The government has extended the deadline for filing GST returns for the month of September by a day to October 21, the CBIC said on Friday. The government has extended the deadline for filing GST returns for the month of September by a day to October 21, the CBIC said on Friday. On Thursday, taxpayers faced a slow functioning of the GST portal, which was the last date for filing monthly GST returns for some taxpayers. Following that, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had said that an extension of the due date was being considered. "The GST Implementation Committee of GST Council has approved extension of the due date of filing GSTR-3B return for the month of September 2022, for the monthly filers, from 20th October, 2022 to 21st October 2022," the CBIC tweeted on Friday. Monthly return and tax payment form GSTR-3B is filed in staggered manner between the 20th, 22nd, and 24th of each month by taxpayers in different states. GST Network (GSTN) provides the technology backend for running Goods and Services Tax (GST). Infosys is the service provider for GSTN.
Source: Business Standard
But what comes as a greater surprise is that Brazil, which occupied the 21st spot in FY22, is now India’s 8th biggest export market. Brazil, which occupied the 21st spot in FY22, is now India's 8th biggest export market The export pecking order has changed dramatically this fiscal. The Netherlands has emerged as India’s third-largest export destination, ahead of China and Bangladesh. It has moved up two spots in the list of India’s top ten export destinations since FY22, thanks to a 106% surge in despatches until August this fiscal from a year before to $7.5 billion. But what comes as a greater surprise is that Brazil, which occupied the 21st spot in FY22, is now India’s 8th biggest export market. Similarly, Indonesia has moved up seven notches to grab the 7th position. However, amid a demand slowdown, only two European nations—the Netherlands and the UK– are among India’s top ten markets, against 4 in FY22. Germany and Belgium, which featured in the list last fiscal, are out of it now. Meanwhile, the US and the UAE continue to be the largest and second-largest export destinations, respectively, for India. The exports to the US climbed 18.3% until August to $35.2 billion, while those to the UAE shot up 27.3% to $13.8 billion. India’s exports to the Netherlands were driven mostly by a 238% jump in despatches of oil products until August this fiscal to $3.67 billion. Even supplies of chemicals ($513 million) and pharmaceuticals ($219 million) remained substantial. Meanwhile, exports to Indonesia jumped 43% to $4.8 billion. The supplies to this Asean country were dominated by petroleum products, which jumped 144% on year up to August this fiscal to $1.8 billion. The other key products were cereals, sugar and chemicals. The shipment to Brazil swelled 70.9% in the first five months of this fiscal to $4.7 billion. The exports were driven by a 299% jump in supplies of petroleum products to $2.3 billion, followed by those of certain chemicals ($684 million) and automobiles, auto parts and allied products ($233 million). While Bangladesh has restricted its imports to mainly essential products to conserve dollars in the wake of a foreign exchange crisis there, China is still battling the pandemic. So, India’s exports to China contracted sharply by 35.6% until August this fiscal to $6.8 billion, while those to Bangladesh rose just 8.7% to $5.8 billion. In contrast, India’s merchandise exports to all destinations grew 19.5% in the first five months of this fiscal to $196.5 billion.
