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Demand for disposable nonwovens is forecast to grow at a healthy rate in the coming years. Growth will be due in part to greater demand among the growing upper and middle classes in Asia for consumer goods which offer higher performance and are of higher added value, such as diapers and feminine hygiene products. At the same time, the market for flushable wipes is growing strongly.
Reflecting the potential for growth in these markets, a number of nonwoven fabric producers are investing in new production lines in a bid to take advantage and increase sales. At the same time, the new lines are providing producers with the latest technologies which are enabling them to produce thinner, lighter weight fabrics that are cheaper to produce and satisfy the demand for hygiene products which are less bulky.
The world’s largest nonwovens company, Berry Plastics, has announced plans to install a new line in the US to offer customers softer materials. Also, following the installation of a new carding line, the company has launched several new products for the hygiene market.
Kimberly-Clark is adding new lines for making baby wipes and diaper pants in Singapore as it continues to look to emerging markets for growth in its consumer products businesses.
"At the world’s largest activewear trade show, ISPO, in Munich which saw more than 85,000 visitors, and Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City, wool grabbed attention of all those on the lookout for latest fabrics that use a performance fibre produced in a natural environment from a renewable source. Merino wool’s natural benefits teamed with technical innovations are driving demand for the fibre in activewear market."
At the world’s largest activewear trade show, ISPO, in Munich which saw more than 85,000 visitors, and Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City, wool grabbed attention of all those on the lookout for latest fabrics that use a performance fibre produced in a natural environment from a renewable source. Merino wool’s natural benefits teamed with technical innovations are driving demand for the fibre in activewear market.
Merino wool has positioned itself as a versatile, multifunctional and technical fibre, thanks to its unique natural features and benefits, such as breathability, temperature control, moisture management, elasticity and resistance to odour. The Wool Lab Sport showcased latest innovative, commercially available Merino wool fabrics and yarns for a mix of both performance and athleisure apparel. The Woolmark Company’s Sports/Outdoor advisor Lars Ulvesund said this encompasses fabric and garment constructions that really stand out from the crowd, be it visually or through technical properties. Examples of this include circular knit fabrics with pronounced structures and seamless garments in new yarns. Meanwhile lightweight flat knits are entering the market and competing in the next-to-skin market even though it is still early days. Most significant however was the presence of spinners at the trade shows and how they are getting more and more attention. Yarns are more important than ever before in the process of new knit innovations.
Innovations at their best
The Woolmark Company exhibited its new edition of The Wool Lab Sport at the trade shows. The Wool Lab Sport, part of the Spring/Summer 2018 edition of The Wool Lab, showcases latest innovative, commercially available Merino wool fabrics and yarns for a mix of both performance and athleisure apparel.
One of the world’s oldest companies producing wool for the outdoor market – since 1853 – and in the top tier of wool apparel production, is Norway’s Devold. Working closely with their customers, Devold CEO Catherine Stange says exciting innovations arise from specific requirements of consumers. Right now, there is a clear trend towards fine micron Merino wool. The company’s 17.5-micron collection is getting more and more traction from consumers who are adapting that to a year-round alternative. In addition, they are able to expand and evolve the use of Merino into new categories. They have developed a collection for the sports/high-intensity training segment of the market based on 16.5-micron wool mixed with Tencel.
Innovative Trends
Thomas Moe, Head, Mountainwear at German brand Ortovox, sees an increase in demand for all wool products. He says, there’s a big trend in wool, a lot of people are jumping on the wool trend. Deeper means we have to go to the origin and have close contact with the farms, showing what happens from sheep to shop. When people understand the benefits of wool they don't talk about the price because they understand the need for wool. Wearing wool, one has all the fibres’ benefits such as odour resistance, and you need less garments. One wool garment is going to be more expensive than a comparable polyester garment, but since one needs less garments they actually come out better.
Helly Hansen Category Managing Director Kristoffer Ulriksen points out merino wool is a more expensive fibre but more and more markets and consumers are understanding the benefits of Merino wool and are willing to pay more to get added benefit of warmth and comfort. One of the exciting new products this season is the new seamless Merino wool product. It has such great warmth-to-weight ratio that even though it’s lightweight – it’s fairly thin – it has great comfort and warmth for the consumers.
