Sri Lanka expects a 30 per cent drop in apparel exports during this month and the next month.

The main export markets, the United States and the European Union, gripped by inflationary pressures, are plunging into a recession stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These global headwinds are expected to impact Sri Lanka’s apparel exports in the coming six months.

In addition, the removal of the dual corporate tax rate structure, which is set to increase corporate income taxes on exports to 30 percent up from the earlier 14 percent, also threatens the competitiveness of the country’s exports, in particular when competing with countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. The proposed changes to the personal income tax structure could also fuel brain drain from the country, further impacting the industry.

Sri Lanka’s fashion industry is facing a lack of young professionals since 2019 as many aspiring individuals are moving away due to the challenges faced by them following the pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. Economic crisis has hit the imports of fashion designing materials with only a few materials available within Sri Lanka like accessories and fabrics. Imports of nearly 50 percent of the designing materials have been banned as the country’s central bank wants to save dollars in the face of an acute foreign exchange shortage.

Pakistan may impose a regulatory duty on the import of filament yarn. The aim apparently is to give protection to local manufacturers and discourage imports.

Yarn merchants say yarn is a raw material for the textile sector and discouraging imports will increase the cost of production.Cotton has been replaced with yarn across the world and most of Pakistan’s textile industry depends on imported yarn.

About 5,00,000 power looms and knitting machines use yarn as a raw material for manufacturing textile products. Commercial importers also import yarn for consumption by such manufacturers. Demand for yarn for local consumption stands at approximately 4,50,000 tons a year of which 3,50,000 tons are imported, which shows a gap of 78 percent. Yarn demand cannot be fulfilled in any way through local supplies, which raises questions over the motive behind imposing the regulatory duty to discourage imports.

Pakistan’s yarn manufacturers still use outdated machines, which are not energy efficient. Such energy losses are built into yarn prices.Textile products produced from imported yarn are mostly used by the ordinary people due to their affordability.

The duty imposition is said to directly impact the inflation reading and further worsen the situation. On the other hand, if yarn manufacturers also increase prices in line with the landed cost of imported yarn this will, in turn, raise the cost of finished textile products.

A looming recession in export markets is threatening Sri Lanka’s garment sector.

Orders have slowed down significantly since buyers already have stocks with them and they don’t have storage facilities. The dip could slow down Sri Lanka’s efforts to move out of the unprecedented economic crisis that resulted after failed economic policies and heavy money printing. The apparel industry accounts for nearly half of the nation’s total export earnings. Apparel exports have accounted for 57 percent of export earnings in the first nine months of this year.

The world’s leading economies are sliding into recession as the global energy and inflation crises sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut growth by more than what was previously forecasted. Over the next two or three months the country’s exporters expect to see a drop of 25 per cent or 30 percent in order volumes. As a result of the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sri Lanka’s traditional markets such as Europe and the US have been reducing exports amid tightening monetary policy to curb increasing inflation.Sri Lanka is forced to look into alternate markets such as India, Russia, Taiwan, and regional countries such as Malaysia and Singapore to boost its exports with or without free trade agreements.

Apparel orders have started to pick up for Bangladesh.

Fresh enquiries are coming in from top buyers for the spring season, with manufacturers considering it a positive sign for the country amid the global economic downturn. Besides, the trend of buyers shifting orders from China – as the country is still in Covid-induced lockdown – has proved to be beneficial for Bangladesh.After the economy started to gain pace, Bangladesh’s exports of garments in the last fiscal year grew by over 35 per cent.

But apparel makers are concerned about the current gas and electricity crisis in the country.This did not matter so far as the volume of orders was low but if orders start to increase now exporters have to send the products by air at 14 times higher the cost since shipments can’t be done on time due to the gas-electricity crisis.

The order flow usually picks up during four seasons of the major clothing markets.Export for the winter season, one of the biggest of the year, is almost nearing the end while orders for the spring season are coming in with the products expected to be shipped between January and March. After the Russia-Ukraine war began, Bangladesh's exports were hit. On the one hand, orders kept decreasing while the overall production cost increased.

2nd Global Cotton Conference was held in New Delhi, November 23, 2022.

The theme of the conference was game-changing technologies and traits for achieving high yields and fine quality of cotton. This hybrid event was attended by senior government officials and industry stakeholders and experts across the entire textile value chain.

The conference also held detailed discussions on the various crucial aspects of the cotton value chain at the technical sessions.The conference witnessed overwhelming support from industry stakeholders and also received good support from the textile industry as sponsors.

The event was organized by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, a leading industry chamber for the textile and clothing sector, which represents the entire textile value chain through its leading regional and industry associations and 18 major corporate members. Northern India Textile Mills’ Association, Denim Manufacturers Association, Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association, Northern India Textile Research Association, Bombay Textile Research Association and South India Textile Research Association were the supporting partners.

