A woman works on the assembly line of a shoe factory in Tan Lap village, outside Hanoi February 22, 2013.Reuters U.S. efforts to forge a "21st Century" trade agreement with Vietnam and 10 other countries in the Asia Pacific region are running into problems mired in the past, including a textile trade policy that U.S. industry does not want to give up. The United States hopes to finish talks on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact by the end of the year, but Vietnam says the si

The inventories with garment manufacturing units in China have been rising in recent years, according to the China National Garment Association (CNGA). The association said the inventories with garment factories have risen to such a level that even if all the garment units across China closed, the stock would be enough to last for three years, chinadaily.com.cn reported. The high inventory is despite a steady growth in apparel sales in recent months. In May 2013, apparel sales rose 6.6 per

In the latest twist in the battle between Hermès and LVMH for the control of the former, Hermès has formalized a complaint against LVMH before the Paris Commercial Court to try to overturn the stock market mechanisms that have allowed the largest group luxury world to increase its stake in Hermès capital to a quarter. According to the French newspaper 'Les Echos', with this new court procedure, the creator of the Birkin handbag pretends to override the 'equity swaps' - financial artifice that h

China is the leading market for retail expansion and brands looking to grow their business. According to the AT Kearney Retail Apparel Index, China tops the world's developing markets, helped by its significant size and strong growth in clothing sales, with three trends – the rise of e-commerce, a boom in fast fashion and the evolution of the luxury market – making it the most interesting market. “In most emerging markets, e-commerce is less than 1 percent of total sales: in China, it is 6 per

The readymade garments industry, excluding exports, is set to double to Rs 4 lakh crore in the next five years with the removal of excise duty and increased demand for branded garments. According to Rahul Mehta, President of the Clothing Manufacturers Association (CMA) of India, the industry has started moving in the positive trajectory after growth was stalled by the 10 per cent excise duty imposed last year. The industry is now looking to target a growth of six to seven per cent this yea

Myanmar's clothing industry is expected to grow as a result of the country's readmission to a preferential EU trading scheme, according to sources from the industry. The European Union readmitted Myanmar to its trade preference scheme on June 12 which grants developing nations preferential access to the 27-nation bloc for several products in the form of lower tariffs. "This is a great chance for us, but it is also a challenge. The businessmen here are not familiar with it. Especially we need t

The exports of readymade garments, pashmina and woolen carpets from Nepal have shown double-digit decline during the first ten months of the current fiscal year, which began on July 16, 2012, according to Nepal’s central bank – Nepal Rastra Bank – statistics. Nepal’s garment exports to third countries (except India) fell down by 27.9 percent year-on-year to Np Rs. 2.5 billion, during the first 10 months of 2012-13 period, Republica reported. Nepal?s apparel exports are seeing a negative gr

The textile and garment sector is working to get itself in shape for brighter horizons. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is drafting the textile-garment industry development planning to 2020, with vision towards 2030 for submission to the prime minister for approval. This plan will see landmark changes compared to the previous plan approved by the government via Decision 36/2008/QD-TTg in 2008. In the new planning, the sector envisages an export value of $31-$32 billion by 2020, w

The China National Garment Association said on Wednesday that apparel sales in May rose 6.6 percent year-on-year, 5.5 percentage points faster than a month earlier. So strong are the inventories, the association said, that if all the garment factories closed there would be enough for three years. The China National Textile and Apparel Council cited two reasons for the high inventories. First, Chinese clothing brands have developed too fast in recent years and the purchasing power of poten

ICE cotton closed down on Wednesday in its longest string of one-day losses in more than two weeks, as long liquidation continued and rains in Texas eased concerns over supplies in the United States, the world's top exporter. The benchmark December cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.72 cent, or 0.8 percent, at 86.60 cents per lb. "We're in this summer weather market. There was some rain in Texas, which is certainly substantial," said a US trader. The top growing state in t