The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that under the National Technical Textiles Mission, so far 74 research projects of value of Rs.232 cr. in the areas of speciality fibres and technical textiles by premier Research Institutes and Research Organisations of the country in association with industry as partners undertaking research projects have been approved. Amongst them, 32 projects of specialty fibres and 9 projects of geotextiles worth Rs.111.92 crore and Rs.19.09 crore respectively are being undertaken under National Technical Textiles Mission. Smart Textiles are a new generation niche product. Smart Textiles products are a combination of varieties of wearable materials embedded with electronics. To encourage the industry to produce smart textile for the world market, Ministry of Textiles has introduced the Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme which includes the Smart Textiles.

Source: PIB

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Commerce ministry shares Russia's list of goods for import from India with exporters

The commerce ministry has shared with exporters a list of hundreds of goods such as auto parts and textile that Russia has provided to India for imports, an official said. Russia, on which sanctions have been imposed by western countries due to its invasion of Ukraine, has shared a list of hundreds of items from sectors including pharmaceuticals, textiles, auto components, and chemicals. "Russia wants to import these goods from India. The list has been shared by the ministry with the concerned export promotion councils and exporters to look into whether they can ship those products to Russia," the official said. According to industry experts, it would not be easy for Indian exporters to ship these goods to Russia as they are facing problems with regard to availability of containers for Russia. "Indian exporters may be in a position to supply these materials but currently the availability of ships and containers for Russia is quite depleted. There are very limited agencies which are taking orders for Russia, so Indian exporters are not in a position to supply even if they have materials," one of the experts said. The apparel industry has shown interest in shipping the goods but the auto industry looks apprehensive. Some exporters have reverted to the Indian embassy in Moscow about the list. Commenting on the issue, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said Russian buyers are enquiring about a wide range of products from India. "Indian exporters are evaluating the proposal as they have to be careful with the sanctions, with their diversified exports basket covering the US and the European Union. With payment mechanisms all set to take off in a couple of days and logistics options opening up, we are hopeful that shipments will start under this mechanism from the current month," Sahai said. The list of goods includes axles, crankshafts, fasteners, pistons, power steering pump drive shafts, oil pumps, valve springs, turbochargers, oil filters, spark plugs, ignition coils, seat belts, bumpers, welding materials, bearings, breaks, sterilization equipment, number of active pharma ingredients (APIs), and fruit and vegetable concentrates. Russia has become a major oil supplier to India. India's appetite for Russian oil swelled ever since it started trading on discount as the West shunned it to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Source: The zeebiz

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Weak global demand affecting India's merchandise exports and imports, says RBI Governor Das

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das while announcing a rate hike highlighted that slowing global demand is weighing on India's merchandise imports and exports. "The external sector has been affected by strong global headwinds. Slowing global demand is weighing on our merchandise exports. The growth of merchandise imports is also decelerating," Das said. After a successful run for many quarters merchandise exports contracted by a massive 16.7 per cent to USD29.8 billion in October-- the first contraction in 19 months. Merchandise imports also lost steam, clipping at just 5.7 per cent in October and all the available indicators show that exports will continue to face more headwinds. Governor Das said that it is also important to take cognizance of India’s innate buffers. "The growth of services exports, mainly contributed by software, business and travel services remained robust at 29.1 per cent in April-October 2022," he said. According to the latest update of the World Bank, India’s remittances are estimated to grow by around 12 per cent to US$ 100 billion in 2022 from US$ 89.4 billion in 2021. Remittances to India rose by 22.6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal. "The net balance under services and remittances remains in large surplus, partly offsetting the trade deficit. Consequently, even if the current account deficit is higher than 2021-22, it is eminently manageable and within the parameters of viability," Das added.

Source: economic times
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ECTA to boost India's textile & apparel exports to Australia

India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) may further boost India’s textile exports to the partner country. It was the third largest supplier of textiles and apparel to Australia in 2021. Annual growth of exports was 9.5 per cent during 2017-2021. Also, Australia can get access to the vast Indian market for its cotton production. India’s exports of textiles and apparel amounted to $449.2 million in 2017, which increased to $466.2 million in 2018, $495 million in 2019, $464.5 million in 2020 and $645.5 million in 2021, according to the Confederation of Textile Industries (CITI). Last year, India exported apparel worth $288.6 million and home textiles worth $233.8 million to Australia. These two ready-to-use categories of textiles contributed more than 80 per cent to the total exports of textiles and apparel during 2021. CITI’s analysis indicates that India’s exports of textiles and apparel to Australia were already performing well and ECTA can be expected to give them a further boost. As for Australia, its exports of fibres including cotton to India were worth $153.677 million in 2021, which was higher than the shipment of $69.558 million in 2020. The exports were noted at $154.858 million in 2019, $252.897 million in 2018 and $302.952 million in 2017. Australia has already exported fibres worth $327.963 million to India during the first three quarters of the current year, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro. India was the third largest market for Australian cotton with a share of 8.60 per cent in its total exports of $3.812 billion during January-September 2022, while Australia was the second largest fibre supplier for India with 13.90 per cent share in its total imports of $2.192 billion during the same period, as per TexPro.

