Dr Janpeter Horn, Managing Director, August Herzog Maschinenfabrik, has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the VDMA Textile Machinery.. Regina Brückner, Managing Associate, BrücknerTrockentechnik and VerenaThies, Managing Shareholder, ThiesTextilmaschinen, were elected as Vice Chairpersons.

Dr. Horn stated: BothBrückner and Thies have been serving on the Executive Board of the VDMA Textile Machinery as well as the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers Cematex for many years. With this team, the association is well prepared to effectively represent the interests of the industry at national and international level.

Based in Oldenburg, Northern Germany, Herzog is a company with a long tradition and at the same time the most innovative developer and manufacturer of braiding and winding machinery. Worldwide references in braiding and winding technique confirm the company’s technical and quality leadership.

Grasim India’s unit, Birla Cellulose, has entered into a long-term commercial collaboration with Swedish textile-to-textile recycling innovator Renewcell, for production of man-made cellulosic fibers. The collaboration aims at supplying high quality Liva Reviva textile fibers made using Circulose, Renewcell's 100 per cent recycled textile raw material, to global fashion brands and textile industry in the coming years.

As per the agreement facilitated by Ekman Group, Birla Cellulose will use Circulose as one of the feedstocks in the production of man-made cellulosic fibers under the brand Liva Reviva. The pulp and fibre business of the Aditya Birla Group, Birla Cellulose is a leading Man-Made Cellulosic Fibres (MMCF) producer. The company operates 12 sites for pulp and fibre manufacturing that apply environmentally efficient closed loop technologies including recycle materials and enhanced conservation of natural resources.

Grasim Industries is a leading global producer of viscose staple fibre (VSF) in India. Through its subsidiaries, UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital, the company is also India's largest cement producer and a leading diversified financial services player.

Esprit’s revenues rose to HK$8.3 billion (1billion) in 2021. As per a Fashion Network report, the brand’s net profit surged to $381 million during the year. Gross profit surged by 7 per cent to 48.6 per cent.

The brand’s revenues during the year were affected by lockdowns in major European markets in Q1 and further restrictions in Q4. However, it still managed to generate strong revenues across all three sales channels including e-commerce, wholesale, and owned retail stores). The brand also benefitted from selling fewer discounted products from the company’s retail business compared to 2020.

In the coming year it aims to become a truly omni-channel brand and enhance its product portfolio, says Pal William Eui Won, CEO and COO.

American denim and sportswear brand, True Religion has appointed Scott McCabe as its new Senior Vice President-Ecommerce. McCabe has over 25 years experience with some of the most renowned omnichannel retailers including Columbia Sportswear, Tailored Brands, Macy’s, GAP, and Banana Republic.

His most notable achievement was with Columbia Sportswear, where he helped the company triple its ecommerce business. He was also responsible for continuous double-digit year over year revenue and operating income growth of the company. Under his leadership, the company’s active loyalty memberships grew by 65 percent while revenues generated by Customer care as well through chatbot integration also increased.

McCabe’s focus on customers needs alongwith his broad expertise in performance marketing, customer acquisition, and loyalty will help True Religion triple online revenues and achieve 50 percent ecommerce sales penetration by 2025, says Michael Buckley, CEO, True Regilion.

Manoj Patodia, Chairman, The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) has upheld the finalization of India-UAE Comprehensive & Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on March 27, 2022. Patodia says, zero for zero duty free access for textiles and clothing along with the robust Rules of Origin will boost cotton textiles exports to the UAE in coming years.

The CEPA will increase India’s exports by $2 billion over the next five years besides providing a platform for SMEs to expand internationally. It will also improve the participation rate of women workforce and create new employment opportunities for youth, Patodia adds. By setting up warehousing or distribution centres in UAE, the CEPA will encourage trade movement to neighboring GCC as well as African markets and enhance collaboration, innovation, and cooperation between the two countries, he adds.

PVH Corp expects revenues in 2022 to grow 3 per cent. In 2021, its annual revenues grew 28 per cent to$9.155 billion while operating margins beat pre-pandemic levels. The company’s revenue through digital channels grew approximately 30 per cent compared to 2020. By brand, Tommy Hilfiger revenues grew by 29 per cent, while Calvin Klein surged by 39 per cent. As per a Fashion Network report, net income for the year totaled $952 million, recovering from the $1.1 billion loss recorded in 2020.

