Retail Industry News

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’s DESK…It was a satisfying moment for me when officials of Niti Aayog cited the example of the apparel sector to push the point that labour-intensive sectors should be the focus for the Government and policies that impede their growth should get special attention. The official on national TV shared that firms in the apparel sector in India are usually smaller than those in other countries and that even these small firms employ huge workforce.I was also happy to hear that the Government think tank agreed that labour market rigidities arising from wide-ranging and complex laws and regulations have been identified as perhaps the most importantimpediment to the rapid growth of this sector. Even the budget has hinted that labour laws may be reassessed… Well, finally the Government is accepting ground realities!Of late, there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of the garment industry in boosting the economy, both at the national and state level. It all started with skill development programmes for rural youth and the realisation that it was the garment industry that could absorb so many trained workers, and that too with basic training of just few weeks.What followed was like the opening of the floodgates, with state after state announcing garment industry-friendly policies to attract investment in the region. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and the north-eastern states have presented policies that promise to support employment generation.Jharkhand is the first state to actually bring out a separate ‘garment policy’, promising revolutionary incentives for setting up garment units in the state. They include cashback incentives on wages, tax benefits, labour law flexibility, dedicated apparel parks with plug and play facilities, among other things. Last year we did a detailed coverage on the policy.Following closely, Odisha has also announced an ‘apparel policy’ on similar lines wherein stand-alone production units for apparel employing a minimum of 200 workers will get an incentive of Rs. 1,500 per worker per month for 36 months. The companies can also avail interest subsidies.Capital grants amounting to 20 per cent of the project cost would also be provided to the companies setting up units within the upcoming apparel parks.From the buzz, it appears that Haryana and Maharashtra are also on the verge of new textile policies, with special emphasis on garmenting as an engine of employment generation. According to advance reports, the Maharashtra Government is likely to unveil a new textile policy that will include measures such as cotton-to-garment-manufacturing at a single point and reasonable electricity tariffs for setting up textile units.Of course, we cannot forget the ‘special package’ for the industry, which has yet to make an impact… The year ahead looks very exciting for the apparel industry and how things actually play out is something we are all waiting to see, but for sure the spotlight has finally been trained on the industry. Now it is for the industry to seize these opportunities of growth and move out of their comfort zone to explore new and competitive manufacturing regions.

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What were you expecting from the union Budget 2017-18 and what is your reaction on the announcements made by Finance Minister? How do you see its impact, both in the short- and long-term on Indian textiles and apparel industry?

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MIND TREE

Most Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) are recognizing companies based on turnovers, though there are many other exporters who may be small but are doing excellent work in various categories/areas like sustainability, niche products, new processes, innovative working styles…, etc. Do you think that‘turnover’ alone should be the criteria for awards… If yes, why; and if no, what are the areas that need to be acknowledged and need encouragement?

Q-and-A

M. Anbukani, MD, Penguin Apparels, Madurai

I have a different view regarding the question you have raised.First, is the percentage of export sales turnover during the year compared to the whole annual sales turnover… Andfor this, say if they exported 100 per cent they will get 75 marks, else it will be done on a pro rata basis. Second, is the percentage of incrementalexport turnover ever compared with the last year export turnover and if that, the incremental turnover when exceeds 20 per cent, they will get 10 marks, otherwise prorated. Lastly, if the management system is certified under ISO: 9001; SA: 8000; OHS:18001 – each should have 5 points (total 15 points).

Rakesh Madan, Director,

V. K. Fashions, NoidaIt is right that EPCs are giving awards based on turnover basis for last several years, but they are giving in different categories too. Yes, positively there should

be an award for ‘sustainability’ and ‘consistency’ for the person or company that has served the industry and sustained itself for so long, earning valuable foreign exchange for the country consistently. The time periodfor such a company to be rewarded may be set at a higher period of say 25 to 30 years.

R Sabhari Girish, CEO,Award Associates, Tirupur

There are lots of innovations coming up in the industry, with many manufacturers now venturing into sustainable production and products too.Recycled polyester or recycled cotton is one such product where exposure is very limited, and that if properly marketed and supported by EPCs, they will be inclined to put more efforts into developing these products as there is a huge demand for the same. Due to lack of exposure, the recycled manufacturers who should pose themselves as environment- friendly manufacturers, pose as‘rag pickers’, thus keeping a very low profile. Separate categories of awards should be brought

into this criteria and small players must be encouraged who show more interest inproduct diversification and value addition through the sustainable production methods.

little subjective. As any factory may be good enough from my point of view, but may not be from yours… One thing is sure that nobody wants any controversy, so we did not continue with that award. Yourquestion is quite valid, and going forward I think we would liketo bring back some of these categories.

Rahul Mehta,President, CMAI, Mumbai Associations or councils too have different criteria for their awards. As far as CMAI is concerned,we are mainly survey-based; for example, one of the awards for the brands we have is on the basis of ‘popularity’ and being not the ‘largest’. Moreover, we have categorized brands into three main categories – Large, Small and Medium. Normally we conduct survey among 300 retailers, and based on that which brand is doing best in their stores is judged. We also finalized two or three interesting categories; like we are basically manufacturers’ association,so we should have a category of ‘best factory’ and ‘most interesting brand launch’, and ‘new innovations’, etc. For some years we announced award in these categories but what we felt was that it was becoming

Narinder Pal Singh, MD, Nancy Krafts, DelhiIt is clear that giant companies are no more interested in such awards. Turnover is just like a data which can’t be avoided. As far as new categories are concerned, there are already many categories, and I don’t think that there is something new which can be added as a parameter. Whatever main business is there, that is already with the top giants while restof the industry is working with small- or medium-level buyers or boutique buyers. Indianexporters, should focus mainly on R&D and product development that will enhance their business and which in fact will be a real award for their team.

WORLD WRAP

ith the Government encouragingW consumption and

consumersreturning to physical outlets, sales for retailers have also gone up. According to experts, the retail industry in South Korea region will expand at CAGR of 6.13 per cent over 2013-2018 and the overall size of South Korea retail market is expected to reachUS $ 524.91 billion by 2018. Ever since a period of sluggish spending and sliding consumer sentiment, Korea has seen a slow but steady improvement in the retail sector. PwC reports that Korean retail volumes were at US $ 307 billion in 2014 andUS $ 331 billion in 2015, while the firm is projecting US $ 378 billion for 2017.The retail scenario in South Korea is continuously changing with various new international players entering the market. This is furthernoticed through Starfield Hanam, the western style mall that is performing

above expectations. It is a 4,56,000 sq. metres (4.9 million sq. feet) retail location with a gross leasable area of 1,58,000 sq. metres (1.7 millionsq. feet), jointly developed by the Shinsegae Group and Taubman Asia. It opened in September 2016 as South Korea’s largest Western- style shopping mall, the nation’s second-largest retail destination (the largest being Lotte World Mall,which measures 8,26,000 sq. metres). In October 2016, Prada, the Italian luxury fashion house, specializing in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, perfumesand other fashion accessories, has expanded in Korea with the opening of a new store in Shinsegae Starfield Hanam mall.Being one of the fastest growing markets in the world for luxury goods over the last five years, fuelled by Seoul’s sophisticated shopping

South Korea’s retail market shows an upward trajectoryPUSH COMING THROUGH TOURISM, RISING CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AND DISPOSABLE INCOME

Home of the third largest retail market in Asia Pacific(APAC-region), South Korea continues to maintain its momentum, driven by robust economic growth, rising population, increasing purchasing power and deeper penetration of international players. Theprevious year registered strong growth in retailing, with consumer sentiments recovering and the Government emphasizing on consumption. South Korea is definitely a market with huge potential for business opportunities in fashion clothing.

Key information on the South Korea e-commerce market: South Korea is

home to the third largest Asia-Pacific retaile-commerce market.

Mobile sales have increased 64 per cent over the past two years.

82.5 per cent of the population is urban, with Korean (97 per cent) the most popular language.

The country has the second highest digital buyer percentage in the Asia-Pacific region, with 65 per cent of internet users shopping online.

Major holidays like White Day and Thanksgiving bolster e-commerce sales.

Because of the small country size and high population density, South Korea has exceptionally fast fulfilment rates.

ESSENTIALS

culture and its competitive prices for prestigious international brands,South Korea is still on an upward trajectory. From brands such as Gucci, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Bally,etc. South Korea is being favoured amongst the best luxury brands. Apart from international brands opening shop in Seoul, the tourism industry is further helping the South Korea retail industry to grow. With Tokyo onlytwo hours from Seoul, there is strong tourism flow between the two cities. Many Chinese are now buying their luxury products in the country andit is expected that by 2020, Chinese luxury consumers will spend US $ 29 billion at South Korea luxury retailers.Enabling the retail market further are high disposable incomes that are supporting stable growth for luxurygoods. Of the South Korean population having an annual gross income of US$ 1,50,000+, 23.7 per cent belonged

to the 45-49 age band, with another22.7 per cent in the 40-44 cohort. With the country’s 40-somethings making up 16.9 per cent of the total population in 2014, demographics play a critical role in the retail industry. Through to 2030, South Korea’s rapidly ageing population will inflate the share of seniors in the uppermost income band. In 2030, while the 45-49 cohort will comprise the largest slice of the population in receipt of an annual gross income of US $ 1,50,000, at16.3 per cent, the 65+ demographic– which will encompass 24.2 per cent of the total population that year, will surge to account for 15.2 per cent.Furthermore, the country’s 2016e-commerce Market totalled nearly US$ 38 billion last year and is expected to surpass US $ 50 billion by 2018. As the most popular mobile country in the world, 90 per cent of South Koreans own a smartphone, with mobile sales

increasing at an impressive rate. Government stats are projecting that e-commerce in the country reached9.8 per cent of total retail sales for 2016, making South Korea the third- largest e-commerce market in the Asia-Pacific, after China and Japan.Although consumer sentiment was better in 2016 than in 2015, the South Korean economy continued to experience uncertainty. This has led to consumers being more price- conscious and therefore buyingcheaper products. And while luxury is still a major draw, local manufacturers have been motivated to launch products at reasonable prices and market them as “cost-effective”, which is the buzz word today. The trend has also influenced retailers to develop and market their own private label products at cheap prices. In fact, the designer scene in the country is very active and many home-grown labels stand tall among international brands.While the country’s retail sector gets a thrust through higher disposable income, tourism and e-commerce,South Korea is still a retail destination less explored. Though Seoul’s retail sector continues to grow, but other Korean cities with equally highliving standards and disposable income are now providing more room for international retailers. As the Korean Government pushing for higher consumption and consumer confidence seems to be slowly improving, there are significant opportunities in the Korean retail market still to be explored.

Avedis H. Seferian (R) President & CEO, and K.T. Ramakrishnan, Head of Operations India / Sri Lanka – WRAP

SUSTAINABILITY

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W R A P

MORE THAN COMPLIANCE/ CERTIFICATION, ADDING VALUE TO BOTTOM LINECompleting 16 years of its inception, Worldwide Responsible AccreditedProduction (WRAP) has more than 250 certified factories in India and 2,300 factories across the world which employs more than 2 million workers. Oneof the largest independent factory-based certification standards for this industry, WRAP is more than just a certification and management system audit agency; in fact it has become a way to add value to the bottom line of apparel manufacturers. Though satisfied that the Indian apparel industry is moving in the right direction, Avedis H. Seferian, President & CEO, WRAP strongly believes that a lot of things still needs to be done. During his recent visit to India, Seferian had a long discussion with Team Apparel Online on many issues that he is very passionate about…

Value from WRAP when there are many other such certificationsWRAP is more acceptable to buyers compared to other such standards; so WRAP opens up many doors for apparel manufacturers and reduces the need of multiple audits. The certification gives a strong reliability and assurance to the buyers that thefactory has been verified with required due diligence. These factories already have some kind of audit or inspection in place. Secondly, and equally important point is that it directly benefits by making sure that one runs the factory in a way that gives comfort and profitability. As apparel industry has high labour turnover which costs a lot, WRAP certification helps to reduce employee turnover, becauseif the factory is run responsibly, why would anybody leave. WRAP is not

just a check audit, it is a management system audit, where it is made sure that all relevant kinds of policiesand procedures are being properly followed and executed. It is a more human, proactive, preventive and predictive approach to compliance.We do not give just a programme, we back the programme in a way that helps further enhance the confidence of the factory. Garment factories are very dynamic places, and audits just give you a snapshot of that time; and even if you have a good audit, things change, like expansion, downsizing, etc. and all these things can bring changes later. When we go to factories we don’t behave or work likepolicemen. Our job is to promote social responsibility, so we want to help the factories achieve that. We promote ‘ability’ of factories by providing them resources be it documentary support or open training to make sure that

The salient points of these discussions are narrated below

compliance as a cost that needs to be minimized. This has to change.Factories have to recognize that this is an investment and not a cost. Once this happens, recognition of the return on such investment, that it is making the factory more competitive, will gain prominence. It takes almost US $ 2000 (which includes WRAP fees and audit charges) to get certified. WRAP does not see that as a huge cost, looking at it from an investment perspective, as it can probably bring orders worth, may be US $ 2 million.Despite all initiatives, still a lot is to be doneIt is not enough to stand and see where we are today, vis-à-vis where the industry was 20 years ago; no doubt a lot of progress has been made, one can argue about the pace, but we are moving in the right direction. It is a reality that the numbers of non-compliant factories are diminishing and there are several reasons for that, like the market is changing. We are now at a point where social compliance is necessary for any reputable brand of manufacturer. It is a threshold requirement like price, quality and delivery. In a 24X7 global social media scenario, everybody is a reporter; there is no place to hide things anymore, so companies are coming forward for a change. We are confident that we will get more and more factories certified as manufacturers are realizing thebenefit of compliance. It helps them to fulfil the law of the land which is not as easy as it seems. WRAP is giving them peace of mind.

