FW
The global spandex fiber market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.8 per cent in the period 2016-2022. There is a rise in demand for spandex fiber from various end-user industries and an increase in application scope owing to its superior properties. Also, the launch of bio-based, eco-friendly spandex products is expected to drive demand over the forecast period.
The solution dry spinning segment is expected to generate the highest revenue throughout the forecast period. In 2015, North America and Europe collectively accounted for more than one-fourth of worldwide demand for spandex fiber. But they are expected to lose share over the forecast period and Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing region, with a CAGR of 9.5 per cent in value terms.
Asia-Pacific is seen as the most attractive market for new entrants along with industry players, as growth in the number of industries and increased expenditure on R&D is expected to provide significant opportunities to entrants. The physio-chemical properties of spandex fiber, such as elasticity, durability and abrasion resistance, have increased its penetration in a wide array of applications. In 2015, the apparel and clothing segment was the largest application segment, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.9 per cent in terms of revenue, followed by home furnishing and other segments.
"Four denim fabrics developed by Prosperity Textile have been named top products and selections at the ISPO TEXTRENDS 2017 Fall/Winter. Two, in Street Sports and two, for the Eco Era category. The selected fabrics include A3716-11, a denim fabric providing ultra-high abrasion resistance with 4 percent Dyneema to offer extra protection, two times better in wear-resistance and strength tests, while still be light, versatile and soft. It has been selected among top 10 Street Sports category. RA3939A-4 is a top 10 denim fabric in the Eco Era category."
Four denim fabrics developed by Prosperity Textile have been named top products and selections at the ISPO TEXTRENDS 2017 Fall/Winter. Two, in Street Sports and two, for the Eco Era category. The selected fabrics include A3716-11, a denim fabric providing ultra-high abrasion resistance with 4 percent Dyneema to offer extra protection, two times better in wear-resistance and strength tests, while still be light, versatile and soft. It has been selected among top 10 Street Sports category. RA3939A-4 is a top 10 denim fabric in the Eco Era category. It comes with BCI Cotton, Tencel and S.Cafe (polyester made from recycled coffee grounds) to offer eco and functional denim with good odour control, quick-dry and UV-protection. RA3240-39 denim fabric has been selected in the Street sports category. Its Coolmax all season technology provides quick-dry and lightweight warmth. The selection in the Eco Era category includes RA2713-21 fabric. With 58 percent Tencel and 33 percent Coolmax EcoMade, which is 97 percent sourced from recycling plastic bottles, this denim fabric delivers an amazing eco-friendly concept and cooling performance.
“We are proud to have our denim fabrics selected as the top products & selections of ISPO TEXTRENDS again, for our commitment to innovation and sustainability. Over the years, we have been developing denim with upgraded performances, interesting surfaces, soft-touch and eco-friendly ingredients, to meet the growing demand of sportswear and outdoor apparels customers. We will continue our efforts to relentlessly drive the innovation of denim,” said Xiang Gu, General Manager of Prosperity Textile.
Founded in 1995, Prosperity Textile is aleading denim fabric manufacturer with 60 million yards capacity, providing R&D, design and manufacturing services to global garment clients. ISPO TEXTRENDS is the platform for textile innovations and components. Twice every year, ISPO honours innovative fabrics and components that are used to manufacture sports apparel with ISPO TEXTRENDS.
The European Union has granted Pakistan GSP Plus status till 2023. This enables Pakistan to increase exports of traditional and non-traditional products to EU member states. Pakistan and the EU share a strong bond in trade and investment. Pakistan sees the EU as an important trading bloc.
The EU accounted for 12.8 per cent of Pakistan’s total trade in 2015 and absorbed 23.7 per cent of Pakistan’s exports. More than 80 per cent of Pakistan’s exports to the EU consist of textile and clothing. Pakistan’s imports from the bloc mainly consist of machinery and transport equipment as well as chemicals.
Almost 72 per cent of Pakistan’s exports to the EU go to the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. Pakistan is looking forward to opportunities of market penetration in other countries like Greece, Slovenia and Ireland.
