FW
India has reported only a marginal five per cent growth in apparel exports for the April to July 2017 period. Despite significantly higher raw material prices, revenues of fabric manufacturers grew a modest four per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 pointing towards a steeper fall in sales volumes vis-a-vis production volumes.
The country’s apparel exports are likely to see only a marginal single digit growth this year, due to GST, rupee appreciation against the dollar, rise in raw material prices, increase in labor wages as well as poor global demand.
Global apparel trade has also shown no signs of revival, due to poor demand in key importing countries, which could affect India’s apparel exports. Incidentally, the Indian rupee rose to 64.2 against the dollar from 66.5 last August, which is in contrast to six consecutive years of depreciation.
The apparel and fabric industry has been facing headwinds as a result of temporary disruptions caused by demonetisation and the transition to GST regime. The impact of these developments has been more pronounced on the highly fragmented fabric segment, with fabric production declining by one per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 following flat production in 2015-16 and a two per cent decline in 2016-17.
India’s cotton yarn exports have declined 9.79 per cent in the April to July period of the current financial year. The main reason was slow pick up from China and Bangladesh, which comprise around 50 per cent of overall shipments from India. Exports to China declined by a staggering 48.58 per cent.
Domestic cotton yarn manufacturers have been reeling under tremendous pressure since demonetisation and GST. The appreciating rupee aggravated the situation. Between April and July, the Indian currency appreciated by over one per cent.
Meanwhile, Chinese textile mills have built a large inventory of cotton and yarn over the past few years amid fears of a sharp increase in prices. Following the price hike, mills there started to use local cotton and yarn, resulting in a sharp decline in their imports not only from India but from other surplus countries.
Chinese traders are more inclined towards imports from Vietnam. Vietnam’s exports to China have zero tariff; imports from India attract a tariff of 3.5 to five per cent. Apart from that, Chinese textile mills have invested in the textile and apparel sector in Vietnam. So they are buying back yarn to China from their own manufacturing units, thereby cutting down imports from other countries including India.
India will probe imports of belting fabrics from China. The charge: China has been dumping belting fabric, a rubberised textile fabric or conveyor belt fabric produced from various industrial yarns. It is normally made of either nylon or polyester or a combination thereof as well as from various industrial yarns like Nylon 6, Nylon 66 and polyester industrial yarn. It is being produced and sold either as grey fabric or as dipped fabric. In case of sale of grey fabric, the consumers may do dipping of the fabric in-house before consumption of the product.
Belting fabric is produced in large combinations of raw material and construction, using different combinations of nylon and polyester yarn of different deniers. The product under consideration is a woven fabric having length wise threads called warp and width wise threads called weft. The product under consideration is reinforcement material for manufacturing of conveyor belts, used prominently in mines and in coal, steel, cement, power and other industries.
The probe has been initiated following a petition filed by SRF. There are other producers whose names have been provided by the petitioner along with their petition. Belting fabric is classified under Chapter 59 of the Customs Tariff Act.
Honduras is aiming to become a textile export leader in the Americas. This will be achieved through a textile hub with world class talent that pushes the frontier of knowledge in sustainable textile development.
The existing textile and apparel industry infrastructure in Honduras has outstanding conditions for investment and expansion opportunities. There are 18 industrial parks that together have a construction area of more than 1.8 million square meters, and advantages like availability of airports, ports, highways, telephones, water and electrical supply, customs paperwork, low working costs, machinery and logistics.
The textile and apparel industry has the capacity of biomass production as well as wastewater management technologies allowing high productivity in a sustainable manner. The current investment in the country’s fabric and clothing manufacturing is estimated to be around $7.8 billion. Focused on corporate social responsibility, manufacturers also promote training initiatives, housing access opportunities, safety and occupational health standards, and also a new pilot project of child care centers. This provides residential areas with security, stability and comfort for textile and garment sector employees and their families.
The country is aiming to be the new destination for textile and apparel investment. It is providing a solid platform of facilities and benefits articulated with the purpose of promoting foreign investment and ventures with outstanding conditions that are strengthened every day.
Cotton Council International, Cotton Incorporated and Supima will jointly exhibit at fabrics trade fair Première Vision, France, September 19 to 21, 2017. At one cotton pavilion they will showcase innovations in cotton technologies, fabric blends, and performance, design and fashion applications that will inspire brands with new ideas for cotton and cotton blended fabrics, such as US cotton garments that help one feel better faster after a workout, sweat-resistant tees and denim that keeps one cool on hot days.
The objective is to inspire everyone in the textile business to think about the many opportunities in US cotton. Cotton USA also invites visitors to its booth to learn about its collaboration with worldwide brands and retailers, how to license the Cotton USA mark, the US cotton industry’s sustainability efforts, global cotton market developments, findings of current market and consumer studies, and ongoing sourcing programs that match cotton buyers and suppliers.
Cotton USA is dedicated to providing the entire supply chain with networking opportunities, ongoing education, and the latest research and technological innovations. Luxury, quality and craftsmanship are the benchmarks of American-grown, extra-long staple Supima cotton. Supima is twice as strong as regular cotton, which makes for extraordinarily resilient products. The longer fiber resists pulling, breaking and tearing resulting in fashion and home products that are incredibly resilient and keep their form for a longer-lasting product.
The antimicrobial textile market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4 per cent from 2016 to 2026. Growth is primarily led by the need for hygiene products to combat increasing number of infections due to microorganisms, increasing end-use applications such as medical textiles and apparel, technological advances, and the high demand in the Asia-Pacific region.
