In the post-lockdown period, various large textile units are looking for an opportunity to make big investments in Madhya Pradesh. Despite the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, demand is rising, therefore the companies are mulling to expand manufacturing capacity. Indore region has ample potential to attract this investment.
This was the gist of what the stalwarts of the textile industries had to say during the first day of the 76th National Textile Conference being held in Indore, on Friday.
The conference was attended by businessmen and technical experts associated with the textile industry from across the country. People associated with thread making, fabric weaving, printing, dress-making attended the conference based on the theme of ‘Fiber to Fashion’. The conference was chaired by MP
Shankar Lalwani. The special guests of the programme were Dr Ved Pratap Vaidik and industrialist Bharat Modi.
The experts said that the city, which once had its own identity in the global textile industry, is now lagging in this area. The two-day textile conference, organised by the Textile Association (India), MP unit, being held at Jal Sabhagrah, aims at making the city a major hub for the textile industry once again.
Second biggest employer
Ashok Juneja, national president of Textile Association (India), said that the textile industry is the second largest sector in the country after agriculture. There are 45 million people directly employed by the textile industry across the country and 110 million people get indirect employment through their association with the industry. This is the only area where a lot of employment can be generated by low investment. Many large groups are now investing in Madhya Pradesh, which will generate huge employment. Many big companies are searching for investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh
Large companies looking at MP
Vice-president, Ashok Veda, said that the main reason for holding the conference here is to attract big names in the textile industry who are now looking for investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh. Chairman VP Gupta said that our objective is to promote the textile industry in the entire country including Madhya Pradesh and we will try to create new employment opportunities in this sector by giving the suggestions received in this conference to the government. Vice-president Kailash Aggarwal noted the importance of Khargone belt for yielding the finest quality of cotton. Secretary MC Rawat said that Ketan Sanghvi of Indian ITME, Amit Chaudhary of United Nation, and Badruddin Khan also expressed their views at the conference.
Despite Covid, demand is increasing
Textile Association (India) treasurer Ankit Veda said, "due to increasing demand and exports, all the big companies of the textile industry are in expansion mode." Earlier, only yarn was made in Madhya Pradesh and it was sent out for weaving cloth, but now weaving and processing are also being taken care of.
Huge market for falalen fabric in city
Jawaharlal Sand, who has more than 40 years of experience in the textile industry, says that there is a huge market for falalen (flannel fabric) in the city, but in absence of a processing plant, we have to send our goods to other states. Through this conference, it is our endeavour that every necessary facility for the textile industry be made available here itself so that new development opportunities are created in this area.
Fashion show at Ravindra Natya Grah today
On the last day of the conference on Saturday from 6:30 pm, a fashion show will be organised at Ravindra Natya Grah. In this show, beautiful apparel made from Madhya Pradesh's famous Maheshwari sarees to Khadi and Bagh print will be showcased.
Source: The Free Press Journal
The economy is set to close the year with activity levels higher than measured in the second advance estimate of gross domestic product (GDP), the finance ministry said on Friday.
The National Statistical Office, in its second advance estimate last week, projected an 8% contraction for FY21, worse than 7.7% assumed earlier.
In its report for February, the department of economic affairs said economic activities have gathered pace, with mild stiffening of the Covid-19 curve failing to deter a steady uptick in consumer sentiment that has been bolstered by the inoculation drive.
Nevertheless, it conceded that a “major downside risk to growth continues to be the pandemic-induced morbidity and fatality that has elevated health stimulus as a key macroeconomic lever for India’s continued economic recovery”.
The report said since GDP contraction has been distorted in FY21 on account of significant growth of subsidies, the change in GVA is a more appropriate measure to follow in the current fiscal.
Explaining the reason as to why the estimated 8% fall in real GDP is higher than that of 6.5% in real gross value added in FY21 (in the second advance estimate), the report said food and fertiliser subsidy from the budget estimate to the revised estimate of FY21 rose dramatically by `3.7 lakh crore. This was mainly due to the moving of certain below-the-line subsidy to above-the-line in view of the government’s decision to make the Budget numbers transparent.
“After making adjustments for pre-payment of loans of `2 lakh crore taken for paying subsidy of previous years, the balance `1.7 lakh crore emerged as the additional subsidy paid in the pandemic year. This enhancement between BE and RE caused the growth of subsidies to be significantly higher than the growth of indirect taxes. Consequently, GVA growth became higher or in other words GVA contraction became smaller than that of GDP,” the report said.
