Apparels

Adidas maintains its financial outlook for 2025. However, the sportswear giant expects rising import tariffs in the United States to increase product costs. CEO Bjorn Gulden highlights the potential impact despite minimizing exports from China. Unexpectedly high levies on Southeast Asian countries add to the uncertainty. Cost increases may eventually lead to price hikes.

As more gas is being diverted to generate power during summer, gas pressure has plunged in Bangladesh’s industrial zones—at times to zero—crippling production.
Despite two steep price hikes in the last two years, factory owners say availability has only worsened, with no signs of improvement.
A few hundred textile factories reliant on gas are now operating at a fraction of their capacity.

Gold prices declined as easing trade tensions between the U.S. and its partners diminished its safe-haven appeal. Investors are closely watching upcoming U.S. economic data releases to gauge the Federal Reserve’s future policy decisions. Despite short-term fluctuations, long-term factors like central bank diversification may support gold’s upward trend.

GIVA jewellery inaugurated its 200th store in Bengaluru. Karisma Kapoor launched the store at Forum South Mall. The brand started its first outlet in Bengaluru in 2022. GIVA focuses on silver, gold, and lab-grown diamond jewellery. Ishendra Agarwal shared plans to expand to 700 stores in 60 cities in three years. Anushka Sharma is the brand ambassador.

Bangladesh is planning to set up two additional economic zones exclusively for Chinese investors, apart from the existing Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone in Anwara, Chattogram.
State-owned Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd will develop the Chandpur Economic Zone-1.
The second, the Bhola Eco-Development Economic Zone will be developed by China’s Leez Fashion Industries Limited.

Bangladesh’s RMG exports to the EU surged to $3.69 billion in two months, up from $2.69 billion last year, amid a 36.99 per cent global export growth.
The EU’s apparel imports rose 17.81 per cent YoY to $16.10 billion, with volume up 28.66 per cent and unit prices down 8.44 per cent.
China led with $4.54 billion exports, while Turkiye saw a 3.64 per cent decline.

Jaipuria Group, an Indian conglomerate, has acquired ClearDekho, an affordable eyewear brand, in a full buyout. The acquisition aims to aggressively scale ClearDekho’s operations, targeting ₹300 crore topline in three years and 10% of India’s eyewear market share in five to seven years.

Luxury Swiss watchmakers are increasingly targeting India due to slowing consumption in China. Swiss watch exports to India surged nearly 30% in the first quarter of 2025, making it the fastest-growing market globally. This growth is fueled by a rising aspirational younger generation and expanding retail presence in both metros and smaller cities.

Most of the hikes in US prices came on Friday, with markups significantly higher in some categories than others, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The average price for the top 100 products in the beauty and health category increased by 51% from Thursday, with several of the items more than doubling in price. For home and kitchen products and toys, the average jump was more than 30%, led by a massive 377% increase in the price of a 10-piece set of kitchen towels. For women’s clothing the rise was 8%.

Bangladesh overtook China to become Turkiye’s largest apparel supplier in 2024, with imports rising 50 per cent to $692.226 million and its share increasing to 18.05 per cent.
In contrast, imports from China rose 28.07 per cent to $666.904 million.
Turkiye’s total apparel imports surged to $3.7 billion in 2024, marking a 3.5-fold increase over four years, while exports reached $17.44 billion.