Source: Business Standard
Hitting out at BJP-led government at the Centre for its anti-weaver policies, TRS (BRS) working president and Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday demanded the union government to abolish the 5 per cent GST being imposed on the handlooms and textiles industry in the country. While he would be writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, he urged people of Telangana to post bulk letters to the Prime Minister’s Office and bring the Centre to its knees. Participating in a meeting organised by Padmashali community at Manneguda in Ibrahimpatnam constituency here, Rama Rao said Narendra Modi was the first Prime Minister to impose tax on handlooms and textiles sector which was second largest employer of the country. He felt that the Modi government was determined to end all the welfare and developmental initiatives of the successive governments for weavers. “From National Handloom Board and National Powerloom Board to Mahatma Gandhi Bhunkar Yojana and weavers’ insurance and savings schemes, the Centre is removing all the schemes. Further, there is no response from the union government to the requests from the Telangana government to support weavers,” the Minister said. Due to the Centre’s lackadaisical attitude, India was far behind countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in textile production. He stated that the BJP government remained irresponsive to requests to support establishment of Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, National Textile Research Institute, Handlooms Export Promotion Council, Institute of Handloom Technology and other facilities. He pointed out that even after four years, union Home Minister Amit Shah’s promise to establish a handloom park at Narayanpet also remained a non-starter. Rama Rao detailed several progressive measures taken up by the TRS government for welfare of the weavers community. He said the TRS government has been allocating a budget of Rs 1,200 crore per annum for the welfare of the handloom sector, provided a 40 per cent subsidy on yarn and dyes through ‘Chenetha Mithra’ scheme, introduced Rs five lakh insurance coverage for handloom and power loom workers through ‘Nethanna Ku Bhima’ and implementing ‘Nethannaku Cheyutha’ scheme. During COVID, the Telangana government through ‘Nethannaku Cheyutha’ has sanctioned an amount of Rs 100 crore to weavers much before the maturity date. The scheme is being continued keeping in view the benefit it has provided to the community, he added. He said the TRS government has waived weavers loans ranging up to Rs 1 lakh which has benefited about 10,500 people. On the occasion, the Minister said an integrated training, production and sales centre in Narayanpet and handlooms park in Gadwal are being set up. He also announced that the State government would provide Rs 3 lakh to each eligible weaver having a housing plot for construction of their house. He also assured to provide Asu equipment, looms, sheds and other equipment required for weavers to operate and produce textiles.
Source: Telangana Today
The fall in foreign exchange reserves was primarily on account of a decline in the RBI's foreign currency assets that fell $2.8 billion on-week to $468.87 billion The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign exchange reserves declined $4.5 billion to $528.37 billion in the week ended October 14, the latest central bank data showed. The current level of reserves is the lowest since July 24, 2020. The fall in foreign exchange reserves was primarily on account of a decline in the RBI’s foreign currency assets that fell $2.8 billion on-week to $468.87 billion. The central bank’s holdings of gold declined $1.5 billion to $37.45 billion in the week ended October 14. “India’s forex reserves declined to the weakest level since July 24, 2020, amid the central bank’s intervention. This time, the value of dollar and gold assets both declined amid revaluation as well as central bank’s dollar selling,” Dilip Parmar, research analyst, HDFC Securities said. In the week ended October 14, the rupee weakened a mere 0.03 per cent against the US dollar. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rival currencies, strengthened 0.5 per cent during that week. According to Parmar, the steady movement in the rupee last week was largely attributable to the RBI’s interventions. Traders said the central bank had heavily sold dollars around the 82.40/$1 mark last week. In the current week, the RBI is said to have stepped up interventions in the forwards and futures segments of the currency market. So far in 2022, the rupee has weakened 10.1 per cent against the US dollar as the war in Ukraine and aggressive rate hikes by the Fed have dampened appetite for emerging market currencies. The RBI’s foreign exchange reserves have declined sharply since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. The reserves were at $631.53 billion as on February 25. On September 30, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said 67 per cent of the fall in reserves in the current financial year was due to revaluation. The latest RBI data showed that it had net sold $4.2 billion in the foreign exchange market in August, following sales of $19 billion in July. The RBI had net sold $3.7 billion in the market in June. In April, the RBI had net bought $1.9 billion in the currency market, followed by purchases of $2.0 billion in May. The current level of reserves represents an import cover of close to 9 months. The level of reserves in September 2021 accounted for almost 15 months of imports.
