United Kingdom and the European Union have finalized a post-Brexit trade deal that would wipe out duties on goods passing between the two regions. As per Apparel Resources, the new trade deal will wipe out duties on all the businesses including apparels and textiles. The terms are expected to be kicked in as of 1 January 2021.

The deal is expected to secure £7.4 billion worth of apparels and textiles exported annually to EU from the UK, securing thousands of jobs as well. Before the deal was signed, WTO rules caused a range of single- and double-digit tariffs on the UK exports which ranges from food to fashion products.

The EU is the largest trading partner of the UK and there was a 12 per cent duty levied on the clothing exports from the UK to the EU, while an 8 per cent duty was there on footwear export.

Nigel Lugg, Chairman, UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), said, while we need to see the detail of the deal to fully understand the implications, UKFT will be working with its members to help the industry maintain and grow its exports to the EU and the rest of the world.

Almost 70 per cent respondents to the FICCI-Dhruva Advisors Survey, said shifting of global supply chains from China may benefit India by moving a fair share of manufacturing operations to India. The vaccine may also boost Indian businesses, said 74 per cent 1participants, says a SRTEPC report. However, to capitalize on these opportunities, India needs to strengthen its manufacturing ecosystem, says Uday Shankar, President, FICCI. Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, the government has introduced several measures that have been well received by the industry.

Around 45 per cent of surveyed companies rated the latest set of announcements made under Aatmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0 as 'good to excellent'. To overcome the challenges posed by travel restrictions, 64 per cent firms plan to use a mix of travel and virtual meetings even after the situation becomes normal. Nearly 40 per cent reported operating at capacity utilization level of over 70 per cent, vis-a-vis 30 per cent of the companies in August 2020. Almost 50 per cent companies reported an increase in their order books and about 40 per cent said their exports have increased.

However, the survey results show businesses continue to face challenges on account of weak demand, managing costs, and financial liquidity, states Shankar. Hence, survey participants expect both government and RBI to continue with their support measures even next year. They expect the upcoming budget to prioritize growth-oriented measures, including a cut in direct tax rates.

Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors LLP, says, the Union Budget 2021-22 is one of the most anticipated Budgets and the government should introduce new growth-oriented measures and tax cut proposals.

As per Khin Maung Oo, Representative, Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), COVID-19 has led to the closure of around 100 Cut Make Pack (CMP) factories in Myanmar. Maung Oo said the pandemic has made it difficult for manufacturers to meet order deadlines, resulting in falling sales and forcing factories to either halt work temporarily or cease operations for good. Of the 700 member factories registered under the association, over 50 shut down during the first wave of the pandemic and another 50 closed during the second wave.

Aung Myo Hein, owner of a garment factory considers these closures necessary for their financial survival. Many of these suspended factories are owned by foreigners, mainly Chinese nationals.

As per a Textile Beacon report, India’s cotton yarn exports declined 7.5 per cent in volume to 87 million kg and 7 per cent in value to Rs 1,755 crore during the first eight months of 2020-21. Compared to exports during the same period of 2019-20, volume increased 8 per cent while value realization in rupee terms increased slightly, implying worsening of the rupee value against the dollar.

Shipment of cotton yarns to 70 countries in November increased 2 cents to $2.74 a kg, from previous month and 1 cent from a year ago. Export to China managed to remain just above November 2019 levels, while that to Bangladesh declined by 32 per cent. Exports to Peru and Vietnam almost doubled their imports of Indian cotton yarn while Portugal reduced them by 15 per cent. Shipment of spun yarns totaled 110 million kg worth Rs 2,160 crore in November.

Shipments declined 6 per cent than November 2019 in terms of volume and 7 per cent down in terms of their value in dollars. China once again was the largest importer in spun yarns with its import value increasing by 6 per cent, followed by Bangladesh. Together, these two markets accounted for about 41 per cent to total yarn shipment during the month.

VF Corporation has completed its previously announced acquisition of Supreme®, a privately-owned global streetwear brand, for an aggregate base purchase price of $2.1 billion subject to customary adjustments for cash, indebtedness, working capital and transaction expenses.

As a result of the transaction, Supreme® has become a wholly owned subsidiary of VF Corporation. The acquisition of the Supreme® brand accelerates VF’s consumer-minded, retail-centric, hyper-digital business model transformation and builds on a long-standing relationship between Supreme® and VF, with theSupreme® brand being a regular collaborator with VF’s Vans®, The North Face® and Timberland® brands. Supreme® is expected to be modestly accretive to VF’s revenue and adjusted earnings per share in fiscal 2021.

The Supreme® brand is expected to contribute at least $500 million of revenue and $0.20 of adjusted EPS in fiscal 2022.

