FW
Pakistan's exports of textile and clothing fell by over five per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal year compared to a year ago. The decline in exports started in July 2014 despite the preferential market access to the EU. Exports of low value added products, such as cotton cloth, fell by 13.77 per cent; cotton yarn 27.01per cent; other textile material 5.88 per cent; and made-up articles, excluding towels and bed wear, 2.60 per cent during the period over the corresponding period last year.
In absolute terms, export proceeds fell to $2.169 billion in July-August 2014 from $2.289 billion over the corresponding months of last year. Last year, export proceeds grew by 2.75 per cent and reached $25.132 billion from $24.460 billion over the corresponding period of previous year. Raw cotton export witnessed a robust growth of 41 per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal year from a year ago. Total export proceeds witnessed a decline of 5.84 per cent in July-August 2014 over the corresponding period of last year.
After efforts of years, Pakistan was inducted in the club of countries enjoying free market access for most of its products in the European Union, but it has failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Edwin Ingelaere is taking over as the new director of Lectra in northern Europe. The region is composed of a mosaic of countries with a large variety of cultures, languages, industries and markets. This is a region where Lectra has been market leader for more than 35 years. Ingelaere is in charge of a team of 35 people spread across nine countries. He will support Lectra customers in the region with their production optimization, quality improvement, cost reduction and go-to-market acceleration.
Before joining Lectra, Edwin Ingelaere was business development director for the machine-to-machine market. He has done telecommunications and electronic engineering and business management. More recently, a Belgian company specialized in wi-fi communications networks offered him various sales responsibilities.
Lectra is the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials—fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials. It develops the most advanced specialized software and cutting systems and provides associated services to a broad array of markets including fashion, automotive, furniture, as well as a wide variety of other market sectors such as aeronautical and marine industries, wind power and personal protective equipment.
The company recently invested €50 million in a global transformation plan for the future, including a 60 per cent headcount increase in marketing, sales and consulting and an accelerated R&D plan.
www.lectra.com/
The IAF has commissioned a short global study on major developments in the apparel industry to Indian consultancy firm Technopak. The study will be handed over to all delegates of the 30th World Fashion Convention that will be held in Medellin, Colombia on September 30 and October 1. It would serve as a base for speaker like Stefan Siegel, Adriano Goldschmied and Horacio Broggi of Desigual, who would also talk about many of the same challenges faced by the industry.
One of the main points the IAF is making with this study is the increased relative power of developing countries' apparel industries in the global apparel system. IAF's global membership is a reflection of this more equal balance. It offers the opportunity for executives from all layers of the industry to discuss strategy on an equal footing.
According to the study, the global fashion market is becoming more homogeneous but at the same time these brands and retailers must adapt their collections more to local tastes. Sometimes these local varieties feed back into the global fashion loop, making the world market a source of inspiration for itself.
International brands are gaining market share in emerging markets. But more remarkable is the large share of local brands in these markets. Ideally, foreign brands actually help the development of local brands by setting an international bench mark, without actually dominating these markets and leaving plenty of room for local brands to prosper.
On the supply side, the study outlines the reaction to rising production costs, particularly in China. Improving production instead of moving production is an important trend and it is reinforced by increasing internet retail requiring companies to keep tighter control and more visibility over their supply chain. It is expected that, as a result, the market share for the large manufacturing groups will increase given their scale of operation, control over supply chain, and such other associated advantages as investment in tracking fashion trends, technology deployment and ability to attract talent.
The apparel industry will see new countries entering the global production chain. But more so than before, companies will seek to cooperate to try to exert sufficient influence over the new environment that they will be operating in. Realistically, they can only do so collaboratively, which is why we foresee a greater role for global industry groups working with multilateral organisation, national governments and local industry associations.
Iafconventionmedellin.com
Texworld and Apparelsourcing Paris closed this week after four busy days that saw the launch of new features like ‘Shawls & Scarves’, exploration of rich creative ‘Impulsion’, the Texworld winter trends 2015/16, designer catwalk shows and the Sustainability Days, discussions on the responsibility of the textile industry by Jason Kibbey, whole spoke on behalf of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
The event ended on a positive note, with both the exhibitors and the organisers expressing positivity. The number of visitors was up 5.16 per cent, with 15,034 visitors from 109 countries coming to see the 2015/16 winter collections shown by 1,166 exhibitors. The rise in numbers confirms the movement in fashion consumption in Europe.
