Switzerland and Egypt have agreed on a textile machinery transaction. This will help Egypt modernize its textile industry while benefiting the Swiss textile machinery industry by broadening its export strategy plans.

The objective is to strengthen the already well-established industrial ties between Egypt and Switzerland and to initiate a major step toward the revival of the Egyptian textile manufacturing sector.Switzerland has made offers of assistance in the key area of financing capital imports. Switzerland is ready to support Egypt in its striving to re-connect with the worldwide textile community.

Swiss textile machinery producers enjoyed strong export sales to Egypt in the years up to 2013, but the country’s economic and political woes since then have seen shipments decline to only 20 per cent of previous levels.Textile production is a vital contributor to Egypt’s economy. But the sector’s performance and potential is being held back by financial constraints. Difficulties in accessing foreign exchange funds and the high costs associated with this have been a major obstacle to Egyptian companies seeking to renew their equipment and take up new technology.

Switzerland and Egypt share a history of fruitful collaboration in the textile sector, which dates back to the 19th century.

China’s garment and accessory exports during January 2022 to August 2022 grew by 11 per cent.

In the same period the country’s textile exports grew by ten per cent. The EU countries, the US, Japan and Asean countries are still the major destinations for China’s textile and apparel exports. Year-on-year growth of exports to Asean and Bangladesh increased more rapidly to reach 23 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

The proportion of China’s textile and apparel exports to Europe, the US and Japan has moved down gradually. The proportion to the US, in particular, has declined rapidly since the US-China trade war. Although China’s textile and apparel still hold a dominant position in those countries, especially in Japan, yet parts of the share are being squeezed by Southeast and South Asia countries.

China is in the middle of an outward shift of its low-end textile and apparel industry, and this is expected to continue in the future. However, given the limited capacity and incomplete industrial chains, Southeast and South Asia countries are highly dependent on imports, particularly imports from China. From 2007 till now, the share of China's textile exports in the total textile and apparel exports has risen gradually from 32 per cent to 47 per cent, up 14 percentage points.

Bangladesh’s yearly exports of sweaters have grown 39 per cent. Sweaters hold a prominent position in Bangladesh’s apparel export dynamics and have seen a double-digit increase in product penetration out of the total garment exports of Bangladesh, which turned into a major sourcing hub for sweaters for international retailers and brands after work orders started shifting from China since Chinese manufacturers are no longer interested in making sweaters because of the complexities in the manufacturing process, higher cost of production and shortage of skilled workers. Europe is Bangladesh’s second biggest market for sweaters.

The continent is home to more than 60 per cent of garments exported from Bangladesh.But Europe has been plagued for months by extreme heat, drought and wildfires. August 2022 was particularly brutal. The European Union has also been hit by inflation. This is the highest inflation rate reported since 1997. Given the situation, sweater makers in Bangladesh have been impacted and have been receiving fewer orders. Clothing retailers and brands in Europe have started delaying the placing of fresh work orders from Bangladesh or have cut down on order volumes as sales have taken a massive hit. They are making delays in taking the delivery of products for which orders were placed between December and March, citing pile up of unsold stocks.

Bangladesh is hoping for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan.

Riding on preferential trade benefits as a least developed country, Bangladesh's exports to Japan, especially of apparel items, have been rising fast because of high demand. Last fiscal year Bangladesh’s exports of apparel to Japan rose by 14 per cent. Japan is Bangladesh’s most promising export market in Asia. Shipment of garment items to Japan from Bangladesh started leapfrogging since April 2011, when Japan relaxed its rules of origin for LDCs and for the knitwear sector.

Earlier, Japan did not allow zero-duty on shipment of knitwear in an effort to protect its indigenous knitwear sector. By 2030 Bangladesh’s apparel shipments to Japan are expected to rise tenfold. However, Bangladesh would have to improve its investment and business climate to sign an FTA and attract more Japanese investment.

The number of Japanese companies in Bangladesh has tripled over the last decade, reaching 338 in 2022.Most are desperate to expand their businesses and want an FTA to be signed. A lot of Japanese companies have been relocating their businesses to other countries from Japan and China. Japan is implementing some mega projects in Bangladesh, including a deep sea port, a metro rail and an airport terminal, which are expected to be completed within the next few years.

Tonello will unveil its new laundry system at Kingpins.

Laundry (R) Evolution offers an even greater digital vision of the laundry, thanks to the integration of tools that increase transparency, traceability, and productivity.

The brand new Configurator, available on the Tonello website, allows clients to choose the technologies, software, and accessories for their next laundry, combining diverse solutions and thus obtaining a real projection of energy and resource consumption, as well as savings and sustainability benefits.

Metro is a software that automatically and transparently measures the actual consumption of a laundry, summarizing these figures in each garment’s environmental passport.BOP (Be On Point)is based on the most recent developments in computer vision. It makes positioning laser designs on garments automatic and rapid and allows a choice of different production modes and detects up to eight garments at the same time.

Tonello will also show a collection of garments made with the technologies presented (BOP and Metro), washed and dyed with the brand new Evolution 3 range of machines that further reduce water and energy, increase productivity, and lower costs. These are the best washing and dyeing machines ever.

