India’s top rating agency CARE Ratings expects cotton output in the MY 2020-21 (October-September) to increase by 4 per cent to 38 million bales. As per Money Control, the country’s cotton exports are likely to rise 20 per cent to 1.02 million tons due to competitive pricing in the global markets and an improvement in international cotton consumption. Its cotton surplus will decline on account of higher exports along with a recovery in domestic cotton demand.

Sunand Subramaniam, Senior Research Associate, Choice Broking says, the firm expects MCX Cotton futures to trade bearish as cotton farmers from various states are planning to increase the area under cultivation in the coming 2021-22 Kharif season. Cotton exporters are going strong as Indian yarn prices are attractive. However, arrivals are delayed due to COVID cases and lockdown in many parts of the country, he adds.

In the futures market, cotton for May delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 22,130 and an intraday low of Rs 21,840 per bale on the MCX. So far in the current series, the commodity has touched a low of Rs 20,680 and a high of Rs 22,950.

The value of May and June’s contracts traded so far is Rs 30.77 crore and Rs 11.52 crore respectively.

Brands are reeling under rising raw material prices. Blake Kreuger, CEO, Wolverine says, his company plans to make “selective” product cost increases in the back half of 2021 due to rising supply chain and logistics costs, as well as growing costs of rubber, cotton, leather and other materials. As per Sourcing Journal, prices of all fibers have increased over the past month. The July New York ICE futures contracts of Cotton Incorporated rose to above 90 cents per pound from 78 cents. As per a Cotton Inc report, prices have been near 88 cents per pound.

The Cotlook A Index of average global spot prices increased to 95 cents per pound in early May from levels near 85 cents in early April, reports Sourcing Journal. US spot cotton declined 84.92 points from the prior week to average 84.03 cents per pound for the week ended May 6, reveals USDA. Though Cotton Inc expects stock levels and stocks-to-use ratios to decrease in upcoming crop year, USDA suggests, supply will remain elevated.

Despite COVID, the US is projected to export the third-highest volume on record, 16.3 million bales, during the 2020-21 crop year. With shipments to most other markets lower, this has been driven by business with China, says Cotton Inc. China will continue to increase purchases of US agricultural goods in the 2021. However, it may extend its agreement in 2022.

Owning to strong demand from China, prices for standard viscose have increased by 33.8 percent from the beginning of the year. In polyester, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its Producer Price Index that synthetic fiber prices rose by 6.1 percent in April compared to March and by 9.6 percent from a year earlier.

However, the prices of Australian wool trended downward for the first week of May. As per Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), the merino fleece sector registered the largest declines of up to 47 cents. The benchmark Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) finished the week 2.6 percent lower in dollar terms, to close at $10.19 per kilogram.

Burberry’s reported strong sales in its full-year results this week despite the backlash it faced for forced labor at its Xinjiang factories. Marco Gobbetti, CEO, affirms, the brand will continue to navigate through the issues faced in the country. Recently, several social media platforms criticized the brand for its stance on forced labor. Actress Zhou Dongyu terminated her contract with the company, as did actor and model Song Weilong.

With around 475 stores around the world, Burberry is one of the biggest luxury fashion brands worldwide. The fashion powerhouse was the seventh most valuable luxury brand in the world and the only British company in the top 10 ranking as of 2018.

Headquartered in London, Burberry is famous for its iconic trench coat which was created by the brand’s founder, Thomas Burberry. Christopher Bailey, the creative name behind Burberry since 2001, is responsible for transforming the brand into the modern and global fashion powerhouse Burberry is today.

Prices of conventional spandex are likely to remain high while those of tighter varieties are expected to see a slight increase. The prices of medium-to-coarse denier varieties of spandex are expected to fluctuate. As per CCF Group, prices of 20D spandex rose 6.3 per cent in Q2 2021 while those of 30D rose 2 per cent amid, mainly stimulated by high-density circular knitting market and fine covered yarn market. Prices of spandex 40D fluctuated while those of medium-denier spandex for lace knitting, etc declined 3.1 per cent or 2,000 yuan/mt. Sales ratio remained high and price of conventional varieties increased further although downstream buyers retreated to sideline. Price of medium-to-coarse denier spandex declined with slower sales.

Operating rate of spandex plants remained above 95 per cent in Q2.The market saw slightly increasing monthly production, hitting historic high. Downstream fabric mills continued running at high capacity in May. Production and orders for thermal fabrics increased, ending up with slightly higher run rate of some plants. As a result, rigid demand for spandex improved on the month.

Operating rate of circular knitting plants in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong, lace knitting plants in Fujian, braid mills in Guangdong and conventional covered yarn plants in Zhuji and Yiwu was at 30-60 per cent and that of cotton core-spun yarn and air covered yarn plants in Zhangjiagang and warp knitting mills in Haining and Guangdong was at 70-80 per cent. . Price of upstream feedstock dipped recently and run rate of downstream mills declined compared with Q1. However, recent downstream demand for conventional spandex improved. Sales ratio increased with increasing local and export orders.

Though Turkey is likely to end its three-week lockdown on April 17, apparel manufacturers in the country continue to live under growing virus threat. As per Sourcing Journal, the country was troubled a UK variant of the virus that exploded in January. It is currently grappling with other more recent mutations that appear to be more transmissible.

