From the Sector

Dibella supports organic Fairtrade cotton farmers in sourcing non-GMO seeds for the next harvest.

Together with the Chetna Organic cooperative, Dibella has long supported Indian smallholder farmers, on whose fields the organic Fairtrade cotton for the company's sustainable contract textiles grows. To secure the livelihoods of the smallholders, Dibella is taking action this year with a special measure: at the beginning of the new growing season, the company pre-finances the procurement of the genetically unmodified (GMO-free) seeds.

The beginning of the monsoon season (June to September) marks the start of the cotton year in India. The small family farms where the organic Fairtrade cotton for the sustainable Dibella range is grown prepare their fields for sowing. The seeds needed this year come directly from their buyer Dibella. The company organised and co-financed the procurement of the seeds together with the Chetna Organic cooperative.

Ending the debt trap
"At the beginning of the cotton season, smallholder farmers are often forced to take out a loan to finance the seeds they need. For this, very high double-digit interest rates are charged in India, which can lead to excessive debt for families, especially when there are crop failures due to pest infestations or unfavourable weather conditions, for example," reports Simon Bartholomes, Purchasing Manager at Dibella. "We decided years ago to break this vicious circle by pre-financing the genetically unmodified seed. It is procured by our partner Chetna Organic and distributed free of charge to the farming families whose organic cotton is processed into our organic Fairtrade textiles after the harvest. This year we have allocated a sum of USD 50,000 for this purpose.

Win-win situation
This measure offers advantages for all parties involved: Through direct access to the seeds, Dibella enables the farmer families to have a more adequate livelihood. At the same time, the farmers benefit from the expertise of Chetna Organic staff, who support them in organic farming. Dibella, in turn, covers its annual demand for organic Fairtrade cotton with a right of first refusal. This gives the company full control over its entire supply chain, which starts at the cotton field.

Perlon® - The Filament Company - headquartered in Munderkingen, Germany, which specializes in the manufacture of synthetic filaments for the Paper- Technical Textile - Brush- Personal- and Dental industry, buys Shaun Filaments in Goa, India.

Shaun Filaments is a leading Indian producer of different types of filaments mainly for the Asian market. Perlon® herewith expands its Asian presence and market leadership in the following business segments: Paper Machine Clothing, Advanced Technical Textiles, Technical Brush Filaments and Personal Care.

“With the acquisition of Shaun Filaments, we are expanding our presence in the Asian market and creating a company that is geared towards the global filament industry of the future and we are expanding our market leadership in all segments. Shaun Filaments is a perfect fit for the Perlon® Group with its long-term experience, strong reputation and knowledge in the production of filaments for the Asian market.” states Florian Kisling, CEO of Perlon®.

The Perlon® Group will take over Shaun Filaments with all employees and production lines located in the Shaun Filaments factory in Goa, India.

"Policy makers need to consider that global dimension."
 
EURATEX released its 2023 Spring Report, which analyses latest trade flows for textiles and clothing products.

In 2022, EU trade in textiles and clothing has exceeded, for the first time in history, the €200 billion mark. This record growth of total trade is mainly due to a sharp increase of clothing imports (+36,6% in value), especially from China and Bangladesh, which outweighs Europe’s positive export performance. As a result, the EU’s trade deficit in textiles and clothing has increased to €70 billion, which is 48% higher than the year before.

Such a growing deficit is a cause for concern; the objective of the EU’s Industrial Strategy to strengthen resilience and “strategic autonomy” is not happening. Instead, the dependency has increased, and becomes critical in certain raw materials and fibres.

It also challenges the Commission’s ambition is to promote – and prevail – high quality and sustainable textile products on the Single Market – regardless where they have been produced. With imports now reaching €140 billion, it will be a challenge to effectively control the quality and compliance over these imports. Market surveillance will need to be stepped up massively, without becoming a barrier to trade.

The efforts on the EU’s export performance need to be strengthened, so as to rebalance the European trade relations with the rest of the world. EU companies are world leader in high end fashion products and in technical textiles. More needs to be done to support their activities in established markets but also emerging economies. For instance, the ongoing FTA negotiations with India should focus on improving market access and ensure “fair” competition with local companies.

The EURATEX Spring Report highlights significant differences between trade in value and in volume. EU’s export of textile products has increased by 13% in value, but actually dropped by nearly 7% in volume. This obviously reflects the very high inflation figures from last year, caused initially by the rising energy prices and changing central bank policies. This in turn leads to uncertainty with the consumer, resulting in low demand and gloomy prospects for the entire value chain.

Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented on these latest figures: “This report confirms once again that “textiles” is one of the most globalised sectors of the European economy, and hence the importance of taking that global dimension into account, when designing EU and national policies. Failing to do so may have a devastating effect on the global competitiveness of the European textile industry.

Looking forward, he added: “It is essential to stabilise inflation, restore consumer confidence and ensure a level playing field for all operators in the textile industry. On that basis, European companies can prosper and offer quality jobs to 1.3 million workers”.

• Potential loss of competitiveness, caused by the EU’s inaction of the energy crisis, and Chinese and US subsidies to domestic industry

Following yesterday’s European Council summit and its conclusions on the measures to tackle the energy crisis, the European textiles industry is extremely concerned about the fast loss of competitiveness of Europe and demands urgent action to save the industry.

The chain of factors determining this sharp decline in competitiveness is twofold. First, the energy cost in Europe is more than 6 times higher than in the US, China, and neighbouring countries. This factor alone has almost erased the business case for producing in the EU. At present, many textiles and clothing companies are producing at net loss or have shut down production. The industrial conditions have worsened in such a way that there is no business case to invest in Europe or buy products produced or processed in the EU. It is only the sense of responsibility of the entrepreneurs towards the European society that is keeping the plants and production running.

Secondly, while the EU is passive and extremely slow in articulating a credible and effective response to the energy crisis, the main international competitors and trade partners (China, India and the US respectively) have developed comprehensive state-aid frameworks for their domestic industry despite not being affected by this crisis at all. The latest example is the 369-billion-dollar scheme of the Inflation Reduction Act rolled out by the Biden administration.

Recent trade data  already indicate a loss of global competitiveness: imports to the EU have grown tremendously in 2022 (+35% year-to-date). It is also evident that the surge in imports goes in parallel with the surge of natural gas price. It is expected that energy prices will remain high and volatile, opening the door for imports to gain substantial market shares in the EU.

The chart indicates the development of the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) until September 2022 since Eurostat data for Q4 2022 has not been published yet. Euratex is aware that the market situation has eased somewhat since in the past months, but the crisis remains because gas prices are still extremely high in comparison to last year. This suggests that the current loss of competitiveness of the EU manufacturing will not be recovered even with lower energy prices, unless measures are taken to correct the unlevel playing field on which the EU industry has to operate in the international markets. Only with an ambitious and comprehensive relaunch plan at EU level, Europe will be able to restore its credibility as a global manufacturing powerhouse and investments.

If the status quo is maintained, not only the EU will not be able to recover its competitive position on the global business stage, but it will also fail its plans to reach zero-net emissions and achieve circularity. It is evident that these ambitions - that the industry is passionately supporting - need massive capital investments. However, in the current scenario an investments diversion can only be expected to markets where governments are actively supporting those investments and energy costs are much lower – regardless of their fossil- or non-fossil origin.

The European textiles industry – the whole value chain, from fibres, nonwoven, to fabrics, clothing manufacturers - are facing unprecedented pressure deriving from the current geopolitical situation, the new macroeconomic conditions and unfair competition from third states. The situation is going to worsen if no emergency action is taken, especially because a recession is expected in the coming months.

The main structural component of the EU manufacturing are SMEs: these are economic actors that are particularly exposed to the current crisis as they do not have the financial leverage to absorb the impact of energy prices for much longer. Urgent EU action is needed to ensure their survival.

EURATEX calls on the EU political leaders in the Commission, in the European Council and in the national capitals to:

1. Raise the ambition and adopt a comprehensive approach at EU level: energy, state-aid and trade policy must be brought together in a single strategy with concrete emergency solutions and with a clear SME dimension;
    
2. Let all hesitations aside and adopt a meaningful price cap on natural gas wholesales, that should be ideally no higher than 80 euro/MWh. In parallel, it should also be ensured that electricity prices are brought to a sustainable price level;
    
3. Change the European posture on state-aid, even temporarily. An ambitious plan of investments and state-aid in green technologies to support the industrial transition should be rolled out.

Such a plan, however, should not be conceived as a retaliation against our most necessary and like-minded trade partners. Access to finance and markets must be safeguarded for all those actors who are capable and willing to invest in Europe, on the basis of reciprocity. In   these challenging times for geopolitical stability, ensuring strong trade ties with our traditional allies and partners is of utmost importance. The roll-out of an investment and state aid plan should not interfere, but rather support, the dialogue with the US (and other partners) and the deepening of our trade and investment partnership. Such a dialogue should be accelerated in the context of the TTC as well as at WTO level.

