In its state budget for 2017-18, the Gujarat government has announced a special package of Rs 1,000 crore for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector. This decision comes close on the heels of the Union Budget 2017-18 announcing reducing the income tax for smaller companies with annual turnover up to Rs 50 crore to 25 per cent. The special package, announced by deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who also holds the finance portfolio, offers enhanced assistance to MSMEs for market development, technology acquisition, raising finance through SME exchanges, additional assistance for power connections and capital and rental charges. Gujarat is home to more than 3 lakh MSME units, with many of them in the textile and garment sector. The special package is likely to give a major breather to these units, especially for the ones that suffered losses due to cash crunch in the last two months of 2016, following demonetisation of high value currency notes. The state budget also includes a special package for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe members under the Bharat Ratna Dr Bahasaheb Ambedkar Udyog Yojana. The package includes additional support for entrepreneurship training with mentorship and sustenance allowances, assistance for new power connection and support for industrial infrastructure.
Source: Fibre2fashion
A new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has found that as much as 31 percent of the estimated 9.5 million tonnes of plastic that enters the ocean annually could be from sources such as tires and synthetic clothing. These products can release "primary microplastics", which are plastics that directly enter the environment as "small particulates". According to the IUCN, which released the report on Wednesday, they come from a range of sources. These include synthetic textiles, which deposit them due to abrasion when washed, and tires, which release them as a result of erosion when driving. The report identified seven "major sources" of primary microplastics: Tires, synthetic textiles, marine coatings, road markings, personal care products, plastic pellets and city dust. "Our daily activities, such as washing clothes and driving, significantly contribute to the pollution choking our oceans, with potentially disastrous effects on the rich diversity of life within them, and on human health," Inger Andersen, director general of the IUCN, said in a statement on Wednesday. "These findings indicate that we must look far beyond waste management if we are to address ocean pollution in its entirety," he added. In its report, the IUCN concluded that between 15 and 31 percent of all plastic deposited in the world's oceans could come from primary microplastics. "The findings of this report have important implications for the global strategy to tackle ocean plastic pollution, which currently focuses on reducing plastic waste," Joao de Sousa, marine project manager at the IUCN's Global Marine Programme, said. "They show that solutions must include product and infrastructure design as well as consumer behavior," he added. "Synthetic clothes could be designed to shed fewer fibers, for example, and consumers can act by choosing natural fabrics over synthetic ones."
Source: CNBC
The research reports covers detailed description of the global technical textiles market based on volume share (kilo tons) and revenue (USD million) for the period 2015 to 2022. The report highlights the factors contributing towards the growth of the market and the restraints that impede the market. The report also includes a detailed section on raw material analysis related to technical textiles market. The report also explains the competitive landscape with company market shares of key market players. Detailed forecasts for the years 2015-2022 for technical textiles have been given separately, for better understanding of the market scenario. Technical textiles are high performance textiles that are used due to their superior properties and functionality over regular textiles. The demand for these products has increased over the past few years due to the increasing application base in various end-user industries such as healthcare, agriculture, construction, clothing, packaging, sportswear and sports equipment, automotive, environmental protection and other such areas. The technical textiles market is believed to be one of the most innovative branches of industry across the world and has been reported to be among the top five technology intensive markets with a great potential for advancement. Technical textiles can be divided into many categories, depending on their end use. The classification system developed by Techtextil, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, is widely used in Europe, North America and Asia. Techtextil specifies 12 application areas: Agrotech, Buildtech, Clothtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Medtech, Mobiltech, Oekotech, Packtech, Protech, and Sporttech. The Global Technical Textile Market accounted for US$ 155.5 Billion in 2014 and it is expected to expand at a CAGR of more than 4% over the forecast period 2015 -2022. This research report is categorized on the technical textiles market based on its type, application, and region.
