High-quality goods and services enhance productivity of industry, bring down cost, increase efficiency and expand market, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.
He said India should engage with the rest of the world on its own strength and that will come from cost competitiveness, high productivity, and both these are only possible when there is high quality.
The country''s mindset should move to accepting quality as the pre-requisite for the country''s future development and growth.
"Quality never has any cost. It is a win-win story. In fact, quality reduces cost, it enhances productivity, it brings down cost, makes you more efficient, expands your market, gives you economies of scale, gives you consistency in product and service, and eliminates wastage," he said while addressing the valedictory session of the Udyog Manthan.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade''s (DPIIT) initiative, Udyog Manthan, has concluded on Tuesday. It began on January 4.
Under this initiative, the department has organised as many as 45 sector-specific webinars to promote quality and productivity in the Indian industry.
The webinar series, comprising 45 sessions, has covered various major sectors in manufacturing and services including pharmaceuticals, textiles, toys, tourism, furniture, renewable energy, automobiles and set-top box.
"We will make sure that Brand India gets identified by quality, and we will engage with the rest of the world on the strength of our cost competitiveness and high quality in goods and services," Goyal added.
DPIIT Joint Secretary Vandana Kumar has said the Udyog Manthan is the first-of-its-kind comprehensive brain storming exercise led by industry and facilitated by the government to discuss quality and productivity issues across all major sectors of Indian industry.
Source: Outlook News
Commerce and industry ministry on Wednesday asked the Bureau of Indian Standards, the Quality Council of India and private sector to create a schedule of testing and certification charges for industry, similar to the rate card in Ayushman Bharat.
He also said the railways will be the first large organisation to dovetail all their standards with BIS in a move towards ‘one nation one standard’.
“Focus on clusters and ensure that the cost of testing never becomes a detriment to to conform to quality and getting certification,” Goyal said at a Workshop on Easing Compliance of BIS Certifications.
The minister, who holds the charge of ministries of commerce, railways and consumer affairs, also asked the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to consider for the micro, small and medium enterprises a Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) kind of scheme that textiles sector has, to help MSMEs upgrade their quality.
“Can we give some interest subversion or some credit guarantee or some support to help MSMEs upgrade and put in technology to meet international quality standards,” Goyal said.
The minister also suggested BIS to create sectoral experts on standards who can handhold industry but should not be allowed to fill up the forms or do the process of certification.
“They should not become conduits for certification,” he said, adding that the country has to move from the concept of standard compliance to standard consciousness by following the QUICK model- quality, uniformity (through one nation one standard), international mindset, conformity to standards, and knowledge sharing.
Goyal also said that the BIS is working on reducing the charges for MSMEs, startups and women entrepreneurs particularly in the initial phase of business.
Source: The Economic Times
Having grown at the fastest pace in 22 months in January, merchandise exports slipped again in February, though marginally, continuing its roller-coaster ride in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of course, growth in exports (year-on-year) may accelerate again in the coming months but that would be driven more by an ultra-favourable base effect than any meaningful recovery. Exports had crashed between March and May 2020, as the government was forced to impose a stringent lockdown to battle the pandemic.
Between June 2020 (when the lockdown curbs started to ease) and February, monthly exports have risen only three times from a year before.
Exports dropped by 0.3% year on year in February to $27.67 billion against a 6.2% rise in the previous month, showed the preliminary data released on Tuesday, indicating a bumpy road to recovery.
However, what comes as partial relief is that imports rose 7% on year in February to $40.55 billion against 2% in the previous months, suggesting a gradual return of domestic demand that was battered by the pandemic. This may also augur well for import-sensitive exports segments, including gems and jewellery.
Trade deficit narrowed to $12.88 billion in February from $14.54 billion in the previous month but it’s almost 27% higher from a year earlier.
Importantly, growth in core exports (excluding petroleum and gem and jewellery), which reflect the competitiveness of the economy, slowed to 5.8% in February from 13.4% in January. Growth in such imports eased only a tad to 7.4% in February from 7.5% in the previous month.
The data show the overall outbound shipments until January this fiscal remained 12.3% lower than a year earlier, while imports dropped at almost double the pace of 23.1%.
The products that witnessed impressive growth in exports in February included iron ore (168%), rice (30%) and drugs and pharmaceuticals (15%).
Imports of gold spiked by 124% on year in February to $2.93 billion, while those of electronics jumped 38% to $1.3 billion and chemicals by 38% to $559 million. Purchases of petroleum products from overseas, however, dropped 17% and those of coal declined by 28% and transport equipment by 23%.
Sharad Kumar Saraf, president of exporters’ body FIEO, said the marginal drop was driven by container shortages and limited supply disruptions in the last week of February due to increasing Covid-19 cases in certain states.
Saraf has also urged the government to soon notify the rates for the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scheme, which will remove uncertainty from the minds of the trade and industry thereby forging new contracts with the foreigner buyers.
Meanwhile, as FE has reported, India’s merchandise exports to China, its second-largest market, seem to be losing steam after an impressive 33% y-o-y jump in the April-June period. Growth in shipments to the neighbour slowed down considerably to 20% in the September quarter and to just over 2% in the December quarter. However, India’s exports to its biggest market – the US – reversed a 39% slide in the three months through June to inch up by 3% in the September quarter and 5.5% in the December quarter, according to the official data. Of course, at $36 billion, exports to the US until December were still way above those to China ($15 billion).