How can economic success be linked with product responsibility and more sustainability? More than 300 players and Hohenstein customers in the Indian textile industry accepted Hohenstein India's invitation to attend the Global Sustainability Conference in Gurugram, India, on November 10, 2022, and to obtain possible solutions to this question. The following day, numerous invited guests gathered at the Hohenstein laboratory site in Gurugram for the ceremonial inauguration of a new leather & footwear laboratory, the first of its kind in the global Hohenstein Competence Network. 

With the ceremonial opening by Prof. Dr. Mecheels, Dr. Christof Madinger, COO Hohenstein HTTI and Dr. Helmut Krause, Hohenstein Technical Director Softlines & Shoes, the starting signal was given for the new leather & footwear laboratory at the laboratory site in Gurugram on November 11, 2022. During tours, visitors were able to get a personal impression of the future focus of work on site: testing for harmful substances in accordance with the LEATHER STANDARD RSL and the subsequent certification of leather and footwear products in accordance with the OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD will in future ensure a lower market risk for brands, retailers and suppliers and comprehensive and reliable safety for consumers.

• Aims to tackle the immense textile waste generated in urban environments, on the back of import bans of waste materials
• Addresses the shortcomings of current textile recycling technologies, which are unsuitable for urban settings due to the use of heavy chemicals
• Technologies developed by the newly-formed RGE-NTU Sustainable Textile Research Centre will be test-bedded in RGE’s pilot urban-fit textile recycling plant, projected for completion as early as 2024

Royal Golden Eagle (“RGE”), a global group of resource-based manufacturing companies, which includes a world-leading viscose fibre producers Sateri and Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), is developing urban-fit, closed-loop textile-to-textile recycling solutions, through the newly-formed RGE-NTU Sustainable Textile Research Centre (RGE-NTU SusTex). This is a five-year research collaboration between RGE and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (“NTU”), to accelerate innovation in textile recycling that can be deployed in urban settings. The research centre will develop new technologies to recycle textile waste into fibre and create new, next-generation eco-friendly and sustainable textiles.

This move comes on the back of the tightening of waste import bans in countries such as China, India and Indonesia, which are among the world’s largest waste processors. The stricter import bans have left cities in need of viable local textile recycling solutions to tackle the immense textile waste generated.

RGE Executive Director, Mr Perry Lim, said, “Current textile recycling technologies, which rely primarily on a bleaching and separation process using heavy chemicals, cannot be implemented due to environmental laws. At the same time, there is an urgent need to keep textiles out of the brimming landfills.” He added, “As the world’s largest viscose producer, we aim to catalyse closed-loop, textile-to-textile recycling by developing optimal urban-fit solutions that can bring the world closer to a circular textile economy.”

Globally, an estimated 90 million tonnes of textile waste is generated and disposed of every year, with less than 1% being upcycled into new clothing or other textile materials. By 2030, the amount of global textile waste, which currently accounts for almost 10% of municipal solid waste, is expected to reach more than 134 million tonnes. The textile industry is also responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than international flights and maritime shipping combined.

At present, most of the available textile recycling technologies are open-loop, where textile waste is typically downcycled to lower-quality products (insulating materials, cleaning cloths, etc.) or be used in waste-to-heat recycling.

“Closed-loop textile-to-textile recycling processes, particularly chemical recycling, are still under development. Scaling up the technologies to industrial scale remains a challenge. A key bottleneck is that refabricating textile waste into fibre needs purity standards for feedstock. However, most of the clothes that we wear are made of a mixture of different synthetic and natural fibres, which makes separating the complex blends of materials challenging for effective recycling.

“Our aim is to address this industry pain point by developing viable solutions that use less energy, fewer chemicals and produces harmless and less effluents, and then potentially scale up across our global operations,” Mr Lim said.

To tackle the key challenges in closed-loop textile recycling, RGE-NTU SusTex is looking into four key research areas, namely cleaner and more energy efficient methods of recycling into new raw materials, automated sorting of textile waste, eco-friendly dye removal, and development of a new class of sustainable textiles that is durable for wear and, at the same time, lends itself to easier recycling.

Technologies developed by RGE-NTU SusTex will be test bedded at RGE’s pilot urban-fit textile recycling plant in Singapore, which is projected for completion as early as 2024. If successful, RGE has plans to replicate the plant in other urban cities within its footprint.

