Bangladesh's apparel exports declined in the first 21 days of December 2022.

This is attributed to inflation in the sector’s major export destinations fueled by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Garment export earnings dropped suddenly in September after a long stretch of growth for the previous 13 months. Then they bounced back in October and November this year as some buyers received their deferred shipments of goods during that time. The slowdown of apparel shipments was expected this year as most factories have been receiving less work orders compared to previous years.

This situation is expected to continue till April-May 2023. Some factories are running factories at 90 per cent capacity. Garment prices have fallen about three per cent or four per cent compared to last year. Prices of raw materials like yarn have fallen but that is hardly enough to make any profit for most of the factories. Some usually receive a number of orders by December every year to keep them occupied for the next six or seven months but this year no orders have come after April.

Apparel exporters have been facing many challenges in running their units. For one they have been struggling to pay workers’ salaries regularly.

The eleven per cent import duty imposed on cotton last year should be withdrawn. So says the Cotton Association of India (CAI).

The import duty on cotton was imposed in February 2021 but it is said to have drastically eroded the competitiveness of India’s value-added products in the international markets, and sp the country’s textile industry, which is the second largest employment provider in the country, is now constrained to work with only 50 per cent of its installed capacity.

Expressing concern over the availability of extra-long staple (ELS) cotton in the country, the association says that every year India requires around 20 lakh bales of extra-long staple cotton but produces around five lakh bales. CAI adds that cotton farmers should be given higher minimum support prices to boost production of ELS cotton.

Cotton productivity in India is among the lowest in the world. As against the global average of 744 kg per hectare, India has an yield of 468 kg per hectare.This is below the cotton productivity of some of the smaller countries like Bangladesh, Syria, Sudan etc. The total cotton supply for the months of October 2022 and November 2022 in India is estimated at 84.68 lakh bales.

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) with Australia is expected to benefit India’s apparel industry.

This deal is likely to benefit various labor-intensive sectors which are subjected to five per cent import duty by Australia currently. This deal will provide immediate market access at zero duty for 98.3 per cent of tariff lines which account for 96.4 per cent of India’s exports in value terms to Australia and the remaining 1.7 per cent lines over five years.

Overall, Australia is offering duty elimination on 100 per cent of its tariff lines which will ensure duty free access covering all labor-intensive sectors such as textiles and apparel. With the elimination of duty, India’s exports of textiles and apparels are expected to rise in the next three years. Additional capacity creation due to exports and re-investment is likely to create additional employment of 40,000 persons per annum.

This ECTA has a higher value addition of 35 per cent for specifying country of origin, which has been deliberately kept to avoid the leakages from other countries. India has a less than five per cent share in Australia’s imports. With the ECTA, India will have an advantage over Vietnam and Indonesia in the Australian market.

Gen Z’s much-loved ultra-cheap throwaway fashion brand Shein that has its origins in China is facing challenges from multiple competitors who have emulated this enormously successful business model. A fellow-Chinese cross-border platform Temu is also off to a promising start. Temu ranks 2nd in the shopping section of Apple’s App Store in the US, following Amazon Shopping with 3.8 stars ranked by 339 people, says Sensor Tower statistics released in October, 2022. The platform is regarded as a successor to Chinese online fashion retailer Shein. Shein now ranks lower than Temu in the shopping section.

Temu takes on Shein

On September 1, Pinduoduo, one of the most popular Chinese e-commerce companies, launched a cross-border e-commerce platform named Temu, marking the firm’s first attempt to target the US market. Temu means “Team Up, Price Down”. Similar to fast fashion retailer Shein, Temu offers goods at incredibly low prices, although Temu’s offerings go beyond clothing. Customers can browse through 12 different product categories, including men and women’s clothing, kids’ fashion, accessories and jewelry, and bags and shoes.

