Market forecasts for a surge in US crude inventories dragged down oil prices in the Asian trade today, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, dropped six cents to $95.56 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for June delivery shed 23 cents to $104.17. “US oil stockpiles are already at record levels, and you would assume they will continue to increase with plentiful supply and weak demand,” Jason Hughes, head of sales trading at CMC Markets in Singapore,

Garment exporters yesterday expressed concern about the two-day shutdown beginning today as a big team of buyers from 20 top global brands will arrive in Dhaka tomorrow. The exporters also urged the opposition alliance to call off the 36-hour strike. “The garment sector is in choppy waters, especially after the Savar tragedy. The ongoing political violence has added further woes,” said the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and E

2013 China Keqiao International Textiles, Fabrics & Accessories Exhibition was closed on 8th May, 2013. During the three days' exhibition, there were 26,726 visitors attending the fair, 10.7% more thanlast one; in which there were 3,816 foregn visitors, 11.2% more than that of last time. The totalvolume of businessin this exhibtion is 4.393 billion, which is 8.2% higher than that of last time.

YouTube/juicystar07 Teens and young adults that share their clothes purchases via YouTube videos are turning into a marketing force in the clothing industry. It is a relatively new type of earned media that is taking the clothing industry by storm. And it is an idea that can be applied to marketing just about anything if marketers are able to translate the concept to their products. What is a haul video? The making of a haul video is relatively simple. Teenagers and young adults th

REUTERS/Andrew Biraj Major retailers are meeting this week to discuss worker safety in Bangladesh after a building collapse last week killed at least 433 garment factory workers. And the death toll in the collapse will likely continue to rise — 149 people are still missing, and Bangladesh officials don't think they'll find any more survivors. Richard M. Locke, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who has researched and written a book on enforcing fair labor standards with

In April 2013 same-store sales at Uniqlo Japan stores decreased by 3.0 percent year-on-year while sales at our own stores decreased by 0.4 percent. Total sales including online sales decreased by 0.5 percent. Same-store sales fell year-on-year in April, as the negative impact of unseasonal cool weather late in the month outweighed overall favourable sales of ranges of clothing featured in our advertising campaigns. In the month of April Uniqlo opened new stores, while six stores were closed in

As the 2012/13 season, ending on June 30, enters its final stages, the volumes of wool available from the various major global producing centres continues to diminish, with relatively modest auctions held in Australia and New Zealand this week. A lack of buying interest continued to weigh heavily on auction values in Australia. The Australian Wool Exchange’s (AWEX) Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) declined by a further 2.91%, to 966 Australian cents per kilo, clean, its lowest level since last

Undaunted by the former sanctions regime, Myanmar’s home-grown garment industry is thriving, industry experts say. They attribute the success to the industry’s ability to cater to local tastes. Over the past five years, local garment brands have been taking over more space because of their competitive price and good quality, some say. Unlike export-oriented businesses, they can employ and pay staff year-round without the need to wait for orders from overseas. “We can pay the same wages thr

Most Vietnamese footwear businesses have received steady orders, for the second and third quarters of 2013, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso). Many producers are now turning to new markets, such as the US and Japan, in addition to their traditional consumers in the EU. Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that revenue from footwear exports hit US$1.73 billion by the end of March, up 16.1 percent over same period in 2012. Footwea

Flickr/verypurpleperson The average conversion rate on retailer websites sits in the low- to mid-single digits. In comparison, the average conversion rate in off-line stores is over 60%. Closing this gap could represent one of the largest sources of growth opportunity for retailers today, and yet our work with retailers suggests they are not focusing on the crucial ingredients to make it happen. Retailers have a secret sauce that many multi-category online retailers don't: high qualit