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Ludhiana’s textiles sector is bearing the brunt of GST. The textile sector in the northern state of Punjab comprises a fair share of micro, small and medium enterprises. While big industrial players continue to be unaffected, micro and small enterprises are feeling the pinch as they are not able to survive the competition because of pending tax credits.
The entire value chain system is reeling under the impact of the GST regime. It is feared, exports of garments from Ludhiana’s micro, small and medium enterprises can drop by 30 to 40 per cent. Garment exporters are faced with canceled orders due to delays in production and drop in orders from local or multinational brands. Leading brands have cut down their orders.
Before GST it was demonetization. Due to the cash crunch it became difficult for garment units in Ludhiana to buy raw material, pay bills and make payments to laborers. Apart from the labor crisis, supply of raw material from vendors was hit due to the cash problem.
Ludhiana is a leading producer of woolen and acrylic knitwear although it also uses extensively cotton and other blended fibers to produce a wide range of fabrics, hosiery, knitwear and readymade garments.
Abercrombie & Fitch has nine stores in the Middle East. The brand has six of these in Dubai, two in Kuwait, and one in Saudi Arabia. It now plans to open more stores and eventually expand into Bahrain and Oman. The company is present in the region with its brands Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, and Hollister.
While Hollister appeals primarily to teenagers, the Abercrombie & Fitch brand has been trying to make a push into a slightly older segment. Currently the company generates over a third of its revenues from outside the US, with Europe being its largest international market. Even in terms of sales per square foot, the company is far more productive internationally than it is in the US.
The company has opened 10 stores in China, where there is an expanding middle class, and a growing appetite for western brands. Abercrombie & Fitch has partnered with Zalora, an online fashion website, which has a presence in 11 markets, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and a customer base of over 600 million users. Such moves may provide a boost to the company’s revenues as it tries to deal with the soft state of the apparel market in the US.
With over 100 well known players, menswear in Italy is highly fragmented. Vertical integration strategies are being developed by every company in Italy and they all offer a wide range of items for men in their company-owned retail stores for all ages.
There was an overall decline in sales of menswear in 2016. There were challenges for both vendors and manufacturers. There were continuous changes in the behavior of people. Innovations and developments in technology have led to a fast paced lifestyle and changed expectations with regards to demand and considering the possibilities of purchasing in specific categories.
It is estimated that Italian men will focus more on their appearance and will spend more money on their apparel and footwear. Also they will be influenced by celebrity culture and will pay more attention to fashion icons, style and extensive media coverage on fashion.
However, rising cost of living will dampen the effect on spending patterns during future years. So bargaining will be a feature of shopping expeditions. Like women in Italy, men usually don’t wait for several days or weeks to get the items by ordering them online. Italian men shop or purchase the product when they need or want them.
The market for stain protective apparel has grown significantly in recent years. Stain repellent garments have proliferated the casual wear market due partly to the fact that they provide better protection against spills than conventional clothing. However, an additional benefit is that stain protection reduces the frequency with which garments need to be laundered and dry cleaned – thereby saving time as well as reducing energy use, water consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
These garments are essential in applications such as medical clothing and industrial work wear where there is a need to prevent spills from penetrating a garment and reaching the wearer – especially in cases where such spills have the potential to cause harm to human health.
Manufacturers of stain repellent technologies are therefore stepping up efforts to develop products which are more environment-friendly. As part of those efforts, many are focusing on the use of fluorocarbons with shorter fluorinated chains based on C6 chemistry.
Researchers are exploring the potential of garments which are capable of cleaning themselves – or even of repairing themselves if they become damaged. Many will use biomimicry and seek inspiration from the natural world in their quest for materials and treatments which combine effectiveness, safety and eco-friendliness.
A partnership between H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) has found a way of chemically recycling polyester and cotton blended textiles into new polyester fabrics and yarns without any quality loss. The new fiber-to-fiber recycling process is seen as a major step towards closed-loop textile processing. It is expected to have no negative impact on fiber quality.
The aim of the four-year partnership was to find at least one ready technology to recycle clothes made from blended textiles. It has developed a hydrothermal process to fully separate and recycle cotton and polyester blends. The recovered polyester material can be reused directly without any quality loss.
The hydrothermal process uses only heat, water and less than five per cent of a biodegradable green chemical to self-separate cotton and polyester blends. This fiber-to-fiber recycling method is said to be cost effective and there’s no secondary pollution to the environment.
By being able to upcycle used textiles into new high value textiles, there is no need to solely rely on virgin materials to dress a growing world population. For too long the fashion industry has not been able to properly recycle its products. This encouraging breakthrough on separation and recycling of textile blends has the potential to change that.
Spinning units in India have decided to curtail yarn production and minimise losses. They have decided to move up the value chain by making value-added products instead of making only yarn.