Source: Open PR
The World Trade Organization’s trade facilitation agreement (TFA), which has just come into effect, will lead to greater movement of goods across countries, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. “I look forward to rapid improvement in the way in which we trade… The trade facilitation agreement will also lead to reduction in transaction costs,” Sitharaman said. India is also pushing for the inclusion of discussions on a TFA on services at Buenos Aires, Argentina, later this year. It aims to ease movement of skilled professionals across borders as well as reducing transaction costs. “We have submitted a legally-vetted document on TFA on services at WTO in Geneva today (Thursday) which will be discussed on March 14-17,” Sitharaman said. India had last year submitted a concept note on TFA on services, taking the first decisive step towards gathering global consensus on a framework to boost worldwide trade in services. According to the 164-member organisation, the TFA on goods would simplify trade processes, bring down barriers to trade and also enhance the capacity of the developing world to engage better with the global trading network. India, one of the first countries to ratify it, had also said that it would do the changes such as upgradation, bringing in new facilitation and digitisation from its own fund. “It would be completely provided for through our own budget. All the budgetary announcements are very much in line with all our commitments made on the TFA,” the minister said. “I had told the WTO that just like the TFA in goods, which is aimed at relaxing customs rules for smoother trade flow, there is a need for a ‘counterpart agreement’ in services, and that the proposed pact must also ensure special and differential treatment for developing and poor nations, “ she said. She also said that the shipping ministry along with the Customs and the Commerce departments are working to strengthen logistics support for traders. The ministry, she said, is also talking with the railways ministry on this issue. They are also identifying areas which requires legislative changes for the smooth implementation of TFA. (With inputs from FE and PTI)
Source: Indian Express
The success of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which took effect on Thursday, will depend on whether protectionism takes a turn for the better or worse. The deal is expected to provide a needed boost to global growth by streamlining the trade regime, reducing the costs and time involved, and improving transparency. However, stronger voices against further trade liberalisation, such as of US President Donald Trump, might upset this scenario, experts said. Part of the Bali Package of decisions agreed in 2013, the deal is supposed to be a watershed moment in WTO history. This is the first time a comprehensive decision was arrived at through consensus among nations, across the major geographical and political blocs. Ratified by 112 nations or more than two-thirds of all member economies, the deal aims to help poorer and developing nations, said WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo on Wednesday. Member nations of WTO account for almost all of global gross domestic product and trade. Therefore, TFA’s effects ought to be widespread. “The agreement rests on improving of current practices and building upon existing trade. It doesn’t target protectionism, which varies by nations,” said Biswajit Dhar, trade expert and professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. While nations are committed | | Trade Facilitation Agreement entailsfaster clearance procedures, enhanced conditions for freedom of transit for goods Global traders to get improved appeal rights, as well as reduced fees and to reduce tariffs, non-tariff barriers such as stricter product standards, labour and environmental regulations do not fall under the TFA ambit, he added. Such barriers have increased exponentially in the recent past. “Developing countries could increase the number of products they export by 20 per cent, while Least Developed Countries could see an increase of up to 35 per cent,” said Dhar. That is if one discounts the rising effects of growing protectionism. India, for instance, has been in a long battle on public stockholding of foodgrain and the special safeguard mechanism, against richer nations led by America, France, Japan and the European Union. With rationalisation of | formalities Countries to independently notify provisions on these reforms. Developing nations get up to a year to do so; some nations may ask for more time prices, additional yearly trade of $15-20 billion can be expected, according to Ajay Sahai, director-general at the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. According to a WTO study, full implementation of TFA is forecast to decrease the trade costs of member nations by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing countries having the most to gain. The TFA is also likely to reduce the time needed to import goods by at least a day and a half, and to export goods by almost two days, a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively, over the current average. Developing countries such as India are predicted to increase the number of new products exported by as much as 20 per cent, according to the study. However, all these effects will take at least two years to be visible. All countries now have to independently notify various provisions, which might extend beyond the next three years. The basic set of provisions will be implemented by the poorest set of countries within a year from now. Also, many countries, including India, will receive more time to set in motion a further set of provisions. “We expect goods movement and information sharing on trade to pick up soon,” commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, adding that effective logistics support will also be achieved, based on real time data. For India, a solution to the issue of public stockholding of foodgrain and discussion on a special safeguard mechanism will remain of primary importance at the WTO ministerial conference in Argentina later this year. Meanwhile, India on Thursday submitted the final legally vetted document on its proposal for a TFA on services at WTO. Sitharaman said a special panel will take up the matter for hearing between March 14-17. The nations in the panel will deliberate on whether to open the matter for wider discussions with other WTO members. India wants the issue to be on the agenda at the upcoming Ministerial conference in Argentina. It aims to ease movement of skilled professionals across borders as well as reducing transaction costs.
