The unprecedented rise in raw material prices has compelled the government to order a probe into cotton arrivals in the market. Exporters have also sought long-term policy measures to control rising prices. The prices do not factor in moisture and trash conditions. Excessive moisture can cause an additional 1 per cent loss and a minimum 3 per cent in excessive trash. This leads to Rs 119,600 to Rs 121,680 loss for spinners, says K Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills’ Association.

Release of cotton in calibrated quantities is adding to their woes, he adds. He advises the government to identify where the cotton is being stopped or hoarded. Spinners have also urged the government to remove cotton from the list of commodities traded on exchanges and make it available to farmers and mills, who are the only stakeholders.

Representatives of mill associations have also urged the government to direct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to buy the cotton from farmers and to sell it only to mills, even in smaller quantities. The CCI should not to sell cotton to traders and multinationals, they advise. Manifold increase in all costs has resulted in an increase in yarn prices. Due to the increase in cotton prices, the working capital of all the mills is reported to have eroded and this has also resulted in a severe financial crunch for mills in buying and stocking cotton, Venkatchalam adds.

Indonesian textile giant PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) faces the threat of delisting as the sale of its shares has been suspended for almost two years. The suspension of Sritex stock trading began when the company defaulted on its short-term debts.

Referring to Encouraging the Performance of the Textile and Textile Product Industry, the textile and textile product (TPT) industry of Indonesia has continued to experience ups and downs since the 1998 crisis. The industry had recorded growth of up to 15.35 per cent growth in 2019 after contracting in 2015 and growing low in the 2016 period.

The pandemic caused the textile industry to contract by 4.08 per cent in 2021.

However, the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) estimtes, textile industry contributed to exports of $ 10.63 billion in 2020. This figure only decreased slightly compared to 2019 (S$ 12.89 billion). The textile industry also still absorbs 4 million workers.

In Q1 FY22, the industry grew by 12.45 per cent Y-o-Y, says, Redma Gita Wirawasta, Secretary General, Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI). He expects the industry to grow in the range of 5-10 per cent during the year driven n by the entry of investment after last year's groundbreaking

In April 2022, Sri Lanka’ exports of apparel and textiles increased by 22.12 percent in April to $445.79 million. In April 2021, Sri Lanka had exported apparels worth $ 799 million, as per an Economy Next report.

Sri Lanka’s overall exports grew by 11.87 per cent to $915.3 million in April 2022 from a year earlier.

In April 2022, the value of Sri Lanka’s exports topped the 2020 and 2021 April month exports, as per the Sri Lanka Export Development Board.

Exports to the US increased by 23 per cent to $84.1 million, exports to Germany were increased by 27 per cent to $66.5 million and exports to India surged by 10 per cent to $59.4 million.

Global textile innovation and apparel manufacturing business, Alphine Group has adopted the Future-Fit Business Benchmark. Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the science-based strategic management tool defines the destination for businesses wishing to evaluate the initiatives needed to be undertaken for credible action towards a future-fit society.

Ashok Mahtani, Co-founder and Chairman, Alpine Group says, the tool enables them to accelerate change by bringing the rest of the industry – brands and partners alike – on this journey with them. “We do it so that our innovation and manufacturing can positively impact the entire value chain,” he says.

Lewis Shuler, Head-Innovation, Paradise Textiles, Alpine Group’s dedicated innovation hub adds, what the industry needs to make fashion fit for future is more collaboration on further solutions from all angles. “Our sustainability innovations include textile-to-textile recycling technologies and processes to minimize waste at scale” he adds.

As per an Apparel Resources report, Alpine Group’s announcement as the first textile innovation and apparel manufacturing business globally to adopt the Future-Fit Business Benchmark follows the recent launch of its Factory of the Future as part of Alex Apparels’ state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Egypt. Set to open in late 2022, the factory is expected to provide an additional 2,000+ jobs for the local community.

Class is discovering and promoting sustainable and innovative materials. The international eco hub is making responsible innovation travel internationally through A New Point of Materials by Lineapelle, the itinerary space imagined and constructed by Lineapelle in collaboration with Class Ecohub and Orietta Pelizzari, Global Fashion Advisor.

A New Point of Materials by Lineapelle is a new-generation, engaging and immediately accessible exhibition tool that allows all stakeholders in the fashion and luxury industry to discover and learn about the genuinely green journey of leather, textile materials and technologies.