Source: Business Standard
Merchandise exports from India are growing at a remarkable pace – it is expected to more than double from its current value by 2025. Our country’s rich export history in textiles such as jute and cotton is globally known. This is largely due to the developments during the industrial revolution. Jute and cotton products from India were exported across the globe – even today the global price for Jute is determined by its domestic price in India! Our rich tradition of weaving using handlooms is increasingly seen as a sustainable choice against mass produced fast fashion. This is evidenced by the recently reported growth in merchandise export by approximately 15% in 2022. Merchandise exports from India are growing at a remarkable pace – it is expected to more than double from its current value by 2025. India’s merchandise exports hit a record high of $40.38 billion in 2022, increasing approximately 15 percent year-on-year to $35.26 billion. The revival of exports, supply chain pipelines and improvement in consumer demand have contributed extensively to this growth. Additionally, India’s policies related to FDI, incentive schemes such as RoDTEP, and availability of credit have worked as an effective catalyst. In fact, Niti Aayog in its Export Preparedness Index 2021 highlighted five essential factors for bolstering exports in our country: Raw materials and intermediate goods, R&D, FDI, export infrastructure and export diversification. It is incredible how policy interventions including 100% FDI in the textile industry, trade infrastructure for export scheme (TIES), One District One Product (ODOP) scheme and upgrades in the export basket through FTA’s have aimed to target these five essential factors. It is however important for us to remember that India’s exports, especially in merchandise and lifestyle products, are yet to realise even a fraction of their true potential. While our net export deficit is gradually reducing, it is because the deficit in merchandise trade is offset by the surplus in service trade. In fact, the deficit in merchandise trade widened in 2022 to $27.98 billion from $11.71 billion in 2021. What explains this widening deficit? I believe that this deficit can largely be attributed to a history of inadequate trade infrastructure, low credit access, outdated technologies and trade barriers. It is indeed encouraging to see newer policies including the National Infrastructure Pipeline, Gati Shakti Scheme and FTA’s. These are exactly the imperatives merchandise manufacturers in India need today. Investment in R&D in our country has traditionally been on the lower side. Leveraging technology will be an important component for realising growth potential for the textiles and apparels sector. Political will to do this in India is strong – thus quoting our commerce minister Piyush Goyal where he said “Industry and academia connect is essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of technical textiles in India”. I believe it is equally important to explore how disruptive technology can also be leveraged to rationalise the postmanufacturing and pre-sales process for manufacturers in India. This is critical because MSME manufacturers in India continue to use outdated technologies because of insufficient finance, lack of access to modern technology, and absence of R&D capabilities. While the government has attempted to address credit shortfall through the introduction of the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) and technology upgradation through National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP), manufacturers face roadblocks in harnessing fragmented technology solutions offered to them by the market. Globally, manufacturers are harnessing technology to streamline complex processes to improve their efficiency and service delivery to their customers. Alibaba’s contribution towards the extraordinary growth of China’s manufacturing sector was a result of its technology service provided – where they enabled platform convergence for manufacturers by offering multiple services and improving efficiency multifold! This is particularly relevant for India where even today medium and smallscale manufacturers continue to operate manually. Even in cases where these manufacturers adopt technologies, it is often fragmented solutions complicating an already complicated process for people who are digitally unequipped. The government’s flagship schemes including Digital India and Make in India are well positioned to improve digital capabilities for manufacturers in our country. Solutions offered by Indian startups are advancing to support manufacturers across the value chain of production to sales. Vertical SaaS solutions are what is required by offering solutions that specifically keep in mind the needs of that segment. These solutions will not only improve efficiency but make Indian manufacturers competitive at the global level. The growth of India’s lifestyle industry will essentially rely on how quickly our manufacturers can adopt integrated technologies in their post-manufacturing and sales processes. India is already an ideal place for textile and apparel manufacture due to our precedent for labour intensive sectors. With China’s ageing population and ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the world is looking for a new manufacturing hub. India is ideally positioned with a youthful economy, affordable labour, educated population and a striving start-up ecosystem leveraging technologies to offer new solutions to existing problems. What we in fact need today is for the government to consider how policies such as the National Textile Policy can accommodate integrative technology solutions as part of the roadmap for the sector’s growth. These integrative solutions will essentially streamline major business functions for manufacturers to realise their growth potential in a globally competitive market.
