18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Though the current depreciation of the Bangladeshi Taka against the American dollar proves to be a boon for garment exporters, in the long run, it threatens the competitiveness of Bangladeshi apparels in world market, points out Faruque Hassan, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Taka depreciates 8.13 per cent in last decade

In the last five years, Bangladesh Taka (BDT) has depreciated by 3.84 per cent. Its exchange rate per dollar has increased from 82.82 Taka to 86 Taka as per Bangladesh Bank. Data from Oanda.com also shows, Turkish Lira witnessed the highest depreciation of 265.74 per cent during this period; followed by the Pakistani Rupee which depreciated 59.60 per cent; Sri Lankan Rupee, Indian Rupee and Vietnamese Dong depreciated 31.24 per cent, 16.18 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively. On the other hand, Chinese Yuan remained stable with 0.98 per cent appreciation against the dollar cumulatively.

In the 10-year period spanning January 2013 to January 2022, the Bangladeshi Taka depreciated 8.13 per cent while the Turkish Lira witnessed 673.80 per cent and Pakistani Rupee 81.24 per cent depreciation respectively. Currencies of other competing countries including Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam depreciated by 58.02 per cent, 34.05 per cent and 8.88 per cent respectively. Chinese Yuan also depreciated during this period by an aggregate 1.26 per cent.

Wider implications on the economy

The depreciation of Bangladeshi Taka had stabilized over the last few years and the currency was again becoming stable.

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, once again plunged Taka’s value which depreciated from 84.80 Taka in January 2021 to 86 Taka in January 2022. Supporting export industries, this depreciation reflects the foresight of Bangladeshi regulatory authorities, says Hassan.

However, the benefit it actually offers to Bangladeshi garment industry is questionable. Garment prices in the country are rising due to hike in production and raw material costs.

Freight and fuel rates have also surged enabling competing countries to surge past Bangladesh.

Currency exchange rate has a deeper impact on a country’s economy. It not only influences the inflation rate but also affects its balance of payments and FDI reserves.

Enhance efficiencies and waste management techniques

Therefore, to safeguard its domestic industries, Bangladeshi regulatory authorities need to take the global currency trend into account, Hassan opines.

He also advises stakeholders to enhance factory efficiencies by making maximum use of the available resources. Industry leaders also need to boost investments in supply chain management and automation besides technically upgrading their factories, he adds.

Another area, Bangladesh apparel leaders need to pay attention is to emphasizing waste recycling in order to boost circularity in the industry. Focusing on these issues will enhance the industry status and make it more competitive in the world market, Hassan concludes.

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

After two years of being confined to the online platform due to the pandemic, the next Better Cotton Conference will be held in a hybrid format on June 22-23, the conference will help stakeholders transform the cotton sector into a sustainable industry. It is held annually by the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).

A non-profit, multistake holder governance group, the Better Cotton Initiative promotes better standards in cotton farming and practices across 21 countries. As of 2017, Better Cotton accounted for 14 per cent of global cotton production.

Its partner retailers included H&M, Gap, IKEA, and Levi Strauss, and include funding partners from USAID.

At the end of 2017, BCI had 1,197 members – 85 retailer and brand members, 1,039 supplier and manufacturer members, 32 producer organization members, 31 civil society members and 12 associate members. BCI contributes towards the UN's goals to achieve better global water sustainability and sustainable agriculture.

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17 January 2022, Mumbai:

Bangladesh and South Korea have great potential to derive more mutual trade benefits through collaboration, especially in the area of apparel and textile industry, said Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA.  

“There are huge opportunities for Bangladesh and South Korea to further engage in trade and investment and develop mutually beneficial economic ties,” he remarked during a meeting Ambassador of South Korea to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun who paid a courtesy visit to BGMEA in Gulshan, Dhaka on January 16. 

BGMEA Vice Presidents Shahidullah Azim and Miran Ali, First Secretary of the Embassy of South Korea Lee Jungyoul, and former President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Shams Mahmud were also present at the meeting.

