FW
Finland is developing methods for handling textile waste. The practice of dumping textile waste at landfill sites will be brought to an end by January 2016. Large-scale solutions to the problem are already being developed. Fabric as good as or better than the original can be obtained by using solvents to break down worn-out and even heavily soiled textiles.
Although reuse of textiles and mechanised recycling methods ease the burden on the environment, the textile mass also includes material in poor condition or heavily soiled, limiting the opportunities for recycling. The new methods multiply the utilisation possibilities.
Scientists are developing methods for restoring worn-out fiber to pristine condition. They are working on methods for separating the cellulose molecules contained in textile waste, such as cotton, using efficient and environmentally friendly solvents.
Even the molecules of old and worn fiber qualify for reuse. The fibrous components of worn fabric can be separated and returned to textile production as raw material. The end result can be a product of equivalent quality to the original or even better.
Methods are being developed for recycling, decoloring, bleaching and dissolving textiles. Textiles are fed into the process both intact and as loose scraps. Color is then removed and the solubility of the cellulose increased. After the application of solvents and removal in solution, the recovered cellulose is then spun into fiber. The remaining fibrous material is normally polyester, which can be melted down and used in the preparation of fibers and composites.
Hong Kong-listed yarn and garment fabric manufacturer the Texhong Textile Group saw a fall in profits for the first half of the year due to weak yarn sales prices in mainland China market and the depreciation of the yuan against the US dollar. It has a subsidiary unit in India. The profit attributable to shareholders declined by 72 per cent year-on-year for the six months ended June 30 this year.
The company’s gross profit margin dropped by 8.2 percentage points to 13.2 per cent while its net profit margin is also down 9.7 percentage points to 2.7 per cent. Its strategy would be to gradually increase the proportion of synthetic fiber yarn sales and reduce the impact of fluctuation in cotton price on the group’s financial performance.
The depreciation of the yuan against the dollar would continue to affect its business, as a significant amount of the company’s sales revenue is denominated in yuan, while certain costs and liabilities are denominated in dollars. The company’s revenue from external customers rose by 26.5 per cent thanks to higher yarn sales volume in the first half of this year. Mainland China was the major source of the company’s revenue followed by Macau.
www.texhong.com/home/home.htm?languageno=en
Bangladesh garment exports fell in July compared to a year earlier. This is mainly due to the political crises and the industrial disasters last year, which dented the confidence of international retailers.
In the first month of the current fiscal, export of woven items declined by 4.14 per cent compared with the same month last year. In August 2012, exports of woven items declined by 12 per cent and knitwear products by 24 per cent. Bangladesh’s garment industry performed well even in the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008 with higher exports of basic garment items worldwide.
Garment exports were badly hampered in October, November, December 2013 and January 2014. Along with massive disasters in the sector, production cost increased by nearly 15 per cent with the appreciation of local currency against the dollar. Another cause of concern for the Bangladeshi garment sector is the higher bank interest rate, which has been eating up the marginal profit of garment makers. And in some cases buyers bargain for squeezing prices further.
In July 2014, overall export earnings went down by 1.37 per cent and were 2.03 per cent less than the target. Other problems are the inadequate supply of gas and power in industrial units and the poor condition of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
Indonesia wants to reduce its dependence on imports of raw materials for its garments industry. Therefore, it plans to impose a filament yarn anti dumping duty (KADI). The idea is to import substitute local products as raw materials. At present nearly 50 per cent of the capital goods and raw materials in the country are imported. The focus will be on integrating the upstream and downstream textile sectors.
Indonesia has a comparative advantage for labor-intensive industries and a sizable domestic market. The geographical distribution of the Indonesian textile industry is concentrated on the island of Java. Almost 90 per cent of the textile industry is located in Java.
The imposition of anti-dumping duty is aimed at companies which dumped cheap goods. Another aim is to create fair competition in the domestic market. The imposition of anti-dumping duty on three types of filament yarn is expected to reduce imports, so that the country can maintain its balance of trade, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Currently, Indonesia is ranked 12th in the world in textile exports, with approximately 1.6 per cent of the world market share. Since 2008, due to the global economic downturn, the number of factories, exports and production declined, however, in 2011, there has been a gradual reversal of the trend.
The most popular export items from 2007-2011 were woven clothing, underwear and knitted or crocheted clothing which together made up nearly 60 per cent of the total value of textile exports over this period.
The Bangladesh garment industry faces a lot of challenges. At one time cheap labor force was one of the main factors behind the growth of the garment industry in Bangladesh. But now it’s no longer possible to depend on cheap and unskilled labor. Entrepreneurs have to invest in developing a skilled work force.
Also garment manufacturing used to be given to sub-contractors. But it is no longer possible to manufacture garments under the sub-contracting system as international retailers are wary of placing orders under this arrangement. Sub-contractors have a reputation for running non compliant factories and exploiting the cheap labor force in contrast to entrepreneurs who invest in ensuring the safety of workers.
Determining and giving minimum wages by considering the cost of living is the main challenge for the sector. Although the minimum wage for garment workers was fixed last year, it is still below the standard of living.
Many garment owners have yet to pay employees their arrears. Owners in turn say that violent trade unionists in collusion with hired thugs disrupt functioning. Owners who want to relocate their factories want the government to provide infrastructural support. They also say the government should do a census on the garment sector.
Pakistan's textile exports might fall during the current fiscal year. The reason is global buyers, fearing that the country’s power and gas shortages might delay their supplies, have placed low orders for Christmas and New Year.