Source: Financial Express
Exports are down 20 per cent for the last few months on weak demand from the key US, and EU markets; the rupee fall and better cotton crop may reduce the impact. Indian garment exports are likely to continue falling for the next few months on high inflation and recession threat but rupee depreciation and prospects of a better cotton crop may cushion the blow. The demand from the US and EU has weakened, pushing exports down by around 20 per cent in the last few months, according to industry sources. Since the trend is expected to continue for the next 5 to 6 months, garment exports may see a reduction in annual volumes though a strengthening dollar against the Indian rupee may prevent the decline in value, they said. Garment exports have been hit in the last three months of the first half of FY23 but export earnings increased 11 percent year on year to $8.127 billion because of the higher shipments in the early months. Readymade garment exports stood at $16 billion in FY22, up 30 percent from the year earlier. Comforting factors The current year may also open up more opportunities for the country despite challenges, says Arun Ramaswamy, CEO of New Man Exports in Tiruppur. “We are expecting the free-trade agreement with the UK pursued by the Indian government to become a reality soon. It used to be a good market for Indian garments till other countries took away the competitive edge.’’ The rising cost of production in Bangladesh and Vietnam, two competitors of India in garments, and the expected decline in cotton prices may augur well for the garment exports, he said, adding that the exporters are exploring the trade prospects in other regions like West and South Asia as well. Expectations of a better crop are also keeping exporters upbeat. “There has been a record increase in acreage this year and we may get production of 350 to 360 lakh bales this year. This may bring down the cotton prices and raise the competitiveness of Indian garments. Already the cotton futures for December-January are trading around Rs 62,000 per candy,’’ said Umang Patodia, MD of GTN Group of textiles. Last year, cotton production had dropped around 12 per cent due to inclement weather and reduced acreage, leading to a rise in prices and imports. Imports rose by 4 lakh bales from a year ago to 14 lakh bales with the government extending the import duty exemption for the bill of lading for cotton till the end of October 2022 to meet the deficit. Cotton prices had zoomed 50 to 60 per cent to over Rs 100,000 per candy of 356 kg early this year. It is currently hovering around Rs 70,000 per candy. The final estimate of the Cotton Association of India pegs the production in 2021-22 season (October-September) at 307.05 lakh bales (170 kg each) compared with 352 lakh bales in the previous year. Challenges ahead But there are concerns about irregular rains, which damaged the crop in several regions last year. “The harvest started this month and it goes into full swing in November and December. Already there are rain and cyclone threats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We are in for a good crop if the rains do not intervene,’’ said Sanjay Kumar Panigrahi, chief general manager of Cotton Corporation of India. With the increased cotton output, the withdrawal of import duty exemption may not cause much impact. However, Patodia said that cotton prices were on a decline worldwide and besides the garment demand was expected to slow down in the coming months. "The demand reduction is primarily due to higher prices for Indian products, which may be reversed once cotton prices come down,’’ he said. After the removal of the exemption, cotton imports will carry a duty of 11 percent. Last year, the shortage prompted the industry to demand a temporary ban on cotton exports. The industry is pushing for more export of value-added products from cottonlike garments which bring increased earnings. “Bangladesh buys cotton and yarn from us and then makes garments and exports them. Their exports are several times more than India, ‘’ said an exporter who did not wish to be named. Cotton exports declined 45 per cent to 43 lakh bales in 2021-22. Other fibres In tandem with the global trend, India is also using other natural and man-made fibres in garments. “Earlier it was 65 percent cotton and 35 percent other fibres. The ratio has changed to 55 per cent cotton and 45 percent other fibres now,’’ said P V Ramaswamy, chief executive of the Indian Cotton Federation. In Tiruppur, the hosiery and knitwear garment hub of the country, there is more use of man-made fibres like viscose, polyester and rayon in garments that have good demand globally, according to Arun Ramaswamy.