Biggest issue for apparel industrySustainability is the biggest issue today across all the industries and same will continue in future as well. In regard to India and the

the factory knows not only what they need to do, but also why it matters and how they can achieve it. And these things distinguish WRAP from other certifications. Our pro-activeness is something that prevents anything from happening rather than taking care of any problem once it happens.WRAP, across the world and IndiaOur efforts in the last few years have seen good results and we are proud of whatever WRAP has achievedby supporting the industry; but do agree that these certified factories are very small part of the apparel manufacturing industry across the world, so there is much work to be done. As far as our targetis concerned, it is like moving the goalpost; our target is growing day by day to support the industry. We want to touch 3,000 factories this year. India has more than 2,000 good factories, and out of these 14 per cent are WRAP-certified. Multiplicity of standards is also one of the reasons for this. Factory’s first priority is to satisfy their buyers, no matter if it is by a particular certification or their own audit or any other way. 85 per cent of the WRAP-certified factories in India are at gold level, 14 per cent are at platinum level (it takes atleast three years to get a platinum certification), and 1 per cent is at silver level.

Current market conditions and compliance costWhatever market conditions prevail, it is always about competitiveness, social responsibility and certifications that make any company a desirable partner. A mind shift has to occur,as many factories still see social compliance as a necessary evil or obstacle, something they have to do. An unfortunate consequence of this thought-process is that you see

apparel industry, I must say that there are some pockets where we have made good progress. Similarly in some pocket we have not made good progress, while in other cases, we are missing a lot. Overall increasing awareness is one ofthe good examples. There is good progress on the child labour front, but on migrant workers issues we needto do more. Environment too needs a lot to be done. All in all, we are in right direction but need more energy forthe same.Will world ever have singleaccepted certification?After spending 15 years in this industry, Avedis has concluded that probably we are never going to have a single accepted code because even if all of us agree that 99 per cent things we do is the same, 1 per cent differs from organization to organization on value basis and this will never change. But, having said that what is possible is greater harmonization among existing codes; so we are closer to mutual recognition of standards so that more coordination spreads. And this is already happening. WRAP isat the forefront of this movement as more and more people are coming on board.More negative reports by NGOs in recent yearsReports are not completely false nor are it is true that some companies are missing on compliance, or that they have double standards. All these reports are reflection of the fact that more people are involved now in these things; more debates and conversations are taking place, so more reports are coming out.These reports are going to have a positive impact by recognizing just how widespread these problems are and the need to tackle them with systematic approach.

Indian domestic companies are also coming forward for certification as they are also concerned for their image, as well as customers’ reactions. In coming days, the movement will pick up more pace. Entry of more and more western brands is also impacting positively.Some Indian brands have startedcertification efforts of their vendors. To some extent it is right that compliance is more buyer-driven, so it is taking much more time to come intothe domestic market, but some NGOs are playing good role in this regard.

18 Apparel Online India | FEBRUARY 1-15, 2017 | www.apparelresources.com

SUSTAINABILITY

Indian apparel exporters need to gear up

‘Redress' to host sustainable fashion design competition

orldwide established apparelWbrands and buyers

stronglybelieve that this is the best time when Indian apparel exporters need to gear up for overall improvement to fetch the maximum orders from across the world. Beit quality, delivery, compliance or product development, as China is vacating the place, Indian exporters should grab the opportunities rather than letting it go toother competitor countries like Bangladesh or Vietnam.Top- and middle-level management of various major apparel buyers like NEXT, Marks & Spencer, top buying house Impulse, and export houses like Modelama Exports, Pearl Apparel, Wear Well, Fashion Maker International, Team Krian, etc. totally agree on this. All of these were present to celebrate the annual day of AIDER (AllIndia Development for Education and Rehabilitation) NGO which is proactively working to supportwomen empowerment in the apparel industry of Delhi-NCR region.

The environment NGO, Redress, working to reduce waste inthe fashion industry, will host the EcoChic Design Award – a sustainable fashion designcompetition. The contest is an international platform for next- generation designers to cut waste out of fashion. Through this competition, fashion designers and students will develop sustainable womenswear collection with minimal textile wastage. The competition will see participation of fashion designers with lessthan three years’ experience and fashion designing students living in Asia, Europe and the US. The

On this occasion, Union Minister of Railways Manoj Sinha honouredVikram Pandita, Regional Manager– South Asia, NEXT Code of Practice; Arvind Rai of Modelama Exports; and Amit Gupta, Director,Pearl Apparel for their support to the NGO and upliftment of theindustry. AIDER NGO is one of the

participants will showcase six outfit sustainable collections developed by using one or more

best examples in Indian apparel industry where famous buyers like NEXT and AIDER are working together for the weaker section of society and focusing specifically on areas of Delhi-NCR for their overall welfare.Virender K Jha, Founder of AIDER NGO thanked the industry for its

Ten finalists will be selected to showcase their minimal waste collections at Hong Kong’s Fashion Week Centrestage. Before showcasing their respective creations at the Hong Kong event’s grand final fashion show that willbe held in early September 2017, the finalists will also attend a one week knowledge exchange programme, various design challenges and several networking events withtop industry professionals. Initiated in Hong Kong in 2011, the EcoChic Design Award inspires young fashion talents to create mainstream clothing with minimal textile waste.

support and assured that the NGO will work more towards the benefit of apparel sector; be it training, education and health of workers and their children. Students associated with the NGO presented interesting cultural shaws, while stalwarts from different sectors were also present at the event.

Industry representatives with Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha. Virender K Jha, Founder of AIDER NGO is also seen

of the environmental-friendly design techniques of zero-waste, upcycling and reconstruction.

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BREAKING NEWSTo read the latest sustainability news, go tohttp://news.apparelresources.com/sustainability-news/

Orient Craft hosts Cancer Screening Camprient Craft regularlyOorganizes various

healthcheck-up camps across its manufacturing facilities in the country but the recent one– Cancer Screening Camp in Noida was special for everyone associated with the factory as it took place on the birthdayof Manju Dhingra, Managing Director of Orient Craft Ltd. (Noida Division).The camp was for women employees (above 40 years of age). Dr. Satinder Kaur (HOD Gyne) of Dharam Shila Cancer Hospital, New Delhi with her team attended to the women employees and carried “Pap Smear” test on 65 employees. Other top officials

of the company, including Neeraj Verma, Mohinder Garg, President, and Ashok Sharma, Head of Production were also present at the camp.Welfare team leader of the company Suranjana Dey and Medical Officer Jessy Mol along with Administration Manager Lalit Gupta put in best of their efforts to make this event successful. Pawan Aarya, AVP (Operations) of the company told Apparel Online, “It wasa pleasant experience and motivation for all of us as our MD and CMD Sudhir Dhingra spent time with the staff. Everyone was happy to celebrate this day for a noble cause.”

Team Orient Craft during Cancer Screening Camp

ith increasing focus on comfortW and fitness, there has

been arise in the demand for knitwear in the global market. Products like T-shirts, polos, sportswear, undergarments and leggings are popular categories with the bigger umbrella of knitwear. While flat knits are more high-end and season-driven, circular knits have a very wide spectrum from very basic tees to specialized sportswear. India has traditionally been a woven garments industry with shirts, ladies’ blouses/dresses, shorts and skirts being among the key categories inexports, but the shift towards knitwear is are now evident, and besides the knit capital of the country – Tirupur, other destinations like Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi-NCR are also increasing their share in the export basket.The export of knitwear from India accounts for around 45 per cent of total garment exports and of that44.29 per cent is coming from Tirupur. Riding high on increasing demand, the hub is looking at around 15-20per cent growth year-on-year over the next few years. In fact, the hub is so well established that many buyers are not really exploring the potential of upcoming hubs. “We have been doing knits from Tirupur since last 20-22 years and have a small office set up there. We tried Delhi-NCR too but our prices are very competitive

and only Tirupur suppliers are able to meet them,” admits Shalini Bhindra, Manager Admin/Finance, KappAhl.

With time buyers have categorized the hubs on their strengths and understand from where to source, depending on global demand. So, while Tirupur is the competitive hub, giving even Bangladesh a run for its orders in certain categories, it is the Delhi-NCR manufacturers that are the preferred choice if fashion or semi- fashion knitwear is the demand. “The core strength in this region is fashion garments as this region is not good for basics. Any kind of embroideries,embellishment or hand-work is good to do here,” says Sanjeev Jain of TQM Buying. According to a rough estimate, more than 700 big and small factories are working on knitted garments in the region.Though no new players are coming in, exporters who already had strength in value addition are now using it to gain share in knitwear too. “We started our knit operation very recently as we don’t want to miss any buyer or any order which we can do. Knits is currently 20 per cent of our total business and every buyer wants styles with value additions for which Delhi-NCR is known for,like we do hand-work/adda work etc., while Tirupur or any other hub can’t do such work. As labour is cheap in

all other hubs compared to this place, they still prefer and will continue to focus on majorly basics items,” reasons Praveen Sharma, Director, Click Clothing Company, Faridabad. The company is committed to increase capacities in knits after six months, once the buyer demand for their products become clearer.It cannot be denied that with the changing scenario across the world and greater emphasis on knitwear, as both casual and formalwear, exporters are compelled to add/ enhance knit segment. “Knits market is overall growing across the world so I feel that Delhi-NCR as a hub will also grow at least by 10 to 12 per cent in knitted segment. As far as buyers’ interest for knitted garments of Delhi-NCR is concerned more than any other hub, innovations, product development which is the strengthof Delhi-NCR is driving buyers to come here for knitted products too. And this is despite the fact that Delhi-NCR is costly compared to any other knitted hub. But the factories working with proper systems aremanaging cost too,” argues ML Yadav, Marketing & Merchandiser Head, Pasupati Spinning & Weaving Mills, Dharuhera (Haryana).The big names of the knitting segment in the region include Shivalik Prints,

DELHI-NCR, A GROWING VALUE-ADDED SUPPLY CHAIN IN KNITWEAR

With time buyers have categorized the hubs on their strengths and understand from where to source, depending on the global demand.So, while Tirupur is the competitive hub, giving even Bangladesh a run for its orders in certain categories, it is the Delhi-NCR manufacturers that are the preferred choice if fashionor semi-fashion knitwear is the demand.

