As per China Chemical Fibers Association (CCFA), the total production of man-made fiber reached 58.27 million tons last year, up by 7.8 percent. The viscose fiber increased by 2.8 percent, PET fiber by 8.3 percent and polyamide fiber (Nylon) by 5.9 percent. CCFA predicts that the man-made fiber production will have a reasonable uptick by 3 percent and export by 5 percent in the country

Amid waves of production being restarted across China, this “biomass regenerated cellulosic fiber with a capacity of 20,000 tons/year” in Xinxiang city, Henan Province is one of the many. 

After the lockdowns has been lifted in the virus-struck cities and provinces, the investments continue to inject vitality to the new projects those were held up for strict “shelter-in-place” compliance directives to fight the COVID-19. 

Bailu Group emerges as China’s man-made fibre major

Xinxiang Bailu Investment Group Co Ltd is the investor in the project. Xinxiang Chemical Fiber Co Ltd, a subsidiary pillar to Bailu Group is a large company for producing raw materials for textile industry in China, with its three main product lines respectively for regenerated cellulosic filament, best known with its brand “Bailu” (means Egret in English) for 80,000 tons, and its staple fiber for 100,000 tons and Polyurethane fiber for 120,000 tons, totaling 300,000 tons a year according to the company’s introduction on its website. 

China Securities reported that Xinxiang Chemical Fiber Co. Ltd. accounted for 33% of the national viscose filament production that was recorded 210,000 tons in 2019. According to the latest report issued on April 8, 2020 by Xinxiang Bailu Investment Group Co. Ltd., its Xinxiang Chemical Fiber Co. Ltd. produced 61,422 tons of viscose filament, 8622 tons of viscose staple fiber, 82,577 tons of polyurethane fiber last year. Its national share is absolutely expected to increase when the new viscose filament project is accomplished.

Strict measures for construction as compliance post Corona 

Bailu Group is taking very strict measures backed up by stringent requirements for  constructors, civil building or installation workers on safety and health alerts according to (Disease Control and Prevention Musts during Construction) issued by the Group’s Construction Commanding Center.

In the construction field, 359 workers from nine different divisions in Bailu Group have registered for health eligibility through medical check- ups, in addition to a close look into the health conditions of 235 workers from seventeen subcontractors. Moreover, 14-day quarantining orders have to be obeyed by the workers who come from the other provinces or from the disease-ridden cities or counties inside Henan province.  “We have for many times discussed the detailed plans for reopening our construction with the management teams in the Green Fiber Exclusive Park of National Xinxiang Economic and Technological Development Zone where our new project is stationed. We have prepared sufficient first-aids materials and medical isolation room in case of any symptom found, and carry out screening check in fragmented management from entry to exit. The whole construction field got sanitized every two or three days, leaving no stones unturned. The dormitory is kept clean and tidy, the canteen is opened to the workers at a properly-arranged time interval to avoid rush hour for food,” said Mr. Li Yunsheng, Vice President of Bailu Group, who is also head of the coronavirus task force council inside the corporation.

Bailu that means egret in English, is flapping its wings to fly when the Mother Nature is rejuvenated from wintertime inanition, in the similar way has Bailu’s investment revitalized breaking months of inactivity impacted by COVID-19.

Investments for MMF continue in Green Fiber Exclusive Park

In fact, this project broke the ground on May24 last year when Mr. Zhu Xuexin, Vice President of Xinxiang Chemical Fiber Co.Ltd, a subsidiary pillar to Bailu Group, said “this biomass cellulosic filament project (20,000 tons/year) is one of the series investments in recent years since 2014. For the past 5 years, the company effectively started with new projects that are completed from engineering design to commissioning operation on averaging 14 months for each.”

Indeed, the past five years witnessed 5.7 billion Yuan of total investment, and 4 new projects already in production of 100,000 polyurethane fiber in aggregate capacity, and one filament project for 10,000 tons/year, in addition to this new Lyocell filament project.

The Green Fiber Exclusive Park, jointly invested in a 2 billion Yuan package by Bailu Group, China Textile Academy and Gansu Lanke Petrochemical High-Tech Equipment Co.Ltd.(Lanpec), occupies land about 500 mu (Chinese volume unit for 667 square meters per mu), exclusively used for green fiber production that is expected to reach 100,000 tons per year in totality with the projected sales for 2.3 billion Yuan when all the projects inside the compound are finished.

As per China Chemical Fibers Association (CCFA), the total production of man-made fiber reached 58.27 million tons last year, up by 7.8 percent. The viscose fiber increased by 2.8 percent, PET fiber by 8.3 percent and polyamide fiber (Nylon) by 5.9 percent. CCFA predicts that the man-made fiber production will have a reasonable uptick by 3 percent and export by 5percent in the country even though the global crude oil price sharply dropped and the world economic fallout is sure to happen as a consequence of pandemic impacts. 