Source: Fibre2Fashion
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Six European nations eye investments across 18 sectors in Uttar Pradesh

Six European countries, including France, England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Germany, are expected to invest in Uttar Pradesh in an effort to grow the state’s economy to $1 trillion, said the stare government in a press release. According to Invest UP, there are 18 sectors in Uttar Pradesh that are expected to see significant investment from Europe. These industries include energy, retail, chemical, pharmaceuticals, automobile, electronics manufacturing, EV manufacturing, infrastructure, agro and food processing, textiles, defence engineering, technology, manufacturing, agriculture equipment, water management, green house technology, venture capitalist and transport. “The government is actively engaged in discussions with significant companies operating across all these 18 sectors. Officers from six departments engaged in pursuit to bring investments to the state," the press release added. Under the direction of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a special team headed by principal secretary-level officers from six significant state departments has been constituted to engage with European nations to bring in investments. Additionally, representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) have also been communicating with European investors. “The Urban Development Department, Textiles Department, Planning Department, Industrial Development Department, Transport Department, and Housing Department are among the six state departments whose officers have been assigned to ‘Mission Europe’," the press release said. The Chief Minister’s office is monitoring the progress. Additionally, three officers from Invest UP have been working on this project and are in discussions with industry groups from Paris, London, Edinburgh, Brussels, Stockholm, The Hague, Frankfurt, and Munich. Foreign officials see Uttar Pradesh as a preferable destination for investment, given improved basic infrastructure for industry, solid law and order, improved traffic connectivity, and over 25 new government policies. “Foreign officials are also seeing UP as a preferable destination for investment, particularly in light of policies like the New Industrial Policy 2022, the EV Policy 2022, the Oxygen Policy 2021, the MRO, MSME, Solar Energy, and Biofuel," the press release added.

Source: live mint
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Will we ever be able to recycle our clothes like an aluminum can?

A new textile recycling plant opened by the company Renewcell in the small coastal city of Sundsvall, Sweden, is so big that employees use bikes to get from one end of the production line to the other. Large bales of cotton waste are dumped on conveyor belts, shredded, and then broken down into a wet slurry, with the help of chemicals. That slurry, known as dissolving pulp, is then bleached, dried, stamped into sheets of what looks like recycled craft paper, given the brand name Circulose, and shipped off to manufacturers to be made into textiles like viscose for clothes. Up until now, most clothes marketed as made from recycled materials only contained a small percentage of recycled cotton or were made from water bottles, fishing nets and old carpets. (Technology exists to recycle polyester into polyester but is prohibitively expensive and rarely used.) Renewcell’s factory is one of the first steps toward a system that turns old clothes into new high-quality clothes made entirely with recycled fabric. It also helps to address the mountains of textile waste accumulating worldwide and may help reduce the number of trees that are harvested from ecologically sensitive forests to produce fabrics for fashion. (More than 200 million trees are cut down every year to produce dissolving pulp for man-made cellulosic fabrics, including rayon, viscose, modal, and lyocell, according to Canopy, a Canadian nonprofit that works with the paper and fashion industries to reduce deforestation.) About a half-dozen startups around the world are aimed at commercial textile recycling, and Renewcell is the first to open. Many consumers seem to be increasingly uneasy about what happens to their old clothes, and fashion companies are searching for ways to continue expanding while simultaneously fulfilling promises to reduce their negative environmental impact and achieve a circular system in which clothes are looped back through instead of being sent to a landfill. The European Union has mandated expanded textile collection for all member states by 2025, which is expected to significantly increase the flow of fashion waste in need of a destination.