As per The Guardian report, few researchers at Imperial College London found that the virus found in India is spreading faster than the UK variant, adding to fears that the pandemic has yet to subside even as economies lurch toward reopening. Japan declared a state of emergency in four perfectures including Tokyo on April 23. The new restrictions are set to expire on May 31. On the other hand, Malaysia entered its third lockdown due to more contagious COVID mutations. Thailand too is facing a spike in cases while Thailand and Philippines have banned travellers from certain South Asian countries to curb virus spread.

Wiser Tech, which introduced Wiser Wash in 2018, has launched artificial intelligence-powered devices with Wox, the company’s first venture into hardware.

As per Sourcing Journal, Wox is based on the Wiser Wash process, It can wash garments without chemicals or stones and just a small amount of water. The company reports that a pair of jeans washed with traditional methods uses an estimated 60 liters of water, which is nearly halved when using Wiser Wash—and it aims to increase these savings to 92 percent.

Working with advanced technologies, Wiser Tech enhances the technology by delivering 40 percent lower cycle duration and 66 percent higher production capacity, all while yielding improved bleaching results.

Comprised of an ozone drum and an ozone generator, Wox is much more than it appears. Through a secured cloud-based platform, the device collects data on the production process and feeds it to artificial intelligence algorithms. Sensors located at different parts of the system can identify possible abnormalities at all stages of the process, giving it the ability to identify and assess its own needs.

Features include a user-friendly control panel, ergonomic drum, easily accessible filter drawer and a LED progress ring that uses color to represent a different stage of the process. It also allows the user to adjust the amount of oxygen used during the process.

GuglielmoOlearo, who until recently served as executive board member and COO of Première Vision SA, has left the trade show group.

As per Spin Off International, the manager had worked for the French company for nine years.Among the shows Olearo managed was Denim Première Vision, the specialized international denim show. In his place, Fabio AdamiDalla Val will work for the show in his role of show manager.

Other major changes in management seem within the whole Première Vision include the exit of Pascaline Wilhelm, former fashion director who had worked for the show for 23 years, and Chantal Malingrey, former manager operating within the trade show organization for 13 years.

Created in 1973 by some fifteen silk industry professionals from Lyons, Première Vision invented a new and unprecedented platform for the creative fashion industry. A platform that brought together, in one trade fair, industry professionals from the same sector looking to collaborate, to promote their know-how and to develop their business opportunities, while introducing the first coordinated development of seasonal colour and fabric fashion trends.

Chinese-funded garment factories in Myanmar have decided to shut operations due to COVID-19 led disruptions, says Khin May Htway, Managing Partner, MyanWei Consulting Group, which advises Chinese investors in Myanmar.

Foreign investment in garments surged in Myanmar over the past decade as economic reforms, an end to Western sanctions and trade deals helped establish the sector as the greatest symbol of its nascent emergence as a manufacturing hub.

Myanmar garment shipments rose from less than $1 billion in 2011, about 10 per cent of exports, to more than $6.5 billion in 2019, about 30 per cent of exports, according to UN Comtrade data.

However, the sector has been rocked by the pandemic resulting in tens of thousands of garment factory jobs lost in Myanmar, says Oman Observer. Then the coup happened.

In the weeks that followed, many garment workers joined protests or couldn’t get to work as streets became battlegrounds. The turmoil also jammed the banking system and made it difficult to get goods in and out of the country, factory owners said.

With international condemnation of the coup growing, European and US fashion brands last month issued a statement through their associations saying they would protect jobs and honour commitments in Myanmar.

However, many have recently halted orders there including the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, Sweden’s H&M, Britain’s Next and Primark, and Italy’s Benetton.

Next said it would split its orders previously going to Myanmar between Bangladesh, Cambodia and China, while Benetton said it would mainly move the business to China. H&M and Primark have not commented on how they will redistribute orders.

In Vietnam, garment factory owner Ravi Chunilal said he was starting to get more business from European buyers diverting from Myanmar.

Peter McAllister of Ethical Trade Initiative, a labor rights organization said that it would be very difficult for Myanmar’s garment sector to recover if Chinese investors left.

As per a Jing Daily report, the lingerie market in China is thriving despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and analysts predict it to grow by a significant CAGR by 2025.

CBNData’s Underwear Industry Trends Research estimates the market to have occupied 60 per cent share of the Chinese underwear market in 2019.

Smart retailers are capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the stay-at-home economy, which prioritizes comfort and health to the detriment of sexy intimates.

Global brands are mitigating risks by entering into partnerships with distributors and management companies like Privet.

Privet offers B2B professional communications services to the operation of mono-brand and multi-brand stores. Since its founding in 2014, it has serviced more than 50 global lingerie brands, offering them personalized marketing solutions and assisting their China market entry strategies.

Working in omnichannel accelerations, Privet has partnered exclusively with brands like Aubade, Chantelle, and Eberjey. It has the best conversion rate, says its founder.

At the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) textile B2B webinar, Chinese and Pakistani officials and businessmen discussed ways to advance business-to-business (B2B) matchmaking in the industry.

The webinar was co-organized by Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BOI), China Council for International Investment Promotion (CCIIP) and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) on April 27.

It was attended by senior officials and textile entrepreneurs from Pakistan and China. FareenaMazhar, Secretary, BOI, called for enhanced B2B matchmaking between the Pakistani and Chinese textile enterprises. XuYingxin, Deputy President, CNTAC, called for enhanced industrial cooperation between China and Pakistan under CPEC, especially in the textile sector.

In addition to analyzing the textile sector of both countries and discussing the investment opportunities, notable textile companies from both sides also presented their projects requiring cooperation and held discussions for potential matchmaking.