However, in the next fiscal, the annual subsidy growth estimated over the unusually large base of FY21, will again become lower than the growth of indirect taxes. So, real GDP growth will exceed real GVA growth in FY22. Against this backdrop, the change in GVA is a more appropriate measure than that in GDP to track this fiscal, it argued.
The report said rapid production and deployment of vaccination will be critical to taking forward the health stimulus deep into FY22. India is well in position to do so, having become the largest producer of vaccine in the world and currently ranked third (after the US and the UK) in administering vaccine doses, the report said.
The positive GDP growth (0.4%) in the third quarter of FY 21, for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, adds to the positive sentiment, it said.
The expansion of services activity since the beginning of 2021 is particularly noteworthy. “The pick-up in construction activity, with its wide array of backward and forward linkages, is slowly developing into a critical growth lever of the economy,” the report said.
Agriculture continues to show robust growth and is instrumental in strengthening rural demand along with MGNREGS that has created 350 crore person days of employment in 11 months of FY 21, 41.6% higher than a year before.
Aided by rising rural incomes and growing preference for private transport, growth in automobile sales is “reassuring of a demand resumption further strengthened by softening of inflation to a 16-month low of 4.1% in January 2021”. Strengthening of demand is further in evidence with imports growing between December 2020 and February 2021.
Source: The Free Press Journal
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Chairman Bibek Debroy on Friday said that while giving the message that tax rates will remain stable, the Union Budget 2021-22 focussed on promoting growth by driving reforms to boost consumption, investment and government expenditure.
The economic growth in the next financial year has been pegged at 11%. In the current financial year, the economy is estimated to contract by 8% on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said real growth sector comes from four different sources -- consumption, investment, government expenditure, and net exports.
However, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding growth in the external sector.
"So, the real sector growth has to primarily come about through consumption, investments and government expenditure...the budget drives reforms on all three counts, consumption, investment, and government expenditure.
"All too often historically budgets have been associated with tinkering in the tax rates. One of the messages in this budget is the message that tax rates will have stability," he said at the Dun & Bradstreet BFSI & FinTech Summit 2021.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on February 1.
Observing that 2021-22 numbers are going to be good because of the base effect, Debroy said, "What is important for us to ponder about and what is important for us to ask is not what is going to happen in 2021-22 but what is going to happen from 2022-23."
The numbers in 2022-23 are not going to be that spectacular, he said adding that "but in nominal growth terms, once the effects of the low base are out of the way even in 2022-23, we will probably get a nominal GDP growth rate of around 11% which again means corporate average corporate profitability of 17-18%."
Debroy further said the worst of the COVID-19 crisis, economic activity wise, is over, and "we can look forward with some optimism for the economy in general".
Speaking at the event, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said India's financial sector has not really grown as fast as it should have and is "still very, very small".
For instance, he said, while India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the largest Indian financial institution that is SBI is ranked 55th in the world. On the other hand, countries which are a mere fraction of India's size have several of their financial institutions featuring among the top 100 in the world.
He also said the Budget has made a significant push towards reforming the financial sector and adding vitality to it.
The chief economic advisor also stressed that financial technology (fintech) can play a significant role in improving both the quanity and the quality of the financial intermediation in the country.
Subramanian further said while banks, especially public sector lenders, are investing in data architecture, "we still have a long way to go" in enabling the kind of data architecture that banks globally employ.
Dun & Bradstreet India Managing Director Avinash Gupta said digital technologies have played a great role in keeping Indians connected and "transactional" during the lockdown situation.
As a matter of fact, he said digital transactions to the tune of about ₹4,525 crore have already been executed between April 2020 and March 1, 2021, as against a target of ₹4,630 crore set for the entire fiscal year.
"This trend is likely to only scale newer heights going forward. Although initially, it was necessity that drove motivated Indians to leverage digital technologies, now, it is speed and convenience that is likely to keep them constantly engaged with digital technologies," Gupta said.
Source: The Mint
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and exports, is expected to increase the country’s production by USD 520 billion in the next five years. Addressing a webinar, Modi said the government is continuously carrying out reforms to boost domestic manufacturing.
In this year’s Budget, about Rs 2 lakh crore was earmarked for the PLI scheme for the next five years and “there is an expectation that the scheme would result in increasing the production by about USD 520 billion in the next five years”, he said.
He added that there is also an expectation that the current workforce in the sectors, which will avail the benefits of the PLI scheme, will be doubled and job creation will also increase. The Prime Minister said the government is working to reduce compliance burden, further improve ease of doing business and cut down logistics costs for the industry.
