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LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods company, saw a 12 percent rise in like-for-like revenues in the third quarter of 2017, beating estimates after a strong showing by its clothing and leather goods division. LVMH which owns fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior as well as Moet & Chandon champagne and Hennessy cognac says revenues in the period came in at €30.1 billion.
Analysts had expected revenue growth on a like-for-like basis, which strips out currency swings and the effect of acquisitions or disposals, to rise 9 per cent in the quarter. The fashion and leather goods unit, the biggest contributor to LVMH’s earnings and which is powered by the Louis Vuitton label, posted like-for-like revenue growth of 13 per cent, in line with the previous three months and also beating forecasts.
Fashion label Louis Vuitton, known for its branded-luggage, leather handbags and sought-after outfits, remains a star performer. LVMH has also recently fully integrated Christian Dior into the group, which boosted non-organic revenue in the third quarter and helped offset a negative currency impact.
Like-for-like sales in LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division as a whole were up 13 per cent between July and September, unchanged from the growth posted a quarter earlier.
Première Vision’s first Vision Barometer, created to study the economy of creative materials for fashion, showed an uptick in textile production in 2016 and a slight downturn in leather manufacturing. The new index offers a quantified measure of business activity in the market of materials for creative fashion, the target of Première Vision shows.
The forecast for the rest of 2017 and beyond is one of some clearing amid climatic disturbances, as the industry deals with complicated issues along the supply chain.
The index provides a means to measure the global activity of creative materials, upstream from the activity of fashion brands. The results of the barometer allow exhibitors to compare their own performance on two levels–compared to that of their colleagues and competitors in the creative fashion market and compared to the more general activity of the global leather and textile markets.
For the full year 2016, the Première Vision Textile Index grew 1.7 per cent in volume compared to 2015. Manufacturing among Première Vision Fabrics exhibitors from developed economies grew 1.9 per cent, a much faster pace than the Textile World Production index, which fell 0.1 per cent. Within these economies, the activity of European players, up 3.7 per cent, was stronger than that of companies in developed Asian countries, a 0.6 per cent increase, represented mainly by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
China has banned imports of solid waste, which the WTO has objected to. The US, European Union, Australia, Canada and South Korea have sought more information on which types of materials would be affected, with some noting that this issue is of great interest to their business sectors.
There is apprehension the ban would curb global textile recycling progress, prevent China’s manufacturing sector from accessing these recyclable materials and minimize other eco-friendly opportunities for recycling.
In July, China had notified the WTO that it would be imposing a ban on import of certain kinds of solid waste by the end of 2017 as a pollution control measure, similar to recent inspections and shut downs of factories across sectors including textile dyeing and finishing plants, in a wide-reaching effort for easing China’s pollution problems.
For recycled commodities such as recovered paper and fiber, and plastic and copper scrap, China accounts for more than half of the world’s total imports and these are very clearly valuable scrap commodities. The US wants to know if China is planning to extend the measure to cover ferrous and non-ferrous scrap. Canada wants to know the specific products China intends to ban as part of the catalog of solid waste that will fall under new restrictions.
American Pima cotton has evolved from a textile option to a global standard for premium cotton fiber. Demand for American Pima has increased through the entire downstream supply chain on a global basis. India is the top buyer. It’s seen as comfortable clothing in India’s climate. Yet there are obstacles.
One, is contamination from bale packaging in the making of cloth. Plastic fibers from bale packaging, especially white ones, intertwined in the cotton lint can render hundreds of yards of fabric worthless if not detected early in the bale opening portion of the manufacturing process. It has become so serious that China, one of American Pima’s biggest customers, is considering mandating cotton bale bagging.
US growers, ginners, merchants, and scientists are getting down to minimizing or eliminating foreign fiber contamination to increase demand for American Pima. Another challenge is more problematic. It’s sticky cotton caused by secretions from silver leaf whiteflies and aphids on cotton lint. Gummy cotton lint is a problem from start to finish in the manufacturing process. It is expensive to gin and costly in textile manufacturing.
The major issue is that some growers do not follow control programs because they are too difficult and expensive. However, one grower’s sticky cotton affects all growers at a gin.
HSBC will partner the Fashion Trust to provide international expertise and mentoring to the initiative’s grant recipients. HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations. Fashion Trust is an initiative belonging to the British Fashion Council (BFC).
The partnership with HSBC is a great opportunity for designers supported by the BFC Fashion Trust as it will provide them with an unique platform to be mentored by a global financial leader.
BFC Fashion Trust is a charitable initiative founded in February 2011 to offer selected designers mentoring and financial support to promote the art and business of fashion. HSBC’s reach covers 90 per cent of the world’s trade flow putting it in a unique position to provide advise and expertise for designers and retailers as they look for growth opportunities and continue to set global trends.
BFC Fashion Trust is part of a group of BFC business support initiatives and charities aimed at supporting British designers and businesses from school level to emerging talent, and future fashion start-ups through to new establishment and global brands. The business support includes developing websites, e-commerce platforms and brick and mortar stores.
The British fashion industry is known for its creativity, innovation and iconic longevity.
Pakistan is hoping for a FTA with Vietnam. But Vietnam is Pakistan’s competitor in textile and hence, unlikely to import from Pakistan. Its rice needs are met by domestic production and neighboring Asean countries. Hence, it is highly unlikely that demand will be generated for Pakistan’s top exports through the trade agreement.