For 2017, Vietnam’s textile and garment sector aims for a growth rate of seven or eight per cent. Vietnam’s textile and garment industry sustained a stable export value growth of 15 per cent in 2010-15. Garment and textile exports in the first half of this year showed a year on year increase of 4.72 per cent and accounted for 41 per cent of the sector’s target for 2016.
Vietnam’s garment and textile sector is still enjoying good growth in exports to the US market even without the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The US and Japan are the two main export markets of Vietnam’s garments and textiles. Enterprises in the sector have continuously made investment in machines and technology to improve their productivity, reduce cost, thus increasing their competitiveness in the two markets.
Vietnam attracts investors with an open economy, a favorable business climate and tax incentives from the World Trade Organisation and has free trade agreements with the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The country has an advantageous productive working age population. It is confident the withdrawal of the United States from TPP will not affect exports.
But it is also possible that once investors see TPP as a fading dream, investment flow in the sector will slow down during 2017-18 in comparison with the 2013-14 period.
Technological collaborations among companies have contributed to the growth of the global smart and interactive textile market. Smart textiles are textiles that can sense and react to environmental conditions or stimuli such as mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, or magnetic properties. They come integrated with conductive polymers, shape memory polymers, electronic sensors and various communication equipment.
High durability, appearance preservation, integrability with the human body, light weight, and reliable protection are some of the important characteristics of smart textiles. On the basis of the end user, the global market is segmented as: medical, healthcare, military, aerospace, transportation, and others.
Developments in newly crafted textiles have led innovators to invent many smart textile applications such as color-changing fabrics, fabrics measuring body fluid composition, pulse and heart monitoring clothes, temperature sensing clothes, microphones in fabrics, cooling apparels, and others.
Passive smart materials can only sense the environmental condition or stimuli. Active smart materials have the capability to sense as well as react to the conditions. Ultra smart textile materials can sense, react, and adjust as per the conditions. Europe dominates the global smart and interactive textiles market. North America stands at the second place and has a large consumption of smart textiles in defense and consumer applications. Asia Pacific is expected to grow in the near future.
Indian shawls are often preferred by women because of their tenderness and warmth. India exports shawls to more than 70 countries in the world, including Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa. Shawl exports stand at Rs 750 crores out of this figure, Amritsar shawl exports is worth Rs 450 crores.
The shawl industry in Amritsar has more than 47 manufacturing units with 400 shuttle-less rapier looms with electronic jacquards. These units have an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crores. About 4500 embroidery machines help in value addition. There are also dyeing and finishing, woolen and worsted spinning mills. Cone dyeing of yarns is also done. Printing industries support the textile units.
Most of these units are Woolmark licensees as they receive the raw material for shawls from Australia. India is the third largest consumer of Australian wool in the world. Apart from shawls, imported wool is also used in manufacturing woolen apparel including suitings, dress material, Lohi and Kullu shawls. Shawls in India are placed in the readymade category. But the industry wants a separate classification in the export category to factually assess the share of shawls in exports.
The Customer to Manufactory (C2M) business model is replacing the traditional supply chain. End-customer needs can be delivered to manufacturers by just a few swipes and clicks, through which the manufacturer not only saves cost but also obtains immediate market information.
C2M is a model with one end connected to the customer and the other to the manufacturer. All links in between, like inventory, logistics, sales and distribution, can be omitted to save unnecessary cost so that customers can buy high quality goods at lower prices.
The model aims to connect different production processes through the internet and utilize the computer system for immediate data exchange. The production order is placed in accordance with customers’ requirements and the product is customized duly. C2M is called the fourth technology revolution, after the steam engine, electrification, and automation.
This development subverts the traditional retail thinking that manufacturing is driven by customer demands through the e-commerce platform. This on-demand production successfully eliminates factory inventory costs, thus further decreasing customer purchasing cost.
The next edition of Shanghai Tex 2017 scheduled for November 27 to 30, 2017, China, will shed light on forecasting C2M trends to bring more practical solutions to interested industrial players. A zone will share the most cutting-edge marketing information and bring a revolutionary interactive experience to visitors.
Pakistan’s textile exports fell 1.74 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2016-17. In February, textile exports slid 6.48 per cent month-on-month and 2.53 per cent year-on-year. In February, machinery imports increased 41.93 per cent year-on-year but they decreased 18.47 per cent month-on-month. Imports of petroleum products surged 67.02 per cent year-on-year and rose 4.39 per cent month-on-month.
