FW
Clothing giant Primark has joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a non-profit that helps clothes companies measure their ethical performance. The Higg Index developed by the SAC is a self-assessment tool that allows companies to calculate the sustainability performance of their supply chain and identifies areas that need to be improved. The tool assesses both environmental and social impacts of products.
In a statement, Primark said that it was “committed to reducing the impact that it has on the environment and would use the SAC's sustainability tool to improve the environmental performance of its supply chain. By measuring sustainability performance, the industry can address inefficiencies, resolve damaging practices, and achieve the environmental and social transparency that consumers are starting to demand. By joining forces in a Coalition, we can address the urgent, systemic challenges that are impossible to change alone.
" Almost forty apparel and footwear brands, including Adidas, GAP and H&M, are already members of the SAC, along with manufacturers, retailers, industry affiliates, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), academic institutions and environmental non-profits. Primark was one of several companies implicated in the 2013 collapse of a garment factory in Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, in which more than 1,100 workers lost their lives. Primark contributed $12million in compensation to the workers.
www.primark.com
Addressing a textile event ‘Pakistan Japan Textile Day’, organised by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Japan Textile Importers Association (JTIA) Senior Expert Yasuhiro Shoda said that Pakistan could enhance its textile exports to Japan since the country offers a wider scope and available cushion for them to excel in the Japanese market. He further said that the country needs to work on the process design and curtail its costs.
Shoda said that in Pakistan, the labour cost is high and process design is uneven and there is a dire need of more production management techniques and problem solving methods for quality improvement. QTEC General Manager Hisao Nishiyama said, “Japan has a $100-billion apparel market and Japanese consumers are quality conscious and like maintaining quality standards.
” TDAP Director General Shahzad Hussain Rana stressed that Pakistan had a dynamic, vigorous and export-oriented textile industry that has an overwhelming impact on the economy and this is a good time for Pakistan to take positive steps towards entering the Japanese market. He also said that events like these would raise awareness among Pakistani companies regarding the trends and requirements of Japanese importers to increase exports.
www.jica.co.jp
International Textile Fair was held in Dubai on October 11 and 12, 2015. A wide range of brands and products that meet all tastes and needs was available at competitive prices. It’s had around 200 exhibitors, mainly from Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Turkey along with various traders from the local market.
This is the second edition of ITF. It is the United Arab Emirates’ exclusive trade show for fashion and textiles. It gives global fashion, home and industrial textile companies a platform to cater to the local market and reach out to the emergent gulf textile industry. It also allows visitors to access top international suppliers of textiles in multiple product categories.
Much of the importance the fair has gained is credited to Dubai's global status as a prominent hub for the textile and apparel trade in the Middle East, Africa and nearby markets. The United Arab Emirates is becoming the world’s leading centre for textile industry automation with a presence of about 150 apparel manufacturing companies. It accounts for about 5.5 per cent of the world’s annual textile and clothing sales. It’s the world’s fourth largest trading center of fashion and apparel.
In time the UAE hopes to become the world’s leading high end textile and garment re-export center.
www.internationaltextilefair.com/
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has announced a "Black Day of Unviability of Textile Industry of Pakistan" from Karachi to Peshawar on Wednesday, October 14, 2015. Addressing a press conference, Tariq Saud, Central Chairman APTMA, said that Pakistan's textile industry was facing worst-ever crisis of its history and thus unable to compete in the world market.
Pakistan's textile export share in global market has decreased from 2.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent from 2006-2013, whereas exports share of regional competitors enhanced by 75 per cent, from 1.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent for Bangladesh; 35 per cent, from 27 per cent to 37 per cent for China and 35 percent, from 3.4 per cent to 4.7 per cent for India respectively. “If the situation persisted and the government would not take preventive measures to protect the domestic textile industry, Pakistan would be out of the list of exporting country of textile items,” he said.
