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The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has applauded President Trump’s April 18 executive order directing the Federal government to maximize ‘Buy American’ opportunities and review compliance with existing ‘Buy American’ laws and regulations. At a meeting NCTO President and CEO Auggie Tantillo thanked President Trump for making ‘Buy American’ a priority. Tantillo further added buying American is good for the country, US textile industry and for American jobs.
Tantillo says, NCTO have a longstanding policy of supporting Buy American laws. And they intend to work with the Trump administration to help it improve implementation and enforcement of these job creating statutes and regulations.
Since 1941, a ‘Buy American’ law applying to the Department of Defense (DOD) has been supported by American troops, strengthened national security, and incentivized US textile industry investment and innovation. Tantillo added this has been a concrete example of how Buy American laws benefit the US economy and its workers, noting that DOD sourced roughly $1.5 billion in textiles and clothing last year under the Berry Amendment.
The Berry Amendment, 10 U.S.C. 2533a, requires the Department of Defense to buy textiles and clothing made with 100 percent US content and labor. The Kissell Amendment, another Buy American law, 6 USC 453b, requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to buy US made textiles and clothing but currently is only applied within DHS to the US.
NCTO is a Washington-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.
Patagonia believes the environmental crisis has reached a tipping point. And its mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions for the environmental crisis. The brand is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, defending clean water and air, and divesting from dirty technologies.
Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, and trail running. The approach Patagonia takes toward product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility. The company donates time, services and at least one per cent of its sales to grassroots environmental groups all over the world who are working to reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet.
The company co-founded Sustainable Apparel Coalition in 2009 with a vision to join an apparel, footwear and home textile industry that produces no unnecessary environmental harm and has a positive impact on the people and communities associated with its activities. Patagonia aims at reducing the environmental impact of its company and supply chain and supporting regenerative practices in ranching and agriculture and envisioning a new approach to business.
IGATEX will be held in Pakistan, April 26 to 29, 2017. This is a garment and textile machinery and accessories exhibition. The exhibition will give exhibitors and visitors an opportunity to see latest innovations in the textile sector. More than 550 exhibitors from around 35 countries including Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and United States of America will participate.
The expo will introduce latest technology, machinery and auxiliary equipment which will provide business opportunities and add value to Pakistani textile exports. The event introduces businesses to the latest expertise and will also generate trade benefits besides increasing foreign investments and spending through business visits by international delegates. Ultimately this will increase product value, which has an overall positive impact on the economic activity in Pakistan.
IGATEX Pakistan 2017 would be a professionally enriching experience for textile machinery manufacturers, providing them an opportunity to directly market their equipment to quality buyers and decision makers. The show will include working and stand alone demonstrations of various cutting edge industry tools and technology.
Considered as one of the top 10 textile exporting countries of the world, Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton yarn and cloth, and the third largest player in Asia with a spinning capacity of five per cent of total world production.
Lenzing has been awarded the bio based certificate for its manufacture of acetic acid, furfural and magnesium lignosulfonate by the US Department of Agriculture. These three products are derived totally from wood, a natural and renewable raw material.
Lenzing, known for its high ecological standards, produces dissolving pulp at its sites in Austria and the Czech Republic. All the valuable raw materials are extracted from the wood within the framework of a cascading use. Acetic acid is derived from beech wood in the pulp production process, is recovered in several process steps and processed into high quality, food-grade acetic acid, for example, for the food industry. Furfural is a product utilized as a solvent in the refining of lubrication oil, to name one example. Magnesium lignosulfonate is found in animal food or fertilizers.
The certification of bio based products is part of the bio preferred program implemented by the USDA. It is designed to motivate government institutions and companies to purchase bio based products or those which largely consist of biological materials.
Tencel fibers have already been certified as bio based since 2011. Lenzing supplies textile and nonwoven industries with high-quality botanic cellulose fibers, ranging from dissolving wood pulp to standard specialty cellulose fibers.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is exploring entry into carbon fibre production, a high-strength and light-weight composite material expected to be a $4.7 billion global business by 2022.
