Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the US, Australia and Brazil to step up trade with the nation. At an international webinar organized by six Australian universities, BGMEA urged Australia to continue duty benefits post LDC graduation. Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA delivered a keynote speech on “Apparel Industry- Competitiveness beyond COVID-19” at the webinar and highlighted the tremendous progress made by ready-made garments industry in workplace safety, sustainability and ethical manufacturing.

He assan talked about declining prices in global apparel market which has posed a major challenge for the industry, especially when the sector is struggling to turn around from impacts of the pandemic. He also urged buyers and retailers to be more empathetic and rational in pricing so that a secured global market could be built where workplace and jobs would be safer and sustainable.

Further during a call with Richard Rosenthal, CEO, Tailor Vintage, Hassan urged brands and buyers in the US to source more garments, including non-cotton and high-end apparel products from Bangladesh. He also highlighted the future priorities of the apparel industry, especially an increased focus on the non-cotton and high-end product segment.

On October 7, Brazil’s ambassador in Bangladesh and BGMEA discussed benefits of duty-free access to ready-made garments in Brazil. Hassan pointed out Bangladesh is willing to import more cotton from Brazil for its ready-made garment industry and requested the Brazilian ambassador’s cooperation to make it a reality.

Already troubled by increased transit times, factory shutdowns and other rising costs across the supply chains, apparel brands have now being hit by 10-year high rise in cotton prices. Extreme weather, such as droughts and heat waves have wiped out cotton crops across the US. In India, a poor monsoon season threatens the country’s cotton output. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, apparel prices have increased 4.2 per cent year over year as of August.

As per a pymnts.com report, though prices remain below the height of over $2 seen in 2011, companies are planning new strategies to offset the resultant losses. Last week, Levi Strauss & Co negotiated most of its product costs through the first half of 2022 at very low single-digit inflation. For the second half of the year, the company anticipates prices to rise by mid-single-digits. This can be offset by increasing product prices which the company already implemented earlier this year.

Other apparel brands are yet to comment on the rising cotton prices, But, many of them are expected announce their quarterly earnings in coming weeks. This will give investors and analysts a better sense of how they’re managing, though, analysts at Goldman Sachs say it may take a while for rising cotton costs to show up on retailers’ income statements, given the timing of contracted cotton purchases.

The textile and apparel imports by EU-27 countries increased year-on-year and month-on-month in July. However, they still remained lower compared to 2019. As per a CCF Group report, EU-27’s imports from Turkey, China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam accounted for more than 70 per cent of its total exports.

In January-July, imports from these markets increased 18.5 per cent year-on-year to 5.03 million ton. Imports in July increased 5.7 per cent to 732,000 tons year-on-year and 5.7 per cent month-on-month It showed although EU-27 textile and apparel imports performed well in January-July and imports volume have recovered to pre-COVID level, imports remained significantly lower than pre-COVID levels in July.

Imports from Bangladesh, China and Indonesia fell sharply in July compared with the same period in 2019, while those from Vietnam declined slightly, and the imports from India, Pakistan and Turkey showed growth, especially the Pakistan. From the month-on-month growth, the imports Indonesia, Vietnam and Turkey declined, while other markets increased to varying degrees.

Several mill owners in Surat have proposed shutting down dyeing and printing mills in the city for the whole of November, revealed t members of the South Gujarat Textile Processing Association (SGPTA) in a meeting.

JitubhaiVakhariya, President, SGTPA said, the mill owners suggested to keep the factories shut for a month, due to a rise in the prices of colors, chemicals and coal. Textile traders are not agreeing to hike the charges of dyeing and printing.

In Surat, weavers sell grey fabric to the textile traders who then send them to the mills for dyeing, printing and finishing. The boilers in dyeing and printing units generate steam using coal, majority of which is imported.

However, shortage of coal has led to a threefold increase in prices of colors and chemicals, following which the textile mill owners carried out a meeting with the SGTPA and requested to keep the dyeing and printing mills closed for a month from 1 November.

As per the industry, coal imported from Indonesia is mostly used by the industry in Surat than lignite coal. Around 15 days ago, the price of imported coal was Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 5,000 per tonne, which has now reached Rs. 14,000 to Rs. 15,000 per tonne. Generally, around 30 to 35 tonnes of coal is used in the textile industry in a day to generate steam.

Industry is also facing short supply of colors and chemicals, some of which are imported from China. For example, the price of Hydo, which was available at Rs. 60 per kg, has increased to Rs. 200, while that of formic acid has increased from Rs. 32 per kg to Rs. 150 per kg.

For the first physical Frankfurt Fashion Week in January 2022, Premium Group has announced a new B2C format known as The Group for the show. It has also announced upgraded versions for its Premium and Seek trade show formats.

Premium and Seek, which will take place from January 18 to 20, are to be given a new look in Frankfurt: with more space, new areas and shorter distances, the organizers want to give visitors a "completely new trade fair experience."

The new format of the show known as The Ground is intended as a fashion festival aimed at young end consumers. Responsible for the event concept, alongside Premium bosses Anita Tillmann and JörgArntz or the Premium Group team, is B2C expert Kai Zollhöfer, who was also responsible for the concept of the Bread & Butter by Zalando public event.

