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H&M is facing allegations of using cotton from Ethiopian farms that were subject to land grabbing. However, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer has clarified it’s making every effort to ensure its cotton does not come from appropriated land. The company says it does not source cotton from the Omo Valley region, where there is a higher risk of land-grabbing.
H&M began small-scale buying of clothes from suppliers in Ethiopia in 2013. This was its first sourcing from an African country. Its operations are widely seen as part of the Ethiopian government’s plans to build up a garment production industry. The company said it had undertaken an analysis that showed land-grabbing did not occur in the area where its direct suppliers are located but that it was not possible to trace any land-grabbing further down its cotton delivery chain.
The Ethiopian government has leased large swathes of land, mainly in its western Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions, to large companies such as Indian firm Karuturi Global, hoping to boost agricultural productivity. Critics, however, say many people — poor farmers in particular — have been forced off their land under the scheme. Land is often bought or leased in developing countries, by foreign companies, without the consent of affected local communities.
www.hm.com/
Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) has less impact on the environment compared to conventional and irrigated cotton. CmiA cotton emits up to 40 per cent fewer greenhouse gas per kilo of cotton fiber than conventional cotton. CmiA is not organic cotton, but is grown using a minimum amount of pesticides. It saves more than 2,100 liters of water per kilogram of cotton fiber, compared to the global average, because it is only cultivated using rainwater.
The low amount of efficiently used resources and production facilities makes it possible to minimize greenhouse gas emissions that result from cotton production. Thanks to rain fed agriculture, a tremendous amount of water can also be saved. Rather than send money to Africa, the Cotton made in Africa initiative follows the principles of social business. This is aid by trade, helping people to help themselves by means of commercial activities. The African smallholder farmers who have joined this initiative are partners on an equal footing.
Cotton made in Africa does not aim to maximise the profit of individuals. It seeks to improve the conditions of life of a large number of African cotton farmers. In order to do that, it is building an alliance of international retail companies, which have targeted demand in the global market for sustainably produced cotton, and use this material in their products.
www.cotton-made-in-africa.com/
Yiwu Tex the knitting, garment dyeing and finishing machinery trading platform is opening in China from November 19 to 22. Exhibitors will display the latest machinery and equipment, with a focus on hosiery and knitting machinery and related products. The first day will feature a conference on water treatment and new trends and direction in water and energy saving for the dyeing and finishing industry. The second day will cover functional sportswear design and fashion influence. There will be a forum on intimate wear design and trends.
Fashion designers will have a display zone, showcasing knitting, garment and printing design products. The show combines the 15th China Yiwu International Exhibition on Knitting and Hosiery Machinery, the 4th China Yiwu International Exhibition on Sewing and Automatic Garment Machinery and 2014 China Yiwu International Exhibition on Dyeing, Finishing and Digital Printing Machinery.
Past exhibitors, including Cixing, Aurora, Aotu, Rosso, Shaoxing Royuan, Kern Liebers, Cesare Colosio, and BTSR, will continue to support the show by allocating more resources and enlarging their exhibiting area at the show this year. Yiwu Tex 2013 featured over 200 knitting and automatic garment machinery exhibitors from 11 countries and regions to showcase top notch machinery and the latest textile products. Yiwu is known as China’s knit city, thread and ribbon city, zipper manufacturing base and hosiery city.
www.yiwutex.com/
Denim By Premiere Vision will take place in Barcelona, on November 19 and 20, 2014. The show will present 97 exhibitors, of which 48 per cent are weavers, 22 per cent are manufacturers, launderers and finishers, 20 per cent are accessory specialists, four per cent fiber producers and spinners plus another six per cent including insiders such as technology developers and promotional organizations.
Exhibitors are from Turkey, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Japan, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Brazil. The main focus of the show will be new denims, casual fabrics, developments, finishes and general strategy previews for spring/summer 2016.
The range exhibited will include waterless treated and dyed denim, fabrics made with recycled fibers plus some highly destroyed fabrics, perfect to be used either for loose fit items or sexy and body hugging ones.
Several specialists will present new colored denim developments. Bossa will launch a series of new denims in earth tones featuring vanilla white, pale pastels and light greys, as well as a series of denims inspired by work wear blue hues with red, green and grey casts. Prosperity Denim will present its new 3D Denim, a dark denim in warp and weft filling, characterized by a saturated deep dark color, and an irregular fabric surface full of contrasts after washing.
www.denimbypremierevision.com/
For Q2 Himatsingka Seide has seen a drop in revenues. The retail and distribution business was a bit soft. Net profit was up 31per cent. However, total income was down six per cent and EBIDTA was down 3.5 per cent. Margins stood at 10.4 per cent versus 10.2 per cent year-on-year. The company is looking at expanding production capacities over the medium term. It has taken several initiatives to expand its international presence and integrate with global brands.
For the last three or four years the company has shown over 17 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) on revenues and 25 per cent CAGR on EBITDA. The company sees a good momentum on earnings going into the second half of the year. Going forward the company also sees several growth opportunities coming in from retail and distribution space other than just manufacturing.
