NEW YEAR NEW HOPES… WILL 2021 WASH AWAY THE SCARS?????
The year finally comes to an end, a year that was one of the worst in the history of mankind. What erupted as a normal virus initially caused scars which will take a lot of time to heal.
The year 2020 was unusual; a war with an invisible enemy is still on and the uncertainty about it hovers the minds of people, countries, economies and business all across the world.
What started from WUHAN engulfed the entire world and India was no different.
The three month lockdown when almost everything was shut; proved to be disastrous for the trade and community.
What we saw was millions of workers going back to their villages barefoot, their extreme desperation to get back to their families and reunite with them before the virus hit them.
Garment industry which employs a big workforce was one of the worst affected as migrant workers in factories had gone back.
Factories were shut and there were no orders, no work or workers.
The graveyard look of factories in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Maharashtra was spine chilling.
The traffic jams that used to stress people were truly missed.
The chaos of traffic was considered better than utter peace.
Apparel export industry which targets international markets was seeing its worst downfall. Exporters, fabric mills, accessory suppliers, technology suppliers and even publication like ours were in a big jeopardy of how and when this storm would end?
Sustain and survive were the only buzzword.
Orders were getting cancelled, shipments were being delayed buyers were not claiming orders and the entire supply chain was in a big mess.
No travelling, no meetings, no exhibitions, no networking it was a total blackout.
Every now and then news about some or the other retail chain and brand going bankrupt was making headline.
#JCPenney, Arcadia Group, #Debenhams, #AnnTaylor, #BrooksBrother, #TedBaker, and the list goes on and on.
But then India as a resilient country stood strong. Virtual meetings, virtual showrooms, 3D sampling, online shopping, manufacturing of masks, PPE kits, antiviral fabrics, home textiles and home décor all became the next norm.
Companies were smart and fast enough to adapt to these changes and both apparel and home textile exporters started fighting the odds in the best possible way.
The opportunity that came up with manufacturing of face masks and PPE kits was a relief but could not save factories, owners and workers from the brunt of this CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
The last issue of the unusual and jinxed year comes with positive news. Home textiles became the saviour for many companies.
When lockdown and work from home became the norm people motivated themselves by making simple changes to their home décor and this led to growth of the home textile segment.
Tirupur the knitwear hub of India was also back to growth and resisted these tough times.
The hub saw a good demand for knitted products and hosiery items which helped it in reviving and moving towards recovery.
The industry clocked annual turnover of Rs 24,440 cr which was just Rs 3000 cr less than the previous year.
In these unprecedented and challenging times, some emerged as winners but most of them came up as survivors but not losers.
We all have learnt in this phase.
We will not lose the game till the time we are fighting, innovating, creating, challenging ourselves and working tirelessly to come out of this struggle and situation we will win.
On this note we conclude the last issue of 2020 hoping for a great year.
PERFECT SOURCING wishes you all a very Happy New Year 2021.
