Chemical Countermeasures

And Advanced Materials Laboratory

• April, 2022

  April 11

  April 13

  April 26

  Geopolitical Situation, Cotton, and Textiles Sector

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, April 11, 2022)-Ongoing political crisis in Europe, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are influencing the global cotton and textiles sector, manufacturing, and global economy.

   

  Rise in prices, inflation, and political crisis in some parts of the world are having direct effect on the recent Presidential election in France. Worries on the increase in energy cost due to probable embargo on Russian gas and oil by EU countries is genuine among consumers, while making buying decisions on non-essential items.

   

  Ripple effects from COVID-19 are seen in different sections of the society, which is more evident in Sri Lanka. With the decrease in foreign tourism, the economy of Sri Lanka has taken a severe hit, which has been in decline due to mismanagement for over a decade and due to heavy foreign debts. In addition to economic fallouts, political crisis in Pakistan and Europe due to Russian invasion of Ukraine is adding to the pain as well.

   

  All these instabilities are showing its impacts on the global cotton and textile sectors. This is immediately felt in a major textile producing country, say India. The economic and political crisis in some parts of the world should result in favorable conditions for textile manufacturing in India, but this is not the case. Steady increase in cotton price is creating a havoc in the Indian textiles sector resulting in decreased production and reducing work week by a day in textile mills in India.

   

  Sri Lanka is a leading garment producer supplying to global brands. Lack of power and the ongoing political crisis is affecting many sectors of the country. “While orders from Sri Lanka are getting diverted to Tiruppur in India, steep cotton price in India is not helping the situation,” stated Mr. Velmurugan Shanmugam, a 30-year industry veteran and the general manager of Aruppukkottai-based Jayalakshmi Textiles.

   

  In many mills, production has been slashed by 20 percent resulting in loses. Higher cotton prices are not absorbed by upstream products like yarns. “Weavers are not willing to pay higher prices,” added Velmurugan Shanmugam.

   

  Cotton prices have doubled in a year and the present situation is worse than 2011 when cotton price was steep. Textile mills in India are demanding Indian government to slash 11% import duty on cotton, which will create a level playing field with competing countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

   

  Cautious stock maintenance, negotiating with the government for adequate support, efficient workflow management and watching the global situations carefully are a few near term solutions for the global textiles sector.

   

  India Slashes Import Duty on Cotton

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, April 13, 2022)-Government of India has slashed the import duty of cotton for a specific period effective tomorrow, April 14, 2022.

   

  Indian textile industry has been making clarion calls to the Government to allow duty free import of cotton to stay competitive against other low-cost textile manufacturing countries.

   

  Today, Ministry of Finance of India has announced that there will be no import duty on cotton for the period April 14, 2022, till September 30, 2022.

   

  This news is welcomed by the Indian industry. In speaking with this scribe, Mr. Gandhiraj Krishnasamy, general manager of Coimbatore-based Lakshmi Card Clothing stated that this news is a welcoming one. He added that, this support from the government will exert influence on domestic cotton market to offer cotton at competitive price.

   

  Already mills have been paying attention to cotton from High Plains of Texas and Australia and this concession from the Government will help the textile industry to stay competitive.

   

  Adding to this sentiment, Mr. Velmurugan Shanmugam, General Manager of Aruppukkottai-based Jayalakshmi Textiles cotton spinning mill with 72,000 spindles stated that 11% import duty has been making the industry less competitive and mills would benefit with a waiver. Jayalakshmi Textiles will be receiving a consignment of three hundred tons of United States’ cotton this May. This exemption shall benefit the entire textile chain and will provide relief to consumers stated Gandhiraj Krishnasamy.

   

  This news will serve as a timely gift by the Indian Government for the Tamil New Year celebration tomorrow in the State of Tamilnadu, which has the highest number of spinning mills in India.

   

   

  Priority Issues for the Cotton Sector

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, April 26, 2022)- Supply-demand situation, soaring prices, quality, contamination aspects, penetration into value-added sectors are priorities that need the attention of stakeholders of the cotton sector.

   

  Yesterday (April 25, 2022), a team of key people from Bajaj Coneagle, LLC and its parent company, Nagpur, India-based Bajaj Steel Industries, Ltd., which is a leading manufacturer of cotton ginning machinery visited Lubbock to explore the current cotton sector’s situation and interact with industry people. As part of the visit, I had the opportunity to interact with them to gain information about current cotton situation.

   

  With cotton prices at higher levels, discussions focused on what’s next for the industry. With the current drought conditions in the High Plains of Texas, if this situation persists, it is expected that cotton yields may suffer in the world’s leading cotton producing region, affecting the supply and demand situation, noted Lav Bajaj, Business Director of Bajaj Steel Industries, Ltd., with a sales turnover of about US$60 million related to gin machinery business.

