2021.07.09
INDUSTRY NEWS - 2021.07.09
1、「舊衣新裳」展覽 升級再造之旅
香港紡織及成衣研發中心（HKRITA）為慶祝G2G舊衣新裳循環回收再造系統開幕3周年，由今天起至8月底於荃灣南豐紗廠舉辦「舊衣新裳的奇妙之旅」展覽，與公眾一起回顧G2G如何把舊衣打造成既富創意又環保的新織物。
這次展覽展出舊衣物在回收再造階段中不同的變化，從纖維演變成新衣；與公眾分享舊恤衫與女裝襯衫、牛仔褲、針織等服裝在循環再造過程中所面對的挑戰，及成功再造的喜悅。展覽亦設短片分享多位顧客獨有的衣物回收再造體驗。
G2G服裝循環回收再造系統於2018年設於南豐紗廠，提供全球首個舊衣物循環再造的零售體驗。
G2G系統進入第2階段
G2G的研發已進入第2階段，主要是提高系統容量，完善系統功能，並將多個程序自動化。第2階段的系統升級會在展覽期間同步進行，而系統將於9月重新開放。
資料來源：香港經濟日報 (2021年7月6日)
2、深珠高鐵擬「十四五」開建 建珠江口沿海鐵路通道
與港澳一橋相通的珠海市，目前致力打造「珠江口西岸綜合交通新樞紐」。記者4日從珠海市軌道交通局獲悉，目前正推動「澳珠極點」融入國家高鐵網，編製實施珠海市鐵路及各層次軌道交通一體化規劃，加快構建「北優東接」、輻射粵西的多層次軌道交通網絡。其中，跨越珠江口的深珠通道規劃與廣珠澳高鐵在珠海鶴洲樞紐站交匯，爭取「十四五」啟動建設，並擬延伸至陽江等粵西地區，構建「珠江口西岸沿海鐵路通道」。
深珠通道規劃與廣珠澳高鐵在珠海交匯
記者了解到，珠江東西兩岸實力的不均衡，是制約粵港澳大灣區持續發展的一大掣肘。大灣區要互聯互通，珠澳發展極與深港發展極之間必須高效連通。珠海市交通局有關負責人指出，作為粵港澳大灣區重要門戶樞紐，珠海要綜合謀劃跨越珠江口的通道，增強承接東岸的能力，構建承接東岸的北部交通樞紐門戶。
珠海市交通局有關負責人透露，隨着深圳-中山通道建設，珠海加快與深中通道的對接，金琴快線北延線與中山東部外環高速公路南段連接工程正在推進。而連通深圳、珠海兩大經濟特區的深珠通道（又稱「伶仃洋通道」）已列入最新的《珠海市幹線路網規劃》。而獲得中國鐵路總公司、廣東省政府批複的《深圳鐵路樞紐總圖規劃（2016—2030年）》，亦明確規劃深圳-珠海等珠三角區域城際鐵路。
延至粵西 作為東南沿海高鐵納入國家規劃
據珠海市軌道交通局介紹，廣州至珠海（澳門）高鐵通過鶴洲樞紐站在橫琴口岸與澳門輕軌銜接，而深珠通道在西跨伶仃洋後，引入鶴洲樞紐站與珠海至肇慶高鐵、廣珠（澳）高鐵實現貫通。如此，珠海將更好承接港深、廣佛極點的輻射，攜手澳門構建東西貫通、南北通達的「珠澳高鐵樞紐」。
按最新規劃，廣珠澳高鐵先期推進鶴洲至橫琴段，深珠通道爭取項目於「十四五」啟動建設。同時，推動深珠通道延伸至陽江段，作為東南沿海高鐵通道納入國家、廣東省相關規劃，構建珠江口西岸沿海鐵路通道，打造珠西城市間高效互聯的軌道交通通道。
資料來源：文匯網 (2021年7月4日)
3、廣州個稅優惠新細則 擴工種延長申請時間
2019年試行的粵港澳大灣區個人所得稅優惠政策延長至2023年，作為大灣區四大核心城市之一，廣州市上月出台了新的實施細則。國家稅務總局廣州市稅務局國際稅收管理處副處長謝靖山指出，新優惠政策有若干變化亮點，一方面，享受補貼的境外高端、緊缺人才目錄進一步完善，比過去增加了30個工種；另一方面，進一步細化了政策實施規則，簡化資料提供，受理補貼申請的時間亦延長半個月（由每年7月1日至8月15日延長至8月31日）。
大灣區9市自訂人才標準
為鼓勵包括港澳在內的境外人才到大灣區9個內地城市工作，廣東省推出相應個稅優惠政策，有效期由2019年1月1日至2023年12月31日。依據有關規定，境外高端人才和緊缺人才，若滿足一定認定標準，將按內地與香港個人所得稅稅負差額享受補貼，即個人所得稅納稅上限為應納稅所得額的15%，當年已繳納的超過15%的稅額部分，第二年可向當地政府申請財政補貼。
謝靖山表示，廣東省9個大灣區城市的上述個稅優惠政策，每個城市在原則和補貼的計算方式上一致，但補貼認定的人才目錄範圍，由各城市自行制定標準，故會有一定差異。
值得一提的是，廣州個稅補貼其中一項基本要求，是申請人須於納稅年度內在廣州市工作累計滿90天，謝靖山稱，在疫情期間，入境廣州隔離的天數也會納入計算範圍。
資料來源：信報財經 (2021年7月9日)
4、Why Fashion’s Still Pushing Extended Payment Terms
When companies across fashion and retail began hoarding cash at the start of the pandemic, cost-saving strategies like taking more time to pay suppliers seemed like short-term emergency measures. Turns out, some of these bottom-line financial maneuvers could be around for the long haul.
