Seasonally-adjusted import prices for cotton dominant apparel decreased in September by 1.4 per cent month-over-month, the lowest since January 2011, according to a recent report. Year-over-year import prices were 3.8 per cent lower on an average and the retail prices for apparel reached their lowest rate in six months in September declining by 0.7 per cent. The Executive Cotton Update by Cotton Incorporated for the month of November says that consumer garment prices took a marginal hit of 0

Pic: Synthetic leather made with Elastollan Car seats can now be more comfortable thanks to synthetic leather made with BASF’s thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Elastollan®. The ultra-soft synthetic leather is highly abrasion resistant and helps manufacturers meet the stringent volatile organic compound (VOC) standards for applications such as car seats and furniture. Suzhou Ruigao New Material Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of synthetic leather, has adopted Elastollan grade B50A12CF in t

The Centre’s decision to scrap the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 from Tuesday midnight has been welcomed by the textile industry. In a drastic step to curb corruption and counterfeit currency economy in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement that the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes will no longer be valid in the country. Dr KS Selvaraju, secretary general of The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) terms the decision as a brave step by the government. Speaking to F

Vietnamese leather and footwear firms are implementing new production and business strategies to make the most of the opportunities provided by free trade agreements (FTAs), especially with Eurasia. The agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Viet Nam came into effect last month. A representative of Ladoda JSC said the company had imported leather, equipment and machinery from India at zero per cent duty and was seeking foreign partners, including from Mexico. Ladoda had b

Steady conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Monday where buyers, after staying away for a week, entered the trading ring once again to book quality cotton. Phutti (seed cotton) arrivals during the previous fortnight (Oct 15 to Nov 1) were higher, with some estimates placing the crop size bigger than last year’s production, but excessive heat and unstable weather are feared to affect lint quality, brokers said. Consequently there was a rush for quality cotton and spinners booked big

China based yarn manufacturer Zhejiang Huafu Melange Yarn has been awarded the STeP by Oeko-Tex certification by Switzerland based Testex AG. The Chinese yarn manufacturer has been a customer of Testex since 2008, when it first certified its yarns based on Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and in 2009, was awarded the Oeko-Tex Standard 1000 certification. The STeP by Oeko-Tex certification is mainly for sustainable textile production and is tailored to the needs of textile production facilities of all pr

A new textile factory will be set up in Ghana's Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone at a cost of $300 million. SADA and the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) have signed a MoU in this regard. For cultivation and processing of cotton, the main raw material for the factory, CNTAC had already purchased 5,000 acres of land. The MoU was signed by ambassador Kwesi Quartey, secretary to the Ghana president and CNTAC vice-president Xu Yingxin, Ghanaian media repor

A representative of Ladoda JSC said the company has imported leather, equipment and machinery from India with a zero percent duty, and is seeking foreign partners, including those from Mexico. Ladoda has exported its handbags and backpacks to EAEU member countries, the representative said, adding that the company has also designed about 20 new models for other markets in 2017. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO), said the

Bangladesh’s Denim export to the United States has seen a 5.84% jump to $299 million in the first eight months of the current year compared to the same period a year ago. However, Denim product export to European Union (EU) counties rose by 6.86% to €568 million in January-June period of the current year. Denim products contribute about $6 billion to $28 billion RMG exports, which is expected to reach $7 billion by 2021. Of the total amount, EU and US import lion’s share of Bangladesh’s

To shore up falling cotton production, effort is being made for the cultivation of organic cotton in Balochistan where the land is fertile and pest-free. Cotton production in 2015-16 declined by 28pc to 9.92m bales, mainly because of climate change, competition with other crops, lower market prices and the outbreak of pink bollworm, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) which held its seventy-fifth session in Islamabad last week. Pakistan informed the meeting that