Polyester staple fiber (PSF) prices were range bound in China, India and Pakistan after the Lunar New Year holidays. PSF offers in China were kept firm in the second week of February underpinned by stable polyester chip markets. Market sentiment was largely quiet after the holiday week while PSF producers were slowly restarting their units later in the week. Market supply is expected to increase due to plant restarts and new start-ups. Prices in India and Pakistan were steady during the week.

Polyester filament yarn (PFY) prices rolled over in China amid relatively high inventory during the week. Trading activity was thin and PFY units were resuming operations gradually after the spring festival holiday. However, products will still not be available until the last week of February. Overall, PFY offers are likely to remain range-bound in coming weeks. In India, PFY producers were stable in the week. In Pakistan, PSF offers were largely unchanged.

Polyester spun yarn prices moved up in China and India while they remained flat in Pakistan after the spring festival holidays. However, inventories of yarn producers have been increasing in the low demand market. In India, spun polyester yarn prices jumped that week. In Pakistan, polyester yarn makers kept firm offers underpinned by flat PSF cost.

In 2018, export earnings of Myanmar’s garment sector touched nearly $4.6 billion dollars. And by 2024, total export earnings are expected to reach $20 billion. While the garment sector has seen a five-fold increase in the number of workers their income has increased tenfold. There are 356 garment factories in the country. The garment industry has been on an upward trend. In 2022, export earnings from the garment industry are projected to reach eight to ten billion dollars. The industry is expected to create 1.5 million jobs. Most of workers will be female.

Myanmar exports items from seven major commodity groups. These include: manufactured goods consisting mainly of garments as well as agriculture produce, minerals, cattle, fisheries and forestry products. Myanmar’s major import items are divided into four groups — capital goods, intermediate goods, consumer goods and cut-make-pack garment products. The higher volume of exports reflects the government’s efforts to reduce the trade deficit by screening luxury imports, encouraging import substitutes and boosting exports. They also come at a time when foreign direct investments into the country have eased over the past year. Myanmar’s current account deficit, which includes the trade deficit, is financed mainly by foreign direct investments into the country.

Kingpins will release a list of top 10 most sustainable products found on its show floor. This is because the trade show is often asked by buyers for help find sustainable products. These are products that have truly set themselves apart when it comes to environmental impact. The list for most sustainable products will be completed after each Kingpins Amsterdam show and shared with attendees via a newsletter.

Kingpins prepared one such list and at the top is Advanced Denim’s product, thanks to its impressive resource reduction properties. Artist Fabric Mills guarantees that no virgin cotton is used in the production of its fabric which is made entirely of recycled materials, specifically recycled cotton, polyester and elastane. Orta’s fabric is manufactured from recycled pre-consumer fiber.

Retailers are trying to find more ways to bring sustainable alternatives to the consumer. However, mining sustainable denim fabrics in a sea of blue and sustainable buzzwords is a challenge. Designers and brands are actively searching out sustainable products and trying to determine fact from marketing when making their fabric buys. At the same time, mills and garment makers are making great strides in sustainable production and products and would benefit from increased exposure of their efforts, developments and innovations.

India might impose retaliatory tariffs after the US withdrawal of GSP benefits. Almost 30 items imported from the US, including walnuts, lentils, boric acid and diagnostic reagents, will face higher duties, cutting benefits to US exporters.

Indian exporters feel the withdrawal of GSP will not make much difference to them. The withdrawal is only going to inject an estimated additional burden of $190 million, which is miniscule compared to India’s overall exports to the US. In fact even the US was benefiting from the GSP regime, since the intermediary inputs provided by India helped keep its industry competitive.

