TEX-FILE
CHINA HAS INKED AN AGREEMENT WITH INDIA FOR 5,00,000 BALES OF COTTON FROM INDIAN TRADERS FOR THE NEW SEASON AS ITS BUFFER STOCK OF COTTON HAS DECLINED TO BARELY A YEAR ’ S INVENTORY .
One more achievement for Grasim Industries : Gold Level Material Health Certificate heartening that a normal monsoon is predicted and hence we can expect an equally good crop in 2018-19 ,” he says .
There were also reports that due to increased cotton price , Tirupur ’ s textile companies are forced to increase their product price by nearly 10 per cent . South Indian Knitwear Manufacturers Association announced this move to increase product cost as cotton price reached Rs . 48,000 per candy ( 355 kg ) while in last November , they paid Rs . 38,500 per cotton candy . Not only this , unless the Cotton Corporation tried to stock the cotton for domestic needs , the price would further increase . It was further pointed out that due to inadequate quantity of cotton available in Tamil Nadu , mills are exploring Karnataka , Maharashtra , Telangana and Gujarat to purchase cotton and are paying Rs . 1,500 per cotton candy as logistic .
Even it was also said that textile mills had increased the prices of cotton yarn after creating artificial shortage by stopping supply to knitwear units in Tirupur . Few months back , Tirupur Exporters Association ( TEA ) sent a letter to South India Mills Association and Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association condemning the price hike of cotton yarn by their member units .
However , now the industry is hopeful that the situation would be brought under control and prices across the cotton supply chain would be back to a more competitive rate . Yet , the situation is not as good as it could have been as Pink bollworm attack on cotton crops in Maharashtra , Telangana and Andhra Pradesh lowered cotton output in these areas .
Grasim Industries earned a Gold Level Material Health Certificate from the US-based Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute for their product Birla Spunshades Viscose Staple Fibre ( VSF ). The Institute is a non-profit organisation that administers the publicly available Cradle to Cradle Certified TM product standard which provides designers and manufacturers with criteria and requirements for continually improving what products are made of and how they are made .
Grasim Industries Limited is a flagship company of Aditya Birla Group , a conglomerate of US $ 43 billion . Happy with the achievement , Dilip Gaur , MD of the company commented , “ We are the first VSF manufacturers to get this certification , a truly great achievement by the Grasim team . This is yet another milestone in our sustainability journey . It reaffirms that sustainability is at the core of our business strategy . At Grasim , continuously striving for manufacturing excellence and focusing on sustainable production is a never-ending journey . Having been certified Gold , now our aspiration is to reach for Platinum .” To achieve certification , materials and products must be assessed across five sustainability categories : material health ; material reutilization ; renewable energy and carbon management ; water stewardship ; and social fairness . A product receives an achievement level in each category – Basic , Bronze , Silver , Gold , or Platinum . The certificate is valid for two years , after which manufacturers must demonstrate their work to further better their products for recertification .
Rajeev Gopal , CMO , Pulp and Fibre Business , Grasim Industries stated , “ Material Health Certificate for Birla Spunshades from Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute will enhance the goodwill that our brand enjoys among our customers .” While Ajay Sardana , Chief Sustainability Officer of Grasim Industries said , “ This certification confirms that viscose fibre is made for closed-loop systems with its natural origin and will enhance the confidence of the value chain players in delivering sustainable products .” The company claims that Birla Spunshades , a USDA Bio-based certified product , is made with coloured spun-dyed viscose fibre and a technique that embeds the colour pigments into the fibre itself . The result is a colour that fully saturates the fibre . Fibres are designed for fastness properties and uniformity in colour in order to prevent garments from losing colour during washes . Spun-dyed viscose fibres are designed to eliminate conventional fabric dyeing and washing-off steps leading to huge water conservation .
www . apparelresources . com | JULY 1-15 , 2018 | Apparel Online India 23