Source: Money Control
Together with spinning machine maker Rieter, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and partners from the public sector, brands and retailers, circular service specialist Texaid completed the Swiss textile recycling project “Texcircle”. The result is a range of product prototypes from sweaters, socks and curtains to carpets, upholstery and accessories developed with between 50 and 80 percent recycled fibres and yarns. The aim was to pool knowledge to find out how systems can be created to produce highquality products from recycled fibres. The design research expertise of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the spinning expertise of Rieter and the sorting and collection know-how of Texaid were supported by Swiss retailer and wholesaler Coop, sock maker Jacob Rohner AG and carpet maker Ruckstuhl AG, as well as work wear maker Workfashion.com, Bundesamt für Zivildienst (Federal Office for Civilian Service) Zivi, Swiss fashion label Nikin AG and Tiger Liz Textiles. Upcycling, not downcycling Through joint developments from the design, the collecting, sorting trials, tearing and spinning trials until the actual production trials and product testing, the project was able to recycle 2.5 tons of pre-and post-consumer textile waste into product prototypes with a promising commercial interest. This did not happen without roadblocks: “Through our two years of collaboration, we came across several hurdles in the textile recycling value chain, which we could tackle. This was a proof of concept that a circular system is possible and we now have to enable this at full scale as an industry,” is the conclusion. “This project was an important step for us to come closer to the realization of new products made out of post-consumer textile waste. We need innovations and collaborations like this to enable a circular textile industry. For Texaid, it was important learning to understand the hurdles in the sorting, pre-processing, and further processing steps, and are thrilled to see the first product prototypes with recycled content reach the market next year,” commented Martin Böschen, CEO of the Texaid Group, in a press release. For the sweater, discarded jeans were cleaned of foreign substances and shredded into fibres in France. Rieter then spun these into a rotor yarn for use in knitwear. It was partly mixed with virgin fibres from organic cotton in various proportions and tested. According to the description on the project website, “in the process, we tried to achieve as high a recycled content as possible. We were able to produce test yarns with a proportion of 70, 80 and 90 percent recycled fibres from jeans.” Prototype socks Two different raw materials were recycled for the socks: unworn Zivi t-shirts and unworn pants from Coop bakeries; in the future, worn garments will also be used. In a first step, all labels, buttons, zips and cuffs were removed. Then the textiles were shredded in France and Italy. The shredded baker's trousers were then spun into a ring yarn by Rieter and the Zivi t-shirts into a rotor yarn by Marchi & Fildi. Prototype carpet Old winter coats with a wool content of at least 70 percent that Texaid could no longer use were utilised for the carpet. They were first sorted by colour and materials, then unwanted materials such as lining, glue, buttons and zips had to be removed. Together with textile waste from Tiger Liz Textiles, the leftover coat material was shredded into fibres in Italy. Marchi & Fildi then spun these into a carpet yarn that consisted of 30 percent wool from the old coats, 20 percent wool from old sweaters and 50 percent new, undyed New Zealand wool. Ruckstuhl processed it into a carpet that withstood a stress test. Prototype bag For different types of bags, both used and unused baker's jackets from Coop were used and freed from unwanted components. Together with old black t-shirts collected by Texaid, they were shredded into fibres in France. These were processed into various fleeces. “The aim of this series of tests was to develop a fleece exhibiting good values in terms of strength and abrasion, but also to investigate the possibilities of the art-related use of recycled materials in the fleece,” explains the product description. The fleeces produced were evaluated by an extended project group consisting of Coop and Rossi Design Ltd. and turned into prototype accessory products. They consist of 75 percent shredded fibres and 25 percent Biko-PET fibres, which are required to solidify the material. Prototype insulation for vest The basic material for the garment's insulating fleece was duvets and cushions with polyester padding collected by Texaid. In a first step, the collected material had to be carefully separated from the outer shells. The project group tested different cleaning methods and opted for ozone technology. The cleaned polyester flakes and the fleece were then pulled apart by Jakob Härdi AG. The loosened fibres were blended with fibre residues from production and Biko fibres and processed into a fleece. The resulting fleece consists of 100 percent PET. The blend consists of 49 percent recycled fibres (from bedding), 30 per cent rPET from industrial waste and 21 percent PET Biko binding fibres. The fleece is 20 millimetres thick and has a grammage of 200 g/sqm. It was used as an insulating layer in a vest supplied by Workfashion.com.
