The Lycra Company has appointed Julien Born its new President and CEO, following the retirement of David Trerotola. As per the Spin-Off, the company has also promoted Nicolas Banyols as its new chief commercial officer. Banyols will be responsible for driving business strategy and execution along the global value chain. Commercial leaders in Asia-Pacific, North and Central America, and South America and directors of the company’s nylon and specialty polyester businesses will now report to him.

The Lycra Company has also promoted Arnaud Ruffin as the new Vice President- Brands and Retail. He will manage global downstream customer processes. He will oversee the EMEA downstream customer teams and provide support to the North America downstream customer team. Another promotion in the company includes Alistair Williamson who has been promoted as the new Vice President -EMEA and South Asia. He will be responsible for regional commercial activities to drive long-term value creation, reporting to Banyols.

The Lycra Company is currently focusing on its innovation capabilities and brand franchises, while further expanding collaboration with its mill network, all at the service of brands and retailers. The company also plans to launch a new gated digital platform, to showcase its products and services alongwith mill network.

At a joint press conference, members of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exports Association (PHMA) urged federal government to restore zero-rating, continue duty drawback of taxes (DDT) and Technology Up-gradation Fund (TUF) scheme, and to lower final tax and withholding tax in Budget 2021-22. The members urged the government to reduce withholding tax rate to 0.5 per cent, suspend Export Development Fund (EDF) surcharge, and reduce and fix tariffs of electricity in the forthcoming budget.

The conference was attended by Zubair Motiwala, Chairman, Council of All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations; Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum; Tariq Munir, Chairman, PHMA and other leaders of different associations. Motiwala said they have been demanding restoration of zero rating on GST, “No Payment No Refund Regime” through revival of SRO 1125 in letter and spirit. The demand was made because SME exports have decreased by 30 percent as compared to last year due to imposition of 17 percent GST, which blocked precious liquidity.

With the introduction of TUF scheme in 2009, 30 per cent capacity of textile sector has been enhanced. Therefore, it is imperative to reinstate TUF scheme for the next five years, the speakers said. They added that 0.25 percent EDF surcharge was deducted from export proceeds of the exporters for export development since 1992. Collection of EDF surcharge was approximately Rs9 billion annually. Presently, the government has Rs58 billion in its kitty on account of EDF. Hence, they want the government to suspend collection of surcharge till the Rs 58 billion of EDF was exhausted.

They also demanded a one percent to 0.5 percent reduction in withholding tax for exporters as this would also help the exporters in using the cash liquidity for enhancement of exports.

India and Australia are planning to resume trade talks to re-launch the long-suspended Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India. As per Textile Today, Indian garment exporters have been urging the government to conclude a trade deal with Australia since trade talks between the two countries were suspended in 2015. Exporters believe, this would help India export the additional $500 million goods to Australia.

In fiscal 2021, India’s exports to Australia were worth $4.04 billion, whereas imports were worth $8.24 billion. Though the balance of money is currently in Australia’s favor, it can altered if some part of the garment is included in the trade agreement. In terms of clothing, Australia imports approximately $6.6 billion worth clothing, with India accounting for 1.2 per cent. Resumption of negotiations will certainly impact trade figures.

Manufacturers urge governments to increase production as yarn prices increase worried at fluctuating yarn prices, garment and textile manufacturers urged the central and state government to help increase production. Radhe Shyam Ahuja, Senior Vice-President, Bhartiya Vyapar Mandal, said, the price increase hurts only s not only the garment and textile industry but also the yarn traders and general public.

Vinod Thapar, Chairman, Knitwear Club adds, a yarn price increase is impractical as demand has dropped over the last few months due to drop in production. The price increase of almost 60 per cent indicates this is a man-made situation. He urged garment makers to find a way to absorb the price shock.

