All Trade & Sourcing articles
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News briefs
Evonik launches new recycled polyamide with Italian partner
Evonik is launching a recycled version of its TROGAMID material, which is used in sunglass lenses among other applications, in partnership with Poliplastic, an Italian-based supplier of specialty polyamides. The recycling loop for the new material, TROGAMID R, starts with the collection of scrap-production shards from manufacturers of optical non-prescription ...
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ArticleItaly’s eyewear sector ramps up export promotion efforts
Italy’s eyewear industry has ramped up efforts to promote its products overseas, as tariffs, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty bite, but new markets also provide opportunities. “Internationalization has always been a priority, but we understood that it was time to push more in the current situation,” Davide Degl’Incerti Tocci, the ...
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Sponsored articleDigital infrastructure as a growth lever: NEOX-IT group brings integrated solutions to MIDO 2026
At MIDO 2026 in Milan, the NEOX-IT Group will present a coordinated technology stack designed to simplify digital complexity for retailers, suppliers and manufacturers.
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ArticleMeta and Essilux reported AI glasses capacity doubling no easy task
Meta and EssilorLuxottica are discussing boosting their Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses annual production capacity to 20-30 million units to address growing demand, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The leak came from people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous, which may also mean that it is a deliberate communication strategy ...
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News briefs
Arkema new Singapore plant comes online
Arkema’s new transparent polyamide factory in Singapore is now fully operational, the French-based specialty materials group has announced. The company stressed that the $20 million investment first announced in July last year will triple its production capacity for Rilsan Clear, a material used across different sectors including eyewear, AR/VR and ...
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ArticleMeta pauses international Ray-Ban Display launch amid AR supply-chain crunch
Meta has postponed the international launch of its Ray-Ban Display AR glasses, citing overwhelming US demand and waitlists extending into 2026. The delay highlights critical supply chain bottlenecks in waveguide production and memory chips, as the smart eyewear market reaches a tipping point for consumer adoption.
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ArticleItalian eyewear exports slip 3% in first eight months as US struggles, other markets improve
The value of Italian eyewear exports in the first eight months of 2025 fell by3.4 percent to €3,519 million as sales in the US continued to suffer in the wake of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this year but markets in Europe and elsewhere showed signs of ...
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News briefs
HOYA joins independent RX order management platform in the US
HOYA Vision Care’s US subsidiary has announced that it was joining SpecCheck, an RX order management platform connecting lens laboratories with eye care professionals (ECPs) in the country. HOYA is the first lab network to join the service. The company stressed that it was “committed to helping eye care professionals ...
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News briefs
ANFAO push in Turkey as industry strives to diversify export markets
ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association, reinforced its presence in Turkey through a group presence at the Silmo Istanbul 2025 trade show that closed its doors on Nov. 22, 2025. The initiative, financially supported by the Italian Trade Agency, is aimed at developing a structured market access strategy for Italian ...
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News briefs
ANFAO and other Italian fashion industry associations conclude Brazilian tour
ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association, has just concluded a promotional tour of three major cities in Brazil (Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), along with other Italian fashion-related industry associations. The tour was organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) with financial support from the Ministry of ...
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ArticleItalian H1 eyewear down 4% as Europe, China and others partially offset US collapse
The value of Italian eyewear exports in the first half of 2025 fell by 3.7 percent to €2,779 million, dragged down by the collapse of the US market in the wake of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, data from eyewear trade association ANFAO showed. The contraction in exports ...
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News briefs
EU and Indonesia sign free trade deal
After nearly a decade of talks, the European Union and Indonesia have signed a free trade agreement that will eliminate tariffs on most goods. The motivation for reaching this trade deal has increased following the introduction of new US import tariffs earlier this year, which disrupted global trade. The European ...
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ArticleItaly Q1 eyewear exports fall 1.5% as industry braces for higher US tariffs
The value of Italian eyewear exports in the first quarter of 2025 fell by 1.5 percent compared to the year earlier to €1,427 million, as the market’s contraction deepened following a 0.6 percent fall in exports in 2024, according to data from eyewear trade association ANFAO. Italian exports of sunglasses ...
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ArticleItalian eyewear industry warns companies risk survival with hefty US tariffs
Should US President Donald Trump follow through with a threat to impose hefty import tariffs on European Union goods, many Italian eyewear companies could see their survival threatened, warned Lorraine Berton, President of the Italian eyewear association ANFAO. The Trump administration on July 11 announced it would raise the so-called ...
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News briefsArkema adding transparent-polyamide capacity in Singapore
At the factory in Singapore it inaugurated in 2022 – reputedly the world’s largest for bio-circular materials – Arkema is building a unit for the manufacture of its Rilsan Clear transparent polyamide, used for consumer electronics, appliance and medical equipment as well as eyewear. Representing an investment of about $20 ...
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ArticleUnclear US ‘Transshipping’ tariff rate scope keeps Vietnam on its toes
Two days ahead of the July 9 deadline for the US “reciprocal tariffs” pause – or rather, the reduction of all import duties to a 10 percent baseline rate – only two ”definitive” bilateral agreements have been announced by President Donald Trump: with the UK, in early May, and with ...
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News briefs
Safilo supply agreement with Kering Eyewear extended until 2029
Safilo Group has announced the early renewal of its supply agreement with Kering Eyewear until 2029. The supply agreement between both groups started in 2015 after Kering decided to produce its eyewear licenses in-house, which led to the early termination of Safilo’s Gucci license. In a 2019 Eyewear Intelligence article, ...
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ArticleUS-China tariffs climbdown provides ‘breathing room’ but uncertainties loom large
In a steeper-than-expected climbdown of the trade war between the US and China, both superpowers agreed yesterday to slash down their respective “reciprocal” tariffs for a period of 90 days, approximately one month after their implementation. The agreement followed a weekend of trade talks in Switzerland and was accompanied by ...
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News briefs
Zyloware announces initiatives to mitigate US tariffs impact
Zyloware, an established US eyewear vendor with over 100 years of business history, has announced on its corporate blog several initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of the US reciprocal tariffs announced by President Donald Trump last month. The company’s main measures include the diversification of its manufacturing footprint by ...
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ArticleThe Vision Council highlights change in US customs tactics, analyzes supply chain scenarios
TVC details the impact of the US administration’s trade policy changes on eyewear supply chains, and sends a delegation to the White House to advocate on behalf of its 500+ members and the eyewear sector at large.