From July to February of the financial year 2017, food exports declined 11.79 per cent. Sugar exports slumped 88.38 per cent. Knitwear exports remained almost flat in July to February 2016-2017, while bed wear exports rose 5.07 per cent. Exports of readymade garments increased 4.3 per cent. Cotton cloth exports decreased 6.26 per cent. Exports of raw cotton nearly halved in the period under review.
Machinery imports accounted for 20 per cent of the total imports during the period and were up 42.36 per cent over the previous fiscal year. Oil import bill was up 20.97 per cent. Food imports soared 13.47 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. On the whole an improvement in exports from the value-added sector of Pakistan arrested a major revenue setback during this period.
Colombia Tex held in January saw a nine per cent rise in international buyers compared to previous year. This is a show for fabrics, textiles, findings and trimmings, machinery in the clothing and home industry.
The show hosted 510 exhibitors, mainly from Colombia, India, Brazil, Spain and Italy. Exhibitors showcased machinery, raw materials, fabrics, and finished garments among other products.
Exhibits included fiber preparation machines, knitting machines, spinning machines, testing equipment, weaving machines, non-woven and industrial machines, chemical blended textiles, mercerized and reflective fabrics, jeans cloth, lining and lacing, fancy yarn, wool, fibers, threads and yarns, buttons, buckles, zippers, ribbons, interlinings, labels, tags, knitted necks.
International buyers appreciated the quality and prices of goods on display at Colombia Tex 2017. The largest delegation of buyers came from Ecuador, with 178 buyers at the show. Companies from the United States were interested in raw materials and new ventures hoping to take advantage of the free trade agreement with Colombia.
Colombia Tex is one of the largest business platforms in Latin America for textiles, apparel, and full-package in categories including women’s wear, menswear, outerwear, athletic wear and swimwear, home textiles, uniforms, and casual wear, in knit and woven categories. Colombian vendors have duty-free access to the United States.
Bombay Thread Works is a thread manufacturing company operating for the last 30 years. “In the past, we manufactured spun polyester and now we are into embroidery yarn. Embroidery yarns are a new thing for us. We supply to big houses such as Vardhman and Oswal,” says Vishesh. Talking about new innovations Vishesh says, “We are focusing on embroidery yarns. These are usually silk threads but we have come up with a new innovation in embroidery yarns. The threads we make are called smart silk threads. It is a replacement for silk threads and is 40 per cent cheaper and increases productivity. Productivty is measured by breakage of yarns during production. For example, silk threads are most likely to break 200 to 250 times if the machine runs for 24 hours, whereas breakage ratio for smart silk threads is less than 10 in the same time period. It also helps clearer and crisp embroidery unlike normal thread.”
About competition and fake products, Vishesh says they educate people about the difference. “People’s perception are different area-wise e.g. In Delhi, people don’t switch to anything quickly, they are okay with what they are using for long. Secondly, the market is price sensitive. So they grab anything that is cheap, we try to maintain a balance by being cost effective.”
The firm conducts door to door marketing, makes people aware using all possible resources. “We also supply to Orient, Richa and Shahi Exports. We are dealing in the domestic market and also supply to exporters.”
As for challenges faced, “The biggest challenge is to educate people. That’s why we take part platforms like GTE. This is our second time, last time we were not prominent but this time we tried to ensure we have a better stall and placement.”
Taiwan-based textile maker, Far Eastern New Century is expanding its capacity in Vietnam. The ongoing capacity expansion plans are part of the company’s investment project in Vietnam to develop a supply chain for fabrics and garments over three years.
The company provides a wide range of petrochemical and textile products, such as polyester-related materials, knitted fabrics and apparels. Another plant in Vietnam, which would produce knitted fabrics, is set to begin production in the second quarter of this year. The new plant is expected to manufacture 6000 tons of knitted fabrics a year.
The company is likely to take advantage of global price increases in ethylene glycol, which would help increase prices of polyester fibers. The price of ethylene glycol is expected to hover at relatively high levels in the near future, as supply shortage problems in China are not yet completely resolved.
Far Eastern is also in talks with several global brands for its eco-friendly products, and is expecting higher revenue contributions from recycled fiber and textiles for this year. The polyester and textile businesses amount to more than 50 per cent of the company’s total sales. However, for whole of last year, the company’s consolidated revenue slid 0.92 per cent year-on-year.
