A section of readymade garment factory owners has alleged that the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a consortium of North American retailers, is incorporating additional corrective action plan to factories during its follow-up inspection. The factory owners have recently informed the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association that the inclusion of additional CAP may hamper the smooth progress of remediation process. The BGMEA last week requested the North American r

Cotton futures dipped to their lowest in more than a week on Wednesday on weak demand as the market remained well above its average levels for recent months, before settling near unchanged after a late-session plunge in the US dollar. The most active July cotton contract fell 0.02 cent, or less than 0.1 percent, to settle at 65 cents a lb, after falling as low as 64.65 cents a lb, its lowest since April 6. Front-month May cotton fell 0.10 cent, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 64.59 cents a

Bangladesh's garment sector is moving towards green building initiatives to impress the growing tribe of eco-minded international retailers, and in the process, grab more work orders. So far, 14 garment factories from Bangladesh have received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the United States Green Building Council, according to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Of the factories, five were conferred the platinum status, five

During trading week, fine grade demand combined with buyers’ eagerness for fine and second grade cotton for blending purposes kept physical prices on firm footings. During trading activities sellers demanded slightly higher prices for better grades under slower than expected influx of cottonseed in the ginneries during past week, traders said. Buyers at major stations of Punjab and Sindh remained busy buying fine grades as demand of better grades was growing on back of producing better textil

Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF) and the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) formed Taiwan Pavilion jointly with Taiwan Composites Association (TCA) to display Taiwan’s latest textiles and composites at Technotex 2015 that took place last weekend in Mumbai at Bombay Convention Exhibition Centre, Goregaon. Taiwan participated with 18 companies producing high-end composites, innovative technical textiles, raw materials, accessories and nonwoven machinery. Sean Tsai, Taiwan Textile Federation said

China’s cotton import in February kept unchanged month-on-month in terms of both quantity and price, but it continued to drop year-on-year. According to the General Administration of Customs, China imported 159,100 tons of cotton, down 0.21 tons or 1.3% from the previous month and 35.3% compared to same period of last year. The average import price stood at US$ 1,698/ton, up US$ 23/ton or 1.4% from January, but down 15.4% year-on-year. In the first six months of 2014/15 cotton year, Chin

John Varvatos is coming home to America. After seven years of showing his eponymous collection in Milan, Varvatos has decided to show his spring 2016 collection at the newly minted New York Fashion Week: Men’s. Varvatos will be closing the event with a runway show on July 16th, the first show he will have in New York since spring 2008. Varvatos showed in New York for eight years before he decided to move his show to Milan where he has had his runway show since 2008. With the timing between f

Yarn spinning is rapidly expanding in South and Southeast Asia and is expected to continue on the same lines in near future, according to the latest report on ‘Cotton: World Market and Trends’ released by the US department of agriculture. Owing to growth in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, yarn spinning in South and Southeast Asia overtook Chinese yarn spinning in 2011-12, and it has been rising ever since. During the same time, yarn spinning has remained roughly flat in the rest of

Cotton imports of Pakistan are likely to rise per the figures of the US Department of Agriculture bureau in Islamabad which predicts an import of 2.0m bales of cotton in 2015-2016, the highest in 8 years. The reason for the rise in imports is mainly subjected to the increase in cotton consumption. Pakistan cotton consumption of 11.35m bales in 2015-16, starting in August, would represent the highest figure since 2007-08 – before the world financial crisis which hit demand for the fibre, as an

The political turmoil in Bangladesh has hit jute export trade and income of the country's 96 private jute spinners. Overall export earnings and activities of the factories have been hampered because of blockade coupled with hartals enforced by BNP-led 20-party alliance, the Bangladesh Jute Spinners association said. During the blockade, a large number of labourers of the jute mills were unable to attend their workplaces. As a result, production at the factories decreased and the millers incur