Cambodia’s garment sector suffered a huge blow this year as COVID-19 muted business for most of the year. Imposition of tariffs by European Union over human rights abuses added to its woes as the sector lost duty-free access to the EU market in August. Cambodia also rolled back its labor rights this year as the virus fuelled ‘union-busting’ and poorer wages at garment factories. Reforms for laid off garment workers were rolled out though advocates criticized them for being insufficient.

Workers lose millions in wages as exports drop

The pandemic left millions of garment workers across the world jobless and without salaries in 2020. Cambodian workers lost over $120 million in unpaid wages in the first three months of the pandemic, says advocacy group Labor Behind the Label. The country’s exports to the EU dropped by almost $1 billion in the first nine months of 2020. Though Global brands, including Adidas and Levi Strauss, had earlier urged Cambodia to drop criminal charges against union leaders, the government refused to accede to these demands.

Owner of 50 factories in Cambodia, H&M believes sourcing from the country is difficult due to increased tariffs, labor rights and environmental concerns. As per reports, garment workers still receive lower than $588 wages calculated by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a supply chain lobby group. In January, they are set to receive a $2 rise in the minimum wage to $192 per month.

Exports, Brexit to help industry resurgence in 2021

Almost, 110 factories have shut permanently due to loss of orders. However, Ken Loo, a representative for factory owners, expects the industry to rebound soon as exports to the United States have surged in 2020, more than 60 new factories have registered, and Cambodia has far fewer coronavirus cases than other Asian production hubs. Loo also expects Brexit to end EU tariffs on Cambodia and allow it a duty-free access to the British market.

The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) plans to set up an Export Promotion Council (EPC) for technical textiles in Surat to promote the exports and manufacturing of technical textile products in the city.

As per a Times of India report, Surat is considered to be the man-made fabric (MMF) hub of India, having nearly 6 per cent of share in the MMF textiles in the country, where technical textile is a sub-group and the investment is increasing in the region.

The formation of EPC for technical textiles in the city will boost the export and strengthen the domestic manufacturing capacity, said officials at the Man-Made Textile Research Association (MANTRA), the designated centre of excellence in technical textiles by the government of Gujarat and centre of excellence in Agrotech by the government of India in the sectors namely coating and lamination, non-woven and converter technology.

To be held from February 1 to 5 at the Atelier Richelieu, in the heart of Paris, Texworld Evolution Paris - Le Showroom will allow buyers and designers to explore offers from a selected number of exhibitors from Apparel Sourcing, Avantex, Leatherworld and Texworld Paris.

The show will provide its visitors direct access to the textile and clothing collections arranged around two main areas: A Trend Forum that will offer buyers a creative inspiration book elaborated around a selection of textile and clothing samples that will become the fashion of spring-summer 2022, and a Library that will unveil, by categories, a precise selection of several thousands of fabrics samples and finished goods to be discovered in specially designed areas that will facilitate the professionals' journey.

Buyers will be provided with a digital tool specifically developed to facilitate direct contact with manufacturers for expressing interest, requesting samples or quotations.

Messe Frankfurt group is the world’s largest trade fair, congress and event organiser with its own exhibition grounds. With about 2,600 employees at 29 locations, the company generates annual sales of around €736 million. We have close ties with our industry sectors and serve our customers’ business interests efficiently within the framework of our Fairs & Events, Locations and Services business fields.

The Jordan clothing sector continues to suffer from the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis despite winter, Christmas and New Year seasons and holidays.

As per Asaad Qawasmi, a representative of the clothing, garment and jewelry sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, this year the sector has not seen such an activity, sales volume is the lowest ever. Consequently, retailers have not been able to pay their dues and have become greatly worried about their returned cheques, the thing that reflected negatively on wholesalers.

The representative noted that the crisis and the measures taken to combat it such as the closures, curfews and lockdowns have together caused “grave losses” to merchants, a lack of liquidity and increasing operational costs and bills.

The Kingdom’s imports of clothing are charged 47.5 per cent in customs, income and sales taxes and service fees, whereas footwear imports pay 58 per cent in fees and taxes on customs declaration, according to Qawasmi.

The Kingdom’s winter imports of clothing and footwear have dropped by 25 per cent this year, reaching a total of JD65 million compared with JD85 million last year, he noted.

Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters Association, has urged Tirupur textile units to resume cotton supply immediately as the mills have stopped supplying cotton yarn and are not taking up fresh orders. Shanmugham has written to all textile mills associations including SIMA, TASMA and ITF to advise their members to supply the yarn continuously to protect the Tirupur Knitwear Exports sector.

According to him, the mills’ decision to stop supply would impact garment units, largely affecting exports and stimulating job losses. It would also lead to foreign buyers cancelling orders and leaving the country. Shanmugham further said that the rise in yarn prices in the past two months has led to textile units incurring losses on already committed orders and the garment sector operating on wafer-thin margins.

As per the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Pakistan has completed over $200 million worth of apparel orders since the conclusion of 35th IAF (International Apparel Federation) Fashion Convention last year.

