The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has downwardly revised its forecast of shorn wool production for the 2018-19 season to 298 million kilograms (mkg) greasy from its November 2018 forecast of 305 mkg. As per the projection, there would be a 12.7 per cent decline in wool production compared to the previous season, due to drought. Pic: julie aagaard from Pexels“(The) ongoing drought conditions across large parts of Australia have further decreased Australian wool produ

Bangladesh’s economy continues to grow at an impressive rate driven by industry and it is among the five fastest growing economies, despite insufficient private sector investment, according to a new report by the World Bank (WB), which said its growth outlook remains strong and stable. On the demand side, growth is led by private consumption and exports. Sound macroeconomic policies and resilient domestic demand have led to growth in manufacturing and construction on the supply side, the Wor

India has reportedly shared with China a list of 380 products, including those from horticulture, textiles and chemicals, as their shipments hold huge export potential. Though India's exports of marine products, cotton, organic chemicals, grapes and plastics to China increased significantly in recent months, some non-tariff measures in China restrict exports. Increasing exports of the products mentioned in the list will help India narrow the widening trade deficit with China, which stood at

Edinburgh Woollen Mill owner Philip Day recently made an offer for UK fashion retailer Bonmarche, valuing it at £5.7 million and claiming he can guide and support to secure the long-term future of the business, its stores and employees. Bonmarche, which employs 1,900, admitted worsening business last month, saying it expects a loss of £5-6 million this year. Pic: BonmarcheDubai-based British billionaire businessman Day plans to conduct a store-by-store profitability assessment and shut down

Nearly 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality (AR) online and in-store by 2020, according to a 2018 Gartner survey. AR and virtual reality (VR) will rely on 5G to change the customer experience inside and outside retail stores by individualising retailers’ offers and enabling customers to visualise products in different settings. Pic: GartnerThe Gartner’s Unified Retail Retailer survey of 2018 indicated that, by 2020, 46 per cent of retailers planned to deploy either AR or VR

The US National Retail Federation (NRF) recently wrote a letter to the government expressing concern over ongoing threats to close the US-Mexico border and mentioning how a closure would hurt US retailers, workers and consumers. US retailers and consumers rely on Mexico as a source of apparel, fruits, vegetables, electronics, appliances, auto parts and more. Though NRF shares the US Administration’s goal of fixing the nation’s broken immigration system and enhancing border security, closing

Retail industry employment in March 2019 in US was down by 11,700 jobs seasonally adjusted from February and down 47,400 jobs unadjusted year-over-year, said the labour department. The retail numbers excluding restaurants saw a monthly gain of 196,000 jobs overall. March’s retail job numbers followed a revised loss of 18,500 jobs in February from January. Retail’s three-month moving average as of March showed a decline of 4,400 jobs. March saw month-over-month gains of 2,700 jobs at sporting

The collated database of facility names, addresses and affiliated parties is powered by an advanced name and address-matching algorithm. © OAR Following a beta release in 2018 and a series of improvements based on user feedback, the Open Apparel Registry (OAR) has launched. It is an open source tool, mapping garment facilities worldwide and assigning a unique ID number to each. It aims to become the go-to source for identifying all global apparel facilities and their affiliations by collating d

XORELLA has been a leading-edge manufacturer of equipment for conditioning and heat setting of textiles ever since the company was founded more than 50 years ago. The machines are renowned for their technology, operating efficiency and reliability. For customers around the world XORELLA is the preferred partner for standard conditioning and heat-setting machines as well as for equipment for integration in fully automatic material handling and packing systems. XORELLA has listened to customers

In Barcelona, Saurer will present a range of new products, demonstrating its drive for continual innovation for the industry. With the E³ principle, Saurer has demonstrated its commitment to creating sustainable machinery – lower energy consumption, need for fewer resources, and optimised ergonomics to enhance user-friendliness. In addition, Saurer is increasingly incorporating intelligent technology to augment the human effort. According to Saurer: “Our focus is on meeting the needs of investor