“PLI scheme would boost manufacturing in sectors from telecom to auto to pharma. PLI is aimed at expanding manufacturing and boosting exports,” he said.
Source: The Financial Express
Leading apparel retailer Gap Inc. is expecting a bounce back to sales growth in 2021. It is hopeful that customers will soon return to its stores and spend more money on apparels as they look to resume some social activities.
It also announced results of fourth quarter, which ended 30 January. Its net income was US $ 234 million, compared with a loss of US $ 184 million a year earlier, while the net sales fell about 5 per cent to US $ 4.42 billion from US $ 4.67 billion a year earlier.
Gap said its overall online sales were up 49 per cent, representing 46 per cent of net sales during the quarter.
The company is sourcing apparels from many leading Indian apparel exporters.
Gap showed continued strength at its Old Navy and Athleta brands, which focus on basics and workout gear. But, its namesake brand (Gap) and Banana Republic label reported another quarter of sales decline.
Same-store sales for Gap’s athletic apparel brand Athleta grew 26 per cent year over year, and they were up 7 per cent at Old Navy. Gap’s namesake brand, however, booked a 6 per cent same-store sales decline, and Banana Republic said that metric fell 22 per cent.
The company has plans to open 30 to 40 Old Navy stores along with 20 to 30 Athleta stores this year and it will close about 100 Gap and Banana Republic stores globally.
Source: Apparel Online
Maharashtra's economy is expected to see an eight per cent negative growth during 2020-21 with industry and services sectors bearing the maximum brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, the Economic Survey 2021 tabled in the state Legislature on Friday said.
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar tabled the survey in the state Assembly, while Minister of State for Finance Shambhuraj Desai presented it in the Council.
The state's economy is expected to witness an eight per cent negative growth and it is estimated to be Rs 19,62,539 crore, the survey said.
Industry and services sectorsare expected to show a negative growth of 11.3 per cent and 9 per cent respectively, it said.
The agriculture and allied activitiessector is expected to grow at 11.7 per cent due to overall good monsoon (113.4 per cent of the normal), the survey added.
The agriculture and allied activities sector was the only sector that was least impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to timely and proactive measures taken by the government, the survey said.
The government exempted agriculture sector from the COVID-19 lockdown. Various measures regarding transport and distribution of agriculture inputs, transport and sale of produce, online renewal of licenses, coordination among the state departments, use of modern technology benefitedin giving support to agriculture and allied activities sector during the lockdown, it said.
Due to the overall increase in estimated agriculture production, the crops sector is expected to grow by 16.2 per cent, while livestock, forestry and logging, fisheries and aquaculture sectors are expected to grow at 4.4 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.
As many as 31.04 lakh beneficiary farmershave got the farm loan waiver of Rs 19,847 crore under the state government's scheme till January 2021.
The manufacturing and construction sectors were hit the hardestwith negative growth of 11.8 and 14.6 per cent respectively, due to which the industry sector's growth is expected to be a negative 11.3 per cent, the survey said.
Due to impact of the pandemic situation on trade, repair, hotels and restaurants, and transport sectors, the services sector is expected to show a negative growth of nine per cent.
The per capita income during 2020-21 is expected to be Rs 1,88,784 as compared to Rs 2,02,130 in 2019-20.
The percentage of fiscal deficitto gross state domestic product (GSDP) is 2.1 per cent and debt stock to GSDP is 19.6 per cent.
Revenue receiptfor 2020-21 are Rs 3,47,457 crore as against Rs 3,09,881 crore in 2019-20, it said.
The revenue expenditure is expected to be Rs 3,56,968 crore in 2020-21 as againstRs 3,41,324 crore in 2019-20.
Annual credit plan size for the priority sector is Rs 4.75 lakh crore for 2020-21.
The debt stock of the state is expected to be Rs 5,20717 crore, which is 19.6 per cent of the GSDP - well within the limit of 25 per cent of the GSDP, the survey said.
The nominal GSDP is expected to decreaseby Rs 1,56,925 croreduring 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20.
The FDI inflows during 2020-21 up to Septemberwas Rs 27,143 crore, it said.
Source: The Business Standard
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the 13 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes rolled out in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to an incremental manufacturing output of $520 billion and double the workforce in relevant sectors over the next five years.