India was the largest beneficiary of the GSP program in 2017. India’s top exports to the US under GSP in 2017 included motor vehicle parts, ferro alloys, precious metal jewelry, building stone, insulated cables, leather products, garments and wires. India’s trade surplus for merchandise goods with the US is around $19 billion. Also, most of the exports are of intermediate goods not produced in the US. From 2015 to 2017, imports of capital goods (machinery, equipment, aircraft, semiconductors, engines, tractors etc) and industrial equipment (lumber, chemicals, aluminium and copper, iron and steel, cotton and wool, plastics, fuels etc) together accounted for 55 per cent of the total imports of the US.

The Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL) in Bangladesh will push in funds worth $166 million to improve energy efficiency in the textile value chain in th country. Out of this, the company will seek $100 million in loans from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and a further $66 million through borrower co-financing. The funds will have a five-year disbursement period and a 10-year repayment period with a two-year grace period.

IDCOL, a non-bank financial institution working in the medium to large-scale infrastructure and renewable energy financing space, is accredited by the GCF to handle loans of up to $250 million. The company includes both senior government officials and three private sector representatives on its board. The proposal to GCF is likely to be submitted by September this year. If approved, IDCOL will be authorised to identify local recipients of funding. There are currently three approved GCF funded projects in Bangladesh.

Based in South Korea’s Incheon, GCF is a fund established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as an operating entity of the financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adapting practices to mitigate impact of climate change.

GST on textile products may be reworked. The move is expected to help the sector be more competitive in the global market. The main reason is the labor-intensive nature of the sector. As of now, barring raw silk, khadi yarn and some other items, there are three rates — 5, 12 and 18 per cent — for various textile items. Though there is a refund mechanism for exporters, it takes time and affects exporters’ efficiency. In countries such as China, Indonesia, and Thailand there is a single rate. It is 16 per cent in China, 10 per cent in Indonesia and 7 per cent in Thailand, making them more competitive.

There are issues with customs duty. India has more than 300 tariff lines for textiles items, making things more complex for global buyers. For example, Bangladesh imports yarn, fabric etc from China as it is cost effective and then produces readymade garments for the export market in a big way.

However, any work on trade tariff will be watched very carefully by global trade partners and there could be allegations of WTO norms violation. The foreign trade policy allows fulfillment of export obligations under various schemes through third party exports. Such a provision of getting exports goods without payment of GST from textile manufacturers will lead to ease of doing business and also a seamless flow of credits.

Brands can no longer resort to short-term contracts for garment workers in Cambodia. A legal clarification it makes it clear that, aside from an initial probationary period, those who have served for two years or more are entitled to contract upgrades, to permanent positions with bonuses and benefits.

Workers on short-term contracts are seen as less likely to be involved in unions, to report abuses, or to push back against bosses racing to meet rising production targets, for fear of losing their job. Under increased scrutiny as the world becomes informed of abuse faced by workers in fashion supply chains, Cambodia’s garment sector has been overhauled in recent years. But as salaries and standards rise, so do production targets as factories look to offset increased costs. Threats of contract non-renewal are used to force workers into working regular overtime, meeting excessive production targets and from engaging in independent trade unionism. Short-term contracts mean that as soon as a worker is brave enough to stand up for their rights, they can be silenced.

The garment industry is a pillar of Cambodia’s economy, accounting for 40 per cent of gross domestic product and employing more than seven lakh people, mostly women. But it is rife with labor and human rights violations.

The Cotton Association of India (CAI) has retained its cotton production estimate at 315 lakh bales. In the last cotton season, total output stood at 365 lakh bales. The cotton season runs from October to September.

The total cotton supply from October 2018 to May 2019 was 325 lakh bales. Total supply includes arrivals of 287.72 lakh bales up to May 31, 2019, imports of 9.28 lakh bales and the opening stocks of 28 lakh bales at the beginning of the season. Cotton consumption during October 2018 to May 2019 stood at 209 lakh bales. Export shipments till May 31 are estimated at 44 lakh bales. Stocks at the end of May 2019 are estimated at 72 lakh bales, including 32.68 lakh bales with textile mills and the remaining 39.32 lakh bales with the Cotton Corporation of India and traders and ginners.

