Manmade Fibre (MMF) based apparels are on a roll!
They accounted for US $ 222 billion of the US $ 440 billion global garments market last year compared to that of US $ 190 billion of cotton-based products.
Meanwhile, data from the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), a Switzerland-based platform for global textile makers, underlined that of all the garment items produced globally, 78 per cent is MMF-based while cotton-based garments account for the rest.
It may be mentioned here that even though cotton-based apparel still maintain their relevance and popularity, especially in light of their natural and breathable properties, MMF continues to hog the limelight, thanks to a wide range of factors including cost and availability, performance and durability, versatility and innovation, fashion trends and styling and not to mention from the perspective of sustainability as well.
Notwithstanding the growing popularity of MMF, Bangladesh, the second biggest apparel exporter globally after China, seems to have narrowly missed the bus — almost 72 per cent of the garment exports continue to be of cotton-based apparel — before making some amends to try to catch up with the global trend.
| “We always knew the next growth will be propelled by MMF, and even in 2012, around 25 to 30 per cent of all our offerings were MMF based.” – Mir Ashraful Hossain |
Value addition, order shifts behind the push for MMF-based apparel
MMF is an open field and its scope of growth is simply immense, claimed Miran Ali, the Vice President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), speaking to Apparel Resources (AR), hinting towards Bangladesh’s chance to stamp its dominance in the MMF-based global apparel market, which it already did in knits and denim.
Considered as a volume-driven player in basic apparel, Bangladesh garment makers have long been suffering on account of dwindling profit margins in the basics even as Covid-19 made life more difficult for them after work orders in basic categories started going south.
It was time many garment makers decided to differentiate and move up the value chain for good.
Team Group, which till so not long ago, limited itself to woven and other knitted garments, added jackets to its product ensemble.
Today, winter jackets made by Team Group are reaching far-off Scandinavian nations apart from Taiwan, USA and Russia.
“We are bagging good work orders from international retailers and brands,” in the meantime observed SM Khaled, Managing Director of Snowtex, a leading jacket exporter.
Thanks to its trade tiff with USA, China – which has been an undisputed leader in MMF-based apparel so far – seems to be losing some of its sheen, thereby opening up new growth opportunities for Bangladesh in value-added product categories like sportswear, jackets, winterwear and so on.
MMF-based products that can be the game-changers
The potential of Bangladesh as a sourcing destination for value-added MMF-based apparel such as sportswear, activewear, outerwear, swimwear and workwear categories is being recognised by the global players now, claimed the Chairman of BGMEA Standing Committee on Trade Fair, Mohd. Kamal Uddin on his part at a time when the relevance and importance of MMF-based offerings continue to grow in light of Bangladesh’s apparel export target, which it has set to achieve seven years down the line.
MMF rules in realising US $ 100 billion in apparel exports
Bangladesh has set for itself an impressive yet challenging goal of achieving US $ 100 billion in apparel exports by 2030, and to achieve this feat, the focus has to be given to product diversification, fibre diversification, market diversification, technology upgradation and value addition.
“75 per cent of Bangladesh’s total apparel export is still cotton-based even if there remains a massive opportunity in MMF-based apparel,” maintained BGMEA President Faruque Hassan.
To assess the prospects of fibre diversification, the garment makers’ body has undertaken a study titled, Exploring the prospect of Bangladesh’s non-cotton Textile and RMG products in the global market: a guide to future investors and policymakers, informed the BGMEA Chair, which as per him, will focus on Bangladesh’s overall competitiveness and strength in the area of non-cotton apparel production and export.
Said the MD of Pacific Group, Syed M Tanvir, “Achieving the target of US $ 100 billion within a defined period is feasible if Bangladesh increases its share in cotton-based apparel to 20 per cent (from 16 per cent) and MMF-based apparel to 12 per cent (from 5 per cent).”
Knowledge and understanding hold the key!
Previously, the country was not able to tap a bigger chunk in the MMF market because of lack of understanding and lack of investment in high temperature (120-160⁰C) and high-pressure dyeing machinery for polyester and other MMF fabrics, felt Faruque.
“However, the situation is no longer the same as we have gained technical know-how and increased investment in technology, particularly in the backward linkage industry,” Faruque said adding that the same can be done together with India, especially in the Surat area, which is strong in MMF.
“A lot of work orders shifted to Bangladesh from China because of the trade war with US,” confirmed in the meantime BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim, who added Bangladesh, rightly so, is shifting its production base to high-end, value-added garments, most of which are MMF-based.
It may be mentioned here that for many far-sighted apparel makers like Urmi Group, MMF-based garments always found a strong preference even when not many were keen on venturing out beyond their comfort zone of cotton-based apparel.
“We always knew the next growth will be propelled by MMF, and even in 2012, around 25 to 30 per cent of all our offerings were MMF based,” claimed Mir Ashraful Hossain, Director and Group COO- Urmi Group to AR.