Addressing industry leaders from the beneficiary-sectors through a webinar, the Prime Minister promised to reduce the burden of India Inc drastically by doing away with as many as 6,000 compliance requirements, further improve ease of doing business and create multi-modal infrastructure to trim logistics costs.
Industry executives from sectors ranging from automobiles, electronics, telecom, pharmaceuticals, white goods and textiles who attended the webinar, urged the PM and other government functionaries, to suitably empower the empowered group of secretaries which is overseeing the schemes so that a flexible approach could be adopted in cases where improvisations may be required from time to time. For instance, in telecom equipment production, the caps on the incentives could be reviewed as production accelerates. If a mid-course correction requires a Cabinet approval, it could lead to costly delays, they pointed out.
The Prime Minister highlighted the need for a giant leap in the speed and scale of manufacturing, as this would boost employment in the country. The share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP has remained stagnant at about 16-17% for decades now. The latest target is to raise it to 25% of GDP by 2025.
Signifying a new policy paradigm, the government last year partially shed its long-standing and costly bias in favour of small businesses and earmarked big bucks for big firms under the PLI schemes. The total incentives under 13 such schemes, covering sectors, including telecom, electronics, auto part, pharma, chemical cells and textiles, stood at `1.97 lakh crore over a five-year period.
Friday’s webinar is part of the government’s broader initiative to fast rekindle growth impulses through a virtuous cycle of investments and soften the Covid blows to the economy.
The webinar was attended by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal; telecom, IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad; textiles minister Smriti Irani; minister of state for commerce and industry Hardeep Singh Puri; and Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant, among others.
Business honchos, including TV Narendran (Tata Steel), Baba Kalyani (Bharat Forge), Dilip Sanghvi (Sun Pharma), Pawan Goenka (M&M), Virat Bhatia (Apple), BK Goenka (Welspun) and OP Lohia (IndoRama) attended the webinar that was divided into various sessions. Each session was attended by scores of industrialists.
Members of India Inc also urged that for every PLI structure the government should undertake detailed consultations with industry stakeholders and devise longer-term plans. Another important suggestion from the industry was that policies relating to PLI should be designed to compete with countries, rather than companies. They also said the government should undertake discussions with trusted allies in order to facilitate Indian industry becoming part of global supply chain.
With regard to PLI for mobile phones which started last year, since some companies are seeking a rollover of production targets for FY21 to the next fiscal to avail themselves of the incentives offered on incremental production, the industry members said given that FY21 saw an unprecedented crisis, the government should accede to the demand. They also said that a clear policy should be adopted on how to shift and build the component ecosystem.
Auto and auto components industry recommended that investments in technology development, R&D and innovation should be incentivised. They also suggested incentivising large auto component MNCs to establish their mother plants and sourcing hubs in India and, so that they can make India an integral part of their global value chain. A suggestion was also made that the auto PLI scheme should not cannibalise the existing exporters by incentivising new players.
On its part, with the businesses going through the reset phase after the substantial lifting of the lockdown curbs, the government hopes to make a sustained push now to draw investors. “An average of 5% of production is given as incentive. This means that PLI schemes will lead to production worth $520 billion in India in the next five years,” Modi said.
Illustrating the difference between earlier schemes and those adopted by his government through measures such as the PLI programmes, Modi said industrial incentives used to be open-ended, input-based subsidies; now they have been made targeted and performance-based through a competitive process.
“We have to attract cutting-edge technology and maximum investment in the sectors related to our core competency,” he added.
Source: The Financial Express
Bangladesh needs to reduce the cost of doing business locally to be more competitive globally in the post-LDC era as the country will face duties on exports because of the erosion of trade privileges, said a noted economist yesterday.
"Local businessmen will have to be facilitated by offsetting costs in the domestic markets so that they can remain competitive in the international markets even after graduation from the LDC," said Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
As immediate measures, Bangladesh should also make a partnership with some major trading partners such as Canada, Japan, China and India to extend preferential market access similar to the EU, both bilaterally and as a member of the graduating least-developed countries, he said.
The EU will continue duty privileges for three years more after 2026.
China is giving a similar kind of duty privilege to Samoa even after its graduation as Beijing has a special agreement with the island country, according to Rahman.
Bangladesh should negotiate with the major trading partners for extending the tenure at least for five years. If it is not possible, the tenure should be for at least three years like that offered by the EU, he said.
"Similarly, Bangladesh should aggressively pursue signing of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India to receive and give duty privileges," Rahman said.