Hemant Abbi, Executive Member Moti Nagar United Factory Association adds, the price increase has compelled many members to shut factories and get into trading as they couldn’t bear more losses. The other members are also feeling helpless since the trend of unjustified increase in yarn rates has not changed for a year

The COVID-19 pandemic has battered sales at 19 Gap stores in the UK and Ireland while its distribution centre in Rugby continues to remain at risk. The retailer has decided against renewing store leases that expire next month. Last year, it closed 204 stores due to pandemic. The retailer also lost $665 million in revenues during the year upto January 2021 but has since seen its fortunes improve. It booked a profit of $166 million in the three months to the end of May, on sales of $3.9 billion, higher than the revenue figure it reported in the same period of 2019, the last comparable quarter before the pandemic.

The pandemic has led to may high street fashion retailers closing stores permanently. In the last one year, reputed retailers like TopShop, Debenhams, Cath Kidston, Oasis and Warehouse have shut shop. Collectively, British high streets lost over 17,500 retail stores with further damage likely to have been inflicted in 2021.

A study by the Centre for Retail Research shows, the sector also lost 190,000 jobs between the start of the pandemic and March 31, 2021. Stores closures may continue with jobs losses despite easing of restrictions, warns Helen Dickenson, CEO, British Retail Consortium.

Pitti Uomo plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary by holding all events physically at Florence's Fortezza da Basso. The main event, meanwhile, will be held at Palazzo Settimanni. As per Women’s Wear Daily, planned from June 30 to July 2, Pitti Uomo’s 100th edition will feature 362 exhibitors who will also be showcased later on Pitti Connect platform

The trade show will have 8,000 visitors, mostly from Italy and Europe, says Raffaello Napoleone, CEO, Pitti Immagine. Visitors will be able to travel thanks to the upcoming introduction of the Green Pass, a certificate that individuals will need to bring with them to show they have been vaccinated, have antibodies after recovering from COVID-19 or have had a negative test.

All events at the exhibition will be staged inside the Fortezza venue, rather than in other locations across Florence. The invitation to visit the Gucci archives will be unveiled at the company’s historic headquarters Palazzo Settimanni on July 1.

Thebe Magugu, Guest Designer, Pitti Uomo, will present his spring 2022 collection. The range will be introduced through a performance staged at the Archivi hall multiple times with the goal of enabling all visitors to see the lineup while respecting the limited capacity of the venue.

Pitti Immagine has also partnered the association of Italian leather goods manufacturers Assopellettieri, which will stage a multimedia installation at Fortezza da Basso to tease the launch of its new Mipel Lab digital platform. Developed with the Milan-based leather fair Lineapelle, the platform is aimed at supporting and giving visibility to Italian leather goods manufacturers.

Other events at the trade show will include live photo shoots in partnership with the Arena Homme+ fashion magazine and involving brands of the likes of Caruso, Kiton, Herno and Stefano Ricci, whose collections will be photographed by young Italian photographers. The images will be shared on Pitti Connect and featured in a printed issue of the magazine to be released next fall.

The Carbon desulphide Adsorption Plant of Birla Cellulose has been successfully commissioned by Grasim Cellulosic Division, Vilayat, India. The division has also achieved stringent level of sulphur-toair emission norms stipulated in the EU BAT references (EU Best Available Technologies BREFs) for the viscose manufacturing process.

This initiative conforms to Birla Cellulose’s aim to apply the best available technologies (EU BAT) at all of its fibre locations and investments of $170 million are in progress in order to achieve this by the end of 2022. Grasim Vilayat has installed state-of-the-art closed-loop technologies to recover and recycle CS2, the key raw material for viscose manufacturing process. These technologies enable the site to significantly reduce its emissions and achieve 90-95 per cent recovery in terms of sulphur and recycle it back to the process. In addition to this, the site also meets all other EU BAT parameters and the ZDHC MMCF responsible viscose production standards.

Vilayat is one of Birla Cellulose's flagship sites. Post the expansion it will be the world's largest MMCF manufacturing site. The on-going expansion project at Vilayat site is also designed to comply with EU BAT requirements and designed to achieve low energy consumption.

The interruption of the global supply chain by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused alarm in the Vietnamese leather and footwear industry since it is heavily dependent on raw material imports.

To develop sustainably and make the most of tariff incentives and opportunities brought by the EVFTA and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, leather and footwear businesses need to develop domestic sources or diversify foreign sources.