Pakistan wants to export agro-based processed foods in collaboration with European companies through joint ventures and transfer of technology. The GSP Plus status is monitored and reviewed every two years.
The enhanced trade preferences under GSP Plus are of particular importance to Pakistan’s textile and clothing industry. Over 70 per cent of EU imports from Pakistan are textiles and clothing.
It looks like knitwear manufacturers in Tirupur are not interested in raising capital through the equity market route. Perhaps, that is why SME-friendly dedicated trading platform Emerge has had no takers. Apparently small and medium enterprises fear loss of administrative control. Stigma relating to dilution of ownership and ignorance on the benefits of raising fund through an IPO is preventing Tirupur entrepreneurs from getting into stock market.
Emerge is an exclusive Initial Public Offering window which has been made available through the National Stock Exchange. Under Emerge, the minimum dilution of shares is only 25 per cent and hence owners or promoters can hold the majority stakes. Moreover the listing is aimed at enhancing the accounting practices and image of the company in the market and facilitating institutional lending easier at later stages.
Not a single SME manufacturer who has a registered office in Tirupur has been listed on the Emerge platform though it extends relaxed norms for an SME sector entrepreneur to make a stock market launch vis-à-vis the stringent norms in place for listing in the main board at the stock exchanges.
Equity market entry has not taken off yet in the Tirupur cluster. The IPO route of raising funds for expansion needs to get popularised in the cluster.
Sri Lanka’s largest export firm MAS Holdings is buying US-based apparel maker Acme-McCrary. With this acquisition MAS hopes to get a foothold in the western hemisphere and increase the degree of speed and flexibility with which it engages with its customers. Acme-McCrary produces tights, sheers and other seamless apparel. The company produces legwear and active wear for large US retailers. Acme-McCrary was the sole producer of the popular Spanx brand of hoses and is still engaged in product development for the brand. MAS had a small account of Spanx for a few years now.
MAS will expand Acme-McCrary’s manufacturing capacities and create at least 133 new jobs, while retaining the current jobs. MAS employs over 80,000 perople across over 45 facilities in 15 countries and exports products mainly to the US and Europe. The facilities include design offices, apparel and component manufacturing plants, and private industrial parks. MAS also provides technology solutions to the apparel and footwear industry.
The company has been working to integrate technology into clothing, partnering with startup companies in the Silicon Valley region of California and in New York in the fields of wearable technology and health and wellness.
Although the state government has announced compensation of Rs 30,800 per hectare to cotton farmers whose crop was devastated by pink bollworm attack, agriculture department officials have called the move an eyewash claiming the cotton growers are now unlikely to get even half of the promised compensation.
Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar had announced a relief package for the calamity-hit farmers. The Maharashtra government estimates that 34.39 lakh hectares of the total 41 lakh-hectare area under cultivation in over 20 districts of the state, was affected by the bollworm pest. The package comprises insurance cover of Rs 8,000 per hectare, a compensation of Rs 6,800 per hectare under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and Rs 16,000 per hectare out of the recovery from the seed companies.
A senior official said, “The state has sought the Centre’s help for Rs 2,430 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) but the Centre never approves 100 per cent of the demand. In that case, the state would not be able to compensate the farmers the contribution announced under the fund. It has also said it will give Rs 8,000 per hectare under insurance cover but most farmers may not be eligible for compensation as their first two pickings have registered excessive produce.’
Farmers are eligible for insurance only if the loss is for over 30 per cent of the total yield and there were many cases where farmers had produced over 70 per cent yield. Also, the recovery from seed companies under the Maharashtra Cotton Seeds Act, 2009, due to failure of seeds is difficult.
Uganda’s cotton has found favor with textile importers in Germany, Denmark and other European countries. Despite the unpredictable weather conditions that keep affecting yields, cotton prices have been on rise in Uganda. Increase in prices and the introduction of fast-yielding cotton variety, which takes four months as opposed to about seven earlier, is encouraging farmers to grow cotton.
