INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
The MITRA Park will integrate and streamline textile operations in Gujarat. Industry players in Gujarat have welcomed the move and are confident that it will aid the setting up of a value chain of textile manufacturing in Gujarat, ET Bureau reported. “The state will benefit the most as it is already home to man-made fibre, technical textiles, and readymade garments sectors,” an industry source told TNN. The government has announced a number of schemes designed to benefit the domestic textiles industry and boost production, including the Production Linked Incentive scheme for textiles. The Union Government is keen to both create new employment opportunities within the industry and boost exports from the sector. The Union Government recently announced that it will set up textile parks across India and has earmarked a total outlay of Rs 4,445 crore to set these up. On March 22, the MITRA Park in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district was launched following an agreement signed by the central and state governments.
Source: The in.fashionnetwork.com
The government has extended export benefits under RoDTEP scheme to 18 items related to textiles sector, including saari and lungi, with a view to boost shipments of these goods. Benefits under the duty refund scheme — Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) — will be given to exports made from March 23, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification Under the RoDTEP, various central and state duties, taxes, and levies imposed on input products, among others, will be refunded to exporters. “18 tariff lines…are being added…under RoDTEP for exports made from March 28, 2023,” it said. The items include shirting fabrics, casement, and cambric.
Source: Financial Express
The Ministry of Textiles (MoT) has said that the factories that are the first to set up at PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme will get incentives of 3 per cent of their revenue. There are seven PM MITRA Parks that are set to come up in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Leading business daily Mint quoted Textile Secretary Rachna Shah saying that the Centre will be providing incentive support to the manufacturing factories that would come first – the first movers. They will be incentivised to the tune of 3 per cent of the revenue. For example, if there is an anchor investor, who brings in investment of Rs.300 crore to a park, then there will be an incentive that can be Rs.10 crore per year with a cap of Rs.30 crore. She also said that issues related to the availability of reliable power supply and the quality of power is important for any industrial park and the Central Government has had discussions about this with the states. She added, “We’ve discussed in detail with the states about their industrial policy and their textile policy and whether they would be offering any special incentives. Most of the states have their own policy framework for assured power and water supply.”
Source: Apparel Resources
Brands tapping into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for user engagement and to offer exclusive experiences to customers, especially millennials, hasn’t taken off in India as was expected initially. The market has turned muted after the initial excitement among celebrities and a handful of brands NFT platform providers said very few brands are venturing into the NFT space as India still doesn’t have enough takers. “While NFTs have the potential to revolutionize digital ownership and value exchange, their adoption by brands and companies in India has been slow. This is largely due to the lack of awareness of NFTs among the general public, as well as a significant supply and demand gap Textile maker Mafatlal Industries, which opened a metaverse gallery and NFT store for fashion enthusiasts on Comearth last July, along with car maker MG Motor, travel platform MakeMyTrip, and smartphone maker Nothing are among companies that have used NFTs to drive engagement and create buzz around new products. But the tally of such brands has remained flat in the past year amid a downturn in the crypto market. Meanwhile, in the overseas market, top brands such as Gucci, Nike, Adidas, Time Magazine, Budweiser, and McLaren have dabbled in NFTs. In fact, Adidas, Nike, and Gucci generated $137.5 million in combined sales of their NFT collections in just three months, according to a March 2022 report by DappRadar. “Whenever a new concept enters the market, like NFT, it is actually nudging an idea set that does not exist in the mindset of consumers. For many brands, these are oblique thoughts and concepts," said Harish Bijoor, a brand strategy specialist. He pointed out that NFTs are in the initial stages of their life cycles when only individuals and a few “maverick brands" adopt it for the PR value. “ The rest will wait and watch, and join when it matures," said Bizoor, adding that markets such as the US are a lot more aware and mature in terms of adopting new technologies. Further, experts added that last year’s slump in the cryptocurrency market has also impacted sales in the NFT space. Last June, NFT sales plummeted to a 12-month low of about $1 billion after scaling a record high of $12.6 billion in January, according to market research firm Chainalysis. “The crypto winter has weakened investor confidence in the broader cryptocurrency market and consequently the NFT industry has been affected too," said NFTically’s Sharma. He added that many buyers are sceptical about NFTs due to fear of scams and fraudulent projects. A case in point is NFT rug pulls, where fake NFTs are launched and after a few rounds of investments the project is abandoned causing monetary loss to early investors. According to crypto exchange Zebpay, losses incurred on NFT crimes increased by 667% in 2022. Kameshwaran Elangovan, COO and Co-founder of blockchain firm Guardianlink, said that the domino effect of the crypto winter did impact NFTs, simply because a large part of NFT trading takes place in cryptos. However, Elangovan also reminded that some brand NFTs performed well despite it. “A lot of brands have launched their NFTs and metaverses in the middle of the crypto winter. Games like Meta Cricket League witnessed the sale of more than 55,000 NFTs in less than 10 minutes," he added. That said, the NFT platform providers still believe that brands in India will play a key role in driving NFT adoption. “Once Indian brands or rather, the brands facing Indian markets figure out the essential elements that are likely to influence emotional engagement and exclusivity, the possibilities of brand NFTs in India will grow not just proportionally but exponentially," said Elangovan. To be sure, 39% of marketing professionals who used NFTs for brand engagement found it has the highest return on investment among all tools they used, according to a May report by software firm HubSpot. “Once we see big brands stepping into the NFT bandwagon, it is quite likely that a lot of brands will start chipping into the space," added Elangovan.
