FW
Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to China in the July-March FY17 period grew 27.11 per cent compared to the same period of FY16. The country’s exports to China in the nine months of FY17 were 32.06 per cent higher than earnings in the same period of FY16.
Export earnings from India in the July-March period of FY17 grew by 7.28 per cent but earnings from export of two major items — garments and jute and jute goods — decreased. Bangladesh’s garment exports to India in the nine months of FY17 fell by 7.85 per cent compared to the same period of FY16. Exports of jute and jute goods to India in the nine months also decreased by 17.08 per cent compared to the same period of the last financial year.
Bangladesh’s exporters face various technical barriers in India regarding testing facility of products at the border, complexities in registration requirement, product specification and border specification. Other factors are payment procedures and devaluation of the Indian currency. So the country is focusing on exports to China especially since China is shifting from production of basic products to high-end and high-tech items and meeting domestic demand for basic products through imports.
"To provide more opportunities for exhibitors to promote their high-quality products and new technologies, TPF 2017 has lined up several product and technical presentations. The 2017 Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Fair (TPF 2017) will be held from April 19-21, 2017 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC). More than 230 companies will showcase their innovative new technologies and products at the fair."
To provide more opportunities for exhibitors to promote their high-quality products and new technologies, TPF 2017 has lined up several product and technical presentations. The 2017 Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Fair (TPF 2017) will be held from April 19-21, 2017 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC). More than 230 companies will showcase their innovative new technologies and products at the fair. Workshops on different varied related topics will give attendees an opportunity to gain knowledge about digital printing and its development, as well as market insights and design trends. The focus will be on top trending topics of digital printing, such as applications of digital printing, ink technology, print head technology, design software and printing design trends. Industry specialists will share their viewpoints to help companies stay competitive.
Line up of Concurrent Activities at TPF
April 19 begins with a speech by Tansy Fall, WTiN, Editor Digital Textile titled’ The Global Digital Textile Print Market’ the speech will focus on global market growth trends and key technologies driving the digital textile industry. It covers differences between regional markets and looks at 2017 growth predictions. This will be followed by a technical presentation by Lubrizol. A Digital Design Master Class will be organised by Walan College. This will focus on pattern Design and fashion industry and live painting communication by Chiara Caimi, Anteprima Disgeni Srl. Followed by ‘Chinese Pattern Designer Training and Practice and Live Painting Communication’ by Kim Namwon, Pattern Designer from Korea; Deputy General Manager & Creative Director, Zhejiang Walan Culture & Creative Co. Through this training students can experience the importance of creative hand-painted.
The next session will be on ‘Breaking the traditional concept, to achieve a multi-purpose digital application of new technology’ by Steven Zhou, MIMAKI, TA Sales Division Manager. This presentation would focus on achieving a multi-purpose digital printing technology through digital design and digital printing. This will be followed by a seminar ‘Reshape Pattern and Design New Future’ by Guoping Yu, GM, Zhejiang Walan Cultural Creativity Co Ltd.
On the same day at the technical presentation area (N5), Michele Riva, Sales & Marketing Director, EFI Reggiani will speak on ‘Drivers for change in textile’. This will be exploring the digital textile ecosystem. This will be followed by a talk on the topic ‘Filtration Knowledge You should Know in The Textile Ink’ by Mark Chen, Senior Sales Manager, Hangzhou Cobetter Filtration Equipment. This will help in answering queries such as: Do you know how to produce and check the pure water used in the textile ink and mill base; do you know the causation which causes the printing problem and the filtration solution; and do you know the basic filtration knowledge you should know when you design the ink jet printer ink root? Followed by Jim Lee, International Marketing Director, China Glaze Group Application speaking on Digital Textile Pigment Inks this will highlight major application areas of digital textile pigment inks.
Technical presentations
Day-2 begins at the Technical Presentation Area (N5), with ‘Textile In-jet Printing Standard Implementing’ by National Standardization Technical Committees. It will comprise of Inkjet Ink for Digital Textile Printing in four parts – Part 1: Reactive Dye Ink by Guosheng Qin, Manager Director, Hongsam Digital Science & Technology, Part 2: Disperse Dye Ink by Yongzhong Tian, Manager Director, Zhuhai Print-Rite New Materials Corporation Ltd; Part 3: Acid Dye Ink by Chunxue Wang, Chairman, Shandong Limei Jetink Technology; and part 4: Pigment Ink by Guosheng Qin, Manager Director, Hongsam Digital Science & Technology.
