From the Sector

• Asahi Kasei Corporation markets premium stretch fiber under the brand of ROICA™, with superior performance features enabled by integrated production from raw material to yarn based on its advanced technology.
• The specialized global holding operates its global ROICA™ business having production sites in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and Germany with strategic sales facilities around the world.

With deep regret, Asahi Kasei has taken the decision to restructure its production strategy in order to face the new, unexpected and critical market situation. As part of this process, the production and sales of ROICA™ at its German subsidiary, Asahi Kasei Spandex Europe GmbH in Dormagen, will be discontinued by March 31, 2022.
 
Recognizing the paramount importance of the European market, especially when it comes to smart innovation where ROICA™ is a leader, and with the goal of continuing the excellent longtime work with valued partners, customers and supply chains, Asahi Kasei will continue to develop sales, technical and marketing services in Europe through Asahi Kasei Europe, the European regional headquarters of the Asahi Kasei Group. It will especially focus on ROICA™ added value products manufactured at its ROICA™ production sites in Asia.
 
Through this process, Asahi Kasei will reshape the efficiency and productivity of its global ROICA™ operation by keeping a strong focus on responsible innovation and sustainability in close communication, and safeguarding its business partners.
 
As a manufacturer of superior quality, highly functional and sustainable ROICA™ products, Asahi Kasei will continue its journey of responsible innovation aiming to provide solutions to the textile industry and to contemporary consumers, by enhancing production capabilities and expertise at the global sites supported by an expert, wise and efficient company.

• Ramping Up Production of American-Made Polyester Tipped Swabs

The Biden Administration has awarded a contract for $6.5 million to U.S. Cotton LLC, the largest manufacturer of cotton swabs in the United States, to increase domestic production capability for polyester tipped swabs for home testing kits and mass testing applications to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, U.S. Cotton has retooled operations to produce over 400 million COVID testing kit swabs.

The Department of Defense (DOD), in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced the award today as part of the administration’s broader effort to increase domestic production capability for essential medical supplies.

U.S. Cotton, based in Cleveland, Ohio, said the company will increase its production capacity from 92 million polyester swab tips per month to approximately 371 million polyester swab tips per month by May 2022 to support domestic COVID-19 testing. The DOD contract award was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support the domestic industry base expansion for critical medical resources.

John Nims, President of U.S. Cotton said, “We are proud to be involved in a national effort to help deploy these testing kit swabs for the American people. These swabs are designed to make it easier for people at home to self-administer coronavirus tests and will also be used for mass testing applications, which is critically important. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with DOD and HHS to ramp up essential capacity of polyester-based synthetic swabs that will help in the fight against the pandemic.

“We continue to step up to meet our nation’s critical need for American-made coronavirus testing kit swabs on a massive scale. It is an honor to work with our government to help fight this pandemic and use our innovative technologies based here in the United States to fill a national and global demand for testing kits. I especially want to thank Senator Brown and Senator Portman for all their incredible support to help us retool and expand our operations in Cleveland. We can’t thank them enough for their tireless work and also want to recognize their hard working staff. As the Delta variant surges across the country, this timely investment will help in the fight against COVID by adding this much-needed, long-term surge capacity.”

Kim Glas, President and CEO of NCTO, said, “We want to sincerely thank President Biden, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services for leading this critical industrial expansion effort. We appreciate the administration’s commitment to expand the U.S. industrial base for these essential products.  We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to onshore these critical supply chains long-term and we look forward to working with the administration and Congress to advance long-term solutions.”

There has been a sharp rise in demand for organic cotton products. Compared to conventionally grown cotton, the cultivation of organic cotton requires the renunciation of genetically modified seeds, chemical pesticides or fertilisers. Nevertheless, genetic modifications are repeatedly found in textiles that are falsely labelled with organic claims. Often, available certification systems are not backed up by lab testing. At best, they only take random seed samples. Textile testing specialist, Hohenstein, has developed an assessment method specifically for cotton. This new DNA analysis method makes it possible to ascertain the amount of genetically modified cotton contained in products. This is good news for textile industry stakeholders who will be on the safe side in terms of quality control and labelling of organic cotton products.