Source: live mint
Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Ms. Anupriya Patel inaugurated the 23rd edition of INDIASOFT at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi today. She said that by 2047 India would become a developed country with a GDP of USD 32 trillion, which would be a defining moment for India and the global community alike. This scale of growth would be greatly influenced by the strides India is making in the ICT sector, she added. “From now to 2047, we fondly refer to Amrit Kal, a stretch of time India is going to make big in every discipline... that is our shared vision, collective goal, and a transformative turning point in our glorious history”, the Minister said, adding that India would be willing to share the technologies and devices developed, with countries desirous of acquiring them. The Minister emphasized that all countries would have a stake in India’s growth story since the technologies and solutions developed would have universal relevance. In this regard, she appreciated that over 70 new products are going to be launched during the next three days at the INDIASOFT, which have been developed and perfected through the efforts of India’s highly talented pool of R&D professionals. “This reflects the type of breakthroughs that India has achieved in the digital space and amplifies its resolution to become a developed country by 2047,” she added. The Minister stressed that India’s exports, both merchandise and services, would peak at US$750 billion by 2022-23 as against over US$650 billion in 2021-22. Services exports’ contribution, particularly that of IT and ITeS, would be substantial in reaching India’s export targets. The Minister also said that by 2027 India would become a US$ 5 trillion economy, becoming the third largest in the world. “On the 100th year of our independence, we will become a developed country”, she pointed out. Over 650 delegates from 80 countries are participating in the three-day event which kicked off today. More than 1500 Indian exhibitors are showcasing their products and solutions at the event, together with other collocated events. Ms. Grisel Eulalia Reyes León, Deputy Minister of Communications, Cuba and Mr. Rivas Stepke Luciano Alejandro, Regional Governor, Araucania, Chile also attended the inaugural along with their delegations. Earlier welcoming the delegates Chairman ESC Sandeep Narula said that by 2030 India’s ICT sector would peak at US$ 1 trillion triggered by the focus the country is giving to R&D, innovation and disruption. He mentioned that India has been making solid forays into exports. “When we started exporting IT & ITeS in the late ’80s, it was only US$ 50 million, which has now peaked to US$ 200 billion. He also said that India has digitized public services by introducing various schemes which enable citizens to access services from the government delivery systems with ease. “Many countries can emulate India’s successful schemes and we are willing to share our expertise to scale up their digital programs,” he stressed. Mr. Narula said that through the INDIASOFT and the other international exhibitions in which ESC participates regularly, a lot of business opportunities for the Indian ICT sector have been generated. Those efforts, he said, would continue.
Source: PIB
The 1st Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) meeting under India’s G20 Presidency is scheduled in Mumbai, from March 28 − 30, 2023. During the three-day meeting, over 100 delegates from G20 member countries, invitee countries, regional groupings and international organizations will engage in deliberations to accelerate global trade and investments On the first day, on March 28, an International Conference on ‘Trade Finance’ will be held. This International Conference is being organized by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) and India EXIM Bank. Trade finance supports economic growth, and it is integral for maintaining international trade flows, for mitigating risks emerging from tight liquidity. Around 80% of all international trade uses some type of trade finance instrument, such as letter of credit, supply chain financing, invoice discounting and receivables financing. Global trade finance involves a number of parties, including banks, trade finance companies, export credit agencies, insurers, importers and exporters. Trade finance is the lifeblood of cross-border trade. It is estimated that in 2020, $9 trillion of trade finance transactions were supported by major global banks. Yet, trade finance gap is widening. As estimated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the gap which was $1.5 trillion in 2018 has now increased to $ 2 trillion. It is thus imperative to deliberate on action-oriented solutions that can reduce finance gap and make it accessible harnessing the potential of digital tools and technology. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which sustain livelihoods and contribute to global economic growth in both the developing and developed countries, are disproportionately affected by the yawning trade finance gap. In this backdrop, this International Conference will hold two sessions. The first session will highlight the role of banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions and export credit agencies in closing the trade finance gap, and the second session will delve into how digitalization and fintech solutions can improve access to trade finance.
Session 1: The role of banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions and export credit agencies in closing the trade finance gap
Moderator: Ms. Latha Venkatesh, Executive Editor, CNBC TV 18
Panel members: Mr. Steven Beck, Head of Trade Finance, ADB; Prof. Andreas Klasen, Professor of International Business and Director, IFTI, Offenburg University, Germany; Mr. Gaurav Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank
The first session will take a macro view of the current trends in international trade and trade finance, and their future prospects. Some key pointers of the discussion are listed below:
1. Current trends in international trade and trade finance amidst the pandemic and growing import bills in developing countries.
