The Annual Conference of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), which brings together the most important figures of the textile world every year, was held in Keqiao, China. At the Conference hosted by the China National Textile Council (CNTAC), which has been serving as the ITMF President for a while, the Presidency was transferred to India, and Mustafa Denizer was appointed as the ITMF Vice President.
Keqiao, where the conference was held, is regarded as the textile capital of China which known as the major spot with the highest finishing and dyeing capacity, and the world's largest textile products distribution center. Production and trade operations in the city account for approximately 30 percent of Chinese textiles. Considering that China alone achieves approximately one-third of the world's textiles, it becomes clear how high Keqiao's capacity is. It is said that 100 thousand buyers visit the market place every day in Keqiao, which known as the "China Textile City." Keqiao, which is also an important center in public procurement, also prepared the uniforms of all Chinese national teams during the Olympic Games. The city defines its transformation journey in textile production as 'from labor-intensive industry to knowledge-intensive industry'.
Obstacles to International Trade
CNTAC President Sun emphasized upon the obstacles to international trade in the opening speech. The most important of these mentioned during the speech was the bloc between regions in the world, the decrease in trust, and the rising trend of 'protectionism and unilateralism'. Referring to the World Trade Organization (WTO) 2023 Annual Report, Sun stated that the number of trade barriers newly added to the world trade system has doubled since 2019, and restrictions on the export of basic raw materials have increased fivefold in the last 10 years. Thus, supply chains also underlined, which were already disrupted due to the pandemic, with their further damage. While reminding about the trend have had a restricting effect on the growth of the global economy in the long term, it was further underlined that the IMF's growth forecasts for the next five years fell to 3.1 percent after many years.
Söktaş Presence at the Conference with 'Regenerative Cotton Project'
In the circularity session of the conference, CEO’s Muzaffer Kayhan made a presentation on behalf of Söktaş, which has been a guest on various platforms around the world with its regenerative cotton production in recent years. High-class shirting fabric manufacturer Söktaş invests in sustainable production in compensate for the value it attaches to the cotton as its main raw material, the farmers who produce cotton, and the Menderes Valley that hosts them. Obtaining all of its electricity from renewable sources and 75 percent of the thermal energy used from biomass sources, Söktaş successfully recovers and reuses 55 percent of its water supply. The company also increased the proportion of certified cotton in the cotton fiber it uses to 32 percent. Kayhan shared the story of Meander 71 cotton, which is the fruits of more than a decade of research-activity, with the participants. Referring to the Menderes Region where they are located and giving reference to 1971, the year of Söktaş's establishment, Meander 71 cotton was presented to world leaders as an exemplary project at the 2021 United Nation Climate Conference.
Messages from the Sessions can be Outlined as follows:
-While the main topic of the conference was on sustainability, as in all events related to our sector in recent years, the focus areas were 'recycling' and 'traceability' under this major heading. Speakers shared with the participants the new applications applied to provide these. Regional legal regulations were emphazised on recyclability from design in textile products and end-to-end traceability of the supply chain. It comes to the surface that the Digital Product Passport, which is one of the regulations within the scope of the European Union's Sustainable Textile Strategy, is on the agenda not only in the European zone, but also in all producing countries in the textile supply chain.
-A special session was held on regional legal regulations. In the session moderated by ITMF Vice President Mustafa Denizer, Euratex General Manager Dirk Vantyghem gave the following message on this very subject; “In different parts of the world, states are making their own laws regarding sustainability. Asia, Europe, America… Wherever textile is produced and consumed… All these authorities should be in communication and make policies compatible with each other.” Reminding that there are 16 existing regulations that the EU is currently working on and affecting textile production, Vantyghem stated that textile is facing a disruptive speed of regulation as one of the sectors that pollutes the world the most, and further underlined that its own members are withdrawn of the outcome as well. While stating that, as European textile manufacturers, an expectation were set on a 'competitiveness test' to be applied for each law, and to measure the cost of these laws to the sector, and also to create support mechanisms in line with this direction, as Commission President Von der Leyen promised previously.
-China is also rapidly establishing its own production standards regarding sustainability. Yan Yan from CNTAC stated that China's Textile Industry 14th Five-Year Plan was documented within the scope of the 'Green Development Guide.' While stating that the "1+N" structure was implemented as a policy framework, further emphasis was made on a high-level/central policy on every issue and many local implementation regulations which were created in below stages.