ESSENTIALS

DELHI-NCR KNITTING HUB

OC Knits, Dhruv Global, Shahi Exports, Pearl Global, Maral Overseas, Celestial Knits, Matrix Clothing and Shree Bharat International. While integrated setups are quite common in knitwear, as installing circular knits is much easier than having weaving capacities, there is always a need for differential fabrics and different processes tomeet buyer demands, which are not necessarily viably available in-house.Earlier Faridabad was the centre for fabric and processing units, but now many of them have moved to the outskirts to be more compliant to environmental concerns, and alsoexpand capacities to meet the growing demand. Some of the best suppliers of international quality knitted fabric are Mercury Fabrics, Richa Knits, Shyam Tex, Syndicate Fabrics, Bir Horizon, Hotz Industries and Raj Knitter to name some.Most of the companies have invested in latest technologies in knitting, printing, washing and finishing to give fabric that is being appreciated by global buyers. Mercury Fabrics, being one of the largest knitted fabricmanufacturers in India, is a significant supplier to many leading fashion labels of the world including H&M, C&A and M&S. The factory in Bawal, Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi-NCR has been built on the lines of a European factory and equipped with best technologies from Europe. Currently, the company produces 600+ tonnes of finished fabric every month out of which more than 50 per cent of its production is into blended fabric. “The range and quality of knitted fabric, especially in prints that we have, no one else has in the Indian market,” claims Tajinder Sachdeva, MD, Mercury Fabrics.Though the company has clients across the country, Sachdeva agrees that in the last five years the demand from the Delhi-NCR has increased manifolds.Printing on knits has become strength of the region and there are nowtwo strong companies in the north doing all-over prints – Mercury and Bir Horizon. Also with most of the processing units moving to the outskirts for both environmentalreasons and to expand, the processing

not trust worthy, which needs to be improved. The mantra to success is to put up big factories as the prices are workable only on huge scale, that is what other hubs are doing,” argues Sanjeev. Jas bats for betterpolicy support for the knit industry in general. “The knit segment as a whole in India suffers and the problem is the import duty structure for the goods shipped from India in comparison with Bangladesh. Customers save straight 11-12 per cent. Even if we compare with our Tirupur source, then also the bigger-budget customers, especially from Europe, prefer to visit Bangladesh because they save 12 per cent. Weneed some sort of treaty to promote manufacturing and that will benefit the industry as a whole,” implores Jas.Yet, buyers are sure that the Delhi- NCR will survive as a knitting source for its inherent qualities. “Bangladesh has very big factories, I have been buying from there for past eight years. The smallest factory I findis like 250 machines, and I work with factories even as big as 4,300 machines. So, there is literally no competition. In Tirupur, still there are factories which are workable (on price), but the advantage we have inthis region is that Bangladesh cannot do fashion jobs and thus sticks to basics and gets volumes; this forteis not easy to replicate in a hurry,” concludes Sanjeev.

strength of the region is now among the best in the country. Buyers acknowledge this strength and appreciate the potential. “Technically the Delhi-NCR supply chain in knits is very sound and workable, but only from a high-end product point of view,” says Jas Mahindru of MEGABRANDS. Even knit exporters in other regions accept that the Delhi-NCR has certain unique niches. “Delhi has its unique strengths, be it connectivity or image of established export hub, after Tirupur; Delhi is much more organized as a sourcing hub than other smaller hubs; also the type of value-added strength in processing of knits that they have, is not there with Tirupur even, despite being the ‘knit capital’of India. No doubt, the Delhi-NCR is a very potential market and will be much more potential in the future with the recent initiatives of Government, as we anticipate more expansions in knitted segment across the country, including in Delhi-NCR,” avers Manoj Tandon, VP – Garments, TT Ltd., who is stationed in Delhi to interact with buyers for their knit products.Though the region has all that it takes to be different, the buyers are still sceptical. “Though in terms oftechnology and PD, it has worked very well for players in the region, but the price economics is pushing it down.Secondly, the quality aspect and time commitments of small players are

“Our factory in Bawal, Haryana on the outskirts ofDelhi-NCR has been built on the lines of a European factory, equipped withbest technologies from Europe. The range and quality of knitted fabric, especially in prints that we have, no one else has in the Indian market.”– Tajinder Sachdeva, MD, Mercury Fabrics

EARLIER FARIDABAD WAS THE CENTRE FOR FABRIC AND PROCESSING UNITS, BUT NOW MANY OF THEM HAVE MOVED TO THE OUTSKIRTS

TO BE MORE COMPLIANT TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.

With latest machines at all levels, Mercury Fabrics ensures consitent quality. Seen here is a finishing machine

DELHI-NCR KNITTING HUB

is where our integration and in-house capabilities come in handy,” says Ankit. Besides T-shirts, the company also makes ladies knitted dresses for the US market since there is no duty on the same. With lots of specialized washing and dyeing, the company tries tomake a 100-dollar product for around 10-15 dollars in knits.Now, as more and more consumers are moving towards activewearin the US, the company is pretty bullish about good growth in the near future. “Nowadays, when everything is changing so fast, we are doing many things, both in-house andwith the buyers on different levels. Whichever strategy works, we adopt that. Whichever buyer is good we go with him. We work with European customers too who are very fast tracked. They want maximum 17-18 days’ lead time, but we are not shying away from these orders.” reveals Kunal

adding that buying agents don’t have future as the vertical set up is proving overwhelmingly beneficial for both buyers and manufacturers in a direct relationship.Having all the factories/facilities within a radius of 4-5 kilometres, Shivalik Group is able to ensure that everything is done just within six hours after getting an order. Catering to US and European markets, their core customers areWalmart, GAP, George, H&M, Old Navy, Target, American Eagle, C&A, Max, Sansbury’s, among others. Working on being updated with latest technology to support efficiencies, the company has recently installed one automatic cutting machine, with plans to bring all cutting into automation in a phased manner. Apart from that, they keep updating sewing machines after every 3 years.The management systems are equally responsive and apart from the monthly meetings with the DMs, where they discuss challenges and best practices, the young team always has a discussion with their elders while encountering a complicated situation. The philosophy is to remain ahead in providing service. “I think people get lost when they say they provide on- time delivery or good quality products to their buyers, so they are preferred suppliers. These parameters are now basic requirements, which we can’t ignore. But what counts in modern epoch are the added services you render and what relationship you have with your buyers. In the contemporary, competitive era, ethics have become a high priority,” reasons Nishant.With high focus on service, the company always keeps 15-20 per cent of capacity free for emergency orders so as to remain a priority for their customers. Still, if the demand exceeds their capacity, they go for outsourcing the part of convertingyarn into fabric which hasn’t exceeded 2 per cent of their overall processing yet. The company has also created an experimental setup with a Sri Lankan consultant on lean principles which will be the first of its kind factory in

roducing 50 tonnes of knitted fabricPper day and processing 98

per centof its in-house to convert into 2,00,000 knitted garments for exports by the end of the day is just not the only thing that makes Shivalik Group the largest knitting company in northern India. Apart from the available water recycling facilities, its processing units are solar equipped which generate 1.5 MW power and is headed to become the largest biologically zero-discharge apparel factory in Haryana. The achievements of the company are laudable, considering that it started doing garmentingonly in 2007, much after many of the other Delhi-NCR leaders had already established themselves well in the field. Having already crossed a turnover of Rs. 1,200 crore in exports, this fast- growing company is being led by a very motivated team of GenNext inheritors, who are ready for every challenge.With Narindera Aggarwal,as Chairman, the ‘young brigade’ of Directors – Nishant, Ankit andKushal – are very optimistic of growth potential. “We have grown from scratch. Our norms are highly efficient and we are all very deeply involvedin the operations. Even if there is a percentile difference in our estimation of loss, we have a meeting on it. We challenge everything and if we havea problem, we approach it within five minutes,” says Nishant, shunning the perception that the company has too much flab. He adds that though the company has come out of SPL which they bought in 2007, they have not inherited its working principles that led to its downfall and instead, set their own standards. “What SPL used to do in 120 days, we are doing it in 70 days,” shares Nishant. The result is a whopping 99.8 per cent on time shipping record with zero air shipments.Though the company specializes in basic knits in huge quantities, of late the company has shifted some of its capacities to semi fashion knit items with an average FOB of US $ 3 for both men and women. “Today, there is nothing which is really basic, everyone wants some fashion element and that

A COM PANY TH AT B E L I E V E S IN TAK INGC H A L L E N G E S

SHIVALIK PRINTS

Though the company specializes in basic knits in huge quantities, it has lately shifted some of its capacities to semi fashion knit items

Besides T-shirts, the company also makes ladies knitted dresses for the US market since there isno duty on the same. With lots of specialized washing and dyeing, the company tries tomake a 100-dollar product for around 10-15 dollars in knits.

ESSENTIALS

eing one of the top fabricBmanufacturing and

processhouses in Delhi-NCR region, Bir Horizons is known for its knitting, dyeing, rotary printing, raising and sueding capabilities. The company derives its strength from real assets – manpower andexperienced management, besides manufacturing in-house fabric with installed machines to deliver an array of premium quality fabrics. In conversation with Apparel Online, Jasbir Singh, MD of Bir Horizons shares how Delhi-NCR is growing as a knitting hub and firming the internal strengths of his company in fabric and processing.Primarily known for value-added services such as beadwork and hand- embroidery, the Delhi-NCR hub is continuously finding favour amongst buyers, as ‘differential’ products are becoming a norm. Added to the above good quality processing houses for washing and finishing, and the latest demand for beadwork or value-added services in knits, mostly printing, has

Reet Arora and Jasbir Singh, Directors, Bir Horizons are very passionate about rotary printing

Bir Horizons creating niche in rotary printingUnique value-added services favour growth of Delhi-NCR knitting hub

The company derives its strength from real assets – manpower and experienced management, besides manufacturing in-house fabric with installed machinesto deliver an array of premiumquality fabrics.

this part of the country in knits and is expected to absorb the day-to-day growing demand for knitwear in a highly competitive environment.The company is also involved in training its workers and recently it has initiated a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme in partnership with ILFS. This programme is under the PMKVYscheme. Shivalik is the first industry partner of this scheme in theNCR. RPL is a platform to provide recognition to informal learning or learning through work to get equal acceptance as the formal levels of education. It aims to appreciate prior learning irrespective of the medium of achieving it to give due importance to learning as an outcome rather than learning as process. With the initiative, IL&FS Skills Development Corporation Limited has been given responsibility to train 20,000 sewing

machine Operators under the programme.For the company, the year 2016 was highly competitive and they believe that the new year 2017 would be more challenging. However, according to company’s plans and projections, they think that year 2018 would bea good year. The company believes in preserving the value additions to their product and invest according to the earnings they make. “I think the challenges will keep coming, but we don’t have to sit on them. If you are passionate about working, then you don’t see these challenges as mere challenges, but rather see them as opportunities. Like, if something is achallenge for three months, you have to be optimistic that after three months, it will turn into an opportunity. The way we have dealt with challenges is the answer to why we are here, at the top,” concludes Nishant.

‘The young brigade’ of Directors at Shivalik Prints – (L to R) Nishant, Ankit and Kushal

The launch of RPL programme in partnership with ILFS saw Deepak Mohindra, Editor-in-Chief, Apparel Resources Pvt. Ltd. (sitting second from left) as the guest of honour

DELHI-NCR KNITTING HUB

made this region grow significantly as a knitting hub. “It is not investmentin machines which makes this region good in value addition, rather it is the quality and expertise that is available in Delhi-NCR, which gives the region its reputation. Exporters are not interested in doing only stitching, they need beadwork which is the niche of this area. Though knits are mostly popular in Bangladesh and Vietnam, but there is no one who does these kinds of products globally. Also, Turkey does it but it’s more expensive than us. The demand started with beadwork in knit tops,” claims Jasbir.Taking advantage of the growing popularity of the hub in knits, the company has also ventured into overall printing that is visible on the fashion circuit for the past twoseasons, even in men’s T-shirt. Earlier AOP (all over prints) had very little application, as 80 per cent knits produced were solids (without print) and only 20 per cent was with a print, out of which 15 per cent was taken over by placement prints and only5 per cent was AOP. “Our printing unit was supposed to start in 2009, but it was delayed because AOP in menswear or ladieswear was missing and it made no sense to invest at that time. But now we are doing AOP,” confirms Jasbir. The company’sUSP lies in rotary printing to ensure perfect prints with a capacity of 50,000 metres of printed fabric per day.Skilled and competent, the company can print on any fabric irrespective of it being viscose, 100 per cent cotton, georgette, pima cotton, etc. Of late the company has also stated processing and printing on woven fabrics, creating expertise in both segments.