2. Cause of trade finance gaps, including reduced credit line support in the private sector and inflation cuts into bank lending limits.
3. The role of export credit agencies in bolstering trade finance
Session 2: Accelerating digitalisation and fintech solutions can improve access to trade finance
Moderator: Ms. Tamanna Inamdar, TIMES Group
Panel members: Mr. John Drummond, Head of the Trade in Services Division of OECD; Mr. Fareed Alasaly, Deputy Governor of International Organizations and Agreements, Saudi Arabia; Mr. Ketan Gaikwad, MD & CEO, Receivables Exchange of India Limited
During this session, trends in digitalisation of trade finance will be discussed in detail, and how these can accelerate innovation and efficiency to make trade finance accessible for firms, especially MSMEs. The discussion will also look at current and emerging fintech solutions that can assist in making customized lending decisions as well as enhance trade finance supply for MSMEs. Some of the specific discussions would include:
1. Need for digitalising trade finance by working with multiple stakeholders to innovate advanced technologies for revamping the trade ecosystem in entirety
2. Scope of digitalisation of MSMEs to reduce the implementation time and cost, and promote innovation in the supply of finance for low-value or single transactions since major bottlenecks arise due to high-cost services and the cost of cyber security risk mitigation strategies.
3. Emerging solutions in financial technologies, such as network data, real-time payment behaviours, SaaS based technologies and optical character recognition.
Source: PIB
On March 17, the government announced that seven mega textile parks under the Rs. 4,445-crore PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme will be set up in the first phase. The notification for large-scale textile parks under PM MITRA had been given in October 2021. The scheme which seeks to streamline the textile value chain into one ecosystem, taking in spinning, weaving and dyeing to printing and garment manufacturing, is expected to generate investments worth Rs. 70,000 crore. It would also lead to the creation of 20 lakh jobs, according to Commerce & Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.
First Phase Of PM MITRA Scheme Under the first phase of the PM MITRA scheme, large textile parks, spread across at least 1,000 acres, will come up in seven States — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh — housing the entire textile value chain, from fibre to fabric to garments. The parks will have plug-and-play manufacturing facilities and all the common amenities required. The Central government’s budget outlay for the scheme, which is Rs. 4,445 crore, is to be spent till 2027-28. Special purpose vehicles, with a 51% equity shareholding of the State government and 49% of the Centre, will be formed for each park. The State governments will provide the land, be part of the SPV, and give the required clearances. The Central government will disburse Development Capital Fund of Rs. 500 crore in two tranches for each of the seven facilities. This is for the creation of core and support infrastructure. It will also give a Competitive Incentive Support of Rs. 300 crore per park to be provided to the manufacturing units.
How Is It Different From Previous Textile Schemes? The textile and apparel sector has benefited from different programmes, such as the Apparel Park Scheme announced in 2002 and the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks launched in 2005, which supported development of common infrastructure. The PM MITRA scheme is envisaged to be a unique initiative and the differentiating factors are the emphasis on large-scale production and provision of plug-and-play manufacturing centres. The scheme is to be implemented jointly by the Central and State governments. The parks, which will be open for foreign direct investments, will be located in states that have inherent strengths in the textile sector. Each park will have effluent treatment plants, accommodation for workers, skill training centres and warehouses too. It is designed to attract investment from companies that are looking to scale up, and require integrated manufacturing facilities in one location.
Impact Of The Scheme On MSMEs The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is said to control almost 80% of the textiles and apparels currently made in India. Further, the Indian textile and clothing units are more cotton-based. The industry has mixed views on the immediate impact of the huge investments that are expected to come into the parks in existing units. However, with mounting challenges such as the global geopolitical situation, and overseas buyers exploring China as well as other sourcing options, the past two years have seen notable shifts in supply chains. Orders are transitioning to suppliers who are highly price competitive and have sustainable production processes. Even those who cater to low-volume orders are going in for value addition for better price realisation. Thus, manufacturers with vertically integrated facilities are at an advantage compared to smaller, standalone players. The MSME exporters are also realising that there is a need for integrated, larger facilities and these factors are expected to drive the industry’s investment plans.
Can The Industry Expect A Boost In The Exports? Indian textile and clothing exports have stagnated at around the $40-billion mark over the past four years, and stood at $44 billion last year; the aim is to achieve $100 billion up approximately 65% of the total textile and apparel exports. Indian exports, which cover a gamut of products, are mainly known for yarn, bedsheets and towels, T-shirts and denim fabric. Expanding the fibre and product line will give India a larger share in the global market, from the current 5%. In order to make a giant leap in exports and domestic sales, the industry has to also be price competitive right from the raw material stage and gear up to meet the sustainability and traceability demands of international buyers. The State governments and developers should give thrust to the PM MITRA parks for sustainable and cost-effective solutions for pollution control and other issues that the value-adding segments of the textile chain face. India can take a cue from countries such as Turkey where integrated textile parks are highly efficient. Some of the MSME players who have the appetite to invest but are in need of resources are hoping the government will combine the Production Linked Incentive scheme II with PM MITRA, though guidelines issued in January last year say incentives under PM MITRA will be available only to those companies that have not availed of benefits from the PLI scheme. The Central and State governments have to encourage MSME units to invest in the PM MITRA parks and scale up, say insiders. Else, India faces the risk of missing out on the opportunity to become the prime destination for textile production and exports.
