Egypt plans to set up the world’s largest spinning and weaving factory in Mahalla al-Kubra, at a cost of about LE900 million.

As per reports, the factory is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, after construction work was delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning, Weaving, and Clothes, this factory will contribute to a major shift for this industry in Egypt. It marks the first step forward towards the development and modernization of the textile industry, through the government’s plan to develop it at a cost of more than LE21 billion over two years.

The plan includes great focus on increasing exports and improving the quality of production by importing the latest machinery from Italy and Switzerland.

Planned on about 62,500 square meters, the factory accommodates over 182,000 yarn materials with an average production capacity of 30 tonne of yarn a day.

Egypt also aims to develop similar factories in Cairo, Kafr al-Dawar and the Delta region to convert the losses of public textile companies – approximately LE three billion – annually into profits.

Scotch & Soda has launched a new store expansion program. As per Fashion Network, the company plans to l open 15 new standalone locations over the next six months, as well as 12 concessions.

The company has also unveiled a new brand logo that reflects the brand’s design ethos of connecting the expected with the unexpected, celebrating the power of self-expression and liberal thinking of Amsterdam, the city where the brand was born.

Designed in collaboration with A Studio in New York, the new identity was revealed on the brand’s social media channels, website and dedicated app, as well as in several new stores, before launching on collections in November with the SS22 offer.

The store opening plan started with Utrecht in the Netherlands and will be followed by Westfield’s Mall of the Netherlands in Leidschendam on March 18, as well as the brand’s largest flagship worldwide opening in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. It will also open two stores in Germany, while a store in Ukraine will open in May.

Further the company will open two stores in Poland by October. It will open a store in the US in September, while a store in Israel will debut next month followed by Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. In Asia-Pacific, a new franchise will open in April in Mumbai, India, as well as in October in Perth, Australia.

The brand is also adding new showrooms and offices in Shanghai and Milan this spring.

The new stores will have strong sustainability features and the company will increase the responsible standard of materials used in its collections to a minimum of 50 per cent of these materials.

A major producer of viscose fiber, Sateri plans to expand its lyocell production in in China to 500,000 tonne by 2025.

As per Sourcing Journal, the company kicked off the first phase of this expansion with groundbreaking on a new 100,000-tonne facility in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. It plans to build another 100,000-tonne plant in Nantong, Jiangsu province, later this year. The Changzhou facility is expected to commence production in the third quarter of 2022 and will create more than 800 jobs, the company noted.

Sateri forayed into China’s lyocell market last May when its 20,000-tonne lyocell production line in Rizhao, Shandong province, commenced production. The same site houses a 5,000-tonne lyocell pilot production line dedicated to the development of lyocell technology.

A natural and biodegradable fiber, Sateri’slyocell is made from wood pulp sourced from certified and sustainable plantations. It is manufactured using closed-loop technology, requiring minimal chemical input during the production process and utilizing an organic solvent that can be almost fully recovered and recycled.

Global leader in sustainable fiber solutions for the apparel industry, the LYCRA Company, has completed the self-assessment at all six of its fiber manufacturing sites by using the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM). As per Business Wire, the module reviews environmental management systems, energy use, emissions, water usage, wastewater, and waste and chemical management at the facility level. It also helps manufacturing locations establish an environmental baseline to pursue continuous improvement.

The module was introduced at LYCRA Company’s Maydown site, in the North West of Northern Ireland, more than a year ago. Based on initial learnings, the remaining five production facilities completed self-assessments simultaneously. These modules were posted to the Higg portal in December 2020 and can now be shared securely with customers upon request through the Higg platform.

The Higg Index suite of tools was developed by The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). The Higg FEM gives manufacturers, brands and retailers a clear, holistic picture of facility-specific environmental performance and impacts. Assessments help identify and scale opportunities for sustainability improvements that protect the well-being of factory workers, local communities and the environment. The LYCRA Company, the only spandex (elastane) producer member of the SAC, plays an active role on several sub-committees of the coalition.

Slovakia-based JEKA Studio has upgraded the single step, digital, direct-to-garment, production on demand technology of its Kornit Storm HD6 system, JEKA Studio produces a variety of production services for agencies, e-commerce businesses, and end consumers, spanning various quantities. In addition to digital DTG production, they offer offset printing, large-format digital printing, screen printing, sublimation, embroidery, and other services.

The studio installed the Kornit Storm HD6 system with scentless fixation and eco-friendly NeoPigment inks to produce garments at a 30 per cent faster rate, while higher-quality impressions have delivered an increase in orders.

It offers the best digital print technology in the market, with its increased color gamut and retail quality helping the company grow its customer base and accelerate future expansion plans.

As per Chris Govier, Managing Director,Kornit Digital, JEKA Studio demonstrates how Kornit’s customers continue to grow and expand their capabilities as the company continuously develops its systems, and continues to meet the demands of today’s web-driven, see-now-buy-now consumer mentality.