Kingpins will be held in Amsterdam, October 19 to 20, 2022.

Home textile exporters have been facing a consistent decline in operating margins. So says Icra.

Among the reasons for the decline in margins are the high and increasing raw material and logistic costs. The demand scenario has normalised and inflation is exerting pressure on consumer discretionary spending. Slower-than-expected sales have resulted in higher-than-average inventory levels in recent months (June 2022 and July 2022).

Rising inflationary concerns, the resultant slowdown in consumer discretionary spending, uncertainty about the economic growth outlook and cautious buying by retailers to manage inventories are affecting sales in key export markets.

The turnover of home textile exporters is expected to contract further in the quarter ended September 2022 with muted sales in the December quarter as well. Overall, there may be a double-digit contraction in turnover as well as moderation in margins for home textile exporters in fiscal year 2023 following all-time high sales and profits in fiscal year 2022.As a result, retailers may go slow/cautious on buying in the subsequent months to rationalise their inventory levels. This is corroborated by the slow off take being experienced by domestic exporters, despite healthy order book trends witnessed till a few months back.

Home textiles include bed linen, bed sheet and other bedroom textiles, bath linen, carpets and rugs, blankets, kitchen linen, curtains, cushions, cushion cover, and covers for quilts.

Pakistan’s textile exporters are waiting for GST refunds.

Refund delays are causing liquidity problems to exporters. Several cases of cancellation of export orders have caused colossal financial losses to exporters.

Five export-oriented sectors were removed from zero rating from July 2019. This was followed by a 17 per cent sales tax on exports on the assurance that refunds would be paid within 72 hours.

However, the software developed for payment of refunds has failed to operate properly, resulting in blocking of significant sums. Exporters say promises of timely payment of refunds never materialise. Zero rating, which means no collection of sales tax but no refunds, helps exporters fulfil their commitments without facing a liquidity crunch. As of now exporters say they cannot meet their commitments when they have no funds to pay salaries, utility bills or purchase raw materials for new orders. They say such a situation will directly damage the country’s exports.

More than 1000 textile mills have already been closed down. Almost 50 to 75 processing mills are closed and almost ten printing mills are closed in Faisalabad region. For the first two months of the fiscal 2022-2023, the value of textile and garment exports from Pakistan increased by four per cent.

During the first nine months of 2022, Jordan’s apparel imports rose by 27 per cent. Footwear imports rose by 25 per cent. During the same period China was the top exporter of clothing and footwear to Jordan by 40 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.

Other sources of Jordan’s apparel imports are Turkey, non-Arab Asian countries (excluding China and Turkey), Arab states and European nations. Jordan’s garment industry has been spared the worst effects of the pandemic, proving to be relatively resilient in its adaptability to new market trends.

Though Covid has had a major impact on the garment industry throughout the world, with Jordan being no exception, the economic downturn in Jordan’s garment industry has only had a 15 per cent reduction in garment exports and a full rebound is expected soon. Thus the sector has fared relatively well in comparison with Jordan’s other sectors. Jordan’s garment exports in 2020 made up 22 per cent of all Jordan’s exports. With 24 per cent of all exports going to the US, the US continues to be a major export market for Jordan.

However customs fees and taxes imposed on the sector have reached 47 per cent. Other challenges facing the sector include illegal e-commerce and the mail package trade.

Cambodia’s garment, footwear and travel goods exports grew by 24 percent during the first nine months of 2022.

The garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the country’s total export value. The growth can be attributed to the full resumption of socio-economic activities in the country, trade preferences, and rising global demand as the global Covid pandemic has waned. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement, which entered into force earlier this year, has also contributed to this significant growth. The garment, footwear and travel goods industry consists of more than 1,200 factories and branches, employing some 8,30,000 workers, mostly female.

Cambodia’s exports from January 2022 to August 2022 were up 26 percent compared to the same period in 2021. The total value of the country’s international trade rose by 21 percent. Imports increased by 18 percent during the period. Exports increased by 37 per cent. The US is the biggest market for Cambodia’s products. Vietnam and China are the second and third markets. New factories opening up are viewed as investors’ high confidence. Promulgated investment law and free trade pacts bilaterally and multilaterally are also factors that have opened the markets for Cambodia-made products as well as attracted new foreign direct investments.

Shein workers often have to work 18 hours a day while earning an appalling wage for each garment produced.

Shein is a Chinese fast fashion giant. Workers also have to work weekends and are only given one day off per month. If employees make a single mistake during the process of manufacturing items of clothing, they are fined two-thirds of their daily wage.

Women in one factory were filmed washing their hair during their lunch breaks, since they have so little time outside of their shifts.In order to make the living wage, many stay late into the night. Workers are not eligible for any leave or weekends. Women bear the brunt in every part of the chain.

Despite selling items of clothing for as little as just over a pound, Shein achieved a valuation of $100 billion in April 2022.What might have helped propel the company’s current success is its marketing platform. It has recruited celebrity rappers and pop singers. Shein also adopted social media marketing early on and collaborated with bloggers for giveaways and promoted products on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

On top of that, the company receives mentions from influencers and online content creators who do haul segments and highlight the company’s cheap prices.