FW
Sobel Westex is buying Baltic Linen. The acquisition will result in making Sobel Westex one of the world’s largest textile companies. It joins two dominant textile companies to create a US-based, global enterprise that will be highly competitive across all textile sectors. The global union will result in more innovative products, improved guest experience, personalized service and increased attention to detail.
Sobel Westex, founded in 1981, makes table linens, terry, sheets, blankets, pillows, bathrobes, bedding products, and pool products. The company sells its products online and serves the hospitality industry. Baltic Linen, founded in 1936, designs and produces textile products for home fashion, institutional, and hospitality markets. It offers bed and bath products, beddings, towels, coordinated baths, sheeting, towels, robes, aprons, table linens, and blankets. Its products are used in cruise lines, fine hotels, resorts, and spas, healthcare and textile rental industries and retail chains.
The combined strength of these two companies is a game changer that will allow them to increase their design mix and product offering, giving them the ability to better serve their domestic and international markets, creating an exciting opportunity for their customers.
This transaction will create a leading textile company that is differentiated by its ability to deliver cutting-edge products using an unparalleled global infrastructure of inventory and distribution capabilities to service their customers worldwide.
Pakistan has introduced a package for the textile sector. Textile exporters have to get themselves registered in order to be eligible for incentives. The registration system has been streamlined and payments will be made as soon as applicants deposit all required documents.
Meanwhile a textile spinning and stitching institute is under consideration. Pakistan is targeting exports worth $35 billion by 2018. The top five textile sectors have been given a zero-rated sales tax regime. Sales tax and customs duty on imports of textile machinery and cotton have been abolished. A number of projects of power generation through hydel, coal, solar, wind, and other resources have been initiated.
About 10,000 megawatts electricity will be added to the system by 2018 and 30,000 megawatts within the next few years. A network of roads, highways and motorways is being laid to integrate different regions of the country. Engineers and managers at industrial units will be trained to adopt new technologies to manage complex production processes in developing products demanded internationally. Emphasis will be placed on skill development.
New export destinations including Mexico, Central Asia, Africa and Doha are being looked at. About 60 per cent of Pakistan’s exports go to ten countries, namely, USA, China, UAE, Afghanistan, UK, Germany, France, Bangladesh, Italy and Spain. Right now Pakistan’s exports to South America, Africa, Central Asian Republics and Russia are less than ten per cent of the total exports of Pakistan.
India’s mill use of cotton declined in 2016-17 due to high domestic and international cotton prices. However, despite a below normal monsoon forecast this year, the Indian textile industry's cotton use is now projected to recover by one per cent in 2017/18. In addition, cotton imports from key markets like China and Vietnam are also set to grow by four to six per cent, thereby increasing India’s position in the domestic and global cotton markets.
India’s cotton exports are projected to decline by 23 per cent in 2016-17 partially due to the delay in harvesting earlier this season. Similarly, cotton prices have begun showing a downward trend, which could enhance mill uptake going forward. However, expectations of higher cotton demand from China and a forecast of El Nino may still keep cotton prices higher.
In 2016-17, farmers continue to realise better prices for their produce since cotton prices have remained firm. Cotton arrivals are in full swing now and the gap of arrivals as compared to last year has narrowed down considerably.
The Cotton Corporation of India has been purchasing cotton at commercial rates during the current season and might have procured more than 1,00,000 bales, which will be available for textile mills later in the season.
South Korea’s popular fashion labels are rushing to enter Europe and America’s prestigious department stores. Fila Korea, a shoe and apparel brand, will debut at Bloomingdale’s, the department store chain in the United States. It will open Fila stores at Bloomingdale’s nine locations in the first half of this year and launch additional stores at 30 other Bloomingdale’s department stores across the US in the latter half of this year.
Fila already operates outlets in Kohl’s and Macy’s – American department stores that carry budget clothing and fashion-- but it is the first time the company is adding stores in Bloomingdales.
In Great Britain, Samsung is expanding its presence through its men’s apparel brand Juun. J. It opened its Juun.J store in Harrods, a London-based luxury department store well known to be selective about its offerings of brands, in 2013 and has operated a pop-up store, temporarily introducing its latest collection, in recent months.
