Setting up of an apparel export council on the cards: PRGMEA chief
PRGMEA is actively considering establishing "Pakistan Apparels Export Council" to ease business, says central chairman Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Ijaz. He stated PRGMEA had already completed initial work for the establishment of the proposed council. Ijaz disclosed a board will be constituted comprising members of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
He says, the government should focus on formulation aggressive trade policies for averting sharp decline in exports of the country adding that polices should be chalked out with active consultation of stakeholders as well as strong interaction with stakeholders direly needed for ascertaining their sliding exports. He added the basic concept of setting the training institute was to produce trained workforce in the field of stitching, pattern designing, quality control, inspection, marketing and sewing machine mechanics male and females separately.
For boosting export, formulation sector wise policies particularly regional based policies would help in increasing exports. He stressed on the need for formulation sector wise and regional wise policies with consultation of stakeholders. and urged for edging out the possibilities of further decline in exports which is on down trend adding that special focus should be accorded on short term polices for overcoming the decline in exports the government must prepare a long and short term polices. He said PRGMEA was making efforts to enhance garment export to $8 billion by 2220 with the active cooperation of business community. Despite hurdles the business community engaged in RMG was making strenuous efforts for enhancing export, said Ijaz.
Picanol H1 turnover up 11 per cent
For the first half of 2017 the Picanol group’s turnover increased by 11 per cent. The weaving machines division experienced strong first half in 2017, having ended 2016 with a well-filled order book. Increasing demand for technology and quality brought strong sales, especially in Asia, with share increases in many markets. As a result, Picanol placed a record number of weaving machines on the market in the first half of 2017. The industries division also had a strong first half-year thanks to the increased demand from weaving machines and projects at other customers, which allowed Proferro (foundry and mechanical finishing activities) and PsiControl (controllers) to realize strong revenue growth.
The Picanol Group closed the first half of 2017 with a net profit of €58.1 million, compared to €60.4 million in the first half of 2016. Picanol expects a slight increase in turnover over the full 2017 financial year compared to 2016 – the best year in the history of the group – but is taking into account a limited impact of rising commodity prices.
In 2016, the weaving machines division experienced a record breaking year. The growing demand for quality and technology created strong sales and an increased share in many markets. This resulted in Picanol’s putting a record number of weaving machines on the market in 2016, thereby especially focusing on dealing with production peaks.
Pakistan, Indonesia negotiate PTA, agree on concessions for 20 items
Pakistan and Indonesia have agreed on concession for 20 different items during bilateral negotiations under the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). Both sides discussed 20 tariff lines and Indonesia has agreed to give concessions on major exports from Pakistan including rice, textile, ethanol, kinnow and mangoes. The Indonesia-Pakistan Preferential Trade Agreement was signed in February 2012.
Concession on 20 tariff lines was a major success for Pakistan and now Pakistan’s kinnow exports to Indonesia will increase from 18 to 35 million tons and mangoes' exports will increase to ten million tons in a year. Before the PTA, Indonesia granted only two months for exports of Pakistan’s kinnows and mangoes but now after renegotiation, Pakistan can export these fruits to Indonesia for the whole year and any time limit has been removed.
Through these steps, Pakistani agricultural products will gain greater market access in Indonesia. The activation of PTA followed the signing of a Mutual Recognition Agreement on plant quarantine and sanitary and Phytosanitary measures between Indonesia and Pakistan. Pakistan and Indonesia have a current annual trade volume of $170 million, which is expected to increase after renegotiations on PTA between the two countries. Pakistan wants the same concessions from Indonesia which it is getting from other countries like China, India, Sri Lanka and Asean.
Nandan Denim’s topline, gross profit rise in Q1
Nandan Denim’s topline, gross profit, and ebitda rose significantly during the quarter ended June 2017. However, an uptick in average realisation per meter was offset by higher cotton procurement costs and a rise in operating expenses, thereby impacting the company’s margins. Conclusion of the capex resulted in higher depreciation and finance costs, too, eventually taking a toll on the final profit margin.