An Alabama-based textile manufacturer HomTex, has received FDA Emergency Use Authorization to make level 1 surgical masks, greenlighting its entry into the US government and medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) markets.

The company manufactures 3-ply disposable masks and reusable cloth masks and plans to soon produce NIOSH N-95 masks in a new plant in Selma, Alabama. HomTex has the largest capacity in the US to produce 100 percent made-in-America masks with facilities in Cullman and Mobile, Alabama; Tennessee; South Carolina; and North Carolina.

While hospitals and governments have been struggling to provide safe PPE for Americans, defective and fraudulent masks, often made in China, have flooded the US market. According to the Associated Press, federal law enforcement has seized 10 million counterfeit N95 masks alone, and the US Customs and Border Patrol announced in June 2020 that it seized 750,000 counterfeit face masks in 86 incidents. Due to emergency procurement rules put in place during the pandemic, China and other bad actors have access to the US market that otherwise would be banned. By selling defective and counterfeit masks at rock-bottom prices, fraudsters are exploiting US buyers with unsafe PPE and undermining US-made manufacturing.

A Parliamentary panel has urged the textile ministry to accelerate formalities to set up the proposed seven mega textile parks within a definite time frame. As per Outlook India, the project is currently awaiting cabinet approval.

The government had announced the MITRA (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks) scheme in this year’s budget to attract an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and generate 150,000 jobs in the sector.

Expressing concern that during 2020-21, only Rs 24 crore could be disbursed as MUDRA loan to 4,278 sanctioned loans, the panel urged the ministry to take up the matter at appropriate levels so that appreciable disbursements are made under the scheme for the benefit of handloom weavers.

The Standing Committee on Labor also urged the textiles ministry to make the census process of handloom weavers more robust and foolproof to ensure genuine identification of weavers and actual dissemination of resources to them. It also urged the ministry to enhance cotton exports and reduce imports.

It also said the ministry should earmark a part of the Budget allocated under ATUFS (Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme) for research development on upgradation/modernization of the textile industry so that the import of high quality machinery can be decreased gradually.

Further, it urged the ministry to abolish anti-dumping duty, differential tariff rates, high labor and power costs, and improve logistic arrangements.

According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the country’s apparel and textile exports grew by over 40 per cent in the first two months of this year, due to the low base effect caused by the pandemic.

As per a China Textile report, the total value of China’s imports and exports in the first two months of 2021 increased by 32.2 per cent to 5.44 trillion yuan. Of this, exports increased by 50.1 per cent to 3.05 trillion yuan while imports increased by 14.5 per cent to 2.38 trillion yuan.

In the first two months of 2021, the total value of imports and exports in goods trade reached USD 834.49 billion, up 41.2 percent over the same period last year, of which exports reached USD 468.87 billion, up 60.6 percent, and imports reached USD 365.62 billion, up 22.2 percent.

In dollar terms, the accumulative exports of textile and apparel during the first two months of 2021 increased by 55 per cent to reach $46.18 billion. Of this, textile exports increased by 60.8 per cent to $22.13 billion while apparel exports increased by 50 per cent to $24.05 billion.

Renowned for its pioneering seamless crinkle stretch Maxxam® fabric, innovative textile producer Maxxam Textiles , is launching Eco-Maxxamfeaturing Q-Nova, a state-of-the-art recycled nylon from Italy which aims to reduce CO2 emissions, consume less water and use renewable energy.

For making this yarn, Q-Nova utilizes an environmentally sustainable recycled polyamide 6 yarn made from industrial waste and carries the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and Global Recycled Standard (GRS) Certification.

In the last seven years, Maxxam Textiles has acted as its own converter working with partner factories based in the UK to produce the finished fabric. With a huge revival in popularity from swimwear brands including Bond Eye, YOU Swim and many other brands, the new Eco-Maxxam option now offers an even more sustainable choice for swimwear, activewear, leisure and loungewear, womenswear, and kidswear.

The US Cotton Trust Protocol has added Advance Denim as its new member. The brand’s membership marks a significant step in their ambitious sustainability program which employs advanced technology and innovation to minimize the manufacturer’s environmental impact. It aims to ensure transparent supply chain for its customers by sourcing for more sustainable fibers.

The Trust Protocol is a new initiative that provides fashion brands and retailers with the critical assurances they need to show the cotton fiber element of their supply chain is more responsibly grown. It works by providing member brands such as Gap Inc and Next access to the Trust Protocol credit system to validate consumption of cotton and associated credit; and to aggregate year-over-year data in six sustainability areas: water use, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, soil carbon, soil loss, and land use efficiency.

Mills and manufacturer members of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol play a key role in providing this more secure and transparent supply chain to brands and retailers. As a member, Advance Denim can now provide its customers with all-important confidence about the U.S. cotton in their sourcing mix. Advance Denim joins over 200 other mills and manufacturers as members of the US Cotton Trust Protocol.