And these shortages actually have delayed shipments from Pakistan to the west. WEestern buyers prefer Bangladesh and other Asian countries. They place orders with Pakistan exporters for textile items on a monthly basis, instead of six months or yearly, as they used to do in the past. Christmas and New Year are key sales seasons for them and they cannot afford to miss such mega festivals merely because of manufacturers’ faults.
Timely shipments to world markets are a problem for exporters in Pakistan as they are unable to dispatch orders ahead of the export deadline. If exporters produce late shipments, they have to bear the airfreight charges to meet the deadline, which is expensive.
The political turmoil in the country is another reason for the fall in total textile exports in the current fiscal year. Western buyers are uncertain whether they would be receiving shipments on time. They are reluctant to place orders with Pakistani textile exporters for such big occasions in Europe and the US fearing low industrial output in the wake of the country’s power and gas crises.
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA)’s Chief Co-Ordinator Ijaz Khokhar has said that a nine percent growth in readymade garments exports achieved by the Pakistan’s export industry is a normal trend. He demanded that there is an acute need of government efforts to boost exports, which are currently ‘invisible’. Despite the country receiving GSP Plus status from the European Union, there has been no tremendous improvement in the export performance of the country.
There is overwhelming reliance on cotton/textile exports in the country's total exports. Cotton manufacturers according to the Economic Survey 2013-14 accounted for 53 per cent of total exports and registered a growth of 6.5 per cent - approximately the same as the year before; the highest growth was in bed wear (20.4 per cent), knitwear (10.7 percent) and readymade garments 7.5 per cent. All other subgroups registered growth with the exception of cotton yarn (negative 8.2 per cent), towels (negative 3.2 per cent) and art, silk and synthetic textiles attributed to unfavourable prices in the international market (due to an ongoing global recession) as well as increased domestic demand. Raw cotton exports registered a whopping 41 per cent increase due mainly to favourable prices overseas.
Identifying the problems faced by the export industry such as poor crops, delays in introduction of quality seeds and regulatory approvals of Bt cotton, widespread energy shortage, numerous local taxes and levies, high cost of finance and restricted trade regimes adopted by importing countries, the federal Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar in his budget speech announced a range of incentives for the sector. Industry body feels that the Finance Minister, however, compromised the growth rate with his focus on reducing the budget deficit.
www.prgmea.org
Bangladesh is going to start negotiations with Turkey for signing a bilateral free-trade agreement soon. The imposition of 17 per cent additional duty by Turkey on apparel items is seriously affecting exports from Bangladesh.
Apparel products account for over 75 per cent of Bangladesh’s total exports to Turkey. The signing of the proposed pact may lead to abolition of the duty on Bangladesh’s exports. In the fiscal year 2013-’14, Bangladesh exported goods worth around $856 million to Turkey while its imports from Turkey cost around $200 million.
Turkey in July 2012 levied 17 per cent additional duty on apparel from least developed countries including Bangladesh. Till then exports from these countries enjoyed zero-duty facilities in the Turkish market.
As an impact of paying the additional duty, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to Turkey came down to $355.93 million in 2011-12 from $518.32 million in 2010-11. That marked a steep fall from the 69.24 per cent growth posted in 2010-11 over apparel product shipments worth $306.27 million in 2009-10.
Bangladesh’s major exports to Turkey include apparels and clothing accessories, textile yarn and related products. Imports include lime, cement, products of chemical and allied industries, cotton yarn and cotton fabrics, iron and steel.
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Buoyed by improvements in economic growth and consumer spending, US apparel imports in the first six months of 2014 were 2.3 per cent higher than the same period the year before. In value terms, apparel imports climbed 2.96 per cent. Retailers have stocked up in anticipation of a busy spring and summer.
China saw a 2.2 per cent rise in the volume of its shipments to the US during the first half of the year. Massive double-digit gains continue to be seen by Vietnam whose share of the US market edged up from 10.1 per cent in the first half 2013 to 11 per cent in the same period of 2014. The country is also ranked as the fastest-growing apparel supplier to the US during the year so far, booking a hike of 12.9 percent year-on-year.
Vietnam has been gaining as both producers and buyers diversify their supply chains by moving some manufacturing from China. The country is also being buoyed by the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty with countries including Canada and the US, which would potentially allow imports of Vietnamese products into these markets with significant tariff advantages and flexible rules of origin.
Bangladesh is the US’ third largest apparel supplier. When it comes to imports from the US other large suppliers, gains were posted during the first half of the year by India (up 8.8 per cent), Mexico (up 1.1 per cent) and Pakistan (up 3.5 per cent).
Interfiliere Shanghai and Shanghai Mode Lingerie, the leading intimates and swimwear trade shows in Asia over the last decade are back again in October. This will be their 10th anniversary. These celebrations will also pay tribute to exhibitors and visitors who’ve contributed towards the success of these shows since their first session in October 2005.
In partnership with 'Nuits de satin', Shanghai Mode Lingerie will stage an exceptional display in the Central hall, showcasing outstanding heritage pieces from the last centuries. These pieces will depict the history of lingerie, and describe in details the amazing fabrics used, in all their variety, richness and creativity.
As a part of the 10th anniversary edition, Eurovet is doing an in-depth study of 13 major Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand in order to provide exclusive information on Asian market and production today. In addition to this, panel discussions will be held in six cities and capitals; Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei to further understand consumer behavior and retail strategy.
A first glimpse on Korea and Taiwan together with the results of consumer round tables in Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing were disclosed during a conference at Mode City Paris on July 7. For the 10th anniversary, the fashion show theme will offer ‘La Lingerie Circus’, a colorful, modern, fashionable and chic showcase. Special dedicated forum for Swimwear is a totally new initiative at Interfiliere Shanghai devoted to innovation and performance in the buoyant and growing sector of Body fashion.
www.interfiliere.com