The disparity between cotton and yarn prices has put the spinning sector in a tight spot especially due to the steep decline in price of yarn compared with the fiber cost. The spinning sector has to do this as in the textile manufacturing chain all others such as weaving, processing, apparels and home textiles optimise their utilisation levels based on demand, supply and order trends.
Reduced yarn supply will help match the demand. But if yarn supply needs to be curtailed, mills will have to go slow in consumption of cotton and this, in turn, will help bring down the cost of the fiber as well. This method is expected to help the mill sector reduce losses, besides bringing about a balance in cotton and yarn prices.
A number of standalone spinning units are cash-starved, considering that many varieties of yarn are now selling at levels well below the manufacturing cost. Mills have to formulate a sustainable and long-term formula instead of resorting to interventions every now and then.
Oman is building its textile and garment sector. The country has some advantages like land, labor, capital and organization and a logistical cutting edge due to its strategic positioning. Other advantages are an ample supply of power and energy and proximity to strategic ports.
Textiles can be one of the major non-oil exports of the Sultanate. A young population can be trained in automatic machines, robotic machines and other technologies of garment manufacturing to help the nation mark its presence in the global textile map. In 2006, there were about 25 garment factories in and around the capital but today this number has shrunk.
Oman has a free trade agreement with the US. There’s no garment manufacturing or trading between these two countries however, there is a clause for yarn and fabric movement, which Oman wants to activate. The country hopes to produce cotton, develop yarn spinning mills, and from that initiate an automatic spinning industry. Technology can reduce the cost of production.
The present clause is that any yarn or fabric bought from another country cannot be exported to the US. But if duty concessions can be secured under the FTA, Omani-made products can be exported to the US.
Neenu Plastics is starting its own accessory manufacturing unit. The company is a supplier, manufacturer and exporter of polycarbonate sheets and multilayer flat sheets. The New Delhi-based company entered textile and garment sector two years ago with a strong background in supplying plastic and vinyl for different industries. It has been offering world class products, including PU, PVC, flock, glitter, reflective heat transfer films etc, for years.
At present, it imports all the products from the US, Germany and Korea. The two years in textile and apparel industry have proved really good for Neenu. It expects to grow faster with its own unit now as most of the other players are already importing such products. Having its own manufacturing will provide better control on colors, timely production etc. It will help its clients too as they will receive the products quickly.
Additionally Neenu Plastics recently completed four decades of being in business. It is diversifying into new industries, focusing on sustainability and participating in industry events as well increasing its market reach.
The company offers limited products but aims to improve on the sustainability front. It is working with its associates to make the products even more environment-friendly.
Bangladesh hopes to explore a new market for garment products in Georgia as it's an important country in Europe. Bangladesh sees Georgia as a huge market especially for medicine and agriculture. Power and pharmaceuticals are other areas.
Georgia has an unique geographical position in terms of communicating with European Union countries. Georgia provides duty-free access to Bangladeshi products. Bangladesh’s exports to Georgia currently stand at nearly a million dollars and this will progressively get bigger.
Trade is extremely important to Georgia’s economy; the value of exports and imports taken together equals 110 per cent of GDP. The average applied tariff rate is 0.7 per cent. There are some restrictions on foreign ownership of agricultural land. With the banking sector growing and modernized, access to financing has improved. Capital markets continue to evolve.
Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and continues to occupy its South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions, which make up about 20 per cent of Georgia’s territory. Georgia has maintained strong momentum in liberalizing economic activity while taking steps to restore fiscal discipline. Public debt and budget deficits remain under control. Open-market policies, supported by competitively low tax rates and regulatory efficiency, have facilitated flows of trade and investment.
Itema the Italian manufacturer of weaving machines and spare parts offers technical textile manufacturers the top three weft insertion technologies rapier, airjet and projectile. Itema is exhibiting at Techtextil, Mumbai from September 13 to 15.
The rapier R9500 loom is the perfect machine for the manufacture of the full range of technical textiles, including ones with the finest monofilament yarn, multifilament yarn with high tenacity, and multiple pick insertion fabrics.
The airjet A9500 has already amassed important references, especially in medical applications and automotive fabrics. It is pre-set for independent motorized jacquard with no cardan shaft, allowing to weave specific technical textiles (such as Airbag OPW) with no speed limitations. Key components are reinforced to ensure optimized machine control and reliability while Itema patented devices guarantee reduced consumption and superior textile efficiency.
Technical fabrics are the specialty of the legendary and unique projectile P7300HP due to the unparalleled versatility and reliability of its weft insertion system. The unmatchable uniqueness of the positive weft transfer consists in the single insertion driven by the projectile, which catches the weft and carries it directly with no exchanges, providing unmatched efficiency. It represents a benchmark for those looking to weave the very widest fabrics - up to 655 cm weaving width - and high-specialty materials, such as agro textiles, geo textiles and carpet backing fabrics.