First step: qualitative screening and identification. Second step: quantification of genetically modified cotton.
For qualitative screening, Hohenstein experts had developed molecular biological detection systems to make clear yes/no statements about genetically modified cotton. Testing can be applied to all kinds of materials, from raw cotton to chemically untreated yarns and fabrics. In addition, Hohenstein is one of only a few laboratories in the world accredited to test for GMOs in accordance with the ISO/IWA 32:2019 protocol. Its method provides reliable evidence of the presence or exclusion of genetic modification in cotton textile precursors.

Once qualitative proof of genetic modification is obtained, Hohenstein experts begin quantifying the type and extent of the genetic modifications. To do this, they use DNA analysis to search for different cotton lines known to contain genetic alterations and quantify the proportion. Only by pinpointing individual genetic modifications and quantifying the extent of modification is it possible to provide precise information on whether there is an extremely small proportion of contamination, or whether larger proportions of GMOs have been mixed in. This offers clear benefits to manufacturers, brand owners and retailers when it comes to supply chain transparency and fraud prevention.

• "Optimizing the global strategy of its ROICA™ premium stretch fiber business"

Asahi Kasei Corporation markets premium stretch fiber (elastic polyurethane filament) under the brand of ROICA™ with superior performance features enabled by integrated production from raw material to finished yarn based on its advanced technology.

Asahi Kasei operates its global ROICA™ business having production sites in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and Germany with numerous sales offices around the world. Asahi Kasei has now decided to restructure and optimize its global strategy in order to further improve the business performance and level of sales services.

As a part of this process, the production and sales of ROICA™ at its German subsidiary, Asahi Kasei Spandex Europe GmbH, will be discontinued by March 31, 2022.
Recognizing the importance of the European market as leading fashion market and in light of sustainable trends together with valued customers and supply chains, Asahi Kasei will continue sales, technical, and marketing services in Europe from Asahi Kasei Europe, the European regional headquarters of the Asahi Kasei Group, focusing on ROICA™ added value products manufactured at its global ROICA™ production sites.

SUPREME GREEN COTTON®, the water-saving smart-tech yarn by Varvaressos has been chosen by Diesel, Champ Blanc and Muntagnard, and won the Gold Award at the Greek Exports Forum & Awards 2020.

Thanks to a pioneering satellite-powered drip irrigation system, SUPREME GREEN COTTON® saves up to 40% of water. The range of yarns is entirely Made in Europe and comes with influential sustainable verifications. The MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® label guarantees that the yarns have been tested for harmful substances and manufactured using sustainable processes under socially responsible working conditions in accordance with STeP by OEKO-TEX®. Complete transparency and traceability are guaranteed throughout the whole production and supply chain by the unique diafania SI platform, powered via blockchain technology.

Global clothing and lifestyle Italian premium jeans brand Diesel stands out for its unique mindset and sustainable imprint. That’s why it chose SUPREME GREEN COTTON® for its collection ‘Green Label’ and ‘NightCrush’ as well as its ‘Malign’ jersey T-shirts, available in two different colours and prints.

Thee Swiss brand Muntagnard believes in «sustainability» as a powerful lever for innovative solutions for people who go their own way and think outside the box to advance sustainable development. Muntagnard rethinks textiles - from the sewing thread to the label – selecting only sustainable materials and minimizing the use of plastic to the bone while seeking sensible, biodegradable textile alternatives. The MANGOLA collection of T-sets is 100% made of SUPREME GREEN COTTON®.

CHAMP BLANC is a responsible French brand renown for its ready-to-wear men clothing and for its strong commitment to traceability. The brand has been working for nearly 8 months on the design of the "Traceable T-shirt" made of 100% SUPREME GREEN COTTON®. The result is a high quality and finishing t-shirt to make it last. By relying on existing technologies, the entire production chain is traceable and can be discover thanks a QR-code on the label.

SUPREME GREEN COTTON® has also been bestowed with the influential Gold Award in the “Top Branded Export Product” category of the Greek Exports Forum & Awards 2020