may provide Vietnam a key to open the door to the world amid the fast-paced industrial revolution.
Vietnam has a target of 35 billion dollars in total textile and garment export value for this year. Enterprises have been asked to fully exploit the working capacity of their workers as well as restructure their management practices to improve labor productivity.
Besides maintaining and developing export markets, enterprises are focusing on developing new markets, including linkages with the distribution system in the local market.
Uzbekistan wants to collaborate with Indian textile companies.A formal agreement on collaboration in the area of cotton and textiles is likely.
Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest cotton exporters. The country grows long-staple quality of cotton - equivalent to Egyptian cotton that matches the requirements of luxury garment brands. It is taking steps to increase the volume of cotton fiber processing.
The country is land-locked and far from a port thereby making it difficult for bulk goods industries to trade. However the Central Asian country offers investment opportunities. Incentives are being offered to industry in the form of tax holidays, free land for joint ventures with Uzbek counterparts and a cheap and skilled workforce. Uzbekistan has a 100 per cent convertible currency. Banks are supportive and quick to respond to the needs of trade and industry. The biggest advantage is the access to a huge market of the former USSR or CIS countries, with whom Uzbekistan has a duty-free trade agreement.
Keqiao Textile Expo was held in China, May 6 to 8. More than 1,392 booths from 540 enterprises showcased fabrics such as silk, chiffon, leather works, printed fabrics, as well as miscellaneous home accessories and textiles with elaborate designs.
The exhibition aimed at showcasing and marketing the products of China’s flourishing textiles and fashion industry to both domestic and international buyers.
The expo aims to increase exports of exhibitors to the Southeast Asia, and number of international textile markets such as South America, US, Europe, Mexico.
The expo has been held for 20 years. With its mission of living up to the expectations of the enterprises and the industry, the expo seeks to create value by providing a platform for commerce and trade, information exchange and fashion promotion for both suppliers and buyers, as well as to showcase new innovations and new creative textile designs and methods in the textile making industry in China.
Leading flat knitting machine manufacturer Stoll will exhibit its latest developments at the upcoming Make it British Live! trade show that will be held from May 23-24, 2018 at the Truman Brewery in London.
The company will present its CMS 202 HP B machine. The two system CMS 202 HP B is similar in technical capability to Stoll’s entry level CMS 502 HP+ machine, which has a 45”/114cm needlebed. The CMS 202 HP B is fitted with 8 feeders with clamping and cutting on the right-hand side of the needlebed. The machine also comes with Stoll’s new belt takedown system and its EBO touch screen interface.
Last month, the company also launched a new addition to its ADF family of machines. The German machine builder has expanded its range of machines for coarse knit production and now offers the ADF 530-24 in addition to the ADF 530-16 for this sector.
With 24 independent yarn carriers and three systems in gauges E2,5.2, E5 and E7, the new model is designed to enable sophisticated colour and pattern designs, allowing more room for creativity and the chance to react quickly to trends.
Sri Lankan apparel sector entered a breakthrough year in 2018, in its history of exports.
In the first quarter of this year the company’s total apparel exports increased by 4 percent to $ 1.26 billion compared to last year’s first quarter exports of $ 1.21 billion.
Last year first quarter exports were actually an 8.2 per cent decline from 2016’s first quarter apparel exports of $1.31 billion. After regaining GSP Plus, the company’s apparel exports increased and it now plans to surpass the $ 5 billion annual exports value this year compared to the $4.8 billion in 2017.
Europe is a key market for Lankan apparels. Last year Sri Lanka earned $2 billion from apparel exports to EU, which was 42 per cent of total apparel exports.
In the first quarter this year, Lankan apparel exports to EU increased by 5.2 per cent to $526 million in comparison to $ 500 mn in first quarter of 2017. Apparel exports to US too increased by 5.1% in this year’s Q1 to $576 million from 2017 Q1’s $548 million
SPINnet Textile and Garment Cluster in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) organised a 10-day training programme on business management and planning for selected entrepreneurs in the garment and textile industry in Accra.
The training programme, attended by 25 people, mainly in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), was sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund.
The main aim of the training was to help build the capacities of players in the textile, garments and creative arts industry to enable them compete both locally and internationally.
It also intended to help revamp the textile, garment and the creative arts industry in the country, besides enabling players in the sector to adopt best practices that would help their businesses to grow.
Pitti Immagine Uomo, the premier international trade fair dedicated to menswear and contemporary lifestyles will be held in Florence from June 12-15, 2018.
The trade show will combine events organised by big names from the luxury industry, such as the Robert Cavalli show slated for June 13 in a monastery, and the Craig Green show that will take place on June 14, while Fumito Ganryu show is planned for June 13.
The fair has also long been a supporter of Scandinavian and Georgian talent.
Throughout its history, Pitti Uomo has consistently juxtaposed small but sought-after labels with mainstream brands, as can be seen with the debut appearance of H&M-owned Cos, which will launch a capsule collection of perennial items named "Soma" in Florence this June.
This edition boasts 1,240 brands, 561 of which hail from abroad (45%), and is a curated geography of spaces focusing on venues that emphasise research in today’s menswear and that are heavily geared towards the future of fashion.
Common Objective (CO), a new digital platform that aims to make sustainable business decisions easier for the fashion industry has been launched.
The digital platform has been launched by Ethical Fashion Group in collaboration with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Fairtrade, World Fairtrade Organisation (WFTO), Fashion Revolution, and other leading fashion industry bodies
By matching actors along the supply chain and providing data-driven, solutions-focused information, CO hopes to improve the day-to-day practices of textiles and clothing companies around the world.
The CO platform will act as a basic tool that will enable fashion professionals and businesses to do business better, match users based on their specified needs, with suppliers, buyers, experts and resources and reward sustainability by assigning weights to several elements of CO business profiles that impacts search ranking on the site.
The Ethical Fashion Group has also mapped the size and impact of the fashion industry – drawing from over 500 sources including the Pulse Report, the Fashion Transparency Index, market research data and production data.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada looks like a distant dream.
There are gaping differences on a host of issues, including intellectual property, agricultural access, labor and energy.
The US continues to work toward the best possible deal for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses. The deadlock has risen over US demands to raise wages in the auto sector and boost the North American content of cars made in the three Nafta nations.
The move is a clear swipe at Mexico, which the US says added low-wage manufacturing jobs at Americans’ expense after Nafta was signed in 1994.
On the other hand Mexico says any renegotiated Nafta that implies losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable.
In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, creating one of the world’s largest free trade zones and laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It aims at demonstrating how free trade increases wealth and competitiveness, delivering real benefits to families, farmers, workers, manufacturers, and consumers. It has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world.
