Textile Raw Material Price 2015-08-31
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
|
PSF |
1109.66 |
USD/Ton |
2% |
|
VSF |
2066.15 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
ASF |
2402.96 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Polyester POY |
1078.4 |
USD/Ton |
3% |
|
Nylon FDY |
2578.79 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
40D Spandex |
5626.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Nylon DTY |
5782.73 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1351.91 |
USD/Ton |
3% |
|
Polyester DTY |
2375.61 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Nylon POY |
2590.51 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1203.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
Polyester FDY |
2813.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2688.19 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1734.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2781.96 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1906.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2344.35 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2860.11 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2547.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.09 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.92 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.02 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.75 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15629 USD dtd. 31/08/2015)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Exports of cotton fabrics and made-ups have registered a growth of 11 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, in 2014-15 fiscal. While exports of cotton fabrics clocked USD 2.44 billion, made-ups mobilised USD 5.05 billion during the period. "Even though the overall exports of cotton textiles declined 0.1 per cent compared to FY2014, the heartening fact is that exports of cotton fabrics and made-ups registered growth of 11 per cent and 5 per cent with exports reaching a level of USD 2.44 billion and USD 5.05 billion, respectively," Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) chairman R K Dalmia said at the 61st AGM here. The higher exports augurs well for the industry as exports of value added products in the long run would lead to greater employment and higher level of investments, he said.
Dalmia also stated that the mega trade agreements being promoted by the US and the European Union among themselves, and key trading partners like Korea, Vietnam and Japan, pose fresh challenges to countries like India. It therefore would be best if India takes an integrated approach rather than an ad-hoc approach while negotiating new FTAs or re-negotiating old ones. Dalmia said the textile industry is well placed to generate new jobs and meet the vision of Prime Minister to provide employment and promote inclusive growth. However, considering the infrastructural disabilities, cascading effect of un-rebated taxes, high input costs and preferential benefits granted to competitors, the government has to play an important role by continuing the export benefits for some more time.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
All 55 cooperative textile mills of Maharashtra observed a day's strike on Tuesday by shutting down their machines, citing lack of business and no purchase orders for the past month. However, neither chief minister Devendra Fadnavis nor textile minister Chandrakant Patil pay any heed to it.Even as Patil's office is said to have thrown the ball in CM's court, Fadnavis left for his three-day tour of Marathwada on Tuesday. Textile secretary Sunil Porwal too proceeded on a long leave. Result, the memorandum submitted by the association of cooperative mills, in each of which the government has 45-80% stake, is gathering dust at Mantralaya. The mill managements are demanding reduction in power tariff, subsidy for exports and soft loans for short term so that they can pay wages to workers. The association of mills had taken a decision in Sangli last week to observe strike in order to protest against "erroneous" government policies and loss of business due to crash of China market — a major yarn buyer — as the prime reasons for this situation. Nearly 36,000 workers are employed in these 55 mills.
Executive director of Textile Federation of Maharashtra, the apex body of all cooperative textile mills in the state, SB Bauskar told DNA, "The textile sector is facing a huge crisis and most spinning mills have no orders for yarn and have incurred huge losses. However, in the absence of the CM, minister and textile secretary, we don't really hope that our demands will be heard anytime soon. We heard that the CM is leaving for Japan after the Marathwada trip. We will just wait till he comes back to Mumbai."
SOURCE: The DNA
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday announced the formation of a State Textile Consultative Committee to strengthen the textile sector. Making a statement in the Assembly, she said the committee would be headed by the Textiles Minister and it would strive to aid the growth of the industry and strengthen handloom and powerloom, yarn and apparel. She said the State will extend financial support of up to Rs 2.50 crore to entrepreneurs who come forward to set up Integrated Textile Parks. Under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks of the Centre, 14 textile parks have been allocated for the State. Ms. Jayalalithaa said a special 15 per cent discount for silk clothing augment sales and bring down stocks with cooperative weavers societies and Cooptex. This would lead to an additional expenditure of Rs 10 crore to the exchequer.
