Textile industry trade associations in the United States and other countries pressing for an
extension of textile and apparel import quotas beyond the planned deadline of 2005, are convening a
major summit to plan strategies to gain support from their governments for their efforts. An
announcement for the summit, to be held in Brussels, June 15-17, said its purpose is to bring world
industry leaders together to plan common action to persuade the World Trade Organization (WTO) to
address what they say will be a catastrophic fallout as a result of eliminating import quotas by
Jan. 1, 2005. To date, 71 trade associations from 38 countries have signed onto the so-called
Istanbul Declaration, which calls for an extension of quotas until Dec. 31, 2007. The declaration,
in part, says: Numerous studies have shown if quotas are removed by Jan. 1, 2005, global textile
and clothing trade will be monopolized by a few countries such as China. The consequence will be
massive job disruption and business bankruptcies in dozens of countries dependent upon textile and
clothing exports.The Istanbul Declaration calls on the WTO to act immediately to extend the
deadline for implementing the final stages of the phase out. It suggests that during the interim
period, WTO members should undertake a full review of global textile and apparel production and
export and market circumstances in order to determine an appropriate alternate arrangement. It
calls for an emergency session of the WTO no later than July 1 to discuss the proposal.While
momentum behind the Istanbul Declaration is gaining strength, no government has as yet voiced its
support, and the US government has stated its strong opposition to any extension of quotas. US
textile interests have succeeded in getting 80 members of the US House of Representatives and the
Senate to agree to write President Bush urging him to change that position.
June 2004
Textile Associations Plan Trade Summit
Cotton Art Enables Transfer Printing On Natural Fiber Fabrics
Transfertex GmbH & Co. Thermodruck KG, Germany, in association with The Netherlands-based
Klieverik Heli BV and Denmark-based Dansk Transfertryk A/S, has developed a new reactive printing
technology that enables transfer printing on cellulosic fiber fabrics. The Cotton Art process now
enables transfer printing traditionally possible only on polyester and polyester-blend fabrics on
cotton, viscose and other natural fabrics. First patented by Dansk and developed for the market by
Transfertex, Cotton Art is a combination of the traditional transfer printing process and the cold
pad batch system. Rotogravure technology is used to create detailed shades, patterns and other
effects.
Due to lack of heat dwell time, 30 meters of fabric per minute may be printed using the new
process. According to Transfertex, other benefits include reduced use of chemicals and dyestuffs,
as well as reduced sampling costs. The company has developed thousands of designs in numerous color
combinations and variations.
June 2004
Küsters Introduces Twin Calender
Germany-based Eduard Küsters Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG’s Nonwoven Division recently
introduced a Twin Calender that enables the changing of a pattern or the switching from embossing
to bonding within minutes.
The company said the calender can be equipped with the Hot-S-Roll or the HyCon-Roll. The
standard calender provides for material widths of up to 6 meters and production speeds of up to
1,000 meters per minute. In addition, the parked roll can be replaced during production, thus
improving flexibility and cutting set-up time, according to Küsters.
June 2004
Are You Falling Behind?
C
elebrating technical development with the
Textile World
Innovation Award provides an opportunity to observe the highest level of technology in a
global textile industry.
US-based investment in technology is another matter. Business Week recently reported that many
US factories are falling behind, saying: “It becomes a vicious cycle. With few prospects for big
returns, it’s hard for many manufacturers to justify money for new equipment. That, of course,
means they’re hamstrung as they try to lift productivity, which makes them an even poorer prospect
for further investment.” And with regard to investments made overseas: “Fact is, as fast as
American factories have improved productivity and cut costs, foreign competitors in Asia and Europe
have charged ahead even faster.”
Whether or not you believe it is fair to criticize US manufacturing’s capital investment
challenge without pointing to trade fairness issues, it is clear that improvements in technology,
innovation and investments are happening globally. Textiles continues to evolve as an essential
manufacturing industry and as the engine of economic growth for many developing countries.