Source: India Times.com
Maharashtra Government has said that there is no such plan to shift the Textile Commissionerate out of Mumbai to Delhi. As there were reports of shifting the Textile Commissionerate from Mumbai to Noida, the issue was raised in the Maharashtra assembly. However, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that no such decision has been taken. He said in the Legislative Assembly, “The textile commissioner and five officials have been asked to come to Delhi. This is an arrangement to restructure the Textile Ministry and to promote the sector. This commissionerate has a total of 500 officials and employees, and therefore one cannot claim that the entire commissionerate is being shifted to Delhi.” Jayant Patil, MLA, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) raised the issue in the Assembly through point of information. He said that regarding the shifting, the letter of Ministry of Textiles had no mention of only a few officers being shifted out of Mumbai. On the contrary, the letter talks about shifting of entire commissionerate.
Source: Apparel Resources
"Yes, our quarter-on-quarter growth in HPPC continues to remain strong and we have covered up any loss of customer sale. In terms of margins, if you see consecutively in the entire group, we have been able to increase gross margins and EBITDA margins quarter-on-quarter for the last three quarters," says Sunil Srinivasan Chari, MD, Rossari Biotech. How has the demand and the performance been across various segments, whether we talk abouttextile, animal health, how are things looking? For the first nine months of the year, we did about Rs 250 crores and Rs 168 crores of EBITDA. This is the highest ever we did in our history. Demand for textiles was a little muted but in the last few months, we see uptick in textile also. The home personal care and the animal nutrition are the strong business areas for us. Our acquisitions, Unitop and Tristar have done well too. So we have an optimistic view for the coming year too. I also wantto talk aboutthe HPPC segmentthat was impacted mainly due to the customer losses. Now, have you been able to compensate by new customer addition and on-boarding on thatfront as well? Yes, our quarter-on-quarter growth in HPPC continues to remain strong and we have covered up any loss of customer sale. In terms of margins, if you see consecutively in the entire group, we have been able to increase gross margins and EBITDA margins quarter-on-quarter for the last three quarters. Also, in terms ofthe key raw material prices when you look at acrylic acid, it has actually seen a sharp fall on a quarter-on-quarter basis when you compare 25% downtick on a quarter-on-quarter basis. So can we expect a good recovery in terms of margins in the coming quarters?Is that going to be a sustainable one? And which segments will be leading this recovery then in margins? All the key raw materials now have come back to nearly pre-Covid levels and that is why our finished goods prices also are less. And so the top line seems less, but the volumes are definitely better than last year. In terms of margins, as I said, last three quarters we have recovered and we have gone to 13% plus and we are definitely hopeful for an improvement on this in the next financial year as well. In the last quarter, subsidiaries witnessed a slowdown due to subdued demand. How has the performance been this quarter so far? Could you also justtell us about some trends in exports as well, particularly considering the global situation? So especially Tristar was affected in the last quarter because of the Ukraine war. Europe is a big area for Tristar but we have seen healthy uptick in the last couple of months from Europe. USA demand is good. We participated in exhibition in silicone in Netherlands last week and we saw very healthy demand from both Europe and Turkey at the exhibition. So, I think Europe demand is holding up now and USA, Brazil, Argentina in the last three weeks haven't seen subdued demand in any of these areas. The financial markets show something, but in terms of our demand on the ground it is good. There has been a different sort of a move that has come into the chemical industry in India.You think itis a trend which is starting and we are seeing a lot of chemical players, rightfrom the bigger ones like SRF to smaller ones announcing capex, coming to markets, raising funds.You think thatthat market share trend over the nextfour-five years is only looking better for Indian exporters? Yes, we had a big agrochemical major meeting last week. For capex there is a lot of healthy demand for the China plus one story. We are not exactly into the China plus one story, but we see gradually a lot of customers coming from China to India for all categories, not only for the polluting products which has very healthy demand, our focus is on sustainable green chemistry. As you know, our four chemistry areas are acrylic, surfactant, silicone and enzymes. We see a very-very healthy demand to replace China in every segment in the chemical industry. As you said that you are a part ofthe agrochemical industry. Do you think there is an uptick to your margin which is available, especially from the Europe segment?Is that something which you are looking forward to? If you see, USD has appreciated, so dollar exports definitely helps and euro also has stood up well and what we see is a weakening in the dollar index and they say it may go less than 100. But we still see our exports of Rs 300 crores plus and we are focussed on growing the export market well because exports in dollars and expenses in rupees is a good way for us to grow.
