Earnings per share (EPS) of around 29 export-oriented and publicly traded textile and apparel companies at two of Bangladesh’s reputed stock exchanges recorded negative trends in the first half of the current fiscal 2020-21 as exports dipped due to the pandemic.

As per a Dhaka Tribune report, 24 of these companies registered negative EPS in H1 of FY21, compared to the same period previous fiscal. In all, 56 export-oriented companies are listed with Dhaka and Chittagong Stock exchanges. Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) estimates Bangladesh’s exports earnings from the apparel sector to have declined 3 per cent to $15.54 billion during July-December period of 2020, against $16 billion in the same period of 2019. However, apparel exports posted 17 per cent negative growth to $27.5 billion in 2020.

During the period, consolidated EPS of Square Textile was Tk 0.79 as against Tk 0.84 for July-December 2019 as per the unaudited financial report for H1 of FY21. EPS decreased due to increase of finance cost as well as decrease of yarn price in international market during the aforesaid period, Square Textile explained in its financial statement posted on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Envoy Textile, another export oriented fabric manufacturer also recorded negative growth in earnings. Its EPS was Tk 0.37 for July-December 2020 as against Tk 1.15 for July-December 2019.Earnings of the company dropped mainly due to the unprecedented impacts of pandemic, which disrupted the supply chain and ate up demands of goods, says Abdus Salam Murshedy, Managing Director, Envoy Textile.

As per BGMEA, global brands and retailers canceled or held orders of $3.18 billion during the first wave of the pandemic. They failed to realize dues of reinstated orders, which posed a great threat to earnings and already incurred financial losses, added Murshedy, also a former BGMEA president. Other companies which recorded negative EPS included Saiham Textile, Generation Next Fashion, Safko Spinning, Nurani Dyeing & Sweater etc.

To help alleviate the burden of COVID-19 related restrictions and boost jobs in Asia, US apparel and footwear companies plan to partner USAID. The plan involves companies like Gap, Target and the American Apparel and Footwear Association. The partnership is projected to provide $250 million towards expanding business in the Indo-Pacific by improving the economy, trade and overall infrastructure. This in turn will help increase jobs and improve the livelihoods of workers.

Part of the money will go towards promoting responsible business practices to protect workers and encourage better trade and investment practices in Burma and other partnering countries. A sum of $5 million will also go towards a business initiative between Sri Lanka and a consulting firm Stax. The initiative includes investing in more mid-market companies to create more sustainable economic growth. I will also provide a network of ethical businesses throughout Sri Lanka.

The decline in jobs due to the pandemic has made aiding businesses one of the main focuses in poverty alleviation. Through this project, USAID and US businesses hope to dilute the impact of COVID-19 on job market, particularly for supply chain workers in the apparel sector.

Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the 8th edition of India International Silk Fair virtually. The fair is being held under the guidance of Indian Silk Export Promotion Council on its virtual platform from Jan 31to Feb 04, 2021. Over 200 overseas buyers have already registered and equal number of their representatives in India shall be interacting on virtual platform with more than 100 renowned and big Indian manufacturers and traders of silk and silk blended products.

India International Silk Fair is organized under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles and sponsored by Department of Commerce. India h is the second largest producer of Silk in the world. It produces all the four major varieties of silk i.e. Mulberry, Eri, Tussar, and Muga and has large varieties of products to offer i.e. garments, fabrics and saris, made-ups, carpets, hi-fashion silk apparels, gift items, scarves, stoles, home furnishing, curtains etc. India has around 11 Geographical Indications (GI) such as Pochampally Ikat,Chanderpaul Silk, Mysore Silk, Kanchipuram Silk, Muga Silk, Salem Silk, Arni Silk,Champa Silk, Bhagalpur Silk, Banaras Brocade and Sarees etc.

China National Textile and Apparel Council entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) to uplift the sector severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As per a Daily Mirror Online report, the key objectives of the MoU is to strengthen the working relationship between two associations to promote value chain cooperation, increase mutual visits, promote exchanges, and improve mutual trust among industry personnel.

