T Rajkumar is chairman of the Product Advisory Committee. While seeking wholehearted cooperation and support from the committee members, Rajkumar as Chairman of PAC said that most of the contract specifications have been modified to curb speculation and protect the interests of the entire cotton value chain including the farmers.

An urgent concern of the cotton textile industry has been the unprecedented volatility in raw cotton prices in domestic as well as international markets. In a bid to address the price volatility of cotton, stakeholders from the sector represented the matter to SEBI and MCX with a request to take measures to make the futures market more representative of the market trends and address the concerns arising out of the volatility.As short-term corrective measures, the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) suspended trading in all-cotton futures contracts on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) from January 2023 and subsequent contracts were temporarily not available for trading till the revised contract specifications are finalized.

For long term solutions, in a joint meeting of SEBI with the MCX and cotton value-chain participants, it was decided that the cotton contract specifications shall be revisited and modified in consultation with the product advisory committee of the exchange and other stakeholders.

North India’s cotton production estimate has been revised downward to 51 lakh bales of 170 kg each for marketing year 2022-23.

The Indian Cotton Association’s earlier estimate for the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, upper Rajasthan, and lower Rajasthan was 58 lakh bales. Slower growth of the cotton plant is expected to lead to lower productivity.

Traders expected an upward trend in cotton prices due to low production, which was witnessed on Monday as cotton prices increased by Rs 75 per maund of 37.2 kg to reach Rs 7250 per maund for ready trade.Growth of the cotton plant remained slow in the current season. Therefore, average productivity may decline which will lead to lower production. Lower Rajasthan and lower Haryana continue to get rainfall during the last lap of the current monsoon season, the impact of which is yet to be ascertained. If the crop gets affected by the disruption in weather, the output may decline further.

Earlier, ICA had estimated that cotton production to increase by 23 per cent. Last year, late rain and pink ball worm attack severely affected north India’s cotton production. The Indian Cotton Association was incorporated in 1965 and is majorly into textile manufacturing.

In July 2022, the import volume of US textiles and apparel was up by five per cent year-on-year. The import volume increased by 12 per cent year-on-year. In August 2022 US textile and apparel imports were down 0.6 per cent year-on-year, ending 24 consecutive months of positive year-on-year growth since August 2020. US textile and apparel imports in August were up 20 per cent year-on-year.

Among them, the import volume of clothing increased by seven per cent year-on-year and the import volume of clothing was up 28 per cent year-on-year, setting a new high in recent years.The fact that US textile import volume reduced at a time when clothing imports increased reflects the structural changes in product imports. However, the growth of import volume still outpaced import volume.

The total amount of textiles and garments imported from China in August 2022 was down 12 per cent year-on-year. Among them, the total amount of clothing imported into China increased by five per cent year-on-year.

Total US garment imports slowed for the fourth consecutive month, but still maintained a positive growth. In August, the growth rate of imports from China was slightly lower than the total import growth, which represented a decline for three consecutive months.

India has committed to promote sustainability and circularity within its textile sector. A unit will be created within the ministry of textiles specifically dedicated to sustainability issues. Although the Indian textile sector is gradually being equipped with common effluent treatment plants, the sector is still facing effluent management problems due to the unavailability of data on waste generations from processing clusters.

The success of the Indian textile industry is largely based on an abundance of raw materials, particularly cotton. India is one of the world’s pillars of the textile and clothing industry. In addition to its massive domestic market, the sector is the European Union’s fourth largest supplier of clothing and its third largest supplier of textiles. India is also the third largest supplier of textiles and clothing to the US.

So Indian textile exports have a huge growth potential. With some 45 million employees in its textile industry, India is also the world's second largest cotton producer, behind China, with six million tons produced in the 2021-2022 season. This position will prove important in the coming months after the destruction of a large part of the cotton crops of its neighbor, Pakistan, which is the fifth largest cotton producer in the world.