Himatsingka is a vertically integrated home textile major with a global footprint. It was founded in 1985. The group has among the largest capacities in the world for producing upholstery fabrics, drapery fabrics and bed linen products. The group caters to private labels of major retailers across Asia, Europe and North America.
www.himatsingka.com/
If Pakistan's textile industry is lucky, the new five-year textile policy will contain a financial package of over Rs 80 billion. This is aimed at giving a 100 per cent boost to exports and propping up the overall economy. The policy aims at developing the skills of workers, achieving higher per capita productivity and helping create three million jobs. It is also seeking to encourage the adoption of modern management practices for improving efficiency and reducing waste.
The textile sector will be made compliant especially with labor and environmental standards, domestically and internationally, and it will be encouraged to double value addition. The policy would facilitate an additional investment of $5 billion in machinery and technology and improve the fiber and product mix, especially in the garment industry. It would stress the use of technologies for better competitiveness of the entire textile value chain.
The textiles is the most important manufacturing sector of Pakistan. It has the longest production chain with the potential of value addition at each stage of processing from cotton ginning and spinning to fabric-making, dyeing, finishing and production of garments and other products. It contributes nearly one-fourth of industrial value addition, provides employment to about 40 per cent of the industrial workforce and has a eight per cent share in GDP.
A Chinese textile producer has backed out of a deal to acquire a Pakistani company. Shandong Ruyi Science & Technology backed out of the deal to take majority control of Pakistan textile maker Masood Textile Mills.
There are rumors the Chinese company couldn’t get credit to fund the deal. Whether this is true or not, there are mounting concerns about stresses in the Chinese financial system as the country’s economy slows. Both parties are currently going through a new round of negotiations. Ruyi has other projects in Pakistan. These include two 660 megawatt coal-fired power plants. The project is being backed by support from China Development Bank, Bank of China and other financial institutions and is part of the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the name given to the government initiative to better link the two nations economically with infrastructure and investment.
Pakistan has signed deals with China for the development of much-needed infrastructure and energy projects.
www.chinaruyi.com/doce/about/about.asp
The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) met in Greece from November 1 to 7, 2014. At the meeting were 401 participants, including representatives from 33 member governments, 9 international organisations and 19 non-member governments.
The importance of ensuring the growth of cotton consumption was emphasised in various presentations from diverse sectors of the textile chain. ICAC member countries were urged to promote the use of cotton, especially in their domestic markets. With growing importance of responsible cotton production, presentations were made to the committee from various countries explaining actions taken to produce sustainable cotton. It was suggested that countries must work together through mutual exchange of information to expand these important programs in order to ensure a healthy future of cotton.
The plenary hosted a panel discussion on the question of measures that could be introduced to reduce disputes in cotton trading. Contract sanctity was underlined to form part of a healthy cotton supply chain. The panel recommended the exploration of mechanisms, such as compulsory insurance, to guarantee the execution of contracts and thereby contractual protection for the industry. Additionally, the establishment of a world yarn contract would assist in offering further protection.
A specific document on cotton and other outcomes involving agriculture was produced .The committee restated the importance of trade policy as a key factor in promoting world economic growth and development, and voiced support for WTO’s role in promoting free trade.
Digitally printed textiles account for just two per cent of the total printed textile production worldwide. Digital textile printing has a number of important advantages over screen printing. For example, it offers greater freedom of creativity and flexibility in design and is more cost efficient for short print runs. Also, it is more environmentally friendly. It enables physical inventory levels to be reduced and requires less capital investment, has a smaller production footprint.
Furthermore, adoption of digital textile printing helps manufacturers adapt more quickly to changes in global sourcing trends and consumer demand. However, there are many opportunities which provide the digital textile printing industry with scope for future expansion. In particular, whereas production of digitally-printed textiles is currently weighted heavily towards developing countries, there is likely to be an increase in production in European countries in the future.
Digital textile printing will also become more important in the home textile sector as consumers increasingly view home textile products as consumables and update their home furnishings and bedding more frequently.
Among non-consumer applications, there are major opportunities for the digital textile printing market in soft signage. This field is ideally suited to digital printing as customers in this sector usually order in small quantities, and digital textile printing is capable of producing short print runs cost effectively.
For the first half of 2014 Itema sold 12 per cent more weaving machines compared to the same period last year, increasing group’s turnover by 10 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA was up 20 per cent year-on-year, and operating profit up 27 per cent year-on-year.
Itema is a provider of advanced weaving solutions. This result is remarkable considering the global weaving machine market has declined significantly since the fourth quarter of 2013. The highest improvement in performance comes from the Indian sub-continent, particularly Itema India, after major turnaround steps were taken in the first quarter of 2014. Less satisfactory results so far come from China and from airjet weaving machine sales, due mainly to a significant slowdown in the Chinese weaving machine market.
An impressive comeback this year is by the spare parts business. The unit, set up only a year ago, managed, for the first time in 10 years, to reverse the declining trend in the original manufacturer spare parts market.
The company is back on track with the implementation of lean manufacturing across its manufacturing and assembly lines, with a major focus on the main manufacturing site in Italy, driving up productivity by an additional 15 per cent with only limited additional resources and investments.
www.itemagroup.com/
