The persistent economic slowdown, socio-political unrest and industrial turmoil across the world have inevitably affected the global textile industry. Despite these setbacks, the industry is thriving relentlessly. For example, retail giants like Wal-Mart, JC Penney and Sears are expanding their businesses to multiple locations in the world, even though they have suffered financial losses in the recent times. For the people who are part of this industry, textile industry information and updates like this are pivotal for future business forecasting and their future course of action.
Current Industry News
According to a prominent online textile journal, the current industry news portrays a mixed scenario. The first news is about the retail giant Gap Inc., which depicts the company’s new approach of accommodating consumers by upgrading their omnichannels for a unique shopping experience. They are also expanding their ‘Reserve in Store’ capability to the Banana Republic stores across various locations in the US.
Another news item is that wool pricing is showing a little downward trend contrary to its sudden rise during the last few months. Pricing has dropped by 3.0% in terms of dollar value between October and November this year. This is due to the inconsistent demand and increased value of the Australian dollar.
The dynamic apparel industry is not devoid of news and updates. The news journal has reported that the Western apparel manufacturers have appealed for heightened security due to the rising violence in Bangladesh.
Finally, an update on the Swedish retailer H&M has announced ‘Fair Living Wage’ for its factory workers to ensure right compensation and payments for overtime work.
Keeping regular news and updates is crucial for manufacturers, importers/exporters, suppliers and others. Due to the global reach of the textile industry, these people are logistically connected to one another, in most cases due to a wide range of business transactions that take place.
Let’s have a look at some of the major areas to understand the trends of the textile industry:
1. Market Demand
This is one of the basic factors that drive new trends in the market. Consumers’ taste in fabrics and design changes fast as per their lifestyles, seasonal requirements and industrial requirements. Market demands have set some specific trends that are followed by both manufacturers and retailers.
2. Fluctuation in Labor and Productivity Cost
Fluctuation in labor cost and productivity happens frequently. If these critical factors are not managed or controlled efficiently, they may cause disruption in business in the textile market. For example, labor issues in countries like India and Bangladesh have crippled their production temporarily.
3. Development of Advanced Textile Technology
Breakthroughs in terms of new technologies in the textile domain, and their successful deployment lead to better products. These technologies help in a faster manufacturing process, improved quality and methodologies to create new fibers, and cost-effectiveness.
All the latest events and updates on new product development, labor unrest, import/export policies, credit crunches in various nations, announcements on growth expansion and numerous other news builds up as trends in the industry, which subsequently get replaced by some other important news and events. So, keep track of these latest happenings as they have become essential to stay in touch with the pulse of this industry.