Many businesses have started to look for raw materials in other markets such as India, Europe, Singapore, and Japan.

Preferential tariffs under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement boosted Vietnam’s footwear exports to the bloc’s 27 member countries by 19.2 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021.

As per The Star report, the country’s overall exports, mainly of aquatic products, textile-garment, footwear, and farm produce, were worth nearly $4.8 billion.

The importing markets were mostly countries with ports and distribution and transhipmentcentres such as Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and France.

The EVFTA, which took effect in August last year, has opened up great export opportunities to a market with a GDP of $15 trillion for Vietnamese companies.

To enjoy the tariff preferences, leather goods and footwear need to comply with the rules of origin and get a EUR.1 Certificate of Origin.

Some 32 – 34 per cent of exports benefited by getting the certificate, indicating that Vietnamese businesses and goods are increasingly capitalizing on concessionary tariffs in FTA partner markets, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

It said that between August 1 last year, when the EVFTA took effect, and April 4, authorized agencies in Vietnam issued 127, 300 certificates of origin to enable exports worth nearly $4.8 billion.

A new survey by SIDBI-CRIF shows, textile clusters in Kanpur and Chennai-Kancheepuram have been worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest proportion of loans turning delinquent by December 2020.

The survey report reveals, since the imposition of national lockdown in March last year, India’s textiles industry has been in deep trouble with outstanding credit to the sector falling 20 per cent year-on-year by December 2020 and loans to export units falling by a sharper 25 per cent.

The SIDBI survey also highlights, the sector faces several operational roadblocks at the ground level, including high fuel and raw material prices, challenging GST norms and delayed tax refunds.

Almost 82 per cent of loans extended to textile units in Kanpur had turned delinquent by December 2020, with the Chennai-Kancheepuram belt reporting a delinquency rate of 42.6 per cent of outstanding credit. Loans are labelled delinquent after past dues accumulate for more than 90 days.

The Pune-Kolhapur belt, and the Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar textile region reported delinquency rates of 32 per cent and 29 per cent in the same period. Ahmedabad and Tiruppur-Coimbatore-Madurai recorded the lowest proportion of loans going bad, at 8.24 per cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively, compared with the overall delinquency rate of 16.4 per cent in the textiles sector.

Among micro, small and medium textile enterprises, the textiles cluster in Punjab reported the highest delinquencies at almost 25 per cent, followed by Chennai-Kancheepuramand Hyderabad-Guntur.

Further the SIDBI survey found that ongoing changes in the GST portal and filing of returns has created confusion for units, with exporters stating that getting Integrated GST refunds is a ‘major challenge’. Most units said access to working capital was a challenge and cash flows were constrained, while ‘ever-increasing fuel prices’ have escalated transport costs. The rise in yarn and other raw material prices, and fluctuating cotton prices, are also difficult to cope with, even as export orders have slowed down due to COVID-19, the survey found.

The Northumbria University and LUMS has partnered with UP-SIGN, to work with Pakistan and the UK’s top scientists to bring the country’s textile sector into a circular economy business model with zero waste.

At a recent texonomy workshop, funded by the British Council, Mike Nithavrianakis, Deputy High Commissioner, Great Britain and Trade for Pakistan emphasized on the need for a combined approach to address climate change which is affecting textile and associated communities.He appreciated the funding from British Council and partners leading this collaborative opportunity.

Shafiq Ahmed, Head-Trade and Investment, Pakistan High Commission London said, Pakistan needs innovative and sustainable solutions to protect supply chain of cotton through conserving soil and water, and promoting varieties that need less water, and are pest and disease resistant.”

Currently, Pakistan’s textile industry provides employment to almost 40% of the country’s total labour force.

The country is extremely vulnerable to climate change, making it even more crucial for the country’s textile industry, as well as in India, Bangladesh and other parts of Southeast Asia, to tackle global climate challenges.

Dr. NaveedArshad, Associate Professor and Chairman, Computer Science Department, LUMS, and Director, Centre for Big Data and Cloud Computing, said that the textile industry needs to diversify its textile outputs.