The first Global Cotton Summit Bangladesh 2015 to showcase cotton and provide buyers and sellers with the opportunity to share their thoughts will begin in Dhaka tomorrow. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Bangladesh Cotton Association will jointly organise the two-day event at Radisson hotel. Over 250 delegates from Bangladesh, India, Poland, US, Russia, Pakistan, China, UK, Turkey, Egypt, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and France will join the summit, BTMA President Tapa

Longwood based textile company Wooltex UK to extend its premises to meet rising demand. The move, which is awaiting planning approval, will add 40,000sq ft to its existing 65,000sq ft of space that will create more space for additional machinery and increase manufacturing capacity in the areas of warping, weaving, fabric finishing and sample making. The expansion drive represents a multi-million pound investment for the company. Managing director Peter Timmins said that the company had grown

Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, reported a better than expected 15 per cent sales rise in February, a fifth straight month of double-digit growth and a boost to its shares. Analysts had on average forecast a 13 per cent increase in sales in local currencies. H&M shares were up 2.1 per cent at 8:25 a.m. following the sales report, outperforming the European retail sector which rose 0.7 per cent. The Swedish budget fashion retailer said net sales in D

In the face of sluggish export orders of knit products the price of local yarn fell by 15 per cent over the last two months as international buyers are not feeling comfortable to visit Bangladesh due to political instability, industry people said. Slow demand due to political turmoil and fall of cotton price on the international market are the two prime reasons for the price fall of yarn, said its manufacturers. According to the spinners, the price of yarn decreased to $2.80 a kg from $3

Eco-textile company Offset Warehouse recognizes the banana’s potential and currently partners with an NGO in Nepal to ensure banana fabric production supports the artisan sector by relying on local skills, and that workers are paid fairly and operate in safe conditions. Offset Warehouse’s founder Charlie Ross said that the material is perfect for jackets, skirts and trousers. The fabric is claimed to be nearly carbon neutral and its soft texture has been likened to hemp and bamboo. Carmen

Pleasant surprises are often followed by troubling afterthoughts in Pakistan. Beautiful women showcasing top textile brands cast a spell on commuters, slowing down traffic on busy roads. Smiling down from billboards, they remind people of an additional pressure on the family budget at the start of the summer shopping season. An average household on the lower rung of the social scale annually spends around Rs5,000 per female on cotton clothing, according to an estimate based on a random survey

Southeast Asia's major economies drew more foreign direct investment combined than China for the second straight year in 2014, as growth in their giant neighbour cooled. But by country, inflows into the region were uneven, swayed by political change and the varying costs of doing business. Overall FDI into Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam rose to a record $128 billion in 2014, estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters show. That surpassed the $119.56 billion t

Textile industry are seeking reduction in excise and import duties while pitching for higher fund allocation as it will enable Indian textile industry to achieve a substantial growth rate in the market of man-made textile products as this segment has not achieved any growth rate over a period. In this regard, South Indian Mills Association (SIMA) representatives met Textile Minister Santosh Gangwar. According to SIMA Chairmen T Rajkumar, it is essential to reduce the central excise duty on m

Turkey has imposed an additional 50 per cent customs duty on Pakistani handmade carpets, which can have tumultuous impact, since Turkey is the second biggest importer of Pakistani handmade carpets. The imposition of the duty comes following the safeguard measure imposed on Pakistani apparel exports at 42.2 per cent in 2011, making exports to Turkey unviable. In a letter written to the federal minister of commerce, the Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) has crit

Organic cotton can prove to be a successful substitute to the non-organic cotton for Chinese cotton farmers, as it fetches a higher margin and its demand is likely to grow manifold by 2020 in the international market, according to a cotton expert. "Organic or sustainable cotton helps farmers in China to fetch bigger margins. There are several market opportunities in sustainable and organic cotton," Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, an organisation serving retailers and brands and farmers th