India ITME will be held in Noida, December 8 to 13, 2022.

This mega technology and engineering B2B exhibition for textiles is hosted every four years in India to cater to the machinery and technology requirements of the textile industry of India, southeast Asia and the Middle East.

India ITME has planned a rich array of concurrent programs, workshops and conferences. Key topics for the further growth of the Indian textile industry with the latest technology and government policy vision for boosting textile machinery manufacturing will be discussed.

India ITME Society has played a significant role in facilitating technology access to the nation’s textile industry from across the globe enabling textile segments to upgrade manufacturing technology and export capabilities. ITME exhibitions from the1980s onwards have been a boon for small companies who can view and access engineering advances in textile machinery from across the globe without bearing high costs.

Over time, India ITME events have become a prime event for southeast Asian countries. Slow and steady has been the growth story of the Indian textile industry, which has striven to build modern capabilities alongside nurturing age-old tradition and skills to stay strong and proud; face challenges from speed, cutthroat price competition, youthful/instant fashion brought on by the advent of modern technology.

Switching to manmade fiber can help Bangladesh apparel manufacturers get higher prices. The country has the potential to switch to the production of synthetic fiber-based textile and apparel to realise greater per unit values in the world market.

The global consumption of polyester filament and staple fiber has been on the rise while the demand for clothing made with cotton has been on the decline. Buyers are choosing manmade fabrics as substitutes to cotton fiber for sustainability and environmental issues. Synthetic fiber makes up 78 per cent of the world's clothing and the remaining 22 per cent is made of cotton fiber.

As of now 70 per cent of garments exported from Bangladesh are based on natural cotton while the remaining 30 per centis made of synthetic fiber. So Bangladesh holds just a five per cent market share of the global manmade apparel trade while rival Vietnam holds a ten per cent share.

Global manmade fiber apparel exports grew by four per cent while that of cotton-based items shrank by 0.5 per cent annually between 2011 and 2019. Cotton apparel exports then fell by some 15 per cent in 2020, while manmade fiber garment shipments saw robust growth of eight per cent in 2021.

The industrial fabrics market is growing by seven per cent a year.

Major key factors propelling the growth of the industrial fabrics market are the rapid expansion of the textile industry across the world and the production of fabrics globally.

Industrial fabrics are generally utilized in the production processes of the parts of structures, machines and other technical articles. Employing both natural and synthetic materials, industrial fabrics are manufactured in diverse patterns to be used in varied manufacturing processes. The presence of textile businesses is anticipated to bolster the production of industrial fabrics.

The global industrial fabrics market is also estimated to grow on account of the growth in the production of textile fibers across the globe and the significant number of industrial accidents. The automotive segment is anticipated to garner the largest revenue. The rising demand for automobiles by the burgeoning population is expected to increase the sales of industrial fabrics in the upcoming years.

The Asia Pacific industrial fabrics market is anticipated to hold the largest market share by the end of 2033 among markets in all other regions. The rising population along with their increasing demand and manufacturing of textile fibers in the region are some of the major factors anticipated to drive the growth of the market in the Asia Pacific.

The International Cotton Association (ICA) held a trade event in the US, November 8 to 10, 2022.

Over 450 delegates from the global cotton community gathered. This was the ICA’s first traditional trade event in three years. The three-day event saw a variety of top industry speakers take to the stage. The event began with a series of regional forums and a diversity focused panel session. There was also plenty of opportunity for delegates to network and do business, one of the main event attractions. The ICA fully embraces sustainability and to that end continues to work with sustainability platforms around the world.

This year, ICA has signed MOUs with Better Cotton, US Cotton Trust Protocol, and Cotton Made in Africa, and actively engages with all organisations to promote sustainability throughout the cotton supply chain. The Women in Cotton group continues to make great strides in increasing diversity within the cotton industry. Next year's event will take place in Singapore, October 10 to12, 2023.

