FW
Hohenstein Institute, a leading accredited German certification provider, has launched two labs in Dhaka and Chittagong to offer a wide range of chemical and textile technology testing and results analysis. The institute has been providing such certification at its labs in Bangladesh since 2005, albeit informally. In Bangladesh it services 100 companies a year and tests 2,000 samples a day.
Garment exporters and textile producers could also get their goods tested at Hohenstein's labs in Hong Kong and Germany but it is time-consuming and expensive. The firm also provides consulting, research and development. It applies internationally recognised standards to ensure transparency in performance tests, quality controls and inspections for textile manufacturers, brands and retailers.
The services provided by the company include analytical testing, tests for harmful substances, preparation of expert reports in case of damage, physical testing for color fastness, pilling, fineness of fibers, determination of fiber composition and behavior measurement during care processes.
The European Union increased its imports of women’s garments by 16.30 per cent volume-wise from January to April 2018 period. EU imported 72.43 million kg of garments worth € 363.31 million worldwide noting 3.26 per cent surge in value-terms. UVR in the first four months of 2017 was € 26.59 per kg of women’s garments whereas in the same period this year it registered a remarkable fall of € 24.58 per kg of women’s garments. The fall in unit prices boosted the growth in the segment.
India exported € 269.16 million worth of garments to the EU marking a 10.40 per cent growth on yearly basis, while shipment in volume-terms went up 12.08 per cent during the period. Bangladesh, which was lagging behind India in exports to EU in the same period last year, surpassed this year to ship 11.09 million kg of garments among the 28-nations bloc, growing 29.84 per cent. On the other hand, its values jumped 14.17 per cent and Bangladesh exported €152.90 million worth of dresses to EU in the review period.
As per an analysis of Textile Beacon’s Fibre to Yarn Trade Statistics – India’s exports of polyester and its blended yarns, over the past five months, have recorded year on year increase of over 50 per cent in value terms. Growth had almost doubled in March this year.
The average price realisation of spun yarns between June 2017 and June 2018 increased almost US cents 10 a kg, from $2.74 a kg to $2.83 a kg. The highest US cents 15 was in case of 100 per cent polyester yarn, US cents 11 in poly-cotton and US cents 7 in poly-viscose yarns.
In June, India exported 100 per cent polyester yarns worth $11.5 million to 49 countries at average unit price of $2.49 a kg with volume at 4.6 million kg. During the month, 9.8 million kg of PC yarns was exported worth $27 million while 4.7 million kg of PV yarns were exported worth $14 million. Globally, Turkey is the largest importer of polyester yarn, followed by Brazil and US. Bangladesh, Colombia and Egypt are the largest importers of PC yarn from India while Turkey is the single largest importer of PV yarns from India followed distantly by Pakistan.
Vietnam’s exports of garments and textiles are predicted to reach $18.5 billion in the second half of the year, bringing the country’s total export turnover to $35 billion. This strong performance can be attributed to the slew of bulk orders stretching to the end of the year. The total garment and textile export turnover in the first half of the year surged 16.49 per cent to $16.5 billion against the same period last year.
The sector also recorded high growth in exports to key markets such as the US, EU, Republic of Korea, China, ASEAN and member states of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Some businesses reported strong export performance including Tinh Loi (Regent Garment), Viet Tien Garment Joint Stock Corporation, Regina Miracle, and Worldon Vietnam.
To achieve double digit growth, the sector should focus on increasing labour productivity, reducing delivery times, and building an efficient logistics network, while investing in advanced technologies to improve the quality and design of products to conquer the local market and penetrate foreign markets.