   

  Given such a tight supply situation, competition from synthetics will be high, which necessitates concerted efforts from all stakeholders in the industry. Recently, clarion calls made by the Indian textile industry has made the Government of India suspend import duty on cotton for a specified period.

   

  United States’ cotton sector has established a global name as a producer of consistent quality, which is due to several factors such as machine harvesting, mass scale production, educated producers and the use of technology. This may not be feasible in other regions say India and Africa as farmlands owned by single family farmers range from half an acre to ten acres, which influences the quality. The visiting team from Bajaj Steel Industries, Ltd., agreed and suggested that Indian cotton sector should utilize existing resources such as grassroot level education, effective utilization of farm Apps to follow good agronomy practices and marketing.

   

  Efforts must focus on quality grades and seed variety selection stated Shankar Venkatachalam, President of Bajaj Coneagle, LLC. It is time for India to look into saw gin revolution, added Shankar Venkatachalam. This will enhance quality and hence yarn realization in spinning mills.

   

  Agreeing with the current tight supply situation, mills will expect high quality cotton at reasonable price, stated Velmurugan Shanmugam, General Manager of Aruppukkottai, India-based Jayalakshmi Textiles, which annually consumes about 7000 tons of cotton and produces 4800 tons of fine count cotton yarns. In countries like India, it is important that government, textile, and cotton industry aim towards individual bale classification to achieve quality consistency and reliability, added Velmurugan Shanmugam.

   

  In India, cotton is traded at the farm level based on length and mills while purchasing conduct thorough quality evaluation using HVI instrumentation depending on the size and requirement of individual mills. Quality evaluation at single bale level is needed which was expressed by the Bajaj team as well as textile mill representatives like Velmurugan Shanmugam.

   

  Contamination at gin level such as plastics, quality consistency and effective utilization of technology and creating more awareness at farm level should receive priority attention. More importantly, effective management decisions by the stakeholders, given the tight supply of cotton will be the need of the hour, say cotton purchasing and stocking decisions.

   

   

• March, 2022

  March  7

  Research Collaborations in Advanced Textiles and Global Harmony

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University

   

  (March 7, 2022, Lubbock, USA)--Unity and harmony are in much need as we witness distress in some parts of the world.

   

  Research and graduate education are international, and it celebrates global unity and understanding. On March 5, the Nonwovens and Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University, USA, to show solidarity among many nationals, and as a mark of celebrating James Ayodeji's successful defense of Ph.D. on "Face Coverings as a Countermeasure to COVID-19," hosted a dinner involving students of a few nations. James is from Nigeria. Such small acts of showcasing unity and understanding of different culture is valuable in times of stress.

   

  Since the initiation of research in advanced cotton products, nonwovens and technical textiles in the Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech, students, and visitors from many parts of the world like Germany, China, Japan, Nigeria, United States, Bangladesh, and India have visited and collaborated in many efforts. Ongoing collaborations with many Institutes in India for over 20-years have strengthened India’s technical textiles sector. This effort has enabled India to be self-sufficient in the manufacture of PPE during COVID-19 times. A high point has been the collaboration between USA-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) and Texas Tech University in hosting a major nonwovens training workshop and “Link with India,” business conclave in the mid-2000s in Mumbai, India.

   

  Notable visitors to the laboratory’s events include United States’ Congressmen, U.S. Department of Defense scientists, Ministry of Textiles-Government of India’s senior officials, delegation of officers from the Cotton Corporation of India, business leaders, scientists, to name a few. In the early 2000, a member of the trade delegation representing the textile sector under the leadership of former Prime Minister of India, Honorable Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji visited the laboratory and Lubbock to know firsthand about the High Plains’ cotton sector and the technical textiles research at Texas Tech University. Leading cotton industry leaders from India say, Mr. Suresh Kotak of Kotak group of companies and the former R & D head of the leading textile machinery manufacturer, Coimbatore-based Lakshmi Machine Works, Ltd., have extended their visits to the laboratory.

   

  Ongoing collaboration with Amit Kapoor, President of Chantilly-based First Line Technology, LLC is leading to new applications for the nonwoven decontamination wipe, “FiberTect.” FiberTect’s commercial success showcases the importance of industry-academia collaboration. In a similar vein, collaboration with South India-based Jayalakshmi Textiles, a leading cotton spinning industry has resulted in cotton-based sustainable oil absorbent to contain oil spill issues.