They had discussions about possible areas of expanding trade between Bangladesh and South Korea and how both countries can collaborate in a meaningful way to pave the way for boosting bilateral trade.

BGMEA President Fauque Hassan requested Ambassador Lee Jang-keun to encourage Korean businessmen to invest in the backward linkage industry of Bangladesh, especially the non-cotton textile sector. 

The Korean envoy pointed to extending incentive facility to RMG factories inside the export processing zone (EPZ) against their exports to new markets. 

BGMEA President Faruque Hassan expressed thanks to the Ambassador of Korea for his visit and for showing interest in collaboration in increasing mutual trade between the two Asian countries.

BGMEA

(The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Denim show Kingpins Show will host its next physical show in Amsterdam from April 20-21 and at SugarCity from October 19-20, 2022. As per Sourcing Journal, the last Kingpins Amsterdam show was held in Amsterdam in October 2019.

The shows in New York and China have since been canceled due to the pandemic.

The global denim industry is hopes to see more in-person events this spring. Munich-based organizer Bluezone plans to host a denim event from May 02-04, 2022, while Denim Premiere Vision’s next event will be held in Berlin from May 17-18, 2022.

Kingpins Amsterdam’s SugarCity show will grow its footprint by over 40 per cent to 100,000-sq. ft. The additional space will enable organizers to add new features to the show and develop some of its key areas to better serve exhibitors and visitors.

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Campaign targets Rana Plaza buyer Auchan for its failure to address factory safety

Today, Clean Clothes Campaign members and partners in a range of countries are starting a campaign to convince French supermarket chain Auchan (Alcampo in Spain) to sign the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry.

As a company that sourced from one of the factories in the collapsed Rana Plaza building in April 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh – the incident that led to the creation of the first Accord programme – and as a major international retailer, Auchan has a special responsibility to sign the new safety agreement.

The International Accord took effect in September 2021 and builds upon the work of two previous binding safety agreements (both called “Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh”), initiated in 2013 and 2018.

All three programmes are meant to improve factory safety in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the deadly Rana Plaza collapse of 24 April 2013.

The International Accord was announced by unions and brands in August 2021 and aims to expand the programme’s coverage beyond Bangladesh and broaden the concepts of health and safety, in response to the different health needs during a pandemic.

161 garment and textile brands and retailers have signed this agreement up to date, among which are many of the companies that bought from Rana Plaza factories, but Auchan’s signature is failing.

This is remarkable because, as one of the brands that sourced from a Rana Plaza factory, Auchan should have put safety at the center of its Corporate Social Responsibility politics, at least since 2013, and be very much aware of the need for thorough, independent, and transparent monitoring of factory safety and renovation efforts.

The company did sign the previous two Accord agreements. It however has failed to sign the new agreement even though it should be perfectly aware that progress in the field of safety needs to be constantly guarded to be maintained.

Auchan has no reason to be complacent about the safety of the factories in its supply chain. Research carried out in the last month of the previous Accord’s tenure showed that Auchan sources from at least forty factories in Bangladesh, three quarters of which still lacked fire alarms and/or sprinkler systems that meet the standards of the Accord.

With its over three dozen suppliers in Bangladesh, Auchan is one of the largest signatories to the previous Accord that has failed to sign the new agreement. Many major competitors, including French supermarket chains Carrefour and Monoprix, have already signed on.

By not signing the new agreement, Auchan is lowering its standards on safeguarding workers in its supply chain, especially as it used to rely on the Accord as a part of its vigilance plans under the French Duty of Vigilance Law.

The organisations that today are starting their campaign push, urge Auchan to continue its commitment to the only programme that addresses factory safety in garment supply chains transparently, in a legally binding manner, and with union participation.

The organisations call upon Auchan and any other major company buying from Bangladesh, including Levi’s, IKEA, Walmart, Abercombie & Fitch, and Disney, to immediately sign the International Accord to keep garment workers safe in their workplace.