Contributed by Mr. ZHAO Hong 

He is working for CHINA TEXTILE magazine as Editor-in-Chief in addition to being involved in a plethora of activities for the textile industry. He has worked for the Engineering Institute of Ministry of Textile Industry, and for China National Textile Council and continues to serve the industry in the capacity of Deputy Director of China Textile International Exchange Centre, V. President  of China Knitting Industry Association, V. President of China Textile Magazine and its Editor-in-Chief for the English Version, Deputy Director of News Centre of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), Deputy Director of International Trade Office, CNTAC, Deputy Director of China Textile Economic Research Centre. He was also elected once ACT Chair of Private Sector Consulting Committee of International Textile and Clothing Bureau (ITCB)

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, fast fashion brands including H&M and Zara kept their stores open for the majority of March. Retail workers in these stores were on the front line in the middle of growing confirmed numbers of cases.

Focus on workers’ health and safety

As Aja Barber, a writer and consultant focusing on fashion’s intersections with feminism, race, and colonization, action should be taken to support the health and safety of these workers. Aja aims to shed a light on the working conditions of retail through her Instagram account. This will force people to be more critical of the entire fast fashion system.

Replying to this criticism, H&M stated they had begun closing stores in the US prior to all their stores closing on March 1. The brand also provided employees with additional pay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the brand was forced to furlough some workforce in the US due to the negative impact the pandemic had on its business.

Order cancellation leads to layoffs

In addition to impacting retail workers, the pandemic has also impacted 40 million garment workers living in low-wage countries across Southeast Asia and Europe. As Bloomberg reports, cancelling of $1.5 billion worth orders by European companies has led to furlonging employees from about 1,089 garment factories in Bangladesh.

Many of them are women who are their family’s primary wage earner. A recent report by Worker Rights Consortium details that very few of these workers have ever been paid enough to accumulate any savings. These workers are now demanding a more equitable approach by fashion brands in sharing the financial burden of the crisis.

Over 1 million garment workers in Bangladesh have been fired or furloughed due to orders being cancelled, states a Penn State report. To deal with this, Fashion Revolution, global nonprofit calls for greater transparency in the industry, asking people to send an email to their favorite brands and demand they pay for orders already placed.

Fair treatment for supply chain workers

Barber points out, supply chain workers should be considered as employees of the companies they produce for instead of being contracted through third parties. Céline Semaan, Executive Director of Slow Factory Foundation, also views the recent treatment of retail workers as a curtain that has been lifted. This pandemic is putting the entire fashion industry on hold while placing an incredible amount of economic pressure on ethical brands and independent designers.

While most stores are closed, online shopping continues with employees for fast fashion giants like ASOS currently working at its warehouse in Grimethorpe, Barnsley. Also brands such as Everlane closed its retail stores indefinitely. This compelled it to lay off 290 employees, 14 per cent of whom were on customer experience team. They were offered two week severance while the brand was able to transition 20 customer experience team members into full time roles with benefits.

Putting workers before profit

The economic ashes of the Coronavirus outbreak will be a call for brands to put workers before profit. For the fashion industry, this would mean an industry overhaul. As Ngozi Okaro, Executive Director, Custom Collaborative, a New York nonprofit helping women in low-income and immigrant communities to develop careers in sustainable fashion views, the only way we can have sustainable fashion is if we pay sustainable wages for workers.

To this Aja adds, priortising labor rights will be responsibility of the fashion industry in future. Brands that don't will no longer be able to survive in the market.

The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (CTEPC) has urged the government to provide interest-free working capital loan to export-oriented textile companies to tide over the current unprecedented situation due to the pandemic. According to the council, while overseas buyers are cancelling orders on a large scale, they are not even making payments for shipments already made.

Exporters have closed down their production facilities due to the lockdown announced by the government. Textile exporting companies are facing severe financial constraints with many finding it difficult to even pay salaries and wages to the workers during the lockdown period as per government directives, he said.

Further, there is uncertainty as to when the situation will be back to normal, he added. Exporters are looking forward to a financial package from the government so that they could sustain. Most exporters have entered into forward contracts with banks and now they are unable to surrender the committed forex under these contracts due to delay in receiving payments.

As a result, exporters have to face huge losses as they are forced to either cancel or roll over the forward contract which involves penalty and other charges. Texprocil has suggested that banks should waive off penalty charges on cancellation and roll over of forward contracts entered into with bankers by the exporters.

Tapestry will extend store closures in North America and Europe for an additional two weeks through April 24, in light of continued efforts to slow the transmission of COVID-19. While essentially all company stores in China have re-opened -- across its three brands Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman - over the past weeks, Tapestry has been forced to close many other stores in the Asia-Pacific region including all stores in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and most recently, in some prefectures in Japan.

Likewise, most of the company’s global distribution centers continue to operate, with only one in Malaysia and a third-party facility in New Jersey temporarily closed. As previously announced, employees at closed locations will continue to receive pay and benefits over this period. The company will continue to reassess store closure decisions on a bi-weekly basis and will not reopen stores until safe to do so.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impact on the fashion and retail industry, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has taken the opportunity to acquire a considerable number of shares in major fashion brands. PETA, whose efforts are directed towards protecting and safeguarding animal rights, announced that it has bought shares in around 20 businesses including French luxury giant Kering, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and Guess.