“Printing is a tough game. It’s difficult to achieve a perfect print, quantity and price is regardless. You need to have sound knowledge and expertise in it. I am an opponent of digital printing; I feel technicallyif you see a good rotary print, it’s far better than digital. The manufacturers of digital printinghighlight only the beauties of digital, but if anyone can create that in rotary, which is possible, it has so much depth,” asserts Jasbir. He points out that the manufacturers of digital printing highlight the shading effects of a print because Rotary technicians are not taking initiative to do it, but it is possible and gives better lustre. The only real problem is that Rotary needs longer runs to be viable while digital prints are only for smaller runs.In times of the growing popularity of digital printing, the company relies on rotary printing and is passionate to create better designs from the technology. Jasbir refutes, “Water consumption is not more in rotary, but it is only in techniques/inks used. Pigment uses less water and not the machine that uses less water; it is after wash that it consumes more water depending on the ink. Also, depth of colour is only in rotaryand nowhere in digital, although manpower and speed is much better in digital as compared to rotary.”The washing and finishing expertise includes various and latest techniques as also colour perfection in dyeing.With a production capacity of 500 tonnes of knitted fabric per month from 11 circular knit machines – from the best European companies, Bir Horizons has a processing

capacity of 500 tonnes per month and caters to 50 per cent of the fabric produced for job-work and another 50 per cent for its own consumption for final product. Currently the company is nominated by 3 groups – Inditex, M&S and NEXT, demanding for their factories to be compliant and their processes transparent.The company’s unit is integrated by highly developed ERP system, which thoroughly checks all the stages of production efficiently and improves the departmentcoordination in the unit. Bir Horizons has also been accredited with the ‘Certificate of Compliance’ by Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and ‘Certificate of Confidence in Textiles’ as per Oeko-Tex Standards, ensuring best quality in fabric and processes used in manufacturing.Currently the company, which has its manufacturing unit in Greater Noida, is in process to implement a Zero Liquid Discharge plant, which should be operational in a month’s time.With a 24-hour R&D laboratory that dedicatedly put efforts in making technical innovation and research in improving the quality of several fabric and structures, the company also has a team of designers.Going forward, the company and its Managing Director have a mission that will make them a very niche player. “Right now I am in a run to do more prints; and I want to copy digital prints on my rotary.We have to do that otherwise in NCR we cannot survive. Also, if Delhi-NCR continues to do unique value-added work in knits, it will grow in the segment, otherwise it cannot compete on price alone,” concludes Jasbir.

With a 24-hour R&D laboratory that dedicatedly put efforts in making technical innovation and research in improving the quality of several fabric and structures, the company

also has a team of designers.

With a production capacity of 500 tonnes of knitted fabric per month from 11 circular knit machines from best European companies,Bir Horizon has a processing capacity of 500tonnes per month and caters to 50 per cent of the fabric produced for job- work and another 50 per cent for its own consumption for final product.

ESSENTIALS

Lincell after proper dyeing and finishing looks as luxurious as pure linen; the structure of the fabric surface is just like pure linen due to high ratio of refined linen in it. Linen and lyocell both are of natural origins and have high moisture regains of 12 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively (cotton has 8.5 per cent). Highbreathability of linen which is due to its irregular polygonal fibre cross section when blended with lyocell is fully retained.Lincell fabrics keep the body temperature of the wearer lower by 3-4degrees than that of their counterparts wearing cotton fabrics.

ith cost cutting to stayW competitive being a norm

today, effective substitutes or new optionsto hitherto expensive raw materials is something the apparel industry is aggressively looking at. In regards to fabric blends, there are some interesting options and one of them is lincell which is touted as the best substitute of linen. Lincell has been available in the industry since the last 3½ years and is being offered in India by Sundarams Texventures LLP (Indian partner of KingdomHolding, China, world’s largest linen yarn manufacturing company). The product is an intimate blend of fine quality refined bleached flax fibre with Lyocell (high tenacity, highwet modulus viscose fibre) that can be used for wide range of end uses where presently pure linen is being used. Manish Mehta, Founder, Sundarams Texventures LLP, who is a 1986 pass-out of TIT, Bhiwani, talks to Apparel Online on various aspects of lincell, linen and overall market scenario.

Contemplating the overall textile scenario in India, Manish strongly feels that India needs more and more innovations at mass level to grow. “There is no vision, when a favourable policy of a specific state came; people started investing in spinning, they didn’t look at competitiveness or even why they need to expand. Industry has to understand what business they are doing and what further they can or should do. We have to have many R&D centres before schemes like TUF or such others can be successfully executed. Infact, such level of education is not there; proper mind set has to be there as these kinds of incentives only overcrowd the space, which is detrimental to the industry. Nobody is ready to put money in processing or weaving technology even though there is already a glutin spinning while there is under capacity in processing. If we create huge capacity in fabric than how can Chinese fabric enter into India…, it is coming because we have a gap,” argues Manish.

TEX-FILE

“LINCELL WILL HAVE BETTER ACCEPTANCE IN THE MARKET THAN LINEN IN COMING

YEARS”

Walking the path of innovation, the company is offering lincell, which is claimed to be the best replacement of pure linen yarn, especially in women and kidswear, as both categories prefer a softer material as against the stiffness which is common in 100 per cent linen fabric. The companyis constantly investing in product development to create newer fabric and fresh options in different products of home textile to popularize theyarn. With the increased demand the company plans to further expand the capacity. Analysing the current market scenario with regards to linen, Manish is upbeat about the future prospectsof lincell. “The demand for traditional linen and lincell are going hand-in- hand, and though lincell is very new in the market, it has shown steadygrowth. The product is a very high-end product as the fibre which we take from Kingdom, is an expensive fibre compared to the waste fibre which many other people are importing

from Belgium for the same use. In this way, the product coming out from our fibre is also expensive due to quality. For example, in 21 counts, pure linen price is Rs. 900 while for the same quantity lincell costs Rs. 450, but other companies are offering it for Rs. 300 or Rs. 320 also. So our product is 25 to 30 per cent costlier compared to similar compositions available with other spinners, but in purity and proximity to pure linen, lincell will win in the long run,” says Manish. However, the company is happy that despite beinga price-sensitive market, the product has grown by 25 per cent this year over last year.As of now, 50 to 60 per cent of garments made from lincell are for the export market while rest is for the Indian domestic market. At garment stage, lincell outsmarts even pure linen garments; as such, garments can be dyed as pure cotton or linen and canbe bio polished to get a smooth, bouncy

garment with soft handle. This unique property of lincell fabrics makes it the preferred linen for women and kids. Bleached lincell fabrics are completely resistant to turning pale even after multiple washes, unlike cotton orpure linen fabric, which is another attractive feature of the product. Manish further adds, “India is the biggest market of linen for domestic consumption in the world. Only China uses more linen yarn than India, but 80 per cent of that is used in making knitted/woven fabric which is being exported, while only 20 per cent is consumed within China. In case of India, around 70 per cent of the linen yarn is being used to make garments for Indian consumers.”In FY 2015-16, consumption of linen yarn in India was 16,000 metrics tonnes which has reduced in this Financial Year (2016-17) by around30-40 per cent and is expected to close at around 10,000 tonnes. The major factor that has impacted demand

of linen yarn is the continuous rise in prices over the last few years (which started increasing from 2009, and continued its upward rising tillAugust 2015). When initial resistance came from the market, linen spinning companies started reducing prices. There was a continuous reduction in price from August 2015 to October 2016, which added to the confusion leading to further reduction in demand, but now things are more stabilised.“I feel that prices have now come to a viable level, so the linen yarn/fabric consumption will increase over thenext three/four years by at least 10 to 15 per cent CAGR,” concludes Manish. The company has collaboration with one spinner in India which ensures that all the specifications of lincellare met; this guarantees continuous stream of yarn to the supply chain and that deliveries are always on time.As of now, the current capacity is 100 tonnes per month.

Sundarams Texventures LLP is growing by leaps and bounds. The company started in, October 2015 and did business of Rs. 8.5 crore in FY 2015-16, whereas in this year the company is aiming to achieve a turnover of Rs. 75 crore.

Nahar Fabrics, a vertically integrated textile manufacturer of India with operations ranging from spinning to weaving and processing, is aiming to increase its production capacity with the installation of two Monforts units.

Installed during latter half of 2016 by A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd., Monforts’ representative in India, the units will be ableto increase Nahar’s fabrics output from 1.5 million metres per month to 2.2 million metres. The two units include: Monforts Montex stenter and a Thermex continuous dyeing range.

“Fabrics No. 1 unit is producing 2.5 million metres per month and No. 2 unit is producing 1.5 million metres, but the capacity of our preparation range is for about 2.2 million metres. We have not been able to run at our full capacity before, as we did not have the dyeing capacity. Installing the Thermex dyeing range and the Montex stenter will enable us to reach our full capacity of 2.2 million metres within the next 12 months,” said SS Basu, President of Nahar Fabrics.

Across Nahar there are 550 looms and a modern dyeing house with a capacity of 7 tonnes of yarn per day. According to Basu, the company has always believed in the technology they have had from Monforts hence for this latest expansion, they did not consider investing in any other make of machine than Monforts, which is a Germany-based global leader engaged in manufacturing and exporting textile machines.

Textile industry in India is expected to generate 50 million jobs, majority of them for women by 2025, if the industry achieves breakout growth as per its potential. This has been stated ina report – ‘Weaving the Way: Breakout Growth Agenda for the Indian Apparel, Made-ups and Textile Industry’ – by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The potential economic benefits have been identified as revenue of US $ 300 billion by 2025, a multiple of three from the current position. In this, the domestic marketcould account for a 2½ times jump to US $ 150 billion and even the foreign exchange earnings could go up to a similar size.

Small scale, fragmented clusters, restrictive labour laws and unpredictable wage movements, high operating costs due to taxation and subsidy structures, market access barriers in key markets such as the EU and the US, high cost of working capital, low brand visibility, poor infrastructure, logistics delays, andlack of product development and process improvement have emerged as key obstacles in meeting this potential.

The report has also suggested some labour regulation changes like more flexible work hours and fixed-term employment, as per industry concerns. The report found that job-linked scale through a ‘Make in India’ scheme could provide a slab-based incentive linked to the number of additional jobs created, to be availed of by entrepreneurs or industrial parks.

Nahar Fabrics aims to increase production with two Monforts units

Indian textile industry to generate 50 million jobs by 2025

towels. “As far as India is concerned, over the pastfew years, the country has emerged asa preferred supplier and is currently among one of the top exporters inthis space. Our country accounts for a 7 per cent share of the global home textiles trade.The growth in the home textiles segment would be supportedby growing household incomes, increasing population

and growth of end-user sectors like housing, hospitality, healthcare, among others,” predicts Rajinder Gupta. As of now, India, China and Pakistan contribute more than85 per cent of the home textile exports to the US, and India enjoys a dominant position in cotton bed sheets and terry towels, with a total US imports share of 50 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively.

In anticipation of business growth, Trident, which has recently added a new product category, is completely geared up to grab major share in this growing market. “Given our experience in the terry towels segment, we are very well positioned to capture the growth opportunityin bed-linen in the years to come. Bed-linen will further boost the overall home textiles portfolio. Our focus is on increasing our global scale capacities in the home textiles segment,” shares Rajinder Gupta. Over the past few years, Trident has focused on moving up the textile value chain with a view on rising share of high-margin business to emerge as the largest integrated home textiles manufacturer in the world. By 2018 it expects that the home textiles segment will contribute around 70 per cent of total revenue, up from 46 per cent in FY 2016.Rajinder Gupta strongly believes that innovation, product development and design solutions will be key pillars of growth for the Indian home furnishing industry. Believing in the same, the company has established an in-house design studio to develop products that have an aesthetic appeal and rank high in terms of functionality. “Towels made withAir Rich Technology have been a huge success and taking a cue from this, we are extending the same

With regard to textile products, the company has recorded revenues of Rs. 29,043 million, out of which 70 per cent is earned through export business. For towel, the company has installed 688 looms with a production capacity of 88,775 metric tonnes of towel per annum at optimum utilization with a balanced product mix. It recently commenced production at its integrated bed linen facility, which is capable of producing 43.2 million metres of bed linen per annum and also added 1.9 lakh yarn spindles to produce 14,400 tonnes per annum of high count compact yarn for captive consumption. [Source: Trident’s Annual Report, Trident 2015-16]

Home Furnishing will be 70 per cent of Group Revenue by 2018 for Trident

elebrating 25 years of its journey,CTrident Group from

Ludhianahas risen to become the world’s largest manufacturer of terry towels. Not many textile companies can claim to be world leaders, but this US $ 1 billion Indian business conglomerate, whose almost 46 per cent share is coming from home textiles business, is looking to increase the share to70 per cent by 2018. Confident of the future, Rajinder Gupta, Chairman of the group shared his views on the global and Indian home furnishing industry, as well as the strategy forward for his home business, with Apparel Online.Being an industry leader in home furnishing, Rajinder Gupta’s views really matter to other players and it is quite heartening to see positivity and enthusiasm in his observations. He is not only enthusiastic about 2017, but even for the long term he has a positive outlook for the entire industry. “The coming years would be laden with opportunities in the home textiles space. Currently, the global home textile market is estimated to be worth more than US $ 75 billion and by 2020 it may touch US $ 100 billion mark. In advanced economies, the main drivers of thisgrowth will be an increasing preference for smaller households, as well as stronger demand for value- added and easy-to-use products. In emerging countries, the drivers will be a rising middle-class that prefers affordable prices and convenient shopping opportunities,” reasons Rajinder Gupta.The company is equally enthusiastic about India’s opportunities, especially for products like bedsheets and terry

Rajinder Gupta, Chairman, Trident Group

H2F

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technology to our bedsheet range,” he adds.Competition from Asian countries, according to Rajinder Gupta is another big challenge which would need tobe overcome as some countries get huge benefits under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). “We understand that our Government is also working towards procuring a level playing field in the near future. Excluding these barriers, Indian players who have the wherewithal can compete effectively with any domestic or international player, as we have built global scale capacities,” says Rajinder Gupta.Trident has been able to maintain its leadership position in the home textiles segment because of its continuous focus on innovative and value-added products combined with

highest service standards for global clientele. Its world class infrastructure and vertical integration give theedge to be globally competitive. The capabilities have allowed the company to service buyers from different segments of the retail chain. Trident’s customer base spans 100 countries and 6 continents comprising of leading global retailers and brands likeRalph Lauren, Vera Wang, Macy’s, JCPenney, Bloomingdale, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, House of Fraser of UK and Myer’s of Australia among others. “Our newly launched home textiles products segment, themed around sustainability, besides offering a soft feel, has already generated alot of excitement in the overseas and the domestic markets and we expect this momentum to continue further,” concludes Rajinder Gupta.

