ITMF alongwith co-hosts Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery have decided to postpone the ITF Annual Conference in Davos, Switzerland to April 10-12, 2022. The exhibition was earlier scheduled to be held from September 26-28, 2021.

ITMF is an international forum for the world's textile and related industries founded in 1904. ITMF members are associations and companies covering the entire textile value chain – producers of fibres, textile machinery, chemicals, textiles, apparel, and home textiles. The membership is rom more than 40 countries representing around 90 per cent of global production.

Liberty Fairs plans to collaborate with men’s trade show LA Men’s Market to host a new event from August 04-05 in Los Angeles.

As per Sourcing Journal, the partnership began virtually. To make up for the lack of physical events in the last year, Liberty Fairs teamed with wholesale platform Joor to launch its first virtual marketplace, where it worked closely with the L.A. Men’s Market.

Moving forward, she added that Liberty will offer a mix of online and offline options to cater to the fashion industry.

Though typically held twice a year in New York City and Las Vegas, Liberty Fairs is experimenting with new locations and collaborators. Last month, Liberty Fairs announced that it will host a dual event with the resort show, Cabana, on July 10-12 at the Miami Beach Convention Center—its first in the city.

Cameroon’s Cotton production in 2020-21 season is expected to grow to 350,000 tonne, according to the country's cotton development corporation Sodecoton.

As per SRTEPC reports, Sodecoton plans to increase the country’s annual cotton production to 600,000 tonne by 2025. To reach the ambitious target, Sodecoton plans to develop high-yielding seed varieties, instead of the earlier planned introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops.

Cameroon exports its cotton to Asian countries, with China being the main destination. Other Asian countries importing Cameroon cotton are Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia.

In 2019, 18.4 per cent of Cameroon's cotton production was exported to China (compared to 22 per cent in 2018), followed by 12.2 per cent to Italy, and 11 per cent to India.

Last year, as part of its 2020-30 National Development Strategy, the Cameroon government merged Sodecoton and Cotonnière Industrielle du Cameroun (Cicam) to boost the country's cotton textiles industry. Prior to merger, Sodecoton organised the production and marketing of cotton in Cameroon, while Cicam specialised in the manufacture of 100 per cent cotton loincloths and towels.

Vaccination drive, Expo 2020, government incentives and increasing digitization are expected to boost apparel and textile exports of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE’s apparel exports are expected to increase to monthly average of $10.55 million during the period of January-August 2021. In 2020, these exports had declined by 13.91 per cent due to COVID-19 impact.

UAE’s home textiles exports rose to $136.16 million in 2020 with slight rise of 3.94 per cent despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. It is further expected to increase by 14.83 per cent to monthly average of $13.03 million during January-August 2021.

Fabrics exports of the country declined by 45.80 per cent to $41.31 million in 2020. They are expected to increase by 33.99 per cent to monthly average of $4.61 million during January-August 2021.

Around 40 per cent of the UAE population has already been vaccinated against COVID-19, and this has given a boost to the country's trade. The Expo 2020 Dubai which is scheduled to start on October 1, 2021, is anticipated to further stimulate the textiles and apparels trade of the country.

In addition to these, the UAE government has provided an incentive to business sectors at the federal and local levels. The UAE led the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for spending on e-commerce which is approximately double the global average and four times the average spending in MENA region. Further, the sharp growth of digitalization during COVID-19 has created new trade opportunities for the country.

Menswear trade salon Pitti Immagine Uomo plans to hold a live show in July. Held recently, the salon’s second digital-only version registered a substantial rise in its online buyer traffic. Figures released by the Florence menswear trade show, the number of professional menswear buyers accessing its Pitti Connect platform menswear section soared 75 per cent to 8,000.

Pitti Uomo’s physical show in July is likely to attract 400 companies. Though its physical trade shows have been cancelled for over a year, the organization achieved respectable figures on its platform Pitti Connect, where traffic grew significantly, rising both in terms of page views and visits in the period from January 12 to April 5. Pitti altogether set up with 152 events on Pitti Connect, 89 for Uomo, including 34 Exhibitors' Spotlights focused on major brands; 15 Buyers' Selects, where 10 leading retailers explain their key picks; and seven Style Notes – themed itineraries across new collections. Pitti also pulled off media partnerships with key players like GQ Italia, Corriere della Sera, MFF and Monocle.

Over 200 men’s fashion brands participated in the online version of Pitti Immagine Uomo Around 10,200 professionals registered on the site, scoring 766,000 page views.

Karnataka has allowed medical textile production to continue under the essential category even as it has stopped production of fashion textiles. The state has exempted 50 industries from the state’s lockdown measures. The state industries released the list of these industries that includes manufacturing units of bulk drugs, pharmaceuticals, sanitation materials, oxygen, medical devices, medical textiles, their raw materials, components, and their intermediates.

