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The New Zealand textile industry is likely to die within two years due to the increasing preference for using offshore production.
Jobs in textile, clothing and footwear have plunged from 47,000 to just 9500 in a span of 40 years upto 2016 and factories are being priced out of the market by cheaper overseas suppliers.
Each year more and more government departments taking all their uniforms, clothing and safety equipment offshore to be manufactured as New Zealand manufacturers aren't as competitive as those in the Far East.
Statistics from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed that in 2009, the export value of tapestries, trimmings and embroidery was $5million, while its value in 2017 was just $2million.
Planet Textiles will be held in Canada, May 22.
The sustainable textiles summit serves as a place for textile industry members to work together on scaling sustainable innovations, reducing the negative impact of microfiber pollution and developing best practices for chemical management.
There will be breakout sessions and discussions focused on sustainable goals and on efforts to prep industry members to shift to a more circular model in coming years.
Denim makers will also have access to the latest information on dyeing, laundering and water saving techniques to make their supply chains more sustainable.
The goal for Planet Textiles is to help the textile industry find more harmonized sustainable solutions, as now more than ever, the industry—and the consumer—are calling for transparency and products to be made more sustainably.
Planet Textiles will look at how small start-up companies can scale sustainable innovations in the industry from the lab to commercial reality. Other themes include textile microfibers in relation to the growing problem of microplastics pollution, fate and implications for marine eco-systems. Deforestation in relation to the manmade cellulosic fiber sector will also be high on the agenda – along with the harmonization of textile chemical management and wastewater guidelines.
According to the recent the 2018 Q2 Barometer report by Asia Inspection (AI), ethical scores in Bangladesh rose by an average of 15 per cent during the past 12 months. The results reflect the continuous pressure faced by the Bangladesh-based textile and apparel manufacturers to improve their ethical performance. However, in spite of the increase in ethical scores, as indicated by the AI data, factories in Bangladesh are still plagued by health and safety issues, which were ranked the most pressing concern of Q1 2018, taking over working hours and wage compliance.
The scores for Chinese manufacturers showed little change with average scores flat at 7.7 out of 10. By contrast, there was a market improvement in the scores of South and Southeast Asia, with Cambodia continuing to outpace its economic forecast for the second year running, and inspection demand rising 22.4 per cent YoY in Q1 2018. Pakistan also maintains momentum gained during last year, with inspection volumes expanding 10.3 per cent YoY in Q1 2018.
The Society of Dyers and Colorists (SDC) organized an event in Mumbai, April 20. The theme was sustainability driven innovations. This event was attended by 30 qualification holders, medalists, trustees and voting members of SDC.
Sustainability is not a buzz word but has become important in terms of energy efficiency from conceptualisation to building materials. Companies adopt this as the core of their corporate strategy for success in the long term.
Sustainability is not only in R&D but also imbibed into the people – employees, vendors, customers and stakeholders how to use energy efficiently and save Mother Planet.
In textiles, PVC-free silicone-based inks are used for screen printing with stretch which effect soft feel for synthetics and cotton. RO membrane is used for ZLD application due to regulations. Water can be recycled, and sludge disposal is necessary. Enzyme is used for plastic recycling in effluent treatment.
SDC is the world’s leading independent, educational charity dedicated to advancing the science and technology of color worldwide. Its mission is to educate the changing world in the science of color. SDC is a professional, chartered society. Becoming a member gives access to SDC’s Professional Coloration Qualifications including the elite Chartered Colorist status. It has an international network of regions and activities.
Towns in a district of Andhra Pradesh have won the geographical indication (GI) tag for the production of kalamkari.This involves carving out intricate designs on wooden blocks and using these to print patterns on fabric.
The name kalamkari is derived from the words qalam (pen) and kari (craftmanship), meaning drawing with a pen.
But there has been a spurt in the use of modern and chemical methods that threaten the traditional art of block printing on fabric using organic and vegetable dyes.
To keep up with growing demands and reduce production costs and time, many villagers have started using chemical dyes and the screen printing method to produce the famed textile style. The modern technique involves digitally creating designs and then making large stencils, which are used instead of blocks.
What the screen printing method can produce in 40 minutes, block printing or hand painting can take days.
The process of kalamkari involves several steps, one of which is to wash the fabric in the Krishna River to ensure that the color lasts longer. The water in the river has the correct mineral composition required to help the colors develop and set. However, the chemical dyes used by other producers have begun to pollute the river.
Cambodia’s economic growth is projected to accelerate to 6.9 per cent in 2018 compared with 6.8 per cent in 2017.Rising government spending and favorable global conditions, including robust demand in advanced economies, are expected to underpin Cambodia’s high growth trajectory.