Covid-19 taught financial executives some harsh lessons, not the least of which was the importance of keeping cash in their coffers. Even now that consumer demand has reawakened with a vengeance, many in retail are wrestling with demand forecasting and remain cautious about shopping behaviors, penchants and preferences that could once again pivot on a dime.
American businesses have $400 billion more in available cash—a 40 percent increase—than they did the prior year, the Hackett Group found in its 2021 U.S. Working Capital Survey, which last year polled 1,000 of the nation’s largest non-financial firms—including textiles, apparel and footwear players. They managed to stockpile those reserves, it added, by pushing payment terms out by 30 days and raising the average timeframe to 62.2 days from 57.8 in 2019. Vendors are now waiting 30 percent longer to get paid versus 10 years ago, Hackett’s data revealed.
Lingering uncertainty is keeping pandemic-era payment terms around as the new normal, according to Hackett principal Craig Bailey, citing a retail chief financial officer whose company is “trying to see where we’re going next, where we’re going now, particularly in terms of consumer demand.” Across the board, Bailey added, many companies are playing the waiting game and hoping to glean clues on how exactly demand is “going to come back,” and whether online-shopping consumers will revert back to brick and mortar.
“When we looked at the end of Q1, we saw that [extended payment terms] continued. We haven’t seen payments being dialed back yet,” Bailey said, adding that many firms saw this invoicing move as an “easy” option for keeping cash on their balance sheets longer.
What’s more, pandemic-driven supply-chain meltdowns rekindled conversations on the risks of having too much supply concentrated in too few hands, Bailey said. But the downside to diversification, he added, is defanging a firm’s pricing power when it comes to negotiating payment T&Cs. “If companies look to diversify, they’ll become a smaller customer to that supplier,” he said.
Retail players from Macy’s to Bed Bath & Beyond have addressed their working capital strategies in recent earnings calls.
Gustavo Arnal, CFO for the home goods giant, said the chain is constantly “optimizing [its] cost structure” with a “zero-based approach.” These steps, he said during BBB’s Q4 April earnings call, include rent reductions and negotiating with vendors to trim input costs.
“That is going all as planned in terms of additional restructuring,” he said, adding that the retailer is “capitalizing on all the savings of the restructuring done last year.”
Macy’s, which quickly moved to shore up its liquidity position in the immediate wake of last year’s first lockdowns, continues to lean on the extended payment terms strategy it implemented in early 2020 to enhance operational flexibility, according to CFO Adrian Mitchell.
The retailer ended Q1 with $1.8 billion in cash—and without tapping its $3 billion asset-backed credit facility, he told investors in a May 18 earnings call. Macy’s $403 million in free cash flow marked a “significant increase” over 2019 as well as a “sizable beat” to its own expectations, Mitchell added, attributing the results in part to delaying vendor payments.
However, Mitchell is all too aware that these results are far from guaranteed to continue, noting that the “magnitude, speed and longevity of this current macro shopping enthusiasm remains a moving target” and that “sales and profits could shift between quarters.” Despite leveraging predictive analytics to improve merchandising and demand forecasting to enhance inventory allocation, Macy’s recognizes the “headwinds” that remain, he added.
