Category: General

El Paso garment plant raided by federal agents
Associated Press/Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX

EL PASO, Texas – Federal authorities raided an El Paso garment plant Tuesday, seizing truckloads of documents and computerized records.
About 65 federal agents served a sealed search warrant at a National Center for the Employment of the Disabled clothing company, which makes military uniforms, said Andrea Simmons, an FBI spokeswoman in El Paso.

Simmons would not discuss what prompted the warrant or what investigators from the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command-Major Fraud Unit and the U.S. General Services Administration were seeking.
For much of the last year, NCED has been the subject of another federal probe over it’s work force. Read more about El Paso garment plant raided by federal agents …

Viet Nam News, Vietnam – 18 hours ago
(08-05-2014)
WASHINGTON — The US has cleared Viet Nam garment makers of dumping charges.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced on Tuesday that the evidence did not support charges of dumping against Viet Nam apparel importers.
Read more about US drops garment dumping claims …

Global shifts in garment production have diminished S. Florida’s role as trade hub
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL

Predictions that Asia will replace garment production from Latin America — hitting hard at South Florida as a regional trade hub — are coming true.

China supplied 26 percent of U.S. imports of clothes last year, roughly double the share it had before quotas ended on world garment trade in 2005.

Central American and Caribbean nations, once the top U.S. supplier, saw their share of U.S. apparel imports plunge below 12 percent, less than half of China’s soaring level, new U.S. Commerce Department data shows. Read more about Global shifts in garment production have diminished S. Florida’s role as trade hub …

Bangladesh : CDA to set up garment villages in Chittagong
May 8, 2014/Fibre2fashion.com, India

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) desire to set up two split garment villages in the port city, is being considered by Chittagong Development Authority (CDA).

Campaign to establish garment villages in Monsurabad and Mohara areas over 114 acres of land to house as many factories as possible of the leading revenue earning segment of the country is being chalked out by CDA. Read more about Bangladesh : CDA to set up garment villages in Chittagong …

CNMI: Two More Garment Factories Have Shut Down
Tuesday: May 9, 2014/Pacific Magazine, HI

The Marianas Variety Online reports that American Pacific Textile and Hansae garment factories have ceased operations.

A group of workers carrying their personal belongings were seen leaving the American Pacific Textile factory compound in Tanapag shortly before 4 p.m. yesterday. The workers are moving to an undisclosed site for another job. Read more about CNMI: Two More Garment Factories Have Shut Down …

Antara, Indonesia – May 4, 2014

Beijing (ANTARA News) – A number of toy producers from Hong Kong was scheduled to visit Indonesia in June this year to explore investment possibilities in cooperation with local toy makers, a diplomat said.
Read more about Hong Kong toy makers to invest in Indonesia …

Garment Exports to US Continues to Drop
Himalayan Times, Nepal
THT Online
Kathmandu, May 8

A continuous fall of exports of readymade garment to the United States market, which is the largest single market, dipped for yet another month. The month of April 2014, though, saw a marginal decline of three per cent, it is the consecutive fourth month that the Nepali apparel products has been losing its upbeat.

The garment exports to the US has been suffering from the very beginning of this year as it witnessed a whopping decline of 54 per cent in January, 64 per cent in February and 47 per cent in March.
The industry is in doldrums for the last two years following the termination of quota regime under multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) in January 2005. Read more about Garment Exports to US Continues to Drop …

Thai textile and garment exports continue to grow in first quarter
Thai News Agency MCOT, Thailand

BANGKOK, May 8 (TNA) – Thailand’s textile and garment exports continued to grow in the first quarter of this year, increasing by 9 per cent to US$1.67 billion or around 66.25 billion baht with the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan becoming main destinations, according to the Department of Foreign Trade.

Rachane Potjanasuntorn, the department’s direction-general, said here on Sunday that the country’s exports of garments were worth US$868.3 million and that of textiles worth US$803.1 million during the January-March period Read more about Thai textile and garment exports continue to grow in first quarter …

Vietnam : Textile & garment exports climb over 38%
May 6, 2014/Fibre2fashion.com, India

General Custom’s reported that during the January-April 2014 period textile and garment exports reached US $1.744 billion, representing a 38.7 percent year-on-year growth.
The US continues to remain top export destination with products worth almost one billion registering a 38-40 percent rise over last year.

More than 58 percent of total Vietnamese exports was consumed by the US during this period. Read more about Vietnam : Textile & garment exports climb over 38% …

Student Creates Garment With Bacteria-trapping Nanofibers
Science Daily (press release)

Fashion designers and fiber scientists at Cornell have taken “functional clothing” to a whole new level. They have designed a garment that can prevent colds and flu and never needs washing, and another that destroys harmful gases and protects the wearer from smog and air pollution.

The two-toned gold dress and metallic denim jacket, featured at the April 21 Cornell Design League fashion show, contain cotton fabrics coated with nanoparticles that give them functional qualities never before seen in the fashion world. Read more about Student Creates Garment With Bacteria-trapping Nanofibers …