At the recent ‘Be Inspired’ webinar series held by the American Chamber, Aroon Hirdaramani, Director, Hirdaramani Group noted that the Sri Lankan apparel sector can achieve $8 billion worth of garment exports by 2025. As per a Daily News report, Hirdaramani highlighted with additional local value addition through ventures such as the fabric park in Eravur, Sri Lanka was well placed to grow, he said. The government’s vaccination drive is helping BOI companies remain operational. Over 90 per cent of the apparel sector workforce has received the first jab with over 70 per cent receiving the second jab.

To create a more stable business environment, the Hirdaramani Group has decided to collaborate with a few high-value partners, He acknowledged that the policymakers were in dialogue with the industry and the significance of the trading scheme was understood. Jeevith Senaratn, Senior Manager, Star Garments Group added, the industry’s export figures are still 10 per cent below the 2019 figures. Hasib Omar, Director, Brandix Clothing Company highlighted that the industry was highly polluting and that would be a future pain point for clients.

Shirendra Lawrence, Executive Director, MAS Holdings added that the new production processes might be causing additional strain on the workers.

Textile traders in Surat are worried as payments of about Rs 4,000 crore from Afghanistan are stuck due to Taliban takeover of the country. Champalal Bothra, General Secretary, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association says, exporters are not sure when they will get their payments. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has advised exporters and importers to wait and watch before taking any step.

India mainly exports Punjabi suits and dupattas manufactured in Surat to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Garments worth at least Rs 100 crore are exported every month to Afghanistan via Pakistan or Dubai. Raju Bhatia, a broker working for multiple exporters says, in the textile market, the credit period is up to three months and in goods supplied to Afghanistan via Pakistan or Dubai, the payment is received in three to four months.

However, due to the unrest, payment is several hundred crore of many exporters in stuck. The industry has furthered suffered because over Rs 100 crore worth of textile products exported monthly to Afghanistan has now stopped.

A recent report by market researcher Kantar accuses Indian consumers of being profit oriented and ignoring their environmental commitments. Titled ‘The Asia Sustainability Foundational Study,’ the report surveys 10,000 consumers in nine countries and over 1,000 big Indian cities. It reveals, though 77 per cent of respondents are willing to invest in sustainable companies, their intentions rarely translate into actions. Around 84 per cent focus only on financial gains rather than saving the planet from environmental hazards. The report terms this phenomenon as the ‘value-action gap’.

Consumers abstain from spending on abstract causes

Samit Sinha, Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, elaborates on this phenomenon by highlighting the purchases of most Indian consumers are price-driven. They do not prefer spending on distant and abstract causes. They are unlikely to shift their manufacturing strategies unless policies are made to make sustainability affordable. However, Sanjay Sarma, Founder, SSARMA Consults, a boutique branding and communications advisory believes a law making sustainability mandatory would invite more resistance from brands. To make sustainability more affordable, brands needs to change the way they look at both. They also need to invite more conversations on this topic, adds Sarma.

Incorporating sustainability into brand consciousness

Though fashion and lifestyle brands start their sustainability journey with good intent, they eventually compromise on their values as economic considerations and market forces take precedence, adds Sarma

Brands therefore, need to change their thinking patterns and incorporate sustainability into their consciousness. The onus to create awareness and promote sustainability lies on them, adds Shishir Goenka, a Mumbai-based exporter of organic cotton clothing, who launched a sustainable brand called Do U Speak Green? for the domestic market in 2009. However, the brand didn’t survive for long as the market was not yet ready for sustainable clothing. Hence, large fashion brands need to up their sustainability quotient and increase contributions towards climate-control.

Published by the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the Cotton This Month report informs, estimate for world cotton production for the 2021/22 season has been revised to 24.9 million tonne, with area under cotton also revised to 32.8 million hectares.

Cotton prices are trending upward with the Cotlook A index season average at 101.34 cents per lb. Cotton prices are also high in China, with the CC Index averaging 126 cents/lb since the season began.

Opening of economies and an increase in consumer demand that occurred when the vaccinations began spreading across the globe indicate that consumption doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

With demand exceeding production, ending stocks are expected to decline for the second year in a row to stand at 19.7 million tonne in 2021/22, 5 cent lower than the previous season.

As a result of these bullish factors, the Secretariat’s current price forecast of the season-average A index for 2021/22 ranges between 76 cents to 126 cents, with a midpoint at 98.20 cents per pound.

Apparel imports by the US increased 14.9 per cent year-over-year to 2.52 billion square meter equivalents (SME) in July 2021, as per the data released by the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA). An Apparel Resources report reveals, though US’ apparel imports from Vietnam increased by 22.74 per cent to 2.6 billion SME during the first seven months of the year, they declined 8 per cent to 359.72 million SME in July compared to a year earlier. Imports from Cambodia declined by 29 per cent to 85.61 million SME in the month compared to July 2020. Indonesia’s July shipments declined 7.9 per cent to 64 million SME, while imports from the country for the year so far rose 10.17 per cent to 601 million SME.

Imports from China increased 21.6 per cent to 1.04 billion SME in July compared to a year earlier and by 40.06 per cent to 5.48 billion SME year to date. Shipments from Bangladesh rose 35.1 per cent in July 2021 to 197.45 million SME compared to July 2020 and by 36.86 per cent to 1.42 billion SME year to date. India’s exports surged by 34 per cent to 79.92 million SME for the month and 47.2 per cent to 729 million SME for the year to date, while imports from Pakistan jumped by 49.3 per cent to 73.85 million SME in the month and by 50.02 per cent to 505 million SME year to date.

The US Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the goods and services deficit declined to $70.1 billion in July from $73.2 billion in June.

Cotton demand in India is expected to remain strong over the next 6 to 12 months owing to strong recovery in global apparel trade and retail demand. This could support a further reduction in global cotton stocks, industry experts believe. Cotton prices increased 43 per cent in the first five months of 2021-22 compared to the same period last year.

The average cotton price during April-August increased from Rs 9,963 from a year earlier to Rs 14,225 per quintal, says Nidhi Marwaha, Vice President and Sector Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA. Prices are estimated to average 40-45 per cent higher year-on-year in the first half of this fiscal, adds Marwaha. Along with strong local demand for cotton, strong export demand for yarn and cotton is also a key driver for bullish sentiments in cotton trade

As against the normal consumption of 32 million bales year, the cotton consumption in the current year has increased to about 36-38 million bales, adds Pradip Jain, President, Khandesh Ginning and Pressing Association, an association of cotton traders from Maharashtra, the second-largest producer of cotton in the country.

There are apprehensions that delayed cotton sowing in several parts of the country this year because of the monsoon patterns could affect crop quality and yield, despite overall acreage reaching near normal levels towards the conclusion of the sowing season.

Organizer of Munich Fabric Start and Blue Zone, Munich Fabric Start Exhibitions GmbH has launched digitization service FABRIC.iD to support digital processes in the first step of the textile supply chain. As per a Knitting Industry report, the service employs the innovative texture and colour scanners xTex and can:scan from software companies Vizoo GmbH and Caddon Printing & Imaging GmbH, to capture all the details of the texture and translate them into virtual data.

The service was presented during Munich Fabric Start, which took place from August 31- September 02, 2021 in Munich. Visitors had an insight into the individual steps in the process and experienced the digitisation process live. The process expands Munich

can:scan and xTex offer a unique solution for this.. The software enables exact color detection of textiles and the creation of color-fast digital patterns, so that interactive approval processes can be carried out online and 80 per cent of the previous time required for analogue processes can be saved.

Hari Krishna Agarwal, Managing Director, Grasim Industries, the flagaship company of Aditya Birla Group has been reappointed on his position with effect from December 1, 2021. Agarwal will replace incumbent Dilip Gaur who has requested for earlier retirement after spending nearly 17 years with the company. Gaur joined the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) in 2004 after spending 24 years at Hindustan Unilever.

A veteran of the Aditya Birla Group, Agarwal has been part of it for nearly four decades. During this period, he has held different roles in cement, chemicals and pulp and fibre businesses before taking on his current role as Business Head, Pulp and Fiber. A Chartered Accountant and an Executive MBA from Sasin, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Agarwal started his career with ABG in 1982 as Management Trainee at Rajashree Cement, a division of Indian Rayon.

Kontoor Brands-owned Lee® Jeans is developing a collection of Crade-to-Cradle (C2C) certified 12-ounce gold and bronze jeans. As per an Apparel Resources report, the jeans offers several high-quality and recyclability features. The collection includes two ranges – the Gold-certified Aureola and the Bronze-certified Nymph, developed by Artistic Milliner. Both styles are 98 per cent GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) organic cotton and 2 per cent lycra component.

Both denim ranges have been certified according to C2C Product Standard (Version 3.1) requirements by the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute. The collection includes three fits, the Luke – a men’s slim tapered, the Daren – a men’s regular straight (sizes 28 to 40) and the Carol – a woman’s straight leg (sizes 24 to 32); with prices ranged from US $ 141 to US $ 153.

The certified products are part of the brand’s For A World That Works (FWTW) platform – an internal destination for sustainable developments and innovations, which was launched in 2020 alongside the brand’s debut denim collection – Indigood Denim that eliminates water from the denim dyeing process.

Cradle-to-Cradle Certified® is a globally recognised measure for safer and more sustainable products made for the circular economy. Product designers, manufacturers and brands around the world rely on the C2C Certified Product Standard to transform pathways for designing and making products, ensuring a positive impact on the people and their planet. The standard encourages continuous improvement by awarding certification based on ascending levels of achievement.

Champion Athleticwear has launched a new initiative titled Champion Renewed in partnership with The Renewal Workshop. As per a Knitting Industry report, the partnership aims to increase the use of responsibly made fabrics and find ways to creatively reuse products to reduce energy use and water consumption during the manufacturing process. Champion’s efforts support its parent company Hanesbrands’ 2025-2030 global sustainability goals.

Champion has already made significant progress in reaching ongoing sustainability goals. It offers classic jersey tees made with 100 per cent US cotton; has introduced two environmentally conscious collections, Natural State and Rally Pro Earth, in 2021; and manufactures “Game Day” sweats using 95 per cent recycled polyester fibers, as well as other Sport category apparel with a significant percentage of recycled polyester fiber.

Using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, the Renewal Workshop measures the impact of textile fibers most frequently received, such as cotton, polyester and wool. Using this data, in addition to each garment’s weight, the organization evaluates energy savings, greenhouse gas reductions, and water consumption decreases, for each item that is renewed. It then sorts, grades, thoroughly sanitizes the products using state-of-the-art waterless technology and repairs them to like-new standards. Once inspected and verified to joint quality standards, they are given a Renewal Workshop tag and made available for purchase.