Birla Cellulose has developed LivaReviva. This is a Recycled Claimed Standard (RCS) certified product, which contains 70 per cent dissolved wood pulp from sustainable forests with 30 per cent textile waste.

The quality of LivaReviva remains comparable to the quality of fiber produced using virgin wood-based pulp, which ensures that LivaReviva finds widespread applications among major global brands. LivaReviva can be tracked with the help of the Green Track platform. The platform, which has been designed by Birla Cellulose, helps trace the origin of the fiber and brings transparency and traceability in the long and complex textile value chain via blockchain technology.

Birla Cellulose aspires to increase the offering of circular fiber in textile products up to 1,00,000 tons by 2024 using textile waste and alternative feedstock that will help reduce the environmental footprint of textile waste and enhance circular economy.Circularity has been the key goal for Birla Cellulose in its commitment towards contributing to sustainable development.

In 2019, the company had launched LivaReviva with 20 per cent pre-consumer waste content. Birla Cellulose’s current efforts are concentrated on developing products made with industrial waste, post-consumer waste, and alternate feedstock. The use of alternate feedstock in total production is a climate friendly solution that helps in reducing waste.

The cotton industry in Australia is expected to expand from around 8,000 hectares to around 15,000 hectares. This follows the successful 2022 harvest, where some bales fetched more than $900.

Last season saw some of the highest prices for Australian cotton. As the annual monsoon fast approaches, farmers are preparing massive swathes of land for one of the world's most profitable crops. Cotton is a very high return crop. The industry as a whole produces yields of around two to seven bales of cotton per hectare, depending on location, using a mostly rain-fed system, which relies not on irrigation, but on monsoon downpours. In past years, southern growers have averaged between ten and 15 bales a hectare using an irrigation system.

Since the crop’s popularity started rising in northern Australia, cotton has had some sections of the community worried about the steady supply of water crucial to production, and how land clearing could impact the climate, sacred sites, and endangered animals.

Cotton in Australia is not seen as a massive water user. Changes in the climate are seen as working in the industry’s favour. Strong regulation is seen as the key to managing the industry sustainably. Initial indications that the industry would consist of 80 per cent rain-fed crops, and 20 per cent irrigated, have been reassessed.

The bamboo apparel market is growing at six per cent a year.

Apparel made of bamboo is entirely natural, silk-soft, and biodegradable. Bamboo clothing is made from bamboo pulp, which is incredibly soft. Bamboo is an excellent fabric for clothing because of its great breathing qualities provided by its hollow fibres. Bamboo fiber has tinier pores and gaps than any other material, allowing for improved ventilation and moisture absorption.

Manufacturers’ green approach in product processing and manufacturing is paving a way for the market growth. In this approach, the bamboo’s woody components are broken down, and the walls are disintegrated into a mushy mass using natural enzymes. After that, mechanical combs are used to separate natural fibers into yarn. Such transparency in the manufacturing processes is generating a loyalty factor among consumers towards manufacturers and increasing the product demand.

However the procedure is more expensive and labor-intensive, resulting in significantly less production. Bamboo-based textiles are reasonably priced, aesthetically attractive, strong, and cosy. Bamboo fabrics are anticipated to become a favoured textile in the years to come because they are simple to create, maintain, and offer additional health benefits.

Fashion designers are increasingly choosing bamboo textiles. Well-known fashion designers while creating their collections frequently use bamboo materials.

Australian retailers are keen to explore Bangladesh as a sourcing destination.

They are looking for new apparel and footwear suppliers and are aiming at reducing their dependence on China. This means Bangladesh has an opportunity for market and product diversification, which it is looking for, mainly due to the effects of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict effects.

With LDC graduation in 2026, Bangladesh would have to overcome the challenges of losing preferential treatment in its export markets. But Australia has decided to allow preferential treatment for Bangladesh’s exports even after LDC graduation. Australia and Bangladesh look to push up bilateral trade. Australian LNG and wool could be helpful for Bangladesh, while Australia could utilise Bangladesh's agricultural products.

Of Bangladesh’s exports to Australia 88 per cent are apparel items.Bangladesh’s imports from Australia mainly consist of vegetables, oil seeds, iron, steel, cotton and mineral fuels.Australia is partnering with the International Labor Organization to improve working conditions, empower women and boost the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry. The partnership has been strengthened by the re-commitment of funds for Better Work Bangladesh as part of Australia’s ongoing partnership with ILO.

