Bangladesh garment shipments recovered as stores reopened and international brands and retailers gave new orders to suppliers’ factories. However, the wait for a COVID-19 vaccine, fear of a second wave of infections and US elections is threatening this recovery as manufacturers have witnessed a sharp fall in orders, reports Daily Star. Data from the Export Promotion Bureau shows, in July, Bangladesh garment exports reached $3.24 billion before falling to $2.47 billion in August and totaling $2.41 billion in September. Exports reached rock bottom in April to $0.37 billion. Manufacturers fear, the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 and complications in US elections may further affect exports.

Second wave may deepen suppliers’ payment crisis

Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, Managing Director, Evince Group and Former President, BGMEA says, a second wave of infections may have deeper impact on garment exports as stores would have shut down again. Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, Managing Director, Rising Group, believes further delay in US elections may defer recovery of garment exports from the country.

Rubana Huq, President, BGMEA opines, if the US and EU are hit by a second wave Bangladesh will have to face a tough situations. The first blow of COVID-19 has already exposed significant drawbacks in trade and supply chain, particularly in area of transactions between buyers and suppliers. Currently, one of the major concerns of Bangladesh exports is the uncertainty over payments of confirmed and shipped orders, which amount to $8 billion.

Focus on logistics and port management

Syed Earshad Ahmed, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh believe, competitors like Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka have been getting more advantages and they have better infrastructure and managed the pandemic better than Bangladesh. He advises Bangladesh to focus on logistics and ports management to avoid delays in clearing imports and exports.

As per Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute, garment exports from Bangladesh are yet to rebound fully. Their full recovery is expected by next March. These exports are been supported by shifting of work orders from China. US’ work orders to China declined by 40.93 per cent between January and August compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the US reduced garment imports from India by 25.47 per cent, 9.92 per cent from Vietnam and 14.76 per cent from Bangladesh between January and August this year compared to the same period last year, according to data from the US Department of Commerce. Mansur believes, Bangladesh might receive some of these work orders that got shifted from China.

After the cancelation of its April edition, Performance Days will replace its physical edition by a digital event on the planned dates of December 09-10.

‘Digital Fair’ will once again present various solutions, such as the online sourcing of materials, which can be ordered to the (home) office, as well as digitalized trends and colors. There are additional features: When logging in to the Digital Fair, visitors can enter their interests, enabling Performance Days targeted matchmaking functions with corresponding suggestions for exhibitors/suppliers.

Performance Days also wants to bring to life new call, chat and video chat functions, which enable digital visitors to enter into dialogue with exhibitors. These shall complement the digital collections with technical data sheets and video presentations, which now allow for questions to be discussed directly online from Asia to Europe and to America. This feature will be available during the two days of the trade fair on December 09-10, and for another 14 days thereafter.

The Government of Vietnam has postponed the 20th Vietnam Int’l Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition to November 24 – 27, 2021 at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) to ensure the health and safety of visitors and exhibitors.

However, the VTG online expo will continue to operate and promote exhibitors’ products on the official website and Facebook fan page. Since 2001, VTG has been serving the textile industry in Vietnam and is committed to serve the development of textile and related industries.

At the 13th Istanbul Fashion Conference last week, organized by the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (TGSD) and Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association (IHKIB), Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank informed that Turkey ranks sixth among all countries in the world in terms of garment and readywear industry exports.

Varank said, the Turkish garment industry recorded a $16.5 billion external trade surplus in 2019. He underlined that over one million workers are directly employed in the industry and 68 per cent of employees are women. The minister reiterated the government’s support to sectoral aggregations in many provinces. He informed that the government has set up organized industrial zones in northwestern Bolu, Bursa and Yalova, and southeastern Kahramanmara, Kilis and Diyarbakr.

Varank further underlined that the government supports the garment industry’s research, development and innovation projects through Turkey’s top scientific body, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Turkey (KOSGEB).

Polyprint SA, specialized Direct-to-Garment printer manufacturer, is showcasing its latest DTG products at Innovate Virtual Trade Show, being held virtually from October 15-30, 2020. Polyprint is exhibiting solutions including TexJet shortee2 and TexJet echo. The centre of attention will be PreTreater Pro: The NEW automatic pre-treatment machine.

Launched in July 2020, PreTreater Pro is the key to top-quality prints, consistency in repeated jobs and improved washability, while saving on liquids. Its 41x60cm true spray area, precision spraying capabilities with ‘Linear’ & ‘Grid’ edit modes, accurate liquid quantity selection per ml, 4 large diameter flat nozzles for uniform spraying and an auto re-circulation system for liquid homogeneity will seamlessly prepare garments for amazing prints.

The tradeshow will enable attendees to interact with industry professionals through live chat, witness its latest technological breakthroughs at our booth and schedule video meetings to address their every question.