Promoting global cotton trade, the International Cotton Association (ICA) is the world’s leading cotton trade association and arbitral body.The ICA has more than 550 members and its membership spans all corners of the globe and represents all sectors of the supply chain.

India’s growth of Industrial Index of Production (IIP) rebounded in September 2022 to 3.1 per cent. This could have been higher had the textile sector performed even at an average rate. However the textile and clothing sector (T&C) performed poorly on IIPs.

In September, the index declined 12 per cent for textile manufacturing and 21.7 per cent for apparel manufacturing. The index for manufacturing of textiles declined to 106.8 in September 2022 from 121.4 during the same period of last year. Manufacturing of weaving apparel went down from 158.7 to 124.7. The cumulative index for April 2022 to September 2022 fell 108.8 for manufacturing of textiles. The index was noted at 115.1 in April 2021 to September 2021.

The index of wearing apparel increased from 116.1 to 134.2 in April 2022 to September 2022. The IIP for September 2022 rose to 3.1 per cent from August’s contraction of 0.7 per cent. Growth in September 2021 was 4.4 per cent. For the April to September period, IIP grew by seven per cent compared with a 23.8 per cent rise in the previous year’s same period. The textile sector is facing a slowdown in India and the world at large due to economic adversities. Therefore, India’s domestic and export demand for apparel has declined.

Egypt’s total exports increased by 48 per cent in 2021, this was helped by a rise in exports of fuels followed by exports of raw cotton. Egypt’s exports of made-up garments also saw a notable increase. Packaged clothing exports were on the list of the most important Egyptian exports of finished goods and these increased by about 45 per cent.

Egypt is planning to double its garment exports. The plan is to increase annual exports by eight per cent to 15 percent. An initiative will be launched to bankroll big and middle-sized industries with a five percent interest rate, in the hope that this would help secure finances needed by the clothes sector.

Egypt’s textile exports increased by 28 per cent during the first nine months of 2021. Exports of fabrics were up 17 per cent. The higher exports were driven by the gradual easing of restrictions in markets and the high vaccination rates across the world.

Egypt wants to have stronger trade relations with Africa. Steps include taking part in international exhibitions in the African continent and setting up an Egyptian-African free trade zone.The main countries Egypt is interested in are Kenya, Zambia and Ivory Coast.

The demand for sweaters is rising worldwide because of changes in fashion trends as well. In fact, sweaters have turned into an all-weather fashion item.

In the past, western consumers used to don sweaters only during the winter season but now they wear lightweight sweaters all year round as a fashion item. Besides, the temperature has gone up in many cold countries because of climate change, driving down the demand for thick sweaters and pushing up the consumption of lightweight sweaters. Office goers also use them as casual dresses. For instance, consumers in the European Union and the United States prefer light sweaters to thick sweaters.

Today, Bangladesh is a major supplier of lightweight sweaters and international retailers and brands are coming up with higher orders for the items. Bangladesh’s sweater exports climbed 39 per cent year on year in the last financial year.

The segment's earnings represented 13 per cent of the total garment export value in 2021-2022. Rising temperatures, shifting of orders from China, and changes in fashion have all made Bangladesh a major manufacturer of sweaters in recent years.

What helps is that China is no longer interested in manufacturing sweaters because of the complexities in the production process, higher cost of production, and shortage of skilled workers.

Falling cotton prices in the international futures markets haven’t been reason enough for Bangladesh spinners and apparel exporters to cheer up.

They can’t take advantage of lower cotton prices for two reasons: the dollar crisis and the lower gas pressure. Production in some units has fallen by as much as 50 per cent in the last three months owing to low gas pressure. Also, rising inflation in major apparel export strongholds has resulted in a decline in demand for apparel from the end users, which is manifesting in fewer orders from global buyers. This is because of the unfavorable exchange rate, the energy crisis and the fall in demand for finished goods.