Australia has been supporting BWB since 2016. Australia’s ongoing support for the Better Work Bangladesh program drives important changes in workplace safety in the garment industry.

Indian apparel exporters are facing various constraints. Among these are increased prices of raw material, the Russia-Ukraine war and sluggish demand in major garment importing countries. In addition buyers are asking for higher discounts.

The impact of the global slowdown on trade is beginning to show on credit demand from Indian exporters, with export credit by banks shrinking nearly a quarter year on year at the end of October 2022 by 25 per cent, signaling further downsizing in overseas merchandise exports. Most of the traditional markets of Indian readymade garments including the UK, EU and the US are witnessing recession and global headwinds, leading to shrinking of demand on one side and buyers asking for discount on the other.

Exporters now are waiting for free trade agreements in these markets to be expedited and ensure all tariff lines of the garment sector to be insured, which will enable a duty reduction from existing 9.6 per cent and act as a strong breather. Among the issues they have raised are early announcement of the PLI-2.0 scheme, extension of ATUFS, RoSCTL disbursements through bank transfer; relaxations to apparel exporters under various provisions, one-time relaxation on account of bankruptcy, insolvency , discounting, cancellation of export orders, and raw material security.

When it comes to engineered products with non-aesthetic purposes, where function is a primary criterion the technical textile market reigns supreme over traditional textiles every time. Manufactured using natural as well as man-made fibres such as Nomex, Kevlar, Spandex and Twaron that exhibit enhanced functional properties such as higher tenacity, excellent insulation and greater thermal resistance, the global technical textile market is in good shape these days.

The technical textiles market is expected to grow significantly to reach a CAGR of 6.2 per cent by 2025, says a report ‘Global Technical Textiles Market’. The niche market includes textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles, geotextiles and for protective clothing such as heat and radiation protection, molten metal protection for welders, stab protection and bulletproof vests and spacesuits among other uses. This segment is now coming into its own by using both synthetic and natural fibres for chemical processing to make high-performing textiles of far greater quality and strength than traditional textiles.

Hi-tech speciality fibres is the focus

The pandemic may have led to reduced growth but due to increased demand for medical garments such as masks and gowns made using technical textiles, there was always a glimmer of light in the middle of darkness for the technical textiles market. Technical textiles which were earlier a sunrise segment came into their own during the Covid-19 crisis with mass production and export of medical equipment including N95 face masks and protective gear among others.

The number one market driver for is global increase in awareness and demand for technical textiles. As there is an increase in awareness about the quality, functionality, and availability of technical textiles, demand for product has increased as well. More and more consumers are demanding flexible, durable, high-quality, and high-strength textiles. Whether it is for activewear, undergarments, or medical apparel, technical textiles are superior to traditional textiles.

Many countries are now focussing on setting up manufacturing units for technical textiles and moving away from traditional textiles as their quality and not quantity keeps raking in profits. Invention of speciality fibres and including them in all segments is increasing their popularity for the future. The Asia-Pacific has seen the maximum growth in this sector and captures the largest market share due to rapid urbanisation, technological advancements in medical, automobile and construction industries and also fuelled by easy production, low-cost labour and conducive government policy support.

Asia Pacific markets the growth drivers

Asia-Pacific has seen tremendous growth in this sector and captures the largest market share due to rapid urbanisation and technological advancements in the medical, automobile and construction industries. This is further catalysed by easy production, low-cost labour and conducive government policy support. Industry analysts feel that the Asia-Pacific region has 40 per cent of global market, while North America and Western Europe have around 25 and 22 per cent respectively.

However, it’s not a walk in the park for the technical textile segment as it has to cope with many restraints. High manufacturing and production costs of the textiles due to sophisticated manufacturing infrastructure and expensive raw materials needed make the finished products produced expensive as compared to traditional textiles. The pricing structures for the finished products are sometimes not worth the high production costs, which discourages many manufacturers.

