Tamil Nadu is emerging as a strong and growing medical textiles industry says a Expert Market Research Study. In fact the state’s focus on medical textiles is more than a decade with the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore identified for development into a Centre of Excellence (COE) for production of medical textiles products.

First and foremost is the availability of raw material as most raw materials used in medical textiles are available with ample production of cotton for spinning, weaving and knitting etc. Also Coimbatore, a big textile hub and a major city, has a large number of good hospitals and textile units. This helps textile companies have better R&D and feedback about their products as well as a ready market for their products. Moreover, Tamil Nadu has many lucrative initiatives for investors.

India holds second position globally in medical textile manufacturing. The domestic market provides innumerable opportunities. Higher rate of child birth and growing medical tourism is providing further boost. Many medical textile products are imported and not manufactured in India, so there is a huge potential for manufacturing them in India. Many medical textiles products are classified as medical devices. About 80 per cent of medical devices are imported.

Tamil Nadu accounts for nearly 34 per cent of India’s apparel exports. The state has 45,000 registered textiles factories and around ten per cent of these are in the meditech segments.

For the second quarter PDS Multinational Fashions’ revenue grew 18 per cent. And this is the company’s strongest quarterly topline performance in the last five years. Similarly, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (ebidta) grew by 3.8 per cent. The company’s profit after tax (PAT) margin expanded to three per cent. For the first half of the year revenues grew by 35 per cent.

PDS is India’s leading apparel sourcing company. Being a truly global enterprise, it has persistently endeavored to further strengthen the platform. In line with the strategy to expand beyond the predominant markets of UK and Europe, PDS has deepened its presence in the North American markets with the first half of the year achieving 90 per cent of last year’s sales.

India possesses a great potential to become the next one stop sourcing destination for Asean brands and retailers. The country offers a number of competitive advantages including abundant amount of raw materials, trained manpower as well as the presence of entire textile value chain. Moreover, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in the textile segment under automatic route. The government has a special package for apparels as well as made-up sectors. The packages include various offerings such as labor law reforms and additional incentives under the Amended Technology Upgradation Scheme.

For the second quarter Nahar Spinning Mills’ net sales rose 55.88 per cent. During the quarter, total expenses rose 16.74 per cent. Employee expense surged 42.33 per cent. Raw material cost increased 39.92 per cent. Nahar has chalked out an expansion and modernisation scheme involving a capital expenditure of Rs 369 crores for increasing spindlage capacity by 31200 spindles, a new air jet spinning unit and modernisation cum upgradation of the company's spinning units. It will be implemented in full by financial year 2023.

Nahar Spinning Mills is a textile company. Products include yarns and knitted garments. It is in the medium premium segment, which has few players. It produces around 40 million meters a year. It produces denims from 3 to 15 oz, catering to all segments. Among specialized products, there are 100 per cent Tencel, cotton viscose (stretch and non stretch), laser printed denims, reactive colored denims (stripes and checks), printed denims, peach denims, dobbies and knitted denims. It does 30 exports and 70 domestic.

In domestic market 30 per cent is for readymade garment manufacturers and retailers and the rest for the dealer segment. Nahar brings international trends to the domestic market. For instance trying to bring back pastel shades embellished with different coatings, textured denims, feather weight denims with super soft touch.

For the third quarter Indonesia’s textile and apparel industry contracted by -3.34 per cent year-on-year reveals Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data. In the first quarter the textile and apparel industry contracted by 13.28 per cent. In the second quarter there was a 4.54 per cent decline. As for last year, the textile industry contracted by 8.88 per cent. However, the Indonesian Textile Association (API) remains optimistic about a turnaround by the end of the year, driven by high demand and the recovering market. Even if this does not happen, the industry hopes to reduce the contraction rate compared to last year. Utilization began to improve in October 2021 and almost reached 80 per cent. The average utilization of the textile industry in September 2021 was at 72.31 per cent. In contrast, the apparel industry reached 84.83 per cent, and the leather, leather goods and footwear industry reached 80.18 per cent. The utilization dramatically improved between September to October. Improvement is also reflected in the achievement of Indonesia’s manufacturing purchasing managers' index, which reached 57.2 in October 2021.

In addition, Indonesia hopes to benefit from efforts to diversify supply chains and shift orders to Indonesia from other countries. Orders are also made in the long term, making it easier for business actors to design work plans.

For the second quarter Clariant Chemicals’ sales rose eight per cent. The company reported sales of Rs 407.6 crores in the first half of 2021 as against Rs 309.8 crores for the corresponding half of the previous year.

Clariant is a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company based in Switzerland. It has with several external sustainability initiatives such as the Global Product Strategy and the United Nations Global Compact. Clariant is one of the top European chemical companies being part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

The company reports in three business areas: care chemicals, catalysis and natural resources. Clariant’s corporate strategy is based on five pillars: focus on innovation and R&D, add value with sustainability, reposition portfolio, intensify growth, and increase profitability.

Clariant’s listed entity in India, based in Mumbai, includes the pigments business, which deliver solutions for the emerging industry sectors in India. Clariant Chemicals is India’s leading specialty chemicals producer. Clariant has invested in a state-of-the-art regional innovation center in Mumbai, with an aim to co-create tailor-made solutions with customers for the industry. Effective cost management and resource optimization, with a better product portfolio, enabled the company to improve profitability.