Raising issues faced by the industry, he said that government has increased gas prices for the captive and general industry in addition to levy of GIDC @ Rs 200 for Captive Power Plants. "Due to the levy of GIDC and increase in gas tariff by 23 per cent, the cost of gas for industry has been increased to $6.7/MMBTU for Industry and $7.7/MMBTU For captive power plant as compared to India $4.2, Bangladesh $3.1, Vietnam $4.2/MMBTU." In addition, electricity tariff in the regional competing countries is between 6 to 9 cents whereas it is Rs 15 per unit or 14.5 cents per unit in Pakistan. He said that unplanned import from India is directly hurting the domestic industry as custom duty on import of cotton yarn in Pakistan is 5 per cent whereas India has imposed 28 per cent duty on yarn import making export of yarn to India from Pakistan unviable.
Pakistan's textile industry could never compete with the Indian industry because of the high cost of doing business which has led to the closure of number of mills resulting in the rate of unemployment is increasing day by day. He said that the government should review trade with India and impose a minimum 25 per cent regulatory duty on import of yarn from India.
www.aptma.org.pk
Several initiatives focussed on identifying, measuring and quantifying entirely new forms of business risk and value were announced by the Sustainable Brands community at New Metrics ’15 in Boston, MA.
To collaborate on leading edge corporate practices and performance indicators that quantify environmental and social impacts and tie them to financial value, over 300 global senior executives across diverse industry sectors convened recently.
Critical insight into the key business metrics that are informing next generation goals will be discussed and debated by more than 60 influential speakers. Innovative measurement tools, breakthrough research methods, informative case studies and advanced frameworks would be featured in the event, including conversations on new ways to measure the ROI of sustainability, quantify employee engagement and performance, measure shared value and impact along the supply chain and benchmark ESG performance ratings/rankings.
KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Brands said that they had seen tremendous growth in the advancement of new business performance metrics within the SB community over the years. The translation of previously ignored environmental and social impacts into corporate financial performance indicators, the spread of goal-setting methodologies and the proliferation of innovative tools had all elevated the discussion to an extent where an accelerated shift to new norms could be seen, she added.
www.sustainablebrands.com
A prestigious Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed by Safeducate, the education and training arm of supply chain and logistics industry leader Safexpress, with Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV). Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV and Divya Jain, Founder & CEO, Safeducate signed the MoU on September 18 2015 at the Corporate Headquarters of VECV at Gurgaon.
Safeducate has been partnering with a number of government and private bodies to work in the space of offering the youth skills in supply chain and logistics domain since its inception in 2007. Now, Safeducate has partnered with Volvo Eicher to skill and train the rural youth by providing Driver Training.
Jain, while speaking about the collaboration with VECV explained that its main objective was to familiarise the new and existing drivers with safe and appropriate driving techniques, so as to get the best fuel efficiency from the vehicles besides driving in a safe manner to avoid accidents. The project aims to promote the profession of driving among career aspirants.
She added that this strategic partnership with VECV, would help them gain access to the best of driver training material, techniques and tools, which will further enable them to create more and better drivers. Also, as a part of their rollout plan, they would soon be launching two Driver Training Schools, in association with VECV, she mentioned.
www.safexpress.com
Policy changes to make the mill sector more vibrant are suggested by the Indian Texpreneurs’ Federation (ITF) to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. D Prabhu, ITF Secretary, in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister sought the Centre’s support to do business with ease.
There was some disconnect between the TN textile sector and the Ministry of Textiles at the Centre according to an industry insider. The source stated that many burning issues such as undue delay in disbursement of TU (technology upgradation) subsidy, lifting the TUF (Technology Upgradation Fund) blackout period (between June 29, 2010 and April 27, 2011) and scrapping the hank yarn obligation, etc., remain unaddressed. Thus, they were hoping for some constructive dialogue to achieve the targeted growth. For this, the source added, those in power in the sector need to visit the region, understand their concerns and address them without delay.
The Textile Commissionerate in Mumbai had released the Expression of Interest (EoI) from audit firms to clear the pending TUF claims; however, the move was stalled for unknown reasons, said Prabhu. The Federation thus, appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene and resolve this issue as huge amounts were stuck.
Despite this, however, the mill sector has a plan in place to train and place 1 lakh workers under the Pradhan Mantri Koushal Vikas Yojana, which Prabhu says, would help them gain maximum benefit in standardisation of job roles and work practices.
www.itf.org.in
IndustriALL’s global campaign to STOP Precarious Work was joined by unions from across the world recently.