The aim behind this exercise is “to push fashion brands to stop using wool, mohair and cashmere,” the NGO said in a statement. According to the association itself, it frequently buys the minimum number of shares required to enable it to take part in a fashion companies’ decision-making meetings to allow it to influence business decisions and strategies from the inside.

The results of these meetings have also been quite impactful – for instance, after acquiring shares in Prada and Hermès, PETA’s USA branch took advantage of Farfetch’s initial public offering in 2018 to invest in the luxury e-commerce business in order to push it “to abandon fur”.

PETA has denounced the use of mohair and cashmere via surveys carried out by the association in South Africa, China and Mongolia. These surveys brought to light the cruel treatment inflicted on goats and sheep by producers while being shorn or taken to the slaughterhouse. PETA is also a shareholder in companies like: Urban Outfitters, Under Armour, Deckers Outdoor Corporation (Ugg’s parent company) and Capri Holdings, which includes brands Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace.

Inditex SA’s main import and export airport hub in Spain is ramping-up operations as business in Asia read China, picks up. The retailer uses the airport as a base to import textile products and export apparel. Under Inditex’s unique distribution model, the vast majority of its apparel manufactured outside Spain has to be sent to the country and then exported to stores around the world.

The company has been able to continue certain operations in Spain in spite of a government order to place non-essential economic activity on standstill. With the slowdown in Spain and other countries, Inditex has re-assigned the majority of its space in the airport as a base of imports of medical goods.

The Zaragoza airport is one of Spain’s three largest cargo airports, and had the second highest cargo traffic in February, before the Coronavirus crisis hit the country in full.

A forecast by management consulting company Wazir Advisors, which focuses specifically on the apparel sector, predicts a decline in apparel consumption in 2020 of 45 percent in the EU and 40 percent in the US, which could lead to a reduction by $300 billion

Wazir Advisors’ states EU and the US Apparel consumption’ states will reduce by $300 bn. Covid-19 will impact European and the US apparel market with the current lockdown likely to continue until mid-July because new cases are expected to peak by late April/mid-May. This would imply a total three to four months closure for almost all the brick-and-mortar fashion stores across the US and Europe.

Even if online retail remains the only way to buy clothes for a few months, apparel purchasing will be delayed. The report gives various reasons for this: On the one hand, consumers are currently primarily buying groceries, medicines and other staples. There is no urgency to replenish clothes, especially because the options to go out are limited with schools, offices, restaurants, gyms, etc. still being closed). On the other hand, consumers have limited product options and potentially long delivery times.

To offer relief to businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s department of commerce introduced several relaxations and an extension in deadlines with regard to compliances mandated under its schemes and activities, including the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL).

The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-2020 and Handbook of Procedures (HBP), which were valid till March 31, have been extended by a year. Export obligation periods have been extended for expired or due to expire advance authorizations and Export Promotion of Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme authorizations.

The last date for filing MEIS claims is one year from the Let Export Order (LEO) date of each Shipping Bill, and another 2 years beyond that with imposition of a late cut. The last date of filing MEIS claims without late cut for all Shipping Bills for which the initial one-year period expired / will be expiring on or after 1st Feb 2020 and on or before 31st May 2020, has been extended by 3 months beyond the expiry date of the initial one-year period.

For developers of special economic zone (SEZ) units, various relaxations have been allowed. The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd. (ECGC) and the Director General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) have also offered several relaxations.

Employees at global fashion giant Inditex's 10 logistics centers in Spain – from where it sends garments to its stores worldwide – returned to work recently but only to less than half their normal levels of activity. Meanwhile, just three of Inditex's 13 Spanish factories are back at work, making medical supplies like scrubs to help fight Spain's Coronavirus crisis, with no garments being made for now for brands like Zara and Bershka.

Spain recently loosened the terms of a strict lockdown, brought into force to halt the spread of one of the deadliest outbreaks of the virus worldwide, allowing nonessential workers to return to their jobs after a two-week hiatus. Staff at the Inditex logistics centers returned to work but at reduced schedules – either working half days or just two or three shifts a week – to reduce contact between employees, a union representative and a worker said.

Rather than entering the facilities all at once, shift workers had staggered entries and exits and wore masks and gloves while maintaining 2-meter distances from colleagues. Just 15 per cent of normal activity was maintained at one of Inditex's 13 Spanish sewing factories, one worker said, focused on maintenance of machines rather than production of clothes.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT has sent a letter to home secretary proposing that if the on-going lockdown is extended beyond April 15, those companies and MSMEs with export commitments be allowed to operate with minimal manpower and necessary movement of material.

It also suggested that 16 sectors, which includes telecom equipment, gems & jewellery, steel and ferrous alloy, automotive units, defence manufacturing and all units in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs), be allowed to operate adhering to safety, sanitisation and distancing norms.

FIEO had earlier warned that with cancellation of over 50 per cent of export orders in the last few weeks due to coronavirus disruptions worldwide there was a chance that there could be 15 million job losses in export units. India’s goods exports declined 1.5 per cent to $292.91 billion in April-February 2020 compared to last year. Exports increased marginally in February 2020, but are expected to fall in March 2020 because of the breakdown in production, supply and payments.