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| Issue date:01/08/2007 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Aug 2007 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
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| Global oversupply is driving a demand for higher value added products along the denim production chain, Adrian Wilson reports |
Despite its continued popularity, diversification and adaptation to many new fashion trends, imports of cotton denim fabrics into both the European Union and the USA have fallen over the past two years.
Imports of cotton denim fabric into the EU were down almost 13% to a value of 209 million euros in 2006, after a fall of 10% in 2005.
Turkish suppliers have a predominant share of the EU import market at 46% in value terms and 37% in volume. To some degree, Turkey has resisted the decline in EU imports. In value terms, the EU’s denim imports from Turkey fell by 9.5% in value, but with Turkish fabrics sold at an average of 2.59 euros per square meter, it is maintaining a quality lead over the average of 2.13 euros.
Denim imports to the EU from Tunisia, meanwhile, climbed by more than 10% in volume terms in 2006, and Tunisian fabrics are sold at an average of 3.31 euros per square meter — the second highest price after Japanese fabrics at 4.35 euros.
At the cheap end of the market, exported denim from Egypt, with an average price of 2 euros per square meter, has climbed by eight times over the past two years, albeit, from a low level, while denim exports from Mauritius are also increasing.
Other countries fared less well
Indian denim exported into the EU was down by 30%, that from Pakistan by 27% and that from Morocco by 25%.
Imports by EU members from other European states are declining at an even more rapid rate and have fallen by 38% in volume terms over the past two years.
Italian denim producers have suffered from a 40% decline in their shipments to other member states over the past two years, while those from Spain and Greece fell by 46% in value over the same period.
And while shipments from Germany more than doubled in volume, prices fell over the period by 39%.
Italy remains by far the largest EU supplier of denim with over 36% of total shipments, but Italian prices did not move over the two-year period.
US imports
US denim fabric imports continued to dramatically fall in 2006 with buyers now focusing on either low-cost denim, predominantly from China, or more sophisticated products from Italy and Japan.
Shipments to the United States fell 22% in volume terms after already dropping 34% in 2005.
Imports from China climbed 45% in 2006 after already surging by a massive 832% in 2005. As a result, China had a leading 25% share of the market in volume terms in 2006.
Such a gain, however, is partly due to a dramatic fall in imports from Hong Kong, that mostly included blue denim from mainland China.
Shipments from Hong Kong fell 77% in volume terms in 2006 after a fall of 56% in 2005.
Chinese prices further declined by 4.47% in 2006, following a 17% decrease in the previous year.
Chinese denim exporters are now offering the lowest prices on the US import market, with the exception of a few small suppliers elsewhere in the world.
Italy and Japan dominated the market in value terms, reflecting the development of sophisticated, higher-priced denim apparel in the United States.
Shipments from Italy increased by 2% in value terms after rising 22% in 2005, although imports from Japan did not change after falling 21% in 2005.
In value terms, Italy was the leading supplier in 2006, followed by Japan, with China ranking the third.
Italy's prices were 2.86 times higher than Chinese prices and Japanese prices were 3.56 times above Chinese prices.
Denim produced in Mexico was rapidly disappearing on the US market and was increasingly being shipped to apparel producers in Central America, where there was currently a drive to allow apparel exporters in to use Mexican denim without losing duty-free access to the US market.
Mexican imported denim to the US fell by 67% in 2006 after sliding 54% in 2005.
Denim by Première Vision
The denim community has well-defined needs, and with its specific processing time requirements in respect production, washing and finishing operations, the cycle of the denim sector requires that fabrics be selected well in advance of the season.
With these things in mind, Première Vision, a leading European fabric show, is launching "Denim by Première Vision", a new show to be held from December 4-5 in Paris, France.
The organizers plan to bring together a selection of around 50 international weavers, specialized finishing companies and accessory manufacturers linked to the product.
The aim is to attract the biggest jeanswear brands from around the world, as well as specialized manufacturers.
Alongside this new event, held very early in the denim season, Première Vision will continue to propose a denim offer in February and in September at the salon at Paris-Nord Villepinte, in the framework of a "multi-specialist" concept for both jeans brands as well as ready-to-wear or luxury brands whose collections include denim lines.
Depending on the market’s reaction to the event, the show could take place twice a year, in December for the spring-summer collections, and in June for the autumn-winter collections.
Surface effects
The addition of value-added surface effects to textiles usually takes place after manufacturing of the basic product.
With the effect yarn devices manufactured by Swiss machine builder Amsler, however, there is the opportunity to both add value and influence the final design at the yarn spinning stage, while potentially eliminating a number of finishing steps in the overall process.
Amsler effect yarn devices can be retrofitted to any spinning frame and allow the production of yarns with specific "characters", that have been pre-programmed in terms of the number of fibers in their cross section and the specific length of each effect.
As a result, the designs are 100% reproducible. In addition, because the specially-developed software allows the final fabric structure to be viewed and fine-tuned in advance, the time-consuming sampling process can be eliminated.
The most visible end-results of the Amsler process on the market are to be found in denim, which is being constantly revitalized by the many structural and slub effects the devices make possible.
Knitted indigo
Knitted denim fabrics developed by Taiwan's Pai Lung, meanwhile, could herald a breakthrough for knit manufacturers who want to move into completely new markets.
These materials have an astonishing similarity to woven denim.
Working closely with one of its Korean customers, the circular knitting machine builder has used the float plating technique to knit indigo dyed cotton yarns into denim fabrics in weights of 320-420 gsm. These 18-gauge single jersey knits have been made into denim jackets and jeans which are almost identical to woven denim but also have the desirable knit properties of natural stretch and breathability.
