9th April 2018
A tale of two South Asian scandals
During April 2018, two five-year old clothing industry scandals involving corrupt South Asian governments played themselves out. In Bangladesh, a campaign to identify and punish the murderers of clothing union...
Read Story
3rd April 2018
Bangladesh Alliance future begins to firm up
Bangladesh Alliance executive director Jim Moriarty said in late March that 88% of factory remediation is complete, with 84% of items most critical to life safety covered. 322 affiliated factories have...
Read Story
21st March 2018
Bangladesh crosses first hurdle for leaving “Least Developed Nation” category
On March 15, the UN's Committee for Development Policy announced that Bangladesh had met all three criteria for graduating from the group of least-developed countries (LDC). The achievement - probably...
Read Story
28th March 2017
Burma best-performing major 2016 supplier: Cambodia, India, Philippines and Morocco do worst
Burma showed the strongest growth among apparel suppliers to developed countries in 2016, as the total volume shipped worldwide fell for the first time in five years . Clothesource Tradetrak measures...
Read Story
27th March 2017
EU warns Bangladesh of duty free suspension over labour rights
The European Union was reported on March 23 to have warned Bangladesh of suspending duty-free access unless Bangladesh makes progress in the implementing worker rights. The European Commission's Directorates General...
Read Story
7th February 2017
US 2016 apparel imports fall in spite of year-end spurt. Price falls accelerated
US apparel imports (in square metres) grew 3.4% in December 2016 over December 2015, though falls in the previous six months a 2016 annual fall of 1.1%. Average prices per square metre...
Read Story
8th August 2016
Bangladesh must face up to new industry threats
Bangladesh's garment industry seems unaware of the real threat the June/July terrorism incidents pose to its long-term viability. Threat 1: Islamist terrorism Islamist militants stormed an upmarket restaurant in the...
Read Story
7th June 2016
No other country’s going to step into China’s shoes
In the first three months of this year, we saw a massive drop in Chinese apparel exports to the US. It doesn't mean the end of China's dominance. There's a...
Read Story
12th February 2016
Are apparel prices really rising?
Just about every apparel industry commentator on the planet is constantly going on about rising cost prices. But do any of them look at what buyers are paying? In the year to...
Read Story
5th November 2015
US September imports continue growth trend
US apparel imports in September, measured in square metres of apparel, grew 4.8%, bringing growth in the moving annual total (MAT) to September to 6.1%. As in most Septembers, China's...
Read Story
28th July 2015
Chinese apparel exports hit hard as Eurozone and Japanese apparel imports tumble
The US dollar value of Chinese apparel exports continued to fall in June. But, with exports to the UK and US remaining healthy, the fall seems mostly the result of...
Read Story
22nd June 2015
US apparel buyer consortium threatens withdrawal after Bangladesh government outburst
The Bangladesh Alliance made a veiled threat to withdraw from Bangladesh on June 19 after yet another bizarre outburst from the country's Finance Minister. Ellen Tauscher, independent chair of the...
Read Story