Growing strong on sustainability frontThe company, which was recently awarded for its outstanding contribution to social welfare at PHD Chamber Awards for Excellence, is working to add new ways to support the society as well as its own staff. To promote education in Punjab, the company has started notebook distribution in Government as well as private schools. Every student is being provided three notebooks, free of cost. It recently distributed more than one lakh notebooks among many schools of Barnala (Punjab).It is also organizing health check-up camps. At a recently organized eye check-up camp, the doctors carried out operations of 225 people and distributed spectacles to another 4,500 people. The CSR team of the company is also distributing flour packets in the nearby areas of its manufacturing units. To enhance the motivation level of its staff, Trident Group initiated ‘Member Speak’ where their staffs share his/her journey and experience with the organization.Richesh Samantaray, Mechanical Engineer and Manager, Sustainability, who is with the company from last two years shared, “The thing I like the most at Trident is the work ethics, transparency, equality and the single version of truth in our organization.”

noted turnover of Rs. 84.28 crore in 2015-16 is catering mainly to domestic market and working with apparel brands like Pepe Jeans, Benetton, Numero Uno, Crimsoune Club, Life Style, Bioworld, etc. Out of its total apparel production, theapparel manufacturer exports 25 per cent and will continue the same strategy in future also as Ajit says, “Though there is growth in export business but domestic has more scope and growth opportunities,so we will have major focus on domestic.” In its total business, fabric sales contribute almost 40 per cent. Currently, the company has two manufacturing units in Ludhiana with the workforce of more than 500. The company is also active on sustainability front as itis using solar power in its factory which is not common in Ludhiana’s textile & apparel industry.

INDUSTRY WIRE

ounded by S P Gupta in 1973,FGurgaon-based

garmentexport house Virender Textiles is moving into multi direction and expecting good growth also. The company with the capacity of one lakh pieces per month had C category of BSCI (The Business Social Compliance Initiative) earlier and now it got B category of the same. “We are following all the compliances and are continuously improving on the same so that we can serve our clients better,” said Naveen Gupta, Director of the company. Moving further the company is restructuring its domestic brand ‘Neo Trendz’ which is currently available online only and offering Indo- Western wear.

Superfine Knit ters brings its IPO

Sarah Trading Co. planning to start kidswear export

platform of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It appears to be a trend that apparel companies across the nation are now moving toward IPOs as recently Jaipur- based apparel manufacturer and online retailer Nandani Creation also listed itself for the same amount. The company which

Mainly offering complete range of ladies and kidswear, the company is into knits as well as woven and is exporting mainly to Europe and Germany. Its average FOB starts from US $ 3 and goes up to US $ 10.

“Yes, Europe still has not picked up as we were expecting but ourin-house manufacturing and quality production is something that we are expecting 20 to 25 per cent growth in current fiscal,” says Naveen.

elhi-based Sarah TradingDco. which is currently

intokidswear import from China,Hong-Kong and Bangkok for Indian domestic market is now planning to export kidswear. Rajesh Agarwal, Proprietor of the company who is into this trade from one decade, told about this turnaround: “Initially we will source from

job workers and if things move according to our plan/expectations, we will go for own manufacturing also. Apart from kidswear, we will try to add women’s wear too. No doubt conditions are tough butit can work in our favour also as buyers are always looking for new vendors, those who can offer some what better or on a lesser price. To catch buyers, we are working to participate in some international sourcing exhibitions.”

uperfine Knitters, one of theSwell-known fabric and

apparelmanufacturers based in Ludhiana, is coming up with its IPO (Initial Public Offering) of Rs. 4.08 crore. Thrilled about the move, Ajit Lakra, MD of the company, whois also associated with many industry associations of the city, told Apparel Online, “It is better to go in public for funds rather than paying interest to the banks. With funds we will however improve overall, but there are four key points that we have on priority.These are Technology upgradation for fabric manufacturing, Energy audit; System upgradations; and Increased efficiency. All thesefour areas will lead to further profitability of our company.”Superfine Knitters is the first apparel company in Ludhiana which will be listed on an SMEVirender Texti les moving in mult iple direct ions

Rajesh Agarwal, Proprietor, Sarah Trading Co.

Ajit Lakra, MD, Superfine Knitters

Naveen Gupta, Director, Virender Textiles

Taking a 360-degree turn, Sarah Trading Co., which as of now is importing kidswear from China,Hong Kong and Bangkok, will now outsource from Indian manufacturers and export the same products overseas.

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Key Menswear Trends from

London andMilan

Menswear shows at London and Milan have just taken a bow, giving us a preview of what the approaching Fall/Winter season looks like. Silhouettes borrowed from the opposite sex, trends from last season charting new territories, classics hinting at innovation in sync with the times – the runways had it all.From bigwigs like Prada, Coach, J.W.Anderson, to the much talked-about designers like Moschino, Marni and Craig Green, the industry had a mutual inclination towards casual outerwear pieces being included in their collections for the inherent streetstyle stars in all of us. Here, we put together the most coveted trends that made an intriguing appearance on the recent runways of the menswear collections.

Fall / Winter 2017-18

DIRECTIONS BY

Mixed Media

Art of the Matter

OVERSIZE REIGNS

'Go big or go home' seemed to be the moto this season. The Vetements popularized trend from last year refuses tomellow down its presence for the approaching season. This year though, the silhouette has found itself embracing the likes of utility outerwear – puffer jackets and pants, gigantic, robe-like boxy coats and oversized, super baggy trousers. The waist sits higher this season, channelling in a vintage old-school vibe to it, for the lovers of the ’80s sartorial style.

Miharayasuhiro Prada Casely Hayford Dsquared2 Christopher Shannon

J W Anderson Vivienne Westwood Matthew MillerChristopher Shannon Wales Bonner

MIXED MEDIA

Though patchwork is not a new concept, this season saw an enigmatic approach towards the trend by introducing a mixture of prints, fabrics, colours andlayers – all in a single ensemble. Designers did not shy away from going OTT with the trend, mixing the likes of fur, velvet, faux leather altogether to create a bold and stand-outish look. What deserves a special mention here though, is patchwork-inspired knitwear that was seen on the runways of J.W.Anderson and Alex Mullins.

CAMO BLAST

Since the past few seasons, camouflage has been slowly making its way known and this season it has finally gained centre stage. Although, camo as a print never really goes away,Fall 2017 is all about how one wears the print – with more casual references; the trend is expected to prove big for the outerwear and streetstyle wear category.

ART OF THE MATTER

No longer limited to wall hangings, graffiti and canvases, abstract prints and patterns lent an art- school inspired vibe to recent collections presented at the runways of London and Milan.Graffiti patterns on sweatshirts, scenic strokes over button down shirts and jackets, painted denims and trousers made multiple appearances rendering this a major trend for Fall 2017.

Camo Blast

Sibling

Moschino

Oversize Reigns

The classic turtleneck has decided to size up for the coming season. Oversized knitted turtle necks were spotted an umpteen number of times during the shows heldat London and Milan. Layered with blazers and coats at Casely Hayford and Oliver Spencer, channelling in the oversized vibe at J.W.Anderson or emitting a sportier vibe with the introduction of piping at Agi & Sam, the turtleneck is more versatile than ever for Fall 2017.

The luxe material continues to cast its spell on the fashion scene but dons a more casual appeal for the season. Velvet lent a more opulent and elegant vibe to outerwear pieces like bombers, wide-leg trousers, hoodies and sweatshirts, making it a more wearable and appealing fabric for everyday looks.

Robes, jackets, coats cinched at the waist lent a loungewear feel to designer collections at the runways for Fall 2017. Long consideredto be feminine, the men-specific hourglass silhouette was evolved from the classic V-shape aesthetic achieved through men’s jackets and found its way into men’s casual wardrobe. Craig Green, Marni, Topman Design gave us ample innovation to chew on for the coming season.

New Age Tapestry

VELVET Waist- Cinching

VELVET

J.WAnderson Marni Astrid Andersen Craig Green Vivienne Westwood

Giorgio Armani Miharayasuhiro MarniKTZ Oliver Spencer

Gone are the days when the mere mention of the term tapestry would conjure up images of antiquewall adornments and interior furnishings. Tapestry textures and prints were spotted decorating shirts, jackets, robe-like-coats and pantsuit coordinates. Contrasting motifs share common threads of colour, which creates an extremely rich and sophisticated lookwhen layered together. Motifs on luxe velvet, sheer surfaces and brocade jackets/blazers trailed their way ablaze on the runways.

NEW AGE TAPESTRYTURTLENECK WAIST-CINCHING

Turtleneck

Craig Green

Casely Hayford

MILAN

FASHION BUSINESS

The year 2016 was a very difficult one, especially for retail, as consumers struggled to keep their‘shopping’ mood in place. Weak economies, terrorist attack, political instabilities, Brexit and finally the US presidential elections kept the retail scenario ‘dull’. Though the predictions for the year 2017 are also conservative, there are many factors that could change the scenario and among them is the resilient consumer who likes to shop when happy and also to drive away the blues.

As we look back upon the bestsellers of 2016, a year that can boast (or mull) about much less ups than downs, we combine sales reports, price points, economic settings and an actual conversion of runways into retail, in order to round up the top grossing trends under colours, products, silhouettes and fabrics that performed wellin the 5 fashion capitals of the world, namely New York, London, Tokyo, Milan and Paris.

As seasons continue to become more and more transitional with every passing year, gender-specific and season-specific clothing trends head towards blurred boundaries. Resortwear, daywear, eveningwear, loungewear, sportswear and formalwear have started intermingling as the concepts of geographics and demographics change. Key season trends bank upon mixing and layering up products, styles, fabrics and even prints.

Universally, bestsellers like velvet, bomber jackets, pleated skirts and sneakers sold out at Godspeed, with obnoxious numbers of re-stocking being entailed. Velvet reigned the fabric scene by popping up on everything from pants to shoes to bags. Bomber jackets continued to rock the retail sector second year in a row in 2016, with 61,000 bombers being launched in the US and US alone. It comes as no surprise then that the bomber has been revealed to be the most-searched trend of 2016.Yoox ranked as the trend’s most-stocked retailer with 9,400 different styles to choose from! This was followed by Farfetch, ASOS, House of Fraser and Walmart.

Sneakers have had their moment under the sun last year and show little to no signs of backing down just yet. A figure boasting of more than 3,31,000 new pairs of sneakers came online alone, in 2016. The pointof interest over here, is that more than 2,40,000 of these retailed outside the sportswear category, mainly focusing on fashion and not performance.

RETAIL BESTSELLE

RS2016

PARIS

NEW YORK

TOKYO

LONDON

GENERAL CLIMATEPreparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is fuelling both expectations that Japan’s economy will grow and fears of an asset-inflated bubble. But because the economy still faces uncertainty, all that glitters may not be gold. The recent influx of foreign tourists, largely helped by the weakening yen, will likely continue to support the economy in the coming yearsby propping up retail sales and encouraging investment tocapitalize on the tourism boom, while the Bank of Japan’s monetary stimulus will keep borrowing costs at rock bottom.

