Africa - US retail giant Wal-Mart has said it made an offer to buy South Africa-based retailer Massmart Holdings in a deal that could be worth around 4.2 billion dollars and provide a platform for future growth in Africa.

Johannesburg-based Massmart is one of the largest distributors of consumer goods on the African continent with 290 outlets across 13 countries. The majority of stores in its eight wholesale and retail chains are based in South Africa and operate under a variety of different brand names, selling home improvement equipment and supplies, food and general merchandise which includes apparel.

Wal-Mart’s offer of 21.1 dollars a share is subject to a number of conditions including due diligence and a period of reciprocal exclusivity granted by Massmart and Wal-Mart.

“South Africa presents a compelling growth opportunity for Wal-Mart and offers a platform for growth and expansion in other African countries,” said Ms Andy Bond, executive vice-president with responsibility for Wal-Mart’s operations in the region including Britain and Africa. “South Africa possesses attractive market dynamics, favourable demographic trends and a growing economy.”

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/international.asp?id=381&yr=2010

The two billion dollar garment export industry in the NCR region with a work force of 3.5 lakh is feeling the heat of police crackdown on migrant labourers. Major garment exporters who met at the AEPC headquarter on September 22 said about one lakh workers have been forced to leave Gurgaon.

The garments were to be exported to the United States, Europe and Far Eastern countries. As 25 to 30 per cent of workers have either resigned or left Gurgaon because of ongoing drive, the garment production has been severely hit.

“Our buyers abroad have threatened us either to meet the deadline of Christmas or they would cancel the orders,” said Mr Sudhir Dhingra, chairman and managing director of Orient Craft, an export house with 18,000 workers. Other export houses and buying houses that participated in the meeting included Pearl Global, Matrix Clothing, Li & Fung India, Impulse, Lyra Industrials and Boutique International.

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/news.asp?id=379&yr=2010

PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — China Linen Textile Industry, Ltd.?? a China-based company engaged in the production and sale of linen yarn and various types of linen fabric, today announced that it appointed Ms. Jodie Zheng Wehner as the Company’s new Chief Financial Officer effective September 1, 2010, replacing Mr. James Qi, whose employment as chief financial officer of the Company was terminated by the mutual agreement of the Company and Mr. Qi effective September 1, 2010.

Ms. Jodie Zheng Wehner joins the Company with over 10 years of business and financial experience in both China and the US. During early 2010, Ms. Wehner was a portfolio manager at Gerken Capital Associates, an emerging markets hedge fund, where she oversaw the company’s Greater China fund. During 2008, she served as a senior equity analyst at Global Hunter Securities and was responsible for equity research on Chinese companies. From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Wehner was an equity analyst at CIBC Oppenheimer. Ms. Wehner graduated from the Medical School of Peking University with a bachelor’s degree in 1993 and earned her MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2002.

“We are very pleased to have Jodie join us as our Chief Financial Officer,” stated Mr. Gao Ren, chairman and president of China Linen. “Her strong financial background, analytical skills, and extensive investment experience, in addition to her bilingual skills and bicultural background, will strengthen our capabilities in financial management and reporting, in addition to corporate communications and shareholder relations. We are confident that her appointment will help create a stronger, fully transparent organization which will facilitate our future growth.”

Source: http://english.ctei.gov.cn/News/Companies/256656.htm

The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry has demanded an end to the harassment of Cambodian garment workers and union leaders who participated in a four-day strike earlier this month in support of a living wage.

In a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen, the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’Federation welcomed the meeting on September 27 brokered by the government to discuss proposals from both sides, but condemned the government’s ‘carrot and stick’ approach which makes the authorities look more concerned with breaking the strike than with finding a just resolution to the legitimate demands of workers.

Says ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert: “On the one hand the government called a meeting of unions and the employers’ association, which prompted union leaders to suspend the strike. But at the same time it filed law suits against union leaders on charges of ‘incitement’, and appealed to the police to collaborate with the industry association GMAC in cracking down on the strike and in seizing materials which could be used in legal action against the strikers.