Tourist arrivals accelerated to 11.8 per cent in 2017, compared with five per cent in 2016.
While growth in the construction sector is an important driver of growth and a creator of jobs, it is necessary for Cambodia to closely monitor the construction and real estate boom by developing macro-prudential policies to help reduce the scope for speculative activities.
The agriculture sector also rebounded, with the expansion of rice and rubber plantations, and the gradual recovery of agricultural commodity prices.
Risks remain, however, and they include erosion of export competitiveness due to rapidly rising real wages, a build-up of vulnerabilities from a prolonged real estate and construction boom, potential election-related uncertainty, and periodic jolts of protectionism and escalating trade disputes between the world’s largest trading countries.
To maintain strong growth, it is essential that Cambodia invests more in education and skills training while addressing the constraints facing small and medium businesses.
The country can diversify growth and create more jobs by reducing the costs of company formalisation, operation and financing.
Bangladesh’s textile products enjoy duty-free access to Canada. If the trade facilities offered by Canada remain unchanged, Bangladesh’s exports to Canada will reach three billion dollars by 2021.
In enlarging the trade volume in the Canadian market, Bangladesh is planning to showcase its products especially leather and diversified jute products as there is a huge opportunity for growth.
Bangladesh has a target of 50 billion dollars in overseas sales target by the end of 2021 and Canada is going to be a key garment export destination.
Bangladesh and Canada may form a blue ribbon panel to explore possibilities of expanding trade and investment. The signing of a bilateral investment treaty between the two countries would go a long way toward increasing foreign direct investment from Canada to Bangladesh.
Sustainable economic growth, health, and education are the three areas Canada wants to work on in Bangladesh. The country is also working to strengthen garment worker safety in Bangladesh. Canada wants to expand in the services sector in Bangladesh, such as aircraft safety.
Canada is a country of some 37 million people, with French and English as official languages. It is a leading as well as growing trading partner of Bangladesh, providing export opportunities.
British fashion house Burberry recently filed a lawsuit against American retail company Target Corp for copying its design on their products.
The lawsuit, in the New York’s federal court, cited that Target counterfeited the British fashion brand’s designs even though it was aware of Burberry’s trademark rights.
The brand fears that with Target’s reputation of collaborating with big brands, the customers can easily be manipulated to believe that the products on Target are endorsed by Burberry.
The UK-based clothing and accessories designer has therefore demanded Target to immediately stall the selling of ‘in-dispute’ pattern-made scarves, luggage, eyewear and home products.
For the first quarter Aeffe apparel sales grew 18.3 per cent at constant exchange rates. Revenue grew 20.3 per cent at constant exchange rates, EBITDA grew 32 per cent and net income grew 39 per cent.
Aeffe is an Italian group that includes labels Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy by Lorenzo Serafini, Moschino, Pollini, Jeremy Scott and Cédric Charlier.
Aeffe’s domestic market, Italy, accounted for 47.6 per cent of total revenue. After posting a 20.7 per cent increase last year, it grew 18.2 per cent in the first quarter 2018. The rest of Europe accounting for 21.7 per cent of revenue increased by 15 per cent, thanks chiefly to the UK, Germany and Spain.
Russia, with a share of three per cent of total revenue, was also on a positive track, its sales up 12.6 per cent. The US was the only region to record a downturn, chiefly due to the negative nationwide trend in department stores.
Meanwhile the rest of the world, driven by booming sales in Greater China, posted a 45.9 per cent rise, accounting for 22.5 per cent of total revenue.
In terms of distribution channels, wholesale revenue, accounting for 74.7 per cent of Aeffe’s total, grew 24.4 per cent while the retail channel was up 8.5 per cent. Finally, royalty revenue increased by 19 per cent and was worth 2.6 per cent of total revenue.
Industry partners in New Zealand have come together to develop and launch an independent online wool trading platform.
Called Natural Fiber Exchange (NFX), it draws on international models as an open access, independent trading platform and represents a cross section of the wool market. It is pro-competitive, transparent and encourages fair discovery of prices for the fiber products traded between buyers and sellers.
Buyers can compare all prices in real time with all parcels of wool available simultaneously over multiple rounds of bidding. An integral feature of the platform is as a tool to provide an objective reference point from the perspective of both buyers and sellers.
Online trading is playing an increasingly important role in international commodity markets. This platform is a natural evolution towards developing the most efficient means of selling significant volumes of wool.
Meanwhile farmer-to-merchant wool trading is set to kick into gear in the coming weeks, as shearing will commence on sheep farms across the country. However – like last year – the outlook for prices remains difficult.
Prices are down significantly on the prices achieved during 2016 and 2015. Buyers from China are not sourcing wool from Europe.
There has been no great increase in supplies just yet this year – despite the fine weather.
