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Intertek one of the leading testing and quality assuring company, recently has re-declared their goal to become the leading global Total Quality Assurance provider. The company was addressing representatives from a range of industries including leading retailers, brands, and manufacturers of apparel and footwear companies at an event to mark the launch of Intertek’s bold new brand identity. The event was presided over by Karthik N.D., Country Managing Director, Intertek Bangladesh.
A recent release from the company has informed that Bangladesh and across the world, Intertek offers customers a Total Quality Assurance value proposition, assisting organisations as their trusted quality partner providing ATIC (Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification) solutions which go beyond assuring the quality and safety of a corporation’s physical components and assets to also look at the reliability of their operating processes.”
Organizers of the event has informed that Intertek’s history spans over 130 years and dates back to some of the world’s leading pioneers in scientific innovation and industry. It is a powerful legacy which has been handed down from great founders Including Thomas Edison, who invented the first incandescent lightbulb. Intertek’s new brand identity is inspired by Edison’s passion for innovation.
Intertek’s ATIC services focus on a number of areas, including Softlines and Business Assurance Business Lines, being two of company’s major business lines. Intertek’s Total Quality Assurance commitment plays a significant role in each stage of the supply chain, from Research and Development to Consumer Management, with a focus on global delivery’.
The company has informed that changing the colour and logo is only one aspect of Intertek’s new brand identity. Intertek is differentiating it by shifting the focus from a standalone service provider to a Total Quality Assurance service provider. Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Through a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 42,000 people in more than 100 countries, the Group is re-defining the industry with its Total Quality Assurance proposition.
European Textile Services Association (ETSA) will have a conference in France, June 14 to 16, 2017.
This year, the bi-annual event is expecting around 120 to 130 participants. The conference is open to top management of ETSA member companies and associations.
ETSA's mission is to promote the textile services industry and the interests of member companies, in cooperation with national textile services associations across Europe.
Since 1994, ETSA has represented the industry-leading textile service companies, suppliers of garments, detergents and machinery and national associations across Europe.
The textile services industry supplies timely and cost effective textiles, usually on a rental basis, to an extensive range of professional end-users in a wide variety of industries. Textile services companies are committed to providing services for a healthy and safe workplace, while maintaining the greatest possible concern for the environment.
Every day, millions of people across Europe wear, sleep on, eat off or use rental textiles in some way or another. Rental textiles include work wear and protective clothing, corporate business wear, hospital and surgical textiles, textiles for hotels, restaurants and care homes, hand-drying towels, floor mats and mops and industrial wipers. Textile services include textile selection, garment manufacturing, stock management, logistics and delivery, care and maintenance.
A special cell will be created in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) to familiarize local exporters with recently introduced Registered Exporter System (REX) in order to facilitate the Pak exports to EU countries under GSP Plus scheme, says engineer Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, President FCCI.
He explained the GSP plus status given to Pakistan in 2014 and told that its basic objectives were to dilute the damages caused to Pak economy due to war on terror. He further says that during 1st year of this facility Pak exports recorded a phenomenal growth of 23 per cent but after that the exports experienced a steep decline. Government of Pakistan has taken a number of steps including uninterrupted electric supply to the industrial sector and declaring five important export sectors zero rated from July 2016 to mitigate its problems but still the exports are not stable he added. He appreciated the recently introduced REX scheme and stated that it will further facilitate Pak exporters to make their exports to the EU countries without any hassle and unnecessary procedural bottlenecks.
He further pointed out that it is actually a self-certification system and many European countries are already following it to streamline the exports from Pakistan under GSP plus to the EU countries. He also mentioned saying that as REX is a new system and many exporters are not fully aware of its modalities, hence Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has arranged this seminar. The FCCI has also decided to setup a cell which will provide much needed awareness and guidance to the local exporters.
Engineer Asim Munir, Chairman FCCI addressed the seminar saying that the local TDAP office should be further strengthened to facilitate local exporters to enhance their participation in international textile exhibitions.
Nadia, Kanwal Shehryar, Dost Muhammad, Faqeer Muhammad, and Allah Dad Tarar Director TDAP Faisalabad also addressed the seminar and explained in detail the modalities of the REX system. They stated that TDAP is fully aware of the export potential of Faisalabad and it was in this respect that TDAP is regularly arranging different awareness sessions to facilitate the exporters of Faisalabad.
Cambodia’s real growth is projected to remain strong, expanding at 6.9 per cent in 2017 and 2018.
Risks to this outlook include the fallout from further rises in US interest rates, a slower-than expected economic recovery in Europe, and uncertainties over global trade.
