Local textile manufacturers expect to sign US$85 million of new orders at the annual Taipei Innovative Textile Show from Oct. 16 to 18, as demand grows for higher-priced functional textiles used mostly in sports and outdoor apparel, organizers said yesterday.
That would represent about 21 percent annual growth from US$70 million in orders last year, an initial estimate by the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF) showed.
Robust growth was already reflected in the 2 percent annual growth in textile exports to US$5.89 billion from January to July this year, and the full-year increase could be larger, as the traditional peak season falls in the second half, the federation said.
Last year, textile exports grew by an anemic 0.8 percent to US$10 billion, it said.
SMART FABRIC
“Taiwanese textile manufacturers are becoming the top choice for global [apparel and shoe] brands and retailers whenever they want to experiment with new textiles,” TTF president Justin Huang (黃偉基) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei. “Such new products usually carry higher price tags.”
Ruentex Industries Ltd (潤泰全球) has set an example in the smart medical textile market, Huang said.
The company earlier this year landed an order to supply 60 million units of smart medical clothes equipped with sensors that measure blood pressure and heartbeat, the federation said.
Smart medical apparel and army clothing are the two biggest markets for new functional textiles, Huang said.
Sports apparel, outdoor wear and sports shoes have been the main sources of revenue for local textile makers.
Together, Taiwanese textile manufacturers supply 40 percent of materials used in Nike Inc-branded shoes, and 20 percent of materials for Adidas AG shoes, TTF data showed.
TRADE WAR
Commenting on the consequences of the escalating US-China trade war, Huang said that local textile makers would benefit from the trade disputes in the long run as major global retailers seek to relocate their Chinese plants to Southeast Asian and African nations or India to circumvent new import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Trump last month imposed a 10 percent tariff on US$200 billion of Chinese goods that include textiles and clothing, and the tariffs could go up to 25 percent in January next year.
“Taiwanese textile suppliers might benefit from such supply-chain shifts. They will not face a higher tax burden, as they could ship their products to the US from their factories in Vietnam or in Taiwan,” Huang said.
This year’s show at Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei is to see a record number of participants, he said, adding that about 456 companies are to showcase new products during the show, up from 380 last year.
Formosa Plastics Group’s (台塑集團) textile arms Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台化) and Formosa Taffeta Co (福懋興業) are to return to the show to present new products, organizers said, adding that they were absent from the show last year.
Textile makers Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀), Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻), Lealea Enterprise Co (力麗) and Tex-ray Industrial Co Ltd (南緯實業) would also join the show, they said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS