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THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) and Canada’s strong branded knitwear companies may benefit from additional mutual trade after the European Parliament’s approval and resulting signature of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the two jurisdictions.

This long-negotiated and highly contested deal, which could apply from April as far as its key duty and quota liberalisation elements are concerned, will remove nearly 99% of tariffs on all goods traded between the EU and Canada and eliminate tax discrimination.…

ASIA’S technical textiles sectors continue to grow, fuelled by ready buyers in domestic and overseas markets, but governments can and do help too – keen to promote these sustainable high tech industries.

China is a case in point. Its industry and information technology ministry plus the National Development and Reform Commission in January (2017) jointly issued development guidance for technical textiles as part of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which runs from 2016-20.…

SOLAR power of course draws on a free renewable energy to create electricity, but a burgeoning sector is enabling the harnessing of heat for cooking, which can promote energy efficiency in all manner of climates – solar cookers.

Indian solar cooker innovator Deepak Gadhia and Julie Greene, executive director, Solar Cookers International (SCI), co-chaired a 6^th SCI World Conference held in Gujarat, India, this January, that demonstrated how these technologies are entering the mainstream.…

THE CHINESE coatings market has been dominated by foreign suppliers, especially in higher end and high-tech market segments, but this might well be changing gradually, as the country steps up its coatings research and development (R&D) efforts.

This new push reflects the national government’s shift in economic policy away from focusing on exports and wanting to generate an economy more based on domestic consumption.…

THE PAINT and coatings sector in Indonesia looks set to grow significantly in coming years as rising salaries and job creation mean more disposable income for middle class purchases of residential product. The south-east Asian archipelago’s poverty rate has dropped from 17.2% in 2002 to 11.1% in 2015, according to the World Bank.…

A TRAINING project for Pakistan cotton farmers has been launched by the Australian government, industry association Cotton Australia and the global Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), with the goal of boosting production in this key south Asian supplier of the fibre.…

The chairman of the Indonesian Textiles Association (API) has expressed cautious optimism about President Donald Trump’s rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact and re-confirmed the need to boost Indonesia’s competitiveness.

Trump pulled the USA out of the agreement on January 23, and while that could be bad news for the other 11 TPP partners, including regional textile sector competitors Malaysia and clothing hub Vietnam, the deal had yet to include Indonesia.…

THE BENEFIT of thermoelectric materials (converting heat directly into electricity) is partly lost because of its low conversion yield, experts argue – meaning when thermoelectric generators try to capture waste heat from engines in vehicles to improve fuel economy – the gain is still minimal.…

Wool represents luxury in China, with most Chinese seeing wool as a superior fibre, so investment into wool research and development is a sensible approach for companies such as the Sunshine Group, headquartered in Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province.

The company, one of the world’s largest wool production enterprises, aims to bring wool to perfection from its location north of Shanghai.…

USA coatings manufacturers are innovating hard to maintain their global competitive edge in smart products, with companies developing products that change colour with the seasons, absorb odours and toxins, and respond to humidity, pH and other environmental stimuli.

“Smart coatings are all about stimulus and response,” said Dr Jamil Baghdachi, professor of polymer technology at Eastern Michigan University.…