Bangladesh’s apparel exports to non-traditional markets grew 21.77 per cent this fiscal year. Among the reasons are cash incentives for exporters and systems upgradation. Currently, apparel exporters enjoy a four per cent cash incentive for export to non-traditional markets. In addition, apparel makers in Bangladesh are upgrading machinery and processes to improve product quality. Manufacturers have been participating in global expositions to reach new buyers, which contributed a lot to increased exports to new markets.

Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey are defined as non-traditional destinations. Traditional markets include the US, Canada and the European Union. Japan’s imports of apparel goods from Bangladesh were 28.90 per cent higher than in the previous year. China’s apparel imports were up by 29.33 per cent. And India’s apparel imports from Bangladesh were up by a stunning 79.09 per cent.

In grabbing more from the pie in non-traditional markets, Bangladesh has to concentrate on product development for those markets. A move towards a free trade agreement and bilateral trade relations will help. An integrated marketing and sourcing plan will be key to grabbing these markets as most of the time Bangladesh manufacturers work for quantity-based orders.

India’s cotton production for the 2019-20 season may fall by one per cent, says the US Department of Agriculture. The decline is a result of reduced plantings in Central Maharashtra, where farmers are shifting toward soybeans as well as in Karnataka, where farmers are switching to pulses and corn. While overall plantings are expected to fall, they are happening at an accelerated rate this season in part because of the delayed monsoon. As of July 19, the cotton planted area is five per cent higher than the five-year average, with plantings especially accelerated in Rajasthan and Orissa.

At 29 million bales, the anticipated 2019-20 output is down only slightly from the 29.3 million bales forecasted earlier this year, but still about nine per cent larger than the 2018-19 crop. While the prospects of a larger crop should result in greater export outflows, Indian cotton prices are currently uncompetitive in the global market compared to other suppliers. Indian cotton prices are up on improving quality and the higher prices help ensure that domestic mills will continue to rely on at least some imported cotton. As for the crop situation next year, the highly remunerative kapas (cotton) prices during the current year and the monsoon projection would induce Indian farmers to prefer to grow more cotton.

HP’s S1000 is a super wide dye sublimation printer, offering solutions for interior decoration and soft signage, including front and backlit applications. The HP Stitch S1000 delivers sharp prints and vibrant colors even on high density jobs printing direct to fabric using a print zone dryer. The S1000 automatically detects and corrects any nozzle problem with its infrared sensors.

Two other printers, the Stitch S300 and S500, are used for sportswear and fashion. Enabling continuous high-quality printing on paper and fabric, the printers achieve high levels of productivity in an even simpler process, reducing waste in printing. The HP Stitch S Printer Series also offers fast production and high uptime, while working unattended without operator management. In 40 per cent less time, a single operator can easily load and unload both transfer paper and textile rolls. Daily manual intervention is minimized with fully automatic print head maintenance. This allows print manufacturers to deliver print jobs just in time and reduce labor costs.

HP, a brand of graphics and signage printing solutions, has developed thermal inkjet printing technology and inks that can work on polyester substrates for the Stitch S Printer Series machines. The machines have applications from home decoration to sportswear.

GEMA, North India's biggest apparel association has urged the government not to replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with a new duty refund scheme called Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL). GEMA says, ROSCTL, which is a reimbursement of taxes already paid by the industry, is not similar in scope or role of MEIS. Also the backlog of 8 months reported by the smaller players in the industry has created a working capital crunch which would aggravate if MEIS is discontinued.

The association also requested the government to continue with the existing MEIS for garments (HS Code 61& 62) at 4 per cent until an alternative WTO complaint scheme is formulated and implemented. As the RoSCTL scheme was introduced to provide reimbursement of Central and State Taxes, its introduction should not trigger withdrawal of MEIS, rather alternate Scheme should be devised which is WTO complaint.

Diesel plans to finish fiscal 2019 with 20 owned stores in the United States. The plan is to reach 30 or 35 stores in the US in the next three years. The brand will update its store network, restructure its multi brand partners and strengthen its digital presence.

The Italian denim label is revising store looks and operations. The new concept will be deployed by the end of the year in 15 Diesel stores, both new and renovated, in Europe, the US, Japan, China and India. The interior design of the stores will be ultra-dynamic and adaptable. Back-end operations have also been redesigned, with stock levels based on omni-channel requirements. The main features of this new approach are flexibility and the ability to modify more easily the way products are displayed in-store, depending on demand, trends and other signals. Greater transparency is now in full view. The high energy, customised shop fronts have been designed in collaborations with local street artists. For example, in Paris, Diesel has decided to close down a store but open two new stores before the end of the year. In France, Diesel currently operates 84 direct retail outlets, between monobrand stores and department store concessions.