Source: Fashion United
Envoy encouraged businesspeople to explore avenues to improve relations Mauritius is keen on developing economic relations with Pakistan and would like to tap into the bilateral trade potential in many areas, the High Commissioner of Mauritius Rashidally Soobadar informed businesspeople during his visit to the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) Capital Office in Islamabad on Thursday. Mauritius imports many products from India and China and Pakistan could get a piece of that pie by boosting trade, exporting high-quality products and skilled human resources, Soobadar said. He also highlighted the mutual benefits of increased cooperation in the tourism sector. “Mauritius can be a stepping-stone for Pakistan to enter into the markets of Southern and Eastern Africa. Pakistan should further strengthen its cooperation with Mauritius to get better access to African markets,” he remarked. Similar views were echoed by the FPCCI business leaders who welcomed the envoy. The Pakistan Business Council (PBC), a business policy advocacy platform, however, recalled that despite a preferential trade agreement (PTA) being signed with Mauritius in 2007, none of the objectives were met. Speaking to the Express Tribune, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) President Farazur Rehman explained that African economies are based mostly on imports. “Pakistan can target their agricultural, textile, medicine and other sectors,” he said adding that, “Pakistani businesspeople, who only target the European market, should focus simultaneously on the African markets as immense opportunities lie there. Besides, we need to diversify to avoid any potential blackmailing.” “Today, investors from all around the world are focusing on the African market instead of the European markets. Not only that, India is also putting great efforts into promoting diplomatic relations and trade ties with African countries,” he added. Addressing the businesspeople, the envoy lamented that “While a PTA was signed between the two countries in 2007, no efforts were made to enhance bilateral trade relations, and unfortunately, it was dumped.” He assured the facilitation of Pakistan’s private sector in further enhancing two-way trade and economic relations with Mauritius. “Mauritius wants to enhance trade relations with Pakistan and the business communities of both sides must interact with each other to boost trade volume. We would like to share our knowledge and expertise with the Pakistani business community,” he added. Arif Habib Commodities CEO Ahsan Mehanti told the Express Tribune that, “Mauritius is an emerging economy that has now planned to boost trade relations with Pakistan. Their ambassadors have been coming to encourage trade and this is indeed an opportunity for the business community to trade in common currencies or export items that brings foreign exchange to Pakistan.” Trade, at present, is at minimum level while investments can pour in once ties improves in the fields of IT, agricultural products and other products, which the country is currently trading in with India and China, he maintained. In his speech, FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheik said, “Bilateral trade between the two countries is still far less than their actual potential.” He encouraged the private sectors of both sides to explore new avenues to improve trade volume. “Pakistani products including meat, fruits, food, textiles products, and many others could find good markets in Mauritius at competitive prices,” he said, urging Mauritius to enhance imports from Pakistan. “Both countries should put extra efforts to establish direct air links that would help in improving people-to-people contacts and bilateral trade as well,” he suggested. He stressed that, “Mauritius is a gateway to African countries with a huge scope for Pakistani products, especially textiles, cosmetics, cotton, cereals, pharmaceuticals, and plastic. The businesspeople must explore these marvelous opportunities.” Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Head of Research Tahir Abbas suggested that “Pakistan should find new export avenues, particularly competitive ones that don’t call for sophisticated value addition. The focus should remain on locating new markets, products and value addition to earn maximum foreign exchange for the country.” Hoping for growth in bilateral relations between the two countries, FPCCI Vice President Umar Masoodur Rehman observed, “Mauritius and Pakistan have longstanding historical relations while sharing almost the same tradition, culture and roots.” “There is a huge scope for trade expansion and the private sector must step forward to become front-runners in creating new avenues for better trade and investment relations,” urged Rehman. FPCCI member Sohail Altaf highlighted that Pakistani products were one of the best in the world and have the potential to get a suitable share in the Mauritian market.
