Will 2017 Be A Repeat?

Jim-Phillips-colorBy Jim Phillips, Yarn Market Editor

Orders for yarns in December 2016 were sluggish for many U.S. spinners, ending an overall disappointing year on an even sourer note than expected.

“We had just about nothing in December,” noted one spinner. “The situation was compounded by the fact that some of our customers shut down for a couple of weeks.” Another spinner added: “For our cotton products, December was terrible. We did see some activity with some poly/cotton blends, which was the only positive to come out of the month.”

Spinners began the year with high expectations, based on a 36-month history of expanding business. When orders were slow to come in, many blamed excess inventories. As one spinner explained: “At the beginning of the year, we thought that the slowdown was a result of inventory adjustment. But, by the end of the first quarter, when business did not pick up substantially, we realized other factors were involved.”

Said one spinner: “Fundamentally, we could not see anything that had changed, so we had no reason to expect that 2016 would be any different from the past three years. Now, as we head into 2017, I can say the same thing: fundamentally, we cannot see anything that has changed. So, does that mean we can expect 2017 to be a repeat of 2016, where we found our business down about 20 percent across the board?”

One yarn expert attributed some of the blame for weak business conditions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). “Back at the beginning of 2016, we thought TPP was going to be a reality, and I think there was a shift in focus to Asia, particularly to Vietnam. Now that TPP is off the board — at least for the next four years — I think you will see focus shift yet again to traditional trading partners, and I think that will result in an uptick in business for a lot of us.”

Other factors were contributors as well.

“The strength of the dollar, relative to other currencies, certainly hurt our export business,” noted one spinner. “Now, for the first time, we are hearing a U.S President say the dollar doesn’t necessarily have to be that strong. If the value of the dollar decreases, that will certainly help business, both at home and in exports. However, on the flip side, as imports become more expensive, inflation is likely to increase, which will then drive up the price of everything.”

Overall, spinners are hoping that 2016 was an aberration, and that 2017 will see a return to the solid conditions of the previous three years.

TPP Off The Table, NAFTA Up In The Air

There has been a lot of speculation about TPP over the past year. Once the agreement was signed by all participants, most in the industry were resigned to it getting the necessary votes in Congress. Yet, as the year wore on, the agreement became more and more controversial, and former U.S. President Barack Obama never took it to Congress. On January 23, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that withdraws the United States from the agreement.

“I was always a bit worried about TPP,” said one yarn broker. “Even with a yarn-forward rule, there were numerous ways for countries to get around it. And I have always been doubtful about our ability to enforce trade agreements, even with NAFTA and CAFTA. One of the things President Trump has been advocating is negotiating one-on-one agreements with other nations, not multilateral ones. I think, long-term, this could be very beneficial.”

Trump also has indicated that he wants to renegotiate NAFTA, but the details of such and how it would affect yarn spinners are unclear at this point. “We [the textile industry] are a relatively small part of NAFTA, and I think that, overall, it has benefited all partners involved. This has been around for so long that it is entrenched in our way of doing business.

I am not really sure what, if any, additional benefits our industry could get by going back to the negotiating table.”

Raw Material Prices Up

Raw materials prices, both in polyester and cotton, continue to escalate.
Yet, as a result of sluggish sales, some manufacturers are having difficulty
passing those costs along. “Cotton is up over $0.70 per pound now, and everything else is costing a little more. But we get a lot of push-back when we try to pass those prices along. But, at some point, we are going to have to do it.”

January/February 2017

January/February 2017: Textile Activity At A Glance

BFBarometersJanFeb17

January/February 2017

Messe Frankfurt North America Turns 25

Atlanta-based Messe Frankfurt Inc., the North American subsidiary of Germany-based trade show company Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Messe Frankfurt North America organizes 10 trade shows in the United States, Canada and Mexico including the textile events Texworld USA, the International Apparel Sourcing Show, Home Textiles Sourcing Expo, Techtextil North America and Texprocess USA.

“… Messe Frankfurt North America has been representing both the tradition and the success of the company and its customers in exemplary fashion for 25 years,” said Detlef Braun, member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “This not only applies for our trade shows on the North American continent but also for thousands of American customers whom Messe Frankfurt North America helps every year to tap into international markets at 138 trade shows around the globe.”

“We are proud to have served the North American market for many years, but to be celebrating a 25-year-milestone with a U.S. based regional office is an honor and we hope to continue to bring value to the exhibition and events industry while continuing to serve U.S., Canadian and Mexican exporters and buyers that attend our events overseas,” said Dennis Smith, president and CEO, Messe Frankfurt North America.

January/February 2017

Walmart Foundation Announces Manufacturing Innovation Fund Grant Recipents

Bentonville, Ark.- based Walmart and The Walmart Foundation have announced the recipients of the third and final round of U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund grants. Six universities — Washington State, North Carolina State University, Clemson University, Oregon State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Massachusetts — were awarded grants totaling almost $3 million during the recent 85th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington. The grants will assist man-made and natural fiber research projects as well as research in dyeing, printing and finishing.

