The apparel industry in Bangladesh needs to improve its image for guaranteeing the country's long-term prosperity. The collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka in April 2013 sent shockwaves through the textile and clothing industries. More than 1,100 lives were lost in the incident, and Bangladesh's reputation as a reliable low- cost location for clothing suffered a severe blow in the eyes of consumers and major brands. 

Some western buyers have cancelled orders in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse and placed them elsewhere. Moreover, a number of Bangladeshi factories have been blacklisted. There is a danger retailers and consumers will view cheap clothing from Bangladesh as coming at too high a cost in human terms, and that they will prefer other countries where costs are low but similar tragedies have not occurred -- such as Cambodia and Vietnam. 

Sales in the US import market could be negatively affected following a decision by the US government to suspend Bangladesh's preferential duty treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, and Bangladesh's preferential access to the EU could also be revoked if the government does not take necessary steps to significantly improve building safety standards and overall labor conditions in the country. 

The government and major brands need to work together with suppliers to change the apparel industry into one in which there are safe factories, decent wages and respect for workers' rights. However, gains will only be sustainable if the added labor costs are absorbed by buyers as well as manufacturers.

Mexico wants China to do something about the subsidies China grants its textiles and garment manufacturing sector. In October 2012, Mexico had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization, blaming the Chinese government for subsidizing its textile and garment manufacturing sector, resulting in unfair competition for the Mexican textile and clothing industry. 

Meanwhile Mexico and China have agreed to increase trade and investment flows between the two countries and to support business missions to explore new areas of economic and commercial cooperation. Mexico feels that while it has dropped tariffs on a host of Chinese goods in recent years, the Chinese market remains for most purposes closed to Mexican goods. So Mexico wants to take a more aggressive stance with China. It hopes to gain greater access to Chinese markets, especially selling foodstuffs, manufactured goods, minerals and energy.

Mexico alleges Chinese manufacturers get export credits, have strong government support and enjoy the benefits of other unfair trade practices. The country wants a level playing field. China has a massive trade surplus with Mexico. Last year, it exported $57 billion worth of goods to Mexico, while Mexico only exported $6 billion to China.

Zimmer Austria has pioneered many global innovations and milestones in the textile printing industry for over more than a century. The company has established a strong presence across the globe as a highly reliable printing machinery manufacturer. The company has been working in the Indian market for many decades. Since 2012, it has had a tie-up with ATE for marketing and sale of digital printing machines in India. Zimmer sees a lot of potential in India for carpet printing machines. Thanks to the high duty structure for import of carpets, and also the increasing demand from hotels, offices and the home segment, the domestic demand for carpets is bound to grow exponentially.

Another area of opportunity is terry towels. India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of terry towels and Zimmer Austria has also developed a digital printing machine for terry towels. Zimmer Austria is actively working on reducing printing and ink costs, which are the most critical component of operational costs. It is currently testing inks made in India for the Indian market, similarly inks from China, Korea and Japan for their respective markets.

A world leader in printing technology, Zimmer Austria manufactures a complete range of machinery for textile and carpet finishing covering digital printing systems, flat screen and rotary screen printing, coating, steaming, washing, and drying at its plants in Austria.

www.zimmer-austria.com/en/company/about-us/index.html

The wool market in Australia continued with its auction this week and received excellent results. Amongst increasingly negative sentiment flowing from several Chinese suppliers, the market showed great resilience, albeit under a very small volume flowing through the system. As the sale progressed, all type and micron categories showed a confident resurgence and by the close of selling had added a few cents to their previous quotes. The skirting and carding markets continued to be at very attractive levels, with only the merino fleece sector looking for a spike upwards. 

The small offering of spinners and best top makers at the Superfine (finer than 18.5micron) end of the selection continue to extract reasonable premiums out of the market, with some Italian, Indian and Chinese competition forcing a 50 to 60 cent price advantage over the micron indicator levels. 

Crossbred and comeback types from 25 to 32 micron met with good demand and prices gained approximately 1 per cent for the series. After initial signs of a weakening in appetite for this sector, buyers rallied late in the week, with some new sales for prompt shipment keeping the interest and levels alive.