Cobalt Fashion, one of the largest knitwear groups globally, has opened a new CS Innovation Lab at its headquarters in Hong Kong. A joint venture between the Fung Group and South Ocean Knitters Holding, Cobalt combines the operations and resources of the two knitwear businesses to form one of the largest and most innovative knitwear suppliers globally. Cobalt is made up of four distinct knitwear divisions serving brands and retailers worldwide across a wide range of market segments from ma

Keeping up with its role as leader in plantation sustainability, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has unveiled a fabric recycling initiative in collaboration with Kloth Cares, a fabric recycling organiser. The initiative is an effort by Sime Darby Plantation to play its role in helping reduce textile waste, the second largest polluter in the world after oil. Launched by Tengku Datin Paduka Setia Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, a member of the board of trustee of Selangor Youth Communit

Bangladesh’s central workers’ welfare fund for the readymade garments (RMG) sector is not receiving the expected deposits, as a number of factories, including those from the export processing zones (EPZs), refrain from contributing, according to labour ministry officials. The fund received Tk100 crore in the last two fiscals—Tk47.68 crore less than what was expected. The government started collecting 0.03 per cent of freight on board prices from the RMG factory owners on July 1, 2016 for t

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has welcomed the recent multi-faceted measures taken by the government to address the problems of the textile industry. The government has recently hiked import duty on several textile products, while the GST Council decided to refund input tax credit to fabrics, and reduced GST for carpets. “Increase in import duty on 76 textile items from 10 per cent to 20 per cent and GST reduction on carpets and handicraft items have given

The Indian growth story is intact with the gross domestic product (GDP) expected to grow around 7.5 per cent in this fiscal and improve further. The slowing down of the industrial output growth in May to 3.2 per cent and the inching up of the retail inflation in June to 5 per cent are short-term challenges, according to a top Indian industry federation. The challenges are being pro-actively addressed by the government and the Reserve Bank of India, and these should not be seen in any way a

Eco Spindles, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPPL Holdings Ltd (BPPL), recently inaugurated Sri Lanka’s first ever polyester yarn plant at Horana Export Processing Zone with an investment of SLR 800 million. The unit, with spinning and texturing machinery from Europe, will manufacture polyester yarn from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle flakes. The plant is one of two plants in the world that create yarn directly from flakes circumventing the polymerization where flakes are f

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council at its 28th meeting held under the chairmanship of Union minister for railways, coal, finance and corporate affairs Piyush Goyal has recommended for allowing refund of input tax credit (ITC) to fabrics. The refund of accumulated ITC shall be with prospective effect on purchases made after notification is issued. “Fabrics attract GST at the rate of 5 per cent subject to the condition that refund of accumulated ITC on account of inversion will not be all

Bangladesh will set up a Tk10,000-crore Jute Sector Development Fund (JSDF) and the textiles and jute ministry has finalized a draft policy for low-cost loans from that fund. The management of the 20-year revolving fund will be under the central bank. A committee headed by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) chairman Mohammad Mahmudul Hassan prepared the draft. Jute farmers, traders, entrepreneurs and exporters of jute and jute products are eligible for loans from the fund at a 5 per

Israeli’s Delta Galil Industries will develop, produce and distribute men’s underwear, loungewear and thermal wear for global British lifestyle brand Ted Baker exclusively worldwide. This is under the new exclusive licensing agreement which Ted Baker has signed with Delta Galil, manufacturer and marketer of branded and private label apparel products. The new five-year agreement will allow Delta Galil to develop, produce and distribute men’s underwear, loungewear and thermal wear for Ted Ba

Beaulieu Yarns, a supplier of high-quality synthetic polyamide and polypropylene yarns headquartered in Belgium, has bagged the Green Product Award 2018 in the material category for its EqoBalance family of biomass-balance yarns. EqoBalance, the first biomass-balance polyamide yarns for carpets, was chosen from a field of 400 submissions from 25 countries. Around 100 nominees were presented to an international jury which evaluated these entries for their expertise in design, innovation, an