Good products start from the source
Investigation delegation of China Textile Go Global Union to Australia and New Zealand
May 16, 2017 ｜ by Zhao Zihan
As one of the outbound visiting projects of China Textile Go Global Union in 2017, an investigation team co-organized by China Cotton Textile Association and CCPIT TEX visited Australia and New Zealand, two major textile raw materials exporting countries located in the southern hemisphere,for field researches of textile raw materials from April 17th to 24th, 2017.
Good products start from the source. During the eight days, the delegation not only made field visits for the actual situation of the textile raw materials in Australia and New Zealand, but also communicated with the relevant institutions there in terms of the problems found in the use of raw materials, the new demand for the upstream materials in accordance with product upgrading, and the cooperation among the relevant industrial chain sectors.
Currently, in context of the transformation and upgrading of the industry, China’s textile enterprises are facing growing demand for high-quality raw materials; in particular, the Australian high-quality cotton plays a great significance to Chinese cotton spinning enterprises who are suffering relatively tight cotton supply in China. This is also the major reason for this visit of the delegation.
Australia － Concerned about cotton testing and product quality
The delegation’s visit to Australia is not only because Australia has a highly integrated cotton industry value chain, but also because of the cooperation and integration between cotton farmers and traders who would improve breeding research and management according to market demand to meet the demands of cotton spinning enterprises.
The delegation visited Moree, an important producing area of Australian cotton. In addition, during the in-depth exchange Ian Sanders, Director of NSW Department of Primary Industries, Matthew Bradd, Chairman of Australian Cotton Shippers Association, and representatives of cotton traders, the delegation listened to the trader representative’s introduction to the following aspects, including the Australian cotton industry development, seed cultivation, agronomy, biotechnology, harvest management, seed cotton processing, lint quality, cotton inspection, packaging, delivery, and market supply and demand, and expressed their concern about such problems as the short fiber rate and neps of the Australian cotton, hoping that the two indicators could be well tested to meet the needs of Chinese enterprises.
In an exchange with the Australian Classing Services, one of the four cotton testing organizations in Australia, the delegation learned that the Australian cotton test data was only a reference value provided by a third party. They would make artificial and mechanical equipment sampling inspection of color, length, micronaire indicators, moisture regain, and content of impurities. Members of the delegation suggested that testing should be still necessary before use to avoid different quality problems because the Australian cotton is not inspected bale by bale.
New Zealand － Environmental-protection wool of unique brand value
Another destination for the delegation - New Zealand - is the first developed country to reach a bilateral agreement with China on accession to the World Trade Organization, the first developed country to recognize China’s full market economy status, the first developed country to start bilateral free trade agreement negotiations with China, the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China, and the first Western developed country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
On the other hand, as an important consumer of New Zealand wool, China’s position in New Zealand’s foreign trade is also self-evident.
In the context of good cooperation and industrial advantages, the delegates visited Canterbury Woolscourers, Cavalier Woolscourers’ Timaru site, as part of their Australian and New Zealand Country visit 2017.
As part of the visit, the delegates toured the Canterbury Woolscourers site and observed the wool scouring process. The delegation had the opportunity to learn about the New Zealand Wool industry and to meet with a large New Zealand Wool Exporter to discuss business opportunities.
It is introduced that Cavalier Woolscourers achieves a maximum yield with world-leading technology and careful processing practices, enjoying the lowest levels of fiber residues anywhere in the world. The pre-scour treatment results in less entanglement of finished product, less felting and consequently a higher percentage of product suitable for market. The scoured wool had consistent quality, and uniform length and color, which makes it an efficient material for the manufacturers of clothing, carpet, textile and other products.
During the visit, the investigation delegation not only harvested the first-hand information of the raw materials in Australia and New Zealand to help enterprises to control product quality from the source, but also opened up a new path of textile production cooperation for the industry. Meanwhile, this investigation marks the first stop of the outbound investigation visit of China Textile Go Global Union together with the professional associations, followed by in-depth cooperation in terms of hot countries and hot issues.
