FW
Pakistan’s textile exports to the European Union rose by 21.3 per cent during fiscal year 2015. Cotton exports increased by 4.43 per cent. Footwear exports increased 12 per cent, carpet and rug exports increased by 17.35 per cent.
During the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (2015-16), overall imports into the country declined by 4.22 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year. Imports into the country during July to March 2015-16 were recorded at 32.515 billion dollars compared to the imports of 33.948 billion dollars during July to March 2014-15. Exports from the country also witnessed a negative growth of 12.92 per cent by falling from 17.921 billion dollars last year to 15.606 billion dollars during the current year.
Overall trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at 16.909 billion dollars compared to the deficit of 16.027 billion dollars last year, showing an increase of 5.50 per cent. Total textile exports increased from 5,45,698 metric tons in 2013 to 6,62,475 metric tons in 2015. Among textile products, exports of textile garments increased from 1,37,399 metric tons to 1,79,901 metric tons in 2015, showing an increase of 31 per cent while homemade textile exports increased from 1,95,243 metric tons to 2,59,557 metric tons in 2015, showing a growth of 33 per cent.
Gujarat's textile policy, announced in 2012, has so far attracted investment commitments worth Rs 9,208 crores through varied units such as weaving, made-ups, processing, spinning, ginning and technical textiles. The plan is to attract Rs 20,000 crores of investment and 2.5 million new jobs by 2017.
Under the policy, 549 textile units have got approvals. The latest nod is for a textile and apparel park coming up in Surat. This park will come up on 62 acres, house 42 manufacturing units and generate 1,900 jobs. So far, 12 such parks have received an in-principle nod.
Approvals have been granted for 43 units, 42 of these units are weaving, made-ups, knitted fabrics, processing, embroidery, cotton ginning and twisting, and one unit for technical textiles. These units have bagged approvals for interest subsidy and value-added tax concession, apart from a power rate subsidy for weaving units. Nearly Rs 603 crores have been invested for plant and machinery. While made-up units will enjoy an interest subsidy of seven per cent, technical textiles and rest of the units will enjoy six per cent and five per cent respectively.
Maharashtra, too, has rolled out a textile policy aiming to attract Rs 40,000 crores of investment and create 1.1 million job opportunities in five years.
The Indian government believes elimination of export subsidies on cotton by developed nations of WTO would help domestic growers and also prevent dumping of subsidised natural fiber in India. The commerce ministry said in a statement that WTO's Nairobi Ministerial decision on elimination of export subsidies on cotton will be good for Indian exports as it will create a level playing field for domestic farmers, who were not entitled to it but other developed countries were providing the same.
India's push has helped in elimination of cotton export subsidies by developed countries. This will help Indian cotton growers in competing with other growers as well as prevent dumping of subsidised cotton in India, the statement said. The government is committed to the welfare of cotton farmers and has been taking steps to protect them. These include procurement through Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) at minimum support prices, the statement added.
The statement further said that cotton is an important crop and very high level of subsidies in developed countries have been a cause of worry for developing countries as they adversely affect cotton growers in the poorest nations. The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) permits export subsidies on agriculture subject to the limits set-out in members' schedules of commitments. Export subsidies can still be used by the World Trade Organization (WTO) members, but only where they used them during the base period (1986-1988).
Last week, the equivalent of 41 million bales of cotton traded in a single day on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, the most in more than five years and enough to make almost 9 billion pairs of jeans, or at least one for every person on the planet. Prices that had slumped to the lowest on record in February surged almost 19 per cent in the four days leading up to the trading spike recently.
Meanwhile, traders have piled into Chinese commodity markets, sending volumes of everything from steel to coking coal soaring and prompting exchanges to boost margins and fees or issue warnings to investors. The surge in trading is reminiscent of last year’s equities rally that boosted the stock market before a rout erased $5 trillion. China is the world’s largest consumer of cotton and second-biggest producer.
More than 3.6 million contracts of 5 tonnes apiece traded in Zhengzhou on a single day. With Chinese exchanges double counting volume to account for the long and short side of a trade, that’s still about 9 million tonnes, or 41 million bales. One bale can make 215 pairs of jeans, according to the National Cotton Council of America.