Source: Indian express
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French international luxury textiles group, Fremaux Delorme, forays into the Indian market

With the support of Business France, Fremaux Delorme is launching its Elle Décor – Home Collection showroom in DLF South Point Mall, Gurgaon on 16th December 2022. With a vast brand portfolio for bed and bath linens, homewear and decorative home accessories, this first shop by the French luxury textiles group will carry Yves Delorme, Ralph Lauren, Boss Home, Kenzo, and Lacoste brands of Fremaux Delorme. Fremaux Delorme, a family owned business, established in 1845 by Ernestine Fremaux, was recognised as Enterprise of Living Patrimony by the French Government and was also awarded 3-star verification with the Blue Standard by Oceanic Global for its efforts to protect the blue planet. With more than 1200 point of sales worldwide across 71 countries and this new launch, Fremaux Delorme aims to spread the culture of beautiful linens, cultivated since 1845. Through the partnership with Mont Blanc Ventures Pvt. Ltd., Fremaux Delorme, seeks to replicate the showroom model in other metropolitan cities in India in the next five years. The brand will offer a turnkey ‘drop in’ concept to create a ‘uniform look’ across its retail network. While discussing the history of textiles and culture in India, Adrien de Raphelis, Head of Export, Fremaux Delorme said, “We feel that we have very much to learn from the Indian culture in this domain and we are very honoured for the opportunity to be present in India.” Creative Director of Yves Delorme brand, communicated that India has been a major source of inspiration, the flora and fauna, historical techniques such as khadi or ikat, embroideries and brocades, along with colours and patterns manifest themselves in the designs of Fremaux Delorme.

Source: apparel resources
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44,037 number of MUDRA loans with loan amount of Rs.246.24 crore sanctioned to handloom sector

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today shared that 44,037 number of MUDRA loans with loan amount of Rs.246.24 crore have been sanctioned to handloom sector during the last three years and current financial year (upto 31.10.2022) under Concessional Credit/Weaver MUDRA Scheme. Ministry of Textiles, Government of India has written to Chairman/CEO/MD/President of all Banks and State Governments to sensitize Bank branches about the scheme, register on portal, expeditious sanction/disbursement of loans and organize regular meetings to monitor the progress for increasing number & amount of loans to weavers, across the Country. Ministry of Textiles, Government of India has requested State Governments to sponsor maximum number of loan applications for handloom pockets. Further, intensive publicity through newspapers, Awareness Camps/ Chaupals & distribution of pamphlets in weavers' pockets are being organized in association with State Governments & banks concerned to encourage and educate handloom weavers for availing loan benefits. Local Public Representatives are also being invited in Awareness Camps/Chaupals for their affirmative impact on the handloom workers

Source: PIB
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MSME-powered startup, Lal10, records Rs 200 cr revenue run rate

On its way to digitising Indian textile based MSMEs for global B2B wholesale, Lal10, has announced rapid growth, achieving a revenue run rate of over Rs 200 crore. The company’s DNA of understanding manufacturing from the bottom-up for a few years has helped them tap unheard of margins in cross border trade. It grew over 12x in the past nine months alone and is progressing towards rapid growth in the next few quarters. This run rate comes on the heels of its expanding number of mid-to-large format buyers in countries like the US, UK, Japan and the Middle East. Lal10 has also launched seven satellite offices in cities/towns which are at the ground zero of manufacturing to cater to the rising demand. They are eyeing a $100 million run-rate within the next 12 months. They claim to have over 80% buyer buyer retention owing to better serviceability led by technology tools and stellar leadership team providing a transparent supply chain to global buyers. Along with the increase in revenue, the company has digitised and given a globally relevant makeover to over 2200 Indian MSMEs with an aim to onboard another 12,500 MSMEs over the next three years. The onboarding will help Lal10 further consolidate its supplier base and digitally activate their supply chains to be able to play in the global markets at scale The end-to-end design- to delivery technology ecosystem has translated into increasingly captive manufacturing units which allows Lal10 to customise and innovate at a fast pace for global brands. Today, Lal10 is the largest vertical wholesale marketplace for creative goods based MSMEs from semi-urban and rural towns in India. They are current day market leaders in taking sustainable and artisan led textiles from India to the world. In a statement, Maneet Gohil, co-Founder and CEO of Lal10, said, “We never realised the goldmine we were sitting on until we started utilising the recently raised capital in setting up cross-border operations for sales and marketing. Today we work with some of the largest marquee brands in the US, UK and Japan. The hero for us has become our differentiated textile products that are craft based and sustainable. The buyers have never had access to these fabrics at this scale before and according to their contemporary design tastes which has created a strong hook for them. The teams are moving swiftly to grab more buyers in these countries. Our next goal is to become the prominent and largest supplier for some of the marquee brands and retain them with exemplary service levels aided through technology.” This IMSME-centric startup has used technology as a pillar to remove systemic inequalities present in archaic indian supply chains which has allowed them to upgrade these manufacturing units as per global design trends, making it a key player in taking up space in global marketplaces on the heels of the slowdown of Chinese exports. Recently, Lal10 had raised $5.5 million in its pre-Series A round with participation from Xander Group, Spiral Ventures, Singularity Ventures and Beyond Capital Ventures along with notable angels like Nitish Mittersain, Amit Ranjan, Mekin Maheshwari, Notion India Head to name a few. hey are using capital to grow inorganically in markets such as the US, UK and the Middle East aggressively. It has also expanded its operations and teams in Japan and created a Japan-dedicated platform for the buyers, japan.lal10.com, to source ethically made artisanal textiles from verified Indian creative manufacturing MSMEs.

