Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will be held in China, March 8 to 10, 2023. The fair is expected to gather nearly 2,500 exhibitors at an over 1,60,000 sqms of floor space.

Swiss manufacturer Alumo will showcase its renewably sourced, extra-long staple cotton fabrics, used in the production of quality shirts. Japan's Asahi Kasei will exhibit Bemberg, its regenerated cellulose fiber. Produced from cottonseed lint, a byproduct of cottonseed oil production, the environmentally friendly fiber is recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable.Turkey’s Bossa will showcase its range of quality denim fabrics. Produced mostly with cotton from the Better Cotton Initiative, the company’s fabrics are dyed using the SaveBlue process, which uses 87 per cent less water than conventional methods. Belgian integrated textile manufacturer Concordia Textiles will offer products with a range of end uses, in categories such as workwear, fashion, and bedding. Hong Kong's Esquel Enterprises produces accessories, yarns, fabrics, and finished garments for categories that range from menswear to home textiles. The company’s array of eco-friendly practices includes more sustainable packaging, developing a greener cotton seed variety, and a pioneering sustainable manufacturing facility.

With many countries opening up, the first seven months of this year have proven fruitful for the Asian textile industry. During January 2022 to July 2022, China’s exports of textiles and clothing rose by 16 per cent when compared with the same period in 2021.

For the third quarter Guess net profit declined by 26 percent. Revenues were down two percent in dollars but up ten percent in constant currency mostly due to a strong business in Europe. During the third quarter Guess delivered an eight percent operating margin.

Revenue generated from retail in the Americas fell two percent in dollars and one percent in constant currency. Wholesale revenues fell ten percent in dollars and nine percent in constant currency.Europe revenues decreased two percent in dollars and increased 17 percent in constant currency.European retail comp sales, including e-commerce, decreased eight percent in dollars and increased nine percent in constant currency. In Asia third quarter revenues increased ten percent in dollars and 28 percent in constant currency. Retail comp sales, including e-commerce, decreased two percent in dollars and increased 13 percent in constant currency.Overall licensing revenues also grew by four percent in dollars, driven primarily by the sale of handbags.Sweaters and other warmer weather items did not perform well probably due to the temperatures being hotter than usual in the period.

The company has also witnessed a consumer shift from casual to dressier items as the pandemic wanes and people return to the office and normalcy.

Cambodia’s garment exports to the US grew by 25 per cent from January 2022 to September 2022. c Trousers and shirts constituted the biggest chunk of Cambodia’s shipments to the US with a share of 31 percent of the total exports during the period this year. Along with jerseys, trousers and shorts contributed more than half of the total exports. Jerseys contributed 21 percent in the same period. Both products collectively made up for a 52 percent share of the total imports by the US.

The other top items were babywear (eight percent), nightwear (seven percent), shirts (four percent), T-shirts (three per cent), innerwear (three percent), dresses (three percent), coats (two percent) and swimwear (one percent).

Cambodia’s garment exports to the US have maintained a healthy growth year after year, which was not even dampened by the Covid-pandemic. The US is Cambodia’s largest export market, accounting for over 40 percent of Cambodia’s total exports. Apparel, footwear, and travel goods make up most of the US imports from Cambodia and employ over one million Cambodians, mostly women. The US and Cambodia meet regularly under the 2006 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which provides a platform for addressing bilateral and multilateral economic issues.

The retention value of the exported apparel from Bangladesh surged 36 per cent in the financial year 2021-2022 from a year earlier.

Thanks to the increasing use of local raw materials, Bangladesh’s retention value from the shipment of apparel items is rising, highlighting the development of a strong backward linkage industry and less reliance on imported yarn and fabrics.A high retention value means local garment suppliers use more local yarn and fabrics to make apparel items for international consumers, cutting their dependence on imported raw materials such as yarn, fabrics and dying chemicals.

From the very beginning of the garment industry in Bangladesh, the knitwear sector has created more retention value than the woven sector thanks to the higher use of locally made yarn by the former.Currently local spinners can supply nearly 90 per cent of raw materials needed by export-oriented knitwear factories as entrepreneurs have invested heavily in the primary textile sector.

The investment in the woven sector has not matched that of the knitwear sector. So, woven garment makers rely on countries such as China, India and Pakistan to source raw materials like woven fabrics.Local weavers can supply 45 per cent of raw materials to woven garment exporters.

India is struggling to export cotton despite higher production. The reason is farmers are holding out for higher prices. Harvesting of the new crop started last month, but many farmers are not willing to sell. They are holding crops hoping prices would rise like they did last season.

Farmers received record prices for their last season’s crop, but the new crop is unlikely to get the same price as domestic production has risen and global prices have fallen. Farmers have used proceeds from the last few seasons’ harvest to create storage facilities, which they are using to store the crops. Indian traders so far in the new season have contracted 70,000 bales for exports, significantly lower than more than 5,00,000 bales contracted during the same period a year ago.

Bangladesh, Vietnam and China are among the key buyers of Indian cotton. Limited supplies are keeping domestic prices significantly above the global benchmark, making overseas sales unviable from the world’s biggest producer of the fiber.Cotton prices hit a record high of Rs 52,410 in June. But prices have corrected nearly 40 per cent from the peak.India produced 34.4 million bales of cotton in the 2022-23 season that started in October, up 12 per cent from a year ago.