US monetary policy tightening is expected to result in the dollar appreciating vis-a-vis the euro and other currencies, which would make Cambodia’s exports and tourism relatively more expensive for the rest of the world, and therefore less competitive.
Continued interest rate hikes in the US may weaken prospects of further capital inflows to Cambodia. Any disruption in global trade flows will have substantial negative impacts on Cambodia, given its high level of dependence on exports, particularly garments and footwear, as one of the main drivers of economic growth.
Improving labor productivity would be fundamental for Cambodia to remain competitive, given rising competition from other low-wage garment exporting countries.
As a result of competition from low-wage countries, year-on-year growth of garment exports from Cambodia fell to 8.4 per cent in 2016, compared with 12.3 per cent growth in 2015.
Growing competition slashed garment export prices to all major destinations. Export prices to the US market were the hardest hit, dropping by 7.2 per cent in 2016.
Dubai had hosted Arab Fashion week for its fourth edition, which began on May 16 and ended on May 20, the program offered more than twenty pre-collections runway shows, featuring clothes that are being described as “ready couture.”
Young designers and established brands representing some 20 different nationalities had come together to show their art and craft on the top floor of the Meydan hotel in Dubai, the event's hub. The venue provides an ideal setting, offering a bird's eye view of the city and its countless skyscrapers.
A hundred buyers, mostly from the Middle East, and hundreds of guests were present at the five-day fashion marathon. The audience were quite diverse, themselves attired in a multitude of styles that comprised everything from ultra-sophisticated chic to flat-out sportswear looks or traditional Arabic clothing worn by the Emirati and their wives.
The unisex style of Rad Hourani opened the event march on May 16, followed by the masculine and feminine silhouettes of Jenanne Filat and Jeans Couture, the muslim wear of Eckett Couture, and the women's wear collection of Michael Cinco. The event closed on May 20 with the runway shows by Marchesa Bridal, Ingie Paris and Antonio Marras.
Jacob Abrian, Arab Fashion Week's young founder, decided to pitch his fashion week in the "ready couture" niche, a unique positioning that has enhanced the event's reputation. The collections on display exemplify the approach, offered ready-to-wear apparel along with a high-quality materials and finishes typical of Haute Couture.
Besides the schedule of catwalks, the designers also hosted pop-up stands at the Meydanwhich were less fleeting presentation of their designs as well as they could sell individual pieces to the buyers and the general public.
Mimaki Europe, developer of wide format inkjet printers and cutting machines for the sign/graphics, and apparel markets, has bagged two prestigious awards at the recently concluded FESPA 2017 expo, a leading digital print expo encompassing screen, digital and textile print, was held at Hamburg, Germany from, May 8 to 12, 2017. It was the most successful expo ever with two stands totaling 534 square metres.
The company received two prestigious awards for the best object printer for their Mimaki UJF-MkII Series and the best textile printer under 100 square/h for their Mimaki Tx300P-1800 with its dual ink capability. At the show, the company introduced Yuji Ikeda as their new managing director.
Ronald van den Broek, general manager sales at Mimaki Europe, commented that they were especially pleased with attendee interest in the demonstrated technology of their 3D printer, the Mimaki 3DUJ-P. Based on Mimaki’s advanced UV inkjet technology, the 3DUJ-P offers high definition modeling.
Van den Broek also reports that Mimaki’s new high-speed direct-to-textile Tiger-1800B printer was also well received. It was the first time that Mimaki showcased the printer with sublimation ink after demonstrating the machine with reactive ink in previous shows.
In the textile hall, where the high-speed, direct-to-textile Tiger-1800B with sublimation ink took centre stage, Mimaki also had on display the award-winning Tx300P-1800 and Tx300P-1800B direct-to-textile printers, updated to simultaneously load both textile pigment and sublimation dye inks. This enables the use of a single printer to print directly on a wide range of textiles without the need to change out ink systems.
Van den Broek disclosed that many visitors to the stand were seeking solutions that would enable them to print on natural fibres with solutions like the Tx300P-1800 with textile pigment ink. Visitors were interested in using sublimation printing for fast fashion and soft signage. In addition to learning about the Mimaki printers on display, visitors to the Mimaki stand discovered the wide range of applications that Mimaki printers are able to produce.
The EU-Vietnam FTA is expected to be activated in early 2018.
In anticipation of this, European companies have started to explore the Vietnamese market in fashion and various other categories.
