China’s cotton imports are predicted to significantly rise in volume terms this season due largely to the demand for high-quality fibre by their local spinning industry, US officials analysed. The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Beijing bureau assessed China’s cotton imports at 1.30m tonnes (5.97 m bales) in 2017-18, on an August-to- July basis. That would represent an increase of over 2,00,000 tonnes year on year, significantly bigger than the 58,000-tonne increase, to 1.15m tonnes (5.30m bales), that the USDA has officially forecast.

The bureau’s estimate comes despite persistent market rumours that China may be poised for accelerating buy-ins, with some rumours of a potential increase in their import quota of 8,94,000 tonne permitted in with a 1 per cent tariff that is within an agreement with the World Trade Organisation.

The bureau emphasised that since July, anecdotal reports have circulated that the Government might be considering special approval to allow for some imports of high-grade cotton. Given the Chinese textile sector’s increasing demand for high-grade cotton, traders anticipate the government may increase its flexibility in issuing additional import quota.

The Chinese textile sector grew steadily in 2017 and in consideration of all these factors, it is logical for the Government to approve some cotton imports to meet the industry demand in 2018, the bureau said, adding that it remains unclear when the government will allow additional cotton imports.

Latest Chinese cotton import customs data, for October, the month after the closure of the government’s 2017 auction programme of supplies from the country’s cotton stockpiles, came in at 78,128 tonnes, a rise of 89 per cent year on year.

Nandan Denim of the Chiripal Group, is implementing strategic initiatives to enhance its overall profitability and strengthen its global footprint at this opportune moment when China’s textile competitiveness is being downgraded by higher labour costs. During 2016-17, Nandan Denim’s revenue crossed Rs 1,200-crore for the first time. The company is now focusing on growing internationally with the largest denim manufacturing capacity in India. This has only enhanced its prospects from being a peripheral player in the denim segment to becoming a global payer.

The brand has expanded its denim manufacturing capacity from 99 MMPA in FY16 to 110 MMPA in FY17 making it the largest denim manufacturer in India and a leading global manufacturer. It has also expanded its spinning capacity from 70 TPD in FY16 to 141 TPD in FY17. The advanced spinning facility is capable of producing specialised yarns such as dual core, coloured slubs and cotton stretch yarns.

The company has invested in manufacturing competitiveness mainly due to integration of its yarn spinning at one end and denim manufacture at the other. Through the years, it has strengthened its manufacturing integration through various priorities including balancing its manufacturing across both products thus enabling the yarn it manufactured to be consumed in the downstream production of denim resulting in larger value addition; investing in cutting-edge manufacturing technologies from leading suppliers worldwide, which translated into a higher capacity utilisation and lower waste generation; it addressed the manufacture of value-added denim, making it possible to somewhat insulate itself from the competition.

Switzerland-based digital print start up Mouvent, is set to exhibit at next year’s TPF digital print exhibition in Shanghai, which keeps a close watch on market trends and technology development. The company will be demonstrating the TX801 - an 8-colour multi-pass digital textile printer producing the highest print quality on textiles with up to 2,000 dpi optical resolution that compliments high printing speeds.

Reto Simmen, CEO, Mouvent disclosed they started to focus on textile and realised China has one of the biggest market potential besides India, Italy and Turkey. Taking into consideration the competitive environment, they have positioned their printer in the mid-to- high end segment of the market as it delivers crisp, colourful and very high printing quality in a cost-effective way. The textile market is next that is going digital and they have started to set up a network within the textile industry. They have established a strong working relation with Paul Yuan in China and experts in other countries.

In the current scenario, production is moving to countries that can produce cheaply, correspondingly Chinese printer manufacturers to be in the business have to come up with new ideas. Besides they have to be fast because most businesses are looking at digital printing systems which is the only way to move their business forward. Currently there are a few strong local brands established in China. The business trend is to look at faster printers, so organisations have to keep up with reality or stagnate.

Reto Simmen says with an ink development centre in Switzerland, in the second half 2018 the company is planning to introduce a double speed machine with 16 heads, this will double the output. In 2019, their future plans are to introduce a single-pass machine. He is convinced that China is a good market. TPF 2018 will be organised by UBM China and Sunexpo will be held from April 19 to 21, 2018 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China.

The European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Eureatex) and the Brazilian Textile Industry (ABIT), representing the Textile and Clothing (T&C) industries in both EU and Brazil, welcomed negotiations for an important EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA). ABIT and EURATEX has said, The T&C industry is a vivid and global sector in which Europe and Mercosur countries have a key role to play. “Our focus is on high quality products manufactured in a sustainable manner under high standards, be it from an environmental, labour and the social point of view. Euratex and ABIT maintain strong cooperation links since many years and we have always been supportive of the conclusion of an FTA.

