Pakistan’s textile exports surged by 26 per cent to hit a record high of $12.6 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2021-22.

Data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) shows, in rupee terms, Pakistan’s textile exports witnessed an increase of 33 per cent to Rs2.15 trillion during the first eight months of fiscal year 2022.

During the first eight months of fiscal year 2022, knitwear exports increased by 34 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $3.3 billion followed by ready-made garments which were up 25 per cent to $2.5 billion and bedwear recording a growth of 20 per cent to $2.2 billion.

On a monthly basis, Pakistan textile exports grew by 8 per cent on a month-on-month basis in February. In addition, knitwear and ready-made garments exports grew by 7 per cent each to $414 million and $354 million, respectively.

Compared with last year, Pakistan textile exports surged byb36 per cent on a year-on-year and up 50 per cent on a year-on-year basis in rupee terms in February 2022, led by significant growth witnessed in value-added segments, largely in knitwear, up 42 per cent and ready-made up 49 per cent amidst volumetric growth.

Basic textile exports increased 35 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $369 million where major contribution comes from cotton cloth, up 56 per cent to $233 million.

Prashant Jhaveri has been appointed as the new CEO of Flipkart’s healthcare business Flipkart Health+, as the e-commerce company scales up numerous areas of its operations this year.

Earlier employed as the Chief Business Officer at Apollo Health and Lifestyle, Javeri has worked with numerous healthcare businesses. He has also worked as CEO of MediBuddy and was chief business officer at Medi Assist Group.

Jhaveri’s vast experience in the sector will be great asset in the journety to build Flipkart Health + as India’s premier tech-enabled healthcare platform, says Ajay Veer Yadav, Senior Vice President.

Flipkart launched Flipkart Health+ in November 2021. The Walmart-owned business has spent approximately between spent $400 million and $500 million on mergers and acquisitions in the past year and a half.

The new initiative will aim to provide Indian users access to quality and affordable healthcare. For this, it plans to start with e-pharmacy first, meaning Flipkart Health+ will let users purchase pharmaceuticals through its online portal and correspondingly deliver them to the consumers' homes.

Neela Hosne Ara, Chairman, Crony Group, has been named as the new director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Rubana, chairperson of Mohammadi Group, on 15 February resigned as a BGMEA director following her appointment as vice-chancellor of the Asian University for Women.

Later on 1 March, the BGMEA board decided to fill the position with a female director and chose Neela who had secured the next highest number of votes among women candidates in the biennial election of the trade body for 2021-2023.

Traditionally, apparel exporters contest the BGMEA biennial election in two panels – Sammilita Parishad and Forum.

In the last election, Sammilita Parishad led by Faruque Hassan secured 24 posts of directors while the other panel, Forum, won 11 posts.

Global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and accessories, VF Corporation has appointed Kevin Bailey to the position of Global Brand President, Vans®. Bailey will continue reporting to VF’s Chairman, President and CEO, Steve Rendle and serving on the company’s Executive Leadership Team.

This appointment marks Bailey’s return to the Vans® brand after holding severa l enterprise leadership roles at VF. Bailey was Vice President of Retail for Vans® when the brand was acquired by VF in 2004. He was later appointed as President of Vans®, a role he held from 2009 to 2016. Under Bailey’s leadership, revenue for the brand more than doubled to $2.2 billion.

Bailey has held a series of roles with increasing responsibility during his 17 years at VF. He most recently served as VF’s President, Asia-Pacific Region and Emerging Brands. In this role, he was responsible for VF’s Asia-Pacific regional platform as well as VF’s Emerging Brands platform, with responsibility for the Altra®, JanSport® and Smartwool® brands on a global basis. Previously, Bailey served as President of VF’s Action Sports Coalition, and the company’s Canada, Mexico, and Central/South America businesses.

Founded in 1899, VF Corporation is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities and experiences they cherish most through a family of iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland® and Dickies®.

Asia Pacific Rayon India Ltd (APRIL) plans to increase its production capacity of up to 600,000 tonne to meet the strong growth potential of viscose staple fiber (VSF) and strengthen its market position in Indonesia and export markets across the region.

As per Sachin Malik, Head, Global Sales, the additional capacity will be achieved through improved optimization and efficiencies, and by constructing a 300,000-tonne viscose production facility in Pangkalan Kerinci, where APR is co-located with its sister company and fiber supplier, APRIL Group.

The expansion will utilize APRIL’s current rayon grade AE pulp capacity from existing pulp production lines, with fiber supplied from APRIL’s responsibly managed renewable fiber plantations in compliance with internationally recognized forest certification standards and its sustainability policy and in keeping with the recently announced APR2030 commitments and targets.

Construction of APRIL’s additional production lines is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2021 and will include features such as a chemical recovery process upgrade, slush-pulp processing installation and other investments aimed at reducing APR’s energy use and environmental footprint. Upon completion of the additional production lines in 2023,

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) is one of the world’s key producers of viscose rayon. APR has penetrated Bangladesh within a few years after first being introduced to this important market that has been traditionally dominated by cotton.

With the US placing more orders to the region, Latin America’s textile exports are likely to surge exponentially this year. A study by Women’s Wear Daily shows, robust sales of knitwear, T-shirts, polo shirts, lingerie, underwear, and socks will boost Mexico’s shipments to $7 billion this year. Exports of denim and denim items may also increase, benefiting firms in the La Laguna industrial region, which houses Levi’s and Wrangler facilities, according to Garcia.