The Aditya Birla Group, the $40 billion mining-to-mobile phone carrier conglomerate, might buy the technology to manufacture carbon fibre at one of its existing overseas manufacturing facilities. It was also stated one could buy a carbon fibre plant from another company if the technology is too complex to be adapted at Birla plants
Carbon fibre is finding increased traction among defense manufacturers and automobiles makers that seek strong, high-tensile, heat-resistant and light materials. According to an allied market research report the market for carbon fibre dubbed a ‘wonder material’ it is estimated to be more than double to about $4.7 billion by 2022 from $2.2 billion in 2015,.
Johnson Imode, a London-based analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence points out saying that the main positive is that it’s a much lighter material versus competitors such as steel or aluminum. This can be made for energy and efficiency savings for customers. The demand from the automobile sector is particularly high as designers aim to make cars both lighter, stronger and less polluting
The applications for the material range from aircraft and spacecrafts to racing cars, sailboat masts, wind turbines and even golf clubs. Imode estimates the market could grow as much as 10 per cent annually.
The fabric and accessories trade show Munich Fabric Start will host a feature called Munich Apparel Source. Munich Apparel Source is based on the assumption that apparel production and sourcing cannot be considered separately any longer. Since the textile and fashion industry’s requirements in terms of manufacturing processes and sourcing are increasingly sophisticated, as well as highly complex from the logistics point of view, a synergy between Munich Fabric Start and a show like Munich Apparel Source, focusing on production and the supply chain, was felt to be necessary.
Munich Apparel Source will showcase the products and services of some 200 specialists in production and sourcing from North Africa, Asia and Europe, and will also feature a series of seminars and analyses of industry case studies. Both trade shows will be held together in Germany from, September 5 to 7, 2017.
Stability, reliability and continuity have helped Munich Fabric Start’s steady growth. The edition held early this year communicated great energy to visitors and insiders with a series of seminars and events and a pool of innovative ideas and products. The Bluezone area - with refreshed trend areas and booths – registered a lively attendance. The Catalyst and Keyhouse – confirming their focus on high-quality manufacturers, mostly from Europe – also attracted attention from denim and fashion insiders.
By 2021, Gap is aiming to to source all its cotton from sustainable sources. For its Athleta active wear brand, it wants to source 80 per cent of its technical fabrics from sustainable fibers.
Wendi Goldman, Gap’s chief product officer, who serves on the Gap Foundation Board of Trustees says that he believes in actively protecting the planet. With the new sustainable cotton goal, there is an opportunity to make a big impact on the global cotton community and bring to light what’s so incredibly important to the future of garment manufacturing, what matters as a brand and what matters to customers.
San Francisco based Gap will continue to partner Better Cotton Initiative, which works with farmers around the world to improve cotton production for the people who cultivate it, the environment and the cotton sector’s future.
For Spring 2017, Gap sourced 3.8 million pounds of better cotton. Gap also plans to use other sustainable cotton such as organic, recycled and American-grown.
Over the past two years, Athleta has been working to increase the use of sustainable materials by converting materials to recycled synthetics and organic cotton. They are made into fabrics for many of Athleta’s signature styles. The brand hopes to meet its 2020 goal by partnering fiber and manufacturing suppliers. Further it plans to use more efficient fabric dyeing and finishing techniques to save water and reduce waste at the brand’s stores and headquarters.
Gap, a $15.5 billion enterprise, has committed to reducing its environmental footprint across its supply chain. By the end of 2020, Gap has committed to a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions in its owned and operated facilities worldwide from a 2015 baseline and to divert 80 per cent of its waste in the United States.
"A well-known supplier of quality dyed and printed fabrics, and famous for ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products, Hong Kong has had a special place in the global textile map. However, owing to economic uncertainties, the country seems to be losing focus. The surge in cost is one of the key deterrents in its growth trajectory as well as the emergence of other sourcing hubs such as Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia is another reason for reduction in Hong Kong’s direct significance."
A well-known supplier of quality dyed and printed fabrics, and famous for ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products, Hong Kong has had a special place in the global textile map. However, owing to economic uncertainties, the country seems to be losing focus. The surge in cost is one of the key deterrents in its growth trajectory as well as the emergence of other sourcing hubs such as Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia is another reason for reduction in Hong Kong’s direct significance.