In Milan, a new point of materials was featured inside Lineapelle, the international trade fair which has become a reference point for leather, accessories and textiles, during the time of Milan Fashion Week. Afterwards, this special initiative has been hosted by key sparkers of change in the LA scene, such as The Campus, The ArtCenter College of Design and several design studios.

Rising cotton yarn prices are threatening the textile industry in Gujarat as spinners cut production and shut down units despite Centre’s move to remove import duty. Raw cotton prices are hovering around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.15 lakh per candy. This has led to a decline in orders for yarn makers, says Saurin Parikh, President, Spinners Association of Gujarat. Nearly 120 spinning mills in Gujarat are running at little over 50 per cent capacity at present, adds Parikh. He is also the founder of Pashupati Cotspin.

Garment manufacturers in the state, are also witnessing production cuts of up to 45 per cent. It has become extremely difficult to run manufacturing unit in the state due to high fabric and cotton prices, affirms Vijay Purohit, President, Gujarat Garment Manufacturers Association.

Chintan Thaker, President, Welspun Group, opines, the industry needs to ban raw cotton exports to put a brake on the bullish run. PK Sharma, Senior Executive, Chiripal Group adds, inflated cotton prices are a cause of concern considering the fact that it is the most important raw material for most of our finished products.

The Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) has sought a reduction in limit of local value addition to leather products to 20 per cent. As per a Dhaka Tribune report, the rate cut will help enhance the sector's competitiveness on the global market. On May 9, Bangladesh Bank (BB) lowered local value-addition rate for the country's textile-sector exporters to 20 per cent from 30 per cent for the current fiscal year, in view of the current crunch time.

Currently, leather goods exporters enjoy 15 per cent cash incentives against their export shipments. During the past 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY), Bangladesh’s exports of leather and leather goods and footwear grew by 33 per cent. The export volume of leather and leather goods, and products like footwear and bags grew to $1.29 billion in the July-April period of FY22.

Bangladesh imports most of the accessories of the footwear sector as it does not have sufficient factories to manufacture them

Famous brands and buyers operating in the country nominate foreign accessories suppliers to maintain the product quality and compliance. Manufacturers import the required raw materials in a short span of time due to 'lead time' constraint set by the brands and customers concerned.

As a result, exporters cannot maintain the current 30 per cent domestic value-addition threshold is not possible to maintain, as per the LFMEAB. This leads to most exporters, especially non-leather goods exporters, being deprived of cash incentives and losing competitiveness capacity, adds the association.

In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh exported leather and leather goods worth $941.67 million. It plans to export $10 billion leather and leather goods by 2030, says Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce.

The International Denim Trade Show Bluezone has collaborated with Transformers Foundation in Munich this summer.

The Foundation was invited and accepted to participate in the Bluezone seminar series on August 30 and 31 in the main lecture centre at Keyhouse to present two information sessions on sustainability in our beloved denim industry. With a core pillar of Transformers Foundation being open education, this was a no-brainer partnership.

On August 30, presentations and discussions will revolve around the topic of energy. As we put all of our efforts into decarbonizing the industry, this timely topic will equip you with the tools to reduce your impact while providing networking opportunities for strategic partnerships.

The theme of day two, August 31, is Innovation. With an over saturation of marketing concepts promoting new developments as the latest and greatest, we will provide you with a vetted round-up of the truest innovations on the market and your chance to meet the people behind them.

Transformers Foundation is the unified voice representing the denim industry and its ideas for positive change. It was founded to provide a thus-far missing platform to the jeans and denim supply chain, and a central point of contact for consumers, brands, NGOs, and media who want to learn more about ethics and sustainable innovation in the industry. We represent the denim supply chain: from farmers and chemical suppliers to denim mills and jeans factories.

To transform Europe into a carbon neutral continent, the European Union (EU) plans to impose carbon tax as a part of the EU's Green Deal in several sectors. The risk list currently does not include Bangladesh’s main export products, garments and leather items. However, they are likely to be added at any time in future. Their addition to the list could hurt exports, warn experts, they also advise Bangladesh to introduce carbon tax and carbon market in the country besides focusing on renewable energy.

