The continuous hike in cotton and yarn prices is severely impacting growth of cotton textile value chain in India, say industry leaders. A recent press meet held in Coimbatore was attended by T Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI); Ravi Sam, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) and Raja M Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA). The industry leaders appreciated the Prime Minister and Union Textile Ministry for boosting textile exports from the country. Enhanced exports helped the spinning sector add 2 to 2.5 million spindle capacity per year after almost a decade, they said.

Being highly capital intensive, Indian spinning sector cannot stop production even for a day, they said. The industry is already facing an acute labor shortage and a halt in production may make it more difficult to source labor in future, the leaders added.

Cotton exports to exceed 50 lakh bales

This year, India’s cotton exports are likely to exceed 50 lakh bales, as demand from Bangladesh may increase in order to reduce lead times and logistics costs. Already, exports of cotton yarns, fabrics, made-ups and readymade garments increased 42 per cent and 16 per cent respectively from October 2021-February 2022 compared to the same period last year.

The continuous hike in cotton and yarn prices has severely affected RMG exports from Tirupur, and made-ups exports from different clusters. The Ukraine-Russia war has further deteriorated the situation by increasing oil prices by around 40 per cent, resulting in reduced demand for exports. Unless, the 11 per cent import duty is removed and cotton prices stabilized, the RMG sector may continue to face severe losses, they added.

Import duty leads to cotton hoarding

Currently, spinning mills in India have only 40 days stock as against 3 to 6 months’ stock level maintained by spinning mills during any cotton season at the end of March. This happened due to the arrival of only around 240 lakh bales of cotton as against 320 lakh bales that usually arrives during this time. The 11 per cent import duty is also causing traders to hoard cotton, adopt import parity pricing policy and curtail global competitiveness. Further, it is also leading to price speculation by traders through futures market trading on MCX and NCDEX platforms.

Therefore, these leaders have urged the government to allow duty-free import of 40 lakh bales immediately to stabilize the cotton price and impose mandatory declaration of cotton stock with all the stakeholders, curbing hoarding and speculation by revamping the cotton trader under MCX and NCDEX. This will help create a level playing field and sustain the industry’s export performance, financial viability and livelihoods of over 30 million people directly employed in the cotton textile value chain, they added.

The European Commission released its long-awaited Strategy for Sustainable Textileto move the sector towards the path of sustainability.

The strategy recognises the strategic importance of textiles, which are not only used as apparel or furniture, but applied in cars, medical equipment, agriculture, etc. It acknowledges the European Industry pro-active initiatives to tackle microplastics, to solve challenges of market surveillance and the skills needs. More cooperation is needed for re-use and recycling of textiles and to set up an EU market for secondary raw materials. On this last point, EuratexReHubs Initiative is developing proposals to size EPR potential, to transform waste into value, and create a new capacity and jobs.

The proposed “transition pathways”, which will translate the strategy into action, will be critical in this respect: how will these sustainability targets be reached, what will the cost for SMEs be, how can companies be supported in that green transition, what about the impact on global competitiveness ? These are essential questions to be addressed in the coming months.

The Textile strategy is part of much broader package, including as many as 16 new legislative actions and other policies which will directly impact on textile value chain. In particular the Sustainable Product Initiative Regulation released today includes game-changing provisions on Digital Product Passport, Eco-Design, SMEs and Green Public Procurement. The Regulation has an overwhelming ambition and, to be realistic, it would require a new way of joint working between institutions and business, and which builds on lessons learned on data flow across value chains, interoperability, conformity assessment and effective measures to support SMEs.

Epson has begun shipping the latest models in its series of Monna Lisa digital textile printers. Equipped with 64 and 32 PrecisionCoreprintheads, the ML-64000 and ML-32000 combine the best of Epson’s world-class inkjet printing and manufacturing technologies to deliver high-quality printing at exceptional speeds to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive and dynamic textile market.

The ML-64000 reaches a print speed of 774 square metres per hour, with 64 PrecisionCoreprintheads, without compromising on printing quality. The stable operation and unprecedented usability of the ML-64000 are realized due to advanced cleaning mechanisms and automated adjustment functions.

With 32 PrecisionCoreprintheads, the ML-32000 offers the most flexible solution with selectable channels configured to deliver the highest versatility. Its 8+8 colour configuration (option) can be loaded with two different types of ink simultaneously to increase the fabric types that can be printed and is of particular value when working within a limited space or a tight budget. The ML-32000 is available in 2.4-metre or 3.4-metre print widths.

Epson Genestainks are available in Acid, Reactive, Disperse, and Pigment formulations in a degassed vacuum-pack. They are Eco passport certified to meet globally recognised standards for environmentally conscious textile printing. In addition, the Acid ink is bluesign® approved, and the Reactive and Pigment inks are GOTS approved by Ecocert.

With over 10,000 visitors, the premiere event of Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair, organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (ITHIB) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) from March 16-18, 2022 has successfully ended.

The exhibition offered high-quality and innovative fabrics from the weaving sector, including Kipaş Textiles, BTD Textile, Özdoku, Bossa and Yünsa; knitters like Gülle, Saka, Örkumod or İskur showed their current collections; yarn market leaders such as Korteks, Tepa and Gama were present, as were ŞimşekEge, EMR Zippers, Çağ-Tek and Öz-El Lastik for the accessories sector.

A total of 166 exhibiting companies presented themselves in clearly structured segments in a professional trade fair atmosphere.

In the Texhibition Forum, experts discussed the topics Sustainability, New Trends, Supply Chain and GMO-Free Cotton giving an outlook on the upcoming trends and developments in the Turkish textile industry. All events were heavily frequented by visitors.

Apparel stores associated with Japan Chain Stores Association (JCSA) saw drastic decline in their sales revenues during February ’22, both on Y-o-Y and M-o-M basis.