As per Jordan’s Garment Traders Association, the country’s garment sector has recorded a 35 per cent decline since January as demand for clothes and shoes was lowest in three years. The sector witnessed zero profit, despite the return of Jordanian expats for summer. Import amounted to JD195 million for the first half of the current year, compared to JD220 million for last year’s first half.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in the Kingdom’s import of clothing and shoes, with around JD280 million in 2015, and then dropping 25 per cent over the past two years. With Eid Al Adha approaching, garment store owners “have minimal preparations, with little-to-no expectations on a higher demand on clothes and shoes. The custom duties and taxes- which amount to 57 per cent of the product’s price — are some of the major challenges facing the traders and retailers,
As China is looking for allies in its fight with the United States, Britain has come forward in support of Chinese companies and expressed its desire to sign post-Brexit free trade deal with China. A trade pact with China would be a political win for Britain's government but formal talks cannot begin until it officially leaves the EU next year. China has also appealed to other countries to support it in upholding free trade and the multilateral trading system, though European countries in particular have many of the same market access complaints as the United States.
Both China and the United States appeared to have avoided a full-scale trade war in May, with China agreeing to buy more US agriculture and energy products, but the deal collapsed and the two sides slapped import tariffs on their respective goods. Washington has since threatened to set tariffs on an additional $450 billion worth of Chinese goods, and no formal negotiations between the two countries have taken place since early June.
Century Textiles and Industries reported net sales of Rs 2209.38 crores during the three month period ended June 30, 2018 as compared to Rs 2301.18 crores during the three month period ended June 30, 2017. Net profit was Rs 162.66 crores as against Rs 120.24 crores for the three month period ended June 30, 2017.
Mumbai-based Century Textiles and Industries is active in textiles, viscose filament yarns, cement, and pulp and paper. In the textile business, Century has two revenue streams: cotton fabric and denim units, The company has a vertically integrated plant at Bharuch for manufacturing cotton fabrics.
The cotton division of Century is one of the oldest in India and manufactures a wide range of premium textiles and supplies to many international players, including Royale Linen, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Belk and US Polo. Century Textiles’ financial metrics declined, mainly due to its high debt.
Major global brands are now beginning to source from Ethiopia. Such interest is believed to stem from rising wages in China, labor unrest and violence in Cambodia, and ineffective compliance with rules and regulations in various countries in South Asia. Also, Ethiopia has been making efforts to create favorable conditions in order to attract investors.
The textile and apparel sector in Ethiopia is centered around spinning, weaving, knitting, and finishing. A few years ago, the country set ambitious goals for the textile and garment industry with production, productivity and export performance of the industry set to be further increased. Currently, the textile and apparel sector in Ethiopia employs 47,000 people. According to plans, the number of skilled workers will increase to 3,50,000 within the next five years in 12 industrial parks.
Initiatives are being given to foreign investors or shareholders. This is expected to help the country in professionalising of the state-owned companies and bring in foreign currency. Several major foreign companies have invested in the textile and clothing industry in Ethiopia and a number of high profile brand names have started sourcing apparel from the country. In 2014, H&M began purchasing textiles and garments from Ethiopia. UK retailers Tesco, George and Primark also began sourcing from Ethiopia earlier that year.
"Rising trade aberrations are proving to be detrimental for Chinese and American textile and apparel organisations. Expressing resentment, Xu Yingxin, VP, China National Textile and Apparel Council, stated tariff increases are not just a tax on consumers, they will also bring uncertainty to the stable global supply chain for top brands. Neither American consumers or fashion brands, nor Chinese textile and apparel manufacturers will benefit from the conflict, he added. He was speaking on the sidelines of 2018 China Textile and Apparel Trade Show New York with Messe Frankfurt North America. About 1,000 exhibitors from 17 countries attended the event, with more than 600 from China. Close to 1,000 types of products listed in the textile and apparel categories are a part of the $200 billion in Chinese imports potentially subject to 10 per cent tariffs imposed by the Office of the US Trade Representative. Hearings will be held Aug 20-23 before a final decision will be made at the end of August. The products, mainly raw materials such as yarns and fabric, range from silk to cotton, to lace to embroidery, and total about $4 billion, said Xu."