Transforming EU into a resource-efficient economy

A new growth strategy, the European Green Deal aims to transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy with zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A part of the Green Deal, the Carbon Tax will be levied on imports from foreign companies by EU listed buyers. The Carbon Tax will also make it mandatory for EU importers to declare emissions embedded in imports and surrender the corresponding number of certificates each year. If importers can prove that a carbon price has already been paid during production of the imported goods, the corresponding amount can be deducted.

Carbon tax to hinder exports

According to initial assessment of RAPID, the EU might include apparel, leather and footwear in its list of 63 sub sectors deemed at risk for carbon leakage in future. Taxing these products can hinder exports and competitiveness. They may reduce exports of the targeted carbon-intensive sector from developing countries by 2.4 per cent, says United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). However, apparel entrerpeneurs continue to remain unfazed by EU’s move. Md Fazlul Hoque, Managing Director, Plummy Fashions opines, Bangladesh will continue to march ahead of other countries in green initiative.

Focus on renewable energy

Rumana Huque, Economics Professor, Dhaka University believes, Bangladesh may lag behind competitors if it does not immediately begin to study the issue in detail and prepare in light of the standards of buyer countries. MA Razzaque adds, if Bangladesh is already preparing to pay the carbon tax, then it will not have to pay for export of goods to EU countries. It can instead focus on renewable energy.

At Rs 1 lakh for a single candy, cotton yarn prices are making a bigger hole in yarn spinner’s pocket than they did 18 months ago. The rise in prices is incapacitating small and medium-scale garment exporters, who now have to pay Rs 30 to Rs 50 more for a kg of yarn, says Krish, Managing Director, Victorian Clothings. Accounting for 45 per cent of a garment’s costs, yarn prices are generally absorbed by buyers during production. However, since prices have more than doubled, spinners have refused to absorb this rise, explains Ramu Raju, Partner, Fashion Knits, a Rs 75-crore manufacturer of jackets for brands like Esprit.

Spinners’ margins reduce

K Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, Tamilnadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA), says, yarn price rise has reduced the average spinner’s margins from 8 to 5 per cent as they have been unable to pass on the entire hike to garment manufacturers.

To control this rise, government has withdrawn the 10 per cent import duty on cotton from April 14 to September 30, 2022, to boost supply from Australia, the US and Africa. However, duty-waiver pacts by Bangladesh and Vietnam enable these countries to offer 10 per cent duty benefit to spinners. Bangladesh is also significantly more price competitive that encourages American and European buyers to place orders with Bangladesh exporters. Every year, business of 100,000-200,000 pieces per style goes away to Bangladesh, avers Krish.

FTAs help competitors surge ahead in garment exports

Over the last five years, India’s garment exports have stagnated between $16 and $17 billion. Both Bangladesh and Vietnam have surged past India thanks to their duty-free exports to Europe, points out Sakthivel, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Ex-Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

China is also marching ahead by increasing its share of man-made fiber garments in swimwear, winter items and long dresses worn by women, points out Raju. Competitors’ are offering clothing items, that are 85 per cent made from polyester fibers, adds Sakthivel. Spinners should aim for a 50:50 balance between MMF and cotton, he opines.

Lack of technical know-how in MMF production

Around 60 per cent of global trade is in MMF, says Thirukkumaran. However, India does not have the technical knowledge to make these garments at competitive rates. The performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will facilitate new joint ventures, collaborations and technology transfer agreements with South Korea and Taiwan and India may start making synthetic fabrics in a year’s time, opines Sakthivel.

India’s recent free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia and the UAE will facilitate duty-free garments exports to these country and duty-free cotton imports from them. Indian exports also plan to sign similar pacts with the UK and EU. Exporters are perennially troubled by labor scarcity in India. The country suffers from a 10 per cent shortage of skilled labors.

India also lacks required infrastructural support to scale up MMF production, says Raju. On the other hand, sound infrastructure enables China to hold 40 per cent of the export market share despite not having any FTA with importing nations, he adds.

To tackle the labor problem, The Tamilnadu Exporters and Manufacturers Association (TEAMA) is setting up a garment manufacturing park in Vedharanyam. However, this model is not likely work for high-fashion garments with embroidery and embellishments as it involves a lot of back and forth between various departments, rues Krish. Labor problem also threatens to take away India’s independence in garment industry and turn it into a garment importer in the next 20 years, he warns.