“In addition GMAC has urged its members to seek court rulings against the striking workers, as a result of which 145 workers in 16 factories have been suspended. In addition, dozens of workers have been suspended by their employers without a court order. Hundreds of union members have refused to return to work in protest.

”C.CADWU and NIFTUC gave ample notice of the strike but it was not until the third day, when it became clear that the action was widely supported, that the courts were asked to issue rulings against the strikers on the grounds that the strike was ‘affecting production and employment’. Clearly this is a blatant breach of the right to strike.

“There has been no evidence of violence or coercion on the part of union leaders. The unions, on the other hand, have documented numerous cases of police violence and intimidation, including the violent police beating of a woman union member and the physical assault and detention of the leader of a factory union”.

Source: http://www.itglwf.org/lang/en/Cambodia.html

LONDON (MarketWatch)-European fashion firm Hennes & Mauritz will be in the spotlight next week, as investors gauge the strength of the retail sector amid signs the euro-zone economic recovery is losing momentum.

The Swedish-based retailer /quotes/comstock/22u!e4:se0000106270- (SE:HMB 260.00, 0.00, 0.00%) is expected on Wednesday to report third-quarter earnings of 2.87 kronor a share, up from SEK2.09 in the same period last year, according to the median forecast produced by a FactSet Research survey of analysts.

H&M’s figures will give investors a clue about the development of consumer spending in the third quarter, given the retailer’s strong presence across Europe, said Heino Ruland, managing director of Ruland Research in Eppstein, Germany.

Europe’s week ahead: Raft of dataEconomic reports will hold investors’ attention for much of the week, with the latest figures on U.K. GDP, euro-zone economic sentiment and German retail sales all having potential to move markets. MarketWatch’s Simon Kennedy reports.

Stefan Lycke, a Stockholm-based retail analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in a research note that strong sales and expanded margins will fuel strong earnings growth in the third quarter, but warned that the pace is likely to slow sharply due to difficult comparisons, higher input costs and foreign-exchange headwinds.

Source: http://english.ctei.gov.cn/News/Companies/256863.htm

Bangladesh - Arvind Limited, one of India’s largest textile and apparel makers, is investing 60 million dollars to set up a denim plant in Bangladesh to cater for rising demand from western fashion brands and retailers.

The new facility will be operated as a joint venture with Bangladesh conglomerate Nitol Group and will have a manufacturing capacity of 30 million metres of denim fabric. The first phase of the project will produce 10 million metres of material and is due to be rolled out over the next one year with an investment of 25 million dollars.

“We look at Bangladesh as strategic location in view of unique advantages it offers,” said Arvind’s director and CFO Jayesh Shah. “Garments exported from Bangladesh, a least developed country, do not attract any import duty if the fabric is manufactured in Bangladesh. The wage cost in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. We will be manufacturing high quality denim fabric to cater to requirement of European countries. Since we are already exporting 36 million metres of denim to Bangladesh annually, we have a ready market available and hence the proposed plant will be profitable from day one.”

The investment ultimately will lift Arvind’s denim capacity to 140 million metres. With apparel exports worth 12.49 billion dollars in the 12-months to June 2010, Bangladesh is among the world’s fastest growing garment exporters.

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/national.asp?id=380&yr=2010

India - The two billion dollar garment export industry in the NCR region with a work force of 3.5 lakh is feeling the heat of police crackdown on migrant labourers. Major garment exporters who met at the AEPC headquarter on September 22 said about one lakh workers have been forced to leave Gurgaon.

The garments were to be exported to the United States, Europe and Far Eastern countries. As 25 to 30 per cent of workers have either resigned or left Gurgaon because of ongoing drive, the garment production has been severely hit.