However, property sales in Tokyo, a barometer of the underlying tone of the economy, are showing signs of slowing as major developers are delaying projects due to a labour shortage, which raises personnel costs, and shrinking demand as a result of weak wage growth.

The currency depreciated from ¥103 against the dollar to ¥118 following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election and an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, gave new hope in the battle against chronic deflation. The weaker yen makes Japanese exports more competitive and raises the price of imported goods.

RETAIL BESTSELLERSLuxe velvet and faux fur were arguably the most versatile products of the season with both high-end designers and high- street brands embracing the trend with much aplomb. These fabrics were generously used on everything from tops to shoes to accessories to bags! A dose of romanticism was in order with details like ruffles and flares adorning top silhouettes. Calf- grazing elements made a case for the outerwear category in coats, dresses and culottes alike.

TOKYO

TOP FABRICSVelvet Wool Faux Fur Tweed

TOP COLOURSPurple BlueRose quartz YellowRed

TOP PRODUCTS/SILHOUETTESBomber Jacket | Flared sleeves Calf-length dresses/Coats/Trousers Maxi length coatsPlaid shirtTurtleneck

FASHION BUSINESS

GENERAL CLIMATEWThe monthly indicators (in December 2016) suggest that the Italian economy maintained a slow but broadly steady pace of growth in Q4 after it had accelerated slightly in Q3, mainly on the back of stronger fixed investment, which offset a more negative contribution from the external sector. In thepolitical arena, a lengthy political crisis was averted, yet the new Government faces an immediate challenge as the clock ticks towards a year-end deadline for Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third largest bank by assets, to raise EUR 5 billion in capital after the European Central Bank rejected a petition for more time.

Going forward, the Italian economy faces a number of important challenges, one of which is unemployment. Since the country’s manufacturing sector is specialized in high-quality goods, Italy plays an important role in the global market of luxury goods. Though there are now about 18 million online shoppers in Italy, but still the number of Italian companies selling products or services online is lagging behind. This will definitely be a growth area.

RETAIL BESTSELLERSFrilly fabrics and details proved a strong affair with ruffles that continued throughout the season. Vintage was king – from Google to Nasa – logos and monograms were paired with everything from gowns to ripped denims, layered articulately. Quirky slogans and motifs found their way onto outerwear and sporty silhouettes adorning the season with nostalgia, while bombers revived the sports-luxe trend with experimentations on velvet and silks.

MILAN

TOP FABRICSVelvet Tweed Faux furFaux leatherWool blend jumpers/ Knits/Sweaters

TOP COLOURSRed OliveSmoke grey NavyBlack

TOP PRODUCTS/SILHOUETTESBomber jacketsPlisse skirtsOff-the-shoulder & One-Shoulder LogosRuffles Plaids/Ginghams Maxi coats

GENERAL CLIMATEConsumer spending has been the main driving force behind UK’s relatively strong economic growth since the EU referendum. But the slowdown in retail sales in December, wherein sales volumes dropped by 1.9 per cent fanned fears that consumers will struggle to keep up that support to theeconomy. More so as this was the biggest drop since April 2012 and far worse than forecasts for a 0.1 per cent dip in a Reuter’s poll of economists. Compared with a year ago, sales were up4.3 per cent, below a forecast for 7.2 per cent growth.

However, industry experts cautioned against reading too much into a single month’s figures and instead pointed to news of continued growth for the final three months of the year as a whole, as sales from October to December were up by 1.2 per cent on the previous quarter. Also a positive sign is the fact that British workers saw their pay grow at the fastest pace in more than a year in the three months to November, adding to signs that the country’s economy ended 2016 strongly despite the shock of the Brexit vote.

RETAIL BESTSELLERSPinks, metallics and ornate prints elevate the festive atmosphere of the season, ushering in a celebratory vibe. Military green rules the space for outerwear as patchwork dominates the denim and bomber arena. Bardot style pieces were the rage this year and off-the shoulder tops proved to be the most popular way to make the trend come alive. 2015’s lace-up shoe trend saw 2016 adding the detail to tops, bodysuits and dresses while oversized gear popularized the no-pants trend. Frayed, patchwork and ripped denim all had their moments this season.

LONDON

TOP FABRICSDenim Velvet Metallic Faux fur Soft knits

TOP COLOURSPinkMilitary green Golden yellow BlackCamel

TOP PRODUCTS/SILHOUETTESPuffer jacketsSilk bombers with patchwork Off-the-shoulderLace up Patchwork denim Hoodies

GENERAL CLIMATEThe major issues impacting French retail in the recent past have been negative macro factors – sluggish economic growth and terrorism – and according to industry watchers these are likely to continue to affect the industry in the near future also.France has been beset by low economic growth for a number of years. However, the picture improved in 2015, when the country posted its strongest annual economic growth in four years, with GDP rising by 1.3 per cent. The improved performance carried into 2016, with first-quarter GDP increasing by 0.6 per cent quarter-over-quarter, compared with 0.4 per cent growth in the previous two quarters. However, quarter-over-quarter growth slipped back to zero in the second quarter of 2016.

Shopper traffic declines appear to have eased relatively quickly after terror attacks, while tourist numbers have taken a few months to bounce back. The problem for French retailers is that the newly emerging pattern of frequent attacks makes it much more difficult to return to normality. The dominance of premium names in the French department-store sector has resulted in it being highly Paris-centric and heavily reliant on overseas tourists.

RETAIL BESTSELLERSSporty separates make a fine balance with eveningwear where textures and trans-seasonal duality come alive through layered looks. Flared details in sleeves, trousers and skirts that graze the calf make a case for the season. Plisse details, mixed with pleating and ruching, knit coats and faux leather detailing and trims abound.

PARIS

TOP FABRICSTweed Faux fur Velvet Knit Jacquard

TOP COLOURSWine Camel Smoke grey NavyBlack

TOP PRODUCTS/SILHOUETTESPlisse skirts Plaids/Ginghams Flared trousers Maxi coats Turtleneck

GENERAL CLIMATEWith major policy shift expected in 2017, as the political landscape takes on a new face, retail experts are predicting that more upheaval is ahead for retailers. Retailers are keeping an eye on potential policy changes under a Trump administration next year. One particular topic they're monitoring is a proposed border-adjustment tax for goods that are brought into the US.

After a year in which several bricks-and-mortar players made big strides on the web the competition is getting fiercer. With real estate becoming expensive, retailers will be re-evaluating their needs for space.

Selling merchandise through a department store is a lower-risk, less expensive way for brands to grow their sales. Yet as these shops have become more promotional, labels including Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren and Coach are dialling back their exposure, in an effort to wean customers off of discounts. As income gains benefit the wealthy and the stock market soars to new highs, well-to-do shoppers will drive much of the spending boost in 2017; this could deliver a much-needed lift to personal luxury goods, which have been seeing downtrend.

RETAIL BESTSELLERSRuffle detailing, subtle sparkles, knotted neckerchiefs and scarves signalled a return to femininity. The ’90s were revived with slip dresses making a huge comeback and the sales state the trend is here to stay. Brands continued to recreate the trend, selling out styles at super speed. A mashup of old-school tweed with new-age sparkle, varied stripes and colours like cotton- candy pinks, lemony yellows, deep emeralds and cobalt blues were a focal point.

NEW YORK

TOP FABRICSFaux Fur Faux LeatherCable and Aran Knits Cable knitsTweed Velvet

TOP COLOURSCotton Candy Pink Lemon Yellow Dark Charcoal PurgundyMilitary Green Earthy Browns

TOP PRODUCTS/SILHOUETTESSlip dresses Bomber jacket Knit sweaters Metallic outerwear Plaid shirtBiker jacket Logos

xtensively involved in policyEissues and

communitymobilization relating to livelihood and social security, and also the Co-Founder & CEO of Bangalore- based LabourNet Services India (an NSDC partner), GayathriVasudevan has shared her opinion about hiring trends, progress in skill development in textile and apparel sector in the year 2016, and projections for 2017. She strongly believes that apparel industry needs to consider seriously that it is not just money which matters, but also the social infrastructure, medical facilities or such things which are equally important, especially when workers or even the middle-level management is relocating near to manufacturing facilities…

roductivity is one of thePbiggest concerns in

Indianapparel manufacturing industry and many companies are working in this direction as well.Interestingly, Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme (LMCS), which is a part of National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP) under the Ministry of MSME, Governmentof India, aims at improving the overall productivity of MSMEs by reduction of wastes with the help of lean manufacturing concepts.National Productivity Council (NPC), associated with this scheme since its inception as National Monitoring and Implementation Unit (NMIU), claims that the beneficiary MSMEs have witnessed

‘2017 will see execution for skill development, labour reforms'

Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme helps increase productivity

More workers to get benefit of EPF

Gayathri Vasudevan from LabourNet Services India

egional offices of EPFOR(Employees’ Provident

FundOrganization) have decided to act tough against such commercial organizations that are violating the Provident Fund (PF) Act. A massive campaign across India covering many textile and apparel hubs like Surat, Gurgaon, etc. has been started for the employee’s enrolment, which will run from January 1 to March 31, under the EPF Act and scheme. There is a huge scope of EPF enrolment in textile sector as well. The average wage paid in this sector is about Rs. 15,000, which is enough to enroll the employees under EPF.The EPF & MP Act 1952 applies to any notified establishment employing 20 or more employees.Gurgaon, which has numerous apparel units, too has many such workers who are unable to get the benefit of EPF. Surat, India’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) hub, is also moving towards increasing the number of employees’ enrolment under the EPF. As per the EPFO record, the textile sector of thecity has less than 60,000 workers against the total workforce of 10 lakh covered under EPF. Under the scheme, any employer can make a declaration regarding enrolment of its employees from April 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016. The employer is liable to pay only the employer’s share in EPF along with interestat 12 per cent. For such employees whose EPF was not deducted by the employers are not required to pay employees’ share. The penalty for late payment which usually ranges between 5 per cent and 100 per cent is reduced to a nominal Re. 1 per annum in respect of such employees and the administrative charges have also been abolished.

LabourNet Service India is a social enterprise, enablingentrepreneurship and employment through skill development and education. It is also associated with famous Indian textile company Raymond for training initiatives with focus on ‘women training’.She believes that 2017 will be the year of execution for the initiatives or agendas of skill development and labour reforms as 2016 wasa positive one in this perspective. Change in Apprentice Act was also a major decision of 2016. Besides, the Government worked on recognitions, guidelines and certifications inthe industry. Recognizing this fact, many states are now planning and investing from long-term perspective

for skill development.

an average increase in productivity level in the range of 20-25 percent. Besides, depending upon the type of clusters, the average increase in inventory turnover has been reported as 25 per cent and the achievement in respect of reduction in manufacturing lead time in the range of 5-30 per cent.Though in regards to apparel manufacturing sector, to figure out a generic overall productivity enhancement percentage canbe misleading. Pooja Makhija, Director of Fashion Futures, Delhi (consultants and trainers for apparel industry), who has implemented such projects in seven apparel companies of Noida, told Apparel Online, “Due to the implementation of lean, factories

have recorded huge savings but there are other factors too that really matter for the apparel industry, be it changeover time or inventory control, so apparel manufacturers must also get benefit of such initiatives.”Kalpana Awasthi, DG, NPC said that the scheme has also been able to build the capacity of the beneficiary units to contributeto ‘Make in India’ initiative of Government of India. This scheme was started in 2009 as a pilot project in 100 clusters and based on its success it has been upscaled for 500 more clusters. Till date, 200 MSME clusters have been formed encompassing sectors including Handicrafts, Readymade Garments & Textile Cluster, etc.

LabourNet Service India is a social enterprise, enabling entrepreneurship and employment through skilldevelopment and education. It is also associated with famousIndian textile company Raymond

for training initiatives.

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INDUSTRY LIVE

fter many years, the UnionABudget 2017-18

presentedthis year has not disappointed the Indian textile and apparelindustry as Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley focused on some areas which will be a support to various industries, including the textile industry. Industry bodies have welcomed the Budget andare hopeful of a new beginning. Among the main announcements, the declaration that MSMEs having a turnover of below Rs. 50 crore are likely to get benefits with cut in Corporate Income Tax by 5 per cent has been widely welcomed.Previously, the tax rate was 30 per cent which, in the recent Budget, has been reduced to 25 per cent.The other benefits extended such as additional allocation to the banks for NPA accounts,cashless transaction, hint at labour reform, relaxation of FDI normsby abolishing Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) would also benefit the textile and apparel industry.

