New Zealand Wool Services International Limited’s General Manager, Mr John Dawson reports that the 19,700 bales on offer from this week’s combined North and South Island auction saw an 80 percent clearance with generally lower price levels for most categories. The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies weakened 0.96 percent compared to the last sale on 24th January however this favourable factor had limited impact on local prices. Mr Dawson advises that Mid Micron Fleece were firm

Inditex has reached an agreement to purchase the Zara franchise operated by the Stockmann Group in Finland. With this acquisition Inditex will begin to directly manage the operations of the four stores in the Zara Finland chain. The process is in line with Inditex’s standard management formula in the immense majority of countries where the company has a sales presence. The franchise’s staff will also be incorporated into the Inditex Group with the acquisition of Zara Finland, with the sam

Exporters of readymade garments are now shifting their focus from the developed markets to the domestic market, as well as other rapidly developing markets in Asia. In the American market, though demand in the festive season rose 15-20 per cent compared to the previous festive season, post-festive orders weakened. The divergent trends discouraged Indian readymade garment manufacturers from adopting a long-term business strategy for that market. From the European Union (EU), too, orders during

Garment workers need to improve their skills to meet the demand of factories in Cambodia. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post In its first year of operation, the Human to Human recruitment agency experienced how challenging the recruitment of factory workers can be. The agency provides a skilled work force, and offers a higher salary and free training – but still needs more workers. Human to Human is a private company that “acts social” by providing training for workers and deals wit

Up to 80% of Japanese firms operating in Thailand are affected by the daily minimum wage hike, with labour-intensive industries looking to relocate to neighbouring countries. A survey by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC) in Bangkok found about 30% of respondents have felt the impact of the increase in the daily minimum wage to 300 baht since the start of January. Conducted in November and December last year, the survey was handed out to 1,419 JCC members, of which 381 companies respon

Exports of wool (clean) by New Zealand fell by 31.4% in December compared with the previous month, to 8,391 tonnes. A year earlier shipments fell by 20.5% from a lower November figure, to 6,711 tonnes. The drop in December 2012 can be attributed to shipments to China falling by more than half. Despite the seasonal slowdown, cumulative exports between July and December 2012 remained 17.4% higher than the corresponding level in 2011 at 57,523 tonnes. Aside from the notable exception of Italy,

Item WidthCM Specification/Weight（meter） Wholesale Price: yuan/meter Multi-chemical fiber now cashmere 150 600 14．00 Cotton pad-dyed plain 150 40S×40S 100×53 9．50 Cotton air-jet pad-dyed canvas 150 21S/2×10S 72×42 15．00 T/R shirt flat cloth 145 28S/2×28S/2 102×60 9．80 Full-size polyester clipping printed curtain fabric 280 600 18．50 T/R double-sided wool cloth

The narrow trading range in New York futures, which has been in effect since the beginning of the season, was finally violated last week. However, contrary to the long-standing consensus view of the price outlook, based on expected impact of record world stocks, the break was to the upside. The spot month rose above 80.00 US cents per lb for the first time since a brief period in June 2012, as the July 2012 contract moved towards maturation. The move upward appears to have been stimulated ma

A look from Minju Kim’s winning collection Photo By Courtesy Hennes & Mauritz AB has named South Korean designer Minju Kim the winner of its international H&M Design Award. The 26-year-old, who is in her final master’s year of fashion studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, unveiled her collection Tuesday at Stockholm’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. She is to receive a cash prize of 50,000 euros, or $67,250 at current exchange, and H&M will develop pieces