"September 2019 report of Cotton Inc states the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China is likely to directly impact cotton prices as the tariffs imposed by China on the US cotton has led to a significant fall in the country’s exports. If China further persists in implementing the latest round of announced tariffs on Dec 15, it would increase its total tariffs on US cotton shipments to around 30 per cent."

September 2019 report of Cotton Inc states the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China is likely to directly impact cotton prices as the tariffs imposed by China on the US cotton has led to a significant fall in the country’s exports. If China further persists in implementing the latest round of announced tariffs on Dec 15, it would increase its total tariffs on US cotton shipments to around 30 per cent.

In addition, the trade war has caused significant uncertainty across cotton supply chains. This is further postponing investments and placement of orders leading to a slower demand. Cotton benchmark prices were stable between August and the first half of September 2019. The spot prices of US Cotton averaged 55.97 cents per pound for the week ended Sept. 12, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Stocks to increase to highest levels

Latest USDA report suggest, cotton’s global harvest forecast for 2019-20 has been to lowered to 124.9 million bales and the consumption forecast lowered to 121.7 million bales. This would further result in higher supply against potentially lower demand from slowing economies and trade turmoil, portending softer cotton prices. Cotton stocks are likely to increase by 1.3 billion bales from the last month to 50.0 million bales. If this occurs, it would represent the largest volume of cotton held outside China on record.

Cotton production to decline by 30 per cent

Cotton production in 2019-20 is likely to decline by 30 per cent to 1.4 million bales. The biggest declines will be witnessed in US, Australia, Burkina Faso, Mexico and Turkmenistan. However, production in India is likely to increase. Consumption is likely to decline in China, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Thailand, Turkey, the US and Vietnam. India will be the largest importer of cotton during the period while imports by Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey are likely to decline. US, Brazil and Australia will be the biggest exporters of cotton while exports from India, Mexico and Burkina Faso will decline.

Woolmark has partnered Tmall to provide quality wool fibers and outstanding brands to the younger generation of Chinese consumers who are looking for high quality and environmentally conscious products.

The partnership has come about in response to the growing demand for high-quality products, innovative retail experiences and digital engagement. It enables Woolmark to showcase the characteristics of Australian Merino wool, highlighting its breathability, softness, easy-to-clean material and versatility. Tmall is a Chinese B2C e-commerce platform. Woolmark hopes through such collaborations to champion premium brands and emerging designers. At the same time, digitally savvy shoppers and leaders in China’s fashion industry can develop an appreciation for the superior quality and versatility of wool products.

Users can log into the Tmall website, or the mobile Taobao App homepage. Products recommended by Woolmark not only cater to consumers’ diverse fashion needs but also highlight the extraordinary quality of Australian Merino wool. In addition, the venue sets up a Woolmark wool encyclopedia sub-venue. Through the elaborate and easy-to-read tips and articles and exquisite graphic explanation, the encyclopedia renders consumers a better understanding of the superior performance of Australian Merino wool by tracing the wool fiber to its origin, explaining the meaning of the wool logo, and offering a variety of daily wool care methods.

A delegation of Vietnamese garment companies is showcasing their products at the textile trade fair Textillegprom 2019 in Moscow as a part of a visit to survey the garment market of Russia from September 17-25, 2019. The delegation consists of eight companies, displaying a wide variety of products such as coats, jeans, pyjamas and children’s clothes.

The trade fair opened on September 17 with the participation of over 2,000 companies in a 25,000 sq.mt. exhibition space. Most of the Vietnamese garment companies attending the event have already exported their products to Russia and are continuing to look for new partners.

Garment 10 Company, for example, is shipping about 350,000 items to Russia through its partner Henderson each year and wishes to seek new partners at this trade fair.

Retailers in the US are stocking sports-related assortments especially for women.The vast majority of these products consist of T-shirts and jerseys. Women’s soccer products are flooding sporting goods retailers and department stores. Sporting goods retailers like Fanatics and Dick’s Sporting Goods are the top two stockistswith 255 and 129 products respectively. However, retailers like Walmart and Macy’s are breaking into the top five list too. This trend suggests that there’s demand for this product and retailers are capitalizing on it.

Female sports have always lacked the hype and recognition their male counterparts received, but times are changing. This decade has defined itself as an unprecedented time in female sports. There are more women in high level positions like head coaches and even owners of male dominated sports teams. Although there’s work to do, female sports are getting the praise they deserve.

Brands outside activewear are participating in different ways to champion this narrative. Retailers are stocking more sports-related assortments and aligning their drops around particular sporting events. This year, 2019, is proving to be the year of female sports setting records for some of the world’s most historical sports moments. Cori Coco Gauff become the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon and the USA’s women’s soccer team won their second consecutive FIFA World Cup title.

TexteisPenedo has developed a method of turning cork into fabric.The new collection launches with decorative fabrics for curtains/drapery and other home accessories. The plan is to expand with more categories, like top of bed. The company opted to blend the cork fiber with cotton to soften its touch and feel, and add dimension, while maintaining the product’s content as natural, not synthetic. Previously, cork-based textiles for apparel or home textiles were relatively stiff. The new cork yarn is a flexible product made of a natural material and thus offers additional design opportunities for the fashion industry and interior furnishing.

The company, based in Portugal, has opened a factory to produce sustainable home textiles made of 30 per cent cork fiber and 70 per cent cotton.