Since 2014, the Innovation Fund has awarded a total of $10 million in grants to help develop the U.S. domestic manufacturing industry in a feasible, sustainable and competitive way.

“Advancing the production or assembly of consumer products in the U.S. is the number one goal of the Innovation Fund,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “As these projects come to fruition over the next few years, we hope the research not only enables cost-effective solutions for manufacturers, but also improves the sustainability of the U.S. textile industry.”

January/February 2017

New Jobs For Rutherford County, N.C.

Everest Textile USA — a unit of Taiwan-based apparel manufacturer Everest Textile Co Ltd. — has announced it plans to invest $18.5 million over the next five years to establish a manufacturing plant near Forest City, N.C., in Rutherford County. The facility will employ as many as 610 associates once it is fully operational and add an approximately $15.8 million annual payroll impact to the local economy. Everest supplies high-performance sports, casual and other apparel to well-known brands including Nike, Columbia and Patagonia. The plant in Rutherford county is the company’s first outside of Asia, where it has facilities in Taiwan, China and Thailand.

“North Carolina’s outstanding business climate offers great advantages to global manufacturers such as Everest Textiles,” said North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory. “We are thrilled that this innovation-based textile company has selected our state and its tradition of high-quality manufacturing to build its presence in the Americas.”

“Everest positions itself as one of the leading global enterprises and commits to contribute to human society by providing innovative, environmentally friendly and comfortable textile products to the industry and consumers,” said Scott Chen, corporate vice president. “There is still a long way for us to go and your continuous support is essential. Trust we will all work together to make it happen.”

The investment will be facilitated in part by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee. Under the terms of the JDIG, Everest is eligible to receive approximately $3 million in total reimbursements paid annually over 12 years as long as the company meets targets for investment and job creation.

January/February 2017

Textile World Names Executive Editor

BornemanBy James M. Borneman, Editor In Chief

Textile World has been very fortunate through the years to employ a great team both visible and invisible to TW’s all-important readers. One member of the team, Rachael Davis, joined the editorial team almost 17 years ago — and her Bachelor of Science in Polymer and Textile Chemistry from the Atlanta-based Georgia Institute of Technology was immediately put to good use.

Rachael began as an assistant editor at the then America’s Textile International (ATI) magazine. Her knowledge of textiles helped her quickly learn how to assess content and prioritize news about the industry. Over the years, she moved through the ranks of editorial positions from assistant to associate editor and later to managing editor of TW, a position she has held for some time.

Rachael has expanded her role well beyond the scheduling and copy editing responsibilities typically associated with managing editor duties. Today, she provides show coverage, and writes features and most of the departments in the magazine. She also is behind the scenes working on TextileWorld.com and the group’s e-newsletters.

It is a great honor to recognize Rachael’s service to TW, the value she adds in service to TW readers and share with you her advancement to the position of executive editor.
A wise man once offered the advice, “Do the job and you’ll get the job,” and that couldn’t be more true in her case. The current issue is a case in point — largely planned, edited and, in some cases, written by Rachael.

She will be covering many of the upcoming shows and taking pictures — and as always, will be on the lookout for new technology and industry news to add value to the magazine.

It is not common today to be associated with one company for so long, but the textile industry seems to promote and respect longevity. With experience come relationships — relationships and knowledge that make the industry perform at a very high level. Rachael, over time and with the help of friends and associates, has strengthened the TW offerings and deserves much of the credit for the magazine’s content.

This was the first year the textile team performed independently as Textile Industries Media Group LLC without the shelter of longtime owner Billian Publishing Inc. — and what a year it was! As owner and publisher of the company, I’d like to thank all team members, the continued generous support of advertisers and sponsors, longtime readers and members of the industry for making this year a success.

So many friends have offered their help and support to TW. Many vendors treated us as a long-term client rather than a new company and that consideration is much appreciated.

Transitions and change are difficult, but they also provide opportunity, and I thank the staff for seizing those opportunities to make the magazine better for TW readers.

jborneman@TextileWorld.com

January/February 2017

Itema Exhibits The Brand-New Rapier Weaving Machine R9500denim At DTG Dhaka Int’l Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition

COLZATE, Italy — February 2017 — Itema, the world’s largest privately held provider of advanced weaving solutions, is exhibiting at DTG — the 14th Dhaka Int’l Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition.

Born from the successful mergers and acquisitions over the years of legendary textile machinery brands, such as Somet, Sulzer and Vamatex, Itema is headquartered in Northern Italy’s Bergamo area — a historic cradle of the Italian textile industry — and is uniquely positioned as the only manufacturer in the world to provide all three top weft insertion technologies — rapier, airjet and projectile.

Bangladesh has always been a key market for the Ccmpany, with an impressive installed base of Sulzer and Somet weaving machines going back to the early 1960s and still running today in the Country’s mills.

During DTG, Itema will showcase for the first time in Bangladesh the rapier weaving machine R9500denim, the brand-new product concept launched in October 2016 during ITMA Asia. The machine is dedicated exclusively and especially to denim mills in search of customized solutions to respond faster, more effectively and efficiently to changing denim trends with versatile, high-performance, ad-hoc machinery.