However, basic materials shortage might jeopardize these advances, says a Textile Focus report. Raul Garcia, Industry Specialist, opines, garment sales might rise by 10 per cent with US customers continuing to engage in close sourcing and seeking more competitive locations like Mexico.

The industry is pushing for additional flexibility in the USCMA agreement’s rules of origin, citing a scarcity of fabric, particularly synthetic yarn and thread, as making it difficult for suppliers to satisfy demands. According to Juan Sánchez, Owner, Texsun, Central American exports to the United States might increase by 10 per cent. However, scarcity of raw materials might jeopardize supplies.

Spanish clothing giant Mango’s profit for the year to 31 December 2021 trebled to €67 million from €21 million in 2019.

As per an Apparel Resources report, the Spanish retailer’s turnover also increased by 21.3 per cent to post €2.3 billion in the said period, when compared to 2020.

The turnover numbers are closer to 2019 numbers when Mango attained a record turnover of €2.4 billion.

Notably, the online sales rose by a good 23 per cent to €942 million, maintaining its proportion of total turnover at 42 per cent.

The retailer said that the year saw demand for kidswear grow by 60 percent over 2019, with menswear, homewear and kidswear accounting for 18 per cent of turnover.

Here it is important to mention that womenswear was Mango’s best segment with a whopping share of 82 per cent.

Mango has temporarily halted its operations in Russia and is presently analysing the impact the move could have on its business in 2022.

The retailer is majorly known for its menswear, womenswear and kidswear and has over 16,000 stores across the globe.

Pakistan aims to launch the Better Work Program (BWP to enable it to achieve decent work standards, especially in the export-oriented textiles and apparel sector, as per a report by the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).

Titled, “GSP+ Insights Pakistan”, the report further revealed that the country is co-funding ILO BWP through Export Development Fund, with support from European Commission.

According to the statistics mentioned in a report, Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased from €3.56 billion in 2013 to €6.64 billion in 2021, registering an increase of 86 per cent.

While Pakistan’s imports from the EU member states have also increased from €3.31 billion in 2013 to €5.59 billion in 2021, which represents an increase of 69 per cent.

Since 2013, EU’s exports to Pakistanhave increased substantially in many sectors including machinery (49 per per cent) Iron & Steel (114 per cent) Pharmaceuticals (143 per cent) Plastics (79 per cent ) and medical measuring instruments (45 per cent).

Exports to 12 EU member states that have increased by more than 100 per cent include Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, Netherlands, etc.

In an emerging industry trend, home décor is helping fashion brands offset pandemic woes and attract new customers. Many fashion brands are launching home décor products to widen their portfolio and tap the growing ‘work from home’ customer base. Though the target audience for home décor and fashion is completely different, fashion brands have been easily making a transition to home décor products, says a Glossy report.

For instance, brandless fashion retailer Quince launched a home category at the end of 2020, reveals Sid Gupta, Co-Founder. The e-commerce company began by selling bedding, priced similarly or a bit below DTC brands like Brookline before it expanded to table linen, pillows, bath mats and rugs. From being a miniscule percentage of Quince’s business in 2020, home décor has grown to account for over 35 per cent of sales till 2021. The e-tailer also sells accessories, leather goods and bags. Its home business has resonated well with customers who have been able to make the transition easily, explains Gupta.

Higher profit margins triggers transition to home decor

Leading global technology research and advisory company Technavio estimates, home décor sales may grow over $340 billion from 2022 and 2025. Throughout the pandemic, home categories of brands like Target and Macy’s made up larger part of their business. Target’s home décor sales grew 30 per cent year-over-year in 2021.

The home décor category also offers higher profit margins than the fashion segment. Profit margins for the category exceed 40 per cent while fashion category is less than 20 per cent. This makes the move from fashion to home décor a more natural one, says Kristin Dorsey, Vice President, Linc,

Nowadays, people are spending more time at home. This is enabling them to spend more disposable income on dressing up their surroundings. The home décor sales of Matchesfashion doubled last year with fashion brands like Simon Miller, Bernadette and Aquazzura launching home goods on their platform. Common values between home and fashion The marketing strategies of fashion brands foraying into home décor are similar to strategies they adopt for the fashion industry. For instance Aquazzura launched its home collection at Milan Design Week just like it launches fashion collections at the event. Brands like Simon Miller have launched similar campaigns for their home and fashion categories.

Though home décor and fashion products are completely different in terms of their presentation, they are similar in terms of values they adhere to. Both segments focus on brand ethics, sustainability, environmental impact, diversity and equity, adds Ali Hanvaloglu, Senior Director-Product Marketing, Akeneo, a product information management company.

The next edition of Techtextil North America will take place in Atlanta from May 17 to 19. in Atlanta. ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and Italian Trade Agency organize an Italian Pavilion, where 17 Italian machinery manufacturers involved in the production of machines for technical textiles will show their innovative solutions.

ACIMIT members exhibiting in the Italian Pavilion are: 4M Plants, Aeris, Arioli, Computer House, Fadis, Flainox, Guarneri Technology, Ima, Kairos Engineering, Mcs, Ramina, Siltex, Stalam, Testa, Willy.

The US textile industry is one of the top in US manufacturing sector, with a sales volume of exceeding US$ 64 billion in 2020, with approximately 300,000 workers and about 15,000 companies. The industry's strength lies in cotton, man-made fibers, and a wide variety of yarns and fabrics, including those for apparel and industrial uses. In 2021, the US represented the third market for Italian textile machinery exports, behind China and Turkey. In 2021 January-September period the value of Italian sales to US market was €93 million, an increase of 74per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.