World Textile Information Network (WTiN), the ITA Virtual Trade Show organizers, has planned a pioneering event that generates the unique ability for visitors and exhibitors to reconnect, without limitations.

Stephen Lamar, CEO, American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) has advised lawmakers against looking at stimulus as as ‘one-and-done’ deal. The trade group CEO advocates lawmakers to seek additional rounds of stimulus in the coming months.

As per Lamar, tariffs on China’s apparel, footwear and travel goods could hurt US industries and consumers this holiday season. Tariffs are even being charged on crucial PPE equipment needed in the fight against the coronavirus. US is charging tariffs on many items of personal protective equipment. It still has tariffs on reusable isolation gowns.

This is the wrong time to have these tariffs, Lamar says. According to him, US can use those tariffs to pass along savings to consumers, to hire workers not to pay into these US coffers like this. Despite the political discord and jockeying going on in Washington, Lamar says that there are signs of encouragement that prove that lawmakers could come together on a stimulus.

Fabric cutting room solutions provider MorganTecnica will showcase its technology innovations at the upcoming Denim Show – an online virtual event being held from October 21 to 23, 2020.

The show offers denim specific solutions through 11 events hosted in 8 different languages. The trade offers solutions for model creation, order management and optimal denim garment manufacturing and will also demonstrate denim fabric cutting real time along with optimal spreading and labeling to superfast and precise cutting with both its high and low ply solutions.

During the show, the company will cut around 3,000 meters of denim fabric. It will donate these fabrics to local Italian entities as per its agenda of ethical stance on the three pillars of people, planet and profit

The show will also display its software solution including the snapshots of its 3D virtual design and order planner. Besides, the additional range of equipment for all denim fabric cutting solutions will also be on display. MorganTecnica will launch Mastermind – order analysis management software during the show.

DyStar, a leading specialty chemical company, has launched Cadira® Polyamide and Polyester / Cellulosic Exhaust. These two additions take the total number of Cadira modules by DyStar to 11. These modules support the supply chain with complete sustainable solutions from manufacturing to production and beyond. Cadira Polyamide is an environmentally friendly scour-dyeing process using DyStar’s Telon® and Isolan® dyes and selected Sera® products for Polyamide, Polyamide blends and recycled Polyamide.

Compared to the conventional process that requires three separate baths, Cadira Polymide completes pre-treatment, dyeing and a modified after treatment in the same bath, which help save water, process time and energy.

The Cadira Polyester/Cellulosic Exhaust module offers options for process optimization and exhaust processing of polyester/cellulosic blends to reduce consumption of water, energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gas emission, as well as wastewater quantities and effluent load.

Since its launch of the first Cadira module in 2016, DyStar has developed a total of 11 Cadira modules: Reactive, Reactive/Disperse Continuous, Polyester/Cellulosic Exhaust, VAT, Polyester, Recycled Polyester, Wool, Polyamide, Printing PX, Denim and Laundry, helping the entire textile value chain to achieve greener production.

California-based apparel label Outerknown has launched the world’s first biodegradable denim. The Iconoclast high rise skinny, women’s jeans is made with Candiani’s Coreva stretch technology constructed using renewable, plant-based rubber in place of the standard petrol-based elastane. The denim portrays a bend of 96 per cent organ cotton and 4 per cent natural rubber to achieve an eco-friendly stretch.

The jeans are officially available for pre-order on the outlooks’s website and retail for $248. The style is available in a light and medium wash denim in sizes varying from 24-32.

Outerknown is still considered a new entrant in the womenswear market. The brand launched its first women’s collection in 2019. The company has been responsible for manufacturers since 2015 and was founded by a 11-time champion surfer Kelly Slater and designer John Moor to create a positive change throughout the fashion industry. In the 2019 collection, the brand used 90 percent of the recycled fibers, It also invested in Econyl recycled nylon that converted ocean plastic into new material for fashion.

In 2019, Outerknown launched its denim made with cottonseed hemp through its collaboration with Levi’s.

Authentic Brands Group owned fashion brand Forever 21 has signed a licensing deal with AR Holdings, a leading brand and retail operator, to expand operations into the Latin American market.

As per the deal, AR Holdings will distribute the brand across all channels in the region including e-commerce, wholesale and 26 retail stores in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Peru. The company is an experienced player in the Latin American retail market with vast expertise in the fashion, home and restaurant industries. It plans is to launch an e-commerce site for Forever 21 in Latin America in 2021.

ABG purchased Forever 21 out of bankruptcy court in partnership with Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners for $81.1 million in February. In June, it tapped IB Group to serve as licensee for the brand. In June, it licensed IB Group to expand the brand in Mexico.