The company is likely to reduce its debt by Rs 60 crores every year from its regular cash flows. The capacity utilisation rate at the company’s denim manufacturing facility is expected to scale up from 85 per cent in the recently-concluded quarter to 90 per cent by fiscal ’18-end, thus supporting higher volume-driven sales growth in the long run.
Headwinds such as the Gujarat floods and the pink bollworm attack on cotton fields in the state may lead to higher raw material prices. But the company has 47 to 60 days of cotton inventory and is reasonably confident of adequate supplies as the pan-India cotton acreage improves substantially. In the near future, raw material cost fluctuations are unlikely to affect the company’s operating margins considerably.
From a year-on-year perspective, Nandan has completed capacity expansions at the denim fabric, shirting fabric, and yarn manufacturing units.
Myanmar needs new wage mechanism
Myanmar’s garment industry is seen as synonymous with low wages, long working hours and sub-standard working conditions. But it is difficult to negotiate higher wages when factories are being squeezed by their multinational brand customers. So, unions must look beyond minimum wages and push for a new wage fixing mechanism that takes account of the way that brands contract with suppliers and the prices they pay.
To achieve a living wage there is a need for higher wages to be set across the entire industry in order to prevent individual factories and brands from negotiating lower prices based on lower wages. The minimum wage right now does not take into account other wage-related factors like working hours, skills training and productivity. There is a need for a system that lifts standards across the market and enables workers to enforce their own agreements.
In addition the country should ease entry restrictions for foreign firms, undertake active investment promotion in garments through complementary reforms in finance and trade policy, expand training to tackle the shortage of high-level skilled manpower, and engage with buying firms, especially global retail or apparel corporations.
Many owners view the minimum wage – which is the second lowest in the region after Bangladesh – as a maximum price rather than a floor price. They prefer paying the minimum wage rather than a living wage.
Interfiliere Shanghai to begin on October 10
Interfiliere Shanghai will be held in China on October 10 and 11, 2017. It will highlight the techniques and expertise of printing lingerie, beachwear and sportswear. The event offers a China-based view of textiles and textile accessories for the lingerie and swimwear industry.
The show will see participation from fabrics, accessories, laces, OEM/ODM, embroideries, machineries and textile design sectors, while analysing consumer expectations and anticipating the constantly changing market driven by innovation and performance.
Interfiliere Shanghai will feature trend forums that will focus on lingerie, swimwear and sports/athleisure. The trade event will present the spring/summer 2019 trends, showcasing a selection of innovations, fabrics samples, accessories and colors. It will give a live prototype presentation to inspire visitors and promote new industry codes with original combinations of fabrics and exceptional techniques. The event will also hold various seminars and conferences. The fair will accelerate networking opportunities, which will expand and strengthen network with the industry professionals. Visitors can inform themselves about the latest trends and products and find new business partners.
Six special Interfeel awards will be given to exhibitors from various sectors including lace, embroidery, accessories, sustainable, shapeletic and engeniring oui-tech (bonding, molding). The Interfeel awards will be given by a selection of worldwide recognised professionals of the intimates, swimwear and sportswear industry.
Inditex buys main supplier Indiput
Inditex has acquired a 100 per cent stake in main Spanish supplier Indiput, where it held a 51 per cent interest since 1997. Indiput, a long-standing supplier of Inditex, has benefited from the group’s support and from the impact which the corporation has had on local textile-related businesses.
Inditex has been following a strategy of integrating its partners on the product manufacturing side. Altogether Inditex collaborates with 7,500 suppliers in Spain. About 59 per cent of its product sourcing comes from the Mediterranean region (Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco), and it works with suppliers and manufacturers from 53 different countries.
Inditex saw net profit jump ten per cent last year. Inditex is the world’s largest fashion retailer by sales and seeks to have full integration of the brick-and-mortar stores and online businesses.
