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India is ready and willing to assist in development in southern African countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique.
The aim is not to offer one solution, but something meant for each of the countries in the southern African region.
India’s commitment to trade relations with Africa is very strong and efforts are on to find out how the credit extended for project financing in some of these countries can be further improved. The steps would further benefit the countries where these projects are going to be implemented.
India as a country is much larger than its African partners. A joint study group would be set up to explore these ideas further. The relationship at the political level is very high and very good, but a similar relationship is needed in the economic sphere, which will benefit the populations.
India has had colonial struggles similar to Africa’s. So Africa considers this a win-win situation based on mutual interest and is keen to partner with India in various sectors of the economy.
India’s exports to South Africa account for 15.4 per cent of India’s total exports to Africa. India’s other major export partners are Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania and Nigeria. These regions together account for around 34 per cent of total Indian exports to Africa.
Global Organic Textile Standard will hold 'GOTS India Seminar 2018 on May 29 at Le Méridien Coimbatore, India. The theme for this seminar is ‘Sustainability as Key to Business Efficiency’.
The one-day seminar, through its focused and challenging discussions, shall address issues relevant to the organic textiles industry. It shall equip delegates with best practices relating to the biggest opportunities and challenges, thus helping them transform their supply chains to achieve efficiency through sustainability.
It will address key issues such as , Sustainability in fashion industry, which will involve a survey of the current trends in eco-fashion domain, priorities and experiences of conscious buyers, integration of organic textiles in the products of Indian and international brands.
The other subjects in the seminar are Chemical and environmental compliance and Future of compliances and standards
The average GDP growth in India is expected to rise to 7.8 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2018 from 7.2 per cent in October-December 2017.
The economy is likely to witness a cyclical recovery driven by investments as well as consumption despite worsening net exports.
The recovery started in the second half of 2017.
Growth may start to moderate in the second half of this year towards 6.90 per cent due to rising oil prices, tighter financial conditions and a likely slowdown in investment activity ahead of the national elections.
Rising oil prices are changing the macro dynamics and may put pressure on inflation.
With a 13 per cent share, the textile sector is one of the major contributors to India’s export earnings.
However, the sector has been under pressure of late. While, apparel exports have grown at a subdued pace due to intense competitive pressures, yarn exports have also remained under pressure given the decline in demand from China as well as the country’s losing share in the Chinese yarn market.
Adequate budgetary allocation for schemes such as refund of state levies and interest subvention benefits can help improve the competitiveness of textile exporters and improve textile export growth.
Beginning with a Blue Seal award and running up to the highest Gold Seal award, these courses offer training for all - from beginners to advanced. Across the UK there are 120 venues. A team of 60 instructors services the courses, which are run at local centers – some at colleges and some on farms.
British Wool is an agricultural co-operative representing around 40,000 producers.
The aim is to provide a platform for people to learn and improve their skills.
Online courses accounted for 33 per cent of the attendances last year. This year, British Wool expects even more – especially as a ten percent discount is given for online courses.
For 2018, British Wool has additional advanced courses. The advanced courses are specifically tailored for those who need to fine-tune their existing skills and for those who want to go on to compete and travel around the world. These courses will improve skill and output and make shearers more commercially productive giving them a competitive edge. The instructors are very experienced and have a high profile in their respective countries.
In addition to mechanised shearing, which deals with large numbers of sheep, British Wool runs courses for wool-handlers. Correct wool-handling on the farm brings many benefits to the farmer, and the course teaches the importance of the fiber and how excellent fleece presentation maximises the value of the wool.
Employees of debt-ridden Alok Industries have dashed off letters to the chairmen of nearly ten banks asking them to accept a resolution plan submitted by a consortium led by Reliance Industries.
They are of the opinion that the resolution plan will ensure the livelihood of about 18,000 employees, while the lenders will receive much more from the process.
Silvassa-based textile manufacturer Alok Industries was among the 12 first large non-performing assets identified by the Reserve Bank of India for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in June 2017.
Alok currently employs 18,000 personnel (which at the peak was 30,000), generates revenue of Rs 35,000 crores and supports 3,500 vendors.
Nearly 30 per cent of the total lenders had rejected the resolution plan submitted by a consortium led by Reliance Industries. Subsequently, the Resolution Professional (RP) referred the company for liquidation.
The resolution plan offered the lenders a cash settlement of Rs 5,050 crores, which is well above the liquidation value of Rs 4,200 crores. This payment was to be made upfront and be available for the lenders for immediate deployment in further lending.
Here is a T-shirt designed to help clean polluted air.
