After three times postponement, China International Sewing Equipment Exhibition (CISMA) will now be held from July 29 to August 01, 2022 at Ningbo Int’l Conference and Exhibition Center, Ningbo.

The show was originally scheduled to be held from September 26-29, 2021 in Shanghai which got postponed till January 2022 and the venue was also shifted to Ningbo in view of resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

Since pandemic woes weren’t over even in January ’22, the show was further postponed till April ’22. Amongst the exhibits, sewing machines account for 51 per cent of the total space in CISMA; sewing and comprehensive equipment account for 25 per cent space; and embroidery machines as well as functional parts account for 12 per cent space each.

Largest producer of recycled knitting yarns in India, Usha Yarns will introduce Circularity Partnership Program to international brands, buyers and manufacturers at Premier Vision Show to be held in Paris from July 5 to 8, 2022. Launched to tap the production waste of brands and garment manufacturers, the Circularity Partnership Program aims to increase Usha Yarn’s direct collaborations with brands to ensure traceability and zero landfills.

The program urges manufacturers to collaborate with Usha Yarns in to handle their waste in a responsible manner. It assures them of complete recycling of waste, helping them earn their partner brands complete trust.

Usha Yarns’ recycling facilities are dependent on garment waste for acquiring feedstock. The company has been engaged in recycling cotton garment waste to regenerate the best colored years since over a decade now.

After a 41 per cent rise in India’s textiles and apparel exports to $44.4 billion in 2021-22, the rise in cotton and yarn prices is leading to a 10 per cent drop in export demand during the current financial year, as per Wazir Textile Index. The index shows, last year, sales of all top leading textile companies including Welspun, Vardhman, Arvind, Trident, KPR Mills, Indo Count, RSWM, Filatex, Nahar Spg, and Indorama, increased. Welspun’s sales grew 13 per cent while Vardhman’s sales surged 60 per cent. Arvind reported 65 per cent growth in sales while Trident saw sales rising 54 per cent rise in sales in 2021-22, compared to the pandemic-hit 2020-21.

Majority of export demand came from the US, which made up 27 per cent of India's textiles and apparel exports, followed by 18 per cent the European Union, 12 per cent by Bangladesh and 6 per cent by UAE. However, these companies witnessed a decline in demand during the first two months of current financial year

The rise in raw materials prices slowed textile and apparel demand across the country, says Narendra Goenka, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC). AEPC also blamed the Ukraine crisis for the dip in export demand from the US and Europe as it resulted in a rise in energy prices. New garment companies from countries like the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Panama, and South Africa are negotiating with the Indian companies, though these orders are minimal compared to last year, say industry players.

Running parallel to the UK’s leading fashion retail event Pure London from July 17to19, 2022 at Olympia London, this edition of Pure Origin will focus on sustainability and have new dedicated pavilions from 20 countries including the UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, North Macedonia, Turkey, Peru, UAE, Italy, Madagascar, Jordan, China, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Japan, India, and Malaysia, making it the UK’s largest global fashion sourcing show.

Pure Origin not just offers an opportunity to fabric manufacturers to explore the UK retail market; it also allows buyers, procurement and sustainability directors, fashion wholesalers, and designers to launch their collections during the show. Suzanne Ellingham, Head, Pure Origin says, the trade show brings diverse international manufacturers under one roof, providing an unprecedented choice of fabrics for the UK fashion community. Since its launch in 2018, the event has aimed to create a platform to inspire designers, brands and wholesalers to responsibly source and build relationships with new manufacturers from across the world.

To further its commitment on sustainability, US-based Cone Denim is incorporating regenerative cotton in its premium denim styles. Being executed in collaboration with international agriculture initiative Regenagri, the initiative aims to increase the brand’s access to sustainably sourced cotton grown using agricultural practices besides working on various programs to help its customers and brands achieve key sustainability actions.

The project is also being supported by Control Union, which helps develop services around the sustainability of supply chains that feed into many markets including textiles. The project aims at providing fabrics created with integrity. It aims to assure operations transparency to customers, says Steve Maggard, President, Cone Denim.

Together with its parent company Elevate Textiles, Cone Denim has pledged to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and committed to source 80 per cent verifiably sustainable cotton by 2025.

After two years of pandemic-driven disruptions, the outlook for Indonesia’s textile and garment industry finally turned positive this year. However, the sector now faces a mix of factors. As per a Nekkei report, lenders’ reluctant to invest in the sector over lingering debt concerns is constraining growth besides increasing the cost of shipping and raw materials.

Boycott of China cotton over human rights issues presents new export opportunities for Asian countries like Indonesia. However, the proposed rules from the European Union forcing fast fashion companies to overhaul clothing designs, threatens growth. Following a contraction to 8.9 per cent in 2020 and 4.1 per cent last year, Indonesia’s textile and garment sector expanded 12.5 per cent Y-o-Y in the first quarter of this year, reveals Statistics Indonesia, as coronavirus lockdowns and shop closures weighed on sales and sent global logistics into disarray.

Besides operating with reduced capacity at factories and complying strict social distancing rules, Indonesian manufacturers have to contend with headwinds, including high shipping and raw material prices, limited access to funding and cheap Chinese imports undercutting local businesses.

Two of the country's largest listed manufacturers have had to ask their lenders to restructure their debt. These included PT Sri Rejeki Isman Tbk, or Sritex, which narrowly escaped bankruptcy in early January when most of its lenders agreed to a court-sanctioned debt restructuring process and producer of clothes for Ralph Lauren, Prada and Adidas, PT Pan Brothers, which needs to repay or refinance $309 million of debt, including a $171 million bond that matured in January, says Fitch Ratings.