Global sales of personal luxury goods are expected to bounce back this year, says a study by consultancy firm Bain. It will be fueled further by domestic spending in the United States and China, particularly on high end shoes, leather goods and jewelry. Shoppers under 40 are expected to account for more than 60 per cent of luxury purchases this year and more than 70 per cent by 2025. Brands are attracting a new customer base with strong marketing and online campaigns, while existing customers are buying more.

Business in the US, which this year overtook Europe as the largest market, got a boost by early vaccination campaigns and a quick rebound in local consumption. Demand in China, the growth engine of the luxury industry, remained strong through October despite lockdowns in some areas, as the Chinese -- unable to travel abroad -- made purchases in their home market. In Europe, business is yet to return to pre-Covid levels, and may take until 2024 to do so, despite a pick-up in tourist activity over the summer. The largest players in the industry have already recovered strongly from the crisis, pushing well above 2019 levels of business as lockdowns ease and socialising resumes.

Daniel Lee and Bottega Veneta’s have parted ways. Bottega Veneta which embodies the quintessence of understated and sophisticated luxury offers women and men bags, small leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes, jewelry, furniture, fragrances, eyewear and accessories. Steeped in the traditions of Italian leather master craftsmen, Bottega Veneta has nurtured a new standard of luxury since its foundation in 1966.

Daniel Lee was at the creative helm of the brand since July 2018. He provided Bottega Veneta with a fresh perspective and a new sense of modernity, while remaining respectful of the brand’s fifty-year heritage. The remarkable growth of the brand over the last three years bears testimony to the success of his creative work. His singular vision made the brand’s heritage relevant for today and put it back to the center of the fashion scene. He wrote an unique chapter in the long history of Bottega Veneta.

Bottega Veneta is run by the global luxury group, Kering, which also manages other brands in fashion, leather goods, jewelry and watches. Some of these are Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s luxury in a sustainable and responsible way.

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will get a committed price support for the cotton seasons from 2014-15 to 2020-21. In order to safeguard the interests of cotton farmers, price support operations will be conducted in the cotton years 2014-15 to 2020-21 as cotton prices touched MSP prices. Its implementation enhances the inclusiveness of cotton farmers in the economic activity of the country.

Price support operations help stabilize cotton prices and alleviate farmers’ distress. Around Rs 8,000 crores will be released for the current financial year through a supplementary provision, while the balance amount will be released in the next fiscal by budgetary provision. Expenditure will be incurred for reimbursing losses under MSP operations for cotton during the cotton season 2014-15 to 2020-21. MSP operations protect cotton farmers from distress sale during any adverse price situation.

During the global pandemic, in the last two cotton seasons, CCI procured around a third of the cotton production in the country and disbursed more than Rs 55,000 crores directly in the bank accounts of around 40 lakh farmers.

During the cotton season 2020-21, the area under cotton cultivation was 133 lakh hectares with an estimated production of 360 lakh bales, which account for around 25 per cent of total global cotton production.

Canada’s apparel imports fell 6.68 per cent in September 2021 compared to August 2021, reveals Statistics Canada. However, compared to September 2020, imports have gone up by 6.24 per cent. Of the top 10 apparel shippers to Canada, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Mexico and Sri Lanka remained positive on a year on year basis, while Cambodia, US and Italy couldn’t remain positive with their shipments.

Canadian apparel and textile importers and retailers are eager to connect with the world’s major apparel and textile manufacturers. Some of Canada’s brands are Aritzia, Le Chateau, Walmart-Canada, Jockey-Canada, Gildan, Canadian Goose and Roots.

Exporters from India have a huge scope for expansion and growth to fill the gaps in Canadian textile and apparel market including its FTA partners. Indian manufacturers have a great opportunity to interact directly with Canadian buyers and fashion and apparel experts. The total value of apparel production in Canada continues to decrease while apparel imports continue to increase. Since 2011, apparel imports have increased by 8.3 per cent annually. Between 2010 and 2014, the total number of establishments contracted by approximately 12 per cent. In 2015, approximately 20,000 employees were employed in the sector. Canada’s FTA with the United States, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and Honduras contain tariff preference level provisions for certain textile and apparel goods being imported or exported within the respective free trade zones.

Beauty brand Veocel has launched a fiber identification system. Recent years have witnessed an evolution within the beauty industry, from merely focusing on the quality of nonwovens fabric, to ensuring authenticity and transparency of fiber materials used in facial sheet masks. This will address the increasing need for transparency and traceability in materials used in beauty products. The fiber identification system is applicable to the skin fiber types under Veocel, which are ideal for use in facial sheet masks. Made in Austria, the fibers are of botanic origin, biodegradable and compostable.

The fiber identification system can identify fibers in the final products, providing quality control and authenticity assurance for brands against inferior counterfeit products. Products verified by the system also provide consumers with an added level of assurance and peace of mind that materials used in their beauty products are certified clean and made of genuine premium eco-friendly fibers.

Globally, strong growth is expected in the beauty segment, with the facial sheet mask market forecasted to reach 14 billion dollars by 2030. As consumers continue to look out for ways to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, the need for brands to provide product quality assurance and supply chain transparency is ever growing.