Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports grew 35 per cent in 2021-22. However in the first month of the new fiscal year the growth was only 16 per cent. Consumers in the US, the UK and European Union countries, the major markets of Bangladesh’s readymade garments, have been facing the pressure of inflation.Sales in apparel shops in those countries have dropped and stocks have been piling up in warehouses. As a result, the rate of new orders for the next two seasons has been declining.

Retailers are suspending current orders as their sales have reduced due to high inflation whereas new orders have decreased as well. Therefore, Bangladesh’s trade will remain low for two to three months. Walmart, an American multinational retailer, has cancelled orders worth billions of dollars given to manufacturers across the world for August. This worries many garment traders of Bangladesh as Walmart is one of the top buyers of Bangladeshi apparel products.

On the other hand buyers are shifting their business from China because of the trade war, coronavirus restrictions and the ban on the use of Chinese cotton. This could give a raise to Bangladesh’s exports. Many buyers are hoping to shift a significant portion of their business from China and expand their business in Bangladesh.

Investments in sustainable dyeing technologies are increasing amongst South American denim manufacturers. Peru-based Nuevo Mundo is the first South America-based manufacturer to adopt a sustainable dyeing technology after it abandoned chemical production of liquid indigo. Switzerland-based Sedo Engineering has developed Smart-Indigo™, a disruptive new technology to produce liquid indigo with oxygen being the only waste product. The technology uses electricity to produce liquid indigo for denim dyeing.

Creating healthier workplaces

As per a Textile World report, this makes the entire process free of hazardous chemicals, emit 90-per cent less carbon dioxide, consume 70-per cent less energy and 30 per cent less water at different stages of the process. A great protector of the environment, this technology helps create safer and healthier workplaces besides making production more economical. The technology is being used by 20 installations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China and Italy in addition to this first installation in South America. It enables Nuevo Mundo to create a unique value starting from the indigo dye that is one of the two main components of the denim indigo imills, says Mayo, Owner,

Facilitating an ecological transaction

Being cleaner, the technology helps decrease the environmental impact of dyeing and facilitates an ecological transaction, adds. It liquefies the indigo powder by adopting a new approach that consumes fewer resources than existing methods. Using only indigo pigment, caustic soda, water and electricity, the process is fully automated with the clean liquid indigo produced, metered and fed directly into the dye bath. This is the most sustainable method to dye denims, believes Sedo Engineering as it enables consumers and clothing brands to drive the change towards sustainability.

Cost advantages

The process also gives producers the advantage of producing their own dye on-site in required quantities. This leads to cost savings due as no costs are incurred to procure chemicals or pre-reduced liquid-indigo. Additionally, it also reduces the costs or water, energy and wastewater treatment, and, is independent from suppliers.

With the textile world moving towards increased sustainability, brands and manufacturers need to change accordingly. Currently being driven by pioneers like Nuevo Mundo, the change is highlighting the requirement of balance between planet, people and profit.

Trade preference programs provide duty-free US market access to selected exports of eligible developing countries.

Unlike free trade agreements, all preference programs are unilateral, meaning they do not require reciprocal trade concessions.

There are five major trade preference programs enacted in the United States, including Generalized System of Preferences, which applies to developing countries as a whole. However, the US GSP program excludes most textile and apparel products due to import competition concerns. The other four trade preference programs target specific regions. These are the Andean Trade Preference Act, the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act and the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

In 2021, about two per cent of US apparel imports came from trade preference partners.US trade preferences reflect both economic development and foreign policy goals. In addition to the economic benefits, eligibility criteria create incentives for beneficiary countries to support objectives such as adopting and enforcing internationally recognized worker rights, reducing barriers to investment, and enforcing intellectual property rights.

However, the trade preference program is not without controversies. For example, it is debatable whether the trade preference program effectively enhances the genuine export competitiveness of developing countries. Also, despite preferential duty benefits, US fashion companies often hesitate to source more from trade preference partners due to concerns about a lack of critical infrastructure, limited production capacity, and political instability.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in Pakistan has again directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to process all cases of textile companies received by the Export-Oriented Sector Registration Cell (ESRC) from the trade bodies and associations on fast-track basis for availing concessionary tariff regime of electricity, gas and RLNG.

Referring to eight cases of leading textile mills, the FTO declared that ultimately most of the textile cases were forwarded by the FBR to the Commerce Ministry after the intervention of the FTO office.

According to the FTO’s order, the FBR is directed to ensure that all cases received by the ESRC from the trade/associations are processed on fast track, conducting proceedings on a day-to-day basis and cases of all genuine exporters (as per FBR record) are immediately forwarded to the Ministry of Commerce. The FBR's ESRC should strictly confine itself to the dictates of circular number 4 of 2020 and process the cases without any delay, forestalling any irretrievable loss to the exporters.The FBR has been also directed to ensure that the discrepancies if any observed by the ESCR during the processing may be shared with the concerned field formations without delaying the process.

The export sector is the lifeline for Pakistan’s economy.

Berlin Fashion Summit will be held September 5 to September 7, 2022.

For the occasion, the sustainability conference will again open its doors for progressive minds to discuss the most urgent topics and present practical solutions for the industry. More than 50 speakers will join in 34 sessions to explore this season’s topic, Fashion for Positive Impact: Regenerative Transformation.

The conference will host, among others, a variety of presentation and discussion formats. Under the subject of regenerative transformation, the summit’s participants will explore how people and the planet depend on each other, and how fashion can build bridges between the biosphere, technosphere, and metasphere. The summit will also provide the platform for interdisciplinary collaborations towards the common good to create a positive impact.