In a letter to the finance minister, Bangladesh exporters have once again urged the government to maintain advance source tax on export proceeds at 0.50 per cent for the next five years instead of raising it to 1 per cent as proposed in the national budget for fiscal 2022-23. Signed by the representatives of BGMEA, BKMEA and Exporters Association of Bangladesh, the letter warned, any increase in tax rate, especially at a time when the cost of production has surged, might have a negative impact on exporters’ working capital, reducing their competitiveness in global market.

However, Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute opines, the increase in source tax is reasonable as exporters are earning more due to the recent depreciation the local currency, and besides, the government is offering incentives for exports, he adds. Latest Export Promotion Bureau stats show, Bangladesh earned over $47 billion from its garment exports in the first 11 months of fiscal 2021-22, with a year-on-year growth of 34 per cent. The figure is expected to cross the $50 billion mark by the end of the year.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged the government to simplify current rules of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act. The trade body plans to meet the finance ministers of all states to put its demand. It will also meet around 100 prominent trade leaders at a two-day convention in Nagpur from June 25-26, 2022, to devise a strategy for a national campaign on both GST and e-commerce which will begin on July 1.

Nearly 100 prominent trade leaders of all states will have a brainstorming session at Nagpur during the two days of the convention, CAIT said. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, CAIT also emphasized on the need for widening the tax base of GST by simplifying the GST Act, this will yield more revenue to both central and state governments.

A Joint GST committee in every district of the country comprising senior tax officials of GST and trade leaders of the respective district, should also be formed, stated Khandelwal.

The rationalization of the GST rate should be done after consulting stakeholders, he added. He emphasized on keeping textile and footwear under the tax slab of 5 per cent.

Traditionally, a major cotton exporter, India, for the first time is importing cotton yarn to guarantee uninterrupted supply to weavers and textile mills. Traders are selling imported cotton yarn at Rs 30 per kg lesser than the price of the local yarn, adding further pressure on dwindling profit margins. Atul Ganatra, President, Cotton Association of India notes, for the first time, traders and brokers have imported 4,000 tons of 40 counts of combed-carded compact yarn from Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan. A few weavers and mills are buying imported cotton yarn in small quantities to test their quality before ordering in bulk, he adds.

Duty removal pressurizes local spinners

A producer of 4.7 mt of spun and 3.4 mt o cotton yarn, India has world’s second largest spinning capacity after China. Around 65 per cent of the cotton yarn produced by domestic spinning mills is consumed by local weavers and textile mills and rest is exported. Removal of import duty on cotton procured from Vietnam has lessened the prices of Vietnamese cotton, leading to a reduction in capacities of local spinning units, says Jayesh Patel, Executive Committee Member, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). This has further made it difficult for these units to sell products in the domestic market, he adds.

Big companies, with capacity to make cotton yarn, are importing cotton. For example, Welspun Group which is procuring cotton from Egypt to make yarn. The yarns are then sold at minimal rates to weaving units, notes Chintan Thaker, President.

Ahmedabad-based Chiripal Group, is importing 100 mt cotton from Nigeria. The company has taken precautionary measures like cotton hedging to prevent rising prices from impacting margins, says Ronak Chiripal, CEO. It has neither reduced nor cut down its installed capacity.

Textile mills rapidly exhaust quality stocks

Most spinning units are struggling as there is an acute shortage of quality cotton in the market, rues Gautam Dhamsania, Owner, Narmada Spinning. Mills are exhausting their stocks rapidly and would have to import cotton yarn for the next 3-4 months. Larger textile units like Welspun would also have to import raw cotton until fresh cotton stocks arrive in the local market, observes Dhamsania.

Net data from China Customs shows, China reduced its spandex imports 20.7 per cent to 7,140 tons from January-April’22 while exports declined only 9.5 per cent to 29.6000 tons from January-April’22. China’s net exports declined 5.1 per cent on annual basis and continued to fall month by month. Imports too remained low during the period.

Exports decline by 9.5%

During the January-April’22 period, China’s spandex exports declined 9.5 per cent to 29.6000 tons. As per a CCF Group report, the average export unit price of spandex increased $1.867/kg on the year. Exports dropped gradually month-by-month as suppliers bagged lesser orders. Spandex was exported to five more nations taking total export destinations to 91 from January-April, 2022. The biggest exports to Turkey followed by South Korea and Vietnam. Together, these three nations accounted for 50.5 per cent of China’s total spandex exports. On the other hand, China’s spandex exports to Bangladesh, Egypt, India and Taiwan declined 20-50 per cent over the same period of January-April,2022 last year.

Imports sees greater decline

China’s spandex imports declined 1,883 tons during the period to 7,140 tons. The average import unit price increased $2.446/kg Y-o-Y to $10.872/kg. China’s monthly spandex imports hit a four-year low as imports declined by 27.5 per cent M-o-M to 2,302 tons in April with import unit price averaging at $9.793/kg.

Major spandex import destinations remained Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea accounting for 77.7 per cent of total. China’s spandex imports from Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea and Japan declined 23.6 per cent, 12.5 per cent, 8.1 per cent and 30.6 per cent Y-o-Y respectively during the January-April’22 period.

Companies shift focus to Southeast Asia as China market weakens

The weakening of China’s spandex market led to many MNCs concentrating on other countries during this period. Demand for spandex also rose in other Southeast Asian countries as textile and apparel production resumed. A few MNCs also reduced Spandex distribution in mainland China and focused on consuming the material locally. China’s spandex imports also suffered owning stricter disinfection of imported goods, delayed customs clearance and high sea freight rates.