Private equity firms and other companies outside of the retail space are finding that it is a lot more difficult to operate a brand than to acquire it – especially now that capital is more expensive.
LOGISTICS
Rate hikes this week are probably mostly a result of more aggressive carrier reductions in capacity through blanked sailings and service suspensions, leading to more ships sailing at or near capacity – a trend happening on the Asia – Europe lane as well, per Freightos.
Environmental regulation compliance resulting from IMO 2023 has led to vessels not returning to pre-Covid speeds, effectively removing ~8% capacity from the market, per Flexport.
Rate behavior in the coming weeks should indicate the success or failure of mid-month General Rate Increases. This could strongly influence how many long term contracts get signed before the typical May start date and at what price, per Freightos.
The normalization of container shipping markets on the major trade lanes out of Asia will slash carrier profits this year, but falling rate levels will also yield significant savings for shippers, per the Journal of Commerce.
New air services and increased routes should provide extra cargo capacity on Asia to N. America routes, per UPS.
INSIDE SOURCING
Brands have drastically reduced inventories, however there’s still too much stock in the pipeline – putting pressure on order sizes.
More brands and retailers have been focusing on reducing debt and strengthening their cash positions.
India and Russia have entered ‘advanced negotiations’ over a free trade agreement that aims to build closer economic ties. India is also holding trade talks with the UK and the EU.
PODCAST
Digitizing Fabric Samples with Just a Standard Digital Camera
Digitizing product development and design is the way forward – both from a cost cutting and speed to market point of view.
One of the sticking points for taking this from concept to widespread implementation is the ability to digitize fabrics so that when brought into a 3D design environment they show all the nuances that the fabric would show if viewed in real life.
In a sense, the fabric part of the equation has been sort of the last frontier.
However, that is about to change.
In this podcast episode Jorgen Sevild, founder of INQOVA and a partner at Bandicoot Imaging Science, talks about new technology that when paired with a standard digital camera can capture subtleties in texture, color, drape, light reflection – and even hand feel.
You’ll Learn:
- The key to digitizing fabrics so that they look nearly the same in a 3D rendering as they do in real life.
- How a simple, affordable technology is set to revolutionize the digitisation of textiles.
- What a digitized future looks like – from product development through to retail.
MARKET INSIGHTS
3 Key Consumer Attitudes Influencing Purchasing Decisions
A concise, easy-to-interpret guide to what consumers want – and how that translates into silhouettes, fabrics, yarns and fibers. Read more
MARKETS
UK consumer inflation for March came in at 10.1%. Although it fell from February’s 10.4% figure, officials had hoped to see inflation below 10%, per the Financial Times.
- Food prices alone rose 19.1% in the year to March. Core inflation (excluding food and fuel) remained at 6.2%.
Both the Federal Reserve Bank and the Bank of England are expected to hike interest rates 0.25% in May, per Bloomberg. The ECB is also expected to raise rates further this year, said Reuters.
Export orders from Mainland China rose 2.4% in March from November (a comparable month which was not affected by seasonal factors of Western holidays in December and Chinese holidays in Jan-Feb), per ING Bank.
China’s economy beat expectations by expanding by 4.5% in the first quarter. The nation’s recovery is a positive signal for the global economy.
- Industrial production grew only at 3.9% year-on-year in March and 3.0% year-on-year in Q1 2023.
MATERIALS
Concerns over tight supplies and rising consumption in India pushed cotton prices higher this week.
Oil prices are being pressured by lingering concerns that higher interest rates could dampen growth and impact demand.
You can find Month-on-Month and Year-on-Year prices here.
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