Source: The Financial Express
The Union Cabinet is believed to have considered a proposal to raise the support price for procuring raw jute during its meeting on Wednesday, according to sources.The Minimum Support Price (MSP) of raw jute is Rs 4,225 per quintal for the 2020-21 season.
The sources said the proposal to increase the MSP of raw jute for 2021-22 was on the agenda of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
However, it could not be ascertained whether a decision has been taken on hiking the MSP.
An official announcement about the decision is unlikely to be made because of the model code of conduct being in place for the assembly election in West Bengal, which is a major jute producing state, one of the sources said.
The Jute corporation of India (JCI) is the central government''s nodal agency to undertake price support operations.
Source: The Economic Times
The rupee on Wednesday surged by 65 paise -- its biggest single day spike since September 2020 -- to end at 72.72 against the US dollar on the back of weakness in the American dollar and rise in risk appetite in the global markets.
A rally in domestic equities, foreign fund inflows and positive macro data also boosted the rupee sentiment.
The US dollar weakened in the global markets as as investors took heart from an easing in bond yields that has alleviated worries over possible interest rate hikes.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.26 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.71 and a low of 73.26.
It finally settled at 72.72 against the American currency, registering a rise of 65 paise over its previous closing. The single-day rise is the highest since September 1, 2020, when the rupee had shot up 73 paise.
"Market sentiments improved on hopes that massive stimulus packages from governments, easy monetary policies from central banks and progress in vaccination programmes would boost economic growth," said Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.12 per cent to 90.67.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.69 per cent to USD 63.76 per barrel.
"Furthermore, the rupee appreciated on softening of crude oil prices and consistent FII inflows. Additionally, improved macroeconomic data continued to support rupee. Rupee may trade in the range of 72.80 to 73.80 in next couple of sessions," Mukadam added.
India's services activity expanded at the fastest rate in a year during February and companies noted the sharpest rise in overall expenses, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose from 52.8 in January to 55.3 in February, pointing to the sharpest rate of expansion in output in a year amid improved demand and more favourable market conditions.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 1,147.76 points or 2.28 per cent higher at 51,444.65, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 326.50 points or 2.19 per cent to 15,245.60.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,223.16 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
"The Indian Rupee appreciated against the US currency, aided by upbeat risk appetite in the region and corporate dollar and equity flows," said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
In the international markets, the Dollar Index fell marginally on Wednesday as investor sentiment improved, and government bond yields extended their retreat amid expectations that the Federal Reserve may not allow an unchecked increase in long tenure Treasury yields, Iyer noted.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended 2.3 per cent higher this Wednesday and aided sentiments, forex traders said.
"Rupee traded strong again on the back of aggressive fund inflows in Indian markets with vaccination roll-outs for 45 and above people giving confidence to investors in Indian markets to emerge strongly out of pandemic," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
Trivedi further said that "with US Bond yields witnessing ease move, after Fridays, extreme movement currencies globally have now come back to zones of last Thursday. Going ahead 72.75-73.25 range can be witnessed."
According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities rupee recouped the previous week's loss by gaining 65 paise or 0.89 per cent to 72.72 a dollar which is the biggest single-day gains after September 1, 2020.
"Domestic stocks enjoyed a monster rally, with the Benchmark Nifty50 Index gaining 2.2 per cent, erasing previous week's losses and closed at life high levels, on expectation of fund inflows in primary and secondary market. So far this quarter, foreigners have bought more than USD 5 billion equities," Parmar said.
Market sentiments turned favourable for risk-assets as well as for Asian currencies as the yield curve bull flatten, a dollar rally that has been threatening in recent sessions has just taken a step back once more, he noted.
Source: The Business Standard
Chinese investments in sectors critical for India or where local companies don’t have adequate capacity will be considered for approval but the country is unlikely to adopt an open-door policy any time soon, according to people familiar with the matter.
This is part of a three-pronged standard operating guideline the administrative ministries will follow for vetting Chinese investments in India.
The other two types of proposals that will get a green light will be those from companies or investors headquartered elsewhere but routing funds via Hong Kong and those that entail small investments by Chinese investors. Security clearance would continue to be mandatory in all the three cases.
“Proposals are being examined as per three key guidelines... Any proposal entailing large investment would have to be in a critical area where there is minimal or negligible local presence,” said a government official.
Border tensions escalated between the two countries last year. India and China began disengagement last month, raising expectations of a dilution in the restrictions on Chinese investments and faster clearance. That’s unlikely, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
These standard operating procedures (SOPs) will guide the clearance process, the official said.
Discussions on Investment Cap
This comes amid discussions about setting a cap for Chinese investment, below which prior approval for sectors that are on the automatic approval route would be waived. No final view has been taken on setting such a limit.
India had in April last year amended the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and made a prior government nod mandatory for foreign investment from countries sharing a land border with it, a measure that was largely seen targeted at Chinese investments.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), while making the change, said in its April 18 press note that this was aimed at "curbing opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the current Covid-19 pandemic."
These changes to the FDI policy implied that any foreign direct investment from Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Afghanistan needed prior government approval, irrespective of the FDI cap applicable to the sector.
Prior approval was made mandatory for sectors that were otherwise on the automatic route. This applied to even indirect FDI from these countries routed via others.
Several investment proposals, including one from automobile company Great Wall, are awaiting clearance.
Source: The Economic Times
Sutlej Textiles & Industries jumped 4.66% to Rs 46 after the company said it commenced commercial production of its greenfield - green fibre project to manufacture polyester staple fibre (PSF) by recycling of pet bottles.