   

  Research in the laboratory focuses on advanced textiles to protect the environment and save human lives, finding new and industrial applications for cotton, nanofibers, and sustainable textile-finishing technologies to name a few.

  Let peace prevail in the world.

   

• February, 2022

  Feb 16

  Feb 24

  Feb 28

  Face Masks Enabled Returning to Normalcy

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, February 16, 2022)- With the COVID-19 wave waning and many States in the United States easing their face mask recommendations, it is important to understand the role played by face coverings offering varied levels of protection during the pandemic.

   

  For nearly two years, face masks have been a much-debated product, while they have played important role in curtailing the spread of variants of SARS-CoV-2.

   

  Since March 2020, when the pandemic was recognized and vaccinations were just beginning to happen, face masks have played critical role in saving lives. Face masks are one of the critical tools in the toolbox to fight infections caused by airborne microbes.

   

  The use of different versions of face coverings has genuinely spotlighted the use of cotton and its blends. While in public domain, technical details may not have been much discussed, certainly, among stakeholders, from producers to fashion designers, technical advantages of cellulose-based materials for medical and personnel protection has gained support and interest.

   

  Haripriya Ramesh, doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, who wears face coverings in indoor public settings such as classrooms stated that cotton-based face coverings are comfortable and makes her safe and comfortable in wearing.

   

  As the Omicron wave was peaking in late Fall 2021, medical community emphasized the need for high quality face masks such as N95s. N95s and other filtering facepiece respirators offer highest level of protection, which are needed where higher level of transmissions is experienced.

  In communities other than highly vulnerable settings such as hospitals, health care facilities, etc., other making strategies that involve nonwoven face masks in combination with multilayered cotton-based face coverings may be helpful. In all these scenarios, fit is important. The use of cotton-based face coverings as a combo may provide next-to skin comfort, provided the combo structure provides good fit.

   

  This alternate masking strategy considers, filtration, fit and comfort into consideration and has evolved out of two years of class discussions and research in the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University. Cotton-based multilayered face coverings with more than two layers are needed when used in combination with 3-ply nonwoven surgical masks to offer good protection.

   

  Graduate students involve both in research on PPE and analyzing the infection and vaccination rates as part of “Countermeasures to Toxins,” graduate level course at Texas Tech University. It has become evident that courses that deal with ongoing crisis result in timely and valuable deliverables. Such activities also strengthen the course information based on relevance and ongoing research, adding value to courses.

   

  COVID-19 has strengthened our understanding that textile materials, which have functional capabilities play vital roles in medical, hygiene and personnel protection applications.

   

  Stakeholders in the textile and material sectors must focus on non-commodity applications and provide support for much needed R & D in the advanced materials sector.

   

   

   

   

   

  (Figure Caption: Graduate students at Texas Tech University analyzing COVID-19 data as part of class and research on countermeasures to infections and toxins)

   

  Ukraine Crisis, Cotton and Textiles Sector

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, February 24, 2022)-Today’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia is creating a tailspin in the global markets, particularly in the energy sector.

   

  Crude oil price is trading about US$104 per barrel, which will certainly affect stock markets, commodity, and metal prices. Gas prices are as high as $3.15 a gallon for regular gas at some gas stations in Lubbock, Texas.  More importantly, it will have impact on consumer psychology and their buying power, which is important for the global textiles sector.

   

  Immediate reactions by the United State, EU, and UK have been by imposing economic sanctions against Russia, which is only going to harden. This will impact crude oil and natural gas prices as Russia is a major exporter of these commodities to EU nations like Germany. One may also swiftly see the strengthening of dollar, which will at least for the immediate future see higher prices for imports from the United States.

   

  Cotton market which is experiencing a tight supply will see uncertainty and added volatility due to uncertain demand and ripple effects from higher energy prices. More importantly, as many EU countries depend on wheat and energy products from Russia, and Ukraine being the breadbasket for Europe, increase in prices of these commodities will influence the overall markets and consumer confidence.

   

  “The market will be more volatile,” stated Velmurugan Shanmugam, General Manager of Aruppukottai, India-based Jayalakshmi Textiles. Jayalakshmi Textiles is a 100% cotton spinning mill with 72,000 spindles spinning fine count cotton yarns catering to home textiles market. India exports cotton home textiles to EU countries like Germany and crisis in that part of world will have impact on textile exports and consumption.

   

  Cotton prices have been seeing an upward trend in recent months. In recent weeks, the expected invasion by Russia has been playing its part on commodity markets. In the past 20 days, mill delivered price for MCU-5 cotton has climbed from Rupees 78,000 per candy (356 Kgs) to its current level at 83,000 per candy (356 Kgs). With the current global situation, uncertainty will increase, added Velmurugan Shanmugam. As gas prices are expected to go up, consumers will take a hard look at the prices of textiles and may postpone buying non-essential items, which may have an impact on textile trade, added Velmurugan Shanmugam.

