From the Sector

DyStar is pleased to announce the release of its eleventh annual Sustainability Performance Report. The report is written in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option, while using the Integrated Reporting <IR> framework to communicate how DyStar drives value creation across multiple stakeholder groups in six capital categories, namely financial, manufactured, intellectual, natural, human capital and social capital.

In FY2020, COVID-19 has continued to present its challenges, such as the shortage of raw materials and rising freight costs. Gloomy global demand has also resulted in some raw and product material wastage in production plants worldwide, leading to increased non-hazardous waste output for FY2020. DyStar recognizes these global factors in play and will continue to make active efforts within the organization’s capability to reduce its environmental footprint in the years ahead.

The Group has set its sight on achieving the 2025 sustainability target of reducing its production footprint by 30% from 2011 levels for every ton of production. “We will continue to innovate and develop a wide range of products and processes that improve environmental performance and reduce carbon footprint across our value chain”, said Mr Xu Yalin, Executive Board Director of DyStar Group.

Mr Eric Hopmann, CEO of DyStar Group added: “We are also developing various projects in anticipation of future demands from customers as well as adopting more environmentally friendly technologies and improve our workflows and processes. Some of our projects include traceability programs, adopting renewable energy technologies, and digitalizing our business processes.” Understanding the importance of collaborative efforts to drive sustainability across the value chain, DyStar seeks to continually support industrial innovations and develop strategic partnerships to work towards becoming a sustainable and trusted leader in the industry.

European Textiles and Clothing (T&C) industry coming out of the Covid19-crisis, but facing new challenges ahead. This recovery may however be disrupted by the current supply chain and energy problems. Latest economic data on the European T&C industry confirm further recovery from the corona pandemic. The textile activity has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level from Q4 2019 (+3.6%); the clothing sector still remains 11.5% below, but continues to improve.

In quarter-on-quarter terms, the EU turnover showed signs of improvements across the sector. The textile turnover increased by +3.3% in Q2 2021, after slightly contracting in Q1 2021. Similarly, the business activity in the clothing sector expanded by +7% in Q2 2021, after increasing by +1% in the previous quarter.
 
In the 2nd quarter 2021, the EU-27 trade balance for T&C improved, resulting mostly from an increase of export sales across third markets and a drop of textile imports. T&C Extra-EU exports boomed by +49% as compared with the same quarter of the previous year. T&C Extra-EU imports went down by -26% as compared with the same quarter of the previous year, following a decrease of imports from some main supplier countries. EU imports from China and the UK collapsed due to a combination of Brexit and weaker demand in Europe.
 
During the second quarter of 2021, job creation was slowly stabilising in the textile industry (-0.2% q-o-q), while employment in the clothing sector continued to be affected by lower levels of production activity in industry during the first part of the year (-1.2%). When compared to its pre-pandemic level in Q4 2019, EU employment in Q2 2021 was still 4.4% down in textiles and 11.8% down in clothing.

However, this fragile recovery is hampered by higher shipping costs and prices’ increase in raw materials and energy. The cost of energy, in particular gas, has increased more than 3 times since the beginning of this year. Since the announcement of the EU’s “Fit for 55” package, we have seen CO2 prices rising above €60. This inevitably has an impact on the industry’s competitiveness, especially in a global context. The future recovery is also threatened by some factors limiting production, such as shortage of labour force and equipment, which are putting additional pressure on T&C industries.

Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented on these latest figures: “Our companies have shown great resilience during the pandemic, and their latest export performance is an encouraging sign of recovery. This recovery may however be disrupted by the current supply chain and energy problems. Once again, recent developments show that this transition towards more sustainable production can only work if organised in a global context, avoiding carbon leakage and with an effective level playing field. This must be considered in the upcoming EU Textiles Strategy.”

With PicConnect, a new fully digital platform, Picanol is offering a wide range of features, from industrial IoT to service-related applications. PicConnect is a web-based application that can be accessed through a web browser on any device and it functions as the gateway to all Picanol’s digital services. The platform is cloud-based and it allows connecting the Picanol weaving machines to the platform in order to leverage its full extent of possibilities.