Source: The economic times
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10th Intex India textiles sourcing show of South Asia to start on Dec 8

The 10th Intex India, the premier international textiles sourcing show of South Asia, will be held in Hall 3GF, Pragati Maidan New Delhi from December 8 to 10, 2022. This year, alongside the exhibition, Intex India will host RBSM which is jointly organised by FICCI Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. The Indian economy is a bright spot in the world with a GDP estimated to grow 6.5% in 2022-23 as per the World Bank and to grow 6-7% in 2023-24. This bodes well for a country where 60% of GDP is fuelled by private consumption. The booming Indian textile & apparel industry is fueled by India’s 800+ million youth aged between 13 to 35 years who are driving industry growth making India the 6th-largest fashion marketplace in the world. Demand is expected to propel India’s $54 billion apparel & fashion retail industry to $118 billion by 2028 and fuel the domestic textile & apparel market to touch $220 billion by FY26 from $106 billion in FY20. Intex India will showcase 100+ Indian and international textile suppliers of Fibres, Yarns, Apparel Fabrics, Denim Fabrics, Clothing Accessories, Dyes & Chemicals, Software & ERP Solutions, Colour & Textile Trends Studio and other allied and support services for the textile and apparel industry from Belarus, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Italy, USA, South Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & others. The show fulfills the growing demand for innovative, fashion and sustainable textiles in India.

Source: The statesman
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INTERNATIONAL

Vietnam's cloth imports up 5.1 pct in 11 months

Vietnam spent over 13.6 billion U.S. dollars on cloth imports in the first 11 months of this year, bringing an increase of 5.1 percent year on year, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Wednesday. Between January and November, Vietnam imported roughly 1.4-million tons of cotton worth nearly 3.9 billion dollars, down 13.3 percent in volume and up 29.1 percent in value year on year. Over the period, the country also spent approximately 2.4 billion dollars importing 961,000 tons of yarn, up 3.8 percent and down 2.1 percent respectively year on year. Last year, Vietnam spent nearly 14.4 billion dollars importing cloth and earned more than 32.7 billion dollars from exporting garments and textiles, according to the office.

Source: english.news
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China’s textile, apparel exports log steady growth in Jan.-Oct.

China’s exports of textile and apparel products registered a steady expansion in the first 10 months of this year, official data showed. The country’s textile exports stood at 125.7 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 6.9 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China’s exports of apparel and accessories rose 6.4 percent year on year to 147.6 billion dollars, within which apparel exports hit 130.4 billion dollars, up 10.3 percent year on year. China’s major textile enterprises saw their combined operating revenue climb 1.6 percent year on year to top 4.28 trillion yuan (about 611.65 billion U.S. dollars) in the Jan.-Oct. period. The data also showed that the country’s online retail sales of garment products went up 5.3 percent in the same period over one year earlier.

Source: Macau business
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Bangladesh apparel exports to USA on the rise; increases by 50.98 per cent in Jan-Sep of ’22

Bangladesh’s garments export to its single largest export destination of USA has registered year-on-year growth of 50.98 per cent to US $ 7.55 billion in the January-September period of 2022. Reports claimed this citing latest data from the OTEXA (Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles and Apparel) while also adding Bangladesh exported garments worth US $ 5 billion to the USA, in the same period of last year. Meanwhile, speaking to the media, BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel reportedly maintained Bangladesh has been able to retain the trust of US buyers while adding, “We have been proactive during the Covid-19 pandemic and followed strict hygiene rules and were vigilant about compliance.”

Source: apparelresources
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In global supply chain restructuring, China’s advantage is manpower

There have been two major industrial news stories recently. One is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)’s investment of $40 billion in the US to build an advanced chips factory, with Biden attending the groundbreaking ceremony; The second is the US and EU using the carbon emission issue to propose new tariffs on steel and aluminum from China.

The US and European supply chain restructuring is accelerating.