There are also many environmentally friendly criteria mandates to deal with which regulate the technical textile manufacturing materials and this is different in every region. The technical textile market is expected to be on an upward swing during the forecast period until 2025 with key market players pitching in such as Asahi Kasei (Japan), DuPont (US), Mitsui Chemicals (Japan), Berry Global Group (US), and Freudenberg & Co. (Germany) among others.

Indian exporters witnessed a 100 percent growth in their business on Amazon. Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale events were held from November 24 to 28, 2022.

Under Amazon’s global selling initiative, sellers from India sold on Amazon’s global marketplaces like North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Japan, and Singapore.With Amazon global selling, entrepreneurs of all sizes from across India can leverage Amazon’s investments in logistics and infrastructure to cater to customers across the world.

Amazon aims at enabling $20 billion in cumulative exports from India by 2025. To onboard sellers to its global selling program, Amazon has reduced the subscription fee for new exporters and has witnessed a 50 percent jump in new seller sign-ups on the program.Amazon’s global selling program was launched in India in 2015 to help Indian exporters reach customers worldwide through Amazon’s international websites and marketplaces. The company has more than 100, 000 exporters across India on the program.

During Amazon’s Great Indian Festival (AGIF) this year more than 80 per cent of new customers were from smaller towns.Customers got access to crores of product selections from sellers including unique items from lakhs of small and medium businesses. More than 35,000 sellers saw their highest-ever single-day sales; over 650 sellers became crorepatis and 23,000 sellers became lakhpatis.

The performance of Indian cotton spinners moderated in the second quarter due to inflationary pressures and uncompetitive prices. So says rating agency ICRA.

However, absolute profits are projected to remain healthy, supported by a higher scale of operations. For the first half of the financial year, inventory levels for most players have come down with the cotton stocks from the previous harvest season getting extinguished and sharp volatility in cotton prices affecting the buying power of spinners. And with higher raw material prices exerting cost pressures, operating margins remained flat. In the second quarter revenue and margins dipped for Indian spinners amidst macro headwinds, while for the apparel segment revenue and margins remained flat, with recessionary conditions in key markets.

Most players faced a decline in inventory levels in the second quarter after cotton stocks from the previous harvest season started to reduce and cotton prices saw a sharp volatility, resulting in players becoming cautious on buying. A recessionary environment in key export markets affected discretionary consumer spending leading to lower export sales. For the first half of the fiscal year, inventory levels for most players had reduced. This was in line with large retailers who focused on reducing inventory due to a weak demand scenario and recessionary pressures in key exporting regions.

Tens of thousands of Vietnamese factory workers have been laid off.

Almost half a million others have been forced to work fewer hours as orders fall in the southeast Asian country, one of the world’s largest exporters of clothing, footwear and furniture.The cost-of-living crisis in Europe and the United States -- major markets for Vietnamese-produced goods -- has seen the buying power of Western shoppers plunge.Women factory workers, who make up 80 percent of the labour force in Vietnam’s garment industry, have been hit the hardest.

Since September 2022, more than 1,200 companies -- mostly foreign businesses in the garment, footwear and furniture sectors -- have been forced to sack staff or cut working hours. Compared with last year, orders are down 30 per cent to 40 percent from the United States and 60 percent from Europe, where inflation and energy bills have soared because of the war in Ukraine.More than 4,70,000 workers have had their hours slashed in the last four months of the year while about 40,000 people have lost their jobs -- 30,000 of them women aged 35 or older.

The slowdown has come as a shock because export businesses in Vietnam were running at full capacity for the first half of 2022.

The second edition of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is being finalized.

The scheme for garments, made-ups and home textiles will have lower minimum investment and turnover requirements so as to attract small and medium entities. The incentives on offer may slightly be lower than what was offered under PLI 1. But the scheme would still be attractive. The PLI scheme for textiles (first edition), introduced in 2021, is divided into two parts and is available for the production of manmade fiber fabrics and apparels as well as technical textiles.

The minimum investment requirement for the first part is Rs300 crores with a minimum turnover requirement of Rs600 crores. Investors are entitled to an incentive of 15 per cent of the minimum turnover in the first year, which is to go down by one per cent over the next four years.

Part two requires a minimum investment of Rs100 crores with a minimum turnover requirement of Rs200 crores. The incentive here is lower at 11 per cent in the first year, which is to be reduced by one per cent over the next four years.The second edition of the PLI scheme will be available to cotton items also.