Yarn Expo Spring opens tomorrow

Yarn Expo Spring 2019 opens tomorrow, inviting 468 exhibitors from 12 countries and regions, including new exhibitors from Egypt and France, to capture the potential of the yarn and fibre market in China and abroad. The fair will be held from March 12-14, 2019 along with four concurrent events, including Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, in hall 8.2 of the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai). Before the show, Yarn Expo spoke to new exhibitor Cotton Council International (CCI), to see why they are choosing to exhibit at the fair this week.

The broad range of products on offer at Yarn Expo includes natural cotton, linen and wool, as well as extensive options for fancy yarn, functional fibres and other specialty yarns – meaning buyers from all backgrounds can meet their sourcing needs at Yarn Expo. The fair has developed a strong reputation for gathering high-quality suppliers, such as CCI, who offer access to their sustainable COTTON USA licensed spinners. It’s this access to reputable upstream suppliers that attracts visitors who want to place orders for stand-out products.

“Manufacturing a high-quality finished product starts with using high-quality raw materials,” explained Karin Malstrom, Director of China & Northeast Asia at CCI in a pre-show interview, noting why they chose to exhibit at Yarn Expo Spring this year. “Our US Cotton Trust Protocol is the culmination of years of efforts and research to reduce the environmental footprint of the entire US cotton industry. Our whole US cotton industry is highly regulated and systemised by the US government. That’s why, if you use US cotton, you are already way ahead to becoming fully sustainable, transparent and traceable in your operations. We find that more and more consumers prefer natural fibres in performance garments, so this is a very exciting direction for us.”

Supported by the concurrent fairs taking place alongside Yarn Expo and the variety of sourcing options on offer, past editions of the fair have attracted additional buyers from throughout the entire textile supply chain. When asked about sourcing trends, CCI commented: “Recently, we’ve seen more companies seeking new and alternative ways to source high-quality materials. COTTON USA can provide excellent platforms for sourcing throughout the supply chain – from high-quality US cotton, to spinning, fabric and garment manufacturing, and even down to retail.”

Yarn Expo will also offer a springboard for exhibitors to capture the potential of the China market. CCI will showcase their global network of COTTON USA yarn licensees at the fair, creating opportunities for domestic visitors to source US cotton. “We feel that the timing is very good to introduce new and high quality sources of cotton and cotton-blended yarns to the market, especially in China,” observed CCI. “We can easily link Chinese manufacturers up with spinners anywhere in the world.”

The fair will see an increase in international exhibitor numbers, as well as domestic. This includes Yarn Expo Spring’s first ever exhibitor from France, as well as Yarn Expo’s first ever exhibitor from Egypt. Together with leading suppliers from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, the US, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, they will showcase products from around the world. 

Yarn Expo Spring 2019 will be held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition, PH Value and the China International Fashion Fair (CHIC). Yarn Expo Spring is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT.