Sunrise industry posts growth amid challenges

Men's T-shirt
Model LR1107 from Jiangyin Eusun is a single-jersey shirt in 95:5 soybean-spandex priced at $8.10. The company also offers designs in bamboo.
Suppliers are increasing production of garments in organic, sustainable and recycled fiber to meet rising demand.

Growing eco-consciousness is encouraging many garment companies in China to expand into environment-friendly clothing. The supplier base is expected to increase in size in the months ahead, even as manufacturers face challenges at home and abroad.

China suppliers offer T-shirts, tank tops, cardigans, underwear, jackets, pants, robes, pajamas, sweaters and sportswear made of organic, sustainable or recycled fabric. Organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and soybean are the commonly used types of environment-friendly fiber. There are also a few companies that utilize recycled PET and milk protein fiber in production.

Suppliers are exporting to developed countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, France and Italy since these markets have a relatively mature "green" movement compared with other locations. They are also more willing to pay the higher price associated with environment-friendly products, including garments. Exports have been growing 25 percent in the past three years.

Global retail sales of organic cotton reached $2 billion in 2007, up 72 percent. This comes as major retailers, including Wal-Mart and Target, jumped on the eco bandwagon. Although apparel and textiles at Wal-Mart contain 10 percent organic cotton, at most, the retailer is now the world's largest consumer of the fiber.

But although demand from these markets is growing, the overall consumption of garments made of sustainable fiber is not on a par with models in conventional fabric. As such, the cost of organic fiber is not expected to go down considerably in the next two years.

China is the third-largest producer of organic cotton, next to Turkey and India. Industry experts said cotton fiber from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is longer and stronger than varieties from Turkey and India. It also costs 30 percent more.

But while China is a major producer of organic cotton, supply can still be tight. Organic fiber needs to be grown without the use of pesticides and other chemicals, which can result in a low yield. Further, the textiles must be certified as organic and testing requires some time.

And since the country is known for being a low-cost manufacturer, suppliers are finding it difficult to market organic apparel at prices that are as much as 50 percent higher than traditional garments.

To justify the higher quotes, companies are staying abreast of trends and fashioning the garments after the latest styles. They are also working on expanding the variety of apparel designs and choices.

Moreover, suppliers are taking advantage of the strong R&D capability of local natural-fiber fabric mills. Makers do not need to invest as much in weaving and knitting techniques or in fabric design. Instead, they are spending on securing organic certification for the procured fabric. Others are sourcing directly from mills that have already been certified as producing organic textiles and complying with the Oeko-Tex Standard 100.

Nicertex Enterprise Ltd, for example, requires suppliers to provide certification from Skal in the Netherlands guaranteeing the quality of the organic cotton.

Further, the companies themselves are acquiring certification that their products and manufacturing processes follow organic standards, and ISO 9001:2000, Oeko-Tex and SA8000 requirements.

One of the few suppliers in China offering ODM models of environment-friendly clothing, Qingdao Hemp Fortex Industries Co. Ltd sources fabric that has already been certified by IMO in Switzerland as organic. It is also in the process of securing Oeko-Tex certification, the cost of which ranges from $10,000 to $20,000 per year.

In addition, the company is one of the few makers that conduct fabric R&D. Qingdao Hemp Fortex has an office in the US where material research takes place. Employees at the US office are also responsible for gathering market information and design trends, and for facilitating client sales. Such strategies have contributed to as much as 45 percent export growth over the past three years.

Nicertex acknowledges that it will be a long time before buyers consider the environment before product prices. The company therefore takes every opportunity to promote environment-friendly sourcing to clients. For instance, it explains the harmful effects of adopting nonbiodegradable packaging such as polybags.
17/07/2009