Sri Lankan exporters fear the loss of EU status
Investments by garment manufacturers in the formerly war-torn north of Sri Lanka will be jeopardized if the country loses preferential trading privileges with the European Union (EU), according to the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) trade body.
A decade after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, the apparel industry remains the only large manufacturing sector to have set up large-scale operations in the north of the country where it employs more than 8,000 garment workers, according to JAAF.
The garment manufacturers’ body says most of the exports from these factories go to Europe and qualify for the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preference Plus (GSP+) which is said to be worth over $US500 million to Sri Lanka.
Risks remain in the Uzbek cotton industry
Serious human rights risks remain in the Uzbek cotton industry a year after state-imposed forced labor was eliminated, according to independent monitoring of last year’s harvest.
The Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, which monitors the harvest for human rights abuses each year, says further reforms are needed to increase farmers’ independence and protect workers’ rights.
The forum’s report promoted the Cotton Campaign coalition, which last year ended its global boycott of Uzbek cotton after concluding government-imposed forced labour had been eradicated, to call for democratically elected unions and associations in the country’s cotton industry.
Korean JV aims to close polyester loop in Asia
Loop Industries, which says it can chemically recycle low-grade polyester infinitely, has signed a joint venture with a subsidiary of the Korean chemical giant SK Group to deploy Loop’s technology in Asia through several new manufacturing facilities.
Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, although the new joint venture will see SK Geo Centric Ltd own 51% of the business, with Loop taking a 49% interest. Initially, a new 70,000 metric tonne annual capacity facility using “Infinite Loop” technology is expected to come on stream by the end of 2025.
The recycled PET resin will be used for both packaging and polyester fibres.
Textile briefs for this week
