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The Asia Pacific lyocell fiber industry is expected to record a CAGR of eight per cent over 2017-2024. Technological innovations have lowered the cost of fiber production and helped in enhancing production and quality of fibers. Many fiber manufacturing firms are focusing on reprocessing and reusing the fibers after the completion of their shelf life, which is expected to offer novel growth opportunities for the lyocell fiber market.
Substantial knowledge regarding pediatric sanitation accompanied by an increase in the spending capacity of consumers has resulted in a high demand for baby diapers across the Asia Pacific region. China, Indonesia, and India are predicted to be the major revenue pockets. While the decline in infant mortality rates is also predicted to influence the regional share, the thriving non-woven materials sector in Indonesia is expected to spur the product demand over the years to come.
Surging production of non-woven fabrics for medical and automobile industries along with the presence of big manufacturing giants across Europe has augmented the product demand. Europe is expected to contribute more than 12 per cent to the lyocell fiber market share by 2024, with UK, France, and Germany being the major revenue contributors. The US lyocell fiber industry is predicted to experience a notable growth over the next few years with the rise in apparel exports.
"Of late, Kenya has been inking its name in the global textile market and is touted to be one of the next centres for apparel sourcing in East Africa alongside Ethiopia. For years, countries such as China, India and Bangladesh have been meeting global exports textile demand but owing to rising production cost in Asian countries, importers are scouting for cheaper place for supplies. With an area of 581,309 sq km and a population of around 47 million, the Republic of Kenya is a leading country in Africa. Its capital and largest city, Nairobi, has been dubbed the hub for East Africa for long."
Of late, Kenya has been inking its name in the global textile market and is touted to be one of the next centres for apparel sourcing in East Africa alongside Ethiopia. For years, countries such as China, India and Bangladesh have been meeting global exports textile demand but owing to rising production cost in Asian countries, importers are scouting for cheaper place for supplies. With an area of 581,309 sq km and a population of around 47 million, the Republic of Kenya is a leading country in Africa. Its capital and largest city, Nairobi, has been dubbed the hub for East Africa for long.
Rich textile history
Cotton production started in Kenya in the 1900s by the colonial administration. To protect the local cotton industry, the Kenyan government introduced 100 per cent duties on imports after independence. The industry was also heavily subsidized, which greatly boosted production capacity in the 70s and mid-80s. However, it started declining from the mid-80s. The availability of used clothes – locally known as ‘mitumba’ – at a cheap price deeply impacted the textile industry and led to its fall by 1990s. The year 2000 again saw the industry’s rise in Kenya, thanks to its inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which also happened to be the first country to be accredited as an AGOA beneficiary. Since its inclusion, in six-year period (2000-2006), Kenya’s clothing sales to the US increased from $44 million to $270 million.
Investors’ haven
Kenya climate is suitable for growing cotton as the crop grows well in semi-arid areas. Kenya also offers large areas of cultivable land mass for cotton. Kenya has abundant and relatively well-educated population. Therefore, skilled and unskilled labour forces are readily available at reasonable rates. It has vibrant manufacturing industry, aided by infrastructure. The seaport at Mombasa – located at the East African coast – is linked to the mainland by railways and the Great North Road. Kenya is strategically located for investors wanting to access the East and Central African market. Kenya is also a regional hub for airlines allowing for easy access from and to any part of the world. Currently, over 40 billion shillings ($400 million) worth of apparels, including jeans and towels, consumed in the US are manufactured in Kenya’s Export Processing Zone (EPZ). This is projected to hit 100 billion shillings by 2018, according to the Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed.
Positive policy initiatives
As an enabler to boost growth, Kenyan government has drafted medium-term economic growth strategy, ‘Kenya Vision 2030’. They have identified the textile and clothing sector as a potential key driver of the country’s industrialisation. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) recorded a 12.1 per cent growth in sales in 2015. The growth was mostly driven by apparel exports under AGOA. As per the Economic Survey 2016, total EPZ sales went up by 12.1 per cent from Sh57.2 billion in 2014 to Sh64.1 billion in 2015. The number of local employees increased 8.7 per cent to reach 50,523 in 2015. The bulk of employment was in the garment/apparel enterprises with a total of 41,548 persons mainly due to expansion of existing apparel and agro-processing farms.