Under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Processing Development of the Centre, the State government would extend financial support of up to 25 per cent in project estimates. While the Centre had stopped financial support for certain schemes from 2015-16, the State would continue to provide the Centre’s portion for important projects. A project to cultivate high-yielding mulberry varieties in 5,000 acres with a subsidy of Rs 5.25 crore was also announced.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The Union Ministry of Textiles on Tuesday launched five common facility centres for small jute handicrafts units in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar. Union Minister of State for Textiles, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, said three such centres have been set up in West Bengal and one each in Assam and Bihar. The centres will run under a ministry-designed Rs. 10-crore scheme, which involves financial aid, training, inputs and marketing assistance to women-driven self-help groups. Under the first phase of the scheme in West Bengal, the initiative will support several tiny SHGs. The groups have been clustered in three districts at block levels, formed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
Net connectivity
Each cluster will have one internet-connected centre. Necessary assistance, including training and designing, will be delivered through the centres. The Ministry’s initiative has also been linked to the National Institute of Design. The centres aim to install facilities for dyeing and bleaching, CAD and CAM equipment, lamination tools, handlooms, power looms, sewing and embroidery machines for design prototype and sample development. Sanjay Panda, Textiles Secretary, said jute exporting firms could adopt some of the clusters. Meanwhile, Gangwar said his ministry was looking for wider use of new jute items such as geo-textiles in railway and highway projects. In a Rs. 27-crore road project in the North-East, geo-textiles were being introduced. The Ministry is also trying to find buyers for a technology, developed by IIT Kharagpur, that produces jute fibre-based diapers and gender hygiene products.
New building
The Minister also laid foundation stone for a Rs. 70-crore nine-storied building in Kolkata. The building, to be constructed by National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd, will house the office of the Jute Commissioner, the National Jute Manufactures Corporation, the Jute Corporation of India and the National Jute Board. The building is expected to be completed in the next two years.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
A delegation of the hosiery and textile industry - led by Vinod Thapar, chairman of the Ludhiana Knitwear Club - met Kiran Soni Gupta (IAS), the Commissioner of Textiles, at her office in Mumbai, to apprise her of the issue of delay and other problems being faced by the industry in availing the Technical Upgradation Funds Scheme (TUFS). Thapar said they had received representations from many members of the industry, especially members of the Ludhiana Knitwear Club, about the difficulties being faced in availing of TUFS subsidy benefits. They informed the commissioner that some member-units had applied for subsidy under the scheme within the specified time of one year from the date of sanction. However, due to some delay at the textile commissioner's office, these could not be punched into the system for UID creation within the stipulated time period, and hence, were lying pending at the office of the textile commissioner in Amritsar for more than one-and-a-half years, even though the Ministry Of Textiles had delegated the authority to allow the application of these units on a case-by-case basis. Further, some member units had been allotted UID numbers, but the verification visit - which is a pre-requisite for disbursement of the subsidy amount - was pending, with some cases being more than nine months old. Some other members had applied for subsidy, and were allotted reference numbers in September last year, but were still pending for UID. Thapar informed that the commissioner gave a patient hearing to their demands and problems, and assured them that she would look into the matter and see that their problems are taken care of.
SOURCE: The Times of India
At the recent national workshop on Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) in New Delhi, Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) DG and CEO Dr. Darlie Koshy, described ISDS as the driver of growth in India's textile sector. As a panellist, Dr. Koshy spoke about skill forecasting, skill benchmarking and skill technology focus used for ISDS. He expressed his views and shared key solutions to the challenges on employment opportunities under ISDS, ATDC said in a statement. “The scheme has experienced significant progress over the last 5 years and ATDC is part of this journey since Inception. The scheme has not only helped to overcome the shortage of skilled workforce in textile sector due to high rate of attrition but also become a 'driver of growth' in the Industry. It has triggered innovation and scale which are important for a competitive and sustainable textile and apparel Industry in India,” he said.
Experts at the workshop discussed key solutions to various challenges such as migration of trainees from native place to workplace, non-standardized wages and market demand for courses in which the candidates have received training. The Textile Ministry launched the project in association in 2011 in association with ATDC, which was selected as a nodal agency for the project. ISDS scheme was launched with the objective to build the capabilities of those institutions that currently provide training and skill development programs in the textile and apparel sectors.