Source: Business Standard
The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is initiating a project named ‘Khadi Gaon’ in each state of India, with the goal to scale up employment in rural areas and also push khadi and village industries products from these regions. This was revealed by KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena on the sidelines of a two day KVIC workshop held in Ahmedabad. “Under the project, KVIC will choose individuals who are interested in being self-reliant by providing them basic training to operate, along with the material required for khadi spinning and other cottage industries,” Saxena said. The Khadi Gaon project will first be implemented in five villages in each of the states of India, which will be achieved in a year’s time. Other than charkha spinning, other village industries activities include bakery, small oil mills, candle making, pottery, incense sticks making, honey bee cultivation, etc. According to Saxena, KVIC is also changing the existing charkha design from 8 spindles to 10 spindles and also making it light-weight, which is expected to increase of the spinner by 25 per cent.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Domestic cotton prices have dropped by nearly R500 per quintal to trade to around R5,400-5,500 a quintal from R6,000 around 10 days ago owing to heavy speculation in the futures trade and MCX in this period despite the global rates remaining steady, according to top officials of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). Farmers who were holding onto Kapas in anticipation of better prices will now start to bring in the commodity into the market on the fear of prices coming down, said M M Chokalingam, CMD-in-charge, CCI. Arrivals have improved to 1.8-2 lakh bales as on Monday which is very high as compared to 1.60 lakh bales arrivals same time last year.. The total arrivals till date have come up to 190 lakhs as compared to 195 lakh bales same time previous year. This is because farmers have been holding onto Kapas expecting higher rates. CCI has also been purchasing cotton at commercial rates and has purchased around 70,000 bales till date. In the last couple of days, the purchases have been aggressive due to the price drop and purchase centres have been directed to go aggressive on the purchase. According to market observers, MCX rates have dropped while they were high last week for reasons unknown to many. Farmers will now begin to bring their Kapas into the market on the fears of a further drop, observers said. Prices may drop further in the short term. While India’s domestic rates have been fluctuating between R38,000 per candy to R44,000 per candy because of speculation in the futures market, International rates of Kapas have remained steady in the range of R44,500 per candy.
Source: Yarns and fibre
The fourth edition of India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW), Asia's biggest resort-wear fashion event, will take place in Panjim, Goa from March 6-8, 2017. The show voted as one of the most stylish and experiential destination fashion week with an international edge, will focus on beach and resort wear along with footwear choices for discerning Indian travellers. Apart from the shows, IBFW will feature Future Fashion Conclave & Sangria by Sea focusing on business of fashion ideas, business networking & talk shows. The three-day event will be packed with innovative shows, networking arenas, music stages and experiential lounges and is expected to be attended by the most stylish people. Top fashion editors, buyers, bloggers and many more visitors from across the globe are expected to visit the show, says the IBFW website. IBFW has emerged as Asia's largest B2B & B2C consortium of designers under the category of destination-resort clothing. In the last 2 seasons, it has showcased over 100 designers in both fresh and established category with prominent names like Wendell Rodricks, Falguni & Shane Peacock, James Ferreira, Rocky S, Priya Kataria Puri, Manoviraj Khosla, Mayur Girotra, Asmita Marwah, Anupama Dayal, Nachiket Bharve, Rakesh Agarwal, Urvashi Kaur, Dev R Nil, Ken Ferns and Babita Malkani among others. World leader in innovative casual footwear, Crocs, is the associate sponsor of the fourth IBFW. "India Beach Fashion Week has emerged as Asia's largest consortium of designers under the same category. We believe that this festival will be a good opportunity to connect with an engaged and targeted audience. I am confident that this show will be a spectacular success," said Deepak Chhabra, chief executive officer, Crocs India.