Garment industry
The Kenyan garments industry comprise of 22 large foreign-owned companies operating in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), 170 medium and large companies, eight ginneries, eight spinners, 15 weaving and knitting companies, nine accessories manufacturers and over 75,000 micro and small companies, including fashion designers and tailoring units. With an estimated 30,000 workers, Kenya’s apparel industry, valued at $330million a year in 2014, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, is still relatively small compared to Bangladesh, which has a $28 billion RMG export market and the industry employs around 4.4 million people. But Kenya is taking steps in the right direction. China, the world number one apparel player, has been working closely with the African industry. There are also possibilities that Bangladesh RMG industry, the second largest global exporter, can play a collaborative role with the Kenyan as well as African RMG and textile industries.
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.
Textilelegprom is being held in Russia from August 29 to September 1, 2017. The fair shows the whole spectrum of textile and light industry goods, from raw materials and equipment to finished product. The main purpose is to showcase new products, lighting innovations and new technologies in the textile and clothing industries.
Exhibitors are showcasing a wide range of products and services such as women’s clothing, men’s clothing, clothes for young people, clothing for sports and leisure, clothing for sleep and home, leisure wear, maternity wear, jeans wear, uniforms and corporate clothing, special clothing, children’s clothing, wedding fashion, hats, shawls, scarves, baby clothing, ties, fashion accessories.
More than 200 companies from 28 countries are attending. About 35,000 visitors, including wholesale buyers, industry experts, representatives of trade chains and importers, are expected.
Textilelegprom is the largest eastern European interdisciplinary trade fair for the textile and light industry. There are eight thematic salons, each of being the largest trade fair in the segment. It is a meeting place for industry professionals and presents high quality products and services of leading Russian and foreign companies. It is a platform for signing contracts for the supply of goods between manufacturers, suppliers and wholesale buyers from Russia and foreign countries.
Timberland will reintroduce cotton as an anchor crop in Haiti. The project will revitalise over 17,000 farms, while adding to the economy and contributing positively to the environment as it plans to plant millions of trees.
Cotton was once the fourth largest agricultural export from Haiti before it disappeared by the late 1980s. Its demise was due largely to external pressures and internal politics.
Cotton varieties from Brazil, India and the United States have been planted, with a Haitian cotton strain. The aim is to enable 34,000 farmers from 17,000 farms to double their current income, plant at least 25 million trees and connect farmers to the global cotton market. The project is also expected to increase crop yields for local consumption and provide microloans, professional training and leadership initiatives for female farmers.
Timberland has already planted more than 6.5 million trees. It plans to purchase up to one-third of Haiti’s annual cotton supply. Timberland is a global outdoor lifestyle brand. It supports the people of Haiti following a five-year tree-planting effort to help smallholder farmers reach self-sufficiency. Timberland hopes to transition from being a supporter of smallholder farmers to purchasing cotton from them for the brand’s supply chain.
VF Asia has forged a partnership with philanthropic organization Hinrich Foundation that promotes sustainable global trade, to sponsor seven scholars to attend a one-year master’s program as part of the Global Trade Leader Scholarship Program. Candidates include those majoring in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. After graduation, the scholars will commit two years of service with VF.
To date, seven scholars have completed the master program through VF’s involvement. Dipti Hassan, one of the seven scholars VF sponsored says the experience was an essential stepping-stone for the engineering career, and this opportunity could improve the manufacturing processes at VF.
The Global Trade Leadership Scholarship Program is exclusively offered to students from Bangladesh, where finding skilled industrial engineers can be challenging. VF hopes to leverage local cultural and operational expertise to spearhead growth in the country it began in 2014 and helps VF attract and train young talent in engineering.
With Bangladesh as a major hub for apparel manufacturing, the Hinrich Foundation partnership is key to fulfilling critical talent roles in VF facilities while also providing educational and professional opportunities to Bangladesh citizens.
The first eight months of 2017 saw strong growth of Vietnam’s main exports. Exports of phones and components were up 14.8 per cent, garments were up 7.2 per cent, footwear up 13 per cent, seafood up 19.2 per cent, wood and wooden products up 10.6 per cent and vegetables and fruits up 48 per cent.
Export turnover in the eight months rose 17.9 per cent year-on-year. Of this, exports by the domestic sector saw a 15.7 per cent increase while those of the foreign-invested sector were up 18.9 per cent.
The US remained the largest consumer of Vietnamese goods followed by the EU and China. But China’s share of Vietnam’s imports saw a year-on-year surge of 14.7 per cent.