Handsome, a fashion unit of Hyundai, opened its men’s apparel System Homme in Galeries Lafayette in Paris for the first time as an Asian fashion label. It is also operating a pop-up store of the female lineup of System in the French department store. The pop-up store is located on the same floor with global fashion names like Kenzo, Isabel Marant, and Carven, and it is the first time for a Korean fashion brand to run a pop-up store in Galeries Lafayette.
"Canopy, award winning environmental not-for-profit, announced that CanopyStyle, which focusses on the elimination of ancient and endangered forests from the production of rayon and viscose fabrics, has hit the significant milestone of 100 committed brands. Kathmandu, SVILU, Raquel Allegra and Duffield Design are the latest to join to groundbreaking initiative with strong forest conservation sourcing policies making the CanopyStyle 100 a reality."
Canopy, award winning environmental not-for-profit, announced that CanopyStyle, which focusses on the elimination of ancient and endangered forests from the production of rayon and viscose fabrics, has hit the significant milestone of 100 committed brands. Kathmandu, SVILU, Raquel Allegra and Duffield Design are the latest to join to groundbreaking initiative with strong forest conservation sourcing policies making the CanopyStyle 100 a reality. The CanopyStyle 100 consists of 100 global brands, designers and retailers who have strong, sustainable sourcing policies for their rayon and viscose fabrics and are united in their conservation vision for our global forests.
Manu Rastogi, Textile R&D and Responsible Materials Manager of Kathmandu points out the strength of the collective action being driven by the CanopyStyle 100 is how her company will be successful in addressing the critical issue of protecting endangered forests from ending up in fabrics. They are inspired and excited to join Canopy and The CanopyStyle 100 to forward lasting protection in the world’s forests, said.
Sourcing sustainably
These fashion and apparel leaders, representing over $115B in annual revenue, have all committed to end sourcing of ancient and endangered forests or controversial sources in fabrics from their supply chain, and to kickstart sourcing next generation closed loop rayon and viscose from recycled clothing and left-over straw. They will also put their global might behind Canopy’s work to advance conservation solutions on the ground for landscapes of hope including Quebec’s Broadback Forest, Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem and British Columbia’s last stands on Vancouver Island.
The Beginning
The CanopyStyle initiative was launched in October 2013 with five fashion brands signing on as early ignitors, and in just over 3.5 years has become the fastest moving environmental initiative in the apparel industry. The question for customers now is, if my favourite brand isn’t part of CanopyStyle, then why not? No-one wants the last stands of 1,000-year-old trees cut down to make their jeans or t-shirts. The CanopyStyle 100 is acting on that and as a result we see similar sourcing commitments from nine out of the world’s top 10 largest viscose producers, said Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director, Canopy. One hundred clothing companies are now waiting to see suppliers like Fulida, Xinxiang Bailu and Shandong Yamei move forward on CanopyStyle Audits in order to meet their policy requirements.
Now that the US is more or less out of the TPP, Japan is mobilizing remaining members. Japan, as leader, is seeking a path forward for free trade in Asia. This country is now the largest member of TPP. A revived TPP with Japan at the head could dent China’s hegemony in the region.
The pact would boost Japan’s real gross domestic product by 1.11 per cent. Preserving the TPP could also stem the anti-globalist tide that has swept the world in the form of Trump’s ascent and the UK’s move to leave the European Union.
The new US administration has taken a fairly short-term approach to trade, showing little interest in creating rules for free trade under multilateral framework -- the founding principle of the TPP. Japan's plan of advancing that cause with other nations and dealing with the US one-on-one for now leaves room for an American return to the framework in future.
However, a revamped TPP does present tough questions for Japan, such as what to do with import quotas for rice and milk that were set with eleven trading partners, including the US, in mind. Japan will also face the challenge of responding to US requests one-on-one for greater market liberalization than the TPP would have provided.
The Directorate General Customs Valuation (DGCV) has reviewed textile invisible coated lining material fabric and textile lining material fabric customs duty under section of 25(9) 1969. There last time a determination of textile lining material took place was in year 2013, so, a revision was done according to trends prevailing in the current international market.