The project set up at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, has a capacity to manufacture 120 MT per day of raw white, black and dope dyed recycled polyester staple fibre. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday.
Sutlej Textiles and Industries produces a range of textile products that extends from yarns and fabrics to home furnishing.
The company's consolidated net profit declined by 33.9% to Rs 11.52 crore on a 5.6% fall in net sales to Rs 549.44 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.
Source: The Business Standard
Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) officials have submitted a representation to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to allot an integrated mega textile park in the state.
K.V.S. Prakash Rao, President of AP Chambers and its General Secretary Potluri Bhaskara Rao said that Sitharaman had announced that the Centre would set up seven mega integrated textile parks in the country in her budget speech.
"In this regard, AP Chambers requested the Central government to set up one such park in the state. They also highlighted the strength of the state such as one of the top cotton producers in India, the presence of large spinning mills, availability of raw material and skilled manpower," said Rao.
The representation was submitted to Sitharaman on Monday.
As Andhra Pradesh is exporting most of the yarn it produces due to lack of value addition, he said that there is a need to set up an integrated mega textile park to transform the major portion of the yarn into fabric and garments within the state, including promoting it as a destination for global textile majors.
"An integrated mega textile park in Andhra Pradesh will enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments, develop huge ancillary and support industries and boost employment opportunities in the state," added Rao.
Similarly, the trade body urged the Centre to provide the right support to AP and help improve the economy of the state.
AP Chambers officials have also requested the finance minister to declare Prakasam district as one of the integrated textile regions of the country.
Source: Daiji World.com
The Union Cabinet is believed to have considered a proposal to raise the support price for procuring raw jute during its meeting on Wednesday, according to sources.
The Minimum Support Price (MSP) of raw jute is Rs 4,225 per quintal for the 2020-21 season.
The sources said the proposal to increase the MSP of raw jute for 2021-22 was on the agenda of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
However, it could not be ascertained whether a decision has been taken on hiking the MSP.
An official announcement about the decision is unlikely to be made because of the model code of conduct being in place for the assembly election in West Bengal, which is a major jute producing state, one of the sources said.
The Jute corporation of India (JCI) is the central government's nodal agency to undertake price support operations.
Source: The Business Standard
The minimum support price (MSP) cotton purchased increased 134.79 per cent in December 2020 to 3874000 bales from 1650000 bales in previous month and rose by 78.44 per cent in January 2021 to 3121000 bales from 1749000 bales in January 2020. The boost was caused due to strong international cotton market, recovering crude & mitigation of Sino-US trade battle.
The MSP for both long staple cotton and medium staple cotton has increased by 4.95 per cent from 2019/20 to 2020/21. The prices of medium staple cotton and long staple cotton were 5,255 INR/quintal and 5,550 INR/quintal in 2019/20 and surged to 5,515 INR/quintal and 5,825 INR/quintal in 2020/21 respectively. According to India’s MSP programme, the prices of cotton are set at 150 per cent of the estimated cost of production.
The major upswing for the MSP for cotton in India had started in June 2020. The MSP of cotton climbed to 3696000 bales in January 2021 from 1460000 in December 2020 with a rise of 153.15 per cent.
Due to disruptions caused by the pandemic in the cotton supply chain, the government of India has supported the scheme of MSP for cotton during the year 2019/20. The scheme protects the cotton producers from the challenges faced due to market fluctuations in the cotton industry.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
A case of fake selvage (cheap quality fabric made unethically by firms and selling the same as a branded fabric) has come into light in Bhilwara – city known for its fabric production.
The local police have recovered a lot of fabric in its raid.
Surendra Kumar Patil, GM, Siyaram Silk Mills, told that the company was getting information that some firms were making fabric in the name of the company. Following this, they started investigation and found out that one of the firms in Bhilwara was making such fake selvage.
On the complaint made by the company, police raided the firm and recovered large quantity of fake selvage. The police also raided two other firms and recovered more fake selvage.
The small- and medium-sized fabric manufacturers in the city have gone into shock ever since the issue has come into light.
It is pertinent to mention here that Siyaram is a well-known Indian fabric brand.
As per media reports, many firms continue to indulge in such practices of making fake selvage, thereby causing huge losses to many brands.
Source: Apparel Online
Global cotton prices are seen gaining this season (July 2020-June 2021) in view of production projected at a four-year low, higher imports by China and lower carry forward stocks.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Council (ICAC), global cotton production is projected at 24.7 million tonnes against earlier estimates of 24.9 million tonnes. This is against 26.2 million tonnes output last season.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has forecast global cotton production at 113.9 million bales of 217 kg (24.71 million tonnes) this season against 122.14 million bales (26.5 million tonnes) a year ago. This will be the lowest global cotton production since 2016-17.
Cotton production in the US, Brazil, and Pakistan are projected to be lower this year. The USDA said that Pakistan’s cotton crop is estimated at 4.5 million bales, down 27 percent over last season and its lowest in the last 36 years.
Production in China and Australia were expected to increase, while in India, the world’s largest cotton grower, the output was likely to be the same as last year at 29.5 million bales (376 lakh bales in Indian bale measurement of 170 kg each).
Record acreage in India
India had cultivated cotton on a record 134 lakh hectares since labour shortage in paddy farms in the North and government policies in the south supported higher area under the fibre crop.
In the South, the Telangana government decided to tell its farmers what to grow this year and linked the payment of minimum support price to it.
