By Jim Phillips, Yarn Market Editor
T他COVID-19的影响是导致2020年佛的故事r the U.S. yarn and textile industries. A review of the year to date reveals a January brimming with optimism, a March veiled in uncertainty, and an April and beyond doubt and worry.
For example, an excerpt from theJanuary-February 2020 Yarn Marketreveals anticipation for solid business growth: “As the post-holiday retail inventory adjustment comes to a close, spinners are once again reporting an increase in orders. ‘It’s the same cycle every year — at least in good years,’ said one spinner. ’We go full-out to meet holiday orders and then we have a lull in the fourth quarter and the beginning of the first quarter. Then, a few weeks into the first quarter, we start seeing business trickle in again.’ Added another spinner: ‘I would not say it’s booming, but it is definitely picking up across the board. Cottons, blends, home furnishings, they are all beginning to tick upward.’”
Fast-forward toMarch：“‘现在，只是等待，’一位行业专家说。‘随着诸如Abercrombie之类的零售商，Levi's和Nordstrom至少在3月底关闭，我们希望整个供应链中的订单总体放缓。它将影响单个公司以及整个行业的深刻影响将取决于流行病的持续时间。’
‘What we are really concerned about, from a business perspective, is how long this is going to last,’ said one executive. ‘If it lasts long enough to affect back-to-school and holiday orders, it could turn into a bad year for the industry as whole.’”
Those last words were prophetic. According to OTEXA, COVID-19 resulted in an approximate 22 percent drop in the value of U.S. textile output in the second quarter. By the end of July, the value of U.S. yarn exports went down 31 percent year over year. By mid-year, overall employment in the U.S. textile and apparel industry was down by some 80,000. As the year winds down, many of these workers are still unemployed, with diminishing unemployment benefits and little-to-no health insurance. The unemployment and insurance disaster has been further exacerbated by a U.S. President that, according to numerous sources, has essentially “checked out” since losing the election. With little help anticipated from Washington over the next few months, the outlook for some of these displaced workers is grim, according to health officials and economists.
Some companies were able to at least somewhat offset the loss of regular business by manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line health workers.
例如，Unifi向100多家公司提供了纱线和纤维，这些公司生产了急救人员，医务人员和军方所需的面具，礼服和其他PPE。Unifi的纤维是生产数百个关键组件和产品的重要组成部分，包括面罩，礼服，礼服的缝纫线，无菌湿巾，窗帘和面罩和面罩的弹性。
One Unifi customer, Contempora Fabrics, based in Lumberton, N.C., shifted from the production of baseball uniforms to making medical masks and gowns. And S.C.-based Phenix Engineered Textiles used Unifi fiber and yarn to make elastic trapping for face masks.
As the year ends with news of multiple vaccines with more than 95 percent efficacy that should be available beginning in Q1, the hope is that 2021 will see a return to some semblance of normalcy. The next纱线市场将看看旋转器在2021年的水晶球中看到什么。
可追溯性更新
在里面2020年10月纱线市场report, the primary topic was the emergence of supply-chain traceability as a critical factor in the production of fiber, yarn, and fabric.
随着伪造，产品污染以及不完整或不准确的标签的越来越多的实例，不可变的可追溯性可以帮助恢复消费者的信心，并通过跟踪从启动到最终使用的每种产品开发来确保产品安全。例如，对于棉线，织物制造商将能够看到纱线生命周期的每个细节，从种植种子到纱线到达织布工或编织者之际。消费者将确保获得具有准确标签的真实产品。
Lenzing使用区块链来实现可追溯性
Shortly after last month’s column was published, Austria’s Lenzing became the latest to announce a large-scale traceability program. “To date, supply-chain traceability has become a top priority for apparel and home brands,” Lenzing stated in a news release. “To address both consumer demand and compliance risks increasingly faced by brand partners, Lenzing is introducing a brand-new blockchain-enabled supply chain traceability platform powered by TextileGenesis™.”
对于那些不熟悉该术语的人来说，最初用于记录加密货币交易的分散分布式分类帐技术中的区块链，例如具有比特币的交易。它使用许多不同计算机上的信息块来创建几乎防篡改的动作和交易记录，以及完整而准确的保管链记录。
According to the news release, the platform went live on November 5 and will be phased in incrementally. It will be accessible for all brands using Tencel™ and Lenzing™ Ecovero™-branded fibers, as well as for all supply chain partners globally across Asia, Europe and the Americas.” In the United States, Lenzing operates a Tencel fiber plant in Axis, Ala.
该平台由纺织产驱动的核心组件之一是与Lenzing e-品牌面料认证系统集成，该系统允许品牌和零售商不仅可以访问Tencel和Lenzing Ecovero品牌纤维的全部供应链可追溯性，还可以查看结果。通过数字签名的Lenzing电子品牌织物证书对织物样品进行法医（物理）验证。
Lenzing首席商务官员兼董事会成员Robert Van de Kerkhof说：“在过去的一年中，在试点计划和实地试验期间，我们一直收到非常积极的反馈。”“我们的品牌合作伙伴还鼓励我们加速全球推出Lenzing纤维的可追溯性。借助这个新系统以及与Lenzing E-Branding Fabric证书的集成，整个Lenzing生态系统将创造出前所未有的透明度。这将为消费者提供最可持续和最适合气候的服装和家庭纺织品，这些产品由Tencel或Lenzing Ecovero品牌纤维制成。”
2020年11月