The New York-based company’s fourth quarter revenues surged 16 per cent to $2.43 billion, online sales surged by 10 per cent, direct-to-consumer sales increased 13 per cent, wholesale revenues grew 20 per cent during the quarter as the company benefited from the shift in timing of the US wholesale shipments from the third quarter into the fourth quarter as a result of logistics disruptions in October.

Tommy Hilfiger’s revenue grew 18 per cent during the quarter while that of Calvin Klein by surged 27 per cent. PVH Corp’s net income for the quarter totaled $390.8 million, a return to black from the prior-year quarterly loss of $58.1 million.

Rising prices have compelled yarn manufacturers in Gujarat to curtail cotton procurement by atleast 15 per cent in the last few 40 days, says, Bharat Boghara, Chairman, Gujarat Spinners Association (AGSA). Cotton procurement in the state has declined to 5.3 lakh bales a month from the earlier 6.2 lakh bales. This will ease cost pressures on yarn makers, as realizations is not in tandem with the increase in cotton prices, adds Saurin Parikh President, AGSA.

AGSA members also plan to shut production for one day a week and stop procurement of cotton to ease cost pressures. Recently they urged the government to revoke the 10 per cent basic customs duty o cotton imports. AGSA has also sought a temporary ban on the cotton trade on Indian multi-commodity exchanges, as hedging by speculators in cotton is causing an artificial price increase, adds Parikh Yarn makers in the country are presently clocking losses of Rs 40 per kg of yarn manufactured.

Displaying its technical expertise in textiles and clothing, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) won nine awards for all its entries at the Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days. In all, the event received over 785 novel submissions from 25 countries, including three Gold Medals and six Silver Medals.

“All innovations displayed by HKRITA' address global sustainability challenges faced by the textile, apparel, and fashion industries,” says Edwin Keh, CEO. The HKRITA projects that received awards are:

Customized comfort bra

One innovation that bagged a gold medal was a customized bra for women suffering from mastectomy. Boasting of a sophisticated design and 3D material engineering, this bra offers relief women from potential health problems and psychological pressures during recovery.

Regenerative leather system

The second innovation to bag a gold medal was a regenerative leather system for recycling post-consumer leather products. The whole post-consumer leather product is transformed into a soluble salt or complex compound and the obtained regenerative leather is water-resistant and biodegradable.

Flexible Loop Structure Technology

Developed by HKRITA in association with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and InLab Innovation, this new 3D printed flexible loop stitching technology helps produce stretchable materials for furniture components. Winner of a gold medal, this technology introduces a knitting structure to extend the application of 3D printing technology in furniture manufacturing.

Vertical Hydroponic Cultivation

Aimed to help farmers grow extra-long staple cotton at a significantly lower production cost, this cultivation method was awarded a silver medal in the agriculture-horticulture and gardening category. This new farming method uses a host of devices to control air and water flow, temperature and humidity and nano-bubble generation to deliver more oxygen for the ELS cotton.

Microplastic fiber separation system

The second innovation to bag a silver medal at the event included Acousweep, an innovative microplastic fiber separation system to preserve water quality during water treatment. The system uses sweeping acoustic waves and a specially shaped chamber to trap and recover microplastic fibres effectively.

Biological indigo dye removal system

Winner of a silver medal, this biological post treatment method helps remove indigo blue dye in wastewater from denim factories. The system breaks down dyes in in wastewater through the enzymes produced in the metabolism of the macroalgae species such as Cladophora and Chaetomorpha. This system also offers a cost-effective, energy-efficient and eco friendly solution to reduce wastewater dye pollutants from denim factories.

Waterless decolourization and durability treatment method

This chemical-free and waterless treatment method improves the durability and longevity of post consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) textiles by increasing their temperature to 230oC for 8 hours. It also increases their molecular weight by 200 per cent and decolorization by 98 per cent. The process also recycles PET fibers through decolorization, molecular weight enhancement and improving improvement.