On the same day, about 1.6 billion pounds traded on ICE Futures in New York. That’s about 3.3 million bales, or more than 700 million pairs of jeans, enough to dress up the US, Brazil and Japan in denim.
The Cambodian textile and apparel industry enjoyed a seven per cent rise in exports in 2015 and a similar increase is expected in the current year. This growth rate is among the highest recorded in the Asian continent. The local textile and apparel industry generates more than seven lakh jobs in 1,200 workshops. It accounts for 80 per cent of Cambodia’s total exports and contributes a third of gross domestic product. The industry uses as raw material cloth imported mainly from other Asian countries. It continues to attract foreign direct investment.
The country’s clothing and footwear exports in 2015 reached a value of $6.3 billion, compared to $5.8 billion a year earlier. It was a 7.6 per cent rise, a welcome acceleration after a slow first half of the year, though still below the 9.6 per cent growth recorded between 2013 and 2014. Footwear by itself posted a 21.8 per cent rise, with $538 million worth of goods exported.
Europe remained Cambodia’s main market. The US is the country’s second biggest market. Duty-free access to the European Union continues supporting the clothing industry, whatever the sharp increase of labor costs in the last few years.
Bangladesh is one of the largest cotton importers in the world. The country produces just one per cent of the total requirement of cotton for making yarns and fabrics for clothes. It is also the second largest readymade garment exporter in the world. Last year, Bangladesh imported 6.1 million bales of cotton, which was double the amount it imported in 2006. India and Uzbekistan are the main sources of those imports.
Bangladesh has a policy of not cultivating cotton on land where some other crop is grown. But now, it’s looking for places where it can promote cotton, like coastal areas, where no other crop can be produced due to saline intrusion. One target is hilly areas as only two percent of that region has been utilized so far. Cotton production will also be promoted in areas where tobacco is being cultivated.
The country has taken up a project for research and expansion of cotton production. Producing cotton can help the country save 10 per cent to 15 per cent on import costs. In fact a world cotton summit is being held in Bangladesh ending today. Global cotton buyers and sellers have convened at the summit in an attempt to understand the market better.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a loan agreement with Bangladesh's BRAC Bank to finance the construction and upgrade of ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh that have taken steps to meet global standards and improve rights and safety of workers. The $30 million loan will also be used to build the badly-needed effluent treatment facilities in the textile and garment industry.
ADB in a statement said many factories in the country still operate without effluent treatment plants, resulting in widespread water pollution which is particularly damaging rural areas where communities rely on surface water for washing, bathing, irrigation and fishing. Bangladesh is the world's second largest exporter of textiles and garments, accounting for over 80 per cent of country's merchandise exports in fiscal year 2014, and employs 4.2 million workers.
The bank however, said the industry has suffered setbacks after two disasters in recent years - the 2012 Tazreen factory fire and the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse. In the wake of these events, the Bangladesh government entered into a compact with the European Union, the United States, and the International Labor Organization to commit to improvements in building safety, labor rights, and business conduct.
Global Sources fair is being held in Hong Kong from April 27 to 30. This is a one-stop sourcing platform for apparel, fashion jewellery, underwear and swimwear, bags and luggage, scarves, footwear and fabrics. Global Sources’ fashion show assembles top suppliers from mainland China, India, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and across Asia. Dedicated brand walls have been set up to help 330 ODM/OBM suppliers promote their own designs and brands.
The event helps buyers discover items that will be hot in the coming months and matches demand for specific product categories. A broader selection of footwear and functional fabrics has been brought in this spring. The selection for bags and luggage has been increased by 50 per cent from the previous show.
By connecting the traditional and new, the experienced and the young, Global Sources aims to create a fashion ecosystem to help manufacturers move up the value chain. Global Sources is a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China. More than a million international buyers, including 95 of the world’s top 100 retailers, use its services to obtain product and company information to help them source more profitably from overseas supply markets. These services also provide suppliers with integrated marketing solutions to build corporate image, generate sales leads and win orders from buyers in more than 240 countries and territories.
"Balenciaga has become the hottest fashion brand beating Gucci. Latest research, indicates Demna Gvasalia-designed brand went up two notch to top the hottest brand ranking in the third quarter of 2017. Even after slipping one rank, Gucci continues to excel as the most consistent performer in the hottest brand ranking to date this year. Between July and September, the label launched Gucci Décor — an eclectic line of home furnishings and treatments — and announced its collaboration with Dapper Dan, driving brand searches across the e-commerce sites Lyst aggregates."