Both agencies see global consumption a little differently. While ICAC sees cotton offtake steady at 24.3 million tonnes this season, the USDA sees it expanding 13 per cent to 115.6 million bales (25 million tonnes).
The USDA estimates China’s cotton consumption to rise 15 percent this year to 38 million bales, while offtake in India is seen rising 20 percent to 24 million bales.
Among other countries, cotton consumption is expected to increase in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Vietnam.
Eight-year high global cotton imports projected
ICAC and USDA concur that global trade will improve and exceed the pre-Coronavirus pandemic levels. The ICAC said in its statement that global trade will touch 9.4 million tonnes.
The USDA, on the other hand, estimated global cotton imports at their highest in the last eight years. It projected global imports at 43.2 million bales, up by three million bales over last season and the highest since the record shipments in 2012-13.
China will be the major factor for the rise in global cotton imports. The ICAC said that despite its trade dispute with the US, China had bought 65 percent more cotton from Washington during April-September this year.
The USDA projected China’s imports at 9.50 million bales this season against 7.14 million bales last season.
Bangladesh, Vietnam next biggest importers
Bangladesh and Vietnam will be the next biggest importers of cotton importing 6.9 million bales and 6.8 million bales, respectively.
The higher imports by these nations will result in Brazil exporting a record 10 million bales, while India shipping out five million bales (61.6 lakh bales of 170 kg each).
This is about 20 per cent higher than the last year’s shipments of 50 lakh bales of cotton from the country.
The cotton industry, lead by the Cotton Association of India, have pegged their export estimated this season at 54 lakh bales.
According to Rajkot-based raw cotton, yarn and spinning waste trader Anand Poppat, at least 24 lakh bales of cotton have been exported from India till the previous week.
Poppat said that currently Vietnam and Bangladesh were busy buying Indian cotton, while China is looking for prices to drop from current levels.
CCI procurement supports raw cotton prices
Currently, cotton in New York is quoted at 76.20 US cents a pound for delivery in March against 77.16 US cents a week ago. Prices for Shankar 6 variety Indian cotton, which is the benchmark for exports, are currently quoting at Rs 42,000 for a candy of 356 kg. Prices have dropped from Rs 42,500 from the previous week.
Raw cotton prices are currently ruling at Rs 5,580 a quintal in Gujarat’s Rajkot district against Rs 5,350 at the start of this month. The prices are against the minimum support price of Rs 5,515 a quintal fixed for the current season.
Raw cotton prices have increased mainly on higher purchases by the government-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). Cotton Association of India President Atul Ganatra told his association annual general meeting on December 29 that the CCI has procured 48 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) since October 1 at a cost of Rs 13,939 crore.
The CCI could end up buying 100 lakh crore, he said, adding that instead of MSP procurement the Union Government could consider incentivising exports.
USDA projects global ending stocks two percent lower
While ICAC said that cotton ending stocks are estimated to be 21.7 million tonnes, the USDA has projected them two percent lower at 97.5 million bales (20.6 million tonnes) against 99.4 million bales (21.5 million tonnes) a year ago.
Ending stocks in China, Pakistan and Brazil are expected to decline, while Indian stocks are likely to increase eight percent to 19.4 million bales.
The Indian cotton industry, however, projects the carryover stocks from this season at 87.50 lakh bales against 107.50 lakh bales last season.
In view of this, the Cotlook A Index price, a benchmark for global cotton prices, is expected to average closer to 77 US cents a pound. In contacts, the ICAC projects the index price at 69.4 US cents.
Source: Money control
Bangladesh, the second-largest RMG exporter in the world, largely depends on cotton for its textile production. But in the backward linkage, sourcing of cotton has always been a problem for the country. Sadly enough, Bangladesh only produces 4 percent of the annual demand for 10 million bales of cotton. Finding no way, the rest 96% is being imported from the international market with exorbitant prices.
In this painful situation, Bandarban is appearing as a ray of hope as the tobacco farmers are being interested in cultivating more and more cotton, opening up an opportunity to source 2150 tons of cotton in FY 2020-21 directly from there. Though it is still a nominal amount of cotton for the export-oriented yarn manufacturing industries, it is a great trend taking place in the hilly regions.
Previously dominated by tobacco farming, now Bandarban district is facing a radical change as there can be seen a positive trend of the farmers being more interested in cultivating cotton. These farmers are diverting their routes from tobacco cultivation to cotton because of getting more profit with less cost and hardship.
Now cotton is being extracted from different lands of the district including Meghla, Chimbuk, Charui Para, Lemujhiri, Balaghata Jaymohan Para, Mongpru Chhara. The farmers are extremely satisfied with the good yield both from hybrid and local cotton.
According to the Cotton Development Board, Bandarban Zone, cotton is cultivated in 6175 hectares of land in Bandarban in the fiscal year 2019-20 where 2088 tonnes of cotton is produced.
Meanwhile, in the financial year 2020-21, cotton has been cultivated in 6200 hectares of land which demonstrates the addition of 25 hectares. According to their calculation, the authorities expect to produce 2150 tonnes of cotton which is 62 tonnes more than previous. According to the experts, this positive trend of cotton cultivation will increase.
At present, there are 6,000 cotton farmers in Bandarban where mainly hill cotton and plain cotton are being cultivated. Last year the price of cotton was 57,500 taka per tonne and this year the price of cotton is 65,000 taka per ton.