-The main theme of the talks about reaching the end user was social media marketing. E-commerce comprises 10 percent of China's cross-border textile exports. Let us remind you that this situation is actually a matter of debate in both the USA and the EU. This situation, which is discussed in terms of competition in the USA, is widely taken into agenda around EU whether individual e-commerce will be subject to new legal regulations.
-China-based online shopping site Shein is also at the center of these discussions. Shein, known for supplying very fast products to the whole world, is said to add 10 thousand new products to its existing product range every day. The company's 2022 turnover was reported to be 24 billion dollars. Shein, whose production center is China, works with 6 thousand registered suppliers there. While it takes merely 13 days for Shein to bring a product to the end-user with the digital solutions are in use, this time frame extended to 25 days while considering a product at Zara Group.
-Online sales are of great importance in the Chinese retail market. A sales volume of more than 150 billion dollars was achieved in 2022 on Singles' Day (11.11), which emerged as the Asian equivalent of the shopping season that starts with Black Friday in the Western world and continues with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days. Thanks to collaborations with celebrities, records have been broken in online sales, even in home textile shopping, which traditionally relies on in-store sales.
-Temu, the new rival of TikTok and the champion platform of online sales which based in the USA but with the Chinese capital, was at the focus of almost all the speakers. Temu, which is said to have a daily sales volume of more than 10 billion dollars, has millions of users in the USA as well as in the Chinese local market.
-Looking at the updated sustainability goals of major retail brands; IKEA stated that it has made successful progress in its strategy from exiting coal, announced a few years ago, and with the achievement in centers such as around stores and offices and where sub-suppliers still need improvement. IKEA reminded that it supplies 32 percent of all textile products it uses from China and does business worth approximately $1 billion with a total of 51 approved suppliers. Regarding fiber, currently using 200 thousand tons of polyester, nearly 90 percent of which is obtained from recycled materials, and abandoning completely new polyester and switching to 100 percent recycled materials by 2030. Decathlon reminded that it has now started rental, second-hand sales and repair services in its stores.
-Singapore-based Sateri, one of the leading initiatives in sustainable fiber production, talked about its completely owned, bio-degradable, plant-based product, Lyocell. For Lyocell, fast-growing trees are grown in Indonesia and a closed-loop production process are passed through, where the conversion follows from pulp and then into fiber and finally to yarn. Lyocell attracts attention as a sustainable fiber for which demand is increasing. Within the scope of Sateri's cooperation with hotels, the wear out textile products collected from these spots are disinfected and turned into filament and then directly into yarn.
Rising Star of Textile Production: Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, whose place in textiles for many years has been limited due to the foreign embargo it has faced due to social issues such as forced labor and child labor, as well as cotton production, which it cannot convert into higher value-added products than fiber, has begun to make a name for itself on international platforms with its new investments and transforming industry. Uzbekistan's new industrial policies, which have undertaken reforms in many areas, focused primarily on textiles. First of all, in line with the with the 2022 International Labor Organization (ILO) registered reports that Uzbekistan, which struggled with the problems of forced labor and child labor in the cotton harvest by collaborating with Better Cotton, solved these problems. Thus, paving the way for international trade and entering the approved purchasing lists of brands, Uzbekistan made serious investments in textile machinery with the grant of the state. Today, Uzbekistan is on its way to becoming one of the important yarn producers. Next are the lower links of the value chain, fabric and ready-made clothing.
Convincing the ITMF Board of Directors with all of these developments, Uzbekistan Textile Union managed to move the 2024 Annual Conference to Samarkand. Thus, Uzbekistan textile manufacturers will have the opportunity to show the progress made in recent years to textile manufacturers from all over the world.
During the conference, our Union delegation met with Uzbekistan representatives in a special meeting and talked about the cooperation and investment opportunities that may arise in this journey of Uzbekistan. Uzbek officials stated that while developing the textile industry, picking up Turkey as a role model would be an option for them. Reminding that many foreign investors left the country as a result of the nationalization policy in 2006, officials mentioned about forming a much more foreign investor-friendly environment currently, developing their tax and other business infrastructures, and are expecting investors from Turkey. Authorities also noted that energy costs are advantageous for investment in Uzbekistan, where labor costs are still relatively low, and underlined their efforts on encouraging solar energy despite the natural gas reserves possessed by them.