Meetings were held in the month of January, February, and April for undertaking the review. Every stakeholder was requested to submit relevant documents. However, due to different gram-mages, thicknesses of a sample the documents were not submitted by any stakeholder and importers and representative of trade organizations argued that prices of an item differ globally. The highest stress was on textile invisible coated fabric which is similar item is being assessed and released at the lesser rate ranging from $2.30 to 2.65 which has twisted un-stability in the local market.
Later, various methods such as: valuation methods, transaction value method, identical/similar goods value methods were accepted by the Directorate. But these could not be exclusively relied on. Thereafter, market inquiry as envisaged under Section 25(7) of the Customs Act, 1969, was conducted. Online values were checked and conversion costs from constituent material at the country of export were not available as computed value method in section 25(8) of the Customs Act, 1969 could not get applied. All the information was evaluated and analyzed for the purpose of determination of customs values. Accordingly, the Custom values of textile lining material fabric and textile invisible coated lining material fabric were determined under the Section 25(9) of the Customs Act, 1969.
American outdoor apparel company, Patagonia, has come out with a HyperPuff line, comprising hoodies, parkas, and jackets. Patagonia’s latest line combines the best of both synthetic and down.
Down creates a tangible area of warmth around the body but it’s useless when wet. Synthetic materials continue to insulate even while exposed to moderately wet conditions and provide excellent breathability during vigorous physical activity.
But one of the biggest problems with synthetic insulation is its lifespan and inability to retain loft over time, as opposed to regular down, which typically lasts decades. So the HyperPuff line features a synthetic puff jacket that actually puffs, mimicking the warmth of goose down while upholding the increased durability offered by synthetic materials.
Hyper Puff does not use Primaloft insulation. The insulation was developed internally with another supplier in Asia who had access to a special non-woven machine which orients fibers vertically instead of horizontally, like traditional insulation. The product’s unique ability to compress and spring back to life is unprecedented, allowing for easy transport of an otherwise bulky jacket in a small stuff sack. When removed from the sack, the jacket puffs up immediately.
The decision between wearing synthetic or down in the coldest and wettest of places no longer remains a compromise. HyperPuff provides the best of both worlds and ensures continuous warmth — even when wet.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to nontraditional markets declined sharply in the third quarter of the current fiscal. Reason: sluggish global demand, low unit price of garment pieces and high duty in these markets. Exports of readymade garments to non-traditional markets grew by 1.57 per cent in the July-March period of the fiscal year 2016-17.
The nontraditional markets are: Australia, Japan, China, Chile, Brazil, Japan, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia, Korea, India and Turkey. Exports to Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Korea dropped 26.97 per cent, 16.97 per cent, 16.86 per cent and 14.87 per cent July-March 2016-17 fiscal compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal.
While shipments to Australia and India declined by more than seven per cent, exports to Japan and Turkey witnessed a meager growth of 2.11 per cent and 0.29 per cent. On the whole, exports of readymade garments to non-traditional markets grew 1.57 per cent in the July-March period of the fiscal year 2016-17.
On the other hand, income from some traditional and major markets such as Belgium, UK, USA and Canada fell by 6.89 per cent, 6.85 per cent, 7.56 per cent and 6.41 per cent during July-March 2016-17 fiscal.
Telangana is preparing a handloom directory. This will have complete details of the condition of handloom weavers and the sector, including the number of handlooms, handloom weavers and workers, production capacity etc. with full capacity and estimates. Based on this, special policies would be formulated for the handloom, power loom and textile sectors.
Subsidy will be extended to weavers by linking it to their Aadhaar and biometric identity. Subsidy benefits will be directly credited to the accounts of the handloom weavers. The existing handloom workers will be protected, and if some workers want to shift to other sectors, cooperation will be extended to them. Loan with special subsidy will be extended to those contemplating to shift to other remunerative sectors. A 50 per cent subsidy on yarn will be given to handloom weavers.
Data on how many weavers weave silk, cotton and grey cloth will be collected. They will be given opportunities to sell their products not only to the government but the outside market. The state will set up its own handloom depots in addition to National Handloom Development Corporation yarn depots and provide more benefits to the weavers. There are 17,000 handlooms in Telangana and 14,300 are geo-tagged.