Source: IBFW
|
Polyester Staple Fibre ( PSF ) |
||||
|
Market |
23/02/2017 |
24/02/2017 |
% Change |
|
|
FOB Shanghai ($/ton) |
1,140 |
1,140 |
0.0% |
|
|
China(RMB/ton) |
8,750 |
8,675 |
-0.9% |
|
|
Polyester Filament Yarn ( RMB/ton ) |
||||
|
Market/Variety |
23/02/2017 |
24/02/2017 |
% Change |
|
|
POY 150 D/48 F |
8,950 |
8,900 |
-0.6% |
|
|
DTY 150 D/48 F |
10,550 |
10,550 |
0.0% |
|
|
FDY 68 D/24 F |
9,200 |
9,150 |
-0.5% |
|
|
Polyester Filament Yarn ( US$/ton ) |
||||
|
Market/Variety |
23/02/2017 |
24/02/2017 |
% Change |
|
|
POY 150 D/48 F |
1,203 |
1,196 |
-0.6% |
|
|
DTY 150 D/48 F |
1,442 |
1,442 |
0.0% |
|
|
FDY 68 D/24 F |
1,251 |
1,245 |
-0.5% |
|
|
||||
|
Market |
23/02/17 |
24/02/17 |
% Change |
|
|
China(RMB/ton) |
14,725 |
14,725 |
0.0% |
|
|
||||
|
Market |
23/02/17 |
24/02/17 |
% Change |
|
|
China(RMB/ton) |
16,200 |
16,200 |
0.0% |
|
Note: The above prices are based on available sources. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
A major milestone for the global trading system was reached on 22 February 2017 when the first multilateral deal concluded in the 21 year history of the World Trade Organization entered into force. In receiving four more ratifications for the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the WTO has obtained the two-thirds acceptance of the agreement from its 164 members needed to bring the TFA into force. Rwanda, Oman, Chad and Jordan submitted their instruments of acceptance to WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, bringing the total number of ratifications over the required threshold of 110. The entry into force of this agreement, which seeks to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders, launches a new phase for trade facilitation reforms all over the world and creates a significant boost for commerce and the multilateral trading system as a whole. Full implementation of the TFA is forecast to slash members' trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing countries having the most to gain, according to a 2015 study carried out by WTO economists. The TFA is also likely to reduce the time needed to import goods by over a day and a half and to export goods by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent respectively over the current average. Implementing the TFA is also expected to help new firms export for the first time. Moreover, once the TFA is fully implemented, developing countries are predicted to increase the number of new products exported by as much as 20 per cent, with least developed countries (LDCs) likely to see an increase of up to 35 per cent, according to the WTO study.
SOURCE: WTO
The textile and apparel industry in Malaysia has been growing at a fast pace after the county started an export-oriented industrial transformation in the early 1980s. Today, Malaysia’s textile and apparel industry is targeting the higher end of the global value chain with diversified production of higher value-added products. The industry also implemented the latest automation and technology in its manufacturing and distribution, while actively seeking business collaboration with foreign companies and undertaking new R&D activities to further strengthen its competitiveness in the global market. According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) report, the textile and apparel industry currently employs over 68,000 workers across more than 970 registered garment and textile factories in the country, of which over 400 are making ready-made garments, and the rest are operating in major sub-sectors including polymerisation, spinning, weaving, knitting and wet processing, and textile accessories. In 2015, Malaysia’s textile and apparel industry was one of the top ten largest export earners in the country, with an export value reaching RM 13.2 billion, representing 1.7% of Malaysia’s total exports of manufactured goods. The latest figure shows that Malaysia’s textile and apparel exports increased 10% from the same period in the previous year to RM 6.99 billion (US$ 1.7 billion) in the first half of 2016. The demand for textile and apparel is expected to further increase to $160 billion (RM641.2 billion) by the end of 2018, according to the Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan. The growth is mainly driven by the increasing demand in the global market for high quality textiles and clothing from Malaysia, as well as the rising purchasing power in major importing countries, namely the US, the EU countries, and Canada. Currently, the US, Japan, China, Singapore and Turkey are Malaysia’s top five export destinations. The US remains the largest export market for Malaysian textiles products, accounting for over 18% of the industry’s total textile and apparel exports every year. Malaysia, as one of the most popular contract manufacturers and investment destinations in Asia, has been favoured by many international fashion brands and foreign investors. High-end global brands such as Marks & Spencer, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, Adidas, Nike, Burberry, and Ralph Lauren are already manufacturing in Malaysia. Daiyin Textile and Garment Group – one of the largest textile and apparel companies in China – just recently announced its plans to invest $124.2 million to further expand its operations in Malaysia. There are good prospects for Malaysia’s textile and apparel industry in the near future, as the Malaysian government has announced the Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3) to further boost the sector. The main growth areas for the plan will include industrial and home textiles, functional fabrics, high-end fabrics and garments, ethnic fabrics, and key support facilities and services such as design houses and fashion centres and specialized dyeing and finishing facilities.