And while many companies focused on self-preservation with their pandemic cost cuts, some of the stronger players extended a helping hand to vulnerable supply chain vendors, Bailey said.
Ralph Lauren was vocal about settling “payment for finished goods and goods in production” last year when order pauses and cancellations swept fashion. “Understanding that the scale of the ongoing slowdown of future orders can have a significant impact on our partners’ liquidity, we have a vendor payments program in place which enables suppliers to receive payments on a shortened time frame at favorable market rates,” it said in an April 6 statement, just weeks after lockdowns started, pointing to its “responsible purchasing practices.”
Source: sourcingjournal.com (6 Jul 2021)
5、Disney Adds Bangladesh to ‘Permitted Sourcing’ List
Nearly a decade after the Walt Disney Company pulled out of Bangladesh, citing a desire to transition its garment production out of the “highest risk” countries, the House of Mouse is reinstating its production of branded merchandise in the South Asian country, industry insiders have said.
“The Walt Disney Company has decided to include Bangladesh in its permitted sourcing country list with International Labour Standard audits,” Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the country’s largest trade group of apparel factory owners, told New Age Friday.
Disney had made the decision to walk away after Bangladesh was beset by a spate of industrial accidents, including a November 2012 fire that killed 112 workers at a factory that labor advocates said had made Disney-branded clothing. The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex, which killed 1,134 garment workers and injured thousands more a few months later, only accelerated its exit.
“As part of an ongoing review of our policies and procedures, we have made adjustments to our sourcing guidelines that will help us better manage the challenges associated with a complex global supply chain and meet our [International Labour Standards Program] objectives,” the company said in May 2013. “We have decided to consolidate production of Disney-branded products in a more limited number of permitted sourcing countries and have instructed our licensees and vendors to transition the production of Disney-branded goods out of the highest-risk countries.”
While Bangladesh was only one of 43 countries that didn’t make the cut—0thers included Belarus, Ecuador, Pakistan and Venuezela—the decision was widely panned by labor-rights groups, which accused the cultural juggernaut of cutting and running from a situation it helped create.
“The global brands and retailers are a significant part of the problem because they have been continually driving for the lowest possible prices for garments from Bangladesh,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, told the Financial Times when the news broke. At the same time, he added, companies will claim to “consumers that the clothes they are buying are produced in safe factories by workers earning fair wages who have a right to form a union.”
Disney didn’t have a huge stake in Bangladesh, however. At the time, less than 1 percent of the factories it employed hailed from the nation. But labor advocates feared that Disney’s move would prompt a mass exodus of Western retailers. Instead, most of them signed what would become a landmark agreement, one that held brands legally beholden to improving safety and labor conditions at their suppliers. Disney did not add its name to the Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, nor its rival—and some say watered-down—Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. Instead, the media empire said it would consider restarting production in Bangladesh in the future if factories agreed to partner with the International Labour Organization and International Finance Corporation’s Better Work program, which nearly 300 have linked arms with since late 2014.
These are the suppliers, Hassan said told New Age, that would be “entitled” to become a Disney vendor. They also need to participate in the Ready-Made Garments Sustainability Council, which has taken over most of the responsibilities of the Accord, and fulfill specific remediation criteria.
When Disney abandoned Bangladesh, the country ceded roughly half a billion dollars worth of business to India, Myanmar and India, Hassan said. But an unprecedented level of improvements over the past eight years has made the world’s second-largest exporter of clothing safer than ever, he noted.
“Through these actions and transformation, Bangladesh has well positioned itself as the preferred sourcing partner for conscious brands like Disney, which is committed to fostering safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces in its manufacturing facilities worldwide,” Hassan said. “With the reinstatement of Bangladesh as a permitted sourcing country, we will be able to attract orders of more than $500 million.”
The next step, labor advocates say, is for Disney to sign the extended Accord that is currently being negotiated.
“A top priority for Disney should be to commit to signing a new Bangladesh Accord agreement that is individually binding on brands and agreeing to expand the program to other countries where garment workers risk their lives every day when they go to work,” Liana Foxvog, crisis response director at the Worker Rights Consortium, told Sourcing Journal.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After a crushing pandemic year, which saw the Bangladesh garment industry shed some $6 billion after overseas apparel sales imploded, work is starting to pick up again. Driven by an upswing in demand for clothing in recovering Western economies, the nation’s exports rallied 15 percent to $38.76 billion in the financial year ending June, trade data revealed Tuesday.