Portugal is the world’s leading producer of cork, a natural resource made from the bark of the cork tree. Cork is obtained by removing it from the bark of the trunk, a process that does not harm or kill the tree. In addition to its traditional use for sealing bottles, cork has more recently expanded to women’s accessories like handbags and home goods like floor coverings and tableware. Cork is antibacterial, anti-allergic, it helps keep the user’s temperature cool, and it is naturally fire retardant.

SRF is shutting its technical textile plant in Thailand. Some of the assets, if found suitable, could be purchased by SRF for its Indian operations, subject to necessary approvals and in compliance with laws.

SRF is a manufacturer of technical textiles, engineering plastics, chemicals and packaging films. It has operations in India, Thailand and South Africa and commercial interests in more than 75 countries. The company has made investments of around Rs 3200 crores across all business segments in the last five years. More than 50 per cent of these investments were made in the chemicals business alone. In coated and laminated fabrics, the laminated fabrics segment performed satisfactorily in a tough competitive environment. The coated fabrics segment also turned around during the year, particularly in the off-season. The ongoing focus on becoming a solution provider along with the branding initiatives aimed at positioning the business as a value added entity has helped enhance the prospect of greater profitability.

SRF’s nylon tyre cord fabrics business continues to retain leadership in the domestic market. The company would continue to enlarge its portfolio of other product segments such as coated and laminated fabrics under the technical textiles business. The polyester yarn and fabrics segment turned around with its new focus on the yarn business for diversified industrial applications.

MarediModa will be held in Cannes, November 5 to 7, 2019. This is a trade fair dedicated to underwear and beachwear textiles. More than 100 European companies will showcase their collections for summer 2021. There will be a selection of private label manufacturers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Tunisia. MarediModa is a great opportunity for all visitors. They can enjoy the widest and most qualified textiles for beachwear, underwear and athleisure universes of controlled origin. MarediModa Talking Fabrics, a project created for visitors, is a journey through the trend forum.

Link will be an integral part of MarediModa. Link is a search for creatives from all over Europe. It involves over 100 European schools of creativity, in order to intercept the most talented students of style and design and put them in direct contact with fashion brands. Nine finalists (three for each of the categories of beachwear, underwear and athleisure) will exhibit their mini collections, an exceptional visibility and a fashion show after the vote of the public and the technical jury.

Last year, the event hosted over 100 exhibitors, highlighting the need for multi-tasking garments fulfilling multiple purposes, delivering comfort, performance and simple yet unique designs. Over 40 exhibitors presented fabrics and accessories highlighting the world of athleisure.

Social audit firms are responsible for a number of fatal accidents in the readymade garment sector in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Malaysia, says a global worker rights group Clean Clothes Campaign. These firms protect the profit and reputation of brands but fail to protect garment workers’ safety and improve working condition in the supply chain. The audits stand in the way of more effective models that include mandatory transparency and binding commitments to remediation.

Examples are the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Pakistan in September 2012, in which over 250 workers died, unable to escape due to bars on exits and windows; the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh in April 2013, which killed 1,134 workers and left thousands more injured and traumatised; and the July 2017 boiler explosion in the Multifabs factory in Bangladesh, killing and injuring dozens of workers. Each of these factories had been assessed and declared safe by auditing companies. In the case of both Ali Enterprises and Rana Plaza, accredited auditors had deemed these facilities safe just weeks or months before they were reduced to ruins. In the case of Ali Enterprises, this assessment was made by auditors who reportedly never even visited the building.

The textile and apparel industry in Indonesia grew 20.71 per cent in the second quarter of 2019.However, Indonesia’s share in the global textile market is around 1.6 per cent. In comparison, China’s share is 31.8 per cent; Vietnam has a 4.59 per cent share and Bangladesh 4.72 per cent share.

The poor growth of exports of Indonesian textiles and textile products is due to the high cost of local production, facilities and trade policies that favor imports, and a lack of long-term planning which has deterred investment. The performance of the Indonesian textile industry sector continued to decline in the last 10 years. The trade war was an opportunity for Indonesian textiles to take over the Chinese market. But the competitiveness of its products is still weak. Costs of energy, logistics, and labor are the inhibiting components. Yarn, fabric, and garment products from China are expected to flood Indonesia because of the trade war. It will lead to an oversupply of domestic textiles, making the price drop and hit Indonesian textile companies. This market is an easy target for China since Indonesia does not apply trade barriers, unlike Brazil or Turkey. Indonesia remains an open market, and the most affected will be companies that rely on the domestic market.

Indonesia will use locally sourced textiles, such as rayon and polyester fibers, to lessen its dependence on imported products and boost textile exports.The increased use of viscose rayon, or rayon, in manufacturing is expected to boost production output of the textile industry, especially as the textile can act as a substitute for polyester and cotton. Production of polyester and cotton still does not meet the demands of the country’s textile and garment industry. Polyester production is not well developed enough, while cotton fabrics are still nearly 100 per cent imported. Rayon is produced in abundance in Indonesia and is competitively priced and a widely available eco-friendly fabric. Players from upstream to downstream are being encouraged to pursue research and development into sustainably produced rayon. One such player, Asia Pacific Rayon, which began production last year, has already produced 1,20,000 tons of rayon fibers. Almost half the output goes to the local market, while the rest is shipped to 14 countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Germany and Italy.

Of Indonesia’s total exports, clothing comprises 63.1 per cent. Indonesia’s textile industry experienced its heyday in the 1980s, when it recorded excellent performance and healthy growth to rank above Vietnam and other neighboring countries. This was a result of effective policies on import substitution and effective industry cooperation.