   

  Textiles’ demand and prices not only depend on cotton and raw materials’ prices. Other factors such as regional peace and security influence consumers’ interest in buying items such as textiles which are heavily dependent on discretionary spending.

   

  Textile industry people while expecting high volatility in markets must carefully plan in stocking raw materials and work out transportation and operational costs.

   

  With tighter economic sanctions on Russia expected soon, it is important to watch how the commodity and financial sectors will react and their impact on manufacturing and textile sectors.

   

   

  Elementary School Student Demonstrates Cotton’s Sustainable Industrial Application

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, February 28, 2022)- Sustainability requirements, and the need for sustainable advanced products for enhancing human health and protecting environment is an encouragement for the fiber to fashion supply chain to work towards sustainability goals.

   

  The Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University for the past two decades has been focusing on research, education and outreach related to cotton-based technical textile products.

   

  As part of outreach effort, demonstration of cotton’s sustainable industrial application was carried out this past Friday evening (February 25, 2022) in the STEM Night event organized by Ramirez Elementary School's PTA, which was attended by many elementary school children and their parents in Lubbock, Texas.

   

  Aditya Ritvik, a 5th grade student at Roscoe Wilson Elementary School in Lubbock, USA enthusiastically carried out the demonstration and witnessed the unique capability of raw cotton absorbing oil.

   

  Demonstration by 5th grade student can be viewed at:

   

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jECKHsXcjsI

   

  Mirza Khyum and Faizur Rahman, graduate students in the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory, Texas Tech University showcased the industrial applications of cotton such as oil soaking abilities to the audience.

   

  Research has so far resulted in commercial products such as FiberTect, a nonwoven decontamination wipe, which could absorb toxic chemicals such as sulfur mustard, cotton-based oil absorbent and novel face mask concept, “FISOR.” FISOR concept advocates the use of cotton face cover and nonwoven surgical mask as a combo mask with good fit to provide improved filtration and comfort.

  It was enthralling to see many different groups such as wind energy, robotics, geosciences, forensics, museum studies, etc., showcasing science and technology in the STEM Night event.

   

  Certainly, there was enthusiasm among youngsters to see science in action.

   

   

• January, 2022

  Jan  17

  American Cotton Gets a Favorable Look by South Indian Textile Spinners

  By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech University, USA

   

  (Lubbock, USA, January 17, 2022)—High Plains of Texas cotton is getting attention in South India.

   

  Cotton price situation is creating a lot of anxiety in the global textile sector. Particularly in India, which is a largest textile producing country, high cotton prices are being carefully watched, as it is having ripple effects across economy and employment.

   

  In an interesting twist to the cotton story, cotton from the High Plains of Texas is getting a favorable consideration by South Indian textile spinners.

   

  Spinning industry is heavily concentrated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and the textile industry is situated in Coimbatore, Erode and Thiruppur regions. Additionally, mills are situated in cotton growing areas in Virudhunagar districts.

   

  High prices coupled with lack of consistent quality have made spinning industries to look for alternatives to Indian cotton. Indian spinning associations have been pleading the government to waiver the import duty of 10% on cotton.

   

  A telephone call this morning with Mr. Velmurugan Shanmugam, General Manager of Jayalakshmi Textiles, based in Aruppukkottai in South India revealed that they are seriously looking at cotton from High Plains of Texas in their raw material mix. It is my understanding that another large mill has also booked an order of about 1000 tons of U.S. cotton, again showing interest in imported cotton.

   

  According to Velmurugan, Jayalakshmi Textiles have booked 300 tons of High Plains cotton and the consignment is expected to arrive in Tuticorin port, which is near to their mills in 3-4 months. He hopes that by that time, government will make a favorable decision on the import duty on cotton.

   

  Many textile spinners are also exploring imported cotton. Indian spinners like Jayalakshmi Textiles have been using small quantity of Giza cotton for high quality yarns of 100-120s Ne. Jayalakshmi Textiles spins fine count yarns catering to sheeting and saree materials.

   

  While landed price including tax of imported may be slightly higher than the price of domestic cotton, mills in India are also paying attention to quality and its consistency.

   

  Indian cotton sector should pay attention to quality and delivery consistency and enable farmers to achieve high quality standards.

   

   

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D.  •  Texas Tech University  •  Department of Environmental Toxicology

Box 41163  •  Lubbock, TX 79409-1163 •  806.885.4567  •  s.ramkumar@ttu.edu