Garment exports saw a 13 percent year-over-year rebound to $31.5 billion in 2020-21 following a 21 percent bump in overseas sales of knitwear products such as T-shirts and sweaters, the Export Promotion Bureau said. Sales of woven garments—think formal button-ups and work pants—inched up a more modest 3 percent as people are still transitioning from work-from-home and shying away from formal social gatherings.
June showed the biggest boost of the pandemic, growing 31.7 percent from a year earlier to $3.57 billion, though still short of the $40.5 billion it reported in 2018-19, the highest on record.
“The export trend looks bright as international retailers and brands are coming back with a handful of work orders for the next season,” Hassan told the Daily Star. “With the reopening of the clothing stores in Europe and the U.S., the shipment of garment items is rising.”
The latest wave of Covid-19 continues to cast a pall, however. Though garment factories are exempt, Bangladesh is currently facing a “hard” lockdown, which authorities have extended to July 14 in an effort to combat the surge of coronavirus infections led by the more contagious Delta variant. The nation logged 163 new deaths Tuesday, taking its death toll to 15,392. It also recorded the highest-ever number of new daily infections at 11,525.
Soaring freight and raw material costs could also stymie growth.
“Order flow is satisfactory, but freight costs and cotton prices are rising up—that could hamper our exports,” Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the BGMEA, told Reuters. “Our garment factories are largely unaffected by the latest pandemic situation at home but we need to control it soon.”
Source: sourcingjournal.com (7 Jul 2021)
6、Bestseller, Adidas among investors pumping EUR30m into Infinited Fiber
Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company has secured investments worth EUR30m (US$36m) in its latest financing round.
Infinited Fiber Company’s technology turns cellulose-based raw materials, like cotton-rich textile waste, into Infinna – a unique, premium-quality regenerated textile fibre with the natural, soft look and feel of cotton. Infinna is biodegradable and contains no microplastics and, at the end of their life, garments made with it can be recycled in the same process together with other textile waste.
Its latest financing round also brought new investors, including sportswear company Adidas, Invest FWD A/S, which is Bestseller’s investment arm for sustainable fashion, and investment company Security Trading Oy.
Among the existing investors contributing to this round of financing were fashion retailer H&M Group, which was the lead investor, investment company Nidoco AB, and Sateri, the world’s largest viscose producer and a member of the RGE group of companies.
The securement of new funding follows Infinited Fiber Company’s April announcement of plans to build a flagship factory in Finland in response to the strong growth in demand from global fashion and textile brands for its regenerated textile fibre Infinna. The factory, which will use household textile waste as raw material, is expected to be operational in 2024 and to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tonnes.
The new funding enables Infinited Fiber Company to carry out the work needed to prepare for the flagship factory investment and to increase production at its pilot facilities in the years leading to 2024.
“These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward,” Infinited Fiber Company co-founder and CEO Petri Alava said. “We can now also boost production at our pilot facilities so that we can better serve our existing customers and grow our customer base in preparation for both our flagship factory and for the future licensees of our technology.”
Danish fashion retailer Bestseller says its sustainability innovation platform Fashion FWD Lab has been collaborating with Infinited Fiber Company and its patented Infinna fibre, looking at the potential to put the fibre into production – as well as the investment potential.
“Through our ongoing collaboration, we have developed the first prototypes and seen that the fibre can live up to our requirements for quality, look and sustainability. With Infinited Fiber Company’s planned flagship factory, we can actually scale this amazing circular material and, in time, make it a competitive fibre to conventional fibres,” says Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen, Bestseller’s sustainable materials and innovation manager, who heads Fashion FWD Lab.
Bestseller has also signed a multi-year sales agreement with Infinited Fiber Company to secure access to the Finnish innovator’s fibre.
“For us, this is much more than an investment. This is a pathway to change the environmental impact of the fashion industry, as it provides a technology solution that makes textile-to-textile recycling possible. At the same time, this is something that represents the potential for Bestseller to reach our North Star and become circular by design. And most importantly: this is only the beginning,” Skjønning Jørgensen adds.
Meanwhile, Katja Schreiber, senior vice president sustainability at Adidas, notes the German company’s intensified cooperation with Infinited Fiber Company forms part of its strategic ambition to have nine out of ten products made from sustainable materials by 2025.
“Sustainability is a key focus of our strategy, with sustainable material innovations playing an important role in creating a more sustainable world. Today, we already use more than 60% recycled polyester and are aiming to be entirely virgin polyester-free by 2024. We believe that impact-at-scale in sustainability will require strong collaboration and look forward to pushing boundaries in cellulose-based materials together with Infinited Fiber Company.”