Garment workers are being retrenched in the Philippines because of the global economic slowdown. There are 2,80,000 workers in the apparel, textile, garment, and leathergoods industry in the country. About four percent of workers have been retrenched. If conditions worsen, that can go up to ten percent.

The US is the biggest market of Philippine apparel, textile and leathergoods but the average US consumer is not confident of spending as they are worried about another possible recession and would rather hold back spending in the next 12 months. Orders are being canceled midstream. Aside from the global economic slowdown, other issues are disruption in the global supply chain, labor costs, and access to raw materials, logistics and compliance risk issues.

In the meantime the industry in the Philippines is hoping for a bilateral free trade deal with the US, which could be through a sectoral FTA or revival of the previous Save Act proposal, and the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It is also pushing for the expansion of the list of garment products eligible for zero-duty under the Generalized System of Preferences. There are only 24 tariff lines for leather goods under the GSP.

The currency crisis in Egypt has hit the Indian textile industry. Roughly a 100 containers have been returned since Egyptian importers are unable to make payments. Containers of cotton yarn and fabrics from Gujarat and South India are coming back. Some exporters have stock at discounted rates and on credit.

In addition to the shortage of dollars, a reduction in yarn and fabric prices is also a reason for the situation.Egypt is passing through a tough currency crisis and has decided to allow only exporters to trade in dollars and importers are not given dollars for payments.

Many exporters work with dependable purchasers, and instead of returning the containers, they choose to sell the cargo with a protracted credit period.Further the situation these days is companies are able to find a buyer for a product at 30 per cent discounted price, and they have a stock of about 15 containers of products specially made in the Egyptian market, but now the buyers are demanding a 50 per cent discount. Basically, the business has been harmed by large price swings, and sluggish demand in Europe has resulted in low dollar income for many economies that are dominated by the textile industry.

With global awareness of environmentally-friendly products after the pandemic, there has been a jump in sustainable denim labels that are attempting to reduce the carbon footprint that the denim manufacturing industry entails.

Keeping in mind that denim accounts for over 5% of landfill waste and around 2,900 liters of water and a huge volume of harsh chemicals and energy is required to manufacture just a single pair of jeans, the leaders of the global apparel supply chain are now working cohesively towards sustainability and recycling.

Restricted water and chemical use in manufacture

The global fashion industry is accountable for almost 10% of global GHG emissions, of which upstream production is responsible for 71% of fashion’s total GHG emissions with around 23% from usage, and end-of-use and brand operations account for around 6%, which points out to a great need for collective change.

Brands are now focusing on doing research and development on denim recycling, encouraging customers to exchange their old jeans for new and manufacturing more compostable jeans without using polyester threads and metal trims made of metal. Retail brands and designers are bending over backwards to incorporate everything from dead-stock fabrics to coffee beans and use less water and energy while the government of different countries are also regulating waste and environmental damage.

However, as it is said truly sustainable denim brand is not possible and it is greenwashing, as the denim industry can never be totally environmentally friendly as there will always be some chemicals involved to make the fabric what it is. With denim being a wardrobe staple, most top brands are now focusing on a circular economy for denim with recycling being the main focus.

Brands focus on sustainability issues differently

Some retailers like H&M are raising customer awareness through their take-back and recycling programs, where old is exchanged for new or given to charity. Other brands are moving from traditional manufacturing of the flat, linear model where the end-product is sold and eventually discarded.

Austria-based Lenzing Group has for many years manufactured wood-based viscose fibers, modal fibers, lyocell fibers and filament yarn, which are used in the textile industry. Currently the company is using Tencel modal fiber with Indigo technology which directly inserts indigo pigment during the fiber production process, so almost eliminating all the water and electricity use as well as 80% of chemicals. This process releases very little wastewater as compared to the conventional powder indigo dyeing technique.