Till date, 76 projects have been approved under the ISDS scheme. A total of 3,215 training centres work under this scheme and have trained 4,15,541 candidates. Under the ISDS scheme government provides assistance to the extent of 75 per cent of the project cost with a ceiling of Rs. 10,000 per person and target placement of at least 70 per cent of trainees in wage employment. ATDC has set up over 200 centres across India and have trained over 1,56,000 candidates.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The Centre on Tuesday said it will review the preparedness to roll out the much-pending goods and services tax with state governments across the country, a show of confidence by the government in implementing the uniform tax proposal despite the bill still being stuck for parliamentary nod. “We will review GST preparedness with all the states,” Hasmukh Adhia told reporters after taking as Revenue Secretary. The official‘s comments assume significance at a time when the just-ended Parliament session was adjourned sine die without a consensus on the GST roll out issue, after failing to reach an agreement with the Congress party and the Left Front.
The government is expected to convene a special session of Parliament to pass the bill, despite Bharatiya Janata Party lacking majority in the Rajya Sabha The GST, tipped to be the biggest tax reform in modern India, aims to streamline taxes and would also ease the way companies do businesses and pay taxes at a uniform rate. The revenue secretary also said the government would try and be fair in handling tax matters, including the contentious MAT issue, that is hurting India’s image among foreign companies and investors. “We will be just and fair in tax matters such as Minimum Alternate Tax,” Hasmukh said.
About 68 foreign institutional investors have been issued notices to pay to the tune of Rs 602 crore in tax dues, for transactions held years ago. The new set of notices had already sent stock markets in panic and investors had pulled out their money. The government had then appointed A.P. Shah Committee to look into the issue. The committee has suggested keeping the FII away from the MAT ambit. However, the government cannot take a final decision, as one of the companies – Castleton, a unit of GlaxoSmithKline has challenged the notice in Supreme Court of India. The judges are yet to decide on the dispute.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
A day after gross domestic product (GDP) numbers showed a slower growth for manufacturing sector in first quarter compared to the previous quarter, Nikkei purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data showed that factory production expanded at a lower pace in August compared to July. However, falling global commodity prices abated inflationary concerns, raising hopes of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) this month. PMI fell to 52.3 points in August against six-month high of 52.7 in July. But barring July, the reading in August is still the highest in six months. PMI score above 50 points means expansion and the one below it shows contraction. The manufacturing sector has been expanding after October 2013.
Markit Economics, which compiles PMI data, says the number reflected weaker improvement in the health of the sector, attributing it to softer increase in output, orders and stock of purchases. The consumer goods sector outperformed the capital and intermediate levels in terms of output, orders and buying levels. “This possibly showed that consumption demand could pick up in the coming months as benefits from lower inflation materialise,” said Rishi Shah, economist, Deloitte. In the GDP data released on Monday, growth in the manufacturing sector slowed to 7.2 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year April-June against 8.4 per cent in the previous January-March quarter. Besides, core sector, which constitutes almost 38 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to a three-month low of 1.1 per cent in July.
According to Markit Economics, growth of new orders moderated in August, reflecting weaker movements in both domestic and overseas demand. In the GDP data, growth in demand — as reflected by the private consumption expenditure — slowed to 7.3 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year against 7.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
The GDP numbers for the first quarter of 2015-16 underscore what has been evident for a while now — that growth could do with a boost. Growth slipped marginally from 7.5 per cent in the preceding quarter to 7 per cent in April-June. Curiously enough, industry has emerged as a dynamic force, apart from non-tradable services such as finance, transport and real estate, totting up a growth rate of 6.5 per cent. But the real concern is whether this buoyancy is here to stay. Non-tradable services seem to have lifted the demand for auto and other consumer goods. But signs of an uptick in the private investment cycle are feeble, affirming the findings of the Reserve Bank of India’s business expectations survey. For the investment cycle to turn decisively — gross fixed capital formation has been falling as a share of GDP since 2011-12 — it is necessary to remove supply-side bottlenecks. There must also be a pick-up in rural demand to fill the vacuum caused by the retreat of the global economy. The downturn in the investment cycle coincides both with a global slowdown and falling agriculture growth, averaging 2.1 per cent per annum since 2012-13 and slated to fall below 2 per cent by the end of this fiscal. Likewise, the high growth and investment years of 2003-08 were those when global demand and agriculture growth (averaging 5.3 per cent per annum) were strong. While the Centre has done well to step up capital spending as a counter-cyclical measure — expenditure under this head for the first four months of 2015-16 was over 38 per cent of the annual Budget estimate — agriculture needs attention to ensure sustainable growth.