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Readymade garments industry leaders are continuing to place demands despite the government meeting at least 17 demands so far in the past two years since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.

With nearly a dozen more demands yet to be resolved, the RMG sector is now seeking devaluation of the currency for a competitive edge in export.

In a letter to the commerce ministry on 13 January, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) shared the data and analysis of the recent exchange rate movement of some currencies in major apparel exporting countries.

"Depreciation is favourable for exports; especially, it adds to our breathing space in this trying time," BGMEA chief Faruque Hassan observed in the letter.

However, he also pointed out that it is important to determine the extent of currency devaluation that actually helps the industry.

"Our unit price of garment is not increasing while considering the hike in production cost particularly due to the rise in prices of raw materials, freight, fuel and so on. On the other hand, competitor currencies have gained higher than us," he added.

Bangladeshi Taka has been depreciated by 3.84% in the past four years till January 2022, which means the exchange rate per dollar increased from Tk82.42 to Tk86.00 as per the data of Bangladesh Bank.

In the letter, the BGMEA president also mentioned that in the last five years till January 2022, Turkish Lira saw the highest depreciation by 265.74%, followed by Pakistani Rupee with 59.60%.

Among other competitive countries Sri Lankan Rupee, Indian Rupee and Vietnamese Dong depreciated by 31.24%, 16.18% and 0.28% respectively. During this period, the Chinese Yuan remained quite stable with 0.98% appreciation against the dollar cumulatively. 

He further said, "While currency is an important factor in foreign trade, the exchange rate of a currency has a wider implication across a broader economy including inflation, balance of payment and FDI. So, while we, the export-oriented industries, gratefully appreciated the role played by regulatory bodies, we also need to consider the global currency trend to safeguard our industries."

Asked on the matter, Hassan told The Business Standard, "Our neighbouring countries have depreciated their currencies quite a lot, but ours is stuck at one place for the past few years. Even after a recent devaluation we get Tk85 per US dollar, however, in the open market it is sold at Tk90-91, which should be supervised."    

According to him, this is not only hurting the export, the wage earners are also suffering financially.

"If the devaluation is done at a logical rate, along with the export, the wage-earners, the government's revenue collection will also improve," he added.

Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of BGMEA, told The Business Standard that although the prices of readymade garments did not go up, there is little profit due to increase in raw material imports and freight cost.

"Many are exporting products with a loss. If the price of dollars is fixed at least Tk90, our competitiveness will increase," he said.

However, in May 2019, almost a year before the pandemic hit, the owners of the textile and readymade garment sector demanded a subsidy of Tk5 per dollar on export earnings.

Finance ministry officials are not in favour of devaluing the currency to keep inflation in check. They say a devaluation of the currency would push up the price of imported goods and create a cost of push inflation. According to the rule of thumb, a 10% devaluation of a currency raises the price level of the product by 2-3%.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters last week that the value of taka against the dollar would not fluctuate much from where it is now.

Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Salehuddin Ahmed is also against the devaluation of money. He said the garment sector imports only a fraction of what it exports. Therefore, a decision should be taken after reviewing how much the country's economy will benefit from exports if the value of money is reduced.

He said since Bangladesh is dependent on imports, reducing the value of money would increase the cost of importing raw materials of non-export oriented industries.

"The price of food, power, energy - everything will be affected," he pointed out.

However, some entrepreneurs disagree with the demand for currency devaluation. A top entrepreneur in the apparel sector, asking to go unnamed, told The Business Standard that back-to-back LC (letter of credit) loans are repaid in dollars as opposed to Master LCs. As a result, 60 to 70% of the export value is spent on importing raw materials. Devalue benefits will be available for the remaining maximum 30% retention value.

"But buyers take into account the exchange rate when negotiating an order, reducing that amount in most cases. In other words, the benefits of currency devaluation go into the pockets of buyers," the entrepreneur said.

"Foreign buyers will not be able to take advantage of the currency devaluation as there is a lot of pressure on export orders at present," claimed Hassan.

