The weakness in trade in China, the world’s second-largest economy, continued in July 2016. China’s exports fell again in July by an unexpectedly wide margin. Exports fell by 4.4 per cent to $184.7 billion, of course, a slight improvement over June’s 4.8 per cent contraction, the country’s customs data showed. On the other hand, imports fell 12.5 per cent to $132.4 billion rising from a decline of 8.4 per cent. Weak global demand has hampered efforts to shore up Chinese trade and stave off job losses in export industries.

Karl Mayer has produced the first warp preparation machine for the warp knitting sector that can offer both: direct and sectional warping. The DS Opto-EC is an efficient machine with a broad portfolio.
A targeted look at different technologies with similar objectives often reveals synergistic effects that can be used to great advantage – as the example of the DS Opto-EC developed by KARL MAYER shows. This innovative warp preparation machine combines sectional warping in weaving preparation with direct warping in warp knitting preparation on the basis of a universal hybrid principle. The result of this clever combination is maximum flexibility and economic viability when producing warp beams for warp knitting.

The sharp rise of over 35 per cent in domestic cotton prices since May 2016 will squeeze ginners and spinners profitability by over 15 per cent, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). Ind-Ra expects prices to remain elevated around the current levels of Rs 120 per kg to Rs 127 per kg till the end of the cotton crop year of September 2016. The spike in cotton prices will adversely impact the profitability of pure cotton ginners and spinners due to their inability to pass on this steep increase to their customers, at once, due to decreasing cotton demand and increased competitiveness of manmade fibre.

The monitoring of production data is becoming more and more important in modern manufacturing operations. Furthermore, in view of tight processing schedules, unplanned machine stoppages are also expensive and have to be dealt with as quickly as possible. In this case, the first step is to make absolutely clear what the problem is. The machine manufacturer’s technical support personnel need the customer to supply all the relevant data relating to the situation on site, and this must be done without any mistakes, and as clearly and quickly as possible.

Sustainability today covers everything, especially in textiles, where the supply chain is quite complicated and long. There is a plethora of certifications, but these alone will not effect change. In 1988, the first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, was applied to packs of Mexican coffee sold in Dutch supermarkets. At the time, using a product label to say something about standards in a supply chain was revolutionary, but today it is routine. The Ecolabel Index currently lists 463 certifications in 199 countries, according to a ‘The Guardian’ Report.

HGH India 2016, fifth annual edition of the trade show for home textiles, home décor, gifts & houseware, received an overwhelming response from the trade and industry. About 25,000 trade visitors, primarily retailers from 422 cities and towns covering all states of India attended this trade show in Mumbai to source home products for their business and discover upcoming home fashion trends for 2016-17. Over 450 leading Indian and International brands and manufacturers from 30 countries unveiled their innovations and new collections at HGH India 2016.

The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, known as TEXPROCIL, has been the international face of cotton textiles from India facilitating exports worldwide. The Council connects international buyers with appropriate suppliers and facilitates interaction that enables them to source their specific needs. Siddhartha Rajagopal, Executive Director, Texprocil, provides some wish-list for the industry and the Government in boosting cotton consumption in India.

SPGPrints has launched its new range of NEBULA Acid HD (High Density) inks at Febratex 2016 (Hall 1, Stand 18), recently at Parque Vila Germanica, Blumenau, Santa Caterina, Brazil. The exhibition also marked the first showing in the Americas of the JAVELIN digital inkjet printer for companies printing up to two million metres of textiles annually.

Thanks to the charitable GoodTextiles Foundation most recently founded by Dibella, socially and ecologically engaged hotel guests and entrepreneurs can become involved in sustainable projects within the textiles value added chain. Use of the donations collected during the first initiative, the ‘GoodCotton Fund’, means that the living conditions of ecologically operating small cotton farmers will be improved. Dibella has been engaged for years now in sustainably produced hotel textiles.