The government has permitted non-essential businesses to carry out their regular maintenance work including measures for fire safety, machine safety, and worker safety on Sundays, the government said. However, it has halted their retail business, As per ANAROCK research, Karnataka presently has close to 50 operational malls across the top cities and Tier II and III cities. Bengaluru alone has nearly 36 operational malls – the same number as that in entire MMR. Tier II and III cities including Mysore and Hubli have five operational malls each.

After a significant decline in previous month, cotton prices in Brazil stabilized in April 2021. As per China Textiles reports, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index changed from the record 5.22 BRL per pound on March 4 to 4.76 BRL/pound on April 5. Since then, the Index has been recovering, said the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA) in its latest fortnightly report.

Between March 31 and April 15, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index rose by 1.05 per cent as international prices rose and production in Brazil declined. However, these prices stabilized in the first fortnight of the month. Some Brazilian players expect cotton demand to increase in coming periods, given that the industry has not been purchasing the product for immediate delivery since early March, the report says.

However, Brazil’s National Food Supply Company (Conab) indicates, Brazil total area under cotton cultivation may decline by 15.2 per cent to 1.41 million in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20. Productivity is expected to decline by 2.1 per cent to 1,764 kilos per hectare compared to the previous season. Hence, production is also likely to decline by 16.9 per cent to 2.49 million tonne. Brazil cotton inventories for 2020-21 are forecast to decline by 13.7 per cent to 2.7 million tonne, estimates USDA.

The South India Spinners Association (SISPA) has requested Prime Minister to facilitate the liquation of their yarn stock or extend help to fully dispose the stocks, since there have been no buyers for the last 20 days. N Murugesan, President, SISPA stated the yarn prices have been reduced about Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg for all counts in April as there were no buyers and stocks had been piling up for the last 20 days.

Major centres like Mumbai, Biwandi, Ichalkaranji, Malegaon, Surat, Kolkata and Erode were unable to procure yarn as demand was very poor, he said. As per SISPA, there are around 400 mills in South Mills that are running at only 50 to 60 per cent utilization. The cost of packing material, spares, transport, labour and diesel has increased, making the cost of production higher.

Most of these mills are located in the rural areas and predominantly provide job opportunities to uneducated and unskilled women. They are in huge financial crisis and need to be rescued from debts, Murugesan added.

Benetton Group has brought together all its sustainability initiatives under the project Green B. Launched on World Earth Day, the project will be executed across all touchpoints of the Benetton Group. Its symbols will be included in stores, on digital platforms and on the tags of the garments that reflect the values embodied by the project.

The project’s logo is the bee. It is a graphic reinterpretation of the group’s iconic knit stitch and symbolizes the contribution of each individual within an organically expanding hive, an accurate representation of the commitment of the company and its people to sustainability.

Over the coming years, the Group plans to distribute more sustainable products, create a more responsible supply chain and increase the efficiency of its headquarters and stores in terms of energy use and waste management, following the example set by the new shop inaugurated in Florence at the beginning of March.

Despite COVID-19, Bangladesh will continue to dominate the world apparel sourcing market, says a new study by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) of Sri Lanka. The findings of the study were recently presented at a webinar titled 'Recovery of the apparel sectors of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka: is a value-chain-based solution possible?'

The webinar began with the acknowledgment that Bangladesh is currently facing reduced demand from key markets such as the US, UK and EU. As a per Daily Star report, its success in dealing with these challenges will depend on how far the country is able to control the impact of COVID-19 on its garment industry. Many sourcing countries have either re-shored their orders to a limited number of sourcing countries. This led to a 2 per cent decline in Bangladesh share in global knitwear market last year. The country’s share in woven segment also declined 1 per cent during the period.

Need for a redistributive approach to orders

Bangladesh further risks losing $2 billion worth of orders to China if it fails to adopt a redistributive approach. The country failed to support its apparel sector during the crisis due to fiscal constraints. It was unable to disburse the allotted $1.2 billion subsidized credit to all garment factories. Also by October 2020, over 360,000 workers lost jobs. The country could reimburse only 14 per cent of retrenched workers. Fifty-eight per cent of workers faced financial difficulties, and 82 per cent struggled to meet daily needs.

Buyers also failed to respond to manufacturers call during the crisis, said Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director, Denim Expert who does not expect to recover all his arrears from buyers as COVID-19 has impacted not just lead times but also contracts and prices.

Resilience and digitization for rescue from disasters

Husni Salieh, Director, MAS Holdings, advised stakeholders to work collaboratively, particularly during the crisis. He said, only resilience can help them face the current crisis successfully. Pierre Börjesson, Head-Sustainability, called for speeding up digital marketing to ensure supply chain remains immune to the effects of any natural or human disasters. Dan Rees, Director, Better Work, a flagship program of the ILO, urged for more cooperation amongst stakeholders and a long-term plan for workers.