Sweden’s H&M Group is one of Infinited Fiber Company’s earliest investors, first investing in the company in 2019. It has also signed a multi-year sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company to secure its access to agreed amounts of Infinna from the planned flagship factory.
“We’re thrilled to continue our journey with Infinited Fiber Company by further investing in them. To be joined by other global brands clearly speaks to the shared belief in the scalability of their technology as well as the team behind it. More importantly, it also shows the huge potential that their regenerated textile fibre has in driving the industry towards a more sustainable fashion future,” said Nanna Andersen, head of H&M CO:LAB, H&M Group.
Meanwhile, Allen Zhang, president of Sateri, added: “Sateri is excited to continue to invest in and collaborate with Infinited Fiber Company as part of our long-term commitment towards closed-loop, circular and climate-positive cellulosic fibres. This financing round marks a major milestone for our collaboration in scaling up next-generation fibre solutions.”
Last week, outdoor apparel company Patagonia inked a multi-year sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company to guarantee access to the limited-supply Infinna over the coming years.
Source: www.just-style.com (5 Jul 2021)
7、Li & Fung reveals first private-label brands created for JD
Li & Fung is strengthening its partnership with JD by launching a multi-category collection of own-label products for the online marketplace, including homewares and pet products.
JD invested in Li & Fung last year with a view to partnering in end-to-end digital supply chain management services for JD’s private brand initiatives, including the emerging consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M) business model currently gaining momentum in Mainland China.
Today the companies jointly announced the first brands under that partnership: ‘Made by JD’ and ‘Best Home’ covering homewares, and a range of pet products called Jingmeng, which translates in English to Cute Pet.
“JD can leverage Li & Fung’s 3D product design expertise and supply chain know-how to create and produce these new private label brands,” said Wilson Zhu, newly-appointed head of C2M initiatives at Li & Fung.
By continuing to play on each other’s respective strengths, the two companies can deliver products to consumers that are within their budget and developed at a much faster speed, said Zhu, “through better forecasting, smarter production and maximum supply chain efficiency”.
Zhu said C2M enables manufacturers to dramatically shorten the time from design to consumer from an industry average of 40 weeks to as little as a fortnight. Products are tested in multiple SKUs of small quantities through e-commerce channels, providing more accurate data analysis of end-consumer preferences so that iterations can be made quickly and inventory can be adjusted in real-time.
Wang Xiaosong, senior VP of JD and head of the company’s private brands division said Li & Fung’s industry-leading 3D product design capabilities and wide-ranging product category expertise will greatly enhance JD’s ability to create private-label brands that online consumers welcome and trust.
“The brand development process will also be informed by insights from our big data analysis,” he said.
Source: insideretail.asia (7 Jul 2021)
8、Isko invests in HKRITA Green Machine
Turkish denim producer Isko and textile research and development company HKRITA have struck a licensing agreement for the latter's Green Machine – a one-of-a-kind technology that fully separates and recycles cotton and polyester blends at scale.
The Green Machine uses an innovative and ultra-efficient hydrothermal treatment method that decomposes cotton into cellulose powders and enables the separation of polyester fibres from blended fabrics. The process is a closed loop and uses only water, heat and less than 5% biodegradable green chemicals.
Crucially, this method does not damage the polyester fibres and therefore maintains their quality; the cellulose powders, which are clean and toxic-free, can be used in a variety of ways.
The technology is still in the pilot stage but is an additional step in Isko’s drive to improve and commercialise recycling technologies which will eventually enable the company to offer a 100% post-consumer recycling solution to all of its customers. In addition, Isko and HKRITA will work together to develop related technology.
“Isko has a total commitment to sustainability and through our Responsible Innovation approach, we are constantly looking for new ways of working towards the future of a fully circular fashion industry. Our investment in this new technology is another milestone towards our full circularity vision,” says ISKO CEO, Fatih Konukoğlu.
The investment is the latest in Isko’s ongoing drive for advancements in sustainability. As part of the company’s R-TWOTM programme, it is also working to develop fabrics with a guaranteed minimum 50%-plus GRS (Global Recycle Standard) recycled content blend. This will significantly reduce the carbon and water footprint of a fabric, as well as make it easy for consumers to trace a garment’s sustainable journey step-by-step from the beginning of the supply chain through to the end product they purchase.
The first capsule clothing collection made using the Green Machine was launched by Swedish fast-fashion brand Monki towards the end of last year.
Source: www.just-style.com (7 Jul 2021)