COTTON USA Conference in Istanbul Covers “Sourcing In A Volatile World”

Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated hosted suppliers of U.S. cotton, the Turkish textile industry, and their downstream customers in the brand and retail sectors at a one-day conference titled "Sourcing In A Volatile World" in Istanbul.

The conference provided opportunities for buyers and sellers of U.S. cotton to discuss the current market situation and how fast-changing raw material prices are pushing the entire textile and garment industry to look for new ways of doing business with their customers.

The conference brought together over 100 senior executives to hear the latest reports on U.S. and world cotton production for the current season, as harvesting is well completed in the Northern Hemisphere.

In today's volatile global economic environment, suppliers and buyers of U.S. cotton discussed the challenges and alternative solutions to sourcing U.S. cotton. Included on the conference agenda was how businesses can build a more efficient cotton supply chain during times of record cotton price movements, limited availability and sourcing challenges.

Read entire post COTTON USA Conference in Istanbul Covers “Sourcing In A Volatile World” @ Fibre2fashion

Vijayawada : Textile Traditions Of AP On Display At Handloom Expo

A whole range of traditional handlooms like Dharmavaram, Mangalagiri, Kuppadam, Pochampalli, Uppada, Chirala, Gadwal and Guntur are being showcased at the National Handloom Expo being held in Vijayawada city of the south Indian State of Andhra Pradesh.

For those not aware about the State’s rich textile heritage these are just names of places. However, those eager to learn about the art and the technique used by the weavers at these places for preparing one of the finest textiles, the Theme Pavilion at the expo is the best place.

In addition to live demonstration of the strenuous techniques of Uppada Jamadani weaving, Kalamkari block printing and Tie and dye Jamadani, the Vijayawada Weavers’ Service Centre (WSC) is also showcasing various customary and experimental samples of dress materials, saris and bed spreads which have been tidily labelled so that one can read and educate himself.

The speciality of the saris put up on display by the WSC is that these were woven at the Centre by weavers from different places who combined different weaving techniques to produce these saris. For instance, one whole sari was woven using the technique used to weave Gadwal saris, while its border was woven by weavers of East Godavari with the use of Kuppadam technique.

Read entire post Vijayawada : Textile Traditions Of AP On Display At Handloom Expo @ Fibre2fashion

Fifth World Cotton Conference (WCRC-5) Completed

The Fifth World Cotton Research Conference (WCRC-5) was completed last Friday in India, after five days of paper presentations from November 7-11, 2011 in Mumbai followed by two days of technical tour to cotton areas near Nagpur. The WCRC-5 included 654 researchers associated with all facets of cotton technology, from breeding and agronomy to fiber quality and ginning.

A total of 322 scientific papers were presented. The scientists passed a resolution supporting the creation of a global network of cotton stakeholder organizations. The network will operate through nodes associated with cotton organizations and institutes to support globally accessible, stakeholder-supported specialist training and collaborative research.

Areas of particular importance to be addressed by the network will include biosecurity in relation to diseases, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and conservation and accessibility of genetic resources.

Simultaneously, the scientists endorsed the creation of an International Cotton Researchers Association to work with the International Cotton Advisory committee (ICAC) Secretariat to plan and promote the creation of the global cotton researchers network and to manage the agendas of future World Cotton Research Conferences.

Read entire post Fifth World Cotton Conference (WCRC-5) Completed @ Fibre2fashion

Karnataka Govt Announces Support For Silk Cocoon Growers

The Karnataka government has come to the rescue of silk growers in the State, who have been enduring a vertical fall in silk cocoon prices since March this year.

The government has announced that it would pay a support price of Rs. 30 per kg whenever the silk prices drop below Rs. 160 per kg.

Experiencing a drastic fall of almost 62.5 percent, the price of cocoons has dropped from Rs. 160 per kg during the first quarter of this year to Rs. 60 per kg at present.

The government has come out with a market intervention package of Rs. 50 million to help the silk growers who are suffering severe financial crisis due to a fall in silk prices and has announced that additional sums would also be released based on the seriousness of the situation, BN Bachegowda, Minister for Sericulture and Labour said.

He informed that the market intervention scheme has become effective from November 1, 2011 and added that the State government has already released Rs. 120 million to the Silk Marketing Board to help it stabilize the prices. Besides, it has even extended an assurance of raising a fund of Rs. 250 million from the commercial banks.

Read entire post Karnataka Govt Announces Support For Silk Cocoon Growers @ Fibre2fashion

Micron Price Guides Drops

Australian Wool Industries Secretariat Inc (AWIS) releases wool sale report for the week ending November 11.

The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Regional Indicators finished 0.5% lower, on average, at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle this week when the US exchange rate fell by 1%.

The Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) at 1219¢ was 18.1% higher than in the same week last year; and the season average Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) of 1247¢ is 38.1% higher than the season average at the end of Week 19 last season.

Although down, the market performed well this week under the circumstances that developed in Italy during the week. The market eased. But, it performed better than global share markets, which eased by 2 to 3% on Thursday (and by 2.3% in Australia). Overall falls in the individual Micron Price Guides were generally small for the week and there were small gains among the broader Merinos.

Read entire post Micron Price Guides Drops @ Fibre2fashion

Prompt Delivery Preferred - Bremen Cotton Exchange

Bremen Cotton Exchange says cotton deliveries for near dates or by December the latest were of interest for the spinning industry on the domestic market. Just slightly decreasing prices, the impact of cheap import yarns as well as existing stocks continuously led to a wait-and-see-attitude of the processor.

The prices have not yet reached the level where spinning industries satisfy their long-term demand; maybe hopes for dropping prices in the future have played a role, too. Due to the unsecure economic development in Europe there was hardly any stimulation by further steps of the textile chain in general. Contracts were only closed at fitting prices and for the satisfaction of current orders.

Read entire post Prompt Delivery Preferred - Bremen Cotton Exchange @ Fibre2fashion

Wool Is The Winner & Its All About Comfort

The results are in and wool is the winner – objective testing has shown that ultrafine wool garments can outperform 100 per cent cashmere and high quality cotton for comfort and softness.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC) commissioned the manufacture of select ultrafine wool fabrics to provide a set of benchmarks for the measurement of next to skin comfort and handle. The Sheep CRC is a collaboration of industry, government and the commercial sector, which is working to increase productivity and profitability of the industry through new technologies for adoption by both the meat and wool supply chains.

“It is the first time that ultrafine wool knitwear has been shown, using objective testing, to be superior to other natural fibres in terms of functional qualities valued by consumers,” Sheep CRC chief executive officer Professor James Rowe said.

“Wools in the ultrafine micron category, used for the manufacture of these test garments, represent about two per cent of the Australian wool clip and therefore constitute a very rare and valuable fibre resource.”

To establish a performance benchmark for wool garments, the Sheep CRC provided wool buyers with fleece specifications for the purchase of four bales of ultrafine wool (14-15.7 micron) through normal market channels. After purchase the bales were identified as CRC 1 to 4 and sent to Italy for processing through to fabric.

Read entire post Wool Is The Winner & Its All About Comfort @ Fibre2fashion