When asked how the increase in cotton cultivation in Bandarban can help Bangladesh, Md. Bashar Uddin, the Lecturer of the Department of Yarn Engineering of Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) said, “We know that hill tract area where water doesn’t stand is suitable for cotton cultivation. Even if a nominal percentage of cotton demand can be fulfilled from there, it can be very positive for us.”
“As cotton is an annual plant, we need to order them from foreign countries at a specific time, at a specific quantity. As demand can change in a cotton mill, if we accidentally order less than our demand, then we need to purchase the extra cotton at a much higher price. So, if we could increase quality cotton cultivation in our country, the spinning mills could order sufficient cotton in an advance without the risk of purchasing extra cotton in an emergency with a higher price.” Bashar added.
He also said, “Moreover, the people of the hilly areas are being independent by cotton cultivation. If they can produce sufficient cotton with good quality, the spinning mills will compete to buy from them.”
“At present, there are spinning mills which are cultivating cotton in the country with their funds. For example Square has agreements in Jessore and Kushtia areas,” Bashar added.
In the latest report of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the Cotton and Products Update on Bangladesh, it said cotton is cultivated in 20-22 districts of Bangladesh, covering only 0.55 percent of the total cultivable land of 81 lakh hectares.
We have room to increase cotton cultivation and support our spinning mills. The Cotton Development Board set a goal of domestically producing two million bales of cotton by 2041, which can be achieved by using only 2,00,000 hectares of land.
Source: Textile Today
Global cotton prices are seen gaining this season (July 2020-June 2021) in view of production projected at a four-year low, higher imports by China and lower carry forward stocks.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Council (ICAC), global cotton production is projected at 24.7 million tonnes against earlier estimates of 24.9 million tonnes. This is against 26.2 million tonnes output last season.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has forecast global cotton production at 113.9 million bales of 217 kg (24.71 million tonnes) this season against 122.14 million bales (26.5 million tonnes) a year ago. This will be the lowest global cotton production since 2016-17.
Cotton production in the US, Brazil, and Pakistan are projected to be lower this year. The USDA said that Pakistan’s cotton crop is estimated at 4.5 million bales, down 27 percent over last season and its lowest in the last 36 years.
Production in China and Australia were expected to increase, while in India, the world’s largest cotton grower, the output was likely to be the same as last year at 29.5 million bales (376 lakh bales in Indian bale measurement of 170 kg each).
Source: Money Control
The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) will set up a laboratory on the Coimbatore premises of the South India Spinners' Association (SISPA) to test cotton and yarn. N Murugesan, SISPA president of the Spinners' Association, said its members needed testing facilities and had submitted a project to the union ministry of textiles.
After the ministry’s permission, SITRA has decided to set up the testing facility, which will be inaugurated on March 4.
The maintenance cost would be shared by both the organisations, according to a report in a English-language daily of south India.
SITRA and SISPA have entered into a five-year agreement for this programme. SITRA would install machinery and depute personnel to test cotton and yarn samples given by SISPA members, numbering nearly 450.
SITRA would also extend its training and awareness programmes to SISPA members, Murugesan said. Since SITRA's testing results is recognised in other countries as well, this would help SISPA members.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has just taken delivery of its first shipment of spider silk from Prodigy Textiles, its wholly-owned Vietnamese subsidiary.
The biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialisation of spider silk, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, had received fibre sample requests from a broad range of interested parties, including companies involved in such fields as sports apparel, industrial textiles, first responder supplies and medical products.
In response, it established Prodigy Textiles to scale up the production of its recombinant spider silk fibres, threads and textiles.
The company’s operations at Prodigy Textiles are now moving forward to significantly expand production, in order to begin filling a backlog of material requests.
“I want to thank the Prodigy Textiles team for making this milestone possible and setting the stage for our expansion,” said Jon Rice, the company’s chief operations officer. “This is helping us in our transition from being the leading developer of spider silk technologies to a producer and supplier of high-quality spider silk fibres.”
Kraig has also just filed a patent application to protect its advanced “knock-in knock-out gene” editing technologies for the creation of nearly pure spider silk.
The series of processes involved were first disclosed in a provisional patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under applications #62/995,717 on February 11, 2020. The full patent application now filed takes advantage of that earlier priority date in the first-to file-patent system.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
Fifty years have gone by, yet the deep-seated animosity between Bangladesh and Pakistan has not eased the memories of the massacres — some call it genocide — by the Pakistan Army still haunt Bangladesh, albeit most of them who witnessed the carnage during the Liberation War of 1971 are no longer alive.
Bangladesh is yet to come out of her traumatic past, and the gruesome killing of almost 3 million Bangladeshis and rape of more than 400,000 Bengali women by Pakistani troops is a scar that is yet to heal. Meanwhile, the linguistic state scales newer heights gaining huge reputation and respect worldwide. Touching the $300 billion mark in GDP, the youngest state of South Asia has leapfrogged Pakistan in economic and many other social development parameters and indexes.
Since the middle of 2020, a few moves by Islamabad led to speculation and debate over the defrosting of Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. In a stunning move, Pakistan has lifted all the restrictions on visas for Bangladeshi applicants in January. Another significant development is the telephonic dialogue between Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan and Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh.
Hasina’s political rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Khaleda Zia, maintains cordial relations with Pakistan. During their terms, they even sheltered anti-Indian insurgent groups in Bangladesh.The temperature of Dhaka-Islamabad bonhomie started decreasing since the Hasina-led Awami League assumed office in 2009.