Sri Lankan ambassador Palitha Kohona, believes the MoU will pave the way for China to become a key importer of Sri Lanka’s high-end apparels. A Sukuraman, Chairman, JAAF acknowledged the MoU as being timely for Sri Lanka with local apparel sector having faced the worst in 2020 due to the pandemic. He said the industry is confident of recovering in the next couple of years particularly as sectors, as casual, sports and leisure are a large part of the mix of products Sri Lanka manufactures.

Apparel and textile trade between China and Sri Lanka has expanded over the last three years and in 2019, the total textile and apparel trade between the two countries reached US$ 1.24 billion.

In the first quarter of its current fiscal FY2020/21, H&M Group plans to focus more on digital growth. The brand also aims to optimize its store count by closing 250 stores and elevating remaining stores, as well as more closely associating them with one of H&M’s other priorities: sustainability.

H&M’s sales in the first quarter of this fiscal declined 23 per cent in local currencies. During the fourth quarter of last fiscal, its pre-tax profits fell to SEK3.67 billion from SEK5.4 billion a year earlier. The gross margin fell to 52.1 per cent from 54 per cent and post-tax profit dropped to SEK2.485 billion from SEK4.212 billion.

The brand’s net sales dropped by 10 per cent in local currencies to SEK52.549 billion as a strong recovery at the start of the quarter was derailed by the imposition of further pandemic restrictions. Its full-year pretax profit fell to SEK2.05 billion from SEK17.4 billion. Post-tax profit for the year was SEK1.243 billion, down sharply from SEK13.443 billion a year earlier. The gross margin fell to 50 per cent from 52.6 per cent.

According to recent survey of 610 factories in Bangladesh, nearly 357,000 of 4.1 million garment workers in the country have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, reports Apparel Resources

Between December 2019 and September 2020, the average number of workers per factory fell from 886 to 790, researchers from the Centre for Policy Dialogue and Mapped in Bangladesh have found. Some 232 factories, accounting for 6.9 percent of all factories in Bangladesh, have shuttered due to the pandemic, according to the study, titled “Vulnerability, Resilience and Recovery in the RMG Sector in view of COVID Pandemic: Findings from the Enterprise Survey.”

Researchers found that more than 59 percent of the factories they polled also drafted new workers during the outbreak, with the recruitment rate described as high at factories in Dhaka and Gazipur. As many as 37 percent of factories both retrenched and recruited workers amid the COVID-19 outbreak, with laid-off workers usually rehired with reduced pay, downgraded contracts and loss of benefits.

In addition, most garment factories did not adhere to labor laws and rules when laying off or terminating workers, researchers said. Just 3.6 percent of the facilities surveyed complied with the compensation principle, meaning they paid salaries, benefits and cleared dues, researchers said. Roughly 70 percent of the factories paid salaries only. Non-compliance, they said, was much higher in large-sized factories and factories located in Narayanganj.

Though the sector’s overall gender composition did not noticeably shift, as many as 33 percent of factories employed a lower post-outbreak share of female workers, a finding that squares with the International Labour Organization’s assessment that women are disproportionately affected by the fallout of the pandemic.

The study also found that most factories, including those belonging to large enterprises, did not have a plan or financial backup to help them cope with the immediate crisis. Only 44 percent of the factories polled said they were confident about the work orders coming in through April. More than half (56 percent) said they faced different levels of uncertainty and 11 percent reported experiencing high uncertainty.

Global innerwear brand Jockey and the TENCEL™ brand are broadening their horizons to China and Indonesia with Phase 2 of their collaborative campaign. Set to launch this December, Phase 2 will showcase the benefits of Jockey x TENCEL™’s underwear and loungewear with informative articles published in Cosmopolitan magazine.

To augment editorial content, Jockey and the TENCEL™ brand also created a global video, set to launch as part of Phase 2, highlighting how editors and influencers, who are redefining comfort from within, are staying productive whilst living more comfortably and sustainably from home. Jockey and the TENCEL™ brand don’t plan to stop there with sights already set on expanding to more regions for Phase 3 in 2021.