The 3-day event, from January 18-20, 2022 is designed to give brands the opportunity to exhibit purpose-driven stories and products, interactively. In addition to the thematic focus on fashion, brands from the fields of wellbeing, beauty, mobility and technology will also present innovative products and solutions.

Garment exports by African (Sub-Saharan) countries to the US increased during the eighth month of the year.

As per Apparel Resources, Kenya’s exports grew by 51.30 per cent to $44.12 million while Madagascar’s exports grew by over 100 per cent to $23.72 million in the same period.

Lesotho, a promising manufacturing destination, couldn’t remain positive and declined by 32 per cent to ship apparels worth $23.45 million in its largest export market.

Ethiopia clocked US $ 21.80 million in its garment shipment to the US with a surge of over 34 per cent on yearly basis.

Another growing manufacturing hub Morocco, located in North Africa, tapped 97 per cent yearly growth and its apparel exports to US valued $16.87 million in August ’21.

The growth of all these countries, except Lesotho, is a good sign for Africa as an apparel sourcing hub post-pandemic and indicates the continent’s manufacturing base is gaining momentum gradually.

Trident Group launched the Trident Foundation, an extension of philanthropic arm, with a website Tridentfoundation.org. The website is user-friendly and open to all. Anyone can volunteer and extend a helping hand through physical effort called ‘Shramdaan,’ or donation in kind or monetary values on the website. The foundation aims to promote education, better livelihood, sanitation and women’s empowerment through initiatives like diversity and inclusion, education and skill development, healthcare, etc.

So far Trident Foundation has helped 1500+ students in their education, 300+ women by skilling them at Hastkala Skill Centre, planted more than 7,00,000 lakh trees, removed 35MT of plastic waste from the banks of river Narmada, provided education to 900+ underprivileged children through evening schools, mobile dispensary, 2 wheeler ambulance and provisioning of medical aid to more than 33 villages of Budhni.

Through Trident Foundation, Trident aims to provide healthcare and employment benefits to all stakeholders including employees and shareholders.

Pakistan’s textile exports grew a staggering 26 per cent to $1.503 billion in Q1 FY22. Textile exports in August shot up 45 per cent to $1.5 billion in comparison to $1billion in August 2020. As per a report by the Global Village Space, Pakistan’s textile sector is effectively utilizing a competitive power tariff at the rate of 9 cents per kWh and gas at $6.5 per mmBtu for the last two years and this package has now been extended to cover the length of FY22. Prime markets for Pakistan’s textile goods are the North America and European countries. Easing of COVID-19 induced lockdowns in these countries is aiding to a rise in textile exports from Pakistan.

As per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, ready-made garments exports surged 22.57 per cent in value, and 21.63 per cent in quantity during the starting months of the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Knitwear exports surged 34.12 per cent in value and 14.22 per cent in quantity, while bed wear increased by 24.5 per cent in value and approximately 23 per cent in quantity. Towel exports rose by 20.67 per cent in value and 14.59 per cent in quantity and cotton cloth exports registered an increase by 24.74 per cent in value and dipped by 76.51 per cent in quantity.

Adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the new code on safety and health in textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries is based on international labor standards and other sectoral guidelines. The code advises industries on ways to eliminate reduce and control all major hazards and risks including chemical substances, ergonomic and physical hazards, tools, machines and equipment, as well as building and fire safety.

The code will benefit over 60 million workers around the globe. It has been adopted by experts from governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The code will serve as a basis for developing national or company OSH management systems and contribute to the overall improvements of working conditions in this sector and beyond, says Aette Van Leur, Director, ILO Sectoral Policies Department.

Worldwide, about 2.8 million workers die every year from work-related injuries and diseases in different sectors. A further 160 million workers suffer from work-related diseases and 374 million workers experience non-fatal injuries. More than four per cent of the world’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is lost as a consequence of work-related injuries and diseases.

The new code of practice on safety and health equips the government with occupational safety and health tools and ensures a safer and brighter future for the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries, adds Bastian Fochmann, Government Vice-Chairman.

Over 100 textile and clothing manufacturers are expected to participate in Tehran Modex, the international trade fair for clothing, fashion, accessories, design, and affiliated industries. As per Tehran Times, the fair scheduled to be held at Shahr-e-Aftab International Exhibition Center from October 12-15, 2021. Abolqasem Shirazi, Chairman, Union of Garments Manufacturers and Sellers, believes the exhibition will introduce the export capacities and potentials of medium-sized units. It will focus on the complete textile chain including design, production, and raw materials.

The exhibition will also help manufacturers focus their exports to specific markets besides expanding into newer destinations. It will also help Iran focus on its major buyers including Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Armenia.

The value of Iran’s garment exports reached over $113 million during the previous Iranian calendar year 1399 (ended on March 20) to register a 99-percent rise year on year, according to Afsaneh Mehrabi, Director-General, Weaving and Garment Industries Department, Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade.