Polyester has brought about significant changes in how apparel products are made, priced, and distributed. Innovated in 1941, polyester has gone on to dominate the fabric market and has overtaken all other clothing materials, including cotton. It is expected to sell at almost twice the volume of cotton by 2020. Cotton is subjected to natural forces and intense labor requirements. As a result, its availability and production costs fluctuate continuously. Polyester, on the other hand, is a byproduct of petroleum and is entirely manmade, which makes its production more predictable both in terms of availability and cost.

China accounts for 69 per cent of all polyester fiber production globally, and if India and Southeast Asia are added to the equation, these three regions represent 86 per cent of global polyester production.

Producers of active performance sportswear, like those manufacturing cycle, run and ski wear, use polyester as their primary and preferred material for fabrication. One of the main reasons behind the high use of polyester in sportswear is due to sublimation printing. It is the most popular printing technique used by many brands, designers and customers. It’s less messy and easy to transfer. The look and hand feel are much better than any other printing technique out in the market.

As per Federal Commerce Secretary Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Pakistan’s biggest textile exhibition, Texpo 2019, attracted $600 million trade through export orders by foreign buyers. Around 363 foreign buyers from more than 50 countries placed orders at the event. Trade agreements worth $600 million were signed and the process is likely to continue. Foreign buyers inked 10 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with local export houses, besides visiting field and industrial units in Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad.

More than 5,000 business-to-business (B2B) meetings were held on the sidelines of Texpo 2019, which are likely to boost the country’s textile and its related exports. Delegations from various countries including Russia, Bahrain, USA, China, Japan, UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Czechoslovakia, Nigeria, France, Netherlands and Spain actively took part in the event.

Around 231 exhibitors including new entrants from across Pakistan displayed their products with leading fashion designers and textile houses and retail brands also showcasing their latest collections. Texpo 2019 also featured a Trade Envoys’ Conference on the last day where the stakeholders from the industry and the government exchanged their opinions. The TDAP also organised a two-day seminar, attended by leading exporters from various sectors.

Leaders from the global nonwoven associations held a joint strategy meeting at the IDEA 2019 Conference, in Miami Beach, Florida March 26, 2019 to advance coordination on two key issues common to all: free and fair trade in nonwovens, and the growing concern about plastics in the environment and the need for coordinating messaging on the issue. The shared vision of the association leaders is to effectively represent, protect, and actively promote common interests of nonwovens and their related industries throughout the world.

The first step in advancing free and fair trade in nonwovens has been achieved with an updated and uniform nonwoven definition recently approved and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9092:2019. The new definition establishes nonwovens without reference to “Textiles” as did the previous definition and introduces the concept of an engineered material.

The group agreed to encourage the adoption and use of this definition in the Harmonised Commodity description and Coding System (HS) to achieve a more relevant classification of all nonwovens and nonwoven articles in tariff classifications.

The group was presented with INDA’s overview of how growing public concern about Plastics in the Environment can impact nonwovens with some guidelines on how to manage the issue. Additionally, EDANA presented the current state of play on the European Union Single Plastics Directive and its development of Extended Producers Responsibility.

The 10th edition of Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on May 2 and 3, 2019 at the International Convention City Bashundhara, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The show will offer fashion buyers and international denim insiders a sourcing platform and a hub for meeting colleagues, making new contacts and starting agreements. This edition will host various informative events including roundtables, seminars and talks for discussing and in-depth analysis on the hot topic of “Circularity.”

Beides Bangladeshi businesses, other exhibitors will be from Italy, Turkey, Japan, Pakistan and India, among others. Among the more than 60 exhibitors will be Artistic Milliners, Bossa, Denim Expert Ltd, Garmon Kemin Group, Jeanologia, Kilim Group, Naveena Denim, Officina+39, Orta, Pacific Jeans, Raymond Uco Denim, Soorty Textiles, The Lycra Company, Tonello, US Denim Mills and Vicunha Textil to name a few.

The second edition of Bangladesh Fashionology Summit will be held on May 2, 2019 at the International Convention City Bashundhara. The initiative will inspire the Bangladeshi apparel industry facing the global market’s future challenges. This edition’s theme will be “Digitalisation – The next destination” and will present views and remarks of global experts about how the apparel industry in Bangladesh can evolve thanks to technology. About 25 expert insiders from 13 countries from all over the world will express their opinion within five different sessions of the single-day event. Speakers will include representatives for international embassies and political authorities, and managers from C&A Foundation, H&M, Lectra, Marks & Spencer, Pacific Jeans and Pioneer Denim, etc.

Japanese retailer Beams and American denim giant Levi’s teamed up for ‘The Inside Out Collection.’ The seasonal capsule includes classic Levi’s pieces, including 501 denim jeans, a western shirt and a trucker jacket, flipped inside-out. The collection also features reversed “guarantee” stamps normally found inside the garment. Each piece is finished with exposed stitching to emphasise the reconstructed nature of the garments.

The exposed construction is most noticeable on the 501 jeans, with the classic cut sporting its trademark selvedge and stamped branding on the outside of the leg where they normally would be on the inside. Other notable pieces from the capsule include an inside-out denim kimono, a nod to Beams’ Japanese heritage and a T-shirt printed with reversed co-branding and replete with external seams.