“PicConnect enables weavers to quickly react to changes in the weaving room, and it will have an immediate impact on the performance of the weaving machines. It will not only change how weavers interact with their machines but also the way they interact with Picanol. For this reason, Picanol can boldly state that PicConnect is bringing weavers into the era of intuitive weaving,” comments Johan Verstraete, Vice President Weaving Machines.

The first four applications that will be launched as part of PicConnect are: production monitoring, energy monitoring, style administration, and PartsLine, which is Picanol’s new online webshop.

• HIGHER, FASTER, FURTHER ! During the first physical Frankfurt Fashion Week in January 2022, PREMIUM GROUP will show more novelties than ever.

The anticipation is rising! With the actual move to Frankfurt in January 2022, Anita Tillmann, Jörg Arntz and the teams will not only present further developed versions of the PREMIUM and SEEK fashion fairs, but will also celebrate a major B2C festival for the first time with THE GROUND.

More than ever, the Berliners‘ passion for people and fashion, but also for business and trading, is at the heart of all their events. And where better to combine all this than in the power metropolis of Frankfurt am Main.

„No city in Germany - no city in Europe - stands for business relevance and trading power as much as Frankfurt am Main,“ explains Tillmann. „We now have a unique opportunity to actively shape the future together. PREMIUM GROUP provides the industry with the platform, the brands with the creative content. In addition, we do what we do best, introduce the right players to each other and connect them. We bring together the movers and shakers who have the same drive as we do. With this new mix of location, entertainment, creative industry and trading focus, we are creating a unique momentum after the pandemic - January is when the big deals are made and the c ourse is set for the future.“

To achieve this goal, the PREMIUM GROUP teams have also given the proven successful formats PREMIUM and SEEK a new coat of paint. More space, new areas and shorter distances provide visitors with a completely new trade event experience. Trends, brands and events can be discovered together with new and well-known partners - for the first time all in one place!

And PREMIUM, which is already entering its 19th year in January, is also showing a new side in Frankfurt. Instead of being spread out like in Station-Berlin, in Frankfurt all brands show their collections in one big hall. „We are so excited to finally unite all exhibitors in one hall. This way we create a universe with many different worlds - colorful and exciting,“ says Wiebus. „We are in close exchange with all the protagonists throughout the year and continue to develop the concepts together. The entire industry is positive about coming together in Frankfurt. Everyone is keen to experience and create something completely new! We offer the framework for this - that is our strength.“

And the Berliners have another surprise in store for the Frankfurt debut: With THE GROUND, they are organizing a large fashion festival for young end consumers for the first time. Responsible for the event concept, in addition to Tillmann, Arntz and the PREMIUM GROUP- team, is B2C expert Kai Zollhöfer, who already made the Bread & Butter by Zalando a crowd puller. “THE GROUND is a B2C festival aimed at a young, purpose-driven generation. This new generation has a strong stance on current social and environmental challenges and expects brands to reflect them. The overriding themes at THE GROUND are therefore sustainability, diversity and equality”, said Zollhöfer.

The 3-day event offers brands the opportunity to interactively exhibit purpose-driven stories and products. In addition to the thematic focus on fashion, brands from the fields of wellbeing, beauty, mobility and technology will also present innovative products and solutions.

Archroma celebrates 8 years of leading the way to a sustainable world, with innovations and solutions aimed at creating added value sustainable for its partners, consumers and the planet.

Archroma came to life on 1st October 2013 from textile, paper and emulsions businesses acquired from Clariant by SK Capital Partners.
Building on decades of commitment to developing safer eco-friendlier chemistry, Archroma has become in the past 8 years a prominent name for more sustainable colors and performance, collaborating with leading brands such as Primark, G-Star, Patagonia, Esprit and more.

Archroma has introduced innovations, such as the EarthColors® made from non-edible plant waste from the food and herbal industry, Denisol® Pure, an indigo for aniline-free* denim, aniline being a category 2 carcinogen substance, and Smartrepel®, a PFC-free* water repellent solution. The company is also about to launch a new plant-based softener.

The company started to develop holistic solutions designed to bring innovation and performance, whilst reducing the impacts on water, energy and other natural resources. The savings generated by these 70+ system solutions are demonstrated by Archroma's proprietary ONE WAY Impact Calculator, a tool launched in 2012 and continuously upgraded to simulate and optimize the footprint of application processes.