Yarn-structure technology to improve moisture wicking

HKRITA also launched a new yarn-structure technology to improve moisture wicking at the event. Developed in partnership with PolyU, this technology improves moisture management by deploying physical-based coaxial and counter-rotating yarn wrapping technology.

Viscose fibre production technology

Developed in collaboration with Daiwabo Rayon, this innovative technology involves sustainable production of regenerated composite fibres from recycled cellulose. Organized from March 16 to 20, the ‘Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days’ enabled inventors from all over the world to present their inventions via a 3-minute video to the panel of professional judges.

The continuous hike in cotton and yarn prices is severely impacting growth of cotton textile value chain in India, say industry leaders. A recent press meet held in Coimbatore was attended by T Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI); Ravi Sam, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) and Raja M Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA). The industry leaders appreciated the Prime Minister and Union Textile Ministry for boosting textile exports from the country. Enhanced exports helped the spinning sector add 2 to 2.5 million spindle capacity per year after almost a decade, they said.

Being highly capital intensive, Indian spinning sector cannot stop production even for a day, they said. The industry is already facing an acute labor shortage and a halt in production may make it more difficult to source labor in future, the leaders added.

Cotton exports to exceed 50 lakh bales

This year, India’s cotton exports are likely to exceed 50 lakh bales, as demand from Bangladesh may increase in order to reduce lead times and logistics costs. Already, exports of cotton yarns, fabrics, made-ups and readymade garments increased 42 per cent and 16 per cent respectively from October 2021-February 2022 compared to the same period last year.

The continuous hike in cotton and yarn prices has severely affected RMG exports from Tirupur, and made-ups exports from different clusters. The Ukraine-Russia war has further deteriorated the situation by increasing oil prices by around 40 per cent, resulting in reduced demand for exports. Unless, the 11 per cent import duty is removed and cotton prices stabilized, the RMG sector may continue to face severe losses, they added.

Import duty leads to cotton hoarding

Currently, spinning mills in India have only 40 days stock as against 3 to 6 months’ stock level maintained by spinning mills during any cotton season at the end of March. This happened due to the arrival of only around 240 lakh bales of cotton as against 320 lakh bales that usually arrives during this time. The 11 per cent import duty is also causing traders to hoard cotton, adopt import parity pricing policy and curtail global competitiveness. Further, it is also leading to price speculation by traders through futures market trading on MCX and NCDEX platforms.

Therefore, these leaders have urged the government to allow duty-free import of 40 lakh bales immediately to stabilize the cotton price and impose mandatory declaration of cotton stock with all the stakeholders, curbing hoarding and speculation by revamping the cotton trader under MCX and NCDEX. This will help create a level playing field and sustain the industry’s export performance, financial viability and livelihoods of over 30 million people directly employed in the cotton textile value chain, they added.

The European Commission released its long-awaited Strategy for Sustainable Textileto move the sector towards the path of sustainability.

The strategy recognises the strategic importance of textiles, which are not only used as apparel or furniture, but applied in cars, medical equipment, agriculture, etc. It acknowledges the European Industry pro-active initiatives to tackle microplastics, to solve challenges of market surveillance and the skills needs. More cooperation is needed for re-use and recycling of textiles and to set up an EU market for secondary raw materials. On this last point, EuratexReHubs Initiative is developing proposals to size EPR potential, to transform waste into value, and create a new capacity and jobs.

The proposed “transition pathways”, which will translate the strategy into action, will be critical in this respect: how will these sustainability targets be reached, what will the cost for SMEs be, how can companies be supported in that green transition, what about the impact on global competitiveness ? These are essential questions to be addressed in the coming months.

The Textile strategy is part of much broader package, including as many as 16 new legislative actions and other policies which will directly impact on textile value chain. In particular the Sustainable Product Initiative Regulation released today includes game-changing provisions on Digital Product Passport, Eco-Design, SMEs and Green Public Procurement. The Regulation has an overwhelming ambition and, to be realistic, it would require a new way of joint working between institutions and business, and which builds on lessons learned on data flow across value chains, interoperability, conformity assessment and effective measures to support SMEs.