Jeanologia, a Spanish manufacturer of manufacturing equipment for the textile sector, has introduced the G2 Dynamic which uses ozone technology for continuous fabric finishing which actually turns the surrounding air into ozone and then uses it to create color degradation effects.

Archroma, a global and diversified provider of specialty chemicals serving the branded and performance textiles, has now developed a product portfolio of liquid dyes in denim manufacture such as Denisol Indigo 30 Li, a cradle-to-cradle certified dye that generates approximately 50% less wastewater, is aniline-free, and uses fewer operational resources.

New-age customers need to know about the jeans they wear

With the new-age customers who focus on wellness and healthy lifestyle, the need to know about the environmental impact associated with the manufacturing process of their everyday denim wear is at an all-time high. With the global denim market having seen persistent growth even in the pandemic times and expected to reach $107 billion by 2023, most retail brands are jumping into this environmentally friendly bandwagon make use of the favorable situation while it lasts.

Ciel Textile, based in Mauritius, is a supplier to fashion labels including Ralph Lauren, Levi Strauss and Marks & Spencer. The company produces about 20 million shirts a year.

Rising demand is being fuelled by a return to offices in financial centers such as New York and London. Employees are refreshing their formal wardrobes. Ciel Textile’s revenue surged 48 per cent in the year through June while profits advanced 19 per cent. The manufacturer is taking a cautious approach to short-term forecasts, though, due to the high probability of a global recession.

After starting in Mauritius 50 years ago and growing into the country’s biggest textile producer, the company invested in new factories in Madagascar, Bangladesh and India.

India is the firm’s main production center with seven factories and 9,000 employees, helping to position Ciel Textile as a global supplier. The group also makes fabrics and knitwear.

Mauritius is a country which can boast of having one of the best infrastructures in Africa. The textile and clothing industry of Mauritius is into knitwear, children’s wear, trousers etc. But knitwear is where it excels in and enjoys international prowess. Mauritius has quite a few vertically integrated units. The country is developing the capability and capacity to cater to the needs of global buyers.

Indonesia’s textile exports are facing challenges. A wave of layoffs is threatening the textile and textile product industry in the country.

The lay offs began in the garment industry then spread to fabrics upstream. Cancelled orders from buyers in the US and the European Union have made things worse. Moreover countries that have cold winters will usually prioritize energy spending. With energy costs soaring up to four times, this would add to the challenges for Indonesia’s textile exports.

Around 70 per cent of Indonesia’s exports are to the US and the EU. The rest is to Japan, Turkey, Africa and China. Conditions in these countries are also not too good. Starting from the garment industry to fabrics, even the fiber industry has started to decrease production. The industry in Indonesia wants action against imports that come in without paying taxes. This way, the textile industry in the country hopes to freely cater to domestic consumption even though exports are disrupted.

Indonesia’s earnings from exports of leather, finished leather goods, and footwear increased by 41 per cent in June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year. There has been a diversion of orders from several global brands to Indonesia.

Bangladesh’s exports of home textiles in the first quarter of the current fiscal year increased by 26 per cent over the same period of last year. Even in the first quarter of the current financial year, when overall export earnings showed a falling trend amid the raging war and unprecedented inflation in the West, home textiles maintained their growth momentum.

After readymade garments, the home textile industry is the second-largest export earner of the country. The home textile sector is one of the first-line export sectors in Bangladesh with the ability to produce bulk products.The home textile export basket of the country includes bed linen, bed sheet and other bedroom textiles, bath linen, carpets and rugs, blankets, kitchen linen, curtains, cushions, cushion cover, and covers for quilts.

Bangladesh entered the market of home textiles in the 1980s and has invested in research, quality products, innovation and the latest technology. However, despite all the positives, Bangladesh’s share in the global home textile export market is only seven per cent. It faces competition from China, India, Pakistan and Turkey. Moreover, although Bangladesh has immense prospects in home textiles, the country is still lagging behind in ensuring fair prices.

The global home textile trade is growing at a compound annual growth rate of three per cent.