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23 July 2003
Although 2003 has proved to be a somewhat lacklustre year on the retail front for apparel, retail sales of household goods are brighter in some markets, particularly in the UK and Australia.
24 July 2003
Retail consumption of wool textiles in South Korea had been recovering steadily from the economic downturn and currency crisis of 1997-1999, but this year is turning out to be a tougher prospect given the difficult global retail and economic environment.
3 July 2003
US trade statistics reveal a jump of 17% in import volumes of textiles and apparel in March 2003 compared with a year earlier. In a continuation of the upward trend seen since October 2002, US wool product imports also rose.
4 July 2003
The Australian wool market continued its downward trend this week with prices dropping 3.3% on average at sales in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.
7 July 2003
Highlights from the July edition of Monthly Market Briefing:
Total Easy Care (machine wash and tumble dry) wool apparel is enjoying active order levels in Japan for the Autumn/Winter 2003/04 season.
30 July 2003
Final results for the French Autumn/Winter retail season September 2002?February 2003 show only a modest rise in clothing consumption.
22 July 2003
EU Member States have adopted a set of conclusions setting out the EU's views on the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún in September 2003, a half-way point in the negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda.
1 July 2003
The Australian Government has asked the Productivity Commission to evaluate current assistance arrangements for the textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) sector and to provide policy options for post 2005 assistance and to report on a range of related matters that will affect the sector's long term viability. The Commission will report its findings by 31 July 2003.
9 July 2003
Menswear fabric orders for the Autumn/Winter 2003/04 season received by Japanese weavers to date were approximately 20% below the previous season's level. Coupled with sluggish retail performance and the over supply of men's suits during 2002, weavers have also suffered from recent structural changes in the Japanese wool pipeline. Major Japanese menswear retailers and manufacturers have almost entirely shifted their fabric sourcing to China. As well, as this poor order situation, a further divergence in prices has become evident in the menswear sector. While top brands emphasise the high-quality aspects of fine wool, volume brands have shifted towards blends and fine wool is no longer seen in the sector. Womenswear fabric orders, as with men's wear, remain slow. An exception is for tweed-type fabrics and top-dyed/yarn-dyed fabrics with complicated surface effects have received good orders for jackets and short coats. Korean spinners and weavers operations contracted in May, as lower order levels from both the domestic and international market prevailed. Woollen spinners, in particular, have reported a sharp reduction in orders from Hong Kong and other SEA countries that were affected by SARS. Some knitting yarn orders have picked up since mid-April, although the volumes are estimated to be only half of the previous year. Korean wool fabric exports to China (for contract trade) have also increased. Korea has now replaced Italy as the second largest exporter of wool fabrics to China in 2002, after Japan.
8 July 2003
During the first quarter of 2003 China was one of the few bright spots in the subdued world retail market for wool apparel and textiles. This, however, faltered in April and May as concerns regarding the SARS virus heightened. Apparel retail sales in April were 2.4% lower in volume over the same month last year due to the negative impact of the SARS outbreak that started to emerge in mid-April. Apparel sales fell even more sharply in May as the full impact of fears about SARS were felt as nervous consumers avoided shopping wherever possible, in particular in the major department stores, for fear of contracting the disease. In terms of wool-type apparel, the survey reported a decline in the largest sectors for wool during the January-April period of 2003 ? men's suits and wool knitwear sales fell by 31.7% and 1.7% respectively year-on-year.
18 July 2003
In the first week in June, the Cotlook 'A' indicator recorded cotton prices at the lowest level in five months. This weakening in raw cotton prices reflected a renewed global slowdown in textile production and cotton consumption in the first half of 2003. The SARS outbreak, the fall in the US dollar and continued weather related concerns over supply in several cotton producing nations are expected to have a negative impact upon cotton yarn production for months to come.
15 July 2003
According to survey results collated last month, the Italian wool textile industry continued its downward production trend in the first half of 2003.
11 July 2003
Cashmere prices remained stagnant in early June, with little sign of upturn.
17 July 2003
Woolmark Business Intelligence sources indicate that global wool top capacity utilisation is currently running at just 62%, with an excess capacity of 38%.