FW
After three years of Rana Plaza factory collapse which killed over 1,200 workers, persistent and growing violations by the Bangladesh government of its responsibility to respect workers’ rights have forced the ITUC to lodge a Freedom of Association case at the International Labour Organisation (ILO). With the Registrar of Trade Unions refusing legitimate registration applications for unions in the garment and other sectors, workers are being deprived of their right to collective representation, and local employers continue to repress union activity with impunity.
According to Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, while the Bangladesh Accord is saving lives, the authorities are still colluding with local factory bosses to repress workers’ rights. Few employers have agreed to bargain with registered trade unions for decent pay and conditions. The government continues to show callous indifference to the very people who contribute most to the economy, putting key export markets at risk.
The case, which will be heard by the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, details how the government has rejected nearly 75 per cent of union registrations in 2015 for spurious reasons, sought the dissolution of existing unions, and stood idly by when factory management have engaged in union-busting in contravention of the Bangladesh Labour Act and criminal law. Some union leaders have been beaten and hospitalised, while in other cases all the members of union executive boards have been sacked. ITUC represents 180 million workers in 162 countries and territories and has 333 national affiliates.
The European Union is planning to start free trade talks with Indonesia in line with the wishes of the bloc to boost economic ties to Asian countries. This was decided following EU commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker’s and European Union Trade Commission, Cecilia Malmstrom’s talks with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in Brussels recently. According to Juncker, they've agreed on the preparatory discussions for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement and it is good news for Indonesia and the European Union.
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEPA) is already designed since 2011. This deal will free up trade in goods and services as well as create investment opportunities and procurement for the Indonesian market. In an effort to strengthen ties with ASEAN, the EU has agreed on free trade agreements with Singapore and Vietnam. In order to counterbalance the United States that began sweeping Asia, the EU is also aiming Indonesia.
The president said the free trade agreement is in line with the policy of the Indonesian economy is now more open and competitive. Indonesia export more agricultural products, fuels, minerals, textiles, and semi-finished goods to EU member states. Meanwhile, the EU's main exports to Indonesia are high-tech machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, and processed foods.
While experts have been arguing about the quality of cotton in China’s reserves for three years, now they may be about to find out just how good - or bad it is As the China National Development and Reform Commission (NRCD) announced they would begin selling a portion of China’s estimated 58 million bales of reserve stocks beginning in early May. As per NRCD, 2 million metric tons (the equivalent of about 9 million 480-pound bales) will be offered for sale in 2016. Only a set amount can be purchased daily, apparently to avoid giving the appearance China is dumping cotton on the market.
According to Jody Campiche, the National Cotton Council’s vice president for economic services, whether China will be any more successful in this year’s auction than last year’s - when almost no cotton was sold - remains to be seen. She talked about Chinese cotton developments in a presentation to the American Cotton Producers meeting in Birmingham, Ala.
The difference in this auction compared to last year’s is they’re expected to release a larger amount of their reserves, said Dr. Campiche.
All outfits, whether in the boardroom, on the baseball diamond, or in a laboratory, start with the technology behind the fabric. Canada-based Garmatex, , is an innovative developer and supplier of scientifically-engineered fabric technologies and it is redefining the performance fabrics market.
Garmatex develops intelligent fabric technologies that can be utilized across various apparel sectors, including, others, sports, medical, military, protective, industrial and safety, and concealment. Among others, the company’s fabric portfolio includes a variety of technologies that provide best-in-class performance in managing moisture, temperature, bacteria, odor, freedom of movement and abrasions.
One of the latest editions to the company’s fabric portfolio is the high performance Kottinu, a sustainable alternative to traditional cotton. Kottinu was developed to feel like soft cotton, yet performs like a performance fabric that provides advanced moisture management and odor and bacterial control.
Kottinu is tailored for an industry that demands maximum comfort, functionality and performance. The largest brands in apparel are producing garments that are increasingly defined by advances in technology.
Garmatex will soon become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oaxaca Resources, a mineral exploration company. This is a reverse takeover transaction, where it is expected that Oaxaca will change its name to Garmatex Technologies.
As China gradually scales back its apparel manufacturing, Sri Lanka stands to gain market share. Even though its apparel prices are higher than competitors’ but Sri Lanka produces more sophisticated products, though there is room for improvement on lead times and product range and availability. Manmade fibers account for 50 per cent of Sri Lanka’s industry inputs. Apparels form the bulk of exports.
The island could enter into more trade agreements to help diversify export destinations for existing products, such as active wear and intimate apparel. It can expand into new products such as formal wear and high end outer wear that require higher skills and position itself as a regional apparel and textile trade hub taking advantage of its infrastructure advantage. The country needs to attract foreign investment by adopting clear investment policies, which currently remain at only two per cent of GDP.
Other steps Lanka can take include increasing exports of apparel, reducing import tariffs and getting into more trade deals that would widen market access. The country should also promote industrial relocation and attract more workers to relieve its labor shortage, increase integration with South Asia and reduce tariffs for the import of manmade fibers.
The Textile Institute, Manchester, has conferred the Holden Medal for Education, to Darlie Koshy, DG and CEO ATDC (Apparel Training & Design and Centre) and IAM (Institute of Apparel Management), for his outstanding contributions in technology based education at the levels. Koshy will be conferred the award at The Textile Institute World Conference Award Dinner in Poznan, Poland on 28 April 2016.