Determined to spread their sustainability message across the globe, and champion the use of sustainable fibers like TENCEL™ Modal fibers, Jockey joined forces with the TENCEL™ brand for a global co-branding campaign. United by a goal to inspire comfort from within, the Jockey x TENCEL™ brand campaign launched with a long form feature article in Vogue Australia in late 2019. Featuring Jockey x TENCEL™ brand’s collaborative 2020 innerwear collection, the article showcased the benefits of TENCEL™ Modal fibers including soft touch on skin, breathability and, of course, sustainable guarantees like biodegradability and the use of sustainably sourced wood.

The Jockey x TENCEL™ brand co-branding campaign forms a key part of the TENCEL™ brand’s global #FeelsSoRight campaign, designed to drive evolutionary change in the fashion and textiles industry. The #FeelsSoRight campaign has already reached over 40 million viewers, and with Jockey’s support, it will undoubtedly spread the message of sustainability to even more eco-conscious consumers across the world.

Fashion for Good has launched a new, two-year pilot project in collaboration with leading brands Kering and PVH Corp, and leading global textile manufacturer Arvind Limited to pilot a radically resource-efficient cotton farming technology provided by Fashion for Good innovator, Materra.

Materra’s innovative combination of precision agriculture, environmental control and real-time data tracking facilitate resilience for cotton farming in developing regions where climate and resources prove challenging for cotton cultivation, the Fashion for Good-led consortium said in a press release.

The project leverages Arvind’s local knowledge and network with a 1.5-hectare farm being set up in the Gujarat region in India. Fashion for Good initiated and will manage the project in addition to financing the project through an equity investment in Materra.

The farm will grow extra-long staple cotton, which is often used in more high-end products, and provides the region with opportunities to explore implementing the fibre that has historically not been grown in large volumes in Northern India as its cultivation requires specific climatic conditions that are only met in a limited number of regions. The cotton generated on the farm, which will total 3 tonnes by the completion of the project, will be divided amongst the three partners to produce garments that will be made commercially available from 2023.

The pilot officially kicked off on January 26, 2021. The next three months of the pilot will focus on installing the pilot farm to be ready for planting in April, with the first harvest taking place towards the end of the year.

The pilot includes collating data and key learnings to identify the next best location for the team to apply the technology. Focus will predominantly be in regions where cotton agriculture is challenged by limited resources such as water, few solutions for pest control and limited success at growing extra-long staple cotton.

The Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry (MOPFI) of Myanmar revealed that Eastern Development International (Myanmar) Co. (Dongzhan Textile Group), based out of China’s Jiangsu province, has proposed to develop a textile-based industrial cluster in the country.

As per Apparel Resources, the cluster will cost around $371 million. It will be set up in a major town in Sagaing Region which is an economic hub in Myanmar.

Eastern Development International (Myanmar) was registered in 2018 as a garment manufacturer in Myanmar.

According to the Myanmar Project Bank, the proposed project will comprise two phases on 356.47 acres of land in Sagaing and it’ll involve construction of around 17 garment and textile factories.

Phase I includes 12 new garment factories, knitting units, dyeing and printing facilities, down and feather units and residential buildings for employees.

Phase II will include construction of 5 garment factories, an embroidery factory, a carton factory and a polyester wadding unit.

The construction is expected to complete by 2030 and will create over 20,000 new jobs.

Compelled by the decree of the Italian Prime Minister, the 55th edition of Filo, scheduled for February 24-25, 2021 at MiCo – Milano Convention Centre has been canceled. The decree of the Italian Prime Minister, published on the 14th of January 2021, suspends – throughout Italy – trade-fairs, events and congresses at least until March 5, 2021.

Filo is the only international trade show focusing on products of excellence; a business platform which showcases high quality collections of yarns and fibres, produced by environmentally-friendly processes, and in accordance with ethical values.

Filo has been cooperating with ICE-Agency (Italian Trade Promotion Agency) for several years in a program that brings to the trade show a delegation of high qualified international buyers coming from countries (and markets) of particular interest for Filo exhibitors.