SOURCE: Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)
Last fall Karen Hobson, the executive director of the Historic Salisbury Foundation, asked me to give a talk this winter in Salisbury about the history of the textile industry in the state and I quickly agreed. After so doing, she asked me for a title for the talk to use for promotional purposes. I suggested “Spinning History: The Rise and Fall of the North Carolina Textiles Industry.” That seemed about right, given that fact that textiles are now pretty much gone in the state. As the date of my talk approached, I began to have second thoughts about that title. The “rise and fall,” declension narrative, while elegiac, seemed much too simple to capture what in an economic sense had really gone on. So when I gave the talk in the beautifully refurbished waiting room of the Salisbury Southern Railway Passenger Depot, I told the large audience that I should have called the talk something like the “The Textiles Phase of North Carolina’s History” or maybe “The Textiles Interlude.” Let me explain why. Simply put, the rise and fall narrative is at once too negative and too defeatist. The textiles story in North Carolina, indeed, the stories of the so-called Big Three – textiles, furniture and tobacco manufacturing – are almost always told in downbeat ways. They shouldn’t be. For textiles, and arguably furniture and tobacco manufacturing as well, were actually success stories that propelled the economy of North Carolina and improved the lives of large portions of the state’s population for over a hundred years. When the modern industrialization of North Carolina began in the 1880s, with textiles leading the way, North Carolina, economically speaking, was on its knees. The agricultural sector, by far the largest component of the state’s economy – nothing else was even close – was in terrible shape, having not recovered from the dislocations associated with Civil War and emancipation. With the state dirt poor and its agricultural economy stagnant, something had to be done. And numerous small-town entrepreneurs, generally mobilizing the resources of people in their own communities, chose textile manufacturing as their path to economic progress, if not salvation. North Carolina may have been poor and backward in the 1880s, but it still had certain assets around which to build: cheap land, abundant water power, and cheap, eager labor. Fortuitously for North Carolina (and other parts of the South), by the mid-1880s textiles was a mature industry. By then, centralized, large-scale factory production, employing machine technology powered by water or steam, was a century old and, under the right conditions, could “break out” of places such as Great Britain and New England and be replicated or transplanted – including in the South. And once the South got going in textiles, with North Carolina in the lead – our state ranked as the largest producer in the U.S. by 1924 – we didn’t look back for a long time. The jobs created and communities built by textiles and apparel drove the economy in much of the state until they didn’t any longer, beginning in the 1980s. And now those jobs are mostly gone and many of those communities are suffering. We can point to a lot of reasons – technological change, globalization, currency manipulation, international trade agreements – it is true, but any way one slices it most of those jobs ain’t ever coming back. And maybe that’s not a bad thing. Many writers have disparaged the builders of the southern textiles industry, and certainly some of these builders were worthy targets. But it’s useful to remember just how awful things were in North Carolina at the time textiles got going and to consider what the state’s trajectory would likely have been like in the absence of textiles. It seems reasonable to deem successful any industry that helped so many people keep body and soul together, however modestly, for so long. But most jobs in textiles and apparel didn’t pay a lot and didn’t require much skill, so maybe their loss shouldn’t be mourned. At the same time that textile – and furniture, and tobacco – were fading out, other industries were rising in North Carolina to supplement or replace them, most notably IT, pharmaceuticals, food processing, banking and vehicle parts. It is up to North Carolina’s entrepreneurs today, aided and assisted by academics and government, to find ways to power the state and its people forward, including those parts of the state and those people that were dependent on textiles. This task will certainly not be easy, but for all of our economic problems today, the growth environment is not nearly so bleak as it must have looked to the mill-builders of the 1880s. It is unlikely that we will ever again be able to hitch our fortunes to any one industry so powerful as textiles previously was in North Carolina. Every community, however distressed, has its assets and opportunities, though, and it is the job of entrepreneurs to perceive them, seize them, leverage them and transform them into jobs and growth. And it is up to others to help.