• Opportunity to rebalance trade relations and promote a global sustainable textile industry

Today’s trade relations between the EU and India in textiles and clothing are characterised by a large and systemic trade deficit for the EU; annual imports from India exceed €6 bln (2021) – making it the 4th supplier – while EU exports to India reached just half a billion – the 20th place in our export markets.

Against this background, the free trade negotiations are an opportunity to rebalance that relationship; European textile and clothing companies can offer high quality and innovative products for the Indian market, but they can also offer solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of the textile industry.

EURATEX, as the voice of textiles and apparel manufacturers in Europe, supports an ambitious EU trade agenda, that puts reciprocity, transparency, fair competition and equal rules at the centre of its action. The FTA is an opportunity to establish a more sustainable and fair trading system, based on rules, global environmental and social standards, which are effectively respected by all.

In this context, EURATEX highlights that the sector needs open and efficient markets, but combined with effective controls where necessary, thus ensuring level playing field for European companies. It is clearly essential that the same level of market access to India – both in terms of tariff and non-tariff barriers – is available to EU producers as vice versa.

India today benefits from reduced customs duties due to GSP. For European companies instead, market access to India is challenging, facing non-tariff barriers (related to proof of origin, quality control procedures, etc.) as well as national or state-level support programmes which distort the level playing field between EU and Indian companies.

That level playing field should also apply to our sustainability targets. As the EU will roll out its EU Textile Strategy, setting ambitious standards and restrictions (e.g. on chemicals), we must ensure the FTA is fully aligned with that strategy.

Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented: “We look to these negotiations with great interest. The FTA is an opportunity to develop a shared ambition between the European and Indian industry to make sustainable textiles the norm, and to create a regulatory framework where our companies can compete in a free and fair environment.”

• Innovation begins with creativity
• A pioneer of the manmade fiber industry

When the manmade fiber age began a century ago, a German company was responsible for the pioneering work involved. Barmag, established in 1922, was one of the world’s first companies to construct machines for the large-scale production of synthetic staple fibers. To this day, the leading manufacturer of manmade fiber spinning systems and texturing machines in Remscheid – a brand under the aegis of the Swiss Oerlikon Group since 2007 – has shaped technological progress in this sector; in future, with ever more innovations focusing on sustainability and digitalization.

Barmer Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft (Barmag) is founded in Barmen, located in the Bergische Land region, on March 27, 1922. The German and Dutch founders enter unchartered technological territory, one created as the result of a groundbreaking invention: in 1884, French chemist Count Hilaire Bernigaud de Chardonnet used nitrocellulose to produce the first so-called artificial silk, later known as rayon. The following decades see rapid development focusing on the search for synthetic textile fibers and their manufacturing technologies. As one of the first machine factories, Barmag battles its way through the eventful early years of the manmade fiber industry, the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and the Great Depression – and suffers the extensive destruction of its factories at the end of World War Two. Rebuilding is successful. With the unstoppable success story of purely synthetic plastic fibers such as polyamide, the company flourishes from the 1950s through to the 1970s, establishing sites in all international, for the textile industry at the time important, industrial regions and garnering prestige across the globe in the process. In the ups and downs of expansion, global competition and crises, Barmag reaches the very pinnacle of the market and becomes the preferred technological development partner for the manmade fiber industries in China, India and Turkey. The company has been a high-impact brand under the umbrella of the Oerlikon Group since 2007.

On the wings of innovation
Today, Oerlikon Barmag is a leading supplier of manmade fiber filament spinning systems and part of the Manmade Fibers Solutions business unit of the Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division. And our aspirations have not diminished: “The striving towards innovation and technological leadership has been, is and will always be part of our DNA”, emphasizes Georg Stausberg, CEO of Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions. In the past, this has been observable in such trailblazing innovations as the revolutionary WINGS generation of winders for POY in 2007 and WINGS for FDY in 2012. Currently, the focus of new and further developments is very much on digitalization and sustainability. Here, Oerlikon Barmag has – as one of the world’s first systems manufacturers – been implementing fully-networked smart factories for globally-leading polyester manufacturers since the end of the last decade. Within this context, digital solutions and automation are also helping to provide greater climate and environmental compatibility. This sustainability commitment is not only evidenced by the e-save label introduced for all products back in 2004: Oerlikon is endeavoring to also make all its sites carbon-neutral by 2030 and to acquire its energy exclusively from renewable sources. An ambitious target, whose achievement could be helped by the Oerlikon Barmag anniversary, states Georg Stausberg: “Innovation begins with creativity. And remembering the past provides plenty of motivation and inspiration for the future.”