Bemberg by Asahi Kasei is supporting Blue Friday. It is in this context that Bemberg has obtained the OK biodegradable Marine certification, which guarantees the biodegradability of its products, even in a marine environment. This is a confirmation of 100 percent biodegradability in soil without release of any toxic residue.

With Blue Friday the company has started a new chapter in its sustainability journey. The fiber comes with a circular economy footprint obtained from cotton linters through a closed-loop process. Bemberg also ensures certified sustainability credentials through its transparent and traceable approach.

Blue Friday is an event held in Italy, November 25 to 26, 2022, as an answer to the famous Black Friday of 1929 which was perhaps one of the earliest warnings of the unbridled and unchecked growth of consumerism.Almost a century later, however, Black Friday has become a global compulsive consumption occasion.During Blue Friday concrete solutions to the issues that threaten the health of the ocean will be presented and at the same time awareness will be raised of critical and conscious consumption.

Blue Friday is a sea-friendly alternative to Black Friday with the mission to safeguard and regenerate the Mediterranean Sea through ocean education initiatives.

From 2023, the summer editions of Munich Fabric Start, Bluezone, Keyhouse and The Source will take place in the second half of July.

Munich Fabric Start will take place for the first time on its new date from July 18 to 20, 2023. Bluezone, Keyhouse and The Source will be staged as two-day events, on July 18 and 19, 2023.

The date modifications and diversifications are intended to offer exhibitors a wide variety of opportunities to react in a targeted manner to new needs and changes in the market.

From summer 2023,View Premium Selection will continue to take place twice a year, but with a new concept: for the first time as review Autumn.Winter2024/2025 on September 5 and 6, 2023, after Munich Fabric Start and once as preViewSpring.Summer2025 on November 28 and 29, 2023, before Munich Fabric Start in January 2024.

Another adjustment concerns The Source. In future, the new one-stop solution for holistic fashion sourcing will be organised as a once-a-year event as part of the summer editions of Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone. New is the supplementary format The Source Studio during the January fair. Keyhouse as a hub for future textile innovations will take place every two days in future and is thus adapted to the rhythm of Bluezone. Bluezone and the international denim community see great potential in this step.

Sri Lanka expects a 30 per cent drop in apparel exports during this month and the next month.

The main export markets, the United States and the European Union, gripped by inflationary pressures, are plunging into a recession stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These global headwinds are expected to impact Sri Lanka’s apparel exports in the coming six months.

In addition, the removal of the dual corporate tax rate structure, which is set to increase corporate income taxes on exports to 30 percent up from the earlier 14 percent, also threatens the competitiveness of the country’s exports, in particular when competing with countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. The proposed changes to the personal income tax structure could also fuel brain drain from the country, further impacting the industry.

Sri Lanka’s fashion industry is facing a lack of young professionals since 2019 as many aspiring individuals are moving away due to the challenges faced by them following the pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. Economic crisis has hit the imports of fashion designing materials with only a few materials available within Sri Lanka like accessories and fabrics. Imports of nearly 50 percent of the designing materials have been banned as the country’s central bank wants to save dollars in the face of an acute foreign exchange shortage.

Pakistan may impose a regulatory duty on the import of filament yarn. The aim apparently is to give protection to local manufacturers and discourage imports.

Yarn merchants say yarn is a raw material for the textile sector and discouraging imports will increase the cost of production.Cotton has been replaced with yarn across the world and most of Pakistan’s textile industry depends on imported yarn.

About 5,00,000 power looms and knitting machines use yarn as a raw material for manufacturing textile products. Commercial importers also import yarn for consumption by such manufacturers. Demand for yarn for local consumption stands at approximately 4,50,000 tons a year of which 3,50,000 tons are imported, which shows a gap of 78 percent. Yarn demand cannot be fulfilled in any way through local supplies, which raises questions over the motive behind imposing the regulatory duty to discourage imports.

Pakistan’s yarn manufacturers still use outdated machines, which are not energy efficient. Such energy losses are built into yarn prices.Textile products produced from imported yarn are mostly used by the ordinary people due to their affordability.

The duty imposition is said to directly impact the inflation reading and further worsen the situation. On the other hand, if yarn manufacturers also increase prices in line with the landed cost of imported yarn this will, in turn, raise the cost of finished textile products.

A looming recession in export markets is threatening Sri Lanka’s garment sector.

Orders have slowed down significantly since buyers already have stocks with them and they don’t have storage facilities. The dip could slow down Sri Lanka’s efforts to move out of the unprecedented economic crisis that resulted after failed economic policies and heavy money printing. The apparel industry accounts for nearly half of the nation’s total export earnings. Apparel exports have accounted for 57 percent of export earnings in the first nine months of this year.

The world’s leading economies are sliding into recession as the global energy and inflation crises sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut growth by more than what was previously forecasted. Over the next two or three months the country’s exporters expect to see a drop of 25 per cent or 30 percent in order volumes. As a result of the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sri Lanka’s traditional markets such as Europe and the US have been reducing exports amid tightening monetary policy to curb increasing inflation.Sri Lanka is forced to look into alternate markets such as India, Russia, Taiwan, and regional countries such as Malaysia and Singapore to boost its exports with or without free trade agreements.