Source: Economic times
INTERNATIONAL
3M will showcase its latest innovations in textiles featuring recycled contents, including 3M™ Thinsulate™ Flowable Featherless Insulation and 3M™ Thinsulate™ Xerogel Insulation, at Functional Fabric Fair Portland—powered by Performance Days, which takes place April 4-5 at the Oregon Convention Center. 3M Thinsulate will be present at the event alongside its exhibiting partner, Keystone Creating Ltd., at booth 1502. “3M Thinsulate brand provides a range of recycled content options that are certified by the Bluesign® System, OEKO-TEX®, and The Global Recycled Standard. We are well-positioned to help outwear brands meet the growing demands of socially conscious consumers who also expect style, quality and performance,” said Melissa Blakely, 3M Thinsulate global portfolio director. “3M continuously innovates Thinsulate products that not only deliver performance in terms of warmth and durability, but also adapt to a variety of outerwear manufacturing applications for design versatility.” 3M featured its 3M Thinsulate 100% Recycled Featherless Insulation at a temporary 3M Climate Innovation Center during Climate Week NYC last fall. The latest variation of this product, 3M Thinsulate Flowable Featherless Insulation, is a lightweight, high-loft synthetic insulation ideal for use in puffy garments as a down alternative. Comprised of at least 80% recycled content, it is specially designed to be flowable for easy application to apparel using a variety of filling machines and easily shaped to fill garments’ unique quilting channels. It also offers a high wash durability, meaning it can maintain its thermal performance even after laundering. 3M Thinsulate Xerogel Insulation fuses 60% post-consumer recycled material with xerogel, an ultralight solid that’s notable for its ability to retain warmth even when compressed. Designed primarily for boots and gloves, it is proven to be 20 times more breathable and almost twice as warm as legacy 3M Thinsulate Insulation products designed for footwear. The product also offers ease of application at the mill level due to its low dusting, flexibility, and minimal breakage. “3Mers around the world are collaborating and applying their extensive knowledge of science coupled with our manufacturing capabilities to produce solutions for the most pressing climate challenges. Science offers hope for a brighter future, and we are making investments to help achieve it,” said 3M Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Environmental Responsibility, John Banovetz.
Source: Textile world
Due to bankruptcy, all branches of Jan Sikkes – the largest fabric and curtain store in the Netherlands – have closed their doors for good. All the furnishings and a total of one million linear metres of fabric will be offered for sale in 11 multiple online auctions on the Troostwijk Auctions platform. The furnishings and stock of the Jan Sikkes branch in Amersfoort are now under the virtual hammer. The auction closes on Thursday, 30 March 2023 at 10:00 am. The family business Jan Sikkes was founded in Workum in 1934 and grew into one of the largest fabric stores in the Netherlands with three generations of Sikkes. Because the company believes in the power of the physical store (‘You have to feel fabrics if you want to make the best choice’), Jan Sikkes has no less than 10 branches, spread throughout the country. Due to bankruptcy, all branches have been closed since the beginning of this year. For this reason, the furnishings and stocks of the textile company will be auctioned on the online platform of Troostwijk Auctions.
More than one million linear metres of fabric Curtain fabric, imitation leather, poplin in various designs twill cotton, bridal fabric, stretch fabric, French terry, jersey and many more types of fabric will be auctioned in lots. The stock of each branch and the Jan Sikkes warehouse will be offered for sale in separate auctions in the near future. These auctions are definitely worthwhile for fabric dealers and other interested parties. From 22 March, the stocks and inventory from the warehouse will also be auctioned.
About the auction The online auction of the furnishings of Jan Sikkes Textielbedrijven BV (Amersfoort branch) closes on Thursday, 30 March, 2023 at 10:00 am. The other remaining branches will also be auctioned via Troostwijk next month. Would you like to view the lots before placing a bid? You can do so during the viewing day on Monday, 27 March 2023 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Address: Weverssingel 10, 3811 GJ in
Source: Textile world
It is only a year since the European Commission outlined its new EU Textile Strategy, but even prior to it, leading textile machinery manufacturers were being galvanised into action by its implications. This was very evident at the special press event organised by industry association Swiss Textile Machinery in Bern (March 16-18), ahead of this year’s ITMA exhibition in Milan in The most pressing issue is that the separate collection of textile waste will become mandatory for all EU member states on January 1st 2025 – and turning all of that waste into new raw materials represents an enormous challenge. Of the 10.7 million tons of textile waste generated in the EU each year, around 5.8 million tons is manufactured within Europe and 6.5 million tons imported. At any one time, 3.9 million tons sits in dormant stock that will not eventually be sold, while 4 million tons goes directly to landfill or incineration. Of the 2.8 million tons collected, a million tons is resold within the EU and a million tons exported as secondhand clothing, with the only the remainder being either recycled or downcycled.
