Low Costs Luring Indian Textile Makers to Bangladesh

Many Indian garment makers are shifting base or opening new units in neighbouring Bangladesh to take advantage of low labour cost and duty concessions on exports to US and European markets.

“Labour cost in Bangladesh is almost one-third of that in India. Average monthly labour cost in India is over Rs.7,000 per person, while it is just around Rs.2,500 in Bangladesh,” said D.K. Nair, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.

“More than 35 Indian textile firms have opened factories in Bangladesh so far, most of them in the recent months,” Nair, who oversees the apex industry body for the $55-billion Indian textile industry, said.
Read more about Indian Textile Makers working with Bangladesh from the Economic Times article. 

Learn more about India fashion and textiles.

Possible Harsh Harvest Looms for Xinjiang Cotton Growers

Here is a cotton article summary from usa.chinadaily.com.cn. 
If you drive around Shihezi now, cotton harvest time, you will probably notice that the cotton fields look as if snow has just fallen.

However, the fields should also be filled with people picking cotton. In a few years machines will do much of the work but until then harvesting requires thousands of workers.

“I’ve been desperately looking for migrant cotton pickers at the railway and bus stations, but in vain,” cotton farmer Li Chunsheng said in September. On Sunday, he said nothing had changed.

Li, 53, cultivates four hectares of cotton in Manas county, Changji Hui autonomous prefecture. The county, about 17 kilometers from Shihezi, is the key production area for first-rate cotton in the northern part of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The seasonal pickers “ask for higher pay this year, while the cotton price is lower than last year. We can’t make ends meet”, he said.
Read More:  Harsh Harvest Looms for Xinjiang Cotton Growers
Learn more about cotton on the Cotton Prices website.

Launch of high-performance UV absorber Tinuvin® 1600

Tinuvin^® 1600 is a novel UV absorber which provides extremely long-lasting UV protection to high-performance thermoplastics. It exhibits an outstanding UV absorption capacity resulting in minimal loss of optical properties for stringent weathering requirements. Very low volatility allows excellent processing characteristics. Tinuvin^® 1600 sets a new industry benchmark in ultra-high durability which cannot be achieved with current UV technologies.

Can this be used in the textile industry?  We better check with BASF.

GORE PYRAD Flame Retardant Technology Commercial Introduction

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., announces the commercial introduction of GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant technology, a new laminate technology that offers an optimal combination of thermal / flashover burn protection, environmental protection, and comfort. GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant is a durably bonded laminate solution that allows manufacturers to integrate Flame Retardant (FR) performance into protective outerwear where traditional (non-FR) textiles, such as nylon and polyester, are used.

GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant, when used in conjunction with nylon and polyester face fabrics (which are abrasion and pilling resistant), ensures durability and comfort while adding very little in terms of weight and water pickup. GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant can be constructed with a wide range of fabric options in a variety of camouflage prints and colors that are notably more colorfast to light and laundry (than most traditional FR face textiles).
The first commercial applications incorporating GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant are military outerwear and workwear such as in-weather protective clothing for oil & gas use. The technology is also currently being evaluated for use in handwear, footwear, tents/shelters and other applications, where fire retardation is essential.
GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant offers highly efficient thermal protection per unit weight and demonstrates excellent flame and burn performance in Pyroman (ASTM F 1930) testing, and retains this feature, even after contamination of fuels, oils and lubricants. Garments made with GORE® PYRAD™ Flame Retardant also exhibit best-in-class mechanical integrity after flashover exposure with very low shrinkage and no break-open.

This fabric is manufactured by W. L. Gore & Associates.   If you are not familiar with W.L. Gore & Associates, here is a brief profile summary.  Gore is a leading manufacturer of thousands of advanced technology products for the electronics, fabrics, industrial and medical markets. Perhaps best known for its waterproof and breathable GORE-TEX® fabric, the company’s portfolio features a diverse array of innovations, including everything from guitar strings to life-saving cardiovascular devices. Gore is headquartered in Newark, Del., and employs 9,000 associates in 30 countries worldwide. It is one of a select few companies to appear on all of the U.S. “100 Best Companies to Work For” lists since the rankings were introduced in 1984.  You can read more about the company at http://www.wlgore.com.

Learn more about flame retardant fabric on Apparel Search in the textile directory section.  In addition, you can learn more about various fabrics from the fabric search website.

Reflective Fabric Guide

Reflective fabric is utilized typically as a function of safety.  Reflective fabrics can also be utilized as an element of design, but most often it is used for the function of safety.  If you plan to produce clothing with reflective properties, we suggest you check out the new reflective fabric guide which is located at ReflectiveFabric.org

Printed Fabric Guide

This past week a new textile website was launched called the Printed Fabric website.  This site is essentially a printed fabric guide.  This means that the site helps guide you to various information and resources about printing fabrics, printed apparel, and places to find such product.  For example, the site provides a method to find fabric manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.  The site is still under development and will have further improvements in the near future.  This new textile printing website can be found at www.PrintedFabric.org