Over the last months, we have intensified our talks and we have jointly worked on a wide range of topics related to Textile and Clothing trade namely regulatory cooperation, customs procedures, technical barriers to trade, sustainability requirements etc. Tariffs dismantling and rules of origin have also been very much at the centre of thorough and sometimes hard talks.

The EU-Mercosur FTA benefit, both parties and increase trade and investments of T&C industries of both sides, Euratex and ABIT made efforts to build a balanced rules of origin considering the structure of industries. Therefore, they are happy to share a suggestion from the private sector to both governments with our common views on the Product Specific Rules and Tariff Dismantling to be enshrined in the EU-Mercosur FTA.

Indian economy is likely to grow by 7.2 per cent in 2018 and go up further to 7.4 per cent in the following year on the back of strong private consumption, public investment and the ongoing structural reforms, says a UN report. The ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018’ report unveiled by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) stated the overall, economic outlook for South Asia is seen largely favourable and steady for the short term, notwithstanding significant medium-term challenges.

On India, the report has projected a positive outlook despite the slowdown early this year and the lingering effects of demonetisation. The UN DESA report says that the GDP growth is projected to accelerate from 6.7 per cent in 2017 to 7.2 per cent in 2018 and 7.4 per cent in 2019.

The report further stated that Central banks in developed economies are currently operating in largely unchartered territory, with no historical precedent as guidance. This makes any adjustment of financial markets less predictable than during previous recoveries and amplifies the risks associated with policy errors.

Michael Kors Holdings, and Ralph Lauren Corp. are some of the top fashion brands who are in a high-stakes battle this Christmas. Unfortunately, success will not go to the company that sells the most, it will be the company that closes inventory with the least amount of unwanted goods. Inventory management is tough business. Big brands are increasingly using sophisticated software to track apparel and accessories through the supply chain this holiday season. The key is to improve profit margins, even if it means losing some revenue, say experts.

The decline of department stores has worsened the problem, in recent years, with their unending discounting that is hurting the perceived value of brands such as Polo amongst others. That’s increased pressure on brands this holiday season. On the first day of every week, retailers conduct a manager meeting to look at the sell-through rates, or the percentage of the total inventory sold, during the last seven days and decide if they should continue promotions or increase their markdowns to ‘get rid of’ inventory.

The rise of omni-channel marketing, including ‘seamlessly’ e-commerce, has its share of problems when say customers may buy an item online and then return it to a brick-and- mortar store. Michael Kors and other upmarket brands are still using discounts to drive sales. But they’re aiming to be more targeted with their promotions. Michael Kors Chief Executive Officer, John Idol has announced plans to reduce the number of days with big promotions by as much as 65 per cent this quarter.

Building an impression of scarcity is the key for high-end brands. Research firm Edited which supplies the world's leading fashion retailers with the retail analytics they need to have the right product at the right price, at the right time discloses that ‘Toward that end, Michael Kors lowered its number of stock-keeping units by 12 per cent this month.’

In the week leading up to Black Friday, the number of marked-down apparel and accessories was up threefold when compares to the same period in 2014, as per EDITEDs data, which tracks the websites of America’s 19 largest retailers. Retailers have mainly been dependent on past sales and loyalty data to predict trends. In an era of big data, they’re relying more on analytics and artificial intelligence to maintain inventory more efficiently.

It’s probably safer to stock too little than too much. But that means companies will have lower sales growth when they begin to rebound, said Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Instinet LLC. He says lean inventory is like being on antibiotics, a painful but necessary part of getting healthy again.

Mojostar is a step closer to attaining its goal of launching retail brands in India through collaborations with celebrities as it’s talks with investors to raise Rs 64 crore in Series A funding are nearing completion. The company has already signed deals with Bollywood actors Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez and if the company manages to raise funds this year it will give a big boost to the company to start manufacturing its brands.

The fashion labels with Tiger, Jacqueline and another Bollywood actor are expected to hit the market by 2018. Mojostar was formed in August this year when Kwan Entertainment and Dream Theatre decided to join hands to get into the celebrity brands business in India to cash in on the large, profitable fashion market.

Mojostar has roped in Abhishek Verma as its CEO who will be responsible for building the brands for the company with the celebrities. Verma has brand building experience as he played a pivotal role in creating Myntra’s in house brands like HRX, Roadster and Wrogn. Unlike the West, the concept of celebrity brands is relatively new to India with a handful of brands like Hrithik Roshan’s HRX, Shahid Kapoor’s Skult, Deepika Padukone’s All about You, Virat Kolhi’s Wrogn, Yuvraj Singh’s YWC, Sonam Kapoor’s Rheson amongst others competing in India’s $100 billion apparel market.