The Rep Air T-shirt is made by Kloters, an Italian fashion start-up. It uses a patented material that captures pollutants including bacteria and unpleasant odors. Such a T-shirt is able to offset the pollution emissions of two cars.
Rep Air works with zero-impact and doesn’t need to be activated or powered by any external energy sources. The cloth is composed of two external printable layers, a water-resistant anti-bacterial fabric that encloses an intermediate core, made of dioxin absorbent fiber enhanced by nano molecules, capable of separating, absorbing and retaining pollutants in the atmosphere.
In addition to its sustainable benefits, Rep Air is a fashion product, offering comfort and style. The T-shirts, available in black and white, feature timeless and smart designs. Each item is made to last by using high-grade cotton and reinforced seams.
Kloters is a fashion brand for men founded three years ago. Japan, Korea, China, Germany, France and the UK are some of the countries where the brand is sold. Distribution reaches 17 countries through 110 luxury multi brand stores. From 2016, Kloters refocused on direct channels, with the aim of being closer to the final customer.
Christopher & Banks clinched an agreement with a private, unaffiliated investor group to sell and lease back its Plymouth, Minnesota corporate headquarters. The deal is worth $13.65 million. The company estimates the net expense impact in the first year of the lease to be approximately $300,000, including rent expense, net of depreciation expense and the amortised gain on the sale. The company has been struggling in recent years with declining foot falls and increased competition from both online and off-price retailers. While its same-store sales increased by 5.7 per cent in Q4, the company posted a net loss of $8.8 million for the period.
The company, which operates 462 stores in 45 states, is adding strategic initiatives across merchandising, marketing, e-commerce, and store operations, to stabilise the business and move toward more consistent financial performance.
Sales of Utenos Trikotažas in Q1 rose 34.2 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The main driver for such a performance was a 48 per cent growth in sales of on-demand jersey products to its main export regions, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland. Exports made up 83 per cent of total group sales. But sales of its own brands -- Utenos and About -- posted only 2.4 per cent growth due to the unusually cold weather this March. Sales of services of functional-technical garment manufacturing by its subsidiary Satrija declined slightly 3.1 per cent. Utenos Trikotažas is the largest textile group in Central and Eastern Europe.
Rapid growth of sales and manufacturing was the key reason the group’s pre-tax profit almost doubled. Ebitda grew by 31.1 per cent. The group is making investments to expand manufacturing capacity and add new technologies in order to realize current growth opportunities as well as to strengthen its innovation capabilities. As a result, it expects to maintain significant double digit growth dynamics for the rest of 2018.
Despite higher level of raw materials and wages that it experienced this year the group observes positive dynamics in its order books and strong demand in its export markets.
According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research, the US men’s underwear and women’s lingerie market is expected to witness significant growth at CAGR of 5.4 per cent by 2021. This will be mainly owing to rising personal income in US households; propagation of modern retail formats such as supermarkets, discount stores, and pharmacy stores; change in lifestyle; and rising awareness regarding health & fitness and personal hygiene among men and women in the country.
The US men’s underwear market was estimated at $3,236.4 million in 2015, and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.1 per cent over the forecast period. On the other hand, the US women’s lingerie market revenue is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 5.4 per cent from 2015 to 2021. Major players in men’s underwear market are Hanesbrands Inc., Philips-Van Heusen Corporation, American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, Jockey International Inc., and Gildan Activewear Inc. The major players identified across the value chain in the US women’s lingerie market include Victoria’s Secret (L Brands), Calvin Klein, Fruit of the Loom (Berkshire Hathaway), Hanky Panky, Cass and Company, and Commando LLC.
Pure London, the contemporary men’s and women’s trade show, has announced its expansion into the children’s wear market with the launch of Pure Kid. The move comes over a week after rival trade show organiser ITE Events, which owns Moda, Scoop and Jacket Required, announced it was pulling out of the kids market with the closure of Bubble London, which had been running for 10 years.
Pure, which is organised by Ascential Events, says that Pure Kid would offer a curated platform for standalone kids brands and would sit alongside women’s wear brands. Managing director Julie Driscoll kids and maternity wear market was worth $158bn globally, a per Euromonitor, and Pure Kid would be tapping into that and the latest trends in the market, which are driven in particular by social media.
Pure London began life in the contemporary womenswear space before moving into menswear in 2016. Last season it added its first sourcing show Pure Origin and last week it revealed it would be staging a section dedicated to ethical fashion, called Pure Conscious. The next edition of Pure London will take place at London Olympia from July 22-24.
