The last month has witnessed growing concern over safety in Bangladesh’s garment industry with a spate of factory fires prompting the European Parliament to call upon the Governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan to investigate the cause of the fires and calling for full compliance by all manufacturers with health and safety legislation and establishment of an effective and independent system of labour and industrial building inspections. Significantly, the European Parliament also wants retail

For the quarter ended 31st December 2012, Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) posted a year-on-year growth of 10% in revenues, at Rs.6,305 crore. Its EBITDA rose by 29% to Rs.1,090 crore and net profit surged by 28% to Rs.323 crore. During this period, the firm’s manufacturing sector recorded revenue rises of 17% up to Rs.2,098 crore and EBITDA grew from Rs.198 crore to Rs.204 crore. Revenue growth was largely driven by higher trading of imported fertilisers, the Rayon and the Insulators bu

Majority of the textile processors and apparel manufacturers do not see any solution to the country’s increasing energy woes, responsible for dragging down industrial production, and slowing economic growth, in the near- to medium-term. Hence, a majority of them have either made significant investments in the in-house generation or are exploring the possibility of setting up power plants to meet their energy needs at minimum possible costs. In its desperation to attain “energy self-suffici

Meeting the Cotton Advisory Board's (CAB) export target of eight million bales this cotton year (October to September) might be a tall order. Cotton importers in China (which accounts for about 60 per cent of India's cotton exports) have been told if they import, they would have to buy three times that amount from the Chinese government agency. This would hit India's cotton exports. In the second half of 2012, China had reduced cotton imports and it is expected the trend would continue through

Bangladesh and Nepal gaining competitive advantage over India, says garments body. The South India Garment Association (SIGA) on Tuesday urged the government to reconsider levy of excise duty on labelled garments in view of problems facing the industry like negative growth, devaluation of stocks, economic slowdown and underutilisation of production capacity. SIGA President Kundan Jain said that the levy of excise duty has had a negative impact on the growth of the garment industry. “This requ

Foreign buyers' tough bargaining stance is in a way responsible for the poor working condition in garment factories, industry insiders said. “Our profit margin is going down by the day,” Feroz Kobir Prodhan, manager of the export-oriented Swan Group, told The Daily Star. A T-shirt which sold at $5 two or three years ago is now going at $3.50 to $4 due to buyers' tendency to offer low prices, according to Prodhan. “The garment manufacturers counter this by going for high volume orders,

In July 2012 the Malaysian government announced that workers in Malaysia would receive minimum wages of RM 900[USD291] (for Peninsular Malaysia) and RM800 [USD259] (for Sabah and Sarawak). The announcement came into force from 1 January 2013. The minimum wage is a basic wage excluding overtime, existing allowances and other benefits. However, to avoid paying minimum wages some employers calculate other benefits as part of minimum wage and some force workers to sign that they received minimum wag

Workers at the Yung Wah Industrial garment factory complex ended their two-day blockage of Takhmao town’s road 21Bon 14thafter government officials promised to pay their overdue salaries today, but they continued to demonstrate in front of the factory to demand other benefits. The provincial committee tasked with resolving the dispute had inspected the factory’s equipment and decided to sell it to pay the workers’ salaries, said Um Visal, labour dispute resolution officer at the Coalition of

China has decided to maintain its the highest strategic cotton reserves of 42.61 million bales resultantly the upward trend of prices was trend in the world. Chinese demand for Pakistani cotton has increased and will benefit the Pakistani growers in near future, said Amanullah Qureshi, former chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) while talking to media percons here today. He said that China has increased its cotton reserves by 2 million bales. Our local cotton arrival target for

Photography by Peter Stigter Buh-Bye Big Apple, hello London! The New York Fashion week collections are done for Fall 2013 but the fashion set has already packed up their Goyard and Louis Vuitton luggage and jetted across the pond for the next leg of this month-long sartorial journey. Before we fall in love with all things British–Burberry Prorsum, Christopher Kane, Peter Pilotto–we’ve rounded up the hottest trends from New York Fashion Week Fall 2013. Start your shopping list now. 1. THE