Pending Demands

In March 2020, when the first Covid-19 case was detected in the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formed an interest-free fund of Tk5,000crore against the demand of the BGMEA to pay three months' salaries of the workers.

The BGMEA members got the two-year term bank loan at 2% service charge with a grace period of six months. The loan was supposed to be paid within the next 18 months in equal instalments.

But BGMEA and BKMEA demanded to increase the fund amount up to Tk10,500 crores only after three months, which the government implemented. They paid four-months salaries of the workers instead of three. At the same time, they proposed to enhance the loan repayment time. The finance ministry then increased the repayment time for six months.

Now BGMEA is demanding an increase in the loan repayment time of that interest free fund for another 18 months. 

A high official of the finance ministry told The Business Standard that the garment owners were repaying their loans regularly. But they are showing reluctance to repay after they got the extension on repayment. The factory owners even held a meeting with the finance secretary last week to extend loan repayment time.

"The ministry did not agree to extend time. But, it was extended for six months at the instruction of the prime minister. Besides, the banks are involved with these stimulus packages and there is high growth of exports now," the official added.

Last September, BGMEA president sent a letter to the Senior Secretary of the Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder demanding waiver of all types of charges including imposed and non-imposed interest and cost of funds on various loans taken by the garment owners. 

He also demanded for rescheduling of the loans for another 10 years with an option of 2% down payment on the balance amount in January 2022, and two-year grace period to repay the pending loans. 

Last October, BGMEA demanded to reduce the local value addition to 20% from the conditional 30% to be eligible to get the cash stimulus package.

Pending demands of the BGMEA include Tk100 crore allocation to form digital marketplaces like e-Bay, Amazon, Alibaba. They also demanded Tk200 fund for housing for the workers, transport and education of the workers' children which is also pending.

Other demands, which are yet to be made, include Tk500 crore for supporting the backward linkage industry, 100% subsidy for research and design development and reduction of source tax to 0.25% from 0.50%.

Demands already met

While the use of modern technology is expected to reduce wastage in the garment sector, the limit of wastage rate was almost doubled at the demands of BGMEA and BKMEA.

The maximum wastage permission for garments production in 1998 was 16%, which the commerce ministry increased to 26%. However, the two organisations have applied again to increase it to 35%.

The garment industry is one of the major beneficiaries of the two stimulus packages worth Tk60,000 crore announced by the government for large scale industries and small and medium enterprises to tackle Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to increasing the size of the Export Development Fund, the Ministry of Finance has reduced the interest rate on loans taken from the fund from 2% to 1.75%. The garment sector is also a major beneficiary of the Tk1,000 crore refinancing fund set up by the Bangladesh Bank under the name of Technology Development or Upgradation Fund.

Container store rent was waived 100% against goods imported at Chittagong port during the pandemic. The garment sector has benefited from an import duty and VAT exemption facility to import raw materials for making safety gowns.

Besides, the RMG industry has got the facility of a Tk5,000 crore refinancing scheme in pre-shipment credit.

THE BUSINESS STANDARD (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Bangladesh’s exports to traditional markets including the US and the EU grew in 2021. Exports to its single largest market, the US surged from 17.5 per cent in 2018 to 20.30 per cent in 2021, says Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA.

It totaled $7.28 billion in 2021. The share of woven garment exports was worth $4.65 billion while knitwear exports totaled $ 2.62 billion. For the first time, Bangladesh’s RMG export to the US exceeded $7 billion in a year, a growth of 43.62 per cent compared to 2020, says Hassan.

Bangladesh’s exports to its second largest export destination, the EU accounted for 50.07 per cent of its total exports. In the last five years, Bangladesh’s exports to the EU grew from $18.69 billion in 2017 to $ 21.74 billion, a 27.74 per cent year on year growth

Exports to Germany crosses new milestone

Among the EU member states, exports to Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal and Poland grew in 2021. For the first time exports to Germany crossed $6 billion registering a growth of 26.64 per cent.