The monsoon is in retreat in most parts of India. An all-India deficit of 10 to 12 per cent by the end of the season is a distinct likelihood. What’s worse, 15 out of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions, most of them in peninsular India and the Indo-Gangetic plain, are in deficit by 20 to 59 per cent. This calls for a contingency plan to conserve fodder and water in coordination with States. Where the crop is beyond retrieval, weather-based insurance schemes should be dovetailed with the financial inclusion drive. Programmes such as the rural jobs scheme should be implemented with a view to creating lasting assets in micro-irrigation. One needs more than a knee-jerk response to monsoon vagaries, with fluctuations in both the quantum of rain and its distribution becoming the norm. This calls for creating seed banks for short-duration varieties of coarse grains and pulses and moving away from water guzzlers such as paddy and sugarcane. The Prime Minister’s Krishi Sinchai Yojana can become an effective drought-proofing vehicle, provided it learns from the mistakes of similarly conceived schemes in the past. The government’s growth push has so far been built on its ‘Make in India’ plank. It’s time to bring agriculture on board.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
In a big relief to foreign institutional investors, the government on Tuesday accepted recommendation of a high level panel that minimum alternate tax (MAT) should not be imposed on overseas portfolio investors retrospectively. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the panel headed by Law Commission of India chairman Justice AP Shah submitted its final report on the issue of applicability of MAT on capital gain made by FIIs prior to April 1, 2015, on August 25. The report has been accepted, he told reporters at late evening news conference here. Jaitley said an amendment to the Income Tax Act to reflect the same will be made possibly in the winter session of Parliament in November/December. While the issue had riled foreign portfolio investors, Jaitley had in his Budget for 2015-16 exempted FIIs from the levy from April 1. "What applies post April 2015, that is no MAT on capital gain on FIIs, will also apply on pre-April 2015," Jaitley said. Foreign investors have invested about $20 billion in Indian stocks in the past year and $28 billion in bonds. MAT has been levied on all companies except those in infrastructure and power sectors, since late 1980s. Historically, foreign investors have not paid this tax because it was believed that only Indian companies were subject to it. In 2010, a tax tribunal ruled that MAT was not applicable to companies that don't have a permanent establishment in India.
In 2010, Mauritius-based investment firm Castleton Investment approached the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) to get confirmation that it was not required to pay MAT on a transaction it wanted to execute. However, AAR in 2012 ruled that even foreign companies are subject to MAT. FIIs had argued that MAT is applicable only to domestic companies that had their base in India. By virtue of not being established in India, they should be "exempted". FIIs also contend that there was inconsistency in the application of MAT as ever since it was introduced, FIIs were always exempted from it and hence, arbitrary application should be avoided. After FIIs started getting notices for MAT payments, the stock market had reacted adversely on concerns that foreign investors may pull out in a big way. The markets have been very volatile for the last few weeks and the Sensex today tanked 587 points to close at over 1-year low due to intense selling. In August FIIs sold shares worth record Rs 17,000 crore.
SOURCE: The Times of India
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 49.37 per barrel (bbl) on 01.09.2015. This was higher than the price of US$ 46.88 per bbl on previous publishing day of 31.08.2015.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 3271.26 per bbl on 01.09.2015 as compared to Rs 3108.61 per bbl on 31.08.2015. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 66.26 per US$ on 01.09.2015 as against Rs 66.31 per US$ on 31.08.2015. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on September 01, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 31.08.2015) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.09.2015 (Aug 13 to Aug 27, 2015) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
49.37 (46.88) |
46.03 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3271.26 (3108.61) |
3024.17 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.26 (66.31) |
65.70 |
SOURCE: PIB
The textile industry has pinned high hopes on the upcoming meeting of the premier with industry associations, signalling a much-awaited relief package that is expected to be announced in the follow-up, sources claimed. Nawaz Sharif is due to meet the textile associations one-by-one. The sources say his office has sought four names from each association for the meeting and that he will extend audience to each textile industry association individually to listen to their concerns. There are as many as 11 associations representing different sectors right from basic textile to the value-added sector. Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Chairman S M Munir has played a key role in convincing the premier to resolve the textile issues.
Talking to Business Recorder a day earlier, Chairman Munir had pointed out that the benefit of the GSP plus had been nullified by the short supply of electricity and water to the industrial units in Lahore and Karachi respectively. "The textile industry has lost 4.5 percent during the past fiscal year," he claimed. But he did say he was satisfied with the government decision to exempt the Punjab-based textile industry from the nuisance of power outages. "I am hopeful that the industry will soon catch up the losses and start performing," he added.
