In the lead‑up to the Easter holiday, the Australian wool auction market saw a strong rebound. After two consecutive weeks of declines, the market posted sharp gains in Week 40 (ending April 3), driven by active pre‑holiday buying. The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) closed at 1,786 Australian cents per kilogram, up 62 cents (approximately 3.6%) from the previous week, marking a new high since June 2019. Adjusted for the Australian dollar–US dollar exchange rate, the EMI in US dollar terms

Since the start of April, ICE cotton futures have climbed sharply, breaking through the 71 cents per pound level to hit an 11‑month high. As of April 6, the most active May 2026 cotton futures contract settled at 71.67 cents per pound, the highest level since May 6, 2025. On April 7, futures continued to rally, briefly touching an intraday high of 72.15 cents per pound. The rally is driven by multiple factors.Droughtremains the biggest supply-side risk. According to the U.S. Department of Agricu

As geopolitical tensions persist in the Middle East, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) declared force majeure on MEG (Monoethylene Glycol) and other products at the end of March. Overseas plant operating rates have fallen to low levels, further tightening the global MEG supply picture. According to industry monitoring data, CFR China MEG prices have recently climbed to around $635/ton, up approximately 3.25% week-on-week. Futures markets have shown particular strength, with several cont

On April 3, 2026, the Vietnamese government issued Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP, officially adopting the policy direction for theKey Industries Law, aiming to accelerate the national industrialization and modernization process through institutionalized measures. The policy framework, proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, encompasses two core policy groups: first,encouraging the production and manufacturing of key domestic industrial products; second,vigorously developing supporting indust

Despite the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict on the global textile supply chain, Vietnam's textile and garment industry achieved steady growth in the first quarter of 2026. According to data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, textile and garment exports exceeded US$8.8 billion in the first quarter, up 1.9% year-on-year, with many companies' order books already filled through the end of the third quarter. The resilience of Vietnam's textile industry is primarily driven by

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service forecasts that in the 2026/27 season (October–September), India's cotton planted area will increase by 3% year-on-year to 11.5 million hectares, supported by higher yields and normal monsoon conditions. Production is expected to rise by 7% to 25.2 million bales (480 lb/bale). According to the report, output growth is mainly attributed to yield recovery to 477 kg/hectare and a low base effect from unseasonal rainfall in

On April 1, 2026, data released by S&P Global showed that the Eurozone manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) final reading rose to 51.6 in March, up from 50.8 in February and above the preliminary reading of 51.4, marking a 45-month high since June 2022. Looking at sub-indicators, manufacturing output expanded for the third consecutive month, with the output index rising to 52.0 — a seven-month high. The new orders index held steady at a 46-month high, though growth remained m

In the past week (March 27 to April 2), the ICE cotton futures main contract showed a high-range volatile trend. As of the close on April 2, the May contract settled at 70.92 cents per pound, up slightly from the previous week. Prices during the week were influenced by multiple alternating factors. On March 31, following the USDA Prospective Plantings report indicating a 4% increase in U.S. cotton planted area to 9.64 million acres, futures prices initially came under pressure before finding sup

After three years of work, the EU-funded RegioGreenTex project officially came to a close in December 2025, achieving substantial progress in advancing the circular textile economy across Europe. The 25 SME-driven pilot projects have successfully moved from the laboratory stage to near-market readiness, with commercialisation expected within the next one to three years. Launched in January 2023, RegioGreenTex was one of the first projects under the European Commission's Regional Investment for I

With the deepening development of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) recently convened a technical committee meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, where experts from 16 countries discussed the development of unified standards for textiles, clothing, and accessories, aiming to break the long-standing market fragmentation that has plagued Africa's textile industry. Currently, only about 25% of the required product standards for the African co