In the same year, exports to UK reached $3.81 billion; Canada saw an increase of 28.46 per cent from $865.17 million in 2020 to $1.12 billion in 2021.

Promising growth to non-traditional markets

Exports to non-traditional markets also showed promising growth during the year. It grew 25.75 per cent to reach $5.7 billion in 2021. Exports of woven garments amounted to $2.54 billion while knitwear garments was worth $3.14 billion. Exports to Japan recorded highest growth of 17.22 per cent to reach $1.03 billion.

Tapping the EAEU market

Exports to other non-traditional markets such as Australia, South Korea, Russia, India, and Mexico also increased remarkably while those to Brazil, China and Turkey declined, as recovery from the pandemic faltered.

Exports from Asia showed promising growth as seen by the rising exports from emerging markets like Japan, China, India, South Korea.

The Bangladesh government has sent an official proposal to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) comprising of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

Apparel diplomacy in non-traditional markets

In the last few years, Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in growing its market base. However, the country suffers from low diversification in export items and destination. Hence, BGMEA has launched an initiative to explore non-traditional markets under the apparel diplomacy campaign.

The plan is to organize ‘Made in Bangladesh’ road-shows to regions like Middle East, Asia which includes Japan, Korea, China and India, Iraq, Russia and a follow-up visit to Latin American countries.

The initiative is aimed at highlighting the industry’s growth, establish contacts and networks, engage with similar organizations to promote trade, identify problems and advance discussions on market access.

Looking to tap high-value market

BGMEA is also planning to tap the untapped potential in existing markets. One of the plan is to enter the high value-added market segment for which it plans to produce more high-end products.

The association also aims to invest in new technologies and focus on backward and forward linkage industries. Going digital is also one of Bangladesh’s aim in the next few years, Hassan concludes.

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, and Jeanologia, a world leader in sustainable and efficient technology development, joined forces to launch an eco-advanced alternative to the denim fabric washing process, including in some cases the mercerization, one of the most water-intensive and pollutant processes of denim fabric finishing.

The production of denim requires a succession of several steps aimed at imparting the qualities we love in our favorite pair of jeans.

It all starts with the spinning step where the cotton is turned into yarn. The second step is a pretreatment that will prepare the yarn for the dyeing step. The dyed yarn then goes through the sizing process, which is a treatment preparing it for weaving. At this stage, we have obtained a denim fabric that will go through a few more steps.

First, the fabric may undergo a washing treatment or, in some cases, mercerizing treatment which consists of treating it with caustic soda in order to obtain a more lustrous, flat and less reddish blue and black denim.

In both traditional ways to clean the fabric, washing or mercerizing, multiple highly water intensive washings are required in order to restore optimal fabric pH and remove unfixed dyestuff and any undesired deposits or impurities from the fabric. One of such impurities released in the washing process is aniline, a substance that is classified as a category 2 carcinogen and considered toxic to aquatic life.

That is why Archroma and Jeanologia decided to team up and develop an alternative to the traditional fabric cleaning process and its subsequent water-intensive and water-polluting washings.

The breakthrough alternative to the fabric cleaning concept presented by Jeanologia and Archroma combines the use of the aniline-free* PURE INDIGO ICON dyeing system of Archroma, and the water-free** and chemical-free “G2 Dynamic“ finishing technology of Jeanologia.

The Archroma PURE INDIGO ICON is based on an innovation launched by the company in May 2018: its aniline-free* Denisol^® Pure Indigo.

Aniline is a key ingredient to make the indigo molecule. Unfortunately, during this process some aniline impurities are carried through into the indigo dyestuff. When the indigo is dyed on the fabric, a lot of the aniline impurity is locked into the pigment in the fabric.

The remainder of the aniline impurity, approximately 300 metric tons annually, is discharged during dyeing. This can be an issue as aniline is toxic to aquatic life. In addition, exposure levels to factory workers can be high.

The new Denisol^® Pure Indigo 30 liq was therefore developed as an aniline-free(1) indigo solution for designers, manufacturers and brand owners who long for authentic indigo inspiration.