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Advisor Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan have held detailed string of meetings with representatives from the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association to finalise the relief package. The industry sources say they are expecting Rs 100 billion package for the textile industry and that the viability of the industry was under threat and the government would have to introduce multiple measures to arrest the decline in exports. The associations from the value-added sector have decided to oppose a demand for banning import of fabrics, saying the local textile industry was unable to fulfil their needs.
SOURCE: The Business Recorder
The Bangladesh government has proposed a new law – the Textile Industries Establishment Act-2015 to crack down on illegal units and streamline the readymade garment (RMG) sector, according to a newspaper report in the country. The law aims to make the Directorate of Textile an effective sponsoring authority for the RMG sector. Stakeholders, however, termed some provisions of the proposed law detrimental to the industry.
According to the draft proposal, none would establish and run textiles and garments factories without registration under the textile industries establishment act. If anyone violates the law there is a provision for one year imprisonment or Taka 1 lakh ($ 1290 approx) penalty in the draft law. After enactment of the law, all the new establishments (textile and garments) would have to register under the Act and all the existing factories would have to come under the registration of the textile directorate within six months as per the new law.
Officers designated from the directorate could inspect factories at any time and the factories would be bound to provide documents as per requirements of the directorate. The textile directorate will establish a database of the industries based on the information provided by the factories, the draft said. Earlier, the government had taken the initiative to formulate two separate laws for registration and control of the garments and textile industries and later prepared a draft namely Bangladesh Private Textile Industries (Registration and Coordination) Act-2015. The draft was sent to the stakeholders for their comments in December last year but most of the stakeholders were yet to respond to the jute and textile ministry.
The name of the act later was changed to Textile Industries Establishment Act-2015. Following several reminders, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exports Association sent its comments putting reservations on some issues. The BKMEA has expressed its reservation over the registration clause of the draft law and said the clause should be applicable for the new establishments and the license for the existing factories should be renewed based on the previous license of the Board of Investment. The BKMEA has demanded scrapping the provision of recommendation to the customs authorities regarding release of imported capital machineries and indemnity bond. The trade body said that it would not be pragmatic to renew the license of factories every three years as the industry does not comprise trading companies. The period for renewal of license for the factories should be 10 years instead of three years, the BKMEA said.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
Vietnam garments and textile sector is viewed as one of the industries which will benefit the most from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), many businesses are striving hard to stay ahead to avail opportunities ushered in by TTP and have started proactively putting in place measures to be able to avail these opportunities such as investing in modern production lines, upgrading facilities, improving design and product quality and finding access to the market.
Following the signing of the TPP, the "Made in Vietnam" products would enjoy a zero percent tax instead of the current 7-32 percent when exporting to the US. Specifically, six garments and textile businesses listed on the stock exchange have recorded strong growth in terms of both revenue and profits in the second quarter of this year. Total net revenue of these six businesses in the second quarter reached more than VND1.8 trillion (US$79.9 million), a year-on-year rise of 20.74 per cent. Their total after-tax profit amounted to nearly VND110 billion ($4.88 million), a year-on-year increase of 29 percent.
Thanh Cong Trade Investment and Garment Joint Stock Company continued to lead the sector with the highest amount of turnover and profit. It recorded a net revenue of nearly VND730 billion ($32.4 million) in the second quarter and an after-tax profit of nearly VND53 billion ($2.35 million), a year-on-year rise of 9.96 per cent and 13.4 per cent, respectively. The company is investing in a weaving-dying-garment factory with a total investment capital of $30 million during the 2014-17 period. TNG Trade and Investment Joint Stock Company is another example. The company reaped a net revenue of VND500 billion ($22.2 million) in the second quarter and an after-tax profit of nearly VND16 billion ($710,000), a year-on-year rise of 56 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
TNG has put into operation one more cotton production line, worth more than VND40 billion ($1.77 million) having a capacity three times higher than that of the current production line of the company. Nguyen Minh Hoa, a representative from the DHA Garment Export Company said that the company had enlisted many steps such as studying products suitable for different markets and chooses channels to buy raw materials for producing products meeting requirements of quality and origin. Vietnamese businesses have actively expanded markets in recent years. At present, the US and EU remain the top export markets for Vietnamese garments and textile businesses.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Kyrgyz Charge d' Affaires Sagynbek Ibraev speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said Kyrgyzstan wants to build strong trade and economic relations with Pakistan and is ready to sign accords in the textile and pharmaceutical sectors. Pakistan is an important country of South Asia and could help Kyrgyzstan to establish relations with Central Asian states. In a bid to promote a two-way trade, an exhibition of the Pakistani textile and pharmaceutical products can be arranged in Kyrgyzstan to attract Kyrgyz customers. He said that Kyrgyz Republic attaches a great importance to development of economical cooperation with Pakistan. He also said that Pakistani products have great demand in Kyrgyzstan, therefore, Pakistani businessmen should come forward and cash in on the opportunity.