With the US shake-out of so many plants, the challenge remains to focus on the future. That
focus must move past the promise of significant policy changes from the US government and stake a
claim in the future of textiles.
Easier said than done? You bet. But for US firms, little choice remains. Focus on the niches,
chase value-added, rationalize operations, scratch out a margin any way possible, and don’t forget
to take seriously new demands on sales and marketing. Yes, the industry needs to learn new ways to
reach its customers.
US textile manufacturers don’t deserve a kick in the teeth, but few critics want to hear the
problems the industry has faced in recent years. As Business Week states: “[M]any manufacturers
shifted to an end-game strategy in the second half of the 1990s. Rightly or wrongly, they skimped
on capital spending and innovation, assessing that the payoff just wasn’t there. Between 1995 and
2001, when the most recent data [end], the stock of equipment and software used by manufacturers
increased by only 19 percent. That’s far smaller than the 43-percent increase in the rest of the
private sector. And while manufacturers spent $109 billion of their own funds on research and
development in 2001, some 67 percent of that was in high tech, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment,
or autos. On average, other manufacturing industries devoted less than 2 percent of domestic sales
to R&D.” That is not an impressive view of domestic manufacturers, and it begs the question: Is
your company falling behind?
There is a passion and a will in the US textile industry to move forward — to find a way into
the future. It is impossible to cut your way to growth — or cut your way to innovation. And
innovation is key to success — and key to survival.
Cotton Incorporated, Pantone Enter Alliance
Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated and Carlstadt, N.J.-based Pantone Inc. recently entered into a
marketing agreement under which Cotton Incorporated will use Pantone’s color system in making
fashion apparel and home fashions color forecasts. Pantone’s system consists of more than 1,900
shades.
“Many clients have requested Pantone numbers that most closely match the colors in our
forecasts,” said Ira Livingston, senior vice president, consumer marketing, Cotton Incorporated.
“This licensing arrangement benefits our customers, saving them the time it would take to match our
forecasts to Pantone numbers.
”
June 2004
FARO Adds HighRES Solution To Laser Tracker
FARO Technologies Inc., Lake Mary, Fla., has integrated La Jolla, Calif.-based HighRES Inc.’s LITE
Reverse Engineering Software Module plug-in with the FARO Laser Tracker. The company now ships the
module with all new Laser Trackers. According to FARO, the HighRES module eliminates the need to
import 3-D data from stand-alone platforms and enables users to work directly with CAD/CAM programs
such as SolidWorks, Autocad, Mechanical Desktop/Inventor, Mastercam and CADKEY.
June 2004
Cotton Prices Confusing
T
here is confusion throughout the cotton supply chain about where cotton prices are
headed. Recent fundamentals, including Chinese demand for cotton, US retail demand, and rising oil
and man-made fiber prices, appear to point toward higher cotton prices. However, cotton prices have
stayed low.
On the surface, this seems to be a good thing for the mills. Unfortunately, in most cases,
mill buyers haven’t really been able to take advantage of the trend because indicators have caused
them to lock into prices too early and watch prices continue to fall.
“The cotton market has punished the people who have followed it with discipline this year,”
said one cotton buyer. “The people who use cotton no longer control the futures market. The theory
was that over time, the fundamentals would apply. Now, nobody knows when they will start to apply.”
Cotton’s recent price behavior has defied modeling, reducing confidence in future price
projections.
“In any given year, cotton prices will be driven by the perceived supply/demand situation,
taking into account cotton as well as competing fibers, especially polyester staple,” said a cotton
industry observer. “The influence of the latter has been underestimated in recent years, while the
world was busy pointing to the US cotton program as a price depressant.”
Future Of Cotton Subsidies Uncertain
Perhaps the biggest story recently is the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) apparent ruling
that US cotton subsidies create unfair competition for Brazil, which had filed a complaint. The
report hasn’t officially been released — someone leaked the ruling.