Total cotton supply till the end of September 2019, is estimated at 374 lakh bales, which includes the opening stock of 28 lakh bales at the beginning of the season. Imports are estimated at 31 lakh bales, this figure is higher compared to the previous year’s import estimate of 15 lakh bales. The carryover stock at the end of the season is estimated at 13 lakh bales.

Bangladesh’s imports of knitted fabrics are up 27.69 per cent. Western retailers demand the use of fabric from a particular country or vendor to manufacture apparel in Bangladesh. For instance, some western retailers recently suggested using knitted fabrics from India as the apparel products would be sold in the neighboring country, where foreign brands have set up shop. This trend has led to stockpiling of yarn and knitted fabrics.

Local spinners are in big trouble due to rising imports of knit fabrics, jeopardising investments in the primary textile sector over the years to get the industry up to speed. They are losing competitiveness due to buyers’ nomination of fabrics. Stockpiling of unsold yarn and knit fabrics has been growing every month due to such decision by buyers.

Meanwhile, brands operating in India have been encouraged to focus on sourcing from within and increase engagement levels with apparel clusters in the country. The appeal comes in the wake of a 53 per cent jump in import of garment products from Bangladesh. The expenditure on imports would have created an additional 6,000 jobs in the spinning sector, 500 jobs in the processing sector, 1,00,000 jobs in the garmenting sector and another 40,000 jobs in the printing and embroidery sector of the textile value chain.

"Truetzschler Group will present intelligent machine technologies, digital solutions and installations for sustainable nonwovens at ITMA Barcelona 2019. The group will launch a carding technology- the new intelligent card TC 19i which automatically and continuously optimises the carding gap setting of 3/1000 inch."

Truetzschler Group will present intelligent machine technologies, digital solutions and installations for sustainable nonwovens at ITMA Barcelona 2019. The group will launch a carding technology- the new intelligent card TC 19i which automatically and continuously optimises the carding gap setting of 3/1000 inch.

In addition, the new cloud-based digital monitoring and management systems offered by the company provide yarn manufacturers with transparency over all processes in the spinning mill. The My Wires app, for example, provides information on the status of clothings and service intervals and helps with the planning of reorders. Competent service for re-clothing can be provided immediately by Truetzschler Card Clothing (TCC).

Truetzschler is also breaking new ground with drawframes, the quality filters in the spinning mill. The autoleveller draw frame TD 10 automatically adjusts the perfect break draft for optimum sliver quality and realises significant cost savings due to its compact design and energy-efficient suction system. Like the TC 19i and the BO-P, the TD 10 provides the operator-friendly T-LED remote display which visualizes important machine and production information in a simple way.

Truetzschler Nonwovens division has developed an alternative technology in cooperation with Voith. In this wet-on- wet process, a web is formed from cellulose-based short fibers suspended in water and then bonded by means of hydroentanglement. The sustainable, high-quality wipes and cleaning cloths that result from this process can be completely degraded by microorganisms in the environment after usage by the consumer.

The Man-Made Fibers division offers the new four-end BCF machine MO40 based on the proven M40 concept. The symmetrical design in combination with the lamellaless HPc texturing results in maximum yarn and bobbin qualities. As each spinning position produces four BCF ends simultaneously, the machine achieves high productivity at moderate speeds, which ensures a stable process.

Truetzschler Group will also present the comprehensive services and high-performance clothings for cards and roller cards from TCC on 1400 sq m. The group completes its portfolio of special flat clothings with the MT 52, which demonstrates outstanding stability, particularly at high card productions in ring and rotor spinning. In addition, TCC has developed the new PRECISETOP flat clothing, which is essential for the intelligent self- optimization of the carding gap in the TC 19i. Thanks to the close cooperation between machine developers and clothing specialists at Truetzschler, customers benefit from tailor-made and compatible solutions along the entire value chain.