Both regular and first-time exhibitors were delighted with the fruitful business transactions taking place during the event. Taking the figures continent by continent, Europe recorded a rise of 4.39 per cent and Asia took a great leap forward, showcasing 18.32 per cent rise. Brazil visitor number almost doubled by
10 per cent but Africa was down 11 per cent, reflecting the crises by which the continent is once more plagued.
Visitor figures from the six major countries were up, with a noteworthy resurgence by Italy (over 23 per cent), while recovery was evident in France (over 4 per cent), Turkey (over 4 per cent), Germany (over 3 per cent), Spain (over 1.5 per cent) and the UK (over 1.5 per cent). Three European countries stood out this season because of their double-digit growth, Ireland, where the economy is recovering was up over 22 per cent; Poland, over 20 per cent; and
Norway, which has returned to explore international potential in Paris was up over 25 per cent. Number in Bulgaria was up 64 per cent.
Asia also supported the fair, with the return of Japanese buyers showcasing a rise of over 9.5 per cent, South Korea, over 33 per cent and Hong Kong number was up over 21 per cent. China, with 8 per cent, is now coming to buy for its domestic market.
VF Corporation has roped in Sudhakar Puvvada as Vice President, Global Jeans Innovation Center. In this newly created role, Puvvada will oversee VF’s recently established Jeanswear Innovation Center in Greensboro, NC, where the company focuses on denim advancements to benefit its jeanswear brands, including Wrangler, Lee and 7 For All Mankind, and other brands throughout its portfolio.
Puvvada would be working with leaders in the group’s global jeanswear business to combine existing VF knowledge with the expertise and insights from external partners to build commercialization opportunities for VF brands. His background in both technology and consumer goods will help to empower group’s innovation agenda, which is expected to lead to sustainable, breakthrough innovations for consumers globally.
Puvvada joins VF from Ashland, where he served as Vice President, Technology Platforms. Also, he has worked in a number of research and product development roles in the home and personal care categories, including 14 years at Unilever. Puvvada holds Master of Science and doctorate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
VF introduced its Innovation Center strategy in 2013 and began to elevate innovation initiatives with existing teams to support key projects. Now, under Puvvada’s leadership, the company will assemble teams of chemists, scientists, engineers and designers for the Innovation Center who will combine their expertise in technology and new materials with VF’s proprietary insights and deep understanding of consumer needs.
www.vfc.com
The fabric trade show Première Vision has been renamed Première Vision Fabrics, while the yarns and fibers event Expofil has now been dubbed Première Vision Yarns. Le Cuir in Paris will henceforth be known as Première Vision Leather, while the fashion accessories event Modamont will now be referred to as Première Vision Accessories. Indigo, the textile design show, will now go by Première Vision Design. And the fashion manufacturing rendezvous Zoom has been relabeled Première Vision Manufacturing. A single online portal has been created, PremiereVision.com.
Premiere Vision is one of the world’s largest textile and fabric shows. It’s held twice a year and showcases the most creative fashion designs from across the world. The fair’s 13 annual events bring together over 2,600 exhibitors and receives more than 1,20,000 industry professionals. The event will also have inspirational films, audio-visual presentations and fashion seminars to assist professionals.
The grand Parisian edition to be held at the beginning of 2015 will be known as Première Vision Paris. Premiere Vision Pluriel is made up of six complementary trade shows held at the same time.
The fourth edition of Digital Textile Conference will be held in Milan, Italy, October 2, 2014. Milan is the heart of textile production and printing in Europe. The event is about digital textile printing and is aimed at printers. Digital textile printing experts will share their experience and insight into the latest innovative products, trends.
The conference will examine the whole textile industry including promotional products, textile and garment decoration, textiles for interiors, and soft signage. It will give textile printers practical tips and the opportunity to gain insights into the future direction of the industry.
Discussions will surround around topics like: overview of digital textile printing, interior and soft signage, apparel printing and fashion as well as an in-depth exploration of the technologies and techniques used to deliver these applications. Seminars will focus on topics including transfer versus direct printing, technology and software and fashion and interior markets.