Source: Tribune
The consumer shift to products and labels that are embracing sustainability has created both opportunities and challenges for global fashion brands, a new study from Bain & Company and WWF Italy claimed on Friday. It’s inevitable that "shopping trends among global fashion consumers will shift in favour of buying decisions that favour more sustainable practices". But at present, only 15% of consumers consistently make buying decisions to lower their environmental impact. That’s despite 65% of consumers saying they care about the environment with that 50% gap being a big chasm to fill but also offering a massive opportunity for eco-based growth. For the new report, How Brands Can Embrace the Sustainable Fashion Opportunity, Bain/WWF spoke to nearly 5,900 fashion consumers in six countries (China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US) and found that concern for the environment is running ahead of current shopper behaviour and that’s often because shopping sustainability can be hard. Claud D’Arpizio, a Bain & Company senior partner in Milan and the firm’s global head of Fashion & Luxury, said: “Sustainable shopping is an inevitable change. Concern for sustainability is strong among younger generations – and growing overall. Hence, fashion brands need to embrace the sustainability conversation and make sustainable purchasing easier for all consumers. Brands that proactively design sustainability into their strategy and operations will cement their relevance and capture a windfall of unmet demand, now and into the future. Everyone will benefit from a commitment to sustainability from the fashion industry.” Payal Luthra, Global Apparel and Textiles Lead at WWF, added: “The fashion industry is highly dependent on nature and biodiversity. A great deal of the raw materials used in fashion and to make textiles come from nature, and the production and processing of these materials wouldn’t be possible without natural resources like water. “But despite all of these dependencies, the industry’s practices are responsible for many damaging impacts to nature that put the sector's survival at risk. The time is now for brands to take action on sustainability – they'll not only benefit from enhanced resilience but will have incredible opportunity to build brand loyalty with increasingly conscious consumers.” As mentioned earlier, there’s still some way to go before consumers fully switch on to shopping with sustainability front-of-mind. The report said the despite being among the top six purchase drivers for most global fashion customers, “sustainability is an explicitly lower priority than other, more tangible factors, such as product quality and durability,” although these factors do have links to sustainability. And it identified the obstacles that consumers face if they wish to purchase sustainably. Issues include assortments that are often limited, and the difficulty at times of distinguishing between sustainable and non-sustainable items. These barriers are seen by every generation of fashion consumer, but with younger consumers also saying that higher prices are a deterrent too. Federico Levato, senior partner at Milan’s office and EMEA Leader of Fashion & Luxury at Bain, said: “Fashion brands are on the cusp of a great opportunity but are often overwhelmed by complexity, especially along lengthy supply chains. Brands have a social role in this epoch-making change: they are called to address the information gap, engage consumers on product durability and impact; and make sustainable purchases more convenient and appealing. This will make them successful, while help shifting consumers toward more sustainable consumption.”
Source: Fashion Network
The world has experienced massive disruption to supply chains in recent years as a result of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine. This has restricted the availability of a wide array of goods, including essential items such as food, medicines and fuels. In the UK, the challenges of creating new trade deals following Brexit and of meeting ambitious national net-zero carbon targets, have also led to discussions about what the UK should be importing versus producing at home to boost food security. But food isn't the only resource grown on farms—many of the clothes people buy on the high street can be traced back to a field. Around 40% of the fibres used in the fashion industry globally come from plants or animals, with cotton being the biggest contributor. Most of this activity now takes place abroad, but textiles were once big business in the UK. Cotton mills dominated the landscape of the north of England when it was at the heart of the industrial revolution. Reviving this could provide a route to a more sustainable, "homegrown" UK textile industry. The fashion industry is responsible for around 8-10% of global carbon emissions and nearly 20% of wastewater, not to mention a human rights record of low pay, long hours and poor working conditions. As consumers increasingly look for more sustainable and responsible clothing options, reinvigorating the UK textile industry could help to address these problems. Our work with Homegrown/Homespun—a community initiative developing a line of naturally dyed linen jeans using UK-grown and spun flax—and the Centre for Global Eco-innovation's research student, Helena Pribyl, identified four benefits of redeveloping the UK textile industry. But it also highlighted four of the barriers to achieving this ambition. First, the benefits. 