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Taiwan’s leading textile manufacturers are presenting innovative products like sustainable textiles and performance fabrics.
As the global hub for functional fabric production, Taiwan accounts for 50 per cent of the global output value of all functional fabrics, making Taiwan the world’s largest functional fabric production base.
New product categories include endurance materials seen as an alternative to spandex, wool-synthetic knitted fabric blends designed for temperature regulation through an evaporative cooling process, eco-friendly fabrics with stretch qualities similar to elastene, but with better breathability, fast dryness, durability and friendlier to the environment, and functional and natural fiber products.
Taiwan's competitive advantage in functional, environmental and smart fabrics includes strong development and integration abilities for functional artificial fibers, and an excellent ability to provide a wide variety of differentiated and customized fabrics in small quantities. It also includes low pollution and energy consumption in the production process, innovative technologies in its semiconductor and biomedical industries, electronic components, and cross-industry integration.
Evertex Fabrinology is dedicated to producing highly technical knit fabrics with heavy emphasis on durability, performance and comfort for outdoor enthusiasts during extreme excursions. Tex-Ray Industrial has integrated yarn dyeing, fabric and garment production with manufacturing. It has developed innovative products to satisfy various climates, functions, and environmental protections.
As a result of reduced tariffs, luxury brands selling in China have trimmed their prices. Tariffs on clothing, shoes and headwear have been slashed from 15.9 per cent to 7.1 per cent. Tariffs on leather bags, previously as high as 20 per cent, have dropped to under ten per cent. The move is designed to stimulate global imports as trade-war tensions simmer between the US and the world’s second largest economy.
Louis Vuitton took made the first-mover, spurring fellow luxury houses Hermès and Gucci to revise down their own prices on select items as well. With increasing spending power, millennials have been particularly influential in reinvigorating China’s luxury consumption.
Luxury brands are repositioning themselves to better reach this influential demographic group, particularly through digital media that plays an influential role in shaping younger consumers’ opinions about luxury and fashion. China’s domestic luxury market expanded by 20 per cent in 2017, with mainland growth outpacing the rate of purchases made overseas.
However, brand prices in China remain well above what they are in the global fashion capitals of New York, Paris, London and Milan. Comparatively high value-added and consumption tax rates—often in the double digits—in China further drive end prices up, a factor that fuels Chinese shopping tourism to western countries.
The net profit textile machinery manufacturing major Lakshmi Machine Works’ (LMW) for the quarter ended June 2018 rose by 4 per cent to Rs 49.68 crore as compared to Rs 47.62 crore during the corresponding quarter of the earlier fiscal. Income from operations of the company slipped to Rs 668.71 crore at the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal from the 12-month ago income of Rs 717.63 crore. The company has managed to contain its total expenses correspondingly, bringing it down to Rs 593.11 crore from the earlier Rs 647.20 crore.
Footwear is one of the most heavily imported products in the US. Ninety-eight per cent of shoes are manufactured abroad, with nearly three-quarters of those imports coming from China. Shoe companies rely heavily on Chinese-made goods, despite efforts to move more of their operations to countries like Vietnam and Cambodia in recent years. Last year, the United States imported 14.8 billion dollars worth of shoes from China, making footwear the fifth-largest category of Chinese imports.
Looming tariffs could ground footwear brands. Footwear tariffs tend to be among the most regressive. The lowest-priced shoes – children’s fabric tennis shoes -- have the highest tariffs, while higher-end men’s leather dress shoes are taxed a lot less. Canvas shoes come with particularly hefty tariffs -- as high as 68.5 per cent. Women’s and children’s shoes often come with much higher tariffs than shoes for men.
The industry is on high alert since the US may extend tariffs to all imports from China. Brands say more shoe tariffs would mean higher costs for footwear consumers and fewer US jobs and that any action taken to increase duties on Chinese footwear will have an immediate and long-lasting effect on American individuals and families. Even if footwear imports escape additional tariffs, continued uncertainty could further roil an industry that has had tepid growth in recent years.
US industry leaders are pursuing exemptions from tariffs on outdoor and sporting goods industries. The US Trade Representative office recently released a list of targets for 10 per cent tariffs $200 billion of Chinese imports. These include sporting products such as backpacks, duffel bags, bicycles, hats, gloves and some leather goods. The baseball and softball gloves are expected to be the hardest hit.
