A woman working at a garment factory in X aythany district, Vientiane, has alleged that her employer forces staff to work more than the official eight hours a day without any overtime payment. She said their employer sets production targets that workers are required to meet each day. Those who fail to do so have to work beyond official working hours without being paid at the overtime rate. The woman claimed that the targets set were unreasonable and were beyond the reach of many workers with

If the export growth of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry remains between 12 and 15%, the sector will reach its target of 20 billion USD in 2014 ahead of the 2015 deadline, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). VITAS Vice Chairman Le Tien Truong said that despite a 5-10% decrease in export prices in 2012, total exports still rose by 15%. The industry’s trade surplus was 8.4 billion USD last year as imported materials accounted for o­nly 8.8 billion USD

A cotton industry focus group will meet Feb. 25 to discuss proposals for a new world contract, according to the International Cotton Association. The group, made up of producers, mills, traders, brokers and controllers, unanimously agreed in a Jan. 28 meeting that “the trade needed a world cotton contract,” the Liverpool, England-based ICA said in a statement dated Feb. 14. Discussions will continue at the group’s meeting next week. Price volatility since 2008 has spurred “substantial” contrac

Flex Film has started commercial production for its new state-of-the-art Polyester Film plant at Elizabethtown in Kentucky, USA during January 2013. The 8.7 meter wide BOPET Film line is larger than any other film line presently operating in the USA and can turn out 36,000 MT of film per year. It is complemented by a plasma enhanced high-barrier metalliser that can convert 6,000 MT of film per year. This plant, located in the heart of the world’s largest and most advanced Packaging Film market

The Ministry of Economic Development of Sri Lanka will open the first garment factory established under the Northern Spring (Uthuru Wasanthaya) programme in the former rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi. The Ministry said all arrangements are in place to open the factory within the next few days. Once opened the factory is expected to provide employment to over 2,000 youth in the region. Colombo based MAS Holdings, a leading apparel producer, has set up the new factory in Kilinochchi as a part

The state handloom sector, which is facing a crisis arising from decreasing manpower and intense competition from the private sector, is considering providing enhanced incentives to attract weavers. It has also plans of introducing 1,858 new designs under the Weavers cum Designers Project. The initiatives will help the weavers get more visibility and also the leverage to compete. “Steps have been initiated to provide a minimum income of Rs 5,000 per month through additional incentives for marke

The 400,000-t/a differential fiber project of Zhejiang Hengteng Differential Fiber Co., Ltd. of Tongkun Group has successfully run into production and the entire process realized zero discharge. With a total investment of about CNY 1.8 billion, the project is one of the key projects in the 12th five-year plan of Tongkun Group and the group?s first differential fiber project outside its headquarters. It adopts state-of-the-art large-capacity, flexible production technology and latest spinning an

Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) grand opening ceremony The new spunbond plant in Thailand Asahi Kasei Fibers held a grand opening ceremony for its new spunbond plant in Thailand on February 12. The company established Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) to meet the growing market for spunbond nonwovens in Asia in the field of hygienic products such as disposable diapers. The new company is a joint venture between Asahi Kasei Fibers (90%) and Saha Group (10%). The facility was completed i

Having posted better third quarter results, Indian textile industry is bullish that its hay days are back. So much so that industry representatives and experts alike cite the next financial year as the “come back year” for the sector. Cheaper raw materials, coupled with a favourable foreign exchange scenario and full capacity utilisation, will propel the textile industry to an overall growth rate of 15-20 per cent against the current 8-10 per cent. “The flip turn began in the second quarter an

A file photo shows a woman carrying jute fibres. The country’s earning from export of jute and jute products in the first seven months of the financial year increased but exporters had to cut down prices to retain their markets. — New Age photo The country’s earning from export of jute and jute products in the first seven months of the financial year increased but exporters had to cut down prices to retain their markets. Jute and jute products exporters said that importing countries were o