This season, the program features six thematic blocks, addressing different facets of regenerative transformation in fashion. The first day tackles how fashion can make a positive impact in the biosphere, focusing on the planet and its communities. Here, topics such as regenerative materials, restoring biodiversity and ecosystems will be highlighted, creating a new culture of inclusion and equity, and reimagining workspaces as ecosystems to grow healthy creative economies.On day two, the attention will focus on transforming the technosphere and metasphere, looking at tech innovations and digitization as areas to apply regenerative transformation.

The textile business situation is worse in Asia than in the rest of the world. So says a survey by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation.

The textile machinery segment is the only segment still in positive territory.Business expectations have also turned negative for the first time since the start of the survey in May 2021. South-East Asia and South America are relatively more optimistic, the downstream segments as well. Business expectations of world order intake are weakening globally but still in positive territory. Here too expectations have turned negative in all textile segments except for textile machinery producers.

A difficult period is expected ahead. Order intake is deteriorating in all Asian regions and stable in North America, South America, and Africa. Order backlog has been slightly decreasing in the past few months, from a maximum of 3.1 months in March 2022 to 2.9 months in July. It is expected to continue falling until March 2023. The capacity utilization rate has been stagnating since the beginning of 2022 on an average. This indicator is rising in Africa and North and Central America. South Asia reports a strong decrease in capacity utilization, so do fiber and home textile producers as well as spinners. While high prices for raw materials, energy, and logistics are still regarded as major supply side concerns, they have somewhat eased compared to May 2022. The prospects of weakening demand caused by surging inflation are worrisome.

ISKO, Officina39 and Elleti Group are attending Munich Fabric Start to show the sector their sustainable interpretation of denim and fashion.

ISKO's journey of evolution heads to Bluezone, the international denim tradeshow hosted by Munich Fabric Start. Its Iconic by nature show concept will highlight ISKO’s collection with innovative technologies, finishes, and colors, providing the basis for ISKO’s sustainable fashion revolution. The technological innovations that bring ISKO fabrics to life have also become inspirations in the hands of Paolo Gnutti, resulting in the ISKO Luxury by PG Collection – Born to Amaze, breaking new ground in the world of premium, luxury denim.

Officina39 has evolved its range of chemical solutions for an increasingly sustainable textile industry: innovative efforts converge in technologies that consistently reduce water use and in key partnerships aimed at circular production, as The Circle Book 3 and the Denim Then and Now project, in occasion of the 20 plus years’ celebration of the Bluesign system.

The Elleti Group will enhance its presence at the Munich show by presenting a capsule collection with Wiser Wash and joining the Italian Luster, a project showcasing the synergies of the Italian supply chain, bringing together virtuous companies from northern Italy.

The recycled clothing market in five EU countries has enjoyed fast growth over the past three years.

These are the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain.

However, recycled clothing remains a niche product. Ultimately, recycled clothing only accounts for 1.5 per cent of clothing launched in the five EU markets. EU retailers adopt distinct merchandising strategies for clothing made from recycled textile materials. For example, clothing made from recycled materials concentrates on specific product categories, including outwear, swimwear, and bottoms, but is less likely to be available for categories including tops and dresses.

Affected by recycling technologies and raw material supply, recycled clothing sold in the five EU countries mainly uses recycled polyester or a combination of two or more recycled fibers. In comparison, it is still rare to see clothing made from 100 per cent recycled cotton, given the technical difficulty of making recycled cotton strong and durable enough.The unbalanced supply of recycled textile raw materials by fiber types also contributes to the phenomenon that recycled clothing concentrates on specific categories.

Recycled clothing looks bland. As much as 80 per cent of recycled clothing available in the five EU countries adopts the plain pattern and does not contain any graphics, spots, florals, or other designs.

AATCC has dedicated its library to its former executive vice president.

As AATCC’s executive vice president for more than 20 years, John Y Jack Daniels was often found in the Technical Center library researching changes to a test method, corporate members from the 60s, or foundational articles on reactive dyeing. In November 2022, that library will be named in his honor at a public ceremony.

The dedication will be a special feature of AATCC’s fall research committee meeting week. A few years after Daniels’ retirement, 15 past and current presidents of AATCC came together to recommend recognizing his contribution to the association by renaming the Technical Center library. They felt the library was a particularly fitting tribute. During Jack’s tenure as executive vice-president, he has been a staunch supporter and advocate of the association and a student of the historical information and documents retained by AATCC. The move was approved by the AATCC board of directors in May. In 2021, the library was reorganized to highlight some of the AATCC history that Daniels so knowledgeably and proudly shares with friends and colleagues.

More than ever, visitors to the library can share in Daniels’ passion for history and the legacy of AATCC. The presidents believe Jack’s leadership, contribution, and promotion of the association is immeasurable and merits this recognition.

Plummeting sales in the West amid rising inflation driven by the Russia-Ukraine war is the big cloud on the horizon for Bangladesh the apparel industry which has taken a hit. Foreign buyers are cutting new orders and postponing old ones, according to exporters who fear a huge fall in the industry’s earnings for the next few months. Export orders have decreased in August and its effects will be seen in September and October. Many buyers are holding up orders. Walmart has cut orders by 30 per cent. The industry’s condition bore a bright outlook months ago. After it earned $42.2 billion in 2021-22, the government targeted $46 billion worth of exports from the apparel sector for the current fiscal year, although fears of a fallout from the war raging in Europe grew after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

In the US, inflation-weary shoppers have been skimping on clothing purchases, prompting retailers to slash prices to clear inventory off the racks. Gap is the latest retailer to report a slump in apparel shopping for the second quarter, saying that net sales slumped eight per cent from a year earlier. Earlier this month, executives at US giants Walmart and Target offered deep discounts and rollbacks on clothing.