Products like activewear and sportswear (boasting fabrics with properties like quick dry and anti-bacterial) gaining in popularity, Urmi Group’s future plan is now to expand capacities in the MMF-based fabrics, which predominantly will be for in-house consumption even as it continues to produce various types of polyester fabrics from its existing facility for own use.
The growing popularity of MMF-based apparel compared to cotton-based apparel can be attributed to the following factors:
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Investment pouring in from different quarters
Cashing predominantly on the dragon nation’s declining share, Bangladesh could grab around 12 per cent stake in the global man-made fibre-based apparel market, which will reach US $ 375 billion by 2030, opined the Chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), MA Razzaque.
Perhaps taking a cue from the prospects on offer, more and more local textile millers are now concentrating on producing MMF-based fabrics even as import of man-made fibres also grew by a substantial 45.72 per cent to reach 99,597 tonnes in the first five months (January to May) of this year.
Of the total imports, about 61,693 tonnes were polyester staple fibre, 32,454 tonnes belonged to viscose staple fibre and around 5,450 tonnes were tencel and flax fibre, compared to 68,348 tonnes during the corresponding period in 2020, according to data from the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
A strategic supplier for most of the established western brands and retailers, if Bangladesh has to cash the opportunity in MMF-based apparel, there’s no alternative to domestic availability for it, felt Miran Ali.
“If one wants a real backward linkage industry to develop in Bangladesh in MMF, Government support is a must,” held Miran while adding BGMEA is also encouraging investment in backward linkage in MMF even as he opined some established players are setting up mills for producing MMF-based fabrics already, but given the amount of business that are coming in for MMF-based apparel, Bangladesh textile manufacturers will do well to focus more on MMF.
Miran’s hopes of attaining self-sufficiency in MMF seem to be on their way to materialising after many leading spinners decided to set up new facilities for manufacturing synthetic and blended yarns even as the global synthetic fibres market size has been valued at US $ 59.95 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent from 2021 to 2028, to reach a market size of US $ 99.78 billion by 2028.
Envoy Group is said to have already invested Taka 125 crore to set up a synthetic blended yarn production capacity even as the new unit is expected to produce 12 tonnes of yarn per day.
“We are enhancing spinning capacity to produce cotton and synthetic blended ‘expanded yarn’ as a substitute for imported yarn,” maintained Chairman of Envoy Group Kutubuddin Ahmed, adding the demand for synthetic yarn is growing worldwide.
On the other hand, raw cotton prices have been unstable for the last few years in the world market and that is why cotton yarn production cost is increasing, further explained Kutubuddin Ahmed while Noman Group, one of the leading spinning and textile giants in South Asia, has also invested in setting up a 100 per cent synthetic yarn unit.
“Our new unit will be able to produce about 100 tonnes of synthetic yarns per day,” claimed Executive Director (Spinning) of Noman Group of Industries, Mohammad Enamul Karim.
They have also reportedly started construction of another spinning mill to produce blended and cotton yarns, whose production capacity will be 125 tonnes per day.
“Initially, we have plans to produce about 25 tonnes of blended yarns at the new unit and we will enhance its capacity as per demand from the buyers,” added Mohammad Enamul Karim just as reports suggest the new unit in question, involved an investment of around Taka 500 crore.
Like Noman Group and Envoy Group, DBL Group, has also invested Taka 186 crore to set up a special unit to produce synthetic yarn while Maksons Group, one of the top 10 spinning mills in Bangladesh, decided to pump in Taka 1,000 crore in three new spinning units in the Mirsarai Economic Zone.
Meanwhile, Youngone Corporation, a global conglomerate based in Korea, has also made massive investments in MMF for clothing in its factories in Bangladesh as artificial materials continue to dominate the fashion industry.
Youngone, famous for its outerwear and MMF products, not too long back had started manufacturing polyester fabrics at three factories covering 40,000 square metres each at the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in the port city of Chittagong.
Currently, 95 per cent of all the fibres produced by the company (Youngone) is MMF, which is used by its own factories and other local manufacturers for a variety of apparel items.
Few challenges remain still!
Despite the massive push for MMF, there still remain some challenges so it seems, especially in terms of duties to be paid on imports even if BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon on his part maintained the import of MMF needed to be duty-free like that of cotton, as the demand of yarn has been on the rise constantly.
Despite the challenges, garment makers in Bangladesh are more than upbeat in view of the consumers’ growing preference for MMF-based clothing, thanks to its better physical properties, durability and versatility, giving MMF a distinctive edge over the natural fibres, which they felt will help the country (Bangladesh) to excel in its next phase of growth journey as it continues to do the groundwork so as to grasp the opportunities that are on offer in the global fashion retail landscape for MMF-based apparel.