Workers and affiliates raised their voice to denounce the increase of precarious work and the bad working conditions of precarious workers in several countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Serbia, Kenya, Ghana, Armenia, Belgium, Germany, USA, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, etc.
A human chain was organised by IndustriALL Bangladesh Council in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with more than 200 people protesting against precarious work. IndustriALL National Council Women’s Committee held a joint demonstration in Jakarta, Indonesia linking this action to their ongoing campaign on maternity protection. Women and youth members showed their commitment to decent work with flyers at the National Assemblies of both the Committee for promoting gender equality and the Youth committee in Japan. For the first time, to bring attention to precarious work IndustriALL affiliates in Kenya took action.
Mauritian affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, CMCTEU, along witht eh national centre, CTSP organised a demonstration and a debate on Decent Work and labour legislation to mark the day.
Also, Rio Tinto network and the HolcimLafarge mobilised their members to denounce the rise of precarious work in their companies and the subsequent bad working conditions.
www.industriall-union.org
In 2014 German manufacturers of garment and leather technology observed a growth of 27 per cent in sales in real terms as compared to the previous year and a rise of 16 per cent in incoming orders.
An increase of 6.5 per cent in sales and 2.8 per cent in incoming orders has already been observed from January to August 2015. Flexibility, productivity, sustainability and high quality standards are the main reasons for this growth.
German sewing and garment technology machinery and equipment are used for making not only conventional garment products but protective clothing, functional wear, industrial filters, tarpaulins and sails, rucksacks, upholstered furniture, seats for cars and planes, and airbags.
Manufacturers of laundry and textile cleaning machinery, ironing technology and logistics supply machinery and equipment that represent are technologically and ecologically state of the art. Intelligent programs and fault diagnostics are part of German textile processing machinery and equipment and thus represent the ideal solution for any area of application.
As early as the development phase, new processing techniques and system solutions are integrated, guaranteeing the desired level of quality and safety. The product and service portfolio ranges from sewing technology, including needles, to ironing and finishing technology, IT and software as well as material handling and logistics.
“The 20 per cent growth in exhibitors demonstrates just how renowned Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics has become in the global industry, and how it is seen as the premier sourcing destination to be at each March and October. To ensure this remains the case going forward, we have added new elements and revamped some of our product zones at this edition,” said Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of the fair organiser Messe Frankfurt (HK).
Chinese market continues to hold importance
The world economy has undergone many challenges this year, but the surge in exhibitors proves the industry still believes that there are opportunities in the Chinese and Asian markets.
Contrary to the notion that devaluation of yuan against the dollar may make an adverse impact on the global textile industry as a whole, according to Olaf Schmidt, Vice President, Textiles & Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt Exhibitions GmbH, there would be no impact on fabrics priced between mid to high level, as the difference really doesn’t impact final ready to wear prices, however impact would be much more in low cost fabrics.
Expressing his views on devaluating currencies and business dynamics, Michael Scherpe, President, Messe Frankfurt, France said, “It depends on which side of business you are in. For Europeans, it is beneficial since currency all these years was very strong. For those on the Chinese side of business, yes it will be little difficult but nothing very radical and challenging to balance the situation. More than these little changes, we have to see the political scenario that is causing a lot more uncertainty.”
A whole range of pavilions and product zones
The autumn editions of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics; CHIC, the China International Fashion Fair; PH Value; and Yarn Expo are all simultaneously taking place showcasing high-quality domestic and international fabrics and accessories, yarn, garment and knitting manufacturers.
The international halls are divided into various pavilions and product zones to feature an extensive variety of products from around the globe. SalonEurope with France, Germany, Portugal, Turkey, the UK and Italy’s Milano Unica pavilions together with exhibitors from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland are displaying high-end European-made fabrics and accessories. In addition, the FILO Pavilion is featuring Italian yarn and fibre companies within Milano Unica for the first time.
Premium Wool Zone is offering premium wool products from France, Italy and the UK. The exhibition area has increased in size by over 50 per cent this season. In Verve for Design, in addition to returning design studios from Hong Kong, Italy and the UK, designers from Japan, Switzerland and Russia are also taking part for the first time to display inspiring textile pattern designs. Asian country and region pavilions - India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand enrich the diversity of products on offer. A large selection of innovative products will be introduced in the Birla Cellulose, DuPont, GNC, Hyosung, Invista, Lenzing, Korea Chemical Fibers Association (KCFA), Korea Textile Trade Association (KTTA) and SRTEPC group pavilions.
