South African-based Turkish-owned textile group, Sesli Textiles, has successfully completed transfer of its manufacturing operations to a new, 30 000 m2 factory in Robertville, Johannesburg, to accommodate increased local and export demand.The company supplies markets via wholesalers and chain stores throughout Southern Africa. The new factory and its hi-tech equipment represents a multi-million-rand direct investment in South Africa.Local yarn manufacture is planned for next year and further in

BEIJING: Pakistan's export to China shows an upward trend, registering an increase of about 36 percent in the recent nine months. According to the Chinese custom officials, the exports were around $612million from January to September, whereas it was $448 million in the corresponding period last year.There was a considerable increase in the export items like cotton yarn, cotton fabric, leather, chromium ore, copper and chemical, Chinese officials said. The balance of trade still in China’s

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 why, 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 CIT

MALDEN, Mo. - The hunt for plastic bags didn't take long. Five minutes down a gravel road in Missouri's Bootheel, cotton farmer Chuck Provance stopped and pointed out his truck window at the neat rows of a recently-harvested cotton field. And there they were: a half-dozen plastic bags fluttering among the remaining cotton stalks like puffs of cotton missed by the mechanical picker. Those plastic bags, "they will wreak havoc," Provance said. Plastic bags are more than just an eyesore in the Co

BAGUALING, China - This past spring, China's biggest lingerie manufacturer, Top Form Inc., set up an unusual kind of laboratory.Situated in a four-story facility here, near the southern border town of Shenzhen, the lab has equipment that includes molds resembling oversized bullets. Surrounded by these molds, workers struggle to unlock the mysteries underlying such phenomena as the seamless brassiere and the shape-retaining bra cup."We spend a lot of time on how to make a better bra," says Willie

Continuing to deliver lower outputs, Portuguese textile industry showed a 9.9 percent annual drop in September, an eighth successive month of sharp decrease.According to the PNSI Index of Textile Output (2000=100, Seasonally Adjusted), production in September was down 76.5, slightly above the record low of 73.7 in July.Reduced local demand has led to a sharp drop in Portugal's apparel output, industry sources say. Moreover, industry is also facing a challenge from imported yarns.Average of month

Textile industry has demanded cut in import duty on man-made fibre (MMF) from the present 15 percent to 8 percent in a plea to the Government. Government, it is hoped will take action to ensure industry turns competitive and also boost country’s position in global textile industry.While Chinese textile industry enjoys lowest or no import duty structure making it cost competitive in the global apparel market, Indian taxation policy in the case of MMF imports has always demoralised its impor

BEIJING: Chinese reaction to a textile trade deal signed with the United States ranged from relief to bitterness and uncertainty on Wednesday as Chinese exporters waited for details of the new quotas. The deal that Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman sealed on Tuesday limits Chinese exports of 34 clothing and textile categories, such as shirts, trousers and underwear, for the next three years. "The deal struck over Chinese-U.S. textile trade will create a

New Delhi, Nov. 9 (PTI): Textiles Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela on Tuesday announced new initiatives to improve the handloom sector. Speaking during the second All-India Handloom Board meeting here, he spelt out the 'Integrated Handloom Cluster Development Scheme', which aims at development of handloom clusters and adopting an inclusive and holistic manner to build their capacity. The scheme is being introduced in 20 handloom clusters at a cost of Rs 40 crore, he said, adding that it would su

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. and China have reached an agreement to limit Chinese imports of clothing and apparel until 2008. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman praised the agreement, saying it would give retailers needed predictability in planning their apparel purchases and at the same time give textile communities three years to prepare for open competition from China. "I believe this textile agreement is an example of how the U.S. and China do have the ability to resolve tough