In a battle of man and machine, the former has won, for now. The Centre has resisted orchestrated attempts by the powerloom lobby to alter the definition of handloom products and said that only genuinely hand-made materials be given the handloom tag and protection. For nearly three decades, the uniqueness of manual skills involved in making handloom items was safeguarded by the Handloom (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985. The Act says the term handloom means any loom other

T-shirts hang in the window of a Gap clothing store on July 10, 2013 in San Francisco, California. Some global retailers like Hennes & Mauritz of Sweden are concerned that rising wages in Bangladesh would curb profits. (AFP Photo) Dhaka. Bangladesh garment factory owners say they are soaking up much of the cost of nearly doubling wages as some global retailers balk at price hikes, leaving less money for safety improvements urged by apparel chains after last year’s Rana Plaza disaster.

In 2013, export turnover of the industry reached US$20.4 billion, an increase of 18 per cent year-on-year.— Photo baohaiquan The domestic garment and textile industry aims to reach a localisation rate of 60 per cent by 2015 to increase profits and competitiveness, and reduce the need for the imports of raw materials, according to the vice president of the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex). Le Trung Hai, who spoke with the media during the recent Saigon Tex exhibition f

Chinese apparel and footwear makers although have shifted their production due to increase labour cost to other countries. China continues to remain strong as a major materials source for the textile industry. Chinese textile sector is not giving by hopes, the government in China's far west Xinjiang region recently announced its plans to increase cotton farm subsidies and encourage textile manufacturers to build plants in 11 communities. The idea is to link up its cotton growing sector to fi

Being held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition 2014 which brought synergistic effects, the pavilion saw a growth of over 200% in its visitor number from last year, while the top five overseas visiting countries and regions were Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and Turkey. This designated yarn zone featured 233 exhibitors from 11 countries and regions – including China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, the US, Turkey and

The 2013/14 U.S. cotton estimates include lower production and ending stocks compared with last month. Production is reduced 320,000 bales to 12.9 million based on USDA’s final Cotton Ginnings report, released March 25. Domestic mill use and exports are unchanged. Ending stocks are reduced to 2.5 million bales, which is the smallest stock level since 1990/91. The stocks-to-use ratio of 17.5 percent is the smallest since 2010/11. The marketing-year average price received by producers is now f

Spun yarn exports were unable to maintain its strength seen in January as they grew just 3.7 per cent in February as against 21 per cent clocked in the previous month. About 117 million kg of spun yarns were exported worth US$390 million or Rs 2,425 crore during February. In terms of growth, volumes were up 7.4 per cent while US$ value increased 3.7 per cent implying a fall in unit price realization, as the Rupee depreciated 16 per cent against the US$ in the comparable months. Overall unit pric

The exports of textile, apparel and leather fetched 1,119.8 million dinars in the first two months of 2014 for the North African country of Tunisia, according to the data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The exports in January-February 2014 period were 2.94 percent more than exports worth 1,087.8 million dinars made during the corresponding months of last year, according to the data. In 2013, Tunisian textile, garment and leather sector earned 6,227.2 million dinars in expo

Spain’s Jeanologia and its Vietnamese partner Phong Phu International Joint Stock Company have an ambitious plan to transform Vietnam into a global market leader in the production of high-quality environmentally friendly jeans, radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported. Enrique Silla, President of Jeanologia- a Spain jean producer has said that Vietnamese products, especially jeans and knitted items, are finding their niche in the global marketplace and are emerging as a strong competitive ri

Vinatex is planning to grow cotton in the province of Quang Binh for its spinning mills.— Photo xahoi.com.vn Viet Nam National Textile Garment Group (Vinatex) will invest VND4.8 trillion (US$228.5 million) in three projects in the central province of Quang Binh. According to information published on Vinatex's website, the projects that were granted licences were a fibre plant and a garment factory in Quang Phuc Ward, Ba Don Town and a garment factory in the Gia Ninh Commune, Quang Ninh Di