HARTFORD, Conn. -- Flush with higher incomes than other Americans, Connecticut shoppers are spending more on women's clothing than anyone else in the nation. Connecticut was first among the 50 states in money spent annually on women's apparel _ $975 per household on average this year _ beating out larger states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey and California, according to MapInfo Corp., a Troy, N.Y., firm that provides software and research to retailers. "Taking that one variable out of all the

WASHINGTON - In the past four years, U.S. industries from mattress-spring makers to wire-coat-hanger manufacturers have requested federal protection from surges in Chinese imports. Only one has received it: Textiles. To understand one reason, peek inside the third floor of the Herbert Hoover Building, a stone fortress around the corner from the White House and home to the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements. This obscure corner of the federal bureaucracy, known as CITA (pron

The textile industry is less optimistic over its performance in the October-December quarter due to high crude oil prices and competition from China, says a survey report by Yarns and Fibres. The main worries for the Rs 1,30,000 crore Indian textile industry are rising crude oil prices and fierce competition from China in world trade. On the constraints front, one-third of the survey respondents are of the opinion that inadequate power supply and infrastructure facilities would impede their

TEXTECH 2005 - CII’s third international exhibition on textile technology - is all set to be a showcase of the vast potential that the Indian textile industry holds and the Indian textile industry will benefit tremendously from it. This was stated by Manish Bagrodia, Chairman, Textech 2005, today. Third in the series, the exhibition is being held at the Manchester of India, Ludhiana - from November 18 to 21. The venue is Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) grounds. Ludhiana is the hu

LAHORE: The growing shortage of skilled labour is adding to the worries of textile industrialists who are of the view that the government should immediately set up training institutes to overcome the shortage and Export Development Fund (EDF) contributed by the textile exporters be used for the purpose.Industrialists say training facilities should be set up on war footing. According to them, there is no need to construct new buildings because training facilities can be set up in existing governm

The United States signed a three-year textile-trade deal with China that limits imports on 34 categories of Chinese products. The EU reached a similar agreement with China during the summer. A dispute has been rumbling since January, when World Trade Organization rules lifting barriers to entry on Chinese clothes came into effect, causing a surge in imports. The euro fell to a two-year low against the dollar. Trading in the currency was affected by a plea from European finance ministers to the

Whether they oppose or support stringent quotas, members of the local apparel and retail industries agree on this much: the latest deal between the United States and China to limit clothing and textile imports is an improvement on the current system. The new three-year deal, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, will curb the influx of Chinese goods on 34 textile and clothing categories from sweaters to wool suits to swimwear. Imports in most categories would only be allowed to grow between 10 perc

KARACHI: Home textiles are maintaining a good growth rate in the country and are attracting more buyers than ever before, industry sources said on Monday.The linen sector is experiencing very good growth, as more companies are being attracted to this sector. Manufacturers and exporters said almost all existing players were operating at full capacity and a number of cotton-spinning companies were also moving into home textiles as they saw prospects of further growth.If there was no change in the

The 2005/06 US forecasts include higher production, exports, and ending stocks relative to last month. Beginning stocks are reduced 112,000 bales, reflecting the final estimate of 2004/05 ending stocks by the Census Bureau. Production is raised 2 percent to 23.2 million bales, due to higher production in all regions except the far West. Domestic mill use is unchanged, while exports are raised 200,000 bales. Ending stocks are 1.6 percent above last month, and the stocks-to-use ratio is 29.3 perce

Detailed reply has been sought by the Vietnamese Prime Minister from the Trade Minister on his and other officials' role in a textile export quota scandal, which led to the arrest of a deputy minister.The US has imposed quota restrictions on imports from Vietnam. A serious scam emerged last year when police booked a dishonest official who alledgedly took huge graft to dole out quotas to textile companies.The scam involoved 17 officials of ministry including deputy trade minister Mai Van Dau and