Global market for knitted footwear is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9 per cent. These shoes have knitted uppers. The upper part of the shoe is made using machine knitted fabric. These shoes have become increasingly popular among the younger generation owing to the high influence of sports. Other factors are the improvement of living standards, overweight and obesity-related health issues.

The casual shoe segment dominates the knitted footwear market. Based on distribution channels, the specialty store segment is the highest contributor to the knitted footwear market in terms of value and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.4 per cent from 2018 to 2025. Based on type, the running shoe segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1 per cent from 2018 to 2025. Based on distribution channel, the e-commerce segment accounts for less than a one-third share in the segment and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of eight per cent.

Key players in the knitted footwear market are Adidas, Asics, Fila, New Balance, Nike and Puma. They are focusing on new product launches, improving the product portfolio, overcoming the competition and maintaining or improving their share.

India, South Africa and China have protested against a joint US-EU proposal to punish countries that have not followed notification requirements under various World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. The countries feel it is unfair to impose harsh requirements on developing countries facing deep capacity constraints, and are reminiscent of colonial era rules. As a part of proposed reforms to the global trade body, the US and EU, along with Japan, Canada, Australia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Taiwan, on April 11, sought to impose stringent notification requirements, including financial penalties, on countries for failure to comply.

At the meeting of WTO’s Council on Trade in Goods (CTG), the US justified the proposal on grounds of “chronic low level compliance with existing notification requirements under many WTO agreements (by members)". It seeks to allow “a counter-notification of another member concerning notification obligations". Under this practice, deemed controversial by many countries, a WTO member can issue a counter-notification against a member, claiming the latter had breached its commitments under that specific WTO-agreement.

Recently, the US had filed counter notifications claiming New Delhi’s subsidy schemes, especially minimum support prices for rice, wheat and cotton, breached India’s scheduled subsidy commitments to the WTO.

India, however, rejected the US stand saying it was based on flawed assumptions and erroneous practices. The counter-notification by the US on Indian grains and cotton was based on data from American farm lobbies, which reckon India as a major threat to its subsidised-exports to countries.

Coinciding with the beginning of cashmere harvest season in China, this year Cashmere World was held concurrently with APLF 2019 in Hong Kong from March 13-15, 2019h. Similar to other events held during APLF, sustainability, consolidation of the supply chain and the demand for more creative designs were the three major trends that marked the event.

Recently, the governments of China and Mongolia, issued and enforced very strict environmental protection rules, intensifying scrutiny on cashmere production operations, and subsequently decreasing the number of breeding goats and cashmere output. This situation resulted in a spike in prices that was reflected at Cashmere World. According to the Schneider Group’s recently released annual cashmere market reprot, another factor affecting cashmere prices was the increasing demand for lamb in China; with higher prices for lamb meat, goats reared for fibres were supplanted by sheep, reducing cashmere production.

Sustainability led manufacturers to increasingly buy cashmere directly from nomad families without involving middle men, allowing them to trace the cashmere in terms of location as well as quality. This resulted in a consolidation of the supply chain. There is growing pressure to meet new standards before the industry besides creating an internationally acceptable industry body which sets standards and fights its corner.

Another clear trend that emerged at the event include need for more creative and diverse designs along with increased fabric blends and mixes that sell in summer and thus extend the sales season. In the past, brands used to provide their own design to their suppliers. Today, they expect their suppliers to suggest new creative designs and to provide them in smaller quantities. This presents a challenge to manufacturers who henceforth need to become more fashion oriented and flexible in terms of quantity.

India’s cotton crop production may fall 7.87 per cent in the 2018-19 season. Drought in many cotton-growing regions of Gujarat, a few regions of Maharashtra and a few areas in other cotton growing states has affected the yield. Though the crop size is smaller this year in comparison to last year, the cotton supply position is comfortable with a big ending stock of 40 lakh bales. Thanks to a big opening stock, smaller exports and large imports, the production deficit is well covered. As for the crop situation next year, the highly remunerative kapas (cotton) prices during the current year and the monsoon projection would induce Indian farmers to prefer to grow more cotton.

Due to these factors, cotton prices are likely to remain steady and range-bound. Early monsoon and import arrivals in India may create downward pressure on cotton prices from June 2019. The cotton crop output for the previous season ended September 2018 was 370 lakh bales. The worst output in the past 12 years stood at 348 lakh bales, higher than the current season’s projection of 343 lakh bales. The Cotton Corporation of India has started selling its stock, which will further increase liquidity in the cotton market. A six per cent rise in global cotton production is expected for 2019-20.

India’s exports of cotton textiles have reduced its trade deficit with China. Exports of cotton textiles from February to April 2019 increased 69 per cent over the same period previous year. China is an important trading partner for India and imported $65.22 billion worth of goods and exported goods worth $15.10 billion for this period, recording an all-time high in exports and sharp decline in imports from China. The trade balance between the two countries in the year 2017-18 was $63.05 billion in favor of China, which has now lowered to $50.13 billion.

Among the few items in which India is more competitive than China is cotton based textiles like yarn, fabric and made-ups. Exports of cotton textiles from India can increase further if the tariff disadvantage of 3.5 per cent to 10 per cent suffered by India in comparison to Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia etc on textile products is addressed by making special efforts. Higher exports of cotton textiles including fabrics and made-ups can not only contribute to the significant reduction of trade imbalance but also lead to attracting investments from labor intensive industries shifting out of China.