Source: News and observers
On the lookout for high-end artisan textiles that won't make you have to survive on ramen for a week? Block Shop Textiles just announced via Instagram that they will be hosting an online sample sale this Sunday, and we are seriously stoked. Although the sister design duo haven't announced what cool products they will be putting on sale yet, we can only imagine that it will be filled with their quilts, pillows, and scarves with made with the incredible Indian hand block printing technique. We suggest stalking their products and figuring out your favorites before the sale begins.
Source: Lonny
LOVERS of textile art are in for a treat at the Moranbah Coalface Art Gallery this March. Hand-woven fabrics from internationally renowned master weaver Kay Faulkner will be on display as part of the Pattern: A Universal Phenomenon exhibition. Mayor Anne Baker said the exhibition would officially launch from 6pm on Thursday, March 9. "Everyone is invited to come along to meet Kay and view her amazing work,” she said. "Enjoy some light refreshments while you hear from this master weaver and textile artist on how she creates her unique designs. "If you're a budding artist, Kay will also host How to Create an Artist Journal workshops in Dysart, Clermont and Moranbah. "Participants will use hand-woven fabric, hand-dyed paper and board to create their own textile masterpiece.” Ms Faulkner said universality of design was the focus of her exhibition."For this collection I have woven into the designs patterns that I found in my travels around the world, especially from buildings, pavement, pottery, mosaics and ceilings,” she said. "My research into textile and design has taken me to many countries. It's amazing how often a motif can appear in universal usage. "Wherever a crafted pattern appears, it's the result of someone's personal endeavour. It bears the signature of the maker's hand, expressing the universality of the creator - across media and disciplines, without boundaries.” Pattern: A Universal Phenomenon will be on display at the Moranbah Coalface Art Gallery from March 1-29. Bookings are essential by phoning 1300472227 or contacting the Dysart, Clermont or Moranbah libraries.
Source: Central Queensland news
At a road show to set up the Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park, Pakistan’s envoy to China, Masood Khalid invited representatives of 76 Chinese companies to invest in the Park. He urged the companies to take advantage of the investment friendly policies of the country and said their presence at the road show, reflected their confidence in the country. According to the ambassador, the current government is focusing on the development of the apparel and textile industry, both of which are backbones of the Pakistan economy, considering the employment as well as export that the sector generates. “All these factors will ensure success for the Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park,” Khalid observed. “We seek reputed contractors to execute the project and make it a facility, at par with international standards,” Pakistani media reports quoted him as saying.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Bangladeshi RMG products currently do not have duty-free access to US and Brazil, even though these two countries enjoy duty-free access for the cotton they export to Bangladesh for its apparel industry. Moreover, the US suspended Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facilities for Bangladesh on June 27, 2013. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in a letter sent to the US ambassador to Bangladesh on February 16, President of BGMEA Siddiqur Rahman has requested for duty-free access to the US for Bangladeshi RMG products made from cotton imported from the US. A similar proposal was sent to the Brazilian government via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. Bangladesh is the second largest importer of cotton in the world; the country imported 6.1 million bales of cotton last year. There are 430 textile mills in Bangladesh with a spindle capacity of 11.50 million. Bangladesh has long been importing cotton from the US to make apparel for export and hence they firmly believe that US exports of cotton will grow significantly if apparel products made of the US cotton receive favourable treatment in terms of tariff in accessing the US market, the BGMEA president said in the letter. If the US government extended duty-free market access for Bangladeshi RMG products made from US produced cotton, it would create a win-win situation for bilateral trade between the two countries. The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladeshi products, especially apparel. According to BGMEA data, in July-December of the 2016-17 fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $2.56bn, a 9.11% decline from the $2.81bn earnings during the same period in 2015-16. However, in the 2015-16 fiscal year, export to the US saw a 6.36% growth, amounting to $5.62bn, compared to the $5.28bn earnings in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Brazil also has high potential for Bangladeshi apparel products, but their import duty is high, ranging from 30% to 35%, said the BGMEA letter sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bangladesh needs to find a way to secure duty-free access to the Brazilian market and the Brazilian government should consider providing duty-free access for Bangladeshi apparel products made from Brazillian cotton exported to Bangladesh. In July-December of 2016-17 fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $41m from garment exports to Brazil compared to $75m in the same period a year earlier. In FY2015-16, total RMG exports to Brazil reached $120m. The BGMEA argued that providing duty free access for Bangladeshi apparel products made from Brazilian cotton exported to Bangladesh would prove profitable for both Bangladesh and Brazil in terms of trade.