“If press accounts of the WTO panel’s ruling are true, the case will be appealed,” said a
cotton analyst. “If any parts of the initial ruling are upheld, there would be an undetermined
period of time for the US program to be brought into compliance.”
Every Yarn Market respondent agreed the ruling should have little effect in the near future,
but may have long-term consequences. How big the potential consequences might be depends on whom
you ask. Right now, cotton producers and merchants appear more anxious than the mills.
“It’s a real issue,” said a cotton merchant. “It could have a huge effect on the US cotton
program. It sounds like it essentially attacks all aspects of cotton marketing.”
Higher Quality Cotton In Demand
While cotton producers and the mills haven’t always agreed about improvements in fiber quality,
everyone in the cotton chain appears to be excited about new cotton varieties and their quality
potential.
“While quality improvements have not materialized at the pace textile manufacturers would
have preferred, improvements are being made,” said one cotton expert. “Importantly, there are a
number of short-season and full-season varieties that promise further improvements in length,
strength and micronaire.”
He noted that for the five-year period ending with the 1992 crop year, 70 percent of the US
crop averaged strict low middling (SLM) or better; for the five-year period ending with the 2002
crop year, 80 percent of the crop averaged SLM or better; and average fiber strength increased from
26.9 to 28.2 grams-force per tex. Uniformity data (available since 1995) have improved slightly,
from 80.9 to 81.1 percent. Staple length has remained relatively unchanged, and average micronaire
has increased from 41.0 to 44.9.
One mill manager offered a different view. “This past year was the first in the last five or
six that we feel the quality improved. We are all hoping this year will show us it wasn’t just
really good weather in ‘03-’04, but better seed varieties that are giving us better micronaire,
length and strength.”
That leads to another point: international competition demands better cotton quality, and new
varieties are key.
“I have to buy better cotton for our yarn mills than I used to in order to compete,” said one
mill executive. “Ring spinning has been much healthier than open-end. To spin the counts that go
into the market, we have to insist on 1 1/8-inch cotton and at least 28 grams per tex. We have to
increase our specs to keep up with international competition.”
June 2004
Reeves Brothers Acquires Lloyd Product Line
Spartanburg-based Reeves Brothers Inc. has acquired the custom calendered product line of Warren,
R.I.-based Lloyd Manufacturing Corp. for an undisclosed amount of cash. Lloyd will continue
operations at the Warren location under the direction of existing senior management staff.
Commenting on the acquisition, Glen Hussmann, president and CEO, Reeves Brothers, said the
Lloyd calendered product line compliments the Reeves Brothers product range and expands the
applications that its products serve.
June 2004
Additional National Sizing Survey Data Released
Additional body measurement data taken as part of SizeUSA – the National Sizing Survey conducted in
13 cities by the Textile/Clothing Technology Corp. ([TC]
2), Cary, N.C., and sponsored by the US Department of Commerce and other industry
participants – is now available from [TC]
2. A preliminary review of the data shows that waists increase the most with age, most
of the 6,310 women surveyed are pear-shaped, and most of the 3,691 men surveyed have chests larger
than their hips. “We expect that sponsors and purchasers of the report data will incorporate the
findings into their sizing specifications to produce better-fitting garments for a larger portion
of the US population,” said Karen Davis, marketing/communications specialist, [TC]
2.
June 2004
TEMCO Introduces Jet Insert
TEMCO Textilmaschinenkomponenten GmbH, Germany, has developed the LE11.Y14A jet insert for
texturizing man-made yarns. Designed for TEMCO’s LD22 interlacing jet, the insert features
innovative surface geometry to optimize interlacing conditions inside the yarn channel. With the
insert, the jet can operate at a lower pressure range starting at 2.2 bars. A smaller-diameter
airflow opening reduces air consumption, which, according to TEMCO, provides energy savings of 10
percent when compared with competitive models.
June 2004