The Kyrgyz Republic has a stable political climate and the government understands that foreign private participation and investment are essential to accelerate development and stimulate the economy. They have a good agreement base between Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan in the area of economical co-operation, he added. LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz on the occassion said that they have been talking about exploiting the untapped potential of trade in Central Asian Republics but no significant results have been produced. The main issue is to transport the tradable items between Pakistan and these republics.
Kyrgyz and China shares a long border. Once the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Project will be completed, it will become much convenient for both the countries to explore each other markets on regular basis. The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries is hardly US 1.1 million dollars that hardly matched the potential existing in both countries. Very few items are being traded as Pakistan exports pharmaceutical products, electro-medical apparatus, fruit juices and medicinal plants. The imports from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan are some aircraft parts, synthetic colouring materials and tools.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibres
Malaysia and 11 other countries are in the final stages of negotiating a major agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). Over the past five years, government, business and civil society have debated at length about the agreement and the negotiating positions Malaysia should take to protect its interests and maximise the potential benefits. While we have resolved most of the issues of contention, a significant one remains on the table – involving two State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). As the government sets about to make this crucial decision, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) would like reiterate the potential positive impact that a successfully concluded TPP can have on business and the economy and highlight the downside risks, if we fail to conclude. This is particularly pertinent given the current environment of uncertainty, both in the global and domestic economy as growth prospects of our major trading partners soften and exports decelerate.
The successful conclusion of the TPP is important not just in the context of the current economic environment but to the sustainability of economic growth for Malaysia moving forward. It holds immense potential for boosting exports, generating economic growth and creating employment. It also promises Malaysian companies and TPP countries a degree of transparency and predictability in investment rules and tariff concessions.
It will provide a competitive edge over our regional competitors, allow us to diversify and deepen our exports and markets and build investor confidence in Malaysia. Why we need to successfully conclude the TPP:
Enhances competitive advantage
The 12 countries negotiating the TPP agreement will offer an unprecedented market of 793 million people, with a combined GDP of US$27.5 trillion. A study conducted by the Petersen Institute estimates that world income would rise by US$295 billion per year on the TPP track and confirms that Malaysia is second only to Vietnam in terms of benefits to be derived from TPP. Exports are estimated to increase by 11.9% and GDP by 5.6% compared to pre-TPP. This will enhance Malaysia’s position as an attractive location for global production and hence create more job opportunities and other technological and economic spin-offs for the economy.
Opens new export markets
62% of Malaysia’s trade is covered by seven bilateral FTAs with Japan, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, Chile, Australia and Turkey and five regional FTAs through Asean (Asean and China, Korea, Japan, India and Australia-New Zealand). To enhance competitiveness and increase trade we need the TPP to open up another 10% of duty free trade with new non-FTA markets namely US, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Some examples of manufactured products that would benefit from duty free access accorded by the TPP are Malaysia’s main export products (i.e. electrical and electronic products, rubber gloves, palm oil products and plywood and timber products) which will enjoy immediate tariff elimination.
Malaysian exporters to the US and Canada are increasingly interested to see the negotiations concluded, especially with the graduation of Malaysia from the list of countries that enjoy tariff reductions from the General System of Preferences (GSP) in 2014. As a result of the graduation Malaysian businesses pay higher duties in their exports to Canada from this year on. For example Malaysian palm oil exports to Canada attract 11% duty. The conclusion of the TPP will counter the impact on companies exporting to Canada. The textile industry is expected to increase its exports by 20% with the elimination of duties on textiles in the TPP countries. In terms of global exports, there has been a continuous increase in demand of nitrile glove in the US. There are concerns that China will become more competitive in the exports of nitrile gloves in the near future. Malaysia’s participation in the TPP will give our glove manufacturers an advantage over China in such exports to the US.