Statement

On the occasion of the EU-Africa Business Summit, EURATEX is re-iterating the ambition of the European textile industry to grow its role on global markets, including the African continent.

The textile ecosystem is considered the 2^nd most globalised sector of the European economy ; it is built on globalised supply chains and fierce competition with China, US, Bangladesh, Turkey and many others. Imports are now peaking at €115 billion (ca. 60% garments and 40% textiles), with a dramatic increase of imported medical textiles (face masks) in 2020. Every year, 22 billion pieces of textile and garment products are brought into the EU Single market.

Europe’s answer to this competitive pressure must be to invest even more on quality and innovative products, made in a sustainable manner. As emerging markets evolve, the appetite for better quality, comfort and design will grow. The ability and willingness to purchase technical textiles, which offer solutions to durability and improved performance, will increase. That is where Europe can be successful. To illustrate: the EU’s exports to China have increased by 33% in 2021 (first 11 months).

In its vision paper on the future of European textiles and apparel, EURATEX has confirmed its ambition to increase the global market share of the European textile industry. Strengthening relations with nearby Turkey and North African countries is important in this regard, offering opportunities for nearshoring. The African continent at large offers trade and investment opportunities, provided the business climate is stable and transparent.

Relations with the UK and Switzerland need to be optimised; especially Brexit has caused serious damage to bilateral trade flows (-33% export to the UK during Jan-Nov 2021). The Mercosur FTA offers interesting opportunities for the European textile industry; it should be ratified as soon as possible. We need to work with the US on mutual recognition of standards and setting global environmental and social rules. We call upon India to make an honest proposal for the upcoming free trade negotiations, which will ensure full and fair access to the Indian market.

European textile and apparel companies (mostly SMEs) need to be accompanied to exploit these market opportunities. At the same time, they need to be protected from unfair competition, e.g. products who do not comply with stringent EU standards and procedures. This requires more effective market surveillance.

Maruti Printing transformed its business as the first printer in India to adopt the latest LED-UV curing technology from AMS Spectral UV, a Baldwin Technology Company. The hybrid system, which includes traditional UV modules, has been in production for nearly two years and has significantly expanded the offset printer’s capabilities for its customers, including adding the ability to print on all types of plastic substrates.

Not only does Maruti have the distinction of being an LED-UV trailblazer in India, but it also is first in the market to upgrade a high-speed, high-performance Heidelberg Speed Master 72F+L six-color printer with coating tower—which prints up to 15,000 sheets per hour—with AMS Spectral UV’s high-power AMS XP9-I Series LED-UV and P3 Smart UV curing modules.

Established in 1986 and headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Maruti serves customers throughout India, providing offset printing of scratch cards, banners, booklets, brochures, calendars, danglers, pamphlets, posters, stickers and envelopes.

In January 2020, Maruti took delivery of two AMS XP9-I Series LED-UV modules to cure colors in the interdecks. The modules are ideal for the highest-speed curing situations that require consistent peak intensity to the substrate, which is the case for Maruti’s offset printing standard of perfection with every cure.

To cure ink, as well as a growing variety of LED coatings, Baldwin’s AMS Spectral UV modules can be located after print units, or in the press delivery after the coater. When inks and coatings are cured with LED-UV, they become instantly dry via photopolymerization, allowing for printing on any substrate, including plastics and metallized stocks. Plus, work can be immediately finished and sent to the bindery once it comes off the press, without the need for heat, spray powder or drying time.

In addition, Maruti took delivery of two P3 Smart UV curing modules for installation at the end of the press to cure any type of UV coating and expand the company’s scope of coating compatibility to general UV coatings in order to offer its customers the widest range of UV printed choices in the Indian market.

The P3 Smart UV housings are completely liquid-cooled to ensure safe, consistent performance and increased uptime, and modules feature a universal design, so that any unit can fit any print unit location. P3 modules can be changed, inspected and cleaned quickly and easily, without tools, and lamps slide and lock into place smoothly and securely.

The durability of the equipment and its chipset was a critical deciding factor in India’s climate. The latest-generation power-and-control cabinets are dust- and moisture-resistant, allowing them to withstand extreme heat and humidity, as well as powder and airborne contaminants, making the equipment ideal for operation in stressful conditions anywhere in the world. AMS Spectral UV’s latest generation of LED chips, designed for the highest-intensity curing applications, enable the curing of LED inks and coatings at record-setting speeds. They are built with resilient components, and the semi-conductor components are sealed, which allows the chips to work in a variety of rugged environments. Additionally, integrated circuits incorporated into the design electronically protect the LEDs and the entire system.