Some may ask if supply chain reconfiguration will have strong side effects on the US, Europe and the global economy. The tariff increase, in particular, will have a greater impact on EU industries and could potentially trigger long-term inflation. But that is precisely what makes this supply chain reconfiguration different. From the policy-making level, the US and EU are determined about restructuring. Washington is determined to reconfigure it, and sees it as a “life and death battle” for the future of the US to maintain its global dominance. The US is prepared to suffer side effects, which include backlash from its containment policies, even a trade war against China. While we debate whether the US will survive this once in decades inflation and fall into a recession, the process of restructuring and re-industrialization of the US economy has already begun. Furthermore, as China begins to emerge from the epidemic and make every effort to recuperate its economy, the globalization we once knew has changed significantly. Since China’s accession to the WTO in 2001, Chinese manufacturing has grown and joined the global industrial chain, gradually becoming the most important part in the global supply chain. China has become a rising power, and has gone hand in hand with its rising position in the supply chain. More importantly, China has built a strong manufacturing workforce ever since. The current round of reconfiguration does not mean that anti-globalization will become mainstream. But the reconfiguration has led to a change in the structure of globalization on which China's rise has depended upon, and the impact this will have on the Chinese economy may vary widely. Both at the high end, with chips, EV batteries, biotechnology, etc., and at the middle and high end, with textiles, photovoltaics, steel and aluminum, etc. This is not just a shock to China's imports and exports, but will also have a significant impact on China's domestic industries and the economy as a whole. Some foreign media predict that this process will continue until 2030 and that it will not be smooth sailing for all the major industrial countries, that is to say, through strong pain, it will not only be a test of the economy's ability to innovate, but also a test of its ability to withstand when the economy falls. At present, major industrial countries have roughly the same path to reconstruct their supply chains, for example, to improve the competitiveness of leading industries, to achieve as much self-sufficiency in the whole supply chain as possible for key industries, to improve investment and innovation in key areas, and to nearshoring- and friendly shoring industries, etc. However, all of these cannot be done without people, without a willing workforce who is to undertake R&D and upgrade manufacturing capabilities. The competition of supply chain restructuring is first of all the competition of people, the competition of labor force. And as far as human resources are concerned, China has certain strengths, and it has a multi-level labor force across the whole of industry. Think about it, why is it difficult for India, our neighboring country with a large population, to replace China in the manufacturing sector? Because of the lack of infrastructure, lack of logistics, lack of legal environment, after all, most importantly, because they do not have the same quality workforce as China has. And here lies the main challenge facing the US and Europe in reconfiguring their supply chains. In the aspects of the competition in manufacturing in the major industrial countries that China already has a leading position, it is because in those aspects, human resources have won. The key now is how to consolidate and continuously improve the workforce of China's manufacturing industry, especially the human resources of small and medium-sized enterprises. This should be the focus of economic recovery after the epidemic. Therefore, while the country increases its investment in the real economy, it needs to focus on how to preserve and upgrade its human resources.

Source: The global times
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Kappahl partners with TrusTrace to support its traceability efforts

A global SaaS company with a market-leading platform for product traceability and supply chain transparency in fashion and retail – announced that Kappahl has selected the TrusTrace platform to support its traceability efforts. “Kappahl identified traceability as a key strategic enabler for sustainable change, and a way to facilitate compliance with evolving supply chain laws and regulations,” said Shameek Ghosh, TrusTrace CEO and Co-Founder, adding, “We’re thrilled that they selected TrusTrace as the framework to promote data-driven, sustainable action.” As per Shameek, Kappahl will be able to leverage robust supply chain data insights to enable responsible sourcing and adhere to laws such as the Norwegian Transparency Act and the upcoming EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. In addition to adhering to regulations, Kappahl aims to leverage the TrusTrace platform to enable more data-based decision-making to drive sustainability in day-to-day operations, as well as to equip customers to move more towards sustainable consumption. This will be achieved through communicating the impact of their products, allowing customers to shop according to their values and make more informed purchasing decisions. “For Kappahl, it is important to be a transparent company, and we want to make it easy for our customers to make informed and sustainable choices. Our customer must receive as detailed information as possible in order to quickly know what it is they have bought, and knowing where and how the garment is made also raises its value. There is a lot of work behind each finished garment, the manufacturing process is long and involves many people – something perhaps not everyone is aware of. With TrusTrace, we get the tools to efficiently manage sustainability data for approximately 40 million garments that are sold every year. Sustainability data can be presented for an overall picture of the garment’s values, which can then be communicated to customers in a simple and accessible way,” mentioned Sandra Roos, VP Sustainability at Kappahl.

Source: apparel resources