Balenciaga has become the hottest fashion brand beating Gucci. Latest research, indicates Demna Gvasalia-designed brand went up two notch to top the hottest brand ranking in the third quarter of 2017. Even after slipping one rank, Gucci continues to excel as the most consistent performer in the hottest brand ranking to date this year. Between July and September, the label launched Gucci Décor — an eclectic line of home furnishings and treatments — and announced its collaboration with Dapper Dan, driving brand searches across the e-commerce sites Lyst aggregates.
The impressive ascent of Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, jumping 31 places is touted to be the biggest game changer. It has become the third-hottest fashion brand in the world in Q3, knocking Kanye West’s Yeezy, which ranked number two last quarter. Abloh is the brainchild of young fashion designers who have been vouching for streetwear through high-end production. While it has been eyeing its target audience, Millennial and Gen-Z consumers, carefully, by mixing high and low price points as well as disparate aesthetic and cultural influences, critics find fault in the brand’s referential nature. But the financial results have another story to tell.
In July, Off-White partnered with optical disruptor Warby Parker on a line of sunglasses, and in September Abloh paid sartorial homage to Princess Diana during the brand’s Spring/Summer 2018 show. However, the brand’s biggest driver by far was a collaboration with Nike, which saw Abloh reimagine 10 models from its archive including the Air Jordan 1, Air Max 90, Blazer, Hyperdunk and Air Force 1.
Streetwear gets a boost
Bain & Company opines, as Gen-Z consumers’ share of wallet grows, streetwear has helped boost global sales of personal luxury goods by 5 per cent to an estimated total of €263 billion ($309 billion) in 2017. Indeed, digital natives that have grown up in an era of hype-culture and product drops are the perfect conduits to build buzz online. This quarter, four of the five new entrants to the Lyst Index — Off-White, Stone Island, Moncler and Raf Simons — are in the streetwear sweet spot, making an appearance in top 10 for the first time. Casual-wear brand Stone Island jumped 33 places this quarter, thanks to leaked details on its upcoming collaboration with Supreme, and the impact of Canadian rapper Drake’s decision to exclusively wear Stone Island on stage during his ongoing world tour. Similarly, searches for Moncler spiked after British rapper Skepta was photographed wearing the brand's upcoming collaboration with Craig Green.
Looking at the streetwear wave, Raf Simons, who in June won both the best women’s wear and menswear designer CFDA awards for his work at Calvin Klein, launched ‘duct tape belt’ priced at £281 (about $372) in August. The Belgian designer is regarded a streetwear inspiration by a number of influential rap artists, including Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and A$AP Rocky — in July, A$AP Rocky released a single entitled ‘RAF’ in tribute, contributing to a 34 per cent spike in Raf Simons search enquiries this quarter.
Top 10 products
The ranking continues to be dominated by womenswear and is made up of the similar category mix as in Q2. Footwear continues to be the strongest category with five different pairs of shoes featured on the list, including, in fifth place, the Gucci Bloom sliders which topped last quarter’s product ranking (and were the only re-entrant).
Rwanda may waive the 25 per cent customs duty on imported fabric, a move that is meant to boost production of locally-made garments. The number of garment makers and co-operatives is increasing in Rwanda. The policy seeks to, among other things; stimulate local industries by banning the import of secondhand clothes. There is a feeling that on the one hand Rwanda’s fashion and tailoring sectors would experience a boom once the industrialisation policy comes into effect but on the other hand, they could also shrink and potentially disappear due to stiff competition from cheaper imports from Asia.
Many co-operatives in Rwanda prefer to buy cheaper fabric from Asia, mainly China, India, Taiwan and Indonesia, as they are not satisfied with the quality and quantity that is produced domestically. There is a fear that if taxes are waived, every tailor and fashion designer will go to China to import the fabric and this will benefit not Rwandan textiles but those in China, Thailand and Bangladesh.
Rwanda’s textile factories are struggling to stay in business due to competition from imported fabrics. Because the majority of Rwandans prefer secondhand clothes, the mills have been forced to cut production. They are also grappling with high production costs.