Options Franziska Häfeli, head of marketing and systems for spinning machine specialist Rieter outlined the options for recycling via either mechanical tearing which is already established, or by emerging chemical recycling processes for both cotton waste and blends which break down fibres into their chemical building blocks. This can involve, for example, spinning new fibres from pulp in processes being largely developed in Scandinavia, or the melt spinning of recycled PET pellets to make new polyester yarns. Virgin cotton, she said, has an average short-fibre content of 24.6%, but short-fibre content in recycled pre-consumer yarn waste has an average short fibre content of 46.9%, which makes turning it into new yarns challenging.
Rotor and ring Many Rieter customers, however, have been processing such yarn waste for decades, with the preferred option being on the company’s R37 or R70 rotor machines. “Many of these spinners have not even claimed to be using this recycled material and have included it purely for saving raw material costs,” Häfeli said. “Rotor spinning is best suited for processing yarns with a high short-fibre content but there is also now an This problem is considerably greater when it comes to post-consumer waste, even if it is comparatively pure, she added. A batch of fibres from recycled white cotton t-shirts, for example, will have an average short-fibre content of 71.3%, with an average fibre length of just 9.8mm.
Texcircle Rieter has been involved in the two-year Texcircle project with partners Coop, Lucerne University, Rohner, Ruckstuhl, Texaid and Workfashion, to explore the potential of integrating different types of recycled waste into textile supply chains. Funded by the Swiss Innovation agency Innosuisse, other project partners include the Federal Office of Civilian Service (ZIVI), Nikin and Tiger Liz Textiles, with additional support through collaborations with nonwovens producer Jakob Härdi and yarn spinner Marchi & Fildi. At the Bern conference, six prototypes at various stages of the production process were displayed from the project, the result of joint developments spanning design, collection and sorting trials to tearing and spinning production trials. The project was able to recycle 2.5 tons of pre and post-consumer textile waste into product prototypes, with sock maker Rohner already commercialising sports socks made from 50% ring spun yarns made from a consignment of surplus ZIVI t-shirts and unworn pants from Coop bakeries, along, with 50% Lenzing Refibra, which also consists of recycled post-consumer waste and regular cellulose. Other prototypes included a sweater knitted from recycled denim jeans with Rieter rotor yarns, with the percentage of recycled fibres between 70 and 90%, and carpet made from old winter coats with a wool content of at least 70%. Prototype bags and fleeces were also developed from raw materials including shredded old black t-shirts and polyester padding collected by Texaid and processed by Jakob Härdi.
ITMA 2023 Rieter plans to unveil a number of new developments related to recycling and system integration through digitisation at ITMA 2023, with a focus on cost per kg of yarn, raw material, energy consumption and automation. It will also extend its Com4 branding programme to included certain recycled yarn content ranges.
Source: Innovation in textiles
SriLaka’ercadie export iFebruary fellby eigtpercetwita drop iearig ite apparelad textile idutrie.Te ilad’ exportprootiooffice aid te fallcoe a te rupee tregteed teeply aid weak doetic creditad volutary, Rupee depoit by coercialbak. Te exportearig forte ottood at jutovera billiodollar. Majorcotributor tote export were Apparelad textile followed by Tea ad Rubber.Te USA, Idia,ad te UKwere te top exportarket. Te falligdead iWeterarket wa attributed tooetary tigteig, requiriglowertockoldig a lowervolueake iteaiertoake deliverie itie. Exporter offiied good aid due to Rupee appreciatig, tey are uderpreure frocopetitioad are forced totriargi. Te Lakarupee a appreciated 12-14percetoverte latot.
Source: New Sonair.com
Government will impose restrictions on textile products' imports to follow up on Indonesian Textile Association's report that unrecorded imports of textile products reached 31 percent, Cooperatives and Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister, Teten Masduki, stated. "Our Ministry and Trade Ministry aim to protect the domestic market that has, so far, been supported by the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, it has been disrupted by the number of unrecorded imports that account for 31 percent of clothing, including illegal used clothing," he noted during a press conference in Jakarta, Monday. Masduki remarked that the import of clothes, especially illegal second-hand clothing, disrupted the domestic market, as the local products cannot compete, in terms of the pricing, with illegal used clothes categorized as waste and did not require production costs. "Illegal used clothes enter our country as waste. Our MSMEs cannot compete with it," he stressed. In addition to unrecorded imports that reached 31 percent, in total, the Indonesian Textile Association noted that legal textile imports, in the form of apparel and footwear, controlled 43 percent of the domestic market, he remarked. Hence, Minister Masduki and Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan agreed to impose restrictions on the imports of textile products. Currently, several countries have implemented restrictions. For instance, strict palm oil exports to Europe and the export of bananas to the US market that necessitate verification through 21 certificates, and three of which must be reviewed every six months. "Bananas with specks in them are not allowed to enter the international market. In my opinion, this aims to limit the domestic market from the invasion of imported products. We are too weak to protect our market, whether the imported products are legal or not," he remarked. Masduki stated that in accordance with President Joko Widodo's instructions, his side, other ministries, and the police agreed to eradicate the imports of used clothing. Apart from acting against importers, the government will also educate traders to protect domestic products. "They will face a legal issue if they sell illegal products. We have reminded the retailers and resellers of these imported used clothes that we will not carry out repression. It is different from drugs," he emphasized.