Sohail A Sheikh, Central Chairman, PRGMEA said, despite global lockdown, Pakistan has managed to compete apparel orders worth over $200 million and is currently negotiating with foreign buyers for more orders. Sheikh noted that the world-class event highlighted Pakistan’s true and soft picture, ensuring contact between Pakistani exporters and international textile chains. Abdul Razak Dawood, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce also hailed the efforts of PRGMEA as Germany’s fashion brand Hugo Boss placed its first order of sportswear to Pakistan. He congratulated Jaz Khokhar, Chief Organizer for holding the IAF Convention to Pakistan.

At the ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020, Smriti Irani, Union Ministry of Textiles, informed, the ministry aims to restructure its operations to launch the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for technical textiles and manmade fibre (MMF) segment. Irani said, the union government has ensured technological aid for the MSP operations and economic benefits for those who participate in these operations. She also urged the industry to conjoin its efforts with the farming community and increase the production of ELS cotton from four lakh bales to 50 lakh bales. In the first two months of this current marketing year starting October 01, 2020, Central government purchased cotton worth Rs 14,654 crore from 9.63 farmers, reports Financial Express. The government now plans to launch a Rs 10,000-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for man-made textiles. India’s leverage to the use of technology in agriculture and its plans to digitize transactions offers it a huge opportunity to increase cotton production from the current 4-5 lakh bales to 50 lakh bales a year.

Niranjan Hiranandani, President, ASSOCHAM assured industry’s full support to the government’s aim to become an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and $5 trillion economy. Dipali Goenka, CEO and Joint Managing Director, Welspun India urged the industry to focus on MMF and technical textiles while Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Director, Vedanta called for support to the underprivileged. T Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) hailed the launch of first-ever cotton brand ‘Kasturi’ that would help Indian cotton stakeholders get good price realization for their cotton products.

The imposition of anti-dumping duty on Caprolactum has led to rise in prices of nylon filament yarn by Rs 50 per kg in the local market. As per a report, Gujarat State Fertiliser Corporation (GSFC) is the sole producer of caprolatum in India and supplies to many domestic spinners producing nylon textile grade chips. These manufacturers, in turn, produce nylon textile yarn.

Many nylon spinners near Surat either buy caprolactum from the GSFC to produce nylon chips or import these chips from China and Taiwan. Recently, due to shortage of caprolactum and hampering of chip imports from Taiwan led to a major shutdown for these spinners, says Vinay Agarwal, a nylon yarn manufacturer

Even the GSFC cut its capro supplies by 25 per cent. Additionally, the prices of container shipping charges skyrocketed almost by eight times due to shortage of vessels and containers.

Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows, Pakistan’s textile and clothing (T&C) exports grew 4.88 per cent year-on-year to $6.04 billion between July and November FY21. The report states, exports grew 9.27 per cent in November while they grew by 6.18per cent in October and 11.03 per cent in September. In the first month of the current fiscal year, exports grew 14.4 per cent year-on-year basis. The rebound is a result of a series of incentives launched by the government to support exporters.

Pakistan’s readymade garment exports grew 4.36per cent though the quantity declined 44.64 per cent during the July to November period. Knitwear exports increased 14.34 per cent in value and 32.35 per cent in quantity while bedwear exports increased 12.28per cent in value and dipped by 7.95 per cent in quantity. Towel exports increased 14.24 per cent in value and 3.79 per cent in quantity, whereas cotton cloth exports dipped 8.73 per cent and 31.78 per cent in quantity.

Among primary commodities, cotton yarn exports plunged 37.34 per cent, yarn other than cotton 16.69 per cent, export of made-up articles — excluding towels — increased 15.53 per cent and tents, canvas and tarpaulin increased by a massive 58.05 per cent during the months under review. Pakistan’s textile machinery imports dropped 6.07 per cent during the first five months of current fiscal year while its import of raw cotton, synthetic and artificial silk yarn increased 60.36 per cent.

Finland’s textile research and development institute VTT has collaborated with the Aalto University to examine the compatibility of different dyeing methods and color removal. The study involves using different methods to dye cotton materials and then decolorizing the textiles. The dye and the dyeing method used by these two institutes proved to be decisive for color removal, meaning it is only possible to effectively reuse waste textile if information is available on the dyeing methods used. They have also published a paper on their study, titled “Color Management in Circular Economy: Decolorization of cotton waste” which has won the Paper Award in the 2020 Emerald Literati Awards.

The paper notes on an industrial scale, dyeing and decolorizing textile fibers have a high environmental impact. The process consumes chemicals, energy and water, and generates wastewater. During this process, the fibers can also be purified from other harmful chemicals, avoiding their transfer to recycled fiber products. All this opens up new opportunities for reuse, says Marjo Maattanen, Principal Scientist, VTT.

On the other hand, a recycled look is desirable feature for products made from waste textile. The process does not need to separate textiles dyed with different methods and remove the dye, the paper noted. It can identify and collect separately the textiles dyed with a particular method, it added. Professor Kirsi Niinimäki said, using textile waste requires information on its fibers, dyes and dyeing methods, and chemicals. This information needs to be collected at the manufacturing stage and stored alongside the textile fiber until it reaches the end product, he added.