One session will examine how fabric printing can help grow a business by looking at market analysis and exploring mass production, at individually customized products, as well as the possibilities these can provide end users.
www.digitaltextileconference.com/
The 53rd Dornbirn Man-made Fibers Congress (MFC) took place in Dornbirn, Austria, (September 10-12). The event is still the most important event for the global man-made fibers (MMF) community. It is organized by Austria-based Man-made Fibers Institute and supported by the Brussels-based European Man-Made Fibers Association (CIRFS).
The MFC’s goal was to ‘communicate the future of man-made fibers’. With the current economical and political environment in mind, organizers were afraid that the number of attendees would be much lower compared to the past five record-posting years. However, more than 700 people gathered in Dornbirn. The main topic of the conference was ‘Innovation – Efficiency – Competitiveness’.
One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation from Peter Driscoll, Director, PCI Fibers, UK. Driscoll’s presentation was on ‘Fibers Demand: Mid-term Direction/Long-term Perspective’. He first spoke about world fiber volumes as mill demand. According to him the market is still struggling, with a generous monetary policy as the big factor. Looking at the world fiber demand by region, the situation is quite critical. On the one hand, textile activity in China grew by four per cent in 2013, but activity is estimated to edge up just two per cent this year. In contrast to this, activity in the rest of Asia grew by seven per cent in 2013, and Driscoll expects that Asia will add another four-percent-growth in 2014.
China’s share of the global textile industry peaked in 2012-13 at 52 per cent; however, its loss of share long-term is very gradual. On the other side the forecast, its share is estimated to be 49 per cent in 2030. Over the five-year-period from 2010-15, mill demand in China is estimated to grow 3.2 per cent per year, but in the rest of Asia it will be 4.4 per cent, even though countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan will show further decline. The growth in the rest of the world is estimated at just at 1.8 per cent per year.
In the case of polyester staple however, according to Driscoll, a distinction has to be made between large-scale modern plants aimed at producing short-staple for yarn-spinning, and the smaller batch plants using polymer chip or recycled bottles as feedstock. These smaller plants could be stopped in times of low demand and started depending, for example, on seasonal demand for fiberfill. Driscoll mentioned that it could well be that the larger plants might currently be running at 70-75 per cent, while the smaller ones, at least in China, would only run at 50-60 per cent of capacity.
The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has sought funds from the government to help it procure raw jute and pay staff salaries. Jute products are piling up in mills across Bangladesh due to a fall in exports and sales for the fiscal year 2012-13 and 2013-14. Due to fund constraints, jute- procurement activities of the mills are being hampered.
Bangladesh is the world’s largest grower of quality jute. The cultivation of jute and its use as utility products in the life of the people of this region dates back to some centuries. BJMC buys raw jute for the mills through 182 purchase centers located in jute-growing areas of the country and thus ensures fair price to the farmers. The corporation has set a target to procure 2.26 million bales of raw jute for the financial year 2014-15.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation is the world’s biggest state-owned manufacturing and exporting organization of all kinds of jute goods. It does research and experimentation towards product development. As the largest manufacturer in the jute sector, BJMC produces mainly hessian cloth, different types of hessian bags, sacking cloth, different types of sacking bags, yarn, geo-jute, blanket, jute canvas and carpet backing cloth from jute.
www.bjmc.gov.bd/
The next edition of Texprocess, the trade fair for processing textile and flexible materials, will take place in Germany from May 4 to 7, 2015. The fair provides a single platform for showcasing automation technology for the garment and textile processing industries, CAD/CAM, information technology, cutting, design and product development, distribution logistics and many more.
Texprocess features companies from south and east Europe, central Asia and Africa. The ‘Source It ‘area will offer detailed insights into new channels and technologies. The area is distinguished by its highly technological orientation and, therefore, is of particular interest to visitors, most of whom come to see machinery. Source It is a platform for contract manufacturing. Source It also presents companies from the outward-processing sector. This combination of production companies and suppliers of machinery and technology is unique in Europe and future-oriented.
Given the demand for environmentally-friendly and socially fair production in the garment sector, Source It will focus on social standards and textile labels in its next edition in 2015. Well-known testing and certification systems, such as GOTS and Oeko-Tex with STeP, have found their way into production facilities in eastern Europe and Asia.
Texprocess takes place parallel to Techtextil, the international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens.