Source: Yarns and fibres
A new textile finishing plant built in east of Stuttgart in the region of Ostalbkreis, GtA (Gesellschaft für textile Ausrüstung)in Germany has been equipped with a range of stenter equipment from finishing machinery specialist Monforts to service the growing demand for digitally printed warp knitted fabrics for the rapidly expanding soft signage market. It is said to be now running 24 hours a day to meet the growing demand for digitally printed warp knitted fabrics More specifically, the plant features a new fully automated 72 metre long finishing machine, which compromises a washing machine integrated within the 3.6 metre wide ‘Montex 6500’ stenter provided by Monforts. The seven-chamber stenter – purpose built at Monforts’ Austrian production facility – is equipped with a horizontal chain, a padder and an integrated weft straightener. Using this equipment, GtA is finishing warp knits for digital printing in the soft signage market, as well as for producing garments, automotive interiors and technical textiles. The substrates used are 100 percent polyester warp knits, which Monforts said has become more common place as the industry moves away from PVC coatings due to more stringent environmental regulations. These substrates are also said to allow excellent take-up of inks and provide vibrant colours and clear images. The resulting warp knitted fabric construction also has the advantage of elasticity, which is a plus in terms of flexibility for installers. The raw fabrics are supplied in weights of 50–350 gsm in rolls of up to 600 kg or 1800 metres. Depending on the fabric weight, GtA is running the stenter at speeds of between 20–50 metres an hour, at an average temperature of 200ºC. GtA started production in February 2016 and for the first five months ran single eight-hour shifts per day. In July last year, this was increased to two eight-hour shifts per day, and since January this year, the company has been operating a three-shift system 24 hours a day. Zeki Yagiz, production and quality control manager, said that they are fully in control of all production and quality parameters with Monforts technology line.
Source: Yarns and fibres
Small textiles might just be a newly emerged segment in the global textile and apparel industry, but its staggering growth rate over the last few years has proven its potential to be one of the next biggest sectors in the global textile market. Today, smart textiles are widely used in diverse industries like military and protection, architecture, sports and fitness, transportation, fashion and entertainment, and medical. It is believed that with increasing demand and usage across the world, global smart textile market will continue its strong and steady growth in future. According to the report from Grand View Research, the global smart textiles market size was valued at USD 544.7 million in 2015, and it is expected to reach USD 4.72 Billion by 2020, with a CAGR of 33.58% between 2015 and 2020. The growth is mainly driven by the uptrend in wearable technology industry, increasing demand for sophisticated electronics, miniaturization of electronic components, and a rapid growth of wireless sensor networks. While the increasing adoption of smart textiles across numerous applications, such as sports and fitness, defence and military, are predicted to be the fastest growing categories for the market. Currently, the military application of smart textiles is the largest market segment, with a share of around 25.8% of the global smart textiles market in 2015. Sports and fitness is the second largest segment in the global smart textiles – from smart shirts that record heart rates to intelligent bands that track physical activities, smart textiles in the form of fitness monitoring devices have a lot of demand from health-conscious people. There is also an increasing demand for the smart textile market in architecture and automotive industries. As for the regional smart textiles markets, North America and APAC are expected to have the fastest growth rate over the next five years. Although North America remains as the world’s largest smart textile market, representing over 45.5% of the global market revenue, APAC is projected to grow faster with a CAGR of 25.9% by 2020, driven by China, India, and Japan, with their growing economy and low-cost raw materials and labour. China and India are two of the major manufacturers of smart textiles in APAC market, while these two countries are the largest producers of manufactured fibers, and are expected to dominate the global smart textiles market in near future. Despite the fact that higher cost and price of smart textiles, compared with other textiles, may restrain the further development of the industry, the future of the smart textiles is still believed to be very positive. New trends such as the usage of nanotechnology and incorporation of BLE technology, the growing demand for lightweight and flexible fabrics, and the wider application of BLE technology in the development of smart textiles will further contribute to the growth of global smart textiles markets.
SOURCE: Grand View Research