All About Sustainability area including an Education Zone also has ecoBoutique display area, Forum Space and the Oeko-Tex pavilion. The entire sustainable supply chain as well as seminars on sustainable solutions and initiatives can be found in this area. “Two trends are quite obvious; says Schmidt, adding, “first is sustainability, though it is new, but is increasingly gathering momentum and second is movement of fabrics towards high quality.”
And a debut product zone and revamped denim area cater to current market demands. Around 60 exhibitors are featuring in the Performance Lab area in response to the rapidly growing demand for high-performance products and production technology. Beyond Denim has not only expanded by 74 per cent but also appears with a new image. Denim exhibitors from the concurrent CHIC garment fair are taking part in this hall as it becomes a true one-stop sourcing platform covering the entire supply chain.
Categorised by product end-use, domestic exhibitors are located in six halls: tiled Casual wear, Lingerie and swimwear, Functional wear & sportswear, Shirting, Suiting and Ladieswear. The Accessories Hall is also housing over 660 accessories suppliers from China and overseas showcasing zippers, buttons, lace and embroidery, linings and interlinings, thread, appliques, sequins, beads, rhinestones and more.
Fringe programme - an integrated learning platform
To meet the industry’s needs, new elements have been added into this year’s fringe programme. A brand new Digital Printing Forum and a series of panel discussions will be held for the first time throughout the three-day fair, along with 31 informative seminars. Experts from different industry sectors will share a wide range of design and trend ideas, the latest market news as well as industry technologies.
In addition, the Autumn/Winter 2016/17 international trends envisioned by the Directions Trend Committee will be revealed in the Intertextile Directions Trend Forum. To further interpret the trends on display, Ornella Bignami, Creative Director of Elementi Moda and the Trend Forum designer, will demonstrate seasonal trend stories at three Trend Tour sessions during the first two days of the fair.
This is the first Autumn Edition of CHIC, the China International Fashion Fair. This new edition aims to strengthen the industry’s development by gathering both upstream and downstream resources. Over 700 brands from 23 countries and regions are featured in this comprehensive industry platform to offer the best quality products and innovative services. Based on the themes of ‘Age of Big Connection: Smart Manufacture’, a total of 18 fashion seminars and over 10 CHIC Shows will be held concurrently.
This year, the CHIC 2015 Autumn fair adopts the theme of ‘Smart & Fashionable’, using ‘Smart’ to fully integrate all steps and products of the industry supply chain. It interprets ‘Smart & Fashionable’ from three dimensions of manufacturing, products and retail, and integrates multiple parts of smart expo services, smart manufacturing, smart terminals and smart products, thus being fully prepared for the advent of the new age of technology reform. The ‘Smart & Fashionable’ theme will run through fashionable menswear and ladieswear, and specialised manufacturing and processing exhibition zones, while the two newly added theme zones of ‘Smart & Fashionable’ and ‘Smart Manufacturing’ will also present the new ‘Smart & Fashionable’ trend from different perspectives.
PH Value, with a total of nearly 300 exhibitors is focusing on offering finished knitwear products, which includes knitwear, underwear, home products, T-shirts, socks and more, which reflects the value chain, from ready-to-wear processing to brands, sales channels and consumers. Concurrently with CHIC, forum activities will also be held. The forums are on hot topics in the industry including ‘Internet + Dialogue Digital Retail Future’, ‘Fibre-Perfect integration between high performance and eco-friendliness’, ‘Application of polyaminoester short fibre in textile’, and ‘Forecast of knitwear popular trends’.
This year’s Yarn Expo has attracted a total of 258 overseas and domestic suppliers from 10 countries and regions. A strong line-up of fibre suppliers showcases the most cutting-edge high-performance products available today. Concurrently, Yarn Expo will showcase the ‘2015/16 China fibre popular trends’ as well as a variety of forums and lectures.
Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabricsis co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK), CCPIT; and the China Textile Information Centre.
www.intertextileapparel.com