Archroma also recently launched CASUAL X SMART, a sulfur dyeing system for trendy wash-down effects to make clothes that look smart at home and at work. The colors won't fade in the washing cycle, and the application process allows resource savings of up to 33% water, 21% energy and 35% chemical usage compared to a benchmark reactive & pigment garment dyeing.

With ONE WAY, a brand can calculate how much impact their current production and the Archroma Way collection will have on water, energy, chemical, raw material or CO2 footprint.

The rescheduled Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, now taking place from 9 – 11 October, will once again provide the industry with insight into the future through its fringe programme’s four categories: Design Inspiration, Business O2O, Textiles & Technologies and Industry Empowerment. And with the Online Business Matching sourcing platform returning this edition, buyers worldwide can still participate in the fair.

Each of the fringe programme’s four categories – Design Inspiration, Business O2O (online to offline), Textiles & Technologies and Industry Empowerment – features a mix of conferences, seminars and presentations that reflect the future of the home textile industry. Highlights of each category are included below, while further details can be found on the fair’s website: https://intertextile-shanghai-hometextiles-autumn.hk.messefrankfurt.com/shanghai/en/programme-events.html.

Since 2019, Messe Frankfurt has been working with the Conscious Fashion Campaign and United Nations Office for Partnerships as part of the Texpertise Network and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The goals will be presented gradually at global textile events in order to highlight the most pressing challenges facing the textile and fashion industry worldwide.

Industry Empowerment: antimicrobial technologies and licensing in the home textile sector

Growing awareness of health and hygiene has increased the demand for antimicrobial and other functional textiles. Seminars hosted by the Chinese Industry Association for Antimicrobial Materials & Products will further discuss the increasing prominence of these textiles, as well as how the adoption of new antimicrobial textile technologies is expected to evolve in the future. In addition, experts will share the new trends of licensing and IP with case studies for the furniture companies and fabric brands.

2022 China Home Textile Trends

The China Home Textiles Trend Area will feature the research of the China Home Textile Association, The Department of Home Textile Trend Research and Promotion and Concept & Style Fashion Project Group Italy who shared their knowledge, inspirations and exchanged their visions of trend evolutions considering consumer demand, retail expertise, the contract market and new technologies.

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition 2021 will be held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition, Yarn Expo Autumn, PH Value and CHIC at the National Exhibition and Convention Center. Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Home Textile Association (CHTA).

On the occasion of EURATEX Board of Directors meeting, held in Brussels September 24, President Alberto Paccanelli issued an urgent appeal to European and national authorities to support the European textiles and clothing companies who face a massive increase in their energy costs.

“The cost of energy, in particular gas, has increased more than 3 times since the beginning of this year. Since the announcement of the EU’s “Fit for 55” package, we have seen CO² prices rising above €60. This inevitably has an impact on our competitiveness, especially in a global context.”.

EURATEX asks for immediate measures which can alleviate the burden of these energy cost, e.g. by reducing VAT on the energy bills. In the longer run, the EU should develop a smart strategy towards ensuring long term sustainable energy supply, at reasonable cost for the industry. If this is not considered, any attempt towards developing a new EU Industrial strategy will be meaningless, since competition with third countries will be devastating.

“The upcoming EU Textiles strategy is an excellent opportunity for the European Commission to demonstrate its vision to develop a sustainable and competitive textiles industry in Europe. Access to affordable energy supplies must be an integral part of it.”, concluded Alberto Paccanelli.

Electronics For Imaging, Inc., launched the latest update to EFI™ Fiery® Command WorkStation®, version 6.7, which helps Fiery customers improve automation and job management to better handle growing numbers of short-run print jobs. Fiery Command WorkStation enables a unified Fiery Driven™ print room, allowing users to control all Fiery servers, either local or remote, thereby gaining operational efficiencies and increasing productivity.

A long-time user of EFI™ Fiery® digital front end (DFE) solutions, sedruck KG in Leipzig, Germany found that the new features in the latest EFI Fiery Command WorkStation helped the company to manage print jobs and improve their turnaround times on a growing volume of short-run, quick-turn print jobs.

• Pushing technical textile investments into the State

In a bid to strengthen indigenous production through the state and attract investors, the nodal agency for investment promotion and facilitation for the Government of Tamil Nadu – Guidance has signed up for Techtextil India 2021 – the leading International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens. The TN Government will be promoting technical textile policies through both physical and virtual segments of the hybrid fair, enabling investors to set up integrated facilities. Leading technical textile players from Tamil Nadu and across the nation confirm participation for the three-day business event.
 
