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#Associations

Swissmem: Swiss Textile Machinery Group elects Ernesto Maurer as new President

The board of the Swiss textile machinery group (from left): Robert Reimann, Ernesto Maurer, Norbert Klapper, Urban Germann, Ralph von Arx (c) 2015 Swissmem
The Swiss textile machinery group within Swissmem elected a new president during their meeting held end of May. After the resignation of Peter Gnägi, who has been member of the board since 2002 and president since 2013, the members of the group elected Ernesto Maurer as his successor.
The connoisseur of the international textile machinery industry has held various management positions in leading companies over the last years. Today, he is CEO of SSM Schaerer Schweiter Mettler AG in Horgen. The new board consists of Ernesto Maurer, vice president Urban Germann (Stäubli Sargans AG) and the new board members Norbert Klapper (Rieter AG), Robert Reimann (Jakob Müller AG) and Ralph von Arx (Retech AG). This year, the Swiss textile machinery group will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Since 1940 the group supports its member companies–over the years many of them gained international market leadership. The planned activities for this year include participation in ITMA show in Milan. In addition workshops on “Innovation” and “Additive Manufacturing” will be organized.

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#Raw Materials

Cotton Brazil Dialogues 2026 concludes with 50 international participants immersed in Brazilian cotton production

The Cotton Brazil Dialogues concludes its 2026 edition after a series of technical visits to farms, cotton gins and reference centers, as well as workshops focused on Brazilian cotton production. A total of 50 participants from 14 countries took part in the field trips. The initiative is led by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Growers (Abrapa) and the National Association of Cotton Exporters (Anea), with support from the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

#Europe

European textile industry calls for €10 handling fee on ultra-fast-fashion imports

The introduction of the €3 customs duty on low-value imports marks an important milestone in Europe’s efforts to address the challenges created by the rapid growth of ultra-fast-fashion imports. Together with the abolition of the €150 customs duty exemption, it demonstrates that policymakers are willing to act when market distortions become impossible to ignore. However, the European textile and clothing industry considers this a first step rather than the final destination.

#Associations

Business situation weakens slightly, but the industry stays cautiously optimistic

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published the results of its 39th Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), conducted from 14 to 22 July 2026 among companies along the entire global textile value chain. Worldwide, 10% of participants rated their business situation as good, 53% as satisfactory and 37% as bad — a balance of -26pp, down from -17pp in May but still well above the 2023 lows. All regions are now in negative territory, from South Asia at -3pp to North & Central America at -58pp.

#Associations

IVGT membership: expertise that pays off

For energy-intensive textile companies, government compensation mechanisms are an important economic factor. The IVGT successfully supports its member companies in applying for state aid and thereby regularly contributes to significant financial relief.

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#Industry 4.0 / Digitalization

Coats Digital launches AI-powered GSD RealMotion for motion analysis

Coats Digital has launched GSD RealMotion, an AI-powered solution designed to provide apparel manufacturers with greater visibility into factory-floor operations. By analysing shop-floor video and applying Coats Digital’s GSD methodology, the solution turns video recordings into structured, motion-by-motion method studies.

#Textile chemistry

Archroma and Lameirinho partner in pioneering deployment of InOneGO single-step dyeing

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals, and Lameirinho, a leading home textiles manufacturer based in Portugal, are collaborating to bring InOneGO by Archroma, a new single-step dyeing process, into commercial production. Lameirinho’s first InOneGo bedlinens collection is now available worldwide.

#Knitting & Hosiery

KARL MAYER launches extra-wide HKS 3-M EL for increased productivity

KARL MAYER has launched a new extra-wide version of its HKS 3-M EL tricot machine, designed to increase productivity particularly in the manufacture of textiles for sports, activewear and athleisure applications.

#Research & Development

Reducing development times for technical textiles by accelerated thermo-oxidative aging in a high-pressure autoclave

Synthetic polymers used in technical textiles can be effectively protected against degradation caused by heat, oxygen, and water through the use of stabilizer systems. This enables service lives of several decades, extending to more than 50 years. As the use of durable technical textiles continues to grow, so does the demand for reliable methods to predict their service life within economically feasible testing periods. For the first time the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) developed methods for robust service life prediction for textiles in an IGF research project.

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