Machinery and appliances account for just over half of Vietnam’s exports to the EU. Telecommunications equipment comprise 33.5 per cent of exports. Footwear and hats account for 12.1 per cent and textiles and textile articles 10.4 per cent. Vietnam’s imports from the EU include machinery and appliances (27.4 per cent of the total), chemicals (17.8 per cent) and manufactured goods (11.3 per cent).
Vietnam’s trade with the EU during the first 11 months of 2016 totaled 40.76 billion dollars. The bloc was Vietnam’s second-biggest export market valued at 30.72 billion dollars (up nine per cent over the same period of 2015 and accounting for 19.2 per cent of the total) and is its fourth-biggest source of imports.
The FTA will cut down the import tariff currently imposed by the EU on Vietnamese garments, which is now 12 per cent, to zero. The zero tariff will substantially enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese garment exports and is likely to enhance sales by 20 per cent annually.
Vietnam’s exports of textile, clothing and footwear to the EU are expected to more than double in 2020 as a result of the FTA.
The Textile, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TGLEU) has rejected the stimulus package being offered by the government to textile companies to help revive the industry. In line with the government’s promise in the 2017 budget, the Chief Director at the Trade and Industry Ministry, Dawarnoba Baeka, sent a circular to industry stakeholders on 3rd May 2017 asking them to submit a ‘request for expression of interest (EoI)’ to enable them to benefit from a bailout package.
The memo stated In line with its commitment to transform the industrial sector in Ghana, the government is introducing a stimulus package to support existing local industries to enhance their competitiveness and create jobs. In this regard, the Ministry first thank you for showing interest in this programme and secondly invites your company to submit an EoI by completing the attached diagnostic tool kit.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour who is also chairman of TGLEU Abraham Koomson was reported to have said that Joy news, a stimulus package for the textiles industry, will go to waste unless loopholes in the systems are thoroughly plugged.
Koomson prefers that the government stop pirating of local textiles as one method of reviving the textile industry. It will not yield any positive results, he fumed and evaluated that at the end of the day, because of smuggling and counterfeiting, the industry cannot compete. He feels that the government should first address the smuggling issue.
The textile industry has over the years been struggling which resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs. It employed over 25,000 workers in the 1970s but currently provides employment to only about 1500 people.
The influx of counterfeited versions of local designs from China has been blamed for the situation. In 2010, the government set up an anti-textile piracy task force to deal with traders of counterfeit textiles as one method to keep the industry afloat.
TGLEU has meanwhile written to the police announcing their plans to picket the premises of the Trade and Industry Ministry on 29th and 30th May to demand revival of the taskforce.
Grasim’s revenue was up by six per cent for the fourth quarter.
Grasim has four lines of business, Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF), cement, chemicals and textiles. Their Earnings Before Interest,Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) was up by four per cent.
The company’s strong sales volume supported by firm international prices have helped drive their excellent performance in the VSF business despite the fact that their captive pulp plant at Harihar remained shut since February 2017 due to water shortage, however their production of VSF remained unaffected due to the fact that their business ensured running of operations using external pulp supplies.
Grasim is in the process of debottlenecking its plants to meet growing demand. Their chemicals business recorded a volume degrowth of six per cent year-on-year due to the fact that lower chlorine offtake in the industry restricted caustic soda production. This, coupled with a sharp increase in power costs, reduced profitability.
The VSF business will continue to focus on expanding the market in India by partnering with textile value chain to achieve better customer connect through the brand Liva and enriching the product mix through a larger share of specialty fibers.
Their Brownfield expansion project at Gujarat is right on track. Civil works have begun and the commissioning is expected by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.
Grasim Industries is the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate for textile machinery has been decided at 18 per cent.
GST for goods have been fixed at nil rate and 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent; however, rates for textiles and footwear are yet to be decided.
18 per cent GST has been decided for the following textile machinery: Knitting machines; stitch bonding machines and machines for making gimped yarn, tulle, lace, embroidery, trimmings, braid or net and machines for tufting, extruding, drawing, texturing or cutting man-made textile materials. Also machines for preparing textile fibers, spinning, doubling or twisting machines and other machinery for producing textile yarns; textile reeling or winding (including weft-winding) machines and machines for preparing textile yarn.
Another category is machinery for the manufacture or finishing of felt or nonwovens in a piece or in shapes, including machinery for making felt hats and blocks for making hats.
As per the announced GST rate, there is no drastic difference in the existing purchase and sales of machinery. Earlier also, the rate for machinery was 12.5 per cent with 5 per cent VAT which totaled to 17.5 per cent. With 18 per cent GST on machinery, there is neither a loss nor a gain.
Home textile products wholly made of quilted textile materials will attract 12 per cent tax under the new tax regime