As per the latest data released by JCSA, apparel retail revenues fell by 30.40 per cent m-o-m and 9.10 per cent Y-o-Y to 40,767.97 million yen ($ 330 million) in February ’22 as against 58,553.32 million yen ($506.82 million) in January.

Womenswear products generated revenues generated worth 10,433.24 million yen ($84.46 million) in February ’22 as compared with 14,643.73 million yen ($126.75 million) in January ’22. The women’s clothing revenues fell by 28.80 per cent on monthly basis.

The sales of menswear products valued 7,559 million yen in Feb. ’22, declining drastically from 11,555.91 million yen (US $ 100 million) in Jan. ’22 and noting 34.60 per cent monthly fall.

All other types of clothing, including kidswear, noted Y-o-Y growth of 3.50 per cent, while falling by around 19 per cent on monthly note. Revenues in this category were 22,775.74 million yen ($184.37 million) in February ’22 as compared to 32,353.52 million yen ($280 million) in the preceding month.

Europe plans to introduce a sustainable textiles strategy to crack down on fast fashion to make the clothing more durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable. The strategywill target clothes at every stage of use, including design, repair and recycling. The initiative aims to boost the market for sustainably made garments. Manufacturers will have to ensure their clothes are eco-friendly and hard-wearing. And consumers will be given more information on how to reuse, repair and recycle their clothes.

Iona Popescu, Environmental Coalition on Standards, says the rules to be announced by the European Commission are designed to bring in longerlasting products that can be used multiple times rather than worn a few times then thrown away. Similar rules will apply to the likes of electronics, such as smartphones, and furniture under an initiative known as the Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), she adds.

It's estimated that less than 1 per cent of all clothing worldwide is recycled. According to the European Environment Agency, clothes use in Europe has on average the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate, exceeded only by food, housing and transport. For every person in the EU, textile consumption requires 9 cubic metres of water, 400 square metres of land, 391kg of raw materials, and causes a carbon footprint of about 270 kg. In the UK, politicians have called on the government to change the law to require fashion retailers to comply with environmental standards.

Garments 2nd is the largest forex earner for its economy.

The textile hub of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu and tea estates of southern India and Assam are witnessing a surge in overseas orders as the export demand has diverted to India from Sri Lanka owing to the economic and political crisis in the island nation.

Garments and tea are the major exports from Sri Lanka. "It has crippled the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka, especially apparel," said Raja M Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters' Association. "

After making a strong recovery from the pandemic, Europe’s luxury goods industry must now contend with the challenges brought by much higher than anticipated inflation, particularly around energy prices.

Almost 30 per cent of the European luxury goods industry's revenues are derived from abroad, with travel a key driver of income. The industry, which is at the very top of the consumption pyramid, managed to exit the pandemic in a stronger position than many others by significantly improving e-commerce coverage, especially with regards to the all-important Asian customers, who were affected by strict travel restrictions.The pandemic also helped the industry to bring in efficiency measures that allowed better shaping of inventories and the broader supply chain.Marketing campaigns were also enhanced.

Post-pandemic, customers are travelling once again and the price gap differential in Europe allows Asian customers to enjoy buying goods at better prices, while exploring the continent.

Crisis and disruption

The Italian and French landscapes and distinct styles have spawned a sophisticated following, with a focus on premium products and materials, and both countries attract significant numbers of fashion tourists every year.However, in the first part of 2022, the industry saw a significant derating attributable to the Russian/Ukraine conflict and concerns over continued inflationary cost pressures and the energy crisis, which dominate the current economic environment.There is growing concern around what this winter will bring, particularly if governments in Europe are faced with making tough decisions around keeping heat and power on for their populations.

The fashion industry’s major worry is that non-essential industries could face periods of rationing, shutdown or furlough in order to conserve energy for essential power and service needs.Currently under discussion at EU-wide level is the prospect of mandatory energy demand cuts during the peak hours of the day. To mitigate this, some fashion companies have been able to move from natural gas to renewable sources of electricity, such as wind and solar power, to ensure a more predictable energy cost and supply.

Further disruption comes in the form of transport issues, with products that once took 25 days to arrive, now taking over 60 days to make journeys from far-flung factories to retail warehouses. Transport costs are also much more expensive than before.

The way forward

Despite the additional concerns surrounding the consumer's disposable income, luxury goods purchases have so far continued to remain strong, especially in the highest-end companies where the relationship between price increases and demand is highly inelastic. In the luxury watches' space, for example, demand is even outpacing supply with waiting lists several years long.Top European brands have adapted their sourcing cycles for raw materials, such as yarns (namely cashmere), woollen fabrics, cotton and feathers, in such a way as to make the best of the pricing volatility.

According to the United Nations Environment program, fashion currently accounts for up to 10 per cent of global carbon dioxide output—more than international flights and shipping combined. Garment production has doubled since 2000, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum. The US is known to throw away around 70 pairs of trousers per person in waste every year. This is a result of the excess inventory produced by the country every year, adds a Bloomberg study.

Sheng Lu, Assistant Professor-Apparel Studies, University of Delaware says, fast fashion companies like Shein can curb fashion waste by adopting efficient production methods. Shein claims to produce minimal batches of clothes by adopting the “Just in Time” inventory method. According to the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, fast fashion is also the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for 8-10 percent of global carbon emissions. Shein is one of the largest manufacturers of polyester-made clothing in the world; with 95.2 percent of its clothes containing new plastics.

However, Shein is not the only culprit. Almost every store in the mall and every brand are responsible for this. Fast fashion care little for the environmental and human costs of production, says Aja Barbar in his book Consumed. Consumers need to make more sustainable apparel choices to identify and express a truly personal and authentic style, he adds.