Among the brands run by Inditex are Pull & Bear, Bershka, and Zara. For all of 2016, Inditex reported a rise in sales at all of its eight brands. Zara alone was responsible for 66 per cent of total sales. Inditex plans to open between 450 and 500 new stores in 2017 while absorbing 150 to 200 smaller ones. In 2016, it opened a net 279 stores, bringing its total to nearly 7300.
Fast fashion brands slow to adapt online retail
A new wave of digital disruption is impending from e-commerce companies like Asos and Amazon. At one time retailers like Zara and H&M disrupted the fashion industry with lightning-fast speed of production, trend-led merchandise and a sizeable physical footprint. But they have been slow to catch up with e-commerce. This is surprising given that their target audience, millennials, are most digitally savvy consumers.
As online players ate into its bottom line, Zara finally catapulted into e-commerce in 2010. Zara’s initial hesitance in selling online stemmed from fears the cost of delivery and returns would weigh heavily on profits and cannibalise existing stores.
H&M is rethinking its approach to how stores will better support its omnichannel model and make for a seamless, smooth and inspiring shopping experience. H&M is rolling out app features like scan and buy allowing customers to scan products in-store that are not available in their size and have it delivered to their home.
On the other hand an online seller like Asos has a higher level of new merchandise on its website, with the ability to alter prices as demand varies. Over half of its sales from its 15 million customers come from mobile devices. The retailer has invested heavily in app functions like visual search, a tool that enables shoppers to search its 85,000 plus products by uploading a photo on its mobile app. The online retailer expects sales growth of 30 to 35 per cent in 2017.
Bayer buyout of Monsanto raises fears among competitors
Germany-based Bayer plans to take over US seeds group Monsanto. The deal would create the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seeds company but would limit the number of competitors selling herbicides and seeds in Europe. There are concerns the proposed acquisition could reduce competition in a number of different markets resulting in higher prices, lower quality, less choice and less innovation.
A merger would also reduce competition in the market for the genetic traits behind herbicide tolerance, which are typically licensed out to third-party seed companies. In addition, the deal might slow the race to develop new products, such as wheat seeds and herbicides against weeds that have grown resistant to existing products.
There are apprehensions competitors access to distributors and farmers could become more difficult if Bayer and Monsanto were to bundle or tie their sales of pesticide products and seeds, notably with the advent of digital agriculture. Bayer has a plan to create combined offerings of seeds and pesticides with the help of new digital farming tools, which include sensors, software and precision machines.
The proposed tie-up has also hit a raw nerve with some activists who fear such a combination would hurt farmers, consumers and the environment.
Bangladesh’s July export earnings up 26 per cent
Bangladesh’s export earnings in July soared 26.54 per cent, marking a strong rebound after lackluster performance in the fiscal year that concluded in June. The surge was led by garments shipments which soared 17.08 per cent year-on-year in July. Still, the sector’s export earnings fell short of the monthly target by five per cent.
Since the congestion at Chittagong port has been eased and goods were delivered in July, export earnings reflected a sharp rise. In the just-concluded 2016-17 fiscal year, Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel industry saw only a 0.20 per cent rise, the lowest growth figure for 15 years for the key foreign currency earner. However, Bangladesh’s overall export earnings stood at $34.83 billion in the last fiscal year, which is 1.68 per cent higher than the $34.25 billion a year ago. Bangladesh is targeting earning $50 billion from readymade garment exports by 2021.
The readymade garment sector is a vital industrial sector of Bangladesh which is immensely contributing to the country’s export earnings, employment generation and value addition. Efforts are being made to ensure a safe, sound, green, environment-friendly and a vibrant garment sector. Out of 10 eco-friendly factories of the world, seven are located in Bangladesh.