Unlike Shein, Temu can rely on Pinduoduo’s pool of over 11 million suppliers and manufacturers to expand the number of merchants and items on its platform. Chen Lei, Chairman and CEO of Pinduoduo says Pinduoduo “Will not repeat what others have done” but will create unique value from the needs of consumers. Nevertheless, while many consumers are motivated to purchase due to low prices, a portion of consumers may conversely become wary of these ultra-low price-points. This explains why Temu’s top selling items are mostly daily necessities and gadgets, these products themselves don’t cost much and their quality won’t mean a lot to the customers. Although Temu’s top selling items remain daily necessities and gadgets, its categories have been gradually expanding, with products from new sub-categories such as kitchenware and decorative goods also rapidly increasing in sales. Moreover, the arrival of the holiday peak season in the US also led to a boom in festival products sales, all for an astoundingly low price.

Big attraction of group buying

Group buying refers to a way of buying in which consumers unite to increase their bargaining power. Making the sacrifice of small profits for more frequent turnover, merchants can offer discounts for group purchases below retail prices. This is a win-win scenario where customers buy at a more favorable price, while merchants earn a smaller profit per unit but enjoy much quicker sales and an increase in sales volume and profit overall. Temu brings group-buying to the West. On the app, old users can get a 40 per cent by inviting their friends to join the platform through a provided link. By increasing total sales volume, Temu is able to keep the price of their products extremely low.

PDD Overseas Support Program 2022

Pinduoduo Overseas Support Program 2022 was created to help Chinese companies explore overseas markets and, to some degree, pave the way for Temu. In the plan, several measures were taken to attract sellers to Temu. According to Pinduoduo’s arrangement, Temu is not only using various promotional methods to attract new sellers, but also ensuring product quality and merchant diversity through China’s strong supply chain.

In addition to low prices and discounts, Pinduoduo also mimics Amazon’s two key features: free shipping and free returns. In order to attract customers to place orders, Temu launched a limited-time Free Shipping discount for all orders. Currently, the delivery time of Temu products is generally 7-15 days. If the actual delivery time exceeds the estimated one, the platform will refund the goods in full.

The maternity clothing market is growing at six percent a year. The market is expanding thanks to a growing number of working women who do so even while pregnant.

Modern mothers are increasingly choosing maternity clothes that are appropriate for the occasion and the location, thanks to the rising influence of fashion magazines, social media, and celebrity endorsements on millennials. Several clothing companies are concentrating on creating new and fashionable maternity collections in order to take advantage of the growing demand for maternity gear.

Maternity outerwear gear is anticipated to become the most appealing product type category. The growth of the category is being aided by the rising demand for fashionable outerwear items including jeans, skirts, shirts, dresses, and tunics that are sold under various brands.Key manufacturers place a strong emphasis on the release of cutting-edge and stylish maternity clothing to shield expectant mothers and babies from dangerous ultraviolet radiation. These outfits are being tailored with natural and environmentally safe materials.High convenience and the availability of a large number of unique brands, designs, and affordable prices with big discounts are increasing the sales of maternity wear through online sales channels.

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) between India and Australia will come into force soon.

Under the deal, Australia will provide India duty-free access to more than 6,300 sectors on the day the agreement comes into force. India, for its part, will do away with customs duties on 40 per cent of products immediately and on 70.3 per cent of tariff lines over ten years.

Major labor-intensive sectors in India that will benefit from the elimination of five per cent customs duty include textiles and apparel, agricultural products, leather, furniture, jewellery, and pharmaceuticals.

ECTA will help in taking bilateral trade to $50 billion in the next five years and will also offer relief to Indian IT companies operating in Australia, as Australia has agreed to amend its laws to stop taxing offshore income of such companies. The determination of the origin of goods rules has been issued under the India-Australia free trade agreement. Each FTA has its own origin rules and nuances. The onus is on the Indian importer to ensure that the said rules are duly complied with.

For companies looking to take advantage of the Indian- Australia FTA, a detailed perusal and compliance of the origin rules remains indispensable. Strict rules of origin have been included in the ECTA to prevent third-party goods routing through Australia. Product-specific Rules of Origin (PSRs) have been agreed for 807 lines.

India has the capability to become a hub of technical textiles, geo textiles and manmade fiber.

