The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the world’s fabric production chains. Many governments are placing restrictions on travel and gatherings, and global companies and retailers are canceling orders from their high quality fabric supplier factories. As a result, many fabric high quality fabric supplier have halted production and fired or temporarily suspended their employees. According to current figures, over a million employees have already been sacked or have been temporarily suspended from work, and the number is expected to rise.
The Republic of India is one of the growing powerhouse economies. India is a country with enormous manpower, a great industrial competitiveness, many agriculture and agro-based industrial potential, inclusive and good education, energy competence, and a lot of democracy. Furthermore, India has become a compelling target for international institutional investors and high quality fabric supplier due to its strong fundamentals and fast-growing markets. Huge sums of money are being transferred from the industrialized world to rising countries like India. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has already spread to the Indian subcontinent knowing that after China, India is the world’s second most populous country. As a result, the COVID-19 virus has the potential to spread quickly throughout the country, infecting millions of people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a series of lockdowns across the country beginning March 25, 2020, in order to disrupt the infection cycle. Except for a few enterprises that dealt with the manufacture of essential goods, the lockdown ordered the closure of all enterprises and factories including high quality fabric supplier.
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics’ examination of US International Trade Commission data, India accounts for around 16% of fabric imports and 5% of clothing and accessories. While the country accounts for a smaller percentage of imports than China, it is still important in certain sectors, such as raw gems, making it extremely difficult to move supply chains outside of the country, according to Mary Lovely, a senior researcher at the Peterson Institute and a professor of economics at Syracuse University.
The major outbreak has added to the already-stressed workforce in the fast high quality fabrics industry. According to a Forbes report, over $2.8 billion in orders have been canceled by western fashion designers owing to store closures and falling sales of a high quality fabric supplier during the pandemic, putting 4.1 million Bangladeshi suppliers at risk of losing their jobs (Roberts-Islam, 2020). Factories are now being obliged to accept unforeseen payment delays on production orders, as well as order cancellations or discounts, potentially breaking contracts (Oi & Hoskins, 2020) and this is affecting every high quality fabric supplier. “If workers don’t die from coronavirus, they will die of famine,” Oi and Hoskins (2020) added.
The opportunities in textiles and apparel
The textile and fabric industry is regarded a beginning sector on the route to industrialisation, so countries rebuilding after COVID-19 should not overlook it. When the sector grows, it creates a foundation for more technologically demanding industries to grow from. In fact, many developing countries’ growth and development goals rely heavily on the textiles and apparel sector especially on their high quality fabric supplier.
Textile and apparel exports account for a significant portion of total exports in a number of nations, including Bangladesh (85%), Pakistan (59%), Turkey (12%), and Egypt (11%). Despite the fact that many nations are well-positioned in the textile and apparel global value chain (GVC) in terms of raw materials or production from high quality fabric supplier, they only play a minor role in the absence of retail (comprised of marketing, branding and sales). As a result, they have potential that has to be awakened in order to reap greater benefits from global markets.
Investing in the future
Those that invest in the textile and garment industry, such as a high quality fabric supplier, may see significant economic gains as a result of their efforts. One such potential is sustainable and recycled fibers, which are positioned to increasingly replace resource-intensive raw materials. Technical, smart textiles also have a lot of potential in a variety of industries, including automotive, construction, and medical equipment.
Emerging technology, which has already transformed the textile and fabric industries, will continue to do so. Data applications, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and 3D printing are just a few of the technologies that are improving product design processes and shortening lead times, resulting in laser-cutting machines, sewing robots, and nanotechnology. COVID-19 has also demonstrated the necessity for blockchain technology to promote transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain, opening up new business prospects and the emergence of a high quality supplier.