Hong Kong’s textiles industry is a major export earner, accounting for 2 per cent of the total exports in 2015. Hong Kong was the third largest textile exporters to the world in 2006, according to World Trade Organization (WTO) data it was eighth largest textile exporter to the world in 2015, and as per statista.com Hong Kong’s textiles industry is a major supplier to the local and global clothing industry. Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) research says, producing textiles locally, manufacturers have an advantage in accommodating orders from local garment manufacturers at short notice. Meanwhile, a significant portion of textile exports is destined for use in Hong Kong companies’ offshore production of garments, especially on the Chinese mainland.
Traditional markets for textile export are the US, the EU and Japan but recently these countries have built direct supply chain with textiles exporters from developing countries, which has resulted in lesser competitiveness of Hong Kong manufacturers and its rising cost of business. An increasing number of Hong Kong textiles manufacturers have shifted base to Southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam to survive.
Exports stats
Hong Kong’s textile exports decreased 7 per cent in 2015. In the first four months of 2016, it further decreased by 13 per cent. Re-exports, accounting for more than 99 per cent of total textiles exports, registered a decline of 13 per cent, while domestic exports slid by 15 per cent. With 75 per cent of the textile re-exports originating from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong’s re-exports of textiles of China origin decreased by 13 per cent in January-April 2016. Hong Kong’s total exports of clothing slid by 10 per cent in 2015 over the previous year and in the first four months of 2016 the decline was 12 per cent. In January-April 2016, Hong Kong’s domestic exports of clothing slumped by 41 per cent, while re-exports declined by 11 per cent. Product wise, Hong Kong’s exports of woven wear fell by 8 per cent in 2015, which further declined 12 per cent year-on-year in the first four months of 2016. Exports of knitted wear subsided by 13 per cent, whereas clothing accessories and other apparel articles declined by 15 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
FTAs and investment promotion
Hong Kong has been attempting to sign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPAs) with foreign economies in order to enhance two-way investment flows and boost its economy. Hong Kong’s IPPAs give additional assurance to overseas investors that their investments in Hong Kong are protected, and enable Hong Kong investors to enjoy similar protection in respect of their investments overseas. To secure favourable conditions for exports of goods (including textile and clothing products) and services from Hong Kong to the Mainland and international markets, it aims to enter into more FTAs with their trading partners. Hong Kong prepared to explore the possibility of entering into FTAs with other economies, so long as they are in Hong Kong’s interests and are consistent with WTO rules.
Construction on Vietnam’s Rang Dong textile park has started in Nghia Hung district in Nam Dinh. The vice chairman of the provincial people’s committee Ngo Gia Tu points out the park plays an important role in the province’s economic development strategy.
Nam Dinh is home to more than 480 textile businesses with over 70,000 workers. The sector’s revenue accounts for 40 per cent of the province’s total industrial production. Once operational, the industrial park will serve as a driving force for local socio-economic development, he indicated, asking investors to mobilise resources to build infrastructure facilities synchronously to ensure the project goes well.
As per Tran Minh Hoan, Head of the province’s industrial park management board the project covers a over 2,000 ha. area and is divided into three phases. The Rang Dong industrial park is looking to attract investors to achieve its goal of producing 1 billion metres of fabric by 2020. To meet environmental regulations, a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 110,000 cu.m per day will be built.
Vietnam has set a target of increasing domestic fabric output from 2.85 billion metres in 2016 to nearly 18 billion metres by 2025. To achieve this goal, the government has allowed the establishment of several textile parks in certain localities along with Nam Dinh intended to become a garment and textile centre of the north.
Victoria’s Secret, Sephora and Nike are the top brands favored by US shoppers. And what contributes to these brands success is their online presence. Among men, Amazon was voted the favorite retailer across all categories, and it was the top shopping app for women. More than one-third of US apparel shopping is conducted online. These are the results of a study, which looked at trends in fashion, retail and beauty categories based on a national sample of 2,345 US consumers aged 13 to 34.
The US apparel market is seeing a dramatic shift to online that has caught many traditional retailers off guard. Mall-based specialty chains and department stores have begun to give up large chunks of their clothing and accessories business to Amazon and other pure play merchants.
The creation and implementation of more sophisticated online platforms such as product aggregators, pricing tools, geo-fencing, augmented reality, body scanning and other capabilities will further accelerate the shift, making it easier for consumers to shop online.
Older millennials (aged 25 to 34) are more likely than any other generation to spend most of their clothing budget online. At its current rate, the online penetration of apparel will grow to 25 per cent by 2020, double the level at the close of 2015.
