From the Sector

For the first time in two years, global automotive production recorded a significant increase in full-year 2022 with 82.0 million vehicles produced (2021: 77.2 million vehicles) and growth of 6.2%, driven by the regions Asia and North America, but remained below 2019 levels.
Autoneum's revenue in local currencies increased significantly by 8.5%, largely due to inflation-related compensation. In the regions Europe and Asia, Autoneum's production volumes developed below market. Compared to the July 2022 estimate, revenue was around CHF 90 million lower than assumed due to volume factors. The strong fluctuations in production volumes due to vehicle manufacturer supply chain issues continued in 2022 and were exacerbated by the war in Ukraine in Europe and by COVID-related lockdowns in Autoneum's Asian main market China. Consolidated revenue in Swiss francs increased by 6.1% year-on-year to CHF 1 804.5 million (2021: CHF 1 700.4 million) due to the strong Swiss franc.

Revenue development in the regions
In local currencies, revenue of Business Group Europe increased by 2.7%, while production volumes of vehicle manufacturers decreased by 1.3%. The growth in revenue resulted from inflation compensation, while Autoneum's production volumes were significantly lower compared to the previous year. Business Group North America increased its revenue in local currencies by 11.0%. The number of vehicles produced increased by 9.7% year-on-year. Volume development at Autoneum’s North American plants clearly improved compared with 2021 due to the allocation of semiconductors to the vehicle models supplied by Autoneum. Revenue of Business Group Asia declined by 2.7% in local currencies, and thus was significantly below the market (+7.7%). Autoneum's production facilities in its main market China are located in regions that were hit particularly hard by the COVID-related lockdowns. Growth in China was also driven by Chinese vehicle manufacturers, with whom Autoneum generated only little revenue last year.
Business Group SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) achieved hyperinflation-adjusted revenue growth in local currencies of 65.2% year-on-year. This increase was mainly due to inflation compensation and in terms of volume slightly outperformed the market, which grew by 7.5%.

Due to significantly lower production volumes in Autoneum's regions Europe and Asia of around CHF 90 million compared to the half-year estimate and further increases in energy costs in the second half of the year, Autoneum expects the full-year 2022 result to be at the lower end of the guidance published on June 15, 2022.

The full year-end financial statements and the Annual Report 2022 will be presented at the Media Conference on March 1, 2023.

ECHA has added nine chemicals to the Candidate List because of their hazardous properties. They are used for example in flame retardants, paints and coatings, inks and toners, coating products, plasticisers and in the manufacture of textile, leather or fur and paper.

Entries added to the Candidate List on 17 January 2023:

• 1,1'-[ethane-1,2-diylbisoxy]bis[2,4,6-tribromobenzene]
• 2,2',6,6'-tetrabromo-4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol
• 4,4'-sulphonyldiphenol
• Barium diboron tetraoxide
• Bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate covering any of the individual isomers and/or combinations thereof
• Isobutyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
• Melamine
• Perfluoroheptanoic acid and its salts
• reaction mass of 2,2,3,3,5,5,6,6-octafluoro-4-(1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropan-2-yl)morpholine and 2,2,3,3,5,5,6,6-octafluoro-4-(heptafluoropropyl)morpholine

Information on these substances' uses and reasons for inclusion on the Candidate List is available here.

• Business situation has worsened markedly but not expectations.

The 17th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS, formerly known as ITMF Corona-Survey) shows that on average the business situation in the global textile industry has deteriorated further in November 2022. At the same time, global business expectations in six months’ time remained in negative territory but did not get gloomier. The indicators for order intake, order backlog, and capacity utilisation rate dropped, globally.

According to the survey, the business situation in the three Asian regions and Europe remained especially poor. In North & Central America the business situation has improved again markedly. Except for the textile machinery segment that still benefits on average from a long order backlog, all other segments found themselves in negative business situations, especially fibre producers and spinners. Global business expectations have remained negative but “stabilized” around -10 percentage points (pp) since July 2022. Expectations have improved significantly in South Asia to +10pp, and Europe to -30pp. Business expectations in all segments remain negative territory with four out of seven recording improvements.

Order intake nose-dived in November, in line with weaker business situation and weaker demand, currently the biggest concern for the global textile value chain. Only companies in North & Central America registered on average a good order intake, while all other regions were faced with an unsatisfactory order situation. Except for South-East Asia and North & Central America order backlog fell. The only segments where order backlog increased were the down-stream segments garments and home textiles. Capacity utilization rate dropped in all regions in November 2022. It only increased in the textile machinery segment but fell otherwise.

“Weakening demand” is by far the biggest concern in the global textile industry, followed by the root causes of demand reduction, namely high energy and raw material prices which lead to high inflation rates. Good news is that logistical costs are not much of a concern anymore. Concerns about geopolitics on the other hand have increased again in the past two months.