The country can grow in silk textile export also. For the first time the textile and agriculture ministries have come together to streamline the entire value chain starting from cotton to garment. Branding of Indian textiles is also a focus area, so the global market can acknowledge its capability. The industry is diversifying and focusing on emerging markets.

Currently, 50 per cent of India’s exports are to developed countries. The National Technical Textile Mission is focusing on the emerging sector. At present, the Indian industry is more focused on cotton-based textiles, but manmade fiber and technical textiles also have vast opportunities. The Indian industry will have to scale up its capacity to tap the opportunity created as most global brands are looking for a China Plus One sourcing base.

In the post-Covid world, India is the only country that can substitute China for supplies to global brands but has to invest and build up large-scale capacity for grabbing the opportunity. The PM Mitra and PLI schemes are expected to give a big push to scale up production capacity. The PM Mitra scheme plans to build a textile park of at least 1000 acres.

The hemp market is growing at 33 per cent a year.

Hemp is a fiber. Due to its sustainable aspects, hemp (it has the shortest cultivation cycle and entails minimum water to grow) is attracting companies and its use is increasing. This is driven by hemp’s nutritional and cosmetic qualities. Hemp is seen as a sustainable, organic and regenerative agricultural crop.

Almost everything that can be made with cotton or soy or corn can be made with hemp – with less impact on the earth. Hemp is a weed, so it grows prolifically with little water and no pesticides. It takes up relatively little space, produces more pulp per acre than trees and is biodegradable. Hemp crops even give back by returning nutrients to the soil and sequestering carbon dioxide.Hemp is cultivated for a medley of biodegradable materials including plastic polymers, building products, fabrics, wood, biofuel, paper and even car components.

Every part of the plant can be used. The stalk’s outer bast fiber can make textiles, canvas and rope while its woody core – hurd – is used for paper, construction and animal bedding. The seeds are high in protein, fiber, omega-3 fats and other nutrients. The oil can be used for paints, adhesives, cooking and plastics.

The Philippines hopes to take advantage of the anticipated flight of foreign orders of garments and other apparel from Vietnam due to counterfeiting issues. Buyers from the United States have approached garment producers in the Philippines asking them if they can meet the demand that is normally filled by Vietnamese producers.

Foreign buyers are turned off by the rampant counterfeiting of apparel and other wearables in Vietnam. A raid on a popular shopping district in Vietnam that is a hot spot for copycat goods seized thousands of counterfeit luxury fashion items. Thousands of items were confiscated including, among others, clothes, bags, purses, wallets, eyewear, watches and other fashion accessories. These fake branded products bear the names of popular foreign brands ranging from high-end one such as Hermes, Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton to more affordable household names like Nike and Adidas.

In contrast counterfeiting is not a major problem in the Philippines, where piracy and counterfeiting complaints and reports have declined year on year by 40 percent from January 2022 to November 2022. Prominent e-commerce platforms in the Philippines have signed a memorandum of understanding with several big brand names to combat the sale of fake products online.

A Better Cotton conference will be held in the Netherlands, June 21 to 22, 2023.

The conference will help drive Better Cotton’s mission and strategic direction onward while highlighting the work and perspectives of others working on the same issues. Attendees will have the chance to build network with experts and leaders in the industry, and discuss the most important problems in sustainable cotton production, such as livelihoods, regenerative agriculture, traceability, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Better Cotton focuses primarily on supporting farmers on the ground. Continuous improvement is a core principle for Better Cotton. Its focus is on helping cotton communities to survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. It collaborates with businesses and civil society organisations from across the cotton sector, to advance sustainability and encourage demand for Better Cotton among suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and brands.

Working with close to 70 different field-level partners, Better Cotton continues to reach more and more of the world’s cotton-farming communities. Nearly all of them – farmers and farm workers – work on smallholdings less than 20 hectares in size. The initiative helps them enjoy better yields, improved working conditions and greater financial security. Over 2.4 million farmers now have a license to sell their cotton as Better Cotton. In total, Better Cotton has reached almost four million people whose working lives are connected to cotton production.