Rising trade aberrations are proving to be detrimental for Chinese and American textile and apparel organisations. Expressing resentment, Xu Yingxin, VP, China National Textile and Apparel Council, stated tariff increases are not just a tax on consumers, they will also bring uncertainty to the stable global supply chain for top brands. Neither American consumers or fashion brands, nor Chinese textile and apparel manufacturers will benefit from the conflict, he added. He was speaking on the sidelines of 2018 China Textile and Apparel Trade Show New York with Messe Frankfurt North America.
About 1,000 exhibitors from 17 countries attended the event, with more than 600 from China. Close to 1,000 types of products listed in the textile and apparel categories are a part of the $200 billion in Chinese imports potentially subject to 10 per cent tariffs imposed by the Office of the US Trade Representative. Hearings will be held Aug 20-23 before a final decision will be made at the end of August. The products, mainly raw materials such as yarns and fabric, range from silk to cotton, to lace to embroidery, and total about $4 billion, said Xu.
Julia Hughes, President of Washington-based United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA), also opposed tariff hikes. As per the association's annual survey, for the second year in a row, a protectionist trade agenda in the US is the top concern for the American fashion industry. Companies are concerned about broader implications of protectionism for the US economy, consumers and the global economy, Hughes said in an interview at the trade show.
Impact on sourcing
Hughes says one strategy for American companies is to find other sourcing opportunities but most sourcing executives say there aren't enough viable
options to replace China. Companies are sourcing from other countries for many reasons, Everyone has some sourcing in China; many have some sourcing in Vietnam. And Bangladesh, India and Indonesia are the sources, as well as countries in the Western Hemisphere. She further added that there isn’t enough sourcing in the world to replace China and especially not the quality sourcing that American brands and retailers want.
Hughes believes the Trump administration has heard her association's message, so in order to not hurt consumers; the tariffs have been focused on manufacturing inputs rather than clothing, footwear and home textiles. The association will continue its opposition to consumer products its members import and sell in the US and are not on the tariff list. Pan, deputy general manager of Hong Gang Textile, a supplier of upscale warp-knitted fabrics, whose business with US companies accounts for less than 20 per cent, added only through innovation can you avoid being replaced.
For the past 40 years, China’s textile industry has been integrated into the global textile and apparel supply and value chains. China and US textile and apparel trade hit more than $44 billion in 2017 compared with $4.9 billion in 2001. China remains the biggest textile exporter to the US, while the US is the No. 1 export market for China's textile industry, accounting for 17 per cent of China’s exports in the industry. On the prevailing situation, Xu highlighted that Chinese companies will continue to be the most stable and reliable suppliers of American brands, and a long-term mutually beneficial partnership between China and the US textile industries will remain unchanged.
Surat’s Yarn Expo will be held from August 4 to 6, 2018. The three-day exhibition will host around 80 exhibitors, all renowned yarn producing companies from across India. The exhibitors will showcase a wide variety and latest developments in yarns in natural as well as manmade like cotton, polyester, wool, silk, linen, viscose, ramie, spandex, etc.
The yarn show will also include various types of fancy and specialty yarns like elastic, metallic, embroidery, textured, slub, special effects fancy mélange, dope dyed spun, low torque, space dyed and hundreds of other yarn varieties.
A fashion show which will be jointly hosted with the National Institute of Fashion Technology. A seminar will see discussions on topics like developments in nylon yarn and cotton and yarn market trends. There will also be a presentation by Yes Bank on facilities provided to MSMEs. There will be a conclave, whose topic is future opportunities in yarn and fabrics.
Yarn Expo 2018 will see the participation of yarn producers like Reliance, Bhilosa, Perfect Filament, Shahlon, Grasim, RSWM, Indian Rayon, Nimbark Fashions, Century Enka, Arvind, Madhusudan Group and many others. This is the first edition of Yarn Expo and it’s being organised by the Southern Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