Society and the economy are facing existential challenges. In addition to the consequences of climate change, these include the realisation that energy and many resources are no longer available in the usual quantities, so that their efficiency must be significantly increased in the short term. Lightweight construction, especially with fibre composite materials, can and will make an important contribution here, e.g. in wind power plants or hydrogen storage systems. As an umbrella organisation, Composites Germany represents the capabilities and interests of the German fibre composite industry. With the re-entry of Composites United, Composites Germany will combine the forces of the two leading composites networks in Germany and its position will be significantly strengthened. Changed framework conditions make the re-entry possible and necessary.

VDMA and Leichtbau BW will continue to support the work of Composites Germany as associate members and contribute the know-how of their members. Together, the organisations will promote sustainable lightweight construction as a key technology for Germany, focusing on composites materials, says Prof. Klaus Drechsler of Composites United, one of the two board members of Composites Germany. As a network and mouthpiece of the composites industry, Composites Germany bundles the interests of its members. The aim is to continuously expand activities, promote innovations and technologies, develop new markets and new value chains, and anchor training and further education, adds his board colleague Dr Michael Effing of AVK. The agreement was concluded on 29 November 2022 during the JEC Forum DACH in Augsburg, where both associations were cooperation partners of the event.

The second edition of The Modern Artisan initiative has been supported by C.L.A.S.S. with its strategic sourcing, mentoring and presence during the official launch happened at the beginning of November at the Dumfries House, part of The Prince's Foundation. Two days to introduce a capsule that reflects the initiative’s commitment to advance sustainability in luxury fashion, preserve heritage textile skills and creates a new culture where respect, beauty and innovation are blended together. They also demonstrate the shared ambition of YOOX NET-A-PORTER and The Prince’s Foundation to preserve the planet for future generations. The Modern Artisan aims to position artisanship as a viable and attractive career path for upcoming generations, equipping them with the skills to help shape a more circular industry.

The 10-month paid programme supports eight British and Italian graduates through the end-to-end process of designing, handcrafting, and bringing a more sustainable luxury collection to a global market. During the programme, they were given the opportunity to showcase their work to His Majesty, then The Prince of Wales, at Dumfries House.

The 13-piece capsule marks the culmination of the second edition of The Modern Artisan, YOOX NET-A-PORTER’s and The Prince’s Foundation’s pioneering flagship training programme, which commenced in 2019. Building on the success of 2020’s first collection launch, this year’s YOOX NET-A-PORTER for The Prince’s Foundation capsule achieves a number of new milestones in YOOX NET-A-PORTER’s Infinity sustainability journey. It is the first collection to align 100% with the Infinity Product Guide, its sustainability and circularity design guidelines, and its first ever carbon neutral collection.

The design is inspired by Highgrove Gardens, run by The Prince's Foundation and renowned for sustainable and organic approaches to agriculture and horticulture. The Artisans were supported by industry experts from YOOX NET-A-PORTER, The Prince’s Foundation, and several mentoring designer brands, including Gabriela Hearst, Nanushka and Stella Jean among others.

• 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.

Matthias Holzammer is handing over the operational management of Autoneum for family reasons as of March 27, 2023. As his successor the Board of Directors has appointed Eelco Spoelder, who has over 25 years of experience in the automotive supply industry.

Eelco Spoelder has held global leadership positions in the automotive supply industry at Faurecia and previously Continental, where he ensured operational competence and strategic continuity even in a challenging market environment.
He has extensive experience in operations, manufacturing, purchasing, customer satisfaction, quality and IT and has proved successful in transforming businesses and delivering profitable growth. His core competencies include negotiating with an international network of customers and suppliers in the automotive supply industry. He is also deeply familiar with technology trends in the automotive industry.

“In view of the many challenges and opportunities in the automotive industry, we are proud to have found in Mr. Spoelder a very accomplished and experienced leader who will further develop and implement our proven strategy,” said Hans-Peter Schwald, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd.

Matthias Holzammer is leaving Autoneum at his own request for family reasons and will hand over operational management of the Group to Mr. Spoelder on March 27, 2023. He will then serve as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the new CEO until June 30, 2023.

AVK, the Federation of Reinforced Plastics, has once again awarded its Innovation Awards to a range of companies, institutes and their partners in 2022. Three innovative composites from each of the three categories Products & Applications, Processes & Methods and Research & Science were honoured during the JEC Forum for Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Augsburg at an award ceremony on 29 November 2022. A professional jury, composed of engineers, scientists and trade journalists, presented the awards for 2022 in three categories.