As per OTEXA, PPE imports by the US surged by 311.60 per cent during January-October ’20 period in value terms.

Total PPE imports by the country valued $16.58 billion in January-October ’20 as against $ 4.03 billion in the same period of 2019, reports Apparel Resources.

The rise in PPE imports is attributed to ongoing pandemic, which has caused massive disruption not just in the country’s healthcare sector but also across industries.

Of total import values, nonwoven disposable apparels – designed for use in hospitals, clinics, labs or contaminated areas – contributed $3.88 billion under 6210105000, noting 484 per cent yearly growth.

The import value of nonwoven disposable apparels remains the highest standalone value amongst total 23 HS Codes under which USA imported PPE products this year.

The import of face masks, which clubs 5 HS Codes 6307909845, 6307909850, 6307909870, 6307909875, 6307909891, valued US $ 7.41 billion in the said period. OTEXA shows no data for corresponding period of 2019 for face mask imports.

As far as import of plastic/rubber gloves (a combination of 7 HS Codes – 3926201010, 3926201020, 4015110110, 4015110150, 4015190510, 4015190550, 4015191010) is concerned, it valued US $ 4.47 billion and upped by 70.61 per cent.

Home textiles company Welspun India’s Q2 FY 21 income grew 8.5 per cent to Rs 19,926 million as compared to RS 18,371 million in the same quarter previous fiscal. The company’s EBITDA remained stagnant at Rs 4,048 million. The company fully recovered from lockdown’s impact and plants worked at full capacities. In home products portfolio volume of bath linen and bed linen segments grew 13 per cent each YoY.

Predominantly a B2B textile home products’ supplier to global retailers, Welspun is also evolving into B2C home textile player with direct connection to end consumer. Besides, encouraging growth in its own global and domestic brands, the company expects its licensed brand and e-com businesses to cross $100 million, each, over the next 2 to 3 years of time.

The company is currently upgrading its systems, tools, processes, and up-skilling people while establishing 'digital as the new norm' in our organization, said BK Goenka, Chairman.

Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and Etro are planning to stage live runway shows to showcase their new menswear collections next month during a mostly digital Milan Fashion Week. Many top brands have decided to showcase their combined menswear and women’s wear collections during the February shows normally dedicated to women’s wear. In all, 37 brands will participate in January, just five with live shows. K-way and Solid Homme will make their Milan runway debuts, rounding out the live participants.

Men's previews will be the third mixed digital-physical fashion week organized by the Italian National Fashion Chamber. The Milan Fashion Week in September 2020 was also a phygital affair. The hybrid live-virtual included videos like Moschino’s marionette fashion show, created with the help of Jim Henson Studios, and featured models wearing tiny Moschino creations.

Top fashion houses including Fendi, Dolce&Gabbana, Max Mara, Salvatore Ferragamo and Valentino kept a physical presence at the September show, despite the absence of editors and buyers from major markets like the United States and Asia.

Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has requested Southern India Mills’ Association, Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association and Indian Texpreneurs Federation to advise their members to supply yarn without stoppage. As per a CAI report, TEA members have seen an increase in cotton yarn prices in the past two months. The reason for the increase is the spiralling cotton prices and considering this, TEA members have also been purchasing yarn despite incurring the loses in the already committed orders. The garment sector operates on a wafer thin margin and in such a crisis situation, stopping of yarn supply may leave the sector in quagmire, said Shanmugham.

The mills’ decision will also impact the garment exports and cause more job loses. Moreover, foreign buyers will cancel not just current but also future orders, he added. If foreign buyers leave our country, it would be difficult to bring them back at a time when we are in a disadvantageous position in the competitiveness front, thanks to absence of a level playing field, added Shanmugham. He therefore, urged mills to continue supplying yarn to the industry and help all sectors of the all the textile industry grow.

With Pakistan’s textile sector expanding production capacity to meet demand from foreign buyers, textile companies have received export orders for the next six months. As per Adil Bashir, Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Pakistan’s textile sector is currently in the mode of rapid expansion to cater with increased orders and demands. The sector accounts for more than 60 percent of total $6 billion export orders fetched from abroad during the five months of the current fiscal year, said the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Textile companies are making capital investments to increase production of fabrics with demand from value-added sector on a strong recovery path compared to stagnation couple of months back due to economic shutdown. The growth was despite the global economic slowdown caused by the pandemic-related lockdown and waning consumer demand. However, the government’s decision to keep businesses open is leading to benefits of orders diverted from closed economies, while US-China rift is also diverting orders to Pakistan.

APTMA also appreciated the much-improved gas supply and pressures of gas and re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to the export sector units in December. While the government decided to curtail gas quota for RLNG-based power plants to 240 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from 350 mmcfd, export-oriented and consumer sectors have been put on the priority list.