1. Reducing emissions Introducing a regenerative approach to growing clothing fibres like flax in the UK could help reduce emissions from farming. A recent study suggests that increasing soil carbon stores through regenerative arable farming in the UK could offset agricultural emissions by up to 25%. Regenerative farming techniques, like the use of organic manures and reduced tillage, not only reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from fertilisers, pesticides, and machinery but also help to sequester carbon in soils. Emissions could also be reduced by cutting down on transportation between the field, raw material processing and retail stages of the clothing industry. Buying locally made textiles would help to substantially reduce the emissions per item of clothing. The ability to use less carbon-intensive energy generation would also be beneficial. 2. Increasing transparency Manufacturing textiles locally would locate individual stages of the supply chain closer together, making them more observable and therefore less prone to unethical practices. It is undeniable that human rights abuses are a global problem—think of the issues identified in Leicester clothing factories during the pandemic. But such issues are a particularly acute concern in geographically dispersed supply chains and when sourcing from certain high-risk countries. 3. Boosting skills and sustainability awareness Rejuvenating the UK textiles industry could help reconnect people with lost skills, crafts and culture. It could also contribute to sustainability awareness and help change lifestyle and consumption habits, especially when fields are located within local communities. 4. Growing local, rural economies For rural economies, a renewed textile industry would bring job opportunities and potentially contribute to the UK's levelling up agenda. Harris Tweed is a prime example of the success of such a place-based business model. It brings employment to many sheep farmers, mill workers and independent home weavers in the Scottish Outer Hebrides and helps build the region's reputation globally, generating tourism and other economic benefits. Now, what about those four barriers? 1. Space is limited Space is at a premium in the UK, with a limited amount of land available for cultivation. Unless land unsuitable for growing food because of issues like contamination is used, producing flax or other clothing-related crops like indigo could come at the expense of national food production and the resilience of food supply chains. It is hard to argue that clothes should take priority over food, especially in the current economic climate. 2. Skills would take time to develop Growing linen-quality flax and spinning it into a high-quality fabric takes a lot of skill. From farming clothing fibres and dyes, to processing and production, the UK has lost a lot of the skills needed to revive this industry at scale. Reskilling the UK in this regard would be a benefit, especially in regional areas that have struggled to replace the textile industry since it was offshored, but this would take time and require significant investment. 3. Economies of scale will be hard to achieve The required facilities for textile manufacturing—for example, flax processing steps like scutching and retting, where the plant is beaten and softened—have been moved overseas. Many small initiatives working independently may struggle to make the economics of local textile production work. More collaboration will be needed to reach a sufficient scale to entice investment and bring the necessary physical infrastructure back to the UK. 4. Slow fashion is more expensive Because of the increased cost of labour and energy, UK-grown and made clothing would be more expensive. It might therefore remain a niche product unless the public buys into the idea, helping it to form part of a broader fashion revolution. But this would require a cultural move away from disposable fast fashion towards durable, reusable, recyclable slow fashion. The UK textile industry can't be regrown overnight. Resuscitating it will rely on the buy-in of a wide range of businesses, consumers and communities. Political support will also be needed to incentivise the reshoring of factories, train people and promote the growth of an inter-connected industry—from farm to coat hanger.
Source: Phys.org
Around 70 per cent of default loans in the banking sector in Bangladesh is concentrated in nine sectors, namely ship-building and ship-breaking, small and medium enterprises, leather, trade, textile, readymade garment, transport, credit card, and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) as many borrowers are finding it difficult to pay installments owing to the dragging economic slowdown even if wilful defaulters are also a contributor in this. Media reports claimed this while adding that as per the Financial Stability Report released by the Bangladesh Bank, the non-performing loans in the sectors stood at Taka 71,030 crore in December out of a total default loan of Taka 101,935 crore while also adding the business slowdown stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic along with the ongoing economic crisis has hurt the borrowers in the nine sectors. In addition, banks also gave out loans without following corporate governance, pushing up NPLs, they underlined further.
Source: Apparel Resources