As one of the first major business events in India for the technical textile sector since the pandemic, Techtextil India 2021 will reunite the industry to present a strong showcase of technical textile technologies crucial for the development of India across industries such as healthcare, agriculture, construction, infrastructure, sports, apparel etc. The first hybrid edition will take place from 25 – 27 November 2021 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.
 
Announcing a close co-operation with Messe Frankfurt India for the 2021 edition, the Government of Tamil Nadu further shared that it will be promoting textile policies and highlighting investment prospects at the trade fair in a bid to attract companies and investors to the state. Ms  Pooja Kulkarni IAS MD & CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu said: “While there are several inherent advantages for the growth of technical textiles in Tamil Nadu specifically, many raw materials used in the production of sanitary products, artificial ligaments, seat belt webbings, airbags are still heavily imported. In this context, the Techtextil India Forum can help us reduce import dependency and bring investments in R&D, manufacturing, innovation by partnering with global technical textiles companies.

The REACH4texiles project just kicked off. Funded by the European Commission, it aims at exploring solutions for fair and effective market surveillance on textile products.

Every year, about 28 billion of garments circulate across Europe, 80% of which are imported from outside the EU and its jurisdiction.
 
Inevitably, such huge volumes pose enormous challenges for market surveillance authorities which are called to ensure that uncompliant dangerous products are kept away from the EU citizens.

The European Union has the world most comprehensive chemical legislation which is set to protect consumers, the environment and, theoretically, even the competitiveness  of the business.

Such EU chemical legislation evolves constantly, increasing scope and ambition. New restrictions impact authorities and sectors like the European textile value chain and generate new costs for all actors.

Evidence suggests that such advanced regulatory framework is not completed with an equally advanced or effective EU-wide control system capable of ensuring compliance, especially in the case of imported products.

The REACH4texiles project aims at exploring solutions for fair and effective market surveillance on textile products; it pools together the key actors to address three objectives:

• Keep non-compliant products away from the single market.
• Increase skills and knowledge.
• Support a Network addressing chemicals in textiles and applying the EU regulation 2019/1020

The 2 years project will share best practices, identify efficient approaches against non-compliant products, offer training and support for a more effective surveillance and for level playing field.

The project welcomes collaboration with concerned authorities across the EU Member States.

Details:

A well-functioning EU market surveillance system is an essential prerequisite to protect citizen, the environment and competitiveness of responsible business. When it comes to textiles, the broad range of products, the large set of REACH subjected chemicals used in textiles as well as industrial strategies like fast fashion make this a challenging task.

Challenges may include lack of resources, difficulties in identifying higher risk products, cost and management of chemical tests, lack of test methods and knowledge of best practices. These challenges are yet likely to increase with the upcoming REACH restrictions and the growth of e-commerce.

Because of this, products that do not comply with REACH regulations encounter today little or no barriers to enter the market. This creates not only a health risk for Europeans but also undermines the competitivity of responsible businesses that take all necessary measures to comply with these regulations.

Addressing the challenges requires more knowledge at market surveillance and stronger collaboration between these authorities, the textile and clothing industry and testing laboratories. More knowledge about the identification of risk baring textile products and REACH chemicals likely to be used in these products, suitable test methods and strategies such as fast screening on REACH chemicals, trustworthiness of labels, etc can increase the effectiveness of market surveillance considerably.

The REACH4Textiles first objective (keep non-compliant products away from the EU Market) will be pursued by increasing knowledge on market surveillance functioning by and working on a risk-based approach to identify products at higher risk.

The second objective supports a network to address the specificities of chemicals in textiles with market surveillance authorities and involving other relevant stakeholders. The third objective focuses on sharing knowledge with market surveillance actors on textile products and suitable test methodologies.

Supported by the European Commission DG Growth, the project team is coordinated by the Belgian test and research center Centexbel and include the European Textiles and Apparel industry confederation, EURATEX, the German national textile and fashion association Textile und Mode, t+m, the Italian association Tessile e Salute. Several other European industry associations and national authorities are welcomed to become involved through the project activities.