The Textile Institute was founded in 1910 and was chartered by the British Government in 1925.The Institute has individual and corporate members in up to 80 countries. Membership covers all sectors and all disciplines in textiles say management, art, design, fashion, economics, science, engineering, research, production, marketing, selling, retailing, education and training etc. The award is made to an institute member only.
Expressing his pleasure on the selection Koshy says he is delighted to be selected for the Holden Medal for Education, “Which is truly an International recognition. No single individual can claim the ownership of ideas and transformation of Institutions like NID or NIFT or ATDC and IAM where I have spent nearly 3 decades.”
Koshy an educationist par excellence is the recipient of many prestigious awards and accolades including IIT Alumni award for contribution to nation development and the Indian Star of solidarity and the OGTC Path Breaker Award, 2014 etc From the beginning of his stint at ATDC he has focused on the idea skilling to reach the youth and disadvantaged section of society and scaling up quality Vocational Skill based education has been a passion for him.
Texion the company that assists companies with software solutions has come up with Pro Fab is an efficient manufacturing execution system that supports every type and generation of warp knitting machine. This flexible product can be absorbed easily into existing infrastructures and networks the machines to the planning system. Fully integrated into the machine control systems, Pro Fab can access all the machine data and all the planning data at the same time – an important pre-requisite for carrying out fully automatic sequences, and an effective process automation system.
The Pro Cad range of CAD systems offers top quality 3D simulation. More drafts and fewer samples is just one of the advantages of this new system. It can produce 3D simulations of large lace, jacquard and tricot patterns extremely quickly and create an extremely realistic image, which is based on two important new innovations – newly developed 3D algorithms and a wide range of new yarn models. The resulted surface structures look three-dimensional and sculptured, even at high magnifications. Reflective effects and light and shaded areas can be examined very closely on a microscopic level. Microscopically displaying the fabric enables yarn effects, such as shimmering yarns and deformations by integration in the stitch structure, to be shown to full advantage.
The Pro Cad developer and the Pro Cad warp knit are efficient design tools that make many more fabrics available for pre-selection than ever before for a much lower cost. Samples now only need to be produced of a few fabrics.
www.texion.be/
With a number of international sportswear brands now keen to deliver on their early promise shown by such garments, several of Taiwan's textile companies have proved willing partners. This has seen them lean heavily for support on the Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, while also looking to set the first industry-wide standards for smart clothing.
EverSmile, a smart clothing brand developed by Everest Textile, a clothing manufacturer based in southern Taiwanese city of Tainan is a prime example. The company specialises in vertical integration manufacturing, yarn twisting, weaving, dyeing, printing, laminating and special finishing. It also prides itself on developing value-added and innovative products to a number of globally leading brands in the sports, outdoor, casual wear and fashion sectors. In March this year, the company launched the first of its new generation of smart garments, products said to utilise the very latest in high-tech dynamic stretch fabrics.
The company's new smart garments can also estimate calorie consumption and make recommendations as to appropriate exercise regimes, in addition to monitoring pulse rate. Its data can be transmitted to a smartphone app via Bluetooth, while the garment's ultra-thin chip can easily be removed prior to washing.
A number of other biomedical technology companies are also investing heavily in the development of smart healthcare wearable technology, as well as Everest's innovative approach to the sector. The innovations currently on the horizon are said to include clothing that can monitor pulse rates, cardiac conditions and body temperature. Other companies are said to be trialing footwear that can gauge and analyse any wearer's running patterns.
The textile spinning sector, which is showing signs of growth, perceives that any announcement regarding extension of export benefit for cotton and yarn would definitely lift the sector out of its present paradox. M Senthil Kumar, Chairman, Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) feels, “bad days are over for the spinning sector,”. The domestic market for yarn is better than exports but then unless the government extends export benefit for cotton yarn under MIES and 3 per cent interest subvention, exports will not pick up. He urged that the Yarn Forward Rule under TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) should also be pushed.
The SIMA chief made a comparison of the mid-month yarn price movement over the last two years to substantiate his observation on the cotton yarn market. 40s K Hank and 40s K Cone were quoting Rs 231/kg and Rs189/kg respectively around mid-October 2014; the rates slipped during the following months to Rs 229/kg and Rs 173/kg before showing signs of pick up around mid-May 2015, but the rate rally did not sustain for even one month. The rates dropped below October 2014 levels in the months that followed and mills carried huge inventory.
Cotton prices too have started to rise in the last one month. Shankar 6, which was quoting at Rs 32,800 a candy around mid-March 2016, has at present risen to Rs 34,100/ candy and DCH 32 to Rs 49,600/candy from a month ago rate of Rs 48,400/candy.
Meanwhile, industry has now begun to voice its apprehension over China’s decision on off loading of cotton.
Indonesia will look for bigger cooperation in the textile sector at the Developing 8 Countries or D8. This is a cooperation of eight developing countries with a majority Muslim population. According to the Director General of the International Industrial Development Access Security Industry Ministry Achmad Sigit Dwiwahjono, who will lead the Indonesian delegation, in addition to textiles, some other industrial sectors will also be included.
At the meeting, Indonesia also seeks to establish cooperation in the field of ‘halal’ food products, where the forms of cooperation already conducted between Egypt and Malaysia. Minister of Industry Saleh Husin will also attend the meeting which will be attended by representatives of member countries, namely Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
