The political situation in the Ukraine/Russia is also leading to new challenges for the textile and apparel industry in Europe. To this end, we at TextileTechnology asked the leading industry representatives in Europe.

Here you can read what Dirk Vantyghem, Director General of European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex), Brussels/Belgium, had to say on the subject:

The textile and apparel industry is a very international as well as energy-intensive industry. What additional challenges are our industry currently facing due to the political situation in the Ukraine/Russia?

Euratex, on behalf of the European textiles and clothing industry, is very much distressed by this unnecessary aggression on Ukraine and concerned about its impact on our sector. The textile and clothing (T&C) industry, already affected by the rise in energy prices, might not be able to face a further increase in costs and the plan to move to other energy sources will take time. Moreover, Russia is the 5th main customers for European T&C companies (annual exports ca. €3 billion) and, since the main products sold by our companies are technical and defense textiles, we expect that these companies will be affected by sanctions.  We urge the Russian leadership to dialogue and partnership.