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ThreadSol to host Apparel Tech-Up in Bangladesh this August
Apparel Tech-Up seminar will be held in Bangladesh on August 26, 2017 organised by ThreadSol. Leading garment manufacturers, technocrats and top technology providers will explore a range of pivotal subjects that can be set to impact the future of garment manufacturing all over the world.
The discussions will be primarily around ideas by which the garment industry can find its footing in a landscape of constant change, driven by technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. The discussions will also include issues of material costs and flexibility with respect to the garment industry, along with practical approaches for designing and building intelligent enterprises to handle the enormous garment industry of Bangladesh.
Garment factories in Asia have made impressive progress in increasing their industries’ productivity. Under this scenario, concepts like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data can provide an extra edge to the firms over their competitors. Also, to keep material and labor costs low, technology can play a vital role in automating the processes wherever possible.
ThreadSol was established in 2012 and now has offices in Delhi, Bangalore, Jakarta, Colombo, Istanbul, Ho Chi Minh City and Dhaka. It serves more than 120 customers in 15 geographies. ThreadSol solutions – intelloCut and intelloBuy – are currently used by manufacturers in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Philippines and China.
Bangladesh forms separate initiative ‘Shonma’ for compliance in RMG units
Bangladesh textile and apparel companies will launch their own factory inspection and remediation initiative similar to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Safety and the Alliance for Worker Safety. A new local-based organization, Shonman, is being set up to oversee worker safety in the Bangladesh garment and textile industry.
Accord recently announced a three-year extension of its tenure in Bangladesh, which has been opposed by garment makers in the country. They say it is unfair for foreign retailers and brands to impose unilateral decisions on worker safety on a sovereign country.
New factories registering after December this year would have to pay for their inspections based upon the square footage of their facility. Arbitrations will be governed by the country's laws and administered by the Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre. Thorough, credible safety inspections of new factories and routine monitoring of old ones shall be carried out by skilled personnel selected by and acting under the direction of the implementation board. From 2021, Shonman would become fully self-financing.
Accord is a legally binding platform formed in May 2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse with a five-year tenure for building inspection and remediation. Its tenure expires in June next year.
Century Yarn and Century Denim sold for a paltry Rs 2.51 cr
Birla Century Yarn and Century Denim units were sold for a paltry sum of just Rs 2.51 crores ($0.3million) to Wearit Global. In a disclosure under regulations 30 of Securities and Exchange Board of India, Century Yarn and Century Denim units of textile business segment, under B K Birla Group of Companies, the board of directors approved the sale on as is where is basis on August 22, as a going concern, with a lump sum consideration of Rs 2.51 crores. The company had a turnover of Rs 253 crores ($38.92 million) in the financial year ending March 31, 2017. The networth of these companies as disclosed were 25.52 crores ($3.92million).
The rationale for the sale as disclosed was: since operations of Century Yarn and Century Denim were not viable due to their small sizes, it was considered appropriate to sell the units. Sources close to the directors revealed the unit had an asset base of over Rs 300 crores in Madhya Pradesh, including land and machinery but were making losses to the tune of Rs 3 crores ($4 .6million) every month.
Wearit Group, is into textiles, tea and energy business. In textiles, it has manufacturing capacity of approximately 4,000 MT/ month of high quality ring spun yarn from 200,000 running spindles across five state of the art spinning plants in India. Wearit is a recognized export house and exports 70 per cent of its total production to Europe and the United States.
Techtextil woos with innovative technical textile extravaganza
"Textile experts unanimously believe growth will be driven by technical textiles with its widespread applications. Technical textiles used in the highly-specialised aerospace industry are now being tried for consumer applications. To bring this to the world, Messe Frankfurt is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (GAC) to showcase highly-specialised textiles under its ‘Living in Space’ theme. And as Olaf Schmidt, VP– textiles and textile technologies, Messe Frankfurt, says, technical textiles will aid in future development of space travel and human habitation of nearby planets. Messe Frankfurt is the organizer of the twin Techtextil/Texprocess 2017 fairs in Frankfurt."
