Domestic footwear producers must brace themselves for a bumpy ride ahead in the face of stiffer competition as they lag behind their regional rivals in terms of technology. Vietnam’s footwear products are shipped to around 50 countries worldwide, with the largest buyers including the US, Japan and the EU. Footwear exports rose sharply from 8.5 billion USD in 2013 to 12.07 billion USD last year, but this does not necessarily indicate a bright future for the country’s footwear firms. Acco

Many textile-garment enterprises said they have secured export orders until the end of the second quarter and some have tight production schedules until the end of this year. Many apparel firms on February 15 resumed operation after a nine-day Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), which ended on Sunday. Le Quang Hung, chairman of Saigon Garment Manufacturing Trading JSC (Garmex Saigon), told the Daily that there are plentiful export orders which will keep their factories busy until the end of the

The government is likely to announce a new textile policy by April, aimed at helping the sector take advantage of the slowing competition from China through a series of reforms. Announcing this development, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the minister of state for textiles (independent charge), said on Thursday, the new textile policy would be announced in the Budget session of Parliament. “The slowdown in the Chinese economy has rendered the cost of textile production in China high. So, Chinese te

First-generation entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts Sanjeev Khandelwal and Mihir Shah introduced xstok.com, a B2B online marketplace for selling surplus textile stock. Termed it as a badla business with the tagline “kya aap badle?” xstok.com lists extra stocks of various products in the textiles industry from large mills. The platform conducts online auctions of fabrics, readymade garments and made-ups. Since its launch nearly seven months ago, xstok.com has conducted over 300 auctions o

Pakistan Cotton Ginners'' Association (PCGA) has stressed the need for imposing a complete ban on the import of cotton and cotton yarn from India till the end of cotton season and disposal of one million bales lying in ginneries as unsold stock. Talking to newsmen, PCGA''s chairman Shehzad Ali Khan, group chairman Haji Muhammad Akram and Suhail Mehmood Haral said that the textile sector was, on the one hand, purchasing local cotton at throw away prices and, on the other hand, importing cotto

Mali forecasts cotton production for the upcoming 2016/17 season at 750,000-800,000 tonnes, up from about 550,370 tonnes in the season ending in March, the CEO of the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles (CMDT) said on Monday. Achieving the target will depend on good rainfall and the timely arrival of fertilisers and pesticides, CMDT's Modibo Kone said on national radio. Authorities are also taking steps to improve soil quality by distributing lime to farmers, which reduces soil ac

Sales at Puma increased 17.1 percent or 11.5 percent currency adjusted to 879 million euros (978.8 million dollars) in the fourth quarter. Full-year sales increased by 14 percent or 6.5 percent currency adjusted to 3.4 billion euros (3.7 billion dollars) mainly driven by footwear and running and training category. Commenting on the results, Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of Puma, said, “The year ended with a strong fourth quarter showing double digit reported growth across all regions

China's northwestern region of Xinjiang is likely to reduce area under cotton cultivation by 1.5 million mu, or 100,000 hectares, to 23 million mu this year, according to Chinese media reports. China is currently the second largest producer of cotton, just behind India. The government is aiming to reduce its cotton cultivation in Xinjiang, which produces about 60 per cent of the total cotton grown in China, by about 6.5 per cent to create favourable conditions for releasing some of its stock.

The government of Belize has received $102,000 grant from the Japanese government to resuscitate the sea island cotton industry, according to Belizean media reports. Sea island cotton is said to possess fine, almost legendary qualities that are sought after worldwide. The funding was given to the Belize cotton industry for the project named 'the improvement of the sea island cotton industry'. Sea island cotton is a variety of extra-long staple cotton that is grown on a few islands in the

Cotton fabric with wrinkle resistant get popular, a team in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering reports method for making wrinkle-resistant cotton fabrics that is more environmentally friendly and cost effective. As the current methods for making these textiles often release formaldehyde – a chemical that in large amounts is hazardous to human health – into the air and water. Manufacturers typically use a chemical process called cross-linking to create textiles that are less likely t