The order index for Italian textile machinery carried out by ACIMIT for January-March 2019 period dropped by 3 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. Italian textile machinery manufacturers recorded declining orders on foreign markets, where orders fell by 11 per cent. This slowdown is a result of a deep rooted feeling of uncertainty currently permeating the global economy.

On the domestic front, orders increased by 84 per cent compared to the first quarter 2018. Investments in the textile sector have benefitted from the push towards a greater degree of digitalisation in production processes, thanks to the fiscal incentives. As per ACIMIT President Alessandro Zucchi, Italy’s domestic market is experiencing a dynamic showing similar to late 2017. Investments in the textile sector have benefitted from the push towards a greater degree of digitalization in production processes, thanks to the fiscal incentives. However, foreign markets, slowdown is a result of a deep rooted feeling of uncertainty currently permeating the global economy with multiple pressures on global trade in different geographical areas.

“We had already predicted a slowdown for early 2019, in line with what was observed in 2018,” concludes Zucchi. “The entire sector is waiting to see what happens at ITMA, the leading world trade fair for our sector, which will be held in Barcelona this coming 20 – 26 June. There will verify whether a recovery is effectively under way in global demand for textile machinery.”

Factories in Ethiopia making clothes for top global brands pay their workers far less than counterparts in other low-paying countries says the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

Ethiopia has no official minimum wage for the private sector. The low monthly wage paid to garment workers in Ethiopia does not cover their basic needs. Even after additional payments of attendance bonuses and expenses for food and transportation, most workers struggle to get by. As a result of the dissatisfaction among the workforce, factories replace all of their workers every 12 months on an average, pushing training costs up and efficiency down.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country, with about 105 million people who still largely survive off agriculture. Hawassa Industrial Park is one of five manufacturing hubs in Ethiopia. It is the largest specialized apparel and textile park in Africa and was built in just nine months, with Chinese help. The park has modern halls where leather and textile products are produced for the European and American markets. The park has 25,000 workers and there are plans to increase the workforce to 60,000. Many young women working at the sites receive very little training and face cultural conflicts with managers from south or east Asia.

Bangladesh Denim Expo was held on May 2 and 3, 2019. It provided endless possibilities of networking. The expo set to create a space where 63 exhibitors from 11 countries represented the very best from the local and international denim community. Circularity was emphasized in this edition of the expo. The event included informative seminars, stimulating workshops and engaging round table discussions on circularity. Denim was in the spotlight in many of the seminars had as their focus denim circularity. Additionally, the traditional indigo fabric was the center of attention of live demonstrations on how to machine and hand repair jeans, transforming them into works of art.

Bangladesh Denim Expo is a non-profit, specifically established to act as a hub where key denim industry players can congregate and share their passion for denim. Launched in November 2014 with the intention of creating an international cutting-edge denim community in Bangladesh, the expo takes place two times a year and has shown a constant increase in numbers since then. The expo celebrates the country’s role in shaping the denim scene today. The expo’s objective is to showcase Bangladesh’s growth potential in the denim industry. Bangladesh is well-known for denim and jeans production, for both niche and mass markets. Buyers respect Bangladesh’s ability to offer great margins and high-quality goods.

India’s cotton production is expected drop by over five per cent this season. Reasons include: low water availability and inadequate Southwest monsoon in key cotton producing states and higher incidences of pest attacks. Lower production is expected to shrink India’s cotton stock to a two-year low, leading to a seven per cent to eight per cent rise in domestic cotton prices. But the lower production in India, the US and Australia will be offset by higher production in China and Brazil. So, global cotton prices are expected to remain steady. Operating margins of domestic cotton yarn spinners are likely to shrink in the financial year 2020 mainly because of lower cotton output, rising cotton prices, and moderating demand.

Demand for cotton yarn is falling. The slowdown will be mainly driven by tepid growth in domestic demand comprising three-fourths of overall demand. Growth in exports will be 9 to 10 per cent in fiscal 2020 compared with 13.5 per cent in fiscal 2019 because of trade tensions between the US and China, and the commissioning of yarn capacities in Vietnam, which enjoys preferential access to Chinese markets. This is not good news for Indian spinners. Higher cotton costs and moderate demand outlook mean they may not be able to get a commensurate increase in yarn prices.

Brands in the US are becoming sensitive about the water and chemicals being used in denim production. It can take up to 1,800 gallons of water to make just one pair of standard jeans. That’s about 500 billion gallons to create the jeans sold in the US every year. A lot of stretch fabrics have polyurethane-based fibers and polyesters that are harder to wash. They require more harsh chemicals.

Brands like Boyish and Triarchy are on a mission to redefine the traditional denim supply chain, from sourcing to spinning, production and finishing. They’ve brought different perspectives and approaches to the issue of sustainability in denim. They are proponents of redefining the material from the ground up, using varied combinations of organic and recycled cotton in their denim formulations, along with cellulosic fibers. Recycling material cuts down water consumption. Many of Boyish’s jeans are made with a blend of recycled cotton (from salvaged fabric or the company’s own re-spun scraps), certified organic cotton from farms that pledge efficient water use and Tencel Lyocell with Refibra technology. Boyish uses mostly rigid denim because it washes beautifully, looks vintage and mixes with the recycled cotton. Triarchy has also championed recycling with its premium Atelier line, which is made from vintage denim.

Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US increased 10.10 per cent in the first two months of the year. Shipments are expected to grow exponentially if the 25 per cent duty by the US on Chinese imports comes into effect. If that materialises, many international retailers will look to Bangladesh as an alternative sourcing destination.

Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US market have been showing an upward trend over the last few months because of different reasons like the tariff war between the US and China and enhanced workplace safety. Bangladesh expects a rise in garment exports to the US as the economy is rebounding there. Bangladesh has been sending garment products facing a 15.62 per cent duty whereas the duty for other garment exporting nations is relatively low. Even then the country is competitive in the US markets.

However, despite a shift towards lower-cost manufacturing bases like Vietnam and Bangladesh, China is still the single biggest source of apparel globally. Companies still source 11 per cent to 30 per cent of their apparel from Chinese factories. While this is down from 30 per cent to 50 per cent the year before, China is still the most important source of clothing.

Several competitive advantages, often overlooked, are making Thailand a global production hub. The country is perfectly positioned to benefit optimally from China’s export problems. Besides, it also has an amazing demographic of young workers as against China who faces a chuck of ageing population.

Increasing tariffs and US recession to pose challenges

Although the US-China conflict offers many benefits to Thailand, the country also faces certain challenges. For instance, the increasing tariff rates is likely to impact industries that supply goods of intermediate nature as they are a part of the planetary value chain. To deal with this issue, Thailand needs to implement sound policies. A weakening of the US markets is likely to negatively impact new investments in Thailand. To avoid this, the country needs to diversify its exports. It is already increasing its trade with the world which helps it to have more diversity.

The Thailand advantage

As per well-established import and export companies it is a lot easier to move products around Thailand compared to China where there are many restrictions and a lot of interprovincial tariffs which can make things complicated as far as exports are concerned. However, higher labor rates are a cause of concern as they make production at competitive rates difficult.

Another advantage that Thailand boasts of is, Bangkok is more exposed to Western influences and that influence is more evident every day. As far as advertising agencies are concerned there are many who claim that Thailand has a significantly more sophisticated marketing industry than China. Even basic things such as radio and the outdoor advertising seen on the streets is also a substantially higher quality in Bangkok compared to Beijing.

The nationalistic fervor is less forceful in Thailand. The country also offers superior quality of workmanship as against China, where though the labor is low, the quality of workmanship is also inferior.

A boost to the textile and garment industry

Thailand’s textile & garment industry, worth over $5 billion in exports in 2018, is expected to grow 5 per cent in 2019, spurred on by the US-China trade dispute. SUPA International based in Thailand is one of Asia’s largest garment manufacturers, with clients including Under Armor & Nike. It is benefiting optimally from Thailand’s skilled workforce and low labor costs in the garment manufacturing industry. This company has acted swiftly to benefit from the drastic move by President Trump – with a plan in place to expand its factory operations to ensure that it can benefit optimally from the situation. They will thus be able to accommodate many of the US clothing brands are looking to move production from China to Thailand.

Thailand’s sophisticated export facilities can handle a wide variety of export products such as electronics, machinery, motor vehicles and many other high-quality products. Also, the professional standards, service levels as well as education are of a better standard in Thailand, making it a preferred nation over China.

Professional video game streamers are becoming brand influencers in the US.Esports players represent an untapped influencer category that is notable for its directness and accessibility. Customers can interact directly with these influencers in a way that is not always possible with celebrity influencers or even regular influencers who use more traditional social channels like Instagram. Esports players tap into a growing youth culture movement and have unprecedented influence among their fans. Players in this space are set to become fashion icons. They have a huge influence on the people who watch their streams. Athletic brands in particular are beginning to ink partnerships with esports players and teams in the same way they sponsor basketball or football teams. Teamwear can also be incredibly lucrative for brands, especially when the teams they work with perform well.

The esports industry is a fruitful one for sponsors and brands of all sorts. The esports community is fertile ground for brands. More than 60 per cent of esports fans are between 18 and 34 and most of these have a favorable view of brands coming into the esports space. While traditionally male-dominated, female viewership of esports has risen to make up 30 per cent of the total audience.

The smart garment market is growing at 45 per cent a year. This growth is outpacing other categories in the domain of wearable technologies. Although current developments of such clothing are based more on performance wear and the winter sports category, very soon they will encompass the whole gamut of the wearable segment.

As garments are becoming smarter, the differentiating line between a traditional garment and a garment with a gadget is getting blurred. The message is clear: If the garment industry does not start dabbling in technology, technology companies will start dabbling in garment making. Digitalisation is another trend emerging faster than ever in the global apparel industry with more and more retail brands as well as apparel manufacturers embracing it.

Tech and fashion are merging together to create smart textiles without sacrificing style, comfort and practicality. Smart textiles are used in healthcare and sports and fitness applications to communicate the wearer’s location, heart rate, blood pressure and temperature. This data collection may also be useful for dementia patients, to refresh memory and alert caregivers of health status changes. Miniaturization of electronics is expected to significantly fuel market growth further. Reducing form factors may facilitate increased integration, making sensors compatible with fabric and ensuring optimum comfort and wearability.

Trade in goods and services between India and the US has grown 12.6 per cent. US companies raised concerns about India’s draft e-commerce policy and issues related with mandatory data localisation requirements. They feel the draft e-commerce policy favors domestic players and does not provide a level-playing field for US firms such as Amazon and Walmart. India on the other hand has raised the issue of high import duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products. Besides, India also wants the US to relax visa provisions for Indian IT professionals and companies. The countries are locked in a tariff dispute with the US deciding to end preferential trade treatment to Indian exports, while India proposes to impose retaliatory duties on American goods. Other matters include the US concerns on medical devices, the personal data protection bill of India.

But both India and the US have agreed to engage regularly at various levels to resolve outstanding trade issues by exploring mutually beneficial and suitable solutions. The countries have agreed to deepen economic cooperation and bilateral trade by ensuring greater cooperation among stakeholders, including governments, businesses and entrepreneurs. They will explore suitable solutions, which are mutually beneficial and promote economic development and prosperity in both countries.