The US which continues to be Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner after Singapore, China and Japan, accounts for about 10% of Malaysia’s total exports. Trade with the US which has been in a relatively narrow range of goods (E&E, rubber gloves, palm oil) can be diversified with the TPP. Mexico has a highly protective tariff regime with some imports attracting tariff rates higher than 35%; the highest rate for agricultural products reaches 72%. Mexico levies a much higher average tariff on processed products than on raw materials, and the most concerned industries include textiles, clothing, leather, and basic metal industry. For instance the average applied tariffs for foods and beverages are 42%, tobacco (53%) and textiles (14%). The TPP will provide the leverage needed by Malaysian exports to the Mexican market.
Provide savings
TPP savings will include merchandise fees and duties as follows:
As the US government is a large purchaser of goods and services, the TPP will provide Malaysian businesses the opportunity to access the huge foreign government procurement market and assist also in creating a level playing field for local companies bidding for foreign government tenders. For example in recent years, the US federal government spent an estimated US$60 billion annually on information technology. According to the Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement provided an estimated US$200 billion of US federal government and 28 state governments’ procurement market to Australian companies
Address the ‘Vietnam effect’
Malaysia now lags behind many of the ASEAN economies in expanding its global market share. Vietnam for instance is ahead of Malaysia in this aspect as it not only a negotiating member of the TPP and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), it is also finalising negotiations of the Vietnam-EU FTA which is expected to be implemented at year-end. Aside from eliminating tariffs, Vietnam will also remove almost all of its export duties. The agreement will also create new market access opportunities in services and investment with the opening up of the financial services, telecommunications, transport, and postal and courier services. On government procurement, the EU and Vietnam have agreed on disciplines largely in line with Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) rules of the WTO.As Vietnam is able to offer these concessions with the EU, it will be advantageous for Vietnam to do the same with TPP. When Vietnam joins the ‘big boys’, Malaysia would be negatively impacted. The opportunity cost of not aligning ourselves with the global economy now would only get costlier for Malaysia over time.
Concluding the TPP is central to Malaysia aspirations to enjoy sustainable growth and move into the ranks of a high income nation. If we fail to conclude the TPP, our Asean neighbours currently negotiating the TPP i.e. Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei will move ahead strongly and we run the risk of being relegated to the side-lines. Indeed re-location of our exporting industries to Vietnam cannot be ruled out. We recognise that there are challenges in implementing such a broad and high level agreement across different parties and some balance has to be struck to ensure benefits far outweigh the costs. In making such an important decision we call on all parties, especially the Government, to focus on the overall interests of the nation and economy and not on the narrow interests of specific groups. We need to focus on the big picture and be more global in our outlook if we want sustainability and growth going forward. Being an open and competitive trading economy has served us well in the past and we have registered substantial benefits from the FTAs that we have concluded thus far.
The FMM strongly believes that TPP will contribute significantly to improving market access, expanding exports, increasing economic activities and enhancing employment moving forward. It will also increase the attractiveness of Malaysia as destination for investment. Not concluding the TPP is not an option if we want to enjoy sustainable rates of economic growth and move quickly into the ranks of a high income country. The sooner the TPP can be agreed upon and implemented, the earlier these benefits can be realised. We fully support and look forward to the early and successful conclusion of the TPP this year.
SOURCE: The Malaysian Insider
President Muhammadu Buhari’s good resolve to create three million new jobs in the textile industry is a positive development that deserves the support of all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians. As a stakeholder in the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) sub-sector of the economy, I am assuring fellow Nigerians that the CTG sub-sector alone is capable of creating more than one million new jobs if all the right things are put in place, especially if there is political will on the part of both the executive and legislative arms of governments at all levels as well as the determination, sincerity, patience and commitment of all stakeholders. To ensure the success of President Buhari’s motives within a short period, institutions such as the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission should forge as a formidable team to promote and protect the sub-sector the same way a mother guards and protects her child. A team work on the part of aforementioned institutions will ensure elimination of faulty documentations, money laundering, dumping of sub-standard textile materials as well as foreigners doing business in Nigeria with visiting visas or with fake entry documents. Also, the Presidency should pursue the principles of African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) of the United States with vigour. Opportunities abound for Nigeria in AGOA regarding garment production, which can guarantee employment of more tailors and continued patronage of students in departments of tailoring and fashion design in our tertiary institutions. This can equally bring about an increase in the establishment of small and medium scale industries such as zip making, buttons production, elastic and packaging industries, among others.