This will be followed by workshop on the ‘The Technology of Digital Ink & Digital Print Head’ by Tim Philips, Managing Director, IMI Europe/Founder; Director, Catenary Solutions. The talk will review latest advances in inkjet technology from around the world which are being applied to digital textile printing. These include new generation advanced thin film print heads, single pass high speed printing systems, and pigmented inks. In each case, the challenges address by the technology will be reviewed, the technology advances from major vendors discussed and the opportunities that this opens up will be presented. It will be followed by panel discussion.
Simultaneously the workshop area (N4) will hold a workshop on demands & applications of digital textile printing by Tansy Fall, Editor Digital Textile, WTiN. Fall will talk about digital textile trends and applications. The workshop would focus on retail trends driving digital textile applications and would look at the potential for more technical finishes in relation to a drive for sustainability in the textile industry. A panel discussion will be hosted post this session with leaders from dying factories, designers, fabric manufactures, etc. There will also be digital textile printing software workshop.
Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Exhibition (TPF)
The 8th Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Exhibition, hosted by UBM China and Shanghai Longyang, will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center for three consecutive days from April 19 to 21.
• Highlights of TPF 2017
• About 230 leading exhibitors from the digital printing industry
• Connecting all important points in the supply chain
• Design Pavilion’ for the first time, to help accelerate development of original design
• China Digital Textile Conference (CDTC)
• Buyers Mission & Business Matching
• Workshop & Technical Presentation
• Insightful Concurrent Programs
The exhibition will lay out the latest and perfect digital printing machines and matching ink, nozzles, software and so on. Also on the agenda are numerous forums and one to one business negotiations... Wonderful not to be missed!
‘Meet the Manufacturer’, the only major sourcing event specifically for British clothing, textiles, leather goods and homeware manufacturers, is back with a new season and this time Elite Labels is the headline sponsor.
And as Kate Hills, CEO and Founder, Make it British, points out that as Elite Labels supplies to everyone from the smallest start-ups to largest and most prestigious names in retailing, it makes them the perfect headline sponsor. On the other hand, Elite Label, an exhibitor for the last two events are keen to be more involved in the event this year. They have chosen to become the sponsor this year, as this is the right time to be associated with the event as British bands have now become fully aware of the value of manufacturing in the UK, Shafique Hussein, Director, Elite Labels, has asserted in a recent interaction.
The event, scheduled on May 24 and 25 at the Old Truman Brewery, London, is expecting more than 5,000 visitors this year. This year’s program includes free drop-in workshops and seminars plus over 150 exhibitors showcasing some of the top knitters, weavers, tanneries, leather goods makers, CMT units and homeware factories in Britain today. New this year is a ‘Make it British’ brands hall, dedicated to a carefully curated selection of British-made brands. Altogether, over 150 exhibitors will be showcasing the best of British clothing manufacturers, textile mills, leather-goods makers, homeware designers and suppliers to the UK apparel and textile industry.
Textile workers in the capital city of Ghana will hold a wave of demonstrations against the government’s failure in proliferation of fake textile in the country’s market. As textile industry is one of the important sectors in Ghana the demonstrations will hit the market, including the foreign investment into the country.
The recent political crisis has reduced the number of skilled labors from 25,000 in 1970 to 2,000 as of now. The European Union and the United States are dependent on several developing countries of Africa including Ghana. However, the government task force has failed to eradicate smuggling of fake textiles that is active in the country. The workers claim the new government led by Nana Akufo-Addo has done little to understand the grievance of the textile workers. The latter demand that the once assigned task force should be reassigned the duty of cleansing textile market. The country has faced challenges from China due to illegal smuggling of textile prints, and also pirating various designs from the country to the other contending countries in the market.
Meanwhile the government action has resulted in around 20,000 jobs being among textile workers. Due to this textile industries that were booming in the country have reduced. Textile industries in cities like Tema, Akosombo, and Juapong have shut in the wake of the economic crisis.