In December 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh convicted nine persons of genocide and war crimes and hanged Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul QuaderMolla, which irked Islamabad immensely. All the criminals weresympathizers of Pakistan.
Soon after assuming office in 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan sought to smooth relations with Bangladesh. Two years later, his attempts and efforts brought some amount of satisfaction. After rounds of email exchanges between the foreign ministries of Bangladesh and Pakistan, Imran Khan finally rang up and conversed with his Bangladeshi counterpart over the telephone in July 2020. Signalling Pakistan’s eagerness to strengthen relations with Bangladesh, Khan invited Hasina to visit Pakistan and discussed Covid management as well as revitalizing SAARC.
Pakistan initiated the process of creating harmony at a time when anger mounted in Bangladesh against India’s decision to rescind Article 370 in Kashmir, the Ayodhya verdict and the citizenship revision plan NRC-CAA announcement.
Speculation and suspicion have harmed the diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Over a long period, there was no Pakistani High Commissioner in Bangladesh. Even in the past, Pakistani diplomats were allegedly involved in unlawful activities in Bangladesh. Islamabad was forced to withdraw her envoys and expelled Bangladeshi diplomats from Pakistan as well. The Bangladeshi diplomats serving the missions in Pakistan are shadowed by intelligence personnel.
However, last year, Pakistan’s newly appointed High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui caught up with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen prior to Imran Khan’s telephonic conversation with Hasina.
The Pakistani envoy also engaged with other Bangladeshi ministers and officials to push the agenda of normalizing ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Foreign minister Momen has clarified that without a proper apology, Bangladesh won’t consider deepening her relations with Pakistan. Momen’s deputy Shahriar Alam, minister of state for foreign affairs, too made it clear that apart the apology from the top most official, Pakistan should complete the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh. He also demanded a settlement of the disputes over the division of assets.
In January, the Pakistani envoy sat with Tipu Munshi, commerce minister of Bangladesh, who urged Pakistan to withdraw the anti-dumping duty on export of hydrogen peroxide. The present generation entrepreneurs on both sides lack business connections which is an irritant in trade relations. It is expected that the Joint Economic Commission, set up between the two states will address the issues and challenges businesses facing in both states.
Bangladesh is the second largest exporter and one of the biggest manufacturers of garments. Bangladeshi textile and some other goods have demands in Pakistan. Ceramic items manufactured in Bangladesh are widely used at Pakistani government departments. Pakistanis use ready-made garments, leather items and pharmaceutical goods manufactured in Bangladesh. Pakistan also imports jute and jute items in huge quantities from Bangladesh. Bangladesh mostly imports cotton and machinery from Pakistan. In the 2019-20 financial year, the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan stood at $543.90 million. Bangladesh counted exports worth $50.54 million in Pakistan. The import from Pakistan in the same year was estimated to be worth $493.36 million.
At the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Ambassador Siddiqui approached Bangladeshi businessmen to collaborate with the Pakistanis on research and technology as well as expertise transfer. On the other hand, Bangladesh appealed to Pakistan to permit access to more Bangladeshi goods under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and remove all the trade barriers.
Recently, Pakistan has expressed interests to resume direct flights and establish maritime connectivity to boost trades with Bangladesh. An Islamabad based think-tank has been hosting a serial webinar on the new equations between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Bangladesh and Pakistan are home to 390 million, 5 percent of the total human population. If Dhaka and Islamabad are on good terms, Bangladesh can explore the tremendous business opportunity in the Central Asian states via Pakistan. Pakistan will be able to mine the burgeoning market of 180 million in Bangladesh, and bilateral trade between the two will reach a significant level.
China’s influence and interests are not invisible in Pakistan’s pursuit of wooing Bangladesh. After Pakistan, it’s Bangladesh who got commitments from China to attract the second largest investment in South Asia. Beijing may slowly sway Dhaka to get along with the China-Pakistan team for her own strategic interests, which could in turn rattle New Delhi. In addition, Malaysia and Turkey will most likely cajole Bangladesh to establish deeper ties with Pakistan. Apart from the Organization of Islamic Co-Operation (OIC), Pakistan, Malaysia and Turkey are in the D-8 club in which Bangladesh also holds a membership.
The incumbent Awami League under Sheikh Hasina won’t certainly become chum up with Islamabad, knowing it will disturb New Delhi. But if Pakistan takes credible action on Hamoodur Rahman Commission reports and offers an apology to Bangladesh for the genocide, Dhaka could embrace Islamabad leaving the bitter past behind. From involvement in terrorism in India to holocaust in East Pakistan, Pakistan can’t verbally deny all the allegations every time and expect normal relations with the neighbours. If Islamabad’s move is genuine, it must resolve all the issues and fulfil demands of Bangladesh completely. But will the GHQ, the stubborn military establishment in Pakistan, agree to acquiesce in any situation?
Source: The Outlook
PlatformE International has acquired Portugal-based Springkode. PlatformE, headquartered in Portugal, is the end-to-end platform solution accelerating fashion’s digital transformation and on-demand manufacturing. Springkode is a factory-to-consumer marketplace and e-commerce company, which offers ethical fashion and products from various manufacturers.
The acquisition will allow PlatformE to enhance its offerings and spearhead Industry 5.0 technology, connecting in real-time functional dimensions that were never connected before at scale; Points-of-sale (e-commerce, stores, e-tailer, and so on) directly interconnected with manufacturers. This will enable the shift to an Industry that is more customer-centred and capable of acting on pull-model, a system that is far more sustainable, that reduces uncertainty and augments efficiency and profitability of operations, PlatformE said.