Uganda's Vision 2040 highlights the importance of manufacturing and value addition in enabling the development of an export-led and an internationally competitive economy, which is able to spur growth. Almost 90 per cent of Uganda’s cotton is exported. Cotton production in Uganda is entirely rain-fed. The soil is highly fertile and therefore no fertilisers are used. Pest management is reliant on predatory black ants which are highly effective against most of the cotton pests. Pesticides, if applied, do not exceed two sprays on an average.
Uganda is the only country in the world that grows one variety of cotton, the long-stapled Bukalasa Pedigree Albar. The focus on one type ensures uniformity and easier quality control measures in producing lint and yarn. Currently, cotton is cultivated in about 1, 00,000 hectares.
In Uganda clothing and apparel manufacturing is still minimal and large quantities of fabrics and garments are imported.
Mother of Pearl, the sportswear-inspired brand founded in 2002 and Palmer Harding, the men’s and women’s shirt label founded in 2012 are the proud recipients of BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund 2017. For the first time in the history of this prestigious Fashion Fund, which awards £200,000 and provides mentoring to up to three British-based emerging designers with the potential for becoming global fashion forces, there are two recipients. Keeping in mind the adverse effects of Brexit, The organisation decided to ‘spread the benefit’ of the prize to two labels this year. Though this split is not something very new, the American counterpart of the benefit, CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund has also done something like this, when it had three recipients, instead of two.
The fund aims to support British designers and businesses from start-ups to established brands with a focus on providing key expertise, and as a result has chosen to open up the prize money to be shared between up to three recipients, enabling the fund to benefit multiple designers at pivotal stages of growth and development.
Alexandra Shulman, Editor, British Vogue, has informed that the two recipients Mother of Pearl and Palmer Harding are very different in terms of the clothes they offer and the way they operate. But both these brands was able to convince the jury that they will be backing brands with strong potential who understood how they could grow and who had and exciting vision.
Tommaso Bruso has been appointed the new chief operating officer at Benetton. His task is to revamp Benetton’s labels and the group's franchising network. Bruso is currently in charge of the US unit of Italian clothing group Diesel. Before that he was Italian handbag brand Furla’s CEO for North America.
Benetton, based in Italy, saw a 1.2 per cent drop in 2015 sales. Famous in 1980s and 1990s for its colorful jumpers and controversial ad campaigns, Benetton failed to keep up with the rapid expansion of trendier rivals such as Zara, which woos clients with fast-changing, affordable collections inspired by catwalk fashion.
The company, which has 5,000 stores around the world, has embarked on a restructuring plan aimed at cutting down losses and retaking its place among the forefront of fashion brands.
India is Benetton’s biggest market outside Italy. The brand caters to the 18 to 35 age group but it also has different segments like young and trendy, young professionals, thriving middle class and loyalists between 35 and 45 years. As a brand, Benetton considers factors like environment and social responsibility very important. It aims to mobilise people to think, talk and act in ways that support the empowerment of women.
Bangladesh’s export earnings grew 3.97 per cent year-on-year from July to March period of current fiscal year. Garment shipments, which contribute nearly 82 per cent to total national exports, increased 2.39 per cent during July-March compared to the same period a year ago.
However, earnings from garment exports were 5.98 per cent lower than the July-March target. Apparel shipment went down due to various factors. Though the UK is the third largest export destination for Bangladesh, exports began declining because of Brexit. Garment shipments to the UK fell 5.19 per cent in the first half of fiscal 2016-17.
Similarly, apparel exports to the US, the single largest export destination for Bangladesh, declined because of a volatile economy after national elections. Jute and jute goods performed well in the July-March period, as exports grew 13.94 per cent. Shipments of leather and leather goods were up 8.41 per cent year-on-year. Furniture exports rose 18.21 per cent and pharmaceuticals 9.44 per cent.
Shipment of home textiles increased 4.68 per cent and plastic products 36.76 per cent, riding on the back of a ten per cent cash incentive on shipments.