VF Corp is shutting down its plant of JanSport Collegiate Licensed Apparel business in Wisconsin, and that’s going to result in state 380 job cuts. The company has released an official statement to clear the clouds which state that VF Corp is selling Jansport to private online sports apparel retailer Fanatics Inc. of Jacksonville and thus is closing the plant in Wisconsin. The popular factory outlet of Jansport, which is located opposite the plant, will also be shut.
Employees received a letter saying the business, about 100 miles Northwest of Milwaukee, would begin laying off employees June 9 and the last possible day of their employment would be Sept. 29. Workers will receive a severance package based on their positions and years employed.
Fanatics has relationships with more than 1,000 vendors — including Majestic, one of the VF Licensed Sports Group brands — and operates e-commerce sites for the professional sports leagues including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Professional Golfers' Association. Fanatics is also expected to take over VF's plant in Easton, Pa., which has about 600 employees.
Free trade agreements play a crucial role in boosting US textile and apparel industry. They allow US textile and apparel exporters to benefit from duty-free entry into other markets.
Nafta for example, is a free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is an extremely important trade deal agreement for the US textile and apparel industry. Canada and Mexico are currently the largest textile markets in the region, but for the last 23 years, Nafta has been allowing a certain amount of yarns and fabrics produced outside the Nafta region to be used in apparel production within the free trade countries.
Another important free trade agreement for the US is Cafta-Dr, which involves the United States and a group of smaller developing economies, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua as well as the Dominican Republic. Cafta-Dr promotes stronger trade and investment ties, prosperity, and stability throughout the region and along the US’ southern border.
In 2016 US exports of fiber, yarns, fabrics, made-ups, and apparel to Nafta and Cafta-Dr countries accounted for 56 per cent of all US textile exports. All these free trade agreements provide that certain exports from member countries may enter the US market duty-free only if they are made from textiles produced in the region.
"March 29, 2017 would be officially marked as the day when the UK government formally initiated the process of the country’s exit from the European Union (EU). While there are many speculations surrounding this move, analysts believe Brexit would bring good news for India. Well there are reasons for this analysis. After losing access to EU single market, the UK would like to develop trade relations with emerging markets and who better than India."
March 29, 2017 would be officially marked as the day when the UK government formally initiated the process of the country’s exit from the European Union (EU). While there are many speculations surrounding this move, analysts believe Brexit would bring good news for India. Well there are reasons for this analysis. After losing access to EU single market, the UK would like to develop trade relations with emerging markets and who better than India. India’s high proportion of skilled working-age population and high growth rate will be of particular interest for the UK. Potential sectors to benefit from an FTA between the UK and Indian include textile, machinery, engineering goods, information technology and banking.
What works for India
India has been putting greater thrust on innovation and high-end works. The country’s BPO market could see strong growth prospects if FTA between the two countries was to foster easy visa regime and greater market access for Indian firms. India is the major Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) source for the UK because many Indian firms have used it as a gateway to Europe. With the UK moving out of EU, it might not be as attractive for Indian firms as before. Naturally, the UK government would not like to miss out Indian investment and will try to attract them by offering more incentives such as tax breaks, easy regulations and opening up markets. The UK’s currency is expected to remain weaker for some period, which will prove to be less expensive for Indian firms to import from their subsidiaries in the UK.
Education industry also stands to gain from Brexit. There are possibilities that educational institutes in the UK might offer more incentives, which could essentially make education in that country less expensive. Importantly, in post-Brexit era, Indian students studying in the UK might get a more level playing field compared with other EU students who until now enjoyed an advantageous position.
The negatives
As the UK formally begins the exit process, analysts believe this scenario might compel several other European economies to consider referendums and renegotiation of terms with the EU. Apart from regional uncertainty, the changing dynamics might potentially impact India. While India currently enjoys improved macroeconomic stability, the country cannot be isolated from the impact of global and regional subdued growth. There needs to be renegotiation of FTA with the union amid the Brexit scenario. Additionally, a separate trade agreement with the UK might also need to be worked out.