The strategic combination of PlatformE and Springkode creates a powerhouse for all the brands and retailers that want to be directly in sync with the entire supply-chain. End-to-end connectivity and visibility is absolutely a paramount to achieve smarter ways of developing, launching and monitoring fashion collections, capsules or drops, according to PlatformE.
Consolidating the two companies’ intellectual property, development capabilities, and networks will enable PlatformE to accelerate the scale of the number of brands, retailers, and manufacturers that focus on sustainable growth, both on the financial and environmental aspects, PlatformE said.
The integration of technology, processes and teams has started already and PlatformE will be powering end-to-end inventory-less launches this same quarter, namely in the ready-to-wear and footwear categories.
“It has been an amazing journey, bridging ethical fashion between end-consumers and manufacturers. Springkode’s values and vision are in perfect alignment with PlatformE’s. We see this move as the best way to achieve our purpose faster, which is to reduce fashion’s environmental footprint, remodel the way the fashion industry works and deliver more value to all parts involved in the supply-chain. We’ve accomplished a lot in the past two years but in order to have a bigger impact this is clearly the best next-step possible and feel incredibly fortunate to join PlatformE’s team,” Reinaldo Costa Moreira, co-founder and chief executive officer, Springkode said in a PlatformE press release.
“We’re delighted to welcome Moreira and Springkode’s talented engineers to the PlatformE team. Cracking formulas to find breakthroughs in the Fashion Industry has been historically one of the hardest things to do, especially due to the lack of evolution that the industry has suffered when compared with others. We’re very confident that our combination of software and industrial engineers, alongside data scientists, puts us in a superb position to lead the incredible evolution that we will see in the next decades,” Gonçalo Cruz, co-founder and chief executive officer of PlatformE said.
PlatformE has been a key catalyst in the digital acceleration of the fashion industry, helping brands, retailers, and manufacturers to adopt digital tools and processes to ultimately reduce physical utilisation of resources throughout the entire value chain and drastically reduce Fashion’s biggest problem: excess inventory and overproduction.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Value-added textile exporters on Tuesday urged the government to allow duty-free import of cotton yarn to reverse downtrend in exports.
Addressing a news conference, representatives of Council of All Pakistan Textile Association and Pakistan Apparel Forum said they have been drawing the attention of the government, through appeals and press statements, towards unavailability and shortage of cotton yarn – which is the basic raw material – for last five months.
If cotton yarn’s duty-free import is not allowed, exporters will go for countrywide protests, they said without elaborating whether or not protest implies shutdown of factories.
Value-added textile contributes to around 62 percent in total exports, provides 42 percent urban employment particularly to female workforce, earns highest foreign exchange and supports approximately 40 allied industries.
Zubair Motiwala and Jawed Bilwani said 4.5 percent decrease in exports endorses the viewpoint of exporters that unavailability of cotton yarn would hurt the export orders, which will further be diverted to other competing countries if the cotton yarn is not made available in the required quantity.
Exports fell 4.5 percent year-on-year to $2 billion in February after maintaining the growth pace for five months.
They cautioned the government about the dire consequences of not allowing duty-free import of cotton yarn and not banning export of cotton yarn to save the exports, industries and employment.
The government has closed its eyes wide shut towards to looming cotton yarn crisis which is extremely deplorable and discriminatory conduct on part of the government, they said. Lack of cotton yarn simply means decline in value-added textile exports.
Decrease in cotton production has created a shortfall, while demand also increases as exporters have struggled hard to get maximum orders during the last six months.
Exporters also lamented that whenever the value added textile industry takes off with its full potential, some adverse thing happens and all the hard efforts of exporters are put at stake due to some anti-exports move from the government side. Disconnection of gas to captive power plants of export industries depicted a bleak picture of Pakistani exporters in eyes of foreign buyers worldwide and now the government's thoughtlessness towards not allowing duty free import of cotton yarn will push the export industries towards disaster.
Textile exporters are also highly perturbed over the dubious dealings of spinners who have taken advance payments with commitments to supply cotton yarn but have dishonored their commitment to supply cotton yarn. Yarn being supplied is also of sub-standard quality.
Source: The News
China plans to build a global rapid logistics circle for goods by 2035, which would allow goods to be delivered to neighboring countries and major international cities within two-three days. According to a plan jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, the aim is to build 200,000 kilometers of railways, 460,000 kilometers of highways and 25,000 kilometers of high-level sea lanes by 2035.
The plan is widely anticipated to bolster China’s role in coordinating a global industry chain where it plays a pivotal role.
The total transportation network will reach 700,000 kilometers by 2035, according to the plan, with 27 major coastal ports, 400 civil transportation airports and 80 express hubs.
That will provide support for the ‘global 123’ fast logistics circle for goods, which stands for one-day delivery in domestic market, two-day delivery for neighboring countries and three-day delivery for major global cities, the plan noted.
The blueprint would create the world's largest transportation network, according to Chinse media reports. It will significantly shorten shipping times and facilitate China's goods flow with other major economies, in particular with Asian countries.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Exports of garments and hard goods in the Philippines may reach $2 billion this year as domestic garment units expect to receive up to $500 million worth new orders from global fashion brands, which are shifting their purchases from Myanmar to other countries, according to estimates by the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP).