The antimicrobial textile market is on the basis of application into commercial, apparel, home, medical, and other wearables. Among these, the medical segment is projected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period as a result of rising risk of diseases due to hospital acquired infections and the need to prevent transmission of infections.
Rising demand for antimicrobial textiles is driving the market in Asia-Pacific region. The market is driven by increased demand from China and India. China is the largest market in the region. Rapid industrialisation, changing lifestyles, rising disposable incomes, and the expansion in the healthcare as well as technical textile industries is expected to drive the antimicrobial textiles market in the region.
Some of the key players are: Sanitized, Microban, Sciessent, Milliken Chemical, Dow Chemical Company, Lonza Group, Trevira and Vestagen Protective Technologies.
More speakers have been confirmed for the Textile 4.0 Conference. The conference, organised by World Textile Information Network (WTiN), will take place at the Hotel Novotel Amsterdam City, The Netherlands, on October 25-26, 2017. The eventis the first to explore the realities of Industry 4.0 in textiles industry. Over two days, industry experts will share their ideas on the opportunities and services that can be leveraged using the Internet of Things (IoT) and on best practices to enable smart manufacturing.
In the session from dumb product to 'technology as a service', Steve Smith, of DP Innovations, will reveal how IoT developments are enabling suppliers of manufacturing technology to move beyond the delivery of standalone products and offer an increasing range of value-added services.
Yves-Simon Gloy, of RWTH Aachen, will contribute to the session Automation and the workforce, which will focus on which skills will be in demand and what kind of jobs will be under threat as the textile industry adopts Industry 4.0 principles.
Yariv Bustan, of Twine Solutions, and Michel Byvoet, of Bivolino, will present in the session Turning disruption into innovation: emerging business models. This session will discuss enterprise opportunities in customisation and manufacture-on-demand.
The Textile 4.0 Conference is the professional event dedicated to the realities of Industry 4.0 in the textiles industry. It aims to shed light on the many developments that are happening even now and provide expert insights into what the future might hold for business and investment decision makers throughout the textiles value chain.
South Indian textile mills have reduced their cotton procurement by around 40 per cent from Gujarat during the October-September season of 2016-17. Reason: growing adulteration in cotton. Faced with a growing demand, ginners in Gujarat reportedly started mixing comber waste in cotton. This propelled many mill owners to tap other parts of the country for cotton procurement to meet the compliance norms set by buyers.
High contamination affects the quality of yarns as well as the final product, that is, the garment. It is difficult for mills to identify the contamination as comber waste looks cleaner than cotton. Generally the quality of cotton is determined by its color, fiber length, strength, fitness and the degree to which the cotton is free from contamination. One of the important factors which make quality of raw cotton low is contamination. A contamination may be an impurity, which can affect the subsequent processes, product appearance or product quality in general. Contamination causes to produce low quality lint cotton, yarn and manufactured goods.
Contamination of raw cotton may take place at any level, at farm while picking, at storage and marketing or at ginning. Cotton at the farm level is mainly contaminated before or at the time of picking in a number of ways. At the time of ball opening brackish and decayed seed cotton appears. Mixed picking of these balls also causes contamination.
Berlin will open door to the three day Bread & Butter even from tomorrow September 1 to 3, 2017. The festival offers three full days of fashion shows, concerts, brand productions as well as exhibitions and talks. The main purpose of B&B is to create a platform for a variety of brands, which this year includes G-Star Raw, Hugo, Jil Sander Navy, The Kooples, Selected Femme/Homme, Topshop, Topman and Zalando, to name a few.
This year’s Festival of Style and Culture – the new tagline following Bread and Butter's transition from industry trade show to public arts festival – has adopted the theme ‘Bold’ and will present the latest innovations from the fields of fashion, music and food.
Visitors can catch a live performance of FKA twigs, a group known for its unique mixture of vocals and performance. Visitors can also watch tattoo artist Chaim Machlev aka DotsToLines at work in a studio created just for the occasion. Chaim is one of the tattoo scene’s most high-profile artists worldwide with a very iconic style.
Mercedes Benz is the official partner of Bread & Butter. The concept is the car manufacturer’s latest campaign to tell the stories of a new generation and attract millennial consumers. The auto maker is hosting similar events in 18 German cities between May and October.
India’s apparel exports do not reflect a very optimistic picture. Sustained growth remains challenging. The challenges have been further augmented by the appreciation of the rupee in recent months which has reduced competitiveness of Indian exporters vis-a-vis their global counterparts.
Fabric production declined by one per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 following a flat production in 2016 and two per cent de-growth in 2017. The apparel and fabric industry has been facing headwinds as a result of temporary disruptions caused by demonetisation and transition to the GST regime.
Besides demand pressures, high raw material prices and currency movements also continue to weigh on the industry’s performance, which has been visible in the profitability of apparel and fabric manufacturers over the past three quarters. Although the profitability of export-oriented players has been protected to an extent by prudent hedging practices, the sustained strength of the rupee against the dollar may exert pressure on their pricing ability and hence demand and profitability.
Notwithstanding likely pressures on profitability, debt levels are expected to decline with the industry focusing on sweating existing assets more and undertaking limited debt funded capacity additions. As a result, the financial risk profiles of Indian exporters as well as domestic-focused apparel/ fabric manufacturers are likely to remain steady in the near term.