The Jeanologia G2 Dynamic was introduced in 2008. The market-first ozone treatment for continuous fabric dramatically reduces the amount of water and chemicals used, while at the same time saving costs at the mill and eventually at the garment finishing facilities.

This technology makes fabric more stable and consistent and prepares the fabric better for the use of other technologies like laser.

As presented a few months ago in partnership with Archroma, this machinery can be used along with Pad-Ox technology to help cleaning fabric thus improving fastness results, at room temperature with significant savings in energy and CO₂.

The Archroma/Jeanologia solution allows to create aniline-free* denim, and improve the final aspect of the fabric through a fully chemical-free and almost water-free** cleaning alternative treatment.

The Archroma/Jeanologia solution can also be used with additional Archroma coloration systems such as INDIGO REFLECTION or PURE UNDERSTONES.

Umberto Devita, Business Development Manager at Archroma’s Competence Center for Denim & Casual Wear, who was the project leader for this new development, comments: “At Archroma, we strive to develop solutions in line with our principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”.

It was therefore very inspiring to work with a partner who shares the same values of developing efficient new processes to bring all know-how to our customers to maximize value – for denim that looks as good as the good it creates.”

For Jean-Pierre Inchauspe, Business Director of G2 Dynamic at Jeanologia, “this association is another step to change traditional, more polluting and water consuming processes in the textile industry for new ones using technology, improving, and boosting subsequent production stages up to the finishing of the garment, making them more efficient and allowing companies to be more competitive, increase productivity and offer a product that is completely sustainable with high quality.”

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17 January 2022, Mumbai:

Due to uncertain and unpredictable international travel and event restrictions related to the new Covid-19 variant “Omicron”, the ITMF Annual Conference 2022 was postponed from April to September 2022.

As a result, it was decided that the deadline for applications for the two ITMF Awards 2022 – “Sustainability & Innovation” and “International Cooperation” – was extended from January 29th to April 30th, 2022. 

ITMF is an international forum for the world of textile and related industries founded in 1904.

ITMF members are associations and companies covering the entire textile value chain – producers of fibres, textile machinery, chemicals, textiles, apparel, and home textiles.

The membership is from more than 40 countries and is representing around 90% of global production.

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

Despite the pandemic’s severe impact on the global textile supply chain, Bangladesh's cotton imports are set to cross the 9 million bales mark this year. A report by the Daily Star indicates, in 2021, Bangladesh imported 8.5 million cotton bales worth over $3 billion.

Most imports was fueled by Bangladesh’s rising garment exports.

From July to December 2021, Bangladesh’s garment exports rose 28.02 per cent year-on-year to $19.90 billion.

Of this, knitwear exports rose by 30.91 per cent to $11.16 billion while the exports of woven garments increased by 24.50 per cent to $8.73 billion.

Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA, said, the upward trend of garment exports will continue upto June this year as the association has booked a large volume of orders.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), added, it has already made payments of the letters of credit for importing cotton and expects a rush in import by March and April this year.

Khokon further added, currently local spinners can meet 90 per cent of the knitwear sector's demand for raw materials but only 40 per cent of the woven sector’s needs. As a result, some 6 billion out of the required 10 billion meters of fabrics are imported to meet the demand of the local woven garment sector at a cost of $2.30 per meter.

Therefore, local millers have either been expanding or investing afresh in the primary textile sector, particularly in manmade fibres and spinning mills.

He urged the government to facilitate MMF imports as the country does not produce these. He also urged the government to raise the ceiling for loan from an Export Development Fund to $40 million per borrower from the $30 million at present.

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18 January 2022, Mumbai:

The Italian company is carefully focusing on both fronts of sustainability: process and product. 

Over the past few years, thanks to structural measures and investments such as the supply of electricity entirely from renewable sources, Cifra, the well-known warp knit manufacturing company based in Milan, has significantly reduced its CO2 emissions and still forecasts a further and growing reduction.

