Page 10 - 06 Cotton SA September 2015

SA Sustainable Textile and

Clothing Cluster demand study

This study, commissioned by the SA Sustainable Textile and Clothing
Cluster (now known as the Sustainable Cotton Cluster) was undertaken

by The Moss Group during 2014/15. Their final report was recently
released and some of their key findings are summarised in this article.

Background and Context aimed at turning the
he South African textile and clothing sector was South African textile
once a thriving industry capable of satisfying local and apparel industry
demand, while employing a significant number of around. Figure 2
people across the textile value chain. The situation The broader demand
Tchanged dramatically after 1994 following South study commenced with
Africa’s re-entry into the global market. During the period high-level desktop research. This was followed by a com-
1998 to 2014, local production decreased by 37% across prehensive analysis using both a bottom-up and top-down
the broader Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather (CTFL) research approach.
sectors, while the last six years show a substantial contraction Summary of key findings
of 28% resulting in massive job losses across the clothing
and textile sectors. The study demonstrated that the local demand for apparel
and home ware textiles is substantial. Figure 1 offers a
The Textiles and Clothing industry has been targeted by schematic of the estimated textile demand requirement (per
the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), as part of their annum) across the value chain, for selected divisions included
Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), as one of four industries in the study, based on their high fabric volume items (across
to receive dedicated support. This is primarily due to the Government, Industry and Consumer Basics).
substantial job creation potential that it presents throughout
the value chain. The development and implementation of The first output for CMT manufacture shows a consolidated
a clear industry-wide, demand-led strategy is crucial to the average annual demand for 1285 million inventory items
turnaround and future growth of the industry. (apparel and soft linen). This demand translates to 1827
million metres of composite fabric or 543 million kg of
Objective of the study and methodology composite fibre for fabric manufacturing.
The principal aim of this textile demand study for apparel It is interesting to note that cotton fibre makes up almost
and home ware was to establish the size of the local demand 60% of the consolidated demand scenario in terms of
and highlight specific areas of high demand. The outputs the fabric composition of apparel and home ware textiles
of the study will be used to inform a demand-led strategy >>> 11

Figure 1

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