For the desired result to be meaningful, Mr. President will need to declare a National Textile Day. This will be a once a week, non-ceremonial, but action-packed Day whereby all political office holders, appointees and other public office holders in the country will dress in home-made textile attires that are culturally popular and patronised in their section of the country. If this noble gesture is backed with a legislation that bans the importation of all categories of ready-made clothes on commercial basis, it will make our tailors to perfect and be competitive in production of garments at international standard, thereby ensuring self-reliance in garments as well as conserving foreign exchange. This will attract foreign investors to the sector and bring about financial control, development and strengthening of the sector. The proposed legislation should promote, develop and protect the sector by limiting the importation of textile fabrics that could not be produced in Nigeria now to 70% and production of 30% by Nigerian Textile Manufacturers. The legislation for importation of textile materials should require presidential approval and only from countries willing to invest in Nigeria’s textile sector. Part of the legislation to patronise made-in-Nigeria textiles and garments by all private and public institutions should be extended to school uniforms, sports wears, school house vests, hotel toiletries, bathroom napkins, towels, hospitals cotton wools, bed sheets, mosquito nets and blankets. All these can be sourced locally if the political leadership is willing to walk the talk. As an incentive, black oil allocation (LPFO) should be made directly to textile manufacturers at affordable price.
I also propose that one spinning and ginning plant be established in each of the six geo-political zones i.e. Funtuwa in the North-West, Gombe in the North-East, Nassarawa in North- Central, Oyo in South-West, Asaba in the South-South and Aba in the South-East to serve as a spring board or back-up project for the success of cotton, textile and garment development projects. This is also to ensure that medium-scale textiles and garment factories spring up across the nation with easy availability of yarn, since spinning industry is highly capital-intensive, and it is the backbone of any textile fabric. This is realisable with the constitution of a new CTG revival committee that will be peopled with real stakeholders who will be responsible for designing the revival, production, marketing and sound planning for the CTG sub sector. A good way to start is for the committee to draw its membership from the Nigerian Textile Technologists Association, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, representatives of Garment Manufacturers, Cotton Farmers and Merchants, the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Raw Materials Research Council, among others.
Finally, there is the need to have a thriving textile Council whose main task is to oversee the registration and accreditation of bodies for the training of textile professionals in the country. A textile competency centre should also be established in the National Research Institute of Chemical Technology (NARICT), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, for the continual training of the professionals. And tertiary institutions that have programmes in textile science, engineering, technology and art should be adequately funded and consulted on issues affecting the industry. If all these are given prompt and adequate attention, I have no doubt in my mind that Nigeria’s ailing textile industry will be revived within a very short time so that it can unleash further opportunities for millions of Nigerians.
SOURCE: The Nation Online Nigeria
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde today warned that greater resilience would be needed from the world’s emerging economies to handle China’s slowdown, warning the road ahead could be “somewhat bumpy”. The IMF chief also cautioned that global growth this year would be “likely weaker” than previously anticipated, less than two months after the IMF cut its global forecast for 2015 to 3.3 per cent. Emerging markets from Indonesia to Brazil have been bruised by the slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. A slump in Chinese demand for commodities — exports that many emerging economies rely on heavily — has hammered these up-and-coming economies and their currencies, while a recent rout on Chinese stock markets and the shock devaluation of the yuan has only added to their woes. The IMF still expects Asia to lead global growth, but Lagarde admitted the pace was slower than expected and could further lag, highlighting the need for “ever greater resilience”.
Speaking in Indonesia, where China’s slowdown has contributed heavily to poor economic growth, Lagarde said many emerging economies risked being caught “on the wrong side” of this recent financial market volatility and needed to remain vigilant. Aside from China’s slowdown, emerging economies faced weaker capital inflows, higher interest rates and financial upheaval if the US Federal Reserve lifts interest rates this year, the IMF chief told an audience at the University of Indonesia. Lagarde said growth in China wasn’t slowing sharply and had been expected, but conceded the country’s transition to a more market-based economy was “complex and could well be somewhat bumpy”. “Other emerging economies, including Indonesia, need to be vigilant to handle potential spillovers from China’s slowdown and tightening of global financial conditions,” she added.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