The Government has approved a ‘package’ to support Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and increased the Corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) from Rs. 2,500 crore to Rs. 7,500 crore.The decision has been taken with an intension to enhance the quantum of Credit Guarantee to larger number of MSEs. Apartfrom approval of the package, the

Government has decided the restoration of duty drawback rates for babies wear, from 7.3 per cent to7.6 per cent, effective from January 15, 2017. The duty drawback rates for babies wear was reduced from7.6 per cent to 7.3 per cent and the value cap was also slashed from Rs. 34 to Rs. 29 while announcing the new drawback rates on October 31, 2016.

Union Budget has some interesting points that give hope to textile and apparel industry

Loan coverage increases to MSEs

Restoration of duty drawback rates for babies wear

roads, railways, aviation would not only improve competitiveness of manufacturing and in the exports sector, but would also reduce the logistics cost of exports as well.”Adding to that, M. Senthilkumar, Chairman of Southern India Mills’

Association (SIMA) said, “The objective of doubling farmers’ income, housing for one crore rural Indians, skilling of youth byestablishing 100 India International Skill Centres, development of infrastructure to provide end-to- end solution by integrating road, rail and ship would greatly benefit the textile industry spread across the nation.”However, Ujwal Lahoti, Chairman of TEXPROCIL, has some mixed opinions on this Budget. He said, “Overall the Budget is positive, wideranging and inclusive.” He, however, appealed to the Government to restore some of the incentives relating to interest subvention for merchant exporters and cotton yarn and Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) benefit for cotton yarns. D. Kumar, Chairman- EPCH said the Budget did not offer any specific scheme pertaining to handicrafts sector but initiatives towards export infrastructure and skill development would benefit the exports sector in the long run.

In the Budget, Rs. 1,555-crore outlay for remission of state levies will benefit exports in the garments and made-ups segment. The Budget has also made provision of Rs. 6,226.50 crore for textiles. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani claimed that the decrease of 2.5 per cent in customs duty on nylon mono filament yarn will have apositive impact on the fishing net export market.Raja M Shanmugham, President of Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA), lauded the enhancement of allocation of funds to Mudra Bank from Rs. 1,36,000 croreto Rs. 2,44,000 crore which will encourage the new entrepreneurs in the region to invest in sectors such as knitwear.Expressing his satisfaction over the announcements made, S C Ralhan, President of Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) said, “The investmentof close to Rs. 4,00,000 crore in the infrastructure encompassing

Government has also given its nod to the coverage of the loans sanctioned under the Credit Guarantee Scheme, under which the amount has been increased from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crore for MSEs. Industry believes that this decision as it would be much helpful to the Tirupur cluster where large number of Micro and Small Enterprises are existing, carrying out job and working as back bone to the exporting units.

Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) has thanked the Government for the move. “The restoration of rates for babies garments would increase the competitiveness when the knitwear exporters are operating under wafer thin margin to sustain in the global market,” said Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA

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Some of the industry leaders are not very enthusiastic about this Union Budget as Sudhir Dhingra, CMD, Orient Craft Ltd. says,“In my opinion, Budget is very lukewarm, there are no positives for the textile industry and no negatives either.”

48 Apparel Online India | FEBRUARY 1-15, 2017 | www.apparelresources.com

Saurav Roy (L) Merchandiser and Deepika Agarwal, Fashion Designer of the Impex V, Delhi

M K Maheshwari (R) and Sumit Kabra, Partners of Sarc Original of Jaipur

Manoj Kumar, GM – Marketing, Genus Apparels (R) from Faridabad in discussion with buyers. The company participated in IIGF after a long gap

I IGF 2017: A r outine af fair…

Very few new products; buyer footfall also down

ick-starting the exhibitionKseason for 2017, the

recently held 58th edition of IndiaInternational Garment Fair (IIGF), New Delhi did not throw up any surprises with similar products and buyers from the last few editions making the event so predictable. As per AEPC’s press release before the fair, IIGF was expected to give good support, especially to small- and medium-level garment exporters of the country, but most of the exhibitors claimed that they did not get much response from buyers. Some of the exporters believe that this was dueto weak market sentiments, while on the other hand the buyers maintained that even this time there was nothing new in the collections displayed by the exporters to excite them enough to place orders. This is not to say that the event was unproductive and few exporters were happy with the results, but at large the responsewas not very enthusiastic. Apparel Online talked to many participant exporters and buyers to get the feel of the fair, their collections and strategy to get a better share in presenting the market scenario.India’s biggest sourcing event, with almost 1,081 buyers from 94 countries across the globe visiting,had more than 300 apparel exporters display their latest collections.Most of the exporters get satisfied nowadays from such sourcing fairs even if they are just able to meet their regular/old buyers as they have accepted that the present market conditions are one of the main reasons that make it difficult to get

any new buyer. “We do not have high hopes from the fair and will be happy even if our old buyers visit us. We are not expecting much footfall as market is overall slow from last three years,” shared M K Maheshwari and Sumit Kabra, Partners of Sarc Originalof Jaipur, on the first day of the fair. The company is purely into tie & dye work on cotton-and rayon-based garments. Beachwear in low price range (US $ 3 to US $ 6) is a majorproduct category for the company so it is not much impacted by market sentiments. Having production capacity of 4,000 pieces per day,the company has buyers across the world. Offering variety of accessories Vijay International, Mumbai was also of the same opinion, as despite many trips to Europe, Vijay Sadh, Owner of the company is not getting any enthusiastic feedback from buyers in the region.But for those exporters having a positive outlook and seekingnew buyers, the attitude was very different and many of them had prepared specific collections for the event with many developments, like Impex V of Delhi which highlighted embroidery and stripes in interesting ways. Saurav Roy, Merchandiserof the company informed, “We have some enquiries which should convert into orders but we were expecting much more.” The company is looking forward to strengthen its compliance and is in process to get ISO certification. Abhishek Samdaria of NRS Exports, Delhi was alsonot happy with the buyers’ footfall. “We need more and new buyers; also

INDIA CANVAS

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INDIA CANVAS

5 per cent to match the given price,” said Nobinoor Islam, CEO of the company, offering products from US$ 1.5 to US $ 10. The company having capacity of 70,000 pieces per month is expecting 10 per cent growththis year.IIGF, a fair mainly for small- and medium-level exporters, witnessed some new firms in the apparel industry and they are geared up for export orders despite all themarket challenges. There were more than six such emerging apparel exporters, and their focus on ‘niche’ products is one of the biggestgrowth drivers. Yogue Activewear, Noida added fashion element to a normal ‘boring’ sports clothing.Apart from having its own brand and making for overseas labels, the company is also exporting to the US and European markets. Tushar Sharma, an IIT Delhi pass out and CEO of the company who initiatedthis business two years ago, is happy

till now with the performance of the company and geared up for further opportunities.Every edition of IIGF sees some participation from remote areas too and these factories are doingtheir best and getting good business too. Lall Ji Knitwears, having office in Dalhousie and factory in Goli, district Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) participated for first time at the event. Gaurav Khanna, Manager – Production of the company informed, “We have benefit of labour availability and low minimum wage/salary otherwise there is no other benefit of working from remote area.” The company got good response at the IIGF as it had different products (ladieswear for winter season) from mostother participants.From a buyers’ perspective, most of them came looking for regular suppliers, but even some new

ones enjoyed the experience. “I am supplying mainly to European customers and visiting the fair for the first time. Overall my experience is okay and will see how the things work out. Our market is decreasing as there are many challenges,” informed Herve Pidou, Redsoul of France. A regular buyer, ChristineE. Rai, Founder, Indian Inc, Delhi, working primarily with US and has some business with Australia, was disappointed. “IIGF is lacking the zing compared to my expectations; the overall event is very uninspiring as India is doing a lot more products than what has been displayed here. It needs a relook, exporters should rework their products and display them more creatively. Newness should reflect in every process. It should inspire buyers to buy from India. More trends can be displayed here,” said a critical Rai. The company deals in apparels as well as home products.

Textiles Ministry has received Rs. 500 crore from Finance Ministry for the rebate of state levies (ROSL) scheme to reimburse exporters for state levies, said Rashmi Verma, Textiles Secretary, duringthe inauguration of IIGF. Though the total amount under this scheme is Rs. 1,200 crore but industry is happy that at least some beginning has been made. She confirmed that these reimbursements will start very soon.

ESSENTIALS

Abhishek Samdaria, NRS Exports, Delhi

Gaurav Khanna, Manager – Production, Lall Ji Knitwears, Chamba (HP)

Christine E. Rai, Founder, Indian Inc, Delhi

Sandip Bhojani,Krypthm Tradelink Llp, Surat

Vijay Sadh, Vijay International, Mumbai

Nobinoor Islam, CEO, Anisa Overseas, Noida

Herve Pidou, Redsoul, France

WISH TO SUBSCRIBE TO APPAREL ONLINE?Please call Customer Service at82-62-880-880

GOING TO A GOOD EVENT?Send your industry gossip, photos and news toisaxena@apparelresources.com

Buyers@IIGF 2017 Lot of opportunities which India is missing

India International Garment Fair (IIGF), one of the established fairs in the internationalapparel arena, concluded with a lower buyer turnout this year. However, Team Apparel Online was able to meet some good buyers having significantnumber of stores. Most of these buyers were positive about their current and future business prospects, while some of the first-timers were looking to start sourcing from India. Many of them were only interested to work with certified exporters, and some were even changing their strategy to get better benefits from India sourcing.Even though individual needs may differ, there was a consensus on the importance of having more exhibitorswith wider variety of products. Added to this there was focus on product development, giving the fair an international feel, but which many felt was missing.

Rayan H. Baeshen, GM, GlitterThe company: Retailer has in total 7 stores in countries like Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We source very high-end range. The prices of some of our pieces go up to more than US $ 1,000. We aretargeting high-level customers. Apart from ladieswear, some of our business is also in kidswear.Sourcing from India: Most of my sourcing is from India; and I am sourcing from this country since last 14 years. Each year we pick up more than 40,000 to 50,000 pieces; besides we are increasing sourcing by 20 to 25 per cent from India alone every year.

Current market/future plans: Worldwide economy is slow but still we are able to make profit. Hopefully we will open new stores, one each in Dubai, Sharjah and Riyadh.About IIGF: I am fine with IIGF, this time I liked some new suppliers.I must appreciate some of these collections too.Jaroslaw Frajda, Buyer, Top Secret, PolandThe company: The company has 400 stores across Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Russia. It is present in the market through various kinds of stores. The company focuses a lot on product development, so we have our own designers too.

Excerpts of conversation with some selected buyers gives a clear picture of what buyers want from Indian exporters:

Rayan H. Baeshen, GM, Glitter Jaroslaw Frajda, Buyer, Top Secret, Poland

Sourcing from India: We are sourcing from India from last five years, and depending on style and order, we can go up to and even more than 2,000 pieces per style. As we are regularly coming with new collections so number of styles are much more. Value addition techniques like embroidery is something we like about Indian products, we are ready to source from new vendors too if designs impress us. For sure we are going to increase our sourcing from India by at least 15 to 20 per cent. Moving further, we are looking for some exporters who can manufacture leather jackets.Current market/future plans: Market is currently not too supportive, but we are hoping that it will be better soon, as policies are changing. The company may open new stores in countries where it is not working currently.Afaf Seyam, Designer and Hiroya Kniuta, Marketing & Key Account Coordinator, RUYI, New York,The company: A wholesaler of ladieswear working with hundreds

of retailers (mainly based in US). RUYI has manufacturing set ups in China and a design office in New York.Sourcing from India: As of now the company is not sourcing from India but will start very soon, probably with a holiday line. “We are looking for texture and design work. The products will be eveningwear (beaded) and accessory. We will prefer compliance certified exporters who can happily do small (200 pieces)as well as medium or big size orders too. Our quantity depends on further response from our customers.About IIGF: It’s quite good as we met a lot of people, but I also heard in pastthat it used to be more interesting and a bigger fair.Elad Ben Zion Vered and Zeev Binenfeld, Fox Wizel Ltd., IsraelAbout the company: The company which is 40 years old has 600 stores in Israel and across the world.Sourcing from India: Our company is sourcing from India for the last 15 years and is also working with China and

Bangladesh in knitted as well as woven products like ladieswear and Tees.Current market/future plans: Market is amazing for us and we are growing at least 20 per cent every year.About the IIGF: The fair should have more participants from Tirupur or at least from those manufacturing hubs making Tees. Whatever manufacturers arehere, are showing more or less the same designs and fabrics. Even I buy more products/variety from India as compared to the displayed variety at this fair.