Rahman was presenting a keynote paper at a virtual dialogue on "Moving out from the LDC group: Strategies for graduation with momentum", organised by the CPD. It was attended by a minister, government high-ups, researchers, policy-makers, exporters, and business people.
He called for taking measures, including making active pharmaceuticals ingredient (API) parks functional soon so that Bangladesh can keep producing cheap life-saving drugs after graduation.
Locals will have to buy insulin at eight times higher prices from the current level after the expiry of the agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Prices of medicines will also go up in the local markets after graduation, he said.
Bangladesh took a Tk 100-crore project to develop an API park in 2008. The park is expected to be operational from 2023.
"The completion of the API park is very important. Otherwise, the pharmaceuticals industry will be in big trouble along with the local people," Rahman said.
Local pharmaceuticals companies need to import $1 billion worth of raw materials in the absence of an API park.
The Tk25,000-crore local pharmaceuticals industry meets more than 95 per cent local demand and exports medicines worth $130 million annually.
The trade expert called for opening a negotiation cell under the commerce ministry to make the country competitive.
"Preparations should start now so that after 2026, we don't find one fine morning that nothing has been done to compete after graduation."
Some 70 per cent of Bangladesh's global exports are covered by preferential access, one of the highest in the world. So, Bangladesh is going to face the highest rise in tariffs among the 12 graduating LDCs.
Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the CPD, said Bangladesh had been celebrating pre-matured graduation as the final graduation did not take place yet.
The United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP) recommended Bangladesh for graduation as the country has fulfilled all three criteria.
"Bangladesh has statistically graduated. But the country needs to be graduated in the real world," said Prof Sobhan.
After graduation, Bangladesh is going to compete with Vietnam, China and India. "But, the question remains how much Bangladesh would be able to compete with these countries?" he said.
The pharmaceuticals industry will face a big challenge as Bangladesh will lose the TRIPs facility after graduation, Prof Sobhan said.
He suggested diversification of the economy and technological upgradation.
An extension of the Everything but Arms (EBA) scheme of the EU is required at least for 7-10 years to sustain the desired growth, said Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The EU accounts for 61 per cent of Bangladesh's exports. The country does not have to pay any duty.
The impact of Covid-19 and Bangladesh's endeavour towards global peace-keeping and humanitarian response measures like sheltering of Rohingya refugees, women empowerment and combating terrorism should be considered with due importance, Huq said.
Bangladesh's economic growth has been suffering a sharp downturn following the outbreak of Covid-19, which has reversed years of economic development and has made Bangladesh's businesses heavily dependent on the EBA to survive, she also said.
"The EBA is critical for Bangladesh to promote economic and societal progress, and devote resources to achieve significant policy objectives praised by the EU, including advancing human and labour rights."
Terminating the EBA without taking into account the vulnerabilities of the country and the detrimental effects it will have on the economy and people runs contrary to EU fundamental principles, the BGMEA chief said.
Huq said extending Bangladesh's access to the EBA scheme was consistent with the prior practice of both the EU and other major economies, which made sure the countries graduating from the LDC group had adequate time to transition and adjust to the new trade landscape without suffering from any significant export losses.
A Matin Chowdhury, a former president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said Bangladesh faced various challenges earlier.
For instance, the textile and garment industry faced the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 2005 when the quota system phased out. After the MFA, Bangladesh started investing in backward linkage industries heavily and had overcome the difficulties, he said.
Chowdhury, also the managing director of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd, called for opening up foreign investment in the high-end textile and garment sector for bringing technology knowhow and ensuring greater market access in the post-LDC period.
"We also need to improve labour relations," he added.
Md Shahriar Alam, state minister for foreign affairs, said some new opportunities such as more foreign loans at affordable rates and more foreign direct investment would come to Bangladesh as graduation would improve the country's image.
The government has formed a high-powered team to formulate a strong strategy roadmap for the transition period and to face challenges in the post–LDC period, he said.
Tuomo Poutiainen, country director of the International Labour Organisation, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, and Kazi Nabil Ahmed, a member of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of foreign affairs, also spoke.
Source: The Daily Star
Retail sales in Germany fell more than expected in January this year as the COVID-19-induced lockdown and the withdrawal of a temporary cut in sales tax hit consumer spending. Retail sales fell by 4.5 per cent in the month in real terms after an upwardly revised decline of 9.1 per cent in December, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office.
"This decline can be explained by the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, which meant a closure of many retail stores since December 16, 2020," the statistics office said.