List of award winners in the three categories:
Products & Applications category
First place: LAMILUX Composites GmbH, Rehau, Germany: Lamilux Sunsation® – the new standard under the sun
Second place: Carbo-Link AG, Fehraltorf, Switzerland: CL RESTRAP – Reinforcement of concrete girders using flexible, prestressed CRP tapes
Third place: Borgers SE & Co. KGaA, Bocholt, Germany: blue label by Borgers ®

Innovative Processes & Methods category
First place: BaltiCo GmbH, Hohen Luckow, Germany: Rod laying technology as an additive manufacturing process
Second place: Schmidt & Heinzmann GmbH & Co. KG, Bruchsal, Germany: Pole Position, a positioning system for polarisation imaging
Third place: NETZSCH Process Intelligence GmbH, Selb, Germany: SensXPERT, process optimisation driven by material data to increase the efficiency of thermosets and fibre composites

Research & Science category
First place: Institute for Textile Machinery and High Performance Textiles at the Technical University of Dresden: Spherically curved fibre-reinforced plastic composite components made from near-net-shape fabrics
Second place: Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH, Kaiserslautern, Germany: HyKoPerm – a measurement system for an industry-specific characterisation of textile impregnation behaviour
Third place: Technical University of Munich, Chair of Carbon Composites: Manufacturing processes for a tension-strut-supported pressure vessel that can be adapted to suit a given space

adidas and RIMOWA have come together to announce their inaugural capsule collection that seeks to offer explorers of the world the perfect tools to navigate and escape the cities of today.

Exclusively made in Germany, the cross-category collection features two contemporary designs: RIMOWA’s first-ever aluminium backpack and the ADIDAS NMD_S1 sneaker.

The RIMOWA x ADIDAS NMD_BACKPACK boasts new technical solutions that makes it suitable for outdoor needs and overnight trips. Made from RIMOWA’s signature grooved aluminium, it features a number of thoughtful functionalities, from padded utility shoulder straps fitted with a carabin and thumb loops to rope weight-bearing straps and grab handle. The piece also features foam ridges inspired by ADIDAS Boost foam overlaying the backpack’s grooved surface to ensure comfort, as well as an elasticated webbing running through its middle to secure the backpack onto the suitcase’s telescopic tubes. To allow for flat packing, a detachable gusset opens the backpack to reveal two deep zipped pockets, as well as a 16-inch laptop pocket inscribed with both brands’ logos.

The RIMOWA x ADIDAS NMD_S1 iteration features the futuristic sneaker’s signature Primeknit uppers in a titanium-inspired colourway, with the flexible ADIDAS Boost midsole in a light, almost translucent base colour.

Hosted outside of Copenhagen for the first time in its 13-year history, on 3 November, Global Fashion Summit assembled over 250 stakeholders representing manufacturers, garment workers, retailers, brands, suppliers, NGOs, policy, and innovators in Singapore and online to spur industry action. The Summit was presented by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the non-profit organisation that is accelerating the transition to a net positive fashion industry.
 
The latest edition of the Summit was centred around the theme ‘Alliances for a New Era’, building on dialogues from the June edition in Copenhagen and gathering leaders from across the entire value chain to elevate diverse voices and foster alliances within the fashion industry and beyond, to drive sustainable impact.
 
The Summit’s first international edition facilitated more conversations with manufacturer and supply chain voices to discuss crucial challenges and opportunities around working collaboratively with brands on equal terms. The programme featured bold panels, case studies, masterclasses and leadership roundtables reflecting on topics including ‘Data Scarcity: A Crisis of Measurement?’, ‘Disruption for Better Wage Systems’, ’Community and Circularity’, ‘Connecting the EU Textiles Strategy with the Value Chain’ and ‘Our Energy Transformation Moment’.
 
Attendees heard from over 50 speakers including H.E. Sandra Jensen Landi, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore & Ambassador-Designate of Denmark to Brunei; H.E. Iwona Piórko, Ambassador of the European Union to Singapore; Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer, PUMA; Baptiste Le Gal, Chief Revenue Officer APAC, Vestiaire Collective; Christian James Smith, Head of Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement, Zalando; Ninh Trinh, Director of Responsible Sourcing & Sustainability, Target; Roger Lee, CEO, TAL Apparel; Wilson Teo, President, Singapore Fashion Council; Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Ashila Dandeniya, Founder, StandUp Lanka; and more.

Key takeaways and highlights from the event include:

• Global Fashion Agenda announced a new alliance with BBC Storyworks Commercial Productions to launch a film series on BBC.com, which is currently in the early stages of development. The new series will present human-centric stories focusing on both social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry. It will be released to a wide audience in 2023.
• Federica Marchionni outlined the crucial need for accurate and robust data to substantiate sustainability claims and credentials but acknowledged that the focus on finding ‘perfect’ data cannot be allowed to stifle progress. Global Fashion Agenda will build upon Summit discussions to reflect on how the industry can accurately measure and communicate sustainability performance and illuminate the data credibility challenges.
• The session ‘Establishing circular fashion systems in Cambodia & Vietnam’ outlined the first steps taken by the Global Circular Fashion Forum to establish circular fashion systems in Vietnam and Cambodia with regional stakeholders, government, brand and manufacturer representation.
• Throughout the Summit, the Innovation Forum connected fashion companies with sustainable solution providers. Exhibitors included Better Work , Circular Fashion Partnership, Compreli, Kno Global, Planatones by Noyon Lanka, Redress Design Award and The ID Factory.
• Through conversations such as ‘Disruption for Better Wage Systems’ and ‘Empowering the Worker Majority’, there was a resounding message for people to consider the real people in the value chain. Ensuring dignified livelihoods for these workers should have the same sense of urgency as emissions reductions.