George Zheng, Merchandising Manager – Apparel, ICA Global Sourcing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.The company: The Swedish company is having 2,600 retail stores and sourcing offices in and around Shanghai,Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Vietnam. It is sourcing all kinds of garments.Sourcing from India: I am looking for some new Indian suppliers for apparel and accessories since it is my first visit to IIGF. I feel the show should have even more knitted garment suppliers. We areworking with Tirupur-based suppliers but

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India records positive growth in quantities in its exports to EUJ a n u a r y - O c t o b e r 2 0 1 6 According to the world economists, the EU economy outlook will remain stable all through the year. The old problems such as unemployment, the increasing old age population and persistent inflation are limiting the retail growth to around 2%. The approaching elections in four countries – France, Germany, Netherlands and Japan – are also an impediment to growth. However, among all the retail formats, discounters and niche market specialists will continue to grow, so will the e-commerce market.

4.76%

Total Increase in Volume

0.48%

Total Decrease in Value

[The information has been extracted from EU custom site and further analyzed.]

Global apparel imports by the EU during Jan.-Oct. 2016

EU registers positive growth in import of jackets and blazersEU noted surge in jackets and blazers import both in value and volume. Value increased by 1.09% while volume rose by 7.20%.

India registers negative growth in exports of sweatersIndia holds some good record in sweater exports but the country saw marginal negative growth of (-) 0.29% in quantities during the defined period, while the value decreased by (-) 6.26%. However, in thesame category, Bangladesh saw growth of 6.91% in value and 12.39% in volumes.

12

EXPORT STATISTICS

Quantity5.84%

Value0.57%

Quantity3.42%

Value0.38%

Change in Woven

Apparel imports by EU: Selected countries (Qty. & Value in mn Kg & mn Euro)

Percentage Decrease in UVR

5.00%Average UVR in first nine months of the year was Euro 17.28 per

kg of fabric equivalent

Change in Knitted

Country/CategoryJan.-Oct. 2015

Jan.-Oct. 2016

% Increase/Decrease

Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value

WORLD

Knitted 2090.53 33934.89

2212.54 33740.64

5.84 -0.57

Woven 1678.28 34618.76

1735.71 34486.98

3.42 -0.38

Total 3768.81 68553.65

3948.25 68227.61

4.76 -0.48

CHINA

Knitted 765.28 11844.79

769.80 10710.61

0.59 -9.58

Woven 744.73 13819.31

739.11 12700.63

-0.75 -8.10

Total 1510.01 25664.10

1508.91 23411.24

-0.07 -8.78

INDIAKnitted 127.99 2213.9

0137.79 2230.3

07.66 0.74

Woven 86.89 2265.27

87.87 2240.24

1.13 -1.11

Total 214.88 4479.17

225.66 4470.54

5.02 -0.19

BANGLADESHKnitted 530.34 6832.7

7585.38 7208.2

010.38 5.49

Woven 305.31 4918.27

337.99 5370.29

10.70 9.19

Total 835.65 11751.04

923.37 12578.49

10.50 7.04

SRI LANKAKnitted 40.34 772.99 47.38 736.93 17.46 -4.67Woven 25.48 574.37 21.43 497.07 -15.89 -13.46Total 65.82 1347.3

668.81 1234.0

04.55 -8.41

PAKISTANKnitted 73.36 796.72 81.81 883.50 11.52 10.89Woven 76.99 1112.1

682.33 1144.7

66.94 2.93

Total 150.34 1908.88

164.14 2028.26

9.17 6.25

VIETNAM

Knitted 32.16 652.39 35.11 751.17 9.18 15.14

Woven 72.75 1683.78

75.52 1753.12

3.81 4.12

Total 104.91 2336.17

110.64 2504.30

5.46 7.20

Legwear, new category of strength for Vietnam and IndiaIn the first ten months of the year, exports of legwear by Vietnam registered growth of 150.21% in volumes, while the growth in value was 57.98%. India too saw an increase of 30.05% in value and 37.42% in volume.

Trousers, a down-falling category for ChinaChina faced downward trend in its trousers export to EU. Values fell by (-) 14.49%, while quantity wise trend was also down by(-) 4.70% during the review period.

EU sees stellar growth in ladies blouses importsIn the first ten months of the year, imports of ladies blouses by EU registered growth of 9.00% in volumes, while the growth in value was 1.83%. India, Bangladesh and Vietnam noted considerable boost in the exports in this category during the review period.

China faces negative growth in babies wear exportsChina registered downfall in exports in the babies wear category to EU. China saw a decrease in volumes of (-) 8.66% while valueswere down by (-) 11.61%. During the same period, India registered gains of 14.50% in value and increase of 24.05% in volumes.

Bangladesh sees growth in exports of ladies dressesBangladesh surged its export of ladies dresses to EU by registering growth of 30.50% in value and 34.63% in quantity. EU also registered gains in the value of imports by 1.26%, while volumes increased by 7.92%.

Undergarments, a straightening export from VietnamUndergarment exporters in Vietnam are achieving heights and this is evident with the increase in exports of the segment which saw 64.94% growth in quantities, while value of exports increased by a whopping 72.22%.

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4

5

6

7

8Item-Wise Quantity Increase/Decrease in Apparel Imports by EU: Jan.-Oct. 2016 (Qty. in mn kg)

Item-Wise Value Increase/Decrease in Apparel Imports by EU: Jan.-Oct. 2016 (Value in mn Euro)

APPAREL TYPETotal Imports by EU

Exports to EU

China India Bangladesh Vietnam

2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change

Babies Wear 101.16 103.95 2.76 44.40 40.55 -8.66 12.92 16.03 24.05 24.67 25.08 1.63 0.96 0.99 3.52Foundation Garments

44.79 45.32 1.17 28.92 28.23 -2.39 0.24 0.26 8.89 3.74 4.78 28.08 1.06 1.25 17.90

Jackets & Blazers 99.44 106.60 7.20 54.91 56.76 3.38 1.87 2.22 18.59 6.41 8.37 30.63 8.15 8.41 3.17Ladies Blouses 89.59 97.65 9.00 27.12 28.64 5.60 17.85 19.90 11.49 11.36 13.61 19.89 4.12 4.46 8.44Ladies Dresses 134.17 144.80 7.92 54.83 55.55 1.32 18.45 18.59 0.77 12.31 16.58 34.63 3.53 4.12 16.74Ladies Skirts 41.37 39.84 -3.70 14.47 15.16 4.72 3.88 2.97 -23.66 6.28 6.06 -3.48 1.30 1.39 7.02Legwear 156.25 167.70 7.33 81.18 87.05 7.23 1.35 1.86 37.42 1.59 1.65 4.02 0.22 0.54 150.21Men's Shirts 234.38 230.61 -1.61 44.89 39.14 -12.82 21.72 21.14 -2.67 88.66 92.60 4.44 9.39 9.25 -1.48Nightwear 126.39 131.25 3.85 54.21 53.49 -1.32 21.92 23.21 5.88 17.90 21.36 19.28 2.58 2.15 -16.77Suits / Ensembles 39.46 38.83 -1.59 23.87 22.15 -7.21 1.70 1.64 -3.29 1.92 2.34 22.04 0.54 0.47 -12.58Sweaters 458.31 483.67 5.53 193.73 194.04 0.16 10.70 10.67 -0.29 122.47 137.64 12.39 5.96 5.90 -0.97Trousers 897.84 941.40 4.85 260.54 248.30 -4.70 32.49 35.05 7.90 258.34 288.57 11.70 28.14 29.47 4.71T-Shirts 493.50 506.25 2.58 64.10 58.91 -8.10 41.79 44.03 5.37 224.04 236.27 5.46 5.55 5.83 4.99Undergarments 85.22 91.01 6.79 38.92 39.56 1.65 12.69 13.44 5.88 14.54 17.31 18.99 0.75 1.24 64.94

APPAREL TYPETotal Imports by EU

Exports to EU

China India Bangladesh Vietnam

2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change 2015 2016 % Change

Babies Wear 2047.47 2059.31 0.58 906.24 801.02 -11.61 295.95 338.85 14.50 428.35 440.06 2.73 23.16 22.84 -1.37Foundation Garments

1588.23 1569.55 -1.18 839.36 781.62 -6.88 15.35 14.45 -5.85 137.62 160.23 16.43 51.94 71.29 37.25

Jackets & Blazers 2326.10 2351.48 1.09 1107.19 1032.62 -6.73 49.90 53.61 7.44 104.04 136.73 31.42 174.81 187.75 7.40Ladies Blouses 2760.03 2810.62 1.83 814.07 764.15 -6.13 596.18 610.09 2.33 256.53 290.15 13.10 89.19 94.36 5.80Ladies Dresses 3682.87 3729.23 1.26 1548.13 1453.66 -6.10 513.13 495.41 -3.45 191.44 249.83 30.50 79.48 89.50 12.60Ladies Skirts 902.83 867.53 -3.91 323.54 302.58 -6.48 86.74 80.25 -7.49 91.42 91.94 0.57 25.25 27.67 9.57Legwear 1615.87 1650.14 2.12 639.27 619.68 -3.06 17.86 23.22 30.05 17.38 17.77 2.22 4.13 6.53 57.98Men's Shirts 4795.53 4552.50 -5.07 932.51 762.70 -18.21 483.90 460.25 -4.89 1368.70 1383.93 1.11 235.96 235.67 -0.12Nightwear 1479.04 1431.70 -3.20 566.54 487.25 -14.00 277.30 274.14 -1.14 206.30 235.53 14.17 22.81 22.94 0.58Suits / Ensembles 642.37 606.32 -5.61 263.44 230.97 -12.33 30.77 30.41 -1.16 25.83 29.51 14.23 8.18 9.11 11.39Sweaters 8519.31 8310.44 -2.45 3826.57 3417.89 -10.68 202.49 189.82 -6.26 1759.61 1881.13 6.91 113.57 113.90 0.29Trousers 14829.69 14915.88 0.58 3490.36 2984.57 -14.49 561.68 585.56 4.25 3639.16 3952.40 8.61 521.95 553.76 6.09T-Shirts 7784.04 7675.55 -1.39 1166.11 1008.90 -13.48 723.19 721.33 -0.26 2577.39 2586.31 0.35 115.21 128.56 11.58Undergarments 1124.28 1125.61 0.12 427.53 380.73 -10.95 166.06 160.73 -3.21 191.15 226.12 18.29 16.90 29.10 72.22

Japan Apparel ImportsJ a n u a r y - O c t o b e r 2 0 1 6

Japan’s apparel imports still not seeing a positive trendThe world’s third largest economy has been battling deflation for 20 years. The Japanese Government’s plans, such as improving the labour participation rate, working on apparel business inconsistencies and pushing Japanese companies to stop saving their profits but invest them instead, have so far failed to spur faster growth during the period Jan.-Oct. 2016. Though, holidays and festive season were about to knock the doors, yet Japan’s demand of apparels did not boost up the graphs during the period.

Continuing the downward trend, India registered negative growth duringthe review period. Value of exports was down by (-) 12.30%, while the volume also fell by (-) 6.22%.

India Exports

The country saw increase in volume of exports to Japan by 34.80% while values also increased by 9.76%.

Bangladesh Exports

During the period under review, the country registered a growth in quantity of exports to the Japanese market. Volume was up 8.74%,while value was down by (-) 2.49%.

Vietnam Exports

The country continues to see a setback in exports to Japan with decline of(-) 16.50% in values, whereas it registered downfall in the volume of exports by (-) 1.37%.

China Exports

Pakistan records 1.65% decline in textile exports to USTextile industry, the largest foreign exchange earning sector of Pakistan, has witnessed a decline of 1.65% to US $ 6.156 billion in exports in the first half of the current fiscal. Despite an improvement in export earnings from value-added sector, textiles export failed to grab a growth in Pakistan, this was announced by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Pakistan exported textile worth US $ 6.259 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.The textile sector of Pakistan has an overwhelming impact on the economy, contributing 57% to the country’s exports. Pakistan has inherent advantage of being 4th largest producer of cotton in the world. In a bid to improve exports, Pakistani Government recently announced an export incentives scheme of Rs. 180 billion for five export-oriented sectors, including textiles.Tr

ade

Upd

ate…

Quantity

Value12.49%

0.87%

12.01%

0.82%

11.55%

0.83%

141210864202468101214

Perc

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chan

ge

Knitted

Woven

Total

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