Fashion retail sales plunged by 76.6 per cent year on year (YoY), while sales of groceries were up by 4.3 per cent YoY as supermarkets and convenience stores remained open.
Online retailers continued to benefit from shifting consumer habits with sales up 31.7 per cent, a global newswire reported.
The current lockdown measures are in place until at least March 7.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Uster has launched the Quantum 4.0 yarn clearer generation for spinners. The innovation combines both capacitive and optical sensors in one, delivering comprehensive security, prevention, and flexibility. Uster offers high-technology instruments, systems, and services for quality control, prediction, certification, and optimisation in the textile industry.
The Smart Duo system offers the best of both worlds for intelligent yarn quality control and optimised profitability. It means mills can now focus on meeting the fast-moving market challenges, instead of pondering technical options. Quantum 4.0 is like a dream come true for the industry. For years, spinners have wished for a way to bring the best of different technologies together, for secure quality and maximum flexibility.
Spinners can now access full security in quality control, ensuring the best clearing mode is applied. The Quantum 4.0 enables this through a simple Capacitive/Optical switch. This allows greater flexibility in the types of yarn which can be produced, while also dealing with factors such as humidity variations, according to Uster.
The capacitive and optical sensors work intelligently in tandem through an innovation known as Cross Clearing. This locates and eliminates hidden defects by means of a double check, in which the main sensor’s signal is supported by the assistance sensor. This deals with issues such as unnoticed fluff events, which might otherwise cause breaks downstream, Uster said.
A further valuable innovation with Quantum 4.0 is the Blend Mix-up option, which now enables mills to identify mix-ups of different types of raw materials. This long-awaited market request detects any wrong raw material in greige and white yarns, combating the infamous, but serious, barré effect in fabrics. Cop mix-ups can happen in mills, since differences are hardly visible to the human eye. But Quantum 4.0 stops the problem before it becomes an issue, thanks to significantly improved hardware and software, all underpinned by the Smart Duo, Uster said in a media statement.
The higher processing power of the new sensors brings additional benefits such as the enhanced Continuous Core Yarn option, which detects both missing and off-centre core continuously. Innovations in Quantum 4.0 also focus on contamination, with deeper analysis of polypropylene and foreign matter. A new PP classification gives users the overview of polypropylene content, while the Advanced FD classification now shows extra classes below the 5 per cent lines. Both these features add to the value of the contamination function, together with Total Contamination Control (TCC). Quantum 4.0 gives spinners the ultimate confidence through the intelligent interaction of capacitive and optical sensor technology. It achieves ‘one of a kind’ security levels in basic clearing, while also cutting only what’s necessary, Uster said in a press release.
As well as identifying defects at winding, preventing defects at source is also in focus with the clearer’s new expert system. The new Quantum Expert is now included in the product offering. Thanks to many added intelligent analytical features, the Uster Quantum Expert enhances process control and prevention of defects, through total contamination control, ring spinning optimisation, and the RSO 3D value module.
With Quantum 4.0, a new central Smart-Limit button enhances flexibility, since operators can adjust all available smart limits with a single tap, based on the unique yarn body concept. Each individual limit can be simply fine-tuned as preferred. Users enjoy the established Quantum workflows and embrace the new customer-centred user interface with a 16:9 touchscreen on the 7th generation control units, Uster said in a statement.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
A total of 19 clothing and textile products exported from the UK will benefit from the 25% tariff suspension. This includes jumpers made of cotton, wool, cashmere and manmade fibres, women’s anoraks, men’s suits, pyjamas, swimwear, blankets and bed linen.
The tariff will be suspended for four-months, until the UK and US government finalise a long-term agreement. The tariff had been imposed since October 2019, following a decades-old battle between the US and European Union over illegal subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and rival Boeing.
The changes will be implemented from the 8 March but will be backdated to 4 March.
Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT, said: “I am delighted that the US ‘airbus’ tariffs have been suspended for UK exporters. The tariffs have cost UK fashion businesses dearly over the past year at a time when trade was already extremely challenging. We have been working very closely with the Department of International Trade on this issue and we will continue to work with them to reach a permanent solution.”
Several fashion retailers and manufacturers have welcomed the move.
Simon Cotton, chief executive of Johnstons of Elgin, the largest manufacturer cashmere knitwear in the UK, said: “We are delighted to see these additional Airbus/Boeing tariffs suspended and hope this will lead to a permanent removal of the tariffs in time for our main shipping season, later in the year.