Vietnam’s imports in 2016 were worth $200 billion of which Pakistan’s share was just $239 million. While demand for Pakistan’s textile products will be limited, there is potential to export cotton, cotton yarn and fabrics. The trade agreement with Vietnam can easily head in a similar direction to Pakistan’s trade agreements with other countries: imports of expensive value added products and exports of cheap resource-based goods.
The potential to import from Vietnam is far greater, especially with 2016’s auto policy in place. But it seems unlikely that potential gains in cotton exports can offset imports of auto parts and similar goods. The Asean countries have a strong auto sector. Under the auto policy, new investors can import non-localised parts at a duty ten per cent lower than before. Localized parts can be imported at half the previous duty than before by new entrants. The purpose of the auto policy is to increase competition in the local market and push existing players to improve their quality and product. However, it can also have the impact of increasing the import bill as foreign auto parts become cheaper.
The Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) and duty drawback have been restored to pre-GST levels. Duty drawback which was introduced to boost exports stood at 7.7 per cent before GST was introduced. ROSL was introduced in March and was fixed at 3.9 per cent. But soon after the introduction of GST, they were reduced to 2.2 per cent and 0.39 per cent respectively.
But then they were brought back to their earlier levels and are likely to remain so for the next three months. This was because of pressure from the knitwear industry, which felt the country had already lost its international market share in knitwear exports and would definitely lose its competitiveness with other countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Unlike the non-GST regime, exporters will be getting a refund of three to 3.5 per cent on excise duty and service tax. Still there will be deficit to the loss of incentives created by the reduction in the rate of drawback and ROSL.
Meanwhile the knitwear industry in Tirupur is eager for a free trade agreement with the European Union and the US. Sri Lanka has a free trade agreement for readymade garments with the EU, so buyers in Europe do not need to pay import duties for goods imported from the island nation.
Cambodia’s exports of garments and footwear rose by 7.2 per cent in 2016 from 2015. Garment exports to the European Union grew by 14 per cent in 2016. About 640 factories hold export licenses. More than 7,00,000 workers are employed in the sector and over 80 per cent of them are women, most of them between 16 and 25 years old.
In Cambodia, with the support of the ILO Better Factory Program, a system of labor inspections in the garment sector has been developed. Advice and capacity development is provided to worker management committees to bridge their communication gap and foster understanding and respect, minimising conflicts and refusal to work. Project interventions at Cambodia’s garment factory level also focus on two more areas: nutrition and transport security.
Malnutrition is prevalent among female garment workers and contributes to mass fainting, frequent sick leaves and low performance and productivity in the factories. Workers’ nutrition is being improved through awareness raising and information as well as through advising on the establishment of factory canteens providing quality food. Transport security is being improved. At present garment workers are usually transported on trucks that are not made for public transport and often do not comply with any road safety standards.
Nilit, the manufacturer and marketer of nylon textile fibers has introduced Sensil, its new premium nylon 6.6 brand and apparel and fabric designers have taken to Sensil. Sensil was created based on extensive analysis of evolving consumer attitudes and rapidly shifting retail shopping trends and has rapidly elevated the quality standard for nylon 6.6. Nilit is looking to exhibit Sensil at upcoming Intertextile Shanghai.
Sensil aims at representing Nilit’s new way of conveying the benefits of its premium nylon 6.6 products to the industry and busy consumers looking for beautiful apparels that also meets their high expectations for value, performance, and quality.
Sensil is naturally softer, stronger, more durable, and more moisture-wicking and odor-resistant than other man-made fibers. Sensil creates fabrics with beautiful drape and hand. Sensil performance yarns are enhanced to provide additional attributes that consumers require in today’s advanced fabrics.
Sensil Breeze imbues apparel with a cooling effect. Sensil Body Fresh protects against the odors microbes can cause, which means clothes don’t have to be laundered as often. Sensil Heat provides warmth on chilly days while Sensil Aquarius wicks perspiration to stay comfortable on warm days. There’s even Sensil Innergy that helps energize cells and reduce the appearance of cellulite.
At, October 11 to 13, Nilit will feature knit and woven garments inspired by Sensil premium nylon 6.6 products.
Teijin Frontier and Nantong Teijin will participate in Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, October 11 to 13, 2017.
Teijin Frontier is the Teijin group's fiber-product converting company and Nantong Teijin is the group’s textile manufacturing and sales company.
Teijin Frontier will exhibit a variety of special garment materials, including stretchable, shape-retaining Solotex, Deltapeak adopted in sports apparel, highly water-repellent outerwear material, materials made with Solotex, collaborative products made with the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, and undergarment materials made with Nanofront and Waveron.
Nantong Teijin will showcase a range of eco-friendly materials, including chemically recycled polyester materials, and Solotex, a partially bio-delivered material incorporating polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber. The stand will also present Microft, a moisture-permeable, water-repellent material made with high-performance microfiber, and new materials for fashion wear, uniforms and knitted materials.
Teijin is a technology-driven group offering advanced solutions in the areas of environmental value; safety, security and disaster mitigation; and demographic change and increased health consciousness. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers and composites, healthcare, films, resin and plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. The group has some 170 companies and around 19,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide.