Source: The en.antaranews.com
Coats, the world’s leading manufacturer of thread and structural components for apparel and footwear, have inaugurated a sustainability hub at their heritage production site in Madurai. During the inauguration, Rajiv Sharma, Group CEO, Coats, explained in detail on how the company has constantly been reinventing itself, delivering world-class products and how Coats plan on achieving sustainability together with its shareholders, reports Nithin Kumar Coats has officially opened a new state-of-the-art sustainability hub – a spinning and twisting pilot plant in Madurai, India to further progress its sustainability commitment. The new sustainability hub was inaugurated by Rajiv Sharma, Group CEO, Coats, alongside Adrian Elliot, Divisional CEO (Apparel), Coats; Philip Sydenham, First Secretary, British High Commission; Priyanka Khanna, Fashion For Good; Arvind Mathur, Raymond UCO Denim; and Naresh Tyagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. The new hub in Madurai will sit alongside the sustainability hub in Shenzhen, China, accelerating the material transition to recycled and renewable materials. The two hubs will work together to innovate new generation materials for sustainable sewing threads for apparel, footwear and performance materials. This material transition journey is fundamental to the delivery of Coats’ emissions reduction targets. The Madurai hub will support customers and other stakeholders in creating sustainability in the industry, enabling Coats to streamline sustainability innovation, enhance brand collaborations and facilitate faster sustainable product offers and market entry capabilities. The hub is part of a USD 10 million investment planned over the next five years in scaling up the development of green technologies and materials to accelerate the achievement of Coats’ ambitious sustainability targets. Over the last four years, Coats has achieved strong progress against ambitious targets in the areas of energy, materials, water, waste and people. Coats have now announced new targets for 2026 across the same material areas and these provide the next horizon towards its 2030 commitments. Emissions reduction across the company’s entire value chain is at the heart of these new targets. In an interaction with Rajiv Sharma during the event, he shared, “The DNA of the company is doing the right thing, being sustainable and making sure that the impact is felt on society beyond just profits for the company. The impact we have on the environment and how we are helping our employees and their families in terms of re-skilling, getting a livelihood and progressing in life is important. So, that’s one thing that we are really proud of.” Coats have sailed through its sustainability targets for 2022, which was set a few years back, even without the effect of the pandemic and supply chain issues impacting the process. “In late 2021 at the COP 26 in Glasgow, we were invited as special invitees and we unveiled our new board and essentially declared that by 2030 we will reduce our emissions by 50% across our entire global supply chain, and by 2050 we will get to the net zero status.” Essentially, de-carbonising the company’s production and supply chain is a massive task. How does Coats plan to achieve 50% reduction in the next 7-8 years? The answer is material transition. “Historically, 95% of the raw materials and dyes and chemicals that we use in manufacturing are oil-based. We are dependent on oil for generating polyester nylon dyes, chemicals and other exotic materials that we use in a manufacturing. So, we need to move away from new oil extraction and by 2030 everything we make in Coats will be either way through recycled material or from renewable materials,” shared Rajiv. That is where the new hub will play a key role. Alongside its customers, Coats will use the Madurai hub to experiment with new ‘vegan’, recycled materials, which will be sent to the clients for testing and approval, after which mass production will begin. So, with the company moving away from oil-based materials and the efforts to increase the energy consumption from renewable sources to 70%, this will help cut emissions by 50% for the company. That’s the massive challenge that Coats have strongly taken on and will achieve soon. Epic is one of the most premium products from the company. However, the company only had two suppliers of recycled polyester back in 2019 when they started and generated USD 2 million of sales. “We worked very hard to develop and build suppliers across the world. I am pleased to say that as of 2022 we had 21 qualified suppliers. We did about USD 128 million dollars of sales of recycled polyester thread last year. So, from USD 2 million in 2019 to USD 128 million was a big leap. And we want to get to about USD 400 million next year,” shared Rajiv on the massive revenue increase through recycled polyester. “We have decided as a company that we are going to take the lowest profits in the short term but make sure that we lead this material transition in the industry. So, being a global leader in sewing threads we think that it is a big responsibility on our part to lead in this transition and help everyone else to move up the full chain,” said Rajiv. This also helps as some of the global brands that work with Coats look for suppliers who provide sustainable or recyclable materials in order to achieve their sustainability targets. Coats, last year, announced a fund of USD 10 million to encourage start-ups, universities and industry partners to scale up technologies and materials that can be relevant to the textile industry, primarily threads. Likewise, the field of textile dyeing is very resource-intensive. It consumes a lot of water, electricity and chemicals and is very labour-intensive too. So, the company has invested in Twine, an Israeli start-up, for waterless dyeing. “One kilogram of thread takes 150 litres of water. We make enough thread to go to the moon and come back in every three hours. A pair of jeans takes 700 litres of water. Everyone is now focused on reducing water intake and you will see technological breakthroughs in the textile industry in the next three years,” Rajiv informed while explaining need to reduce water consumption in the industry. He continued, “Coats in the last four years has reduced water consumption by 40%. We want to invest in new technologies where you don’t need water at all. Thus, at present the answer to less water consumption lies in less dyeing. We are also working with universities across the world in the US, Japan, China and India. We are trying to get the best brains from across the world to help us and aid our industry to come up with these things because we think that it is important for the world and we think it’s the right thing to do. We are pushing really hard to achieve these milestones.” Coats are a world leader in thread manufacturing and structural components for apparel and footwear as well as an innovative pioneer in performance materials. These critical solutions are used to create a wide range of products, including ones that provide safety and protection for people, data, and the environment. Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE 250 company and an FTSE 4 Good Index constituent. Its revenues in 2022 were to the tune of USD 1.6 billion. Trusted by the world’s leading companies to deliver vital, innovative and sustainable solutions, Coats provides value-adding products including apparel, accessory and footwear threads, structural components for footwear and accessories, fabrics, yarns and software applications. ts customer partners include companies from the apparel, footwear, automotive, telecom, personal protection and outdoor goods industries. With a proud heritage dating back more than 250 years and spirit of evolution to constantly stay ahead of changing market needs, Coats has operations across some 50 countries with a workforce of over 17,000, serving its customers worldwide. The company connects talent, textiles and technology to create a better and more sustainable world. Worldwide, there are three dedicated Coats’ innovation hubs where experts collaborate with partners to create the materials and products of tomorrow. The company is also committed to achieving its goals in diversity, equity and inclusion, workplace health and safety, employee and community wellbeing, and supplier social performance.
Source: Indian Textile Magazine
The word ‘secondhand’ might evoke both suspicion and loathing in high-end customers, but stores like Ukay-Ukay are the genesis of what is now an evolving trend: upcycled fashion. Having been fed with lessons of recycle, reuse, reduce for eons now, and loaded with sustainability sermons that at times sound like platitudes, I have found the concept of reselling used clothes only to be an extension of the flea market where everything that can be used again ycling is where new fashion is recreated by repurposing textiles and clothing, not by breaking them down into components and making a new product from scratch but by redesigning existing material into newer styles. It gives the concept of putting old things back into purpose a whole new meaning, if one ignores the concerns of taking hand-me-downs and worn material that once belonged to someone else. In the long parleys we have had on ‘environmental sustainability’ as the sole course of action we could take to make future life on earth possible, we have tended to gloss over little things that matter. We have stared at the big picture for far too long, often without a clear goal plan. To laymen, the technical terms that define sustainability mean little; what will inspire them to take legitimate action are initiatives that are recognisable in their everyday scheme of things. Speak of carbon management, green energy, energy efficiency, circular economy, conservation, and watch them raise a brow, nod and walk away in partial or no understanding of how grave the crisis we are currently going through is. They need to be spoken to in a language that they can translate into positive action, which is how we can stall the degeneration of our planet. It is in this context that I find the concept of upcycled fashion intriguing and positively implementable. Refurbished fashion might sound like trivial theory but scratch the surface and one will know that the amount of textile that goes into landfills are as humongous as plastic, and most fabrics contain non-biodegradable elements like polyester, acrylic, elastane and PVC which will choke the earth for hundreds of years. As common citizens, dumping fabric might be the biggest disservice (after indiscriminate plastic use) we might be doing to our planet and to our future generations. That our clothes can denude the earth is a thought that makes me want to take the upcycling initiatives around the world seriously. Perhaps it is time for us to chuck fast fashion where we discard clothes we consider out of vogue and adopt more accountable ways of lending our wardrobe for future use in some part of the world. It is estimated that upcycling could reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry by up to 30 per cent. It is an initiative that not just big brands and fashion houses alone can assume; it is a pledge that we must take in our individual capacities to make sure that the clothes we no longer wear go to a place where they will be revived in a new form. It is not going to be easy to establish a system and machinery that will smoothly transfer all unwanted clothing into the upcycle chain. It is a process that will require earnest investment and planning by those who see the scope in it. It warrants a commitment from us to not buy more than what we need, and to not dump that which we do not require in recycling bins where they will get mutilated and be rendered beyond use. The first step we could take with our limited capacities would be to accept that secondhand clothing is not lowbrow; and to create an ecosystem where preowned items could be exchanged, handed down or bought without shame. Local designers and tailoring houses could start soliciting old but quality clothes and fashioning new ensembles out of them. For starters, I am considering pulling out a huge stack of new, unused dupattas, shawls and stoles and looking for ways to upcycle them. Given our entrenched biases, it won’t be easy to find takers, but I am going to have a crack at some rehashed regalia next.
Source: The khaleejtimes.com
