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Watch out for our new blogs every week from NISTI members on Fashion, Education, Apparel, Sustainable Textiles plus holistic views and news on health, spirituality, eco- friendliness for a happy and meaningful life.
Impact of USA vs China trade war on World Cotton Trade(Source: Spinning Today)
Trade conflict between China and the US has created uncertainty of demand forecast leading to lower demand for cotton. With this changing scenario demand for different origins of cottons are getting adjusted. Chinese spinners replaced US cotton with Brazilian
, Australian and West African cottons. Bangladesh spinners who used to source more than 50% cotton from India have also turned to buy more from West Africa and Brazil due to their competitive price advantage and availability of large amounts of BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) cotton with very low contamination levels.
So, demand-wise, at present US cotton is significantly lower in demand. Cotton plays an important role in the Indian economy as the country’s textile industry is predominantly cotton based. India is one of the largest producers as well as exporter of cotton yarn. Cotton accounts for over 50% of the total cost in the textile Industry. As domestic Indian cotton prices are high due to high support price may be there is an opportunity for Indian spinners to buy American cotton which are being quoted at the record low levels due to low demand from key importing countries particularly China. But spinners have to keep in mind the risk involved in the coming months due to weather, currency, oil , Brexit, middle-east crisis, world economic outlook etc. and take a balanced view of the situation. Let us hope for the best!
Increasing Demand and Adoption of Smart Textiles in Different Sectors
(Source : www.brandresearch.com)
The increasing adoption of smart textiles across numerous applications are expected to be the key driving force for the industry. Sports and fitness sector is expected to continue as the largest market segment for next several years. The smart textiles market might also see a surge in high finish athletic clothes with biosensors installed. Growing technological advancements in smart textiles are resulting into introduction of several textile products such as smart shirts with bio-sensing circuitry that can be spun into the fabrics. These shirts can simply read the vital signs of the wearer like heart beating rate, exertion levels, changes in respiratory rate, etc. in much less time and more accurately as compared to wrist watches as the surface area of shirts is larger. The emergence of nanotechnology and its rising demand in smart textile industry provides further opportunities to the manufacturers of smart textiles.
North America is the biggest market for smart textiles in terms of revenue generation followed by Europe. USA is the major contributor to the regional market on account of substantial presence of well established and leading end use industries such as aerospace, defense and marine. Asia- Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR due to surging demand from automotive, sports, building and construction.
Top Four latest Innovations in Textiles & Fashion (Source Texworld : Buisness Beyond Borders)
- Meastley by Teijin: Through a thoughtful process of fibre selection, non-woven structures, material density and lamination methods, Teijin has produced a high grade man made leather. This comes as a lower price option for leather based apparel especially footwear due to its high durability.
- Eco-friendly jeans: Levis has joined forces with EVRNU to bring eco-friendly jeans into the market. The trousers are made entirely of regenerated post consumer cotton waste.
- Wood Fibre Yarn Technology: Spinnova has developed this technology avoiding complex chemical processes to produce yarn directly from wood in order to improve environmental conditions and to reduce the industry’s polluting impact.
- Tech infused wearables: Emel +Aris heating technology is one of the key trends in the realm of textiles and clothing. Winter coats using infrared heat energy warm up the garment without any faulty wires and with no compromise on the aesthetic value of the garment.
Sowing the seeds of a nation(Source: deccanherald.com)
In the hope of eliminating needless waste and preparing a way for greener India, biotechnology professional Krithika Saxena 24, has produced and sold an estimated 15000 seed-paper flags in just three weeks. Each 2* 3 inch rectangular flag contains up to 70 tomato and green chili seeds embedded in a base of recycled cotton paper.
A brilliant idea to avoid use of plastics which is commonly used to make flags which are later discarded and thrown away causing waste disposal hazard. An earnest appeal to all to encourage this youngster and honor such innovative ideas by using her flags on the coming Independence day. A special appeal to the corporate , govt.agencies and big organizations in particular who consume large quantities of Indian flags to patronize such efforts and contribute towards cleaner, greener India!
Author: AVINASH GUPTA
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