“We have absorbed these tariffs for the last year, which has been a very significant cost to our business as a challenging time. This is extremely welcome news and gives us much greater confidence to pursue the growth opportunity which the US market continues to represent.”
Bill Leach, global sales director at knitwear brand John Smedley, said: “We can breathe a huge sigh of relief that for at least the next four months, our US business is so much more viable than it was yesterday. We have absorbed these tariffs – almost treble what they would be normally – for more than a year, which is particularly hard given the challenges of the market in the UK and overseas. We hope that the two governments will make this a permanent solution.”
Source: Drapersonline.com
Textile and apparel exports from Egypt are likely to see a decline this year as several manufacturers, especially in the cotton textiles industry, have reduced production. Further, almost 30 per cent of the nation’s textile and apparel factories are shut down due to disruption in supply and value chain, and economic downfall, the government said recently.
Egypt is a well-known player in the textiles and apparel industry, especially in cotton textiles with higher staple lengths. Approximately 4,500 textiles and apparel industries are operating in the country. The textiles and apparel industry of Egypt has given employment to 1.3 million people. The textiles and apparel industry of the country contributes over 10 per cent to the total exports approximately.
The textiles and apparel exports of Egypt declined 29 per cent to $2,313.38 million in 2020 (2019: $3,259.71 million). The downfall might further continue with exports expected to drop 15 per cent to $1,966.37 million in 2021.
US, Turkey, Germany, Italy, and Spain were the top five export destinations in 2019, however UK entered in the list replacing Italy in 2020.
Egypt is a major exporter of apparels, home textiles and fabrics. The country also exports yarn and fibres in comparatively smaller amount. The dip in country’s textiles and apparel exports has been observed from April 2020 to June 2020. It recovered in the following months but again declined in November 2020 and December 2020.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
Prime Minister Imran Khan nodded to cross-border import of cotton yarn as the shortage of industrial input is feared to stymie recovery in textile exports.
Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood said the Prime Minister showed his concern on shortage and escalating cotton yarn prices in the country during a meeting.
“[He] instructed to take necessary measures, including cross border trade of cotton yarn, to keep the momentum of value-added exports,” Dawood wrote on Twitter.
The government is considering import of cotton from India to meet the local demands, according to media reports.
Cotton production came down to 5.5 million bales from as much as 15 million bales recoded annually in previous years, causing unstoppable rise in its prices.
Textile and clothing exports increased more than eight percent to $8.8 billion in the seven months of the current fiscal year. The growth pace can slow down amid the shortage of raw materials, according to traders who called for duty-free imports of yarn from any country, including India.
Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association expressed deep concern over the unavailability of cotton yarn and its price reaching to an all-time high. It asked the government to immediately allow duty-free import of yarn and cotton from India to save the textile industry from collapse
If export orders are not fulfilled on time, the business will adversely be affected, according to the association.
The association’s office bearers said a large number of export orders from China, Bangladesh and India were transferred to Pakistani exporters, which led to an increase in production activities. However, these days the cost has risen sharply due to non-availability of raw materials as per the demand of the textile industry and the high price of yarn in the local markets.
“If we do not manage to import raw materials from other countries, including India, then export orders that have been transferred to Pakistan will not be fulfilled,” the association said in a statement.
“This will tarnish Pakistan's image in the world and we will not get new orders.”
The government was demanded to immediately lift duties on yarns and cotton and allow duty free import. With imports from India, freight charges come down and it takes less time.
“Hence, the government should allow the import of yarn from India for continuing textile production without hampering and fulfillment of export orders, so that Pakistani exporters can be saved.”
Source: Bade kaam ka.com
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, announced on Friday that the country had set a GDP target of more than 6% for 2021.
“In setting this target, we have taken into account economic recovery,” said Li at the National People’s Congress, China’s annual parliamentary event.
Beijing aims to achieve the goal through a focus on clean industry and technology.
China had not set a GDP target last year owing to uncertainties from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the only major economy last year to report a positive growth, with an expansion of 2.3%.
The government set a target of about 3% for consumer price inflation this year, and a budget deficit target of 3.2%. It has also pledged to create over 11 million new jobs in cities in 2021.
Seeking peaceful ties with Taiwan
Along with stable economic growth, China is also seeking political stability. Li added that China was “committed” to promoting peaceful growth of relations across the Taiwan strait and would deter any “separatist” activity in Taiwan.
Li iterated that China stood by the “One China” principle, which counts Taiwan as part of China.