Import value registered a year-on-year surge of 33.5 per cent for machines, equipment, tools and components, 33.3 per cent for telephone and its components, 24.8 per cent for electronic products, computers and components and 16.3 per cent for steel.
Import turnover during the first eight months jumped by 22.3 per cent year-on-year, with imports by the domestic sector showing a 18.4 per cent increase while those of the foreign-invested sector increased by 25 per cent.
Vietnam is changing the rate of import tax and export tax for certain goods.
The Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) University has identified 12 indigenous plants for manufacturing natural textile dyes. A study by the College of Agriculture (CoA), Vellayani, as a part of the Western Ghat Development Programme (WGDP), identified 12 indigenous plants capable of giving colour to cotton and silk textiles. This will provide an organic option for dyeing.
KAU has been looking at industrial production of natural dyes for textile industry. The technology for using these plants for commercial textile industry has been standardised under another research project sponsored by the RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana). The technology will be of great value in the development of eco-friendly and safe clothing, especially for newborns and people allergic to synthetic dyes.
The KAU has not revealed the names of the plants owing to patent issues. Plant dyes were used for garment dyeing and wall paintings till the advent of synthetic dyes in the 16th century.
The biochemical properties of these natural dye compounds had also been deciphered, which would help identify the biomolecules in them. Going back to the safer, cheaper, and durable natural plant dyes would also help the ecosystem and the lives of workers in dye manufacturing industry, he added.
Kerala, especially the Western Ghats region, is gifted with a wide array of plants for manufacturing natural textile dyes. There is also a treasure of traditional knowledge on temple wall paintings and in colouring traditional mats, among the rural and tribal people, says P. Indira Devi, Director of Research.
The 12 natural dyes with five different mordants, of which three are natural, have been screened. All silk and cotton materials dyed with these pigments have been tested in SITRA (South Indian Textile Research Laboratory) for colour fastness to light and stability to washing. Through this analysis, combinations of natural dye and natural mordant with good stability have been identified, says V G Jayalakshmi, Principal Investigator.
As a part of a special industrial package Punjab-based knitwear industry has protested against the Centre’s decision to give tax exemption to hill states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh under GST. Knitwear Club Chairman Vinod Thapar as well as Knitwear & Textile Club General Secretary Charanjiv Singh have written to the two union ministers from Punjab, stating the 12 to 28 per cent GST rate on knitwear products has proved to be a big blow to the Punjab-based knitwear industry due to which it has reached a stage of bankruptcy and also caused loss to the state’s exchequer.
They also stated thousands of units in the small-scale and cottage sector are on the brink of closure, as a direct result of excluding Punjab's knitwear industry from the special package given to the Himalayan states. According to them even though the hill states were already enjoying tax exemption, the tax holiday under the GST regime will give the local industry in Punjab a reason to move to the hill states.
They added since both ministers are part of the Union government, they are expected to protect the interests of Punjab's knitwear industry. Also, as the BJP and the Akali Dal are major political stakeholders in Punjab, it becomes obligatory upon both ministers to fight effectively for the interests of the Punjab-based industry.
Li & Fung has entered a joint venture with a Hong Kong-based knitwear exporter South Ocean Knitters Holdings. Dubbed Cobalt Fashion Holding and worth roughly $700 million, the JV will merge the operations and resources of Li & Fung’s sweater vertical with South Ocean’s knitwear business to become one of the world’s largest knitwear suppliers.
It combines the strengths of South Ocean’s yarn development and manufacturing knowhow with Li & Fung’s product design and supply chain innovation. The total turnover of the JV is about $700 million. The JV will service brands and retailers at all price levels and in all segments, covering the US, UK, Europe, Japan and other Asian markets.
Li & Fung Group chairman William Fung says the company is excited as it does have a long history and solid track record, with a strong foundation of product innovation and expertise, given access to the world’s leading fashion brands and retailers, it has first-hand insight into how knitwear and its supply chain can be transformed to best suit today’s fast-changing apparel market.
Silas Chou, President and CEO, Novel Enterprises, the parent company of South Ocean, well known for building billion-dollar brands Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors, is confident that this partnership is an important milestone for the global knitwear industry. South Ocean is one of the most established knitwear companies in Asia with over 40 years of experience in supplying the world’s top brands and retailers with beautiful, functional and innovative knitwear, says Silas Chou.
Closing of the transaction, and establishment of the JV, will take place once the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained, Li & Fung stated in a release.