ATE and Rabatex will produce Karl Mayer warp preparation machines in India. The target will be mainly the A segment customer however, B and even C segments of the market will be covered. Rabatex, based in Gujarat, has 58 years of production experience and a world class set-up for manufacturing machines. The company has assembled three out of five Karl Mayer machines at its facility. ATE already has a state-of-the-art set-up with Truetzschler in India. With Karl Mayer, ATE will be the sales agent for the JV products.

Karl Mayer is the number one selling brand for warp preparation machines in India. There are 1000 such machines installed in the country, and 250 customers, and the numbers are growing every day.

India contributes at least 20 per cent of Karl Mayer’s business revenue. Earlier 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the company’s revenue in India was from corporates. Today, 60 per cent to 70 per cent of revenues are from markets like Ichalkaranji, Erode, Salem, Palakkad and Madurai. So while Karl Mayer has always had a strong presence in the corporate sector, today, the decentralised weaving sector also uses its machines. India is the biggest market for the company’s technology sizing machine.

Teijin Frontier has developed a polyester fabric that looks and feels like fine silk. While high-function materials made with manmade fibers are recently established as fashion trends in the market, demand also has been growing for natural texture materials made with natural fibers. Materials in which delicate fiber fluff is expressed, or fibrillated, on the surface of the fabric for smooth textures, similar to silk or cupro, are becoming popular, but these materials have problems with color fastness in wet conditions, yarn strength, color migration, fading due to fluff release and shape loss by washing.

Teijin Frontier responded by developing unique processing technologies to produce a new stable, easy-care polyester fabric that boasts of soft texture and fine appearance of silk produced by wild silkworms. This new material’s specially fabricated surface is soft and glossy, holds bright coloring, resists color migration, shrinkage and shape loss by using polyester fibers with excellent color fastness and fiber strength.

Teijin Frontier is a fiber and product converting company with advanced spinning processing, yarn processing and finishing methods. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers and composites, healthcare, films, resin and plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics to be held from September 25 to 27, 2019, will have a zone called Beyond Denim. Over 140 denim suppliers will gather at the zone. This will display eco-conscious fabrics. Beyond Denim will also feature a display zone themed around natural fibers, eco-friendly dyes and a generous helping of nostalgia.

Orta Anadolu from Turkey will showcase its new Zero-Max line. Described as sustainable denim taken to the next level, the fabric is crafted with an unique twill and elasticity fusion to make the denim soft and shaping, while being revitalised with more color options, recycled polyester and post-consumer recycled denim. It will also bring its Halys denim, coated with traditional artisanal red clay from a local river, for a unique texture and color. Indigo Textile from Pakistan will showcase its collections including 4-D eXpanded (stretch denim), Retro-Relived (vintage inspired looks) and Habitat (breathable yarn for a lived in denim texture inspired by the earthiness of nature).

Beyond Denim will exhibit the season’s themes. High-tech features and skilled craftsmanship are expected to be popular selling points in autumn/winter 2020-21 denim. For standout fashion, high-tech finishing effects (such as reflective, metallic and PU coatings) are predicted to be popular in denim.

The United States of America reaffirmed its commitment to support Ghana’s largest apparel manufacturer in West Africa, Dignity Do the Right Thing (DTRT) located in Adabraka, Accra. The country will increase its export volumes from Ghana to $28 million by end of 2020 and employ an additional 2,500 youth from the country.

The DTRT apparel manufacturing facility is a beneficiary of US Agency for International Development (USAID) programming and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The facility was formed in 2014 as a joint venture between a local Ghanaian clothing manufacturer (Dignity) and U.S. investors (Do the Right Thing). The company employs approximately 2,500 people, the majority of whom are women, who manufacture more than 10 million polos, T-shirts, and fleeces for sale in the U.S market. DTRT has driven the growth of garment manufacturing in Ghana and apparel exports through AGOA considerably over the last five years.

Exports have increased from less than $4 million in 2014 to approximately $14 million in 2018, and have risen by 50 per cent year-on-year from the first quarter of 2019. A greater percentage of the workers at DTRT have little or no educational background, some of them comprise of persons living with a disability while the rest are street hawkers.

Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc has cut its full-year revenue forecast for North America, its biggest market, as it suffered in the face of a strong performance by bigger rivals Nike and Adidas, sending its share down 11 per cent.

Sales declined by 3 per cent to $816 million, which is more than the 1.6 per cent drop predicted by a consensus of analysts drawn up by brokerage Bernstein. The Baltimore-based firm now expects a slight decline in its North America revenue for fiscal 2019 compared with a prior forecast of flat revenue. It is still sticking to its overall growth target on higher demand for shoes and apparel abroad.

The company has been spending more to open stores and improve its online offerings in international markets. These efforts helped Under Armour post growth in its Europe and Asia Pacific markets.

The company’s net loss narrowed to $17.3 million, or 4 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30 from $95.5 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, Under Armour posted a loss of 3 cents per share, while analysts were expecting a loss of 5 cents.

Since its founding in 1996, Under Armour has had an uphill battle to stand out in an industry that stalwarts Nike Inc and Adidas AG have dominated for decades.