“Our buyers abroad have threatened us either to meet the deadline of Christmas or they would cancel the orders,” said Mr Sudhir Dhingra, chairman and managing director of Orient Craft, an export house with 18,000 workers. Other export houses and buying houses that participated in the meeting included Pearl Global, Matrix Clothing, Li & Fung India, Impulse, Lyra Industrials and Boutique International.

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/national.asp?id=373&yr=2010

The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry has demanded an end to the harassment of Cambodian garment workers and union leaders who participated in a four-day strike earlier this month in support of a living wage.

In a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen, the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’Federation welcomed the meeting on September 27 brokered by the government to discuss proposals from both sides, but condemned the government’s ‘carrot and stick’ approach which makes the authorities look more concerned with breaking the strike than with finding a just resolution to the legitimate demands of workers.

Says ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert: “On the one hand the government called a meeting of unions and the employers’ association, which prompted union leaders to suspend the strike. But at the same time it filed law suits against union leaders on charges of ‘incitement’, and appealed to the police to collaborate with the industry association GMAC in cracking down on the strike and in seizing materials which could be used in legal action against the strikers.

“In addition GMAC has urged its members to seek court rulings against the striking workers, as a result of which 145 workers in 16 factories have been suspended. In addition, dozens of workers have been suspended by their employers without a court order. Hundreds of union members have refused to return to work in protest.

”C.CADWU and NIFTUC gave ample notice of the strike but it was not until the third day, when it became clear that the action was widely supported, that the courts were asked to issue rulings against the strikers on the grounds that the strike was ‘affecting production and employment’. Clearly this is a blatant breach of the right to strike.

“There has been no evidence of violence or coercion on the part of union leaders. The unions, on the other hand, have documented numerous cases of police violence and intimidation, including the violent police beating of a woman union member and the physical assault and detention of the leader of a factory union”.

Source: http://www.itglwf.org/lang/en/Cambodia.html

GERMANY: Forty delegates representing the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) met on September 20-21 in Bad Münder, Germany. This was the first meeting of a joint task force set up by the decision-making bodies of the three global union federations.

The meeting was prepared by the ITGLWF’s Presidium and ExCo, on the 19-20th.

The task force was asked to look at the political project, structures, finances, and a possible timeline for uniting the 55 million workers represented by the three organizations into a new unified global union federation.

Task force members from five continents acknowledged the rationale of the unifying process to create a united voice of the industrial workers of the world, and a strong counter power to major multinational corporations. Unions want to underline the role of manufacturing industry as the locomotive of national economies and as a creator of good quality jobs with decent working conditions and trade union rights.

Source: http://www.itglwf.org/lang/en/Taskforcediscussespathtowardsnewglobalunion.html

The government has raised forwarding charges by more than 33 per cent to Tk 2000 for each import bill, which has ended a long row between apparel makers and freight forwarders but made them both unhappy.

The new tariff will, however, be effected from December 1, officials said on Monday.

A tripartite meeting involving BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association), BAFFA (Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association) and the government held Sunday at the Shipping Ministry and fixed the new charges, they said.

Freight forwarders, who issue delivery orders, will get Tk 2000 for each bill of lading (B/L)

The country’s freight forwarders numbering more than 1000 used to charge Tk 1,500 for issuing no objection certificate (NOC) during the immediate past caretaker government.

Earlier in 2003, the government fixed Tk 1250 for the freight forwarders as NOC.

Syed Badrul Hoque, senior vice president of the BAFFA, told the FE: “I don’t know on what ground the government has deferred the realisation of new tariff.”

BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy said: “This increase in charges will adversely affect the clothing sector.”

“I don’t understand why the government has raised the charges,” Mr Murshedy added.

Mr Badrul also said most of the members belonging to the BAFFA have become frustrated as they wanted the new charges be fixed at Tk 2500.

Prior to assuming power by immediate past caretaker government, the forwarders used to charge randomly between Tk 2500 and Tk 5000 on each NOC.

Source: http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/pages/Freight_forwarding_charges_raised_by_over_33pc