The tariffs would also hit the booming $887 billion outdoor recreation economy, which supports 7.6 million US jobs and generates $80 billion in tax revenues at the federal. They could have a devastating impact on outdoor companies and significantly raise costs for consumers. The current import tariffs on outdoor products are as high as 20 percent. Apparel and footwear were not on the list. The organisation has urged administration officials to continue to engage their Chinese counterparts in a constructive dialogue to resolve legitimate concerns about China's IP (intellectual property) practices and forced technology transfers.
As per Hank Reichle, Executive Vice President, Staplcotn Cooperative, Greenwood, there is a huge increase in overall demand for cotton globally, and the new year is likely produce the most cotton worldwide. This growing demand for cotton is also likely to reduce ending stocks from 85 million at the beginning of the current marketing year to 77.8 million a year from now, July 31, 2019. Though there will be more acres planted worldwide, there will be 1.5 million fewer acres harvested. This will lead to a 7 million bale shortfall this year in matching consumption with production. The world production will be led by the US, China and Australia while the consumption will be led by Bangladesh, China, India, and Vietnam, who will together account for 83 percent of the growth.
Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the America’s textile crafts market, has entered the FTSE4Good UK Index. The company scored especially highly on the metrics around governance, particularly corporate governance and anti-corruption. Coats’ entry to the FTSE4Good Index comes after its entry to the unrelated MSCI Global Small Cap Index in May 2018. Additonally, in June 2018, Coats marked the one year anniversary of its re-entry to the FTSE 250, having been a founding member of the FT 30 index in 1935.
The FTSE4Good Index Series is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices which are clearly defined and transparently managed. It is used to create financial products which focus on sustainable investment as well as for benchmarking, research and reference.
American business groups have urged the US not to impose more tariffs on necessary Chinese imports. They warn new duties would be harmful to US businesses, especially those that rely heavily on products that only China can provide.
The plastics industry has urged the administration not to push ahead with tariffs that target fluoropolymers, of which Teflon is an example, saying the new tariffs would cause severe and irreparable damage to the US fluoropolymer industry.
Such duties are expected to harm more than 4,000 businesses and jeopardise the tens of billions of dollars the industry contributes to the US economy. The chemical industry says its companies are reliant on imported products that only China offers.
Manufacturers say complex supply chains could take up to five years to rebuild if China was no longer a viable supplier. The US Chamber of Commerce has expressed its staunch opposition to tariff escalation, saying it would be US businesses and customers who would foot the bill of the hidden, regressive taxes. The body says the time is now for serious bilateral discussions that can identify solutions and forestall unintended impacts.
The US is willing to impose tariffs on all Chinese products imported to the United States, with the total value of goods targeted reaching 500 billion dollars.
The Brazilian Ambassador in Dhaka Mr Joao Tabajara de Oliveira Junior has said Brazil desires to boost bilateral trade and investment with Bangladesh; however intermediaries are the main problem to tap real gains of business by the entrepreneurs between the two friendly countries. The ambassador expressed his opinion during a courtesy meeting with Enayet Karim, President of the Global Economist Forum, a United Nations Consultant Organisation-working for the promotion of trade and investment, held yesterday at the Embassy of Brazil in the capital.
The ambassador revealed his plans to introduce more private sector entrepreneurs of the two countries to know the potential of each other and take trade and investment cooperation to a different height. Currently, the annual bilateral trade volume amounts to $1.3 billion with Brazil mostly exporting sugar and Bangladesh garment items.
The readymade garment industry of Bangladesh has transformed over the last five years. Global apparel brands and retailers are placing a higher volume of work orders to compliant factories in Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s overall apparel exports to the US rose by 3.76 per cent during January to May 2018.
Bangladesh is the fifth sourcing destination for US-based apparel and fashion companies in 2018 mainly because of the most competitive price it offers. Bangladesh was also the fifth sourcing hotspot in 2016.
Made in Bangladesh enjoys a prominent price advantage over many other Asian suppliers. In terms of sourcing cost, China scores 3 points, Vietnam 4 and Bangladesh 4.5. Companies are interested in expanding sourcing from Bangladesh in the next two years. They are actively seeking alternatives to Chinese and Vietnamese products.
Besides Vietnam and Bangladesh, buyers also plan to increase sourcing from India, Indonesia, Cambodia and Africa. Trade barriers as well as compliance with factory, social, and environmental standards are driving up sourcing costs this year. Labor cost remains the top factor driving up sourcing cost in 2018.
Wage levels are continuing to rise quickly in many Asian countries where US fashion companies primarily source, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