"We first developed our float plating machine for the automotive industry with Il Jung of Korea which supplied fabric to Hyundai for car seats," said Pai Lung company president James Wang. "We then realized that the fabrics would be appropriate for woven-type apparel and have been working on this secret project for three years."
The new knitted denim has undergone rigorous testing, and shrinkage rates are down to less than 2%, so fabric stability is very good. "We have done all the necessary fabric durability and permeability tests, which show the denim is not only hard wearing, but very comfortable. You can also clean the knitted denim just as easily as woven denim — either dry cleaning or in an everyday washing machine. And of course, knitting is a much quicker process than weaving," said Mr Wang, who noted that the development of suitable indigo yarn dyeing equipment is the next challenge.
The machine used to knit the denim is Pai Lung’s PL-KSFP (B), a mechanical four-track single jersey machine in 18G with a 26-inch cylinder width and 60 feeders.
High performance
Fertichem Cotspin based in Chandigarh, India, has just started producing ring spun yarns for denim production at its new purpose-built facility, following the installation of a Truetzschler blow room and seven high-performance TC 03 cards.
The decision to enter the ring spun yarn market was initiated some three years ago, in a bid to provide more added-value products and to meet customer demands for softer feel cotton yarns for fancy denim, according to the company’s vice-president Dharmendra Shah.
The Truetzschler order followed the successful evaluation of two TC 03 card units installed in 2005 in the open-yarn production unit.
"We have also enjoyed high quality sliver production from all 13 Truetzschler cards, including the installation of DK 803, DK 903 and DK 780 over the past eight years," said Mr Shah.
The Singhal Family which owns the Fertichem Group entered the spinning market in 1999 specializing in open-end yarn for denim producers, capitalizing on government incentives to establish spinning operations in Chandigarh.
Ashima denim samples made with the latest Fertichem Cotspin yarns |
The latest expansion introduces ring spun slub and multi-count yarns and later this year, a further 7,200 spindles are to be installed together with another three TC03 cards to provide a spun yarn capacity of 20 tonnes per day, and a total of 42 daily tonnes of both open-end and spun yarns.
The high-performance TC 03 card has a 90 kg/hr capacity for this special application and features a three licker-in roller configuration offering increased production rates, a reduced compact installation and reducing running costs including energy, filtration and maintenance.
The Truetzschler TC 03 card offers a precision knife setting system for fast adjustment of waste material, fast flat exchange without tools; variable speed drive for the flats; an electronic cylinder brake to reduce cleaning and maintenance times; and Nepcontrol for online measurement of neps and trash particles.
Fertichem Cotspin vice-president Dharmendra Shah |
A Truetzschler 40-meter-long twin line and 1,500kg capacity Blendomat initially "plucks" up to 10mm per pass from the bales of cotton, feeding the tufts into a Multifunction Separator (SP- MF) to remove heavy parts, spark detection, metal parts detection/ejection and dust extraction. The cotton is further cleaned and large trash removed in the CL-P pre-cleaner. The cycle continues through a six-chamber multi-mixer for blending, an 800kg capacity CL-C3 final cleaner and a final SP-DX microdust extractor.
Mr Shah joined Fertichem Cotspin as its vice president in 1999 and has been instrumental in forward planning and the company's growth strategy.
Truetzschler TC 03 cards for denim yarn production at Fertichem Cotspin's plant in Chandigarh |
"I had no hesitation in specifying the Truetzschler cards having had extensive experience gained with Arvind — one of the world's leading denim producers with more than 170 Truetzschler cards and many blow rooms," he said. "As a stand-alone spinning unit, we are the biggest in the region and enjoy a reputation for delivering on time with high quality yarns."
Mr Shah said that ring spinning was a natural progression as the open-end market has become more competitive and margins reduced.
"We needed to seek more value added products such as ring spun yarns offering a softer touch for fancy denim," he explained. "Initially Ne9 was our average count in open-end but today it has increased to Ne14 with increased demand in Ne20-24s counts.
"For the future, I can see small 'niche' demand for Ne24 for high quality, designer fancy denim — which we will be able to meet, thanks to Truetzscheler."
End customers for the company include leading Indian producers, including Arvind Mills, Ashima and Raymond Uco Denim.
Global oversupply
Raymond Uco was founded in 2006 as a joint venture between India's Raymond and Uco of Belgium, as a global denim company with an annual capacity of 80 million meters.
Raymond's denim division has an annual capacity of 40 million meters of high-end ring denim following its last expansion in 2006 while Uco also increased its annual denim capacity to 40 million meters by building a new plant in Romania in May 2006.
The joint venture was expected to have a turnover of more than US$250 million in its first year of operation, but in its first four months incurred losses, due, the company reported, to "the oversupply situation in the global denim market, which continues to be sluggish."
Chairman and managing director of Raymond, Gautham Singhania strongly believes, however, in the synergy potential of the joint venture.
"The Raymond Group today wants to move ahead from being India's most admired textile and apparel company to becoming a global player, integrated across various garment categories like worsted suiting, denim, shirting and so on," he said singling out especially to following synergies:
The global sourcing of raw materials (yarn, cotton and dyes), machinery and spare parts;
A wider range of products catering to the global requirements of large international brands; and
Combined Indo-Western strengths in product innovation and design.
The launching of the new denim plant in Romania also enables Raymond Uco to offer customers basic denim at competitive prices, which is certainly an advantage as far as the competition in the price-sensitive Turkish and East-European denim market is concerned.
It also strengthens the venture's position on the global market, where leading denim apparel brands are reducing their number of suppliers, favoring these with a wide offer.
"Raymond Uco is the only denim player with activities in three continents — Asia, Europe and North-America," said Philippe Vlerick, chairman of Uco and of the joint venture. "I think that together we have become too important to be ignored by the market."
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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