There are expectations that immigration rules for Indians into UK might take on a relatively favourable stance. While this might imply positive news for Indian companies in the UK to expand workforce, companies with operations throughout EU will now have to reassess their workforce mobility, along with expansion plans and operations.
Rethink strategies
Reports indicate, deepening recession risks and unhedged exposure the British currency due to Brexit might impact IT demand, affecting revenues of Indian companies in the UK by almost 10 per cent. While the rupee is primarily anchored to the dollar, the currency is not completely devoid of volatility, necessitating RBI’s intervention when applicable. Reports suggest, currently, over 800 Indian companies in the UK employ over 1.1 lakh people. The top-growing Indian companies have generated over £26 billion in turnover in 2015. Additionally, the number of Indian companies in the UK is growing at more than 10 per cent given that Britain for long, has served to be India’s point of entry into Europe. While this might be an early phase to conclude the empirical impact of Brexit on India, is imperative, the above considerations demand a thorough assessment of evolving developments and prioritisation of contingency planning.
In 2016, the US was Vietnam’s largest export market. Textiles and garments dominate Vietnam’s exports to the US. Footwear came second. In 2016, Vietnam became the second largest exporter of footwear to the US. Exports of telephones and parts accounted for 12.8 per cent of the total value of Vietnam’s exports to the US market. In addition, computers, electrical products, spare parts, and components accounted for 7.2 per cent, wood and wood products accounted for 7.2 per cent.
In addition to key industrial products, Vietnam is exporting many agricultural products and fishery products to the US such as frozen shrimp, filleted catfish, filleted basa fish, processed tuna, processed crab meat, coffee, cashew nuts, and pepper.
Vietnam’s exports to the US in January-November of 2016 rose 14 per cent over the same period last year.
For the first two months of 2017, textile and garment exports to the US reached 1.7 billion dollars and footwear reached 653 million dollars.
Vietnamese enterprises have gradually matured and gained a lot of experience, thereby creating a firmer position for themselves in the market. By determination, perseverance, good will, modesty and sincerity, Vietnamese enterprises have increasingly won the hearts of American consumers.
South Africa is offering incentives to the textile and clothing sector. And part of the plan is to tighten control on imports and raise tariffs to the maximum level.
The main aim of the South African textile and clothing industry is to use all natural, human and technological resources at its disposal to make it the preferred international supplier of textiles and apparel. Although the industry is small, it is well placed to make this vision a reality.
Owing to technological developments that are closing the major product gaps, local textile production has evolved into a capital-intensive industry, producing synthetic fibers in ever-increasing proportions.
The apparel industry has also undergone significant technological change and has benefited from the country’s sophisticated transport and communications infrastructure. Some regions are renowned for a high fashion orientation while others focus on the mass market.
The South African clothing and textile industry offers the full range of services – from natural and synthetic fiber production to non-wovens, spinning, weaving, tufting, knitting, dyeing and finishing. Manufacturers are benefitting from retailers’ growing demand for locally made goods as the need for fast fashion takes hold. In order to keep up with latest trends, retailers have to source their products locally to have shorter lead times from design to delivery. As much as 25 to 30 per cent of locally sold clothing is manufactured domestically.
Premier Fine Linens makes 100 per cent fine cotton bed and table linen. The company is part of the Premier Group, one of India’s oldest and largest textile producers. Premier Group is India’s largest importer of Egyptian cotton and also uses the finest American cotton and superfine Indian cotton.
The company operates 3, 75,000 spindles. Fabric production for its own in-house brands is 4, 50,000 meters a month, with another 4, 00,000 meters for contract weaving.
The fine linen division uses 100 per cent cotton, organic cotton, Supima and Egyptian and Supima Tencel blends. All of the dyeing is done in-house, using organic dyes and low-impact chemicals. The company recovers, processes and re-circulates its own wastewater, using 99 per cent of its own supplies.
This division is investing in Monforts machines to enhance the quality of production. The machines are being installed at the fine linens mill in Tamil Nadu. They will handle widths of 3200 mm and typically be handling weights of between 125 and 250 g/m², although heavier fabrics of up to 450 g/m² can also be handled.
The Monforts machines will allow Premier Fine Linens to increase the innovations and product potential offered to customers and make possible better color control and better shrinkage.