Cotton is a global commodity that is grown in over 75 countries and also holds a predominant position in the Indian textile sector which has a presence in the entire textile value chain, from farm to fashion.

The Hebei textile and apparel export fair is online.

More than 50 high quality textile and apparel enterprises in the Chinese province of Hebei are exhibiting sports, overall, casual, home textiles, bedding, fabrics, and other categories.

The online fair has prepared a series of innovative products such as eco-friendly apparel and recycled fabrics for global buyers. The online fair will exhibit and display all the enterprises and products for six months, allowing professional buyers from overseas to conduct in-depth online discussions with these Hebei enterprises and helping the enterprises expand the market and seek business opportunities online.

From January 2022 to September 2022, Hebei’s export turnover increased by 14 per cent compared to the same period of 2021. Hebei’s brands such as Xinji leather and Qinghe cashmere go all over the world and are being integrated into the international industrial chain and supply chain at a faster pace than ever before and have become an important part of the global textile and apparel market.

During January2021 to September 2021, online retail sales of goods in China were up 18.5 per cent year on year. Sales of physical goods were up 15.2 per cent year on year. Among physical goods, retail sales of clothing inched up by 15.6 per cent year on year. That of food increased by 20.2 per cent and that of goods 14.5 per cent.

India’s cotton exports this year may fall short of estimates. Export enquiries are poor as Indian cotton is more expensive compared with world cotton prices. The season started with very poor opening stock.Arrivals are not picking up as expected and domestic mills are gradually increasing capacity utilization.

Cotton arrivals in November usually surpass 1.5 lakh bales a day. At present, it is 1.3 lakh bales a day. In several areas, sowing and harvesting have been delayed. Farmers were waiting for prices to improve. Since prices are down by 35 per cent farmers are not selling cotton. But there are no signs that prices will improve.

Since October 1, 2022, only 50,000 lakh bales were exported compared to seven lakh bales last year. Another major reason for the tepid demand for cotton is the slowdown across the textile supply chain globally. Almost 50 per cent of Indian cotton exports are to Bangladesh. And China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia are the other major importers of Indian cotton. Bangladesh is said to be facing a crisis and there is no demand from that country. Further, a spinner in Bangladesh is able to get west African or US cotton at a relatively lower price.

It’s been ten years since the disaster at a garment factory in Bangladesh.

The fire at Tazreen Fashions killed at least 112 garment workers, many of them because they were unable to escape – trapped between locked exits and barred windows. The struggle for workplace safety and justice for injured and killed workers in Bangladesh and beyond continues.This was not the first major garment factory incident in Bangladesh: for years brands and factory owners had been aware of the hazards for garment workers in the industry, but failed to act.

Only after the Rana Plaza building came crashing down exactly six months later did brands rush to action and sign the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

A decade later, there are however still brands which have failed to draw the lessons from the preventable deaths at Tazreen and Rana Plaza. While 186 brands have signed this agreement, several brands which have first hand experience with workers dying in their death trap factories have failed to commit to protecting the safety of the workers in their supply chain. But ten years since the Tazreen fire, and more than nine years since the start of the Accord program, the legally binding and enforceable system that holds brands to account for its suppliers and gives workers avenues to raise their safety issues effectively has proven its worth. It has prevented mass casualties in the industry and made factories noticeably safer.

The global denim market is growing at six per cent a year.

Major factors that are expected to boost the growth of the denim market are the rise in the urbanization and the increasing trend of denim shirts. The growing popularity of stretchable denim jeans by blending cotton with synthetic material is further anticipated to propel the growth of the denim market. The rise in consumer income levels is escalating the growth of the denim market.

In addition, the easy accessibility of raw materials and the growing advances in denim wear will further provide potential opportunities for the growth of the denim market in the coming years. Increasing demand for better user experience and the rising popularity of offerings such as video conferencing and high-quality video streaming are also further contributing to the growth of the target market.

The European Union’s imports of textile and apparel increased 13 per cent in August 2022.

From January 2022 to August 2022 the year on year increase was ten per cent. In terms of import value, textile and apparel imports in August 2022 were up 50 per cent and the cumulative year on year growth rose 35 per cent from January 2022 to August 2022.

From the perspective of imported varieties, knitted clothing, textile products and woven clothing accounted for more than half, followed by chemical fiber yarn, accounting for about 20 per cent. The proportion of cotton products, yarn, and yarn fabrics was relatively small.

The EU’s imports of knitted clothing mainly came from Bangladesh and China, followed by Turkey. Woven clothing came mainly from China and Bangladesh while the share of Turkey and Pakistan was relatively small. Other manufactured goods were mainly sourced from China, followed by India and Pakistan, and Turkey only accounted for a relatively small proportion. Chemical staple fiber and yarn mainly came from China and Turkey, followed by India. China was also the largest source of the EU’s chemical filaments and fabric imports. For cotton products and yarn, the sources were mainly Turkey, followed by India and Pakistan.