“We will promote exchanges, cooperation and integrated development across the Taiwan Strait. Together we can shape a bright future of rejuvenation for our great nation,” he said. ‘Improving’ Hong Kong’s electoral system
Another focus at the parliamentary conference was Hong Kong. Li iterated that China would “resolutely guard against and deter” interference by external forces in the matters of Hong Kong.
To this end, the assembly will debate on a decision to “improve” Hong Kong’s electoral system during this annual session, that is set to enter March 11.
Meanwhile, Beijing plans an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system and has deferred elections for the legislature to next year, according to local media citing unnamed sources. This decision will lead to a potential situation where only “patriots” are elected to govern Hong Kong.
Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, said that Beijing had the constitutional power to “improve’ the city’s system. China is also looking to improve systems that can implement law and enforcement to guard national security in the city.
Boosting defense spending
Defense spending is set to increase by 6.8%, Li said. This is slightly more than last year and the sixth consecutive year of single-digit defense spending.
China would strengthen its armed forces through “reform science and technology, and the training of capable personnel.”
“We will boost military training and preparedness across the board, make overall plans for responding to security risks in all areas and for all situations, and enhance the military’s strategic capacity to protect the sovereignty, security and development interests of our country,” Li said.
Source: The Indian Express
Vietnam's textile and garment export revenue totaled nearly 4.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year, down just 0.01 percent against the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office on Thursday.
In February alone, Vietnam's textile and garment export declined 6.4 percent year on year to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars amid impacts of the latest wave of new COVID-19 cases in the country.
Over the two-month period, local garment enterprises have been constantly receiving new orders, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association. The growth in new orders was due to the recovery of global demand following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, said the association.
In 2020, Vietnam recorded an export turnover of roughly 29.5 billion U.S. dollars from textile and garment products, down 10.2 percent from 2019, according to the statistics office. Its largest export markets included China, Japan, the European Union, South Korea and the United States.
Source: Asia& Pacific News
Leading German textile machinery company, Truetzschler, has launched the TC 19i for Recycling intelligent card, designed for turning textile waste into high-quality yarn. Truetzschler offers complete solutions for the recycling of cotton waste from spinning preparation, along with the recycling of secondary fibres from torn textile waste.
Sustainability is transforming every aspect of the way people live and work, from renewable energy or electric vehicles through to packaging-free supermarkets. In the textile industry, the market for recycled fibres is growing at high speed because it taps into two contradictory trends: First, consumers buy more clothes but throw the clothes away much sooner; this is known as fast fashion. And second, consumers are increasingly eco-conscious and want more sustainable textile products, Truetzschler said.
Due to this high demand, as well as lower raw material costs and potentially higher profit margins, many companies are now exploring ways of producing high-quality yarns from recycled fibres, but it’s a difficult task. Waste from yarn or garment production, as well as used textiles or garments, present a wide range of challenges in spinning preparation, where the later quality of the yarn is being determined. Known as hard waste, secondary fibres from torn waste contain unwanted yarn or fabric particles that reduce the quality of the final output and can impair the carding performance. They also contain a high amount of short fibres, which can have a negative impact on yarn strength, according to Truetzschler.
TC 19i’s new WEBFEED has components such as the wired licker-in with stationary carding segments and improved profile geometries that are specifically designed for recycling applications. The recycling knife ensures the removal of disruptive particles and minimises the loss of good fibres. Secondary fibres from torn waste may adhere to the surfaces of material carrying parts and lead to fibre blockages. With TC 19i for Recycling, this cannot happen because all material carrying parts consist of stainless steel. Moreover, the robust design and innovative coatings of key parts guarantee reliable performance in almost any application, Truetzschler said in a press release.
The gap optimiser T-GO for Recycling uses sensors and algorithms to monitor and automatically adjust the ideal carding gap for the material involved, even under changing production conditions. In this way, it maximises quality and productivity during recycling. The Multi Webclean system enables fast, flexible, and customised adjustments to recycling applications. Eight elements in the pre- and post-carding zone can be configured either as carding or cleaning element or cover profile. This flexibility empowers customers to achieve the best possible configuration for their specific process.
“By producing high-quality sliver from recycled fibres for new yarn, our customers are able to make progress toward their targets for sustainability, while also staying ahead of rising regulatory pressure and increasing consumer demand for eco-friendly products. The TC 19i for Recycling is an intelligent card that helps companies in the textile industry to embrace sustainability and turn this megatrend into a mega opportunity,” Markus Wurster, head of global sales at Truetzschler said in a statement.
Source: Fibre2Fashion News