Amsterdam-based, Dutch designer clothing company, G-Star Raw, has partnered Pakistan-based Artistic Milliners, colour solutions provider DyStar, and global denim manufacturer Saitex to launch the G-Star Elwood RFTPi jeans which the company claims is its most sustainable jeans ever.Developed with a clean indigo dyeing process, eco-friendly sustainable washing techniques, organic material and responsibly sourced materials, consumers can in the very near future purchase the G-Star Elwood RFTPi jeans and its D-Staq RFTPi denim jacket. G-Star Raw collaborated with Saitex to manufacture and wash the G-Star Elwood RFTPi jeans using sustainable technologies and renewable energy. The manufacturing and washing process ensures that no water is discharged into the local environment—with 98per cent of water recycled or reused and the remaining 2 per cent is evaporated. Besides, G-Star Raw used 100 per cent organic cotton, eco-finished metal buttons and responsibly sourced labelling for their jeans.

The brand also partnered Artistic Milliners and Dystar to develop Crystal Clear which G-Star Raw claimes to be "the cleanest indigo dyeing process in the world". Unlike conventional denim dyeing methods, Crystal Clear uses 70 per cent less chemicals, omits salts and doesn’t create salt by product during the denim reduction and dyeing process. This sustainable dyeing method could help companies conserve natural resources and leave recyclable water effluent post the dyeing process. In addition to launching the G-Star Elwood RFTPi jeans, G-Star Raw is working with its mill partner to share the jean’s fabric material through the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s certification process, which rates products based on their contributions to the circular economy.

G-Star Raw Corporate Responsibility Director, Frouke Bruinsma says, as a key player, G-Star Raw takes responsibility to lead by example in promoting sustainable denim innovation. The new denim fabric and its revolutionary indigo process will become an open source for the rest of the industry to use.

Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer, has acquired Patrick Yarn Mill, a manufacturer of high-performance engineered yarns based in North Carolina, US. Patrick Yarn Mill specialises in cut-resistant and flame retardant yarns. It also produces yarns from recycled fibres marketed under its earthspun trademarks and with its large solar installation promotes its earth friendly yarns as ‘Spun by the Sun.

Founded in 1963, Patrick Yarn Mill’s unique spinning competencies in engineered performance yarns offer an opportunity to expand Coats’ existing Performance Materials portfolio as well as to extend its innovation capability. Coats will support Patrick Yarn Mill’s expansion into high-growth markets by leveraging Coats' unrivalled geographic footprint, breadth of global customer relationships and strong corporate brand.

Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, says Patrick Yarn Mill is an exciting acquisition that supports a key aspect of the growth strategy as it is a dynamic, customer focused company and its unique spinning systems combined with our existing technology portfolio will provide a strong market offering. Gilbert Patrick, President, Patrick Yarn Mill, says that Patrick Yarn Mill becoming part of the Coats family creates opportunities for both companies as there is a lot of synergy between our product offerings and technology.

This acquisition shows Coats’ intent to grow via M&A in Performance Materials and Services, two areas of strategic priority. Gotex, a Spanish company which designs and manufactures high-tech industrial yarns and tapes used in the telecommunications, energy and oil and gas sectors became part of Performance Materials. FRS, a UK based company which provides software solutions and expertise to improve operational efficiency and speed to market in apparel and footwear, became part of Coats Global Services.

Post two years of record growth in Canada, the Apparel Textile Sourcing (ATS) Brand is expanding to one of the fastest growing apparel and fashion markets in the World, Miami. The Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada was successful with 50 per cent increase in attendance and exhibition space in 2017, along with another hike of 25 per cent growth predicted for the August 20 to 22, 2018 show in Toronto.

ATS-Miami will showcase transparency, speed and responsiveness in Apparel & Textile Sourcing. The event will feature over 200 booths displaying apparel and fabrics as well as service providers, government representatives and national organisations all focused on a responsive supply chain, near sourcing and speed to market. Over 12 countries will participated in the premier edition of ATS-Miami.

With hundreds of manufacturers’ booths and exhibits, ATS-Miami will deliver three-days-worth of an unprecedented platform of global connections in manufacturing and fashion. With over 20 separate sessions from industry experts, international government representatives, fashion and trends experts. Some topics to be discussed are: International government roundtable discussion – Central America – CAFTA; Miami – The Gateway to the Americas – Miami’s Geographical Advantage etc.

The Apparel Textile Sourcing is not just about seminars, it’s also about a runway and models. The ATS Fashion Show will blend student, designer and producers showcasing fashions uniquely designed for Miami and Latin America.