Apparel manufacturers are also receiving fewer orders from international buyers amid the slide in demand from consumers buckling under deep inflationary pains caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.Usually, millers, spinners, traders and users brim with joy when the cotton price drops even by a few cents in the international markets since Bangladesh is a net cotton-importing country. And less than two per cent of the country’s total cotton requirement is met through domestic production. Spinners in Bangladesh are sitting on piles of unsold yarn made from cotton imported earlier at a higher price.

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) which was set up by leading standard setters to define worldwide recognized requirements for organic textiles is now forming many new rules to increase its credible assurance and protect the integrity of the organic cotton supply chain.

The GOTS certification ensures that only textile products that contain a minimum of 70 percent organic fibers are accepted and all chemical inputs such as dyestuffs and auxiliaries used meet the required toxicological criteria. So, it is now ensuring there is no fraud within the system and it can maintain more transparent and traceable processing for its organic textiles. The focus is on retaining the high standard of the whole system of processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling and trading of textiles.

New, stricter rules for GOTS-certified gins

More stringent requirements for GOTS-certified gins have been introduced recently, adding to the already numerous checks and balances of every processing stage. India will be the first country required to comply with this new scrutiny as GOTS goes all out to keep up the required standard of organic textiles in all ways.

GOTS-certified gins will have to make three key changes to ensure better transparent and traceable processing for organic textiles. First, GOTS is now starting a compulsory farm-gin registry for all farms and farm groups whose certified raw material enters the GOTS system which will include information on farm yields. This registry will be introduced globally, starting with India as there have been questions about the credibility of inspection agencies in the country. Second, raw cotton will not be allowed to be transferred more than 500 km from the farm where it is grown to a government-certified gin as the shorter trade route will cut out chances of fraud and optimize the process for buyers. Third, GOTS will increase the number of sudden audits at cotton gins where there is a high perception of fraud risk in the organic cotton sector.

Focus on strengthening integrity in organic cotton

Meanwhile, the Textile Exchange, a global non-profit organization that is driving positive action on climate change across the fashion and textile industry has recently released a report on integrity issues. This states “Challenges in integrity are neither new nor unique to organic cotton, and they often evolve. Strengthening integrity in organic cotton aims to provide more guidance on ways the industry can act to improve integrity, recommending that brands and supply chain partners proactively adopt an integrity system that tackles fraud by building compliance through standards and certification, achieving traceability for organic content, improving incentives for supply chain partners, and reviewing, improving, and collaborating with others.’’

As per the new rules, Organic Content Standard (OCS) from December 1, 2022 will mandatorily require that site inputs from GOTS will provide traceability of all transaction certificate data back to the original farm source and will also include full transaction certificate data such as product and input product and also farm input data like farm capacity. To prevent further fraud, all first processors, which include cotton gins that ultimately provide GOTS inputs into an OCS product down supply chain needs to be certified to the OCS and provide evidence of all inputs from farms. It will soon become mandatory for all certification bodies and standards users to supply this additional data from now on. All this will help to minimize fraud and provide a better quality product to the end-consumer.

For the first nine months this year, the volume of industrial production in Uzbekistan increased by five per cent.

Small-scale production is also increasing in the country. Carpet production will be encouraged. The textile industry will be developed with new dynamics. A programme will be launched next year to export industry products worth more than $5 billion.

Raw materials will be provided to manufacturers of household appliances, carpets and furniture to assist enterprises that cannot operate at full capacity. Uzbekistan will deepen reforms in the textile industry to fully reprocess raw cotton domestically and increase the export potential of the country.

Traditionally, cotton has been Uzbekistan's most important cash crop. But in recent years the country has been taking serious steps to develop its textile industry to produce value-added products rather than exporting raw cotton. However, the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preference Plus is not fully utilised by exporters.

The state provides 70 per cent of transportation costs for the export of fabrics and knitwear to European countries, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco. But Europe still accounts for only six per cent of textiles, three per cent of electrical goods and one per cent of silk and food products exported from Uzbekistan.