FW
Russian regions are turning out to be the main players in driving forward both the light industry (as the Russian textile and apparel industry is called) and fashion.
The Ivanovo region, located in the European part of the country, accounts for 80 per cent of Russia’s cotton fabric manufacturing.
Construction of a synthetic fiber plant is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2017 in the Vichuga special economic zone in the Ivanovo region. Synthetic fiber is not yet produced in Russia and the plant has already secured orders for 80 per cent of its proposed production capacity.
The Vichuga SEZ will also include an industrial technology park built to accommodate small enterprises that will use synthetic fiber to produce finished products.
Another important driver of the light industry in Russia is the St. Petersburg light industry development program. The program includes a set of measures to support small businesses in the textile and apparel sector.
In addition, the city is also building an industry-specific business accelerator to promote new designers, including through the use of advanced technologies like 3D printing, robotic sewing machines and others.
Earlier this year, a bill was passed in Russia that allows textile, leather and apparel manufacturers with more than 250 employees to qualify as medium-sized rather than large businesses.
New York City government has protected Midtown's Garment District from rising rents by way of a zoning resolution dubbed the Special Garment Center District Since 1987. In spite of an industry that's constantly in flux, designers and manufacturers have been able to operate in the iconic neighborhood, which is widely regarded as the epicenter of New York's fashion industry.
The area occupies less than 20 blocks in the heart of Manhattan, and business owners there enjoy a level of protection that's hard to come by in New York—especially in such a highly-coveted part of the city. All of that may be coming to an end.
A plan put forth by local officials and the New York City Economic Development Corporation might move a large portion of fashion industry across the East River and into Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. It's backed by the Garment District Alliance, a group founded by the district's hundreds of property owners and thousands of businesses, but has drawn criticism from designers who rely on the Midtown location.
Stephanie Baez of the NYCEDC states that the proposal to lift the 1987 zoning regulations would not change the underlying zoning for the area, which is currently zoned for manufacturing. The NYCED and the Council of Fashion Designers of America have collaborated on a $51.3 million package to help incentivize manufacturers to make the move. The money will go towards grants for investments in new machinery and technology, training programs and relocation costs.
It's unclear on what will become of the Garment District if the business that, you know, make garments vacate the neighborhood. The NYCEDC notes that the zoning regulations would limit new residential and hotel developments in the area.
A documentary film, Machines, presents an intimate portrait of the rhythm of life and work at a textile factory in Gujarat. Moving through the corridors, the camera immerses the viewer into a claustrophobic space of exploited workers and child labor, provoking a reflection on working conditions in the global supply chain.
With strong visual language, striking images and carefully selected interviews with the workers themselves, the film tells a story of inequality and oppression of humans and machines.
The factory employs 1,500 workers and some are seen sleeping on piles of fabric. Their lungs are damaged because they breathe in silica dust and also carbon particles.
Workers earn less than three dollars for shifts of 12 or more hours. The noise of the machines to which these workers are exposed serves as the film's soundtrack. The film won the jury prize for best photography at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Machines has already premiered in Britain and will debut in India later this year. Screenings are being planned for the country’s most densely populated industrial cities.
Though Machines was not filmed for activism purposes, director Rahul Jain hopes it induces steps to support workers in the country’s textile and clothing industry.
Gujarat (India) will soon get its first cooperative cotton spinning plant. With the total expenditure of Rs. 140 crore, Surat Vankar Sahkari Sangh is going to start the plant in cooperative sector of Dinod village, the tribal-dominated area of Mangrol taluka which will be inaugurated by Cooperation Minister Ishwarsinh Patel on 1 June, 2017. President of Surat Vankar Sahkari Sangh, Rajnikant Bachkaniwala stated that, this is the first state-of-the-art cotton spinning plant set up by us in the whole of Gujarat. The production of cotton yarn had started in April and until now we have exported around nine containers of yarn to Pakistan, China and Indonesia
Sources say that the cotton park has been set-up at Mangrol to tap the ever growing demand of cotton yarn in India and abroad. The plant will have around 30,000 spindles which will be helpful in twisting of 17,000 tonnes of cotton yarns on regular basis. Spread across 17-acre land, it will have 10 units of weaving, five units of knitting and three units for garment manufacturing. The yarn manufactured at the facility will be of international quality which definitely has a huge market.
Bangladesh, the apparel manufacturing hub, noted a wave of panic when hundreds of garment workers fall ill. Around 18 factories were shut down after 30,000 workers left in the middle of their shifts as some of their fellow workers lost consciousness due to the soaring temperature in the country.
The workers were then rushed to hospital where they were given saline and first aid and were released within an hour.
The workers were attacked by a disease called hysteria conversion reaction. Laborers were malnourished, while a lack of rest owing to rising temperatures and acute power cuts left them further weakened, succumbing to heat waves.
The temperature in Dhaka rose to 36 degrees celsius, but taking humidity into account it would have felt like 51 degrees celsius.
With more than 4,500 garment factories in the country, many of them lack basic ventilation and air coolers.
Accord and Alliance have so far severed business relations with 217 Bangladeshi readymade garment factories on grounds of unsafe working conditions.
Alliance is a coalition of North American retailers. Accord is a grouping of EU retailers.
These groups are interested in structural, electrical and fire safety initiatives at the factories from where they procure products. They have conducted safety inspections at more than 2,600 factories in Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013.
The East African Community (EAC) may raise taxes on clothing and footwear imports. Taxes may go up to 50 per cent to reduce imports and help revive the region’s ailing textile and leather sectors.