“Bangladesh is where a large part of the denim apparel we wear becomes ready-made clothing. If you consider that the Country’s weaving mills weave today around 45 million meters of denim fabrics, which covers only around 15 percent of the annual demand of garmenting companies, and spend almost  $4 billion to import fabric, you can imagine what a huge opportunity producing indigo fabric locally could be for the Bangladeshi industry” said Itema Group Sales & Marketing Director Christian Straubhaar. “We, at Itema, are ready to actively support denim mills with our rapier R9500denim designed especially for markets like Bangladesh, to provide weavers with the perfect machine engineered for the highest performance, superior fabric quality, lower running costs and maximum versatility of patterns needed to excel in denim production” continued Straubhaar.

The Itema R9500denim comes fully accessorized and equipped with dedicated devices, including the new main motor with oil cooling to ensure unparalleled machine performances. Unrivalled textile versatility is guaranteed by the unique Itema shed geometry, widely recognized in the industry as best-in-class, and the SK weft transfer system featuring reinforced rapier heads and tapes optimized to weave denim weft yarns.

The R9500denim at DTG will weave a heavy 14-ounce denim, thus highlighting Itema machines’ unique-in-the-market ability to produce even the most demanding and heavy denim styles, due to the sturdy machine structure and to the renowned Itema shed geometry. Even though the 2,200 millimeter width of the machine may not seem usual for the Bangladeshi denim weavers, the aim of Itema is to introduce the latest trend in the global denim market related to weaving machines width necessary to weave stretch and super stretch denim.

Updeep Singh, Itema India managing director, added: “We are excited to take DTG as the opportunity to demonstrate to the Bangladeshi weavers visiting DTG our most innovative, latest- generation weaving technology, as well as our full and value-added service capabilities. Our company is structured and organized to answer in real time to every customer’s request, providing a fast and efficient after-sales service, accurate hands-on training courses and active textile consultancy also through our Indian branch.”

The 14th edition of DTG is open to visitors from February 23-26.

Posted February 20, 2017

Source: Itema

Archroma Adds To Color Atlas With New Portable 2-Volume Set

REINACH, Switzerland — February 20, 2017 — Archroma today launched a portable version of its popular Color Atlas system at the ‘Sourcing at MAGIC’ fashion industry shows in Las Vegas, Nev.

The new Compact Color Atlas includes the same 4,320 color swatches as the original, but is condensed from six to two slim volumes for increased mobility. Selling for a fraction of the price, the compact edition is also a first entry option for smaller brands and up-and-coming designers willing to access a best-in-class color management tool, It’s also a great additional option for companies who might like to expand Archroma’s tools within their organization.

The Compact edition includes 2.5 x 2.5 cm (1” x 1”) single-layer color swatches, while lighter colors are represented with two-layer swatches in order to more faithfully present a hue’s true appearance. This edition’s swatches are securely attached to the page, as opposed to the full edition’s removable swatch interface.

“Whether a designer is traveling around the world on an inspirational journey, or just across town to a corporate office, the Compact Color Atlas offers portability and flexibility, complementing the full Color Atlas’s capabilities,” says Chris Hipps, Archroma Color Management’s director of global operations. “This is also a great introduction to the program for young brands and design talent.”

Posted February 20, 2017

Source: Archroma

Québec Linge Appoints Sol-Ange Theriault As General Manager Of The Québec City Branch

QUÉBEC CITY — February 20, 2017 — Québec Linge, a leading textile rental services and supply company in Québec, today announced the appointment of Sol-Ange Theriault to the position of general manager at its Québec City branch. Theriault will have fiscal and operational oversight over the entire branch and affiliated service centers.

“Theriault’s industry experience and commitment to customer service will help her drive growth and continued success in this market,” said Andrew Steiner, senior vice president of Canadian Operations for Québec Linge. “I am very confident in her abilities as a customer experience advocate and operational leader.”

Sol-Ange has worked for the company for over 17 years in various sales and service roles including customer administration manager, sales manager, route training supervisor and customer service manager. She has also worked for Safety Kleen and Clean Harbors in various capacities. Sol-Ange and her husband Philippe live in the Québec region with their children.

Posted February 20, 2017

Source: Québec Linge

Québec Linge Appoints New General Manager At Montréal Branch

MONTRÉAL — February 20, 2017 — Québec Linge today announced the appointment of Francois Mercier to the position of general manager of its Montréal branch. Mercier has more than 17 years of industry experience in various operations, sales and service roles, most recently as general manager for the company’s Québec City branch.

“Mercier’s sales and service experience, along with his strong leadership and industry knowledge, has earned him the respect and trust of his supervisors and peers,” said Andrew Steiner, SVP of Canadian Operations for Québec Linge. “He has had notable success in Québec City and I am confident he will accomplish great things in Montréal, as well.”

Mercier will have fiscal and operational oversight over the entire branch and affiliated service centers. He and his wife Guylaine will be relocating to Montréal as he assumes his new position.

Posted February 20, 2017

Source: Québec Linge

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