Cifra's strong commitment to a sustainable production process is guaranteed by STeP by OEKO-TEX certification. The strict standard aims to verify and assess ethics, protection, and the health of both environment and workers as well as product safety in all areas of the company.

Thanks to Cifra’s Warp Knit Seamless technology, operating directly from the yarn to the final garment, manufacturing waste is reduced by 30% compared to traditional cut and sewn methods.

Still, on the process front, on-demand manufacturing plays a key role to reduce stocks and in case goods to be disposed of.

Cifra’s knitting system allows to rapidly shift to different shapes and patterns during the production process and customers can adjust order requests to sales in real-time

Eco-sustainable

As for the products, more than 30% of Cifra’s production currently comes from eco-sustainable, natural and recycled yarns and demand is further increasing.

At the next international trade fair, Milano Unica (1-2 February, Milan), Cifra will present an exclusive preview of an ‘Ecosustainable’ collection carrying the hallmark of sustainability. The collection includes garments made from recycled yarns such as Econyl, Renycle , Qnova, as well as Merino wool and Tencel.

ECONYL® yarn is a 100% regenerated nylon 6 yarn from pre and post-consumer waste otherwise polluting the Earth, like fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring, and industrial plastic rescued from all over the world.

Renycle by RadiciGroup is obtained from nylon 6 pre-consumer recycling, a high-value material with excellent strength, dyeability, softness and versatility. Through virtuous recovery and recycling processes, nylon waste is transformed into polymers and then into high-performance yarn without needing virgin material. First in-house readings have shown that, compared to the virgin polymer of PA6, Renycle allows savings of more than 87% in energy and 90% in water, though obtaining the same performance in terms of quality. It is also said to reduce CO2 emissions by almost 90%.

Q-Nova by Fulgar on the other hand, is a recycled and eco-sustainable pre-consumer nylon 6.6 fibre, exclusively obtained from regenerated raw materials, consisting of waste materials from the company's main production cycle.

Finally, Tencel Lyocell is a fibre of vegetable origin stemming from eucalyptus and beech pulp and is said to be sustainable at every stage of production.

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17 January 2022, Mumbai:

The next VDMA technology webtalk is scheduled for 19 January (2:00 – 3:30 pm CET). The event “Recycling of man-made fibres - challenges and solutions towards a textile circular economy” already attracted more than 400 registrations.  

The speakers and their topics at a glance

Ms Amrei Becker, Institut für Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen University:

Current developments of technical solutions for textile recycling:

Numerous processes to recycle plastics are described in the literature. However, fibre blends, multilayer constructions, and textile-specific impurities make the recycling of synthetic textiles a particular challenge. In this webinar, challenges and solutions for the recycling of synthetic textiles will be presented and discussed.

Mr Markus Reichwein, Oerlikon Textile

Innovative Manmade Fibers Solutions support a sustainable textile value chain

The right technologies for recycling and energy efficiency are key requirement for a sustainable Manmade Fiber Industry. Oerlikon Manmade Fibers is describing a cascaded approach into new technologies as well as different material sources outlining the need for versatile solutions.

Two more technology webtalks are already scheduled for February:

Resource-saving in Textile Processing - Continous Dyeing and Washing Latest news from Monforts, DyStar® and Goller

February 3rd 2022, 01:00 pm CET 

Speakers and their topics:

Mr Jonas Beisel, A. Monforts Textilmaschinen: Econtrol®: Continuous dyeing under ecological and economical aspects

Mr Bertram Seuthe, DyStar Colours Distribution: DyStar®’s Sustainable Concepts for Continuous Dyeing

Mr Guido Seiler, FONG'S EUROPE: Continuous washing after dyeing - flexible and efficient with GOLLER SINTENSA and EFFECTA compartments.

Another webtalk under the title Sustainability with minimal application with the companies PLEVA and WEKO is already scheduled for 19.02.22. Information will follow!

After the presentations, the experts will be available to answer the participants' questions.

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