The East African Community comprises Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Over the years, the clothing and shoe manufacturing industries in the EAC have collapsed due to the emergence of informal sector trade in used clothes and shoes and the impact of trade liberalization.
Among the measures suggested include a three-year tax waiver for textile raw materials and shoe manufacturing equipment that are not available locally. A ban on export of raw hides and skins is also proposed.
There may be a 40 per cent tax on readymade garments or five dollars a kg, whichever is cheaper. For the footwear sector, the proposal is to increase the common external tariff on new shoes from 25 per cent to 50 per cent or 20 dollars a pair (for leather shoes) and five dollars a pair (for plastic shoes), whichever is higher.
If the proposals are accepted, it will increase the price of imported clothing and footwear in the six countries of the EAC region.
ICE cotton futures settled marginally lower on Tuesday on increased production of natural fiber with federal data showing strong progress in the US cotton harvest.
Sixty-three per cent of cotton crops were harvested in the US by the week ended May 28, up from 52 per cent in the previous week. The crop is getting planted very nicely in the northern hemisphere without any major disruptions.
The December cotton contract on ICE futures US settled down 0.04 cent, or 0.1 per cent, at 72.75 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 72.33 and 72.77 cents a lb.
Meanwhile, the July cotton contract on ICE Futures US touched a two week low of 76.90 cents per lb. July prices have fallen about 12 per cent since touching a near three-year peak of 87.18 cents mid-May.
Ever since the July market peaked on May 15, open interest has been declining, and so have the prices. Total futures market volume rose by 3,674 to 22,066 lots. Data showed total open interest fell to 241,984 contracts in the previous session.
Elsewhere, speculators cut their bullish bet in cotton by 8,532 contracts to 97,141 contracts in the week ended May 23.
Futures contracts are subject to a daily price limit that can range from three to seven cents per pound.
Japanese sportswear specialist Asics has released its 2016 Sustainability Report which summarizes the company’s sustainability performance for last year and outlines progress towards its medium-term sustainability targets.
2016 was a special year for the Asics group. This was the year it kicked off its new five-year Asics growth plan, embarking on an ambitious new set of sustainability targets towards 2020.
Last fiscal, Asics Europe launched a centralized review of energy procurement and updated its electricity contracts, switching about 300,000 kwh to renewable energy and saving 100 tons of CO2. It also launched its new Global Retail Concept with the opening of a new flagship store in Germany with features like LED lighting, energy efficient systems and floor materials in addition to hangers, mannequins and other POS components made from certified sustainable and/or renewable materials.
The retailer also organized training sessions in collaboration with independent partners, such as the International Labor Organization’s Better Work Program for both Tier I and Tier II suppliers to give them the knowledge and understanding necessary to further improve their performance.
ASICS expects to double its total use of renewable electricity in Europe, which will account for ten per cent of the company’s total global electricity usage. It also plans to conduct energy efficiency audits in its most energy-intensive locations and implement efficiency improvements where necessary.
Japan’s same-store sales in April increased by 0.6 per cent over the same month of last year.
This increase comes for the first time since November 2016.In April, men’s jackets, easy pants, business shirts, blousons and long-sleeve casual shirts saw a commendable surge in sales while the domestic market was sluggish for cardigans, cut-and-sewn articles and jeans. On the other hand – in the women’s category – women’s wear, jackets, spring coats, skirts, three-quarter-sleeve sweaters and cardigans were sold well in the month.
Sales of household goods were slow due to the fluctuations in temperature, while apparel sales increased by 0.2 per cent.
On a year-on-year basis, sales of men’s wear were down 0.5 per cent. Similarly, sales of women’s wear were down 1.7 per cent. Sales of other garments were up by 1.6 per cent from last year.
The Japanese apparel market and fashion industry witnessed a minor downfall after the earthquake of 2011, but soon bounced back overcoming the economic concerns. The categories trending in the Japanese apparel markets are women's outerwear, sportswear, and children’s wear. Recent innovations in functional garments have increased the sales and increased the unit price of such clothing.
The All India Recycled Fibre & Yarn Manufacturers Association, while finalising the GST rates has requested the Union Finance Ministry to maintain the current excise duty cost advantage of recycled PSF vis-à-vis virgin PSF.
Virgin PSF manufacturers are charged 12.5 per cent excise duty, while recycled PSF attracts 2 per cent concessional excise duty, due to which spinners get the cost advantage of 10.5 per cent, and so opt to buy recycled PSF In the current tax regime.
A same uniformity in the GST regime has been requested by the finance ministry by theassociation, so that the excellent work of recycling PET bottles continues. As per the association, if the existing differential is not maintained, operations of the whole PET recycling industry will become impracticable. PSF buyers would prefer to buy virgin PSF, which would lead to closure of PET bottle recycling companies, which apart from destroying jobs, will also harm the environment, if they lose on the cost benefit.
The PET bottle recycling value chain provides direct and indirect employment to around 500,000 people. The industry has grown in the last ten years and the current production of recycled PSF is around 660,000 metric tons per annum, turnover around Rs 5,000 crores and currently recycles around 700,000 metric tons of used PET bottles.
BP Sultania, president of the All India Recycled Fibre & Yarn Manufacturers Association commented on this saying that they first have hit by the ban on import of PET bottle scrap, which led to a steep increase in prices of locally available PET bottle scrap and now if GST on recycled PSF is at parity with virgin PSF, this will make the survival of the PET bottle recycling industry very difficult.
He further added that they urge Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to consider their demands of continuing the tax cost advantage. An intervention of Textiles Minster has also been sought to convince the finance ministry to accept valid demands and thereby safeguarding and promoting the PET bottle recycling industry.