Textile experts unanimously believe growth will be driven by technical textiles with its widespread applications. Technical textiles used in the highly-specialised aerospace industry are now being tried for consumer applications. To bring this to the world, Messe Frankfurt is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (GAC) to showcase highly-specialised textiles under its ‘Living in Space’ theme. And as Olaf Schmidt, VP– textiles and textile technologies, Messe Frankfurt, says, technical textiles will aid in future development of space travel and human habitation of nearby planets. Messe Frankfurt is the organizer of the twin Techtextil/Texprocess 2017 fairs in Frankfurt.
Digitalization is key
It’s the right time to harness the potential of digitalization in textile manufacturing. Michael Jaenecke, Messe Frankfurt, Director of brand management technical textiles and textile processing, points out digitalization has become a buzzword in the apparel industry, with new tools allowing data to flow seamlessly from digital design and development all the way through the supply chain to help garment manufacturers cut costs, improve quality, increase productivity, speed time to market, reduce waste and stay competitive.
Christian Kaiser, a researcher/scientist at the Denkendorf-based German Institute of Textile and Fibre Research, believes digital small factory is the emerging model concept for SMEs. Micro factories typically are about 300 to 400 sq. mt. in size. The micro factory deploys ‘smart machines,’ which perform cutting, sewing, welding, etc. Adidas used these machines for sports shirts. Calling it ‘smart designing’, Kaiser says the machines designed as per our R&D enable savings can cost from €300,000 to €400,000, this being the smallest version of the micro factory. These machines are already available in North America. The Chinese, Swiss, Japanese and Germans are making such machines.
Growing popularity of organic
Big companies like Trevira, Perlon, Polisiik, PHP Fibers, China’s Glory Tang Group, etc, have been producing improved versions of thermoplastic polymers derived from lactic acid. Germany's Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University has developed bio-based PLA-fibre blends whose mechanical properties result in lower shrinkage and greater tensile strength compared to the regular PLA. Flame and heat-resistant fibers are also finding space with small companies foraying in this market. Pyrotex Fibers, a small German company, has a patented Pyrotex-engineered acrylic-fiber.
Gerber technology
Visitors at the show were attracted towards Gerber Technology. Peter Morrissey, Senior VP (global sales and services) at Gerber Technology, says the YuniquePLM System enables the customers to easily install and automatically update features through the Adobe Add-Ons Marketplace. As a result, the designers can devote their time to designing new garment pieces. Gerber has also developed the latest Design Suite Plugin, which enhances the efficiency of the operations. Gerber’s Innovative Apparel Show at the Texprocess fair showcased designs created by fashion and design school students of design and fashion schools.
Stäubli’s innovative streak
Swiss company Stäubli offered machinery dedicated to production of technical textiles. Fritz Legler, a senior executive with the company informed weavers who count on Stäubli’s high-performance machinery benefit from features like high reliability and flexibility will be able to take the lead on the market of technical textiles with innovative and creative products for countless applications. The company displayed technical fabrics including spacers and multilayers with variable thickness that have been produced in conjunction with Stäubli products, such as TF weaving systems, dobbies, Jacquard machines, warp drawing-in, or tying equipment.
Stäubli’s Magma T12 warp tying machine has been developed for technical yarn ties monofilaments, coarse multi-filaments, PP ribbons, bast fibres, coarse staple fibres, and many other fibre types. It has been developed for universal application ranging from coarse technical yarns to medium yarn-count range. Its rigid design includes an optical double-end detection system.
The UNIVAL 100 single-end control Jacquard machine offers more benefits for sophisticated technical textiles, such as automotive and aeronautic textiles, technical textiles in the sports, industrial, medical sectors and new fabric constructions, even with glass fibre, carbon and Kevlar. Its new TF weaving system is designed to offer virtually unlimited weaving possibilities, whether for flat, spacer or complex multi-layer fabrics and 3D fabrics.