FOBAP president Robert Young said the association has been receiving export orders and inquiries for garments from foreign buyers, including Zeeman Europe, Walmart and TJ Maxx in the United States, as well as Hudson’s in Canada.
“Rough estimates totaling to $200 million to date have been booked and FOBAP projects double in quantity in the coming three to four months,” he was quoted as saying by domestic media reports.
The group has received orders for baby clothing, men’s athletic and sporting outfit, ladies’ dresses and intimate apparel.
Young estimates that the additional orders may create about 10,000 to 20,000 jobs in factories located in Metro Manila and Cebu.
To support export activities, he called on the government to ease the community quarantine level. Factories should have access to loans to allow them to open and operate, he added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
The country's apparel manufacturers on Tuesday demanded a fresh stimulus package for the upcoming Eid festivals to help continue their business.
They also sought 14 to 15 years’ time duration for payment of installments of their long-term loans.
The apparel makers placed these demands in a special meeting, organised by the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) in the city.
Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, lawmaker as well as former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), was present in the programme as the chief guest.
A K M Salim Osman, president of the BKMEA, presided over the meeting, where Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), and S M Mannan Kochi, vice president of the BGMEA, were also present, among others.
The business leaders said their products remained stockpiled, as the buyers cannot import goods duly for the last few months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Besides, yarn prices and shipment charges have increased significantly nowadays, they added.
In this situation, they sought the fresh stimulus package as well as policy support from the government.
Source: The Financial Express Bangladesh
The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently projected that US retail sales will grow between 6.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent to more than $4.33 trillion this year as more individuals get vaccinated and the economy reopens. Early results show that retail sales in 2020 grew by 6.7 per cent over 2019 to $4.06 trillion, nearly doubling its forecast of at least 3.5 per cent growth.
“Despite the continuing health and economic challenges COVID-19 presents, we are very optimistic that healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand and widespread distribution of the vaccine will generate increased economic growth, retail sales and consumer spending,” NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay said in a statement.
“From the outset of the pandemic, retailers have gone above and beyond even the most conservative safety guidelines to protect and serve their associates and consumers alike. Retailers are increasingly engaged in working with federal, state and local health officials to distribute and administer the vaccine. This partnership has been key to our economic health throughout the pandemic and will continue this year,” he added.
This figure compares with 3.9 per cent growth in 2019. Online and other non-store sales, which are included in the total figure, skyrocketed to 21.9 per cent at $969.4 billion as consumers shifted to e-commerce. The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.
The 2020 November-December holiday season accounted for nearly a fifth (19.4 per cent) of overall annual retail sales. Retail sales during this period grew an unexpectedly high 8 per cent to $787.1 billion.
Non-store and other online sales represented $206.9 billion of total holiday sales, up 22.6 per cent over the year before.
NRF forecasts that online sales in 2021 are expected to grow between 18 per cent and 23 per cent to between $1.14 trillion and $1.19 trillion.
NRF expects the overall economy to gain between 220,000 and 300,000 jobs per month in 2021, depending on the pace of the overall economy in the second and third quarters.
Despite the economy’s stalled momentum at the end of last year, NRF forecasts real gross domestic product growth between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) has demanded fiscal support for the micro- and small-scale industries along with light engineering and agro-processing sectors to diversify the country's export basket.
The chamber leaders at a pre-budget meeting on Wednesday also sought tax holiday facility for at least five years for the young entrepreneurs.
BCI president Anwarul-Alam Chowdhury (Pervez) said the world market size of light engineering products would be around US$ 7.0 trillion as compared to $ 820 billion readymade garments (RMG) market.
The BCI leaders placed their proposals for considering in the national budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021-22.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) organised the meeting at its premises, presided over by chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem.
Mr Pervez demanded tax benefit for investment in technical and vocational training, remuneration of foreign technical experts and eco-friendly industries, and sought separate budget allocation for private sector health care services.
He proposed to bring down the corporate tax rates to 20-25 per cent in the next FY.
The BCI president also urged the tax officials to accept the reality that the taxpayers' income might fall in a year compared to that of the previous years.
For checking the under- and over-invoicing, he suggested the customs authorities to introduce value-based assessment system while the slabs of the value should be flexible.=
BCI vice president Priti Chakrabarti stressed the need for a clear guideline for the private sector health care service providers and demanded including it in the next budget.
The BCI members proposed to reduce the time of document preservation by businesses for reopening tax files and, offer tax benefit for manufacturers of local home appliances and the businesses working for transgender.
In response, the NBR chairman said the board would review the proposals seeking protection for local manufacturers of home appliances and tax benefit for companies working for transgender.
"To check tax evasion by a quarter, we have to take some protective measures which may hurt micro- and small-scale industries," he said, adding it has been found that the tax benefit meant for small and medium industries are enjoyed by large companies.
"We came to know about abuse of the existing tax benefit. Traders are enjoying the facility instead of small scale local industries," he said.
He also assured to review the BCI leaders proposals on document preservation time.
The BCI members proposed to offer tax benefit for the companies if they employ 5.0 per cent of their workforce from physically challenged or transgender.
They sought upward revision of annual turnover limit of industries for enjoying reduced rate of VAT to Tk 100 million from Tk 30 million, cut turnover tax rate by one percentage point, offer tax benefit for the industries that are unable to obtain VAT rebate in inputs.
The chamber leaders also proposed upward revision of tax-free limit for individual taxpayers to Tk 400,000 in the upcoming budget.
Source: The Financial Express Bangladesh
