Exports of top five sectors — engineering, petroleum, gems and jewellery, textiles and pharmaceuticals — fell by about 25 per cent to $13.33 billion in August due to global demand slowdown. These five sectors accounted for about 65 per cent of the country’s total merchandise exports in 2014—15. In August last year, exports of these sectors stood at $17.79 billion. While engineering, petroleum and textiles recorded negative growth, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals registered a marginal growth of 2.66 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively during the month under review, according to the provision data of the Commerce Ministry. In 2014—15, exports of these segments stood at $202.15 billion. The country’s total exports were aggregated at $310.5 billion in the last financial year. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said these are labour intensive sectors and government should announce steps to contain the dip in outbound shipments. Decline in exports has been instrumental in dragging down India’s overall merchandise exports. Worried about continued decline in exports, the Commerce Ministry has called a meeting of exporters on October 7 to discuss ways to contain fall in the outbound shipments.India has aimed at taking exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020 and raising the country’s share in world exports to 3.5 per cent from 2 per cent. The total exports in the past four financial years have been hovering at around $300 billion.The continuous decline in exports is expected to impact jobs and put pressure on the current account deficit.
Source : Business Lines
Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman M Senthilkumar welcomed the RBI’s effort for reduction of repo rate by 50 basis points to bring it at 6.75 percent. The move will benefit capital-intensive industries such as textiles to improve its competitiveness. The textile industry had been seeking reduction in interest rates. With reduction in interest rate, the industry will be able to invest more and make the ‘ Make in India’ vision a reality. He appreciated efforts made by the RBI in bringing the guideline for base rate so that the banks follow a uniform procedure. He appealed to the banks to pass on the benefits to the customers as the textile sector was facing financial stress. Only certain banks have passed on 0.4 per cent benefit while many banks have passed only 0.25 per cent benefit. Senthilkumar thank the RBI Governor, Prime Minister and Finance Minister for favourably considering the pleas of the industry, particularly the textile industry and constantly reducing the interest rate. The predominantly cotton based textile industry has been facing several challenges in the last 18 months, including a glut in domestic and global markets, high tariff rates in all major markets compared to competing nations like Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, and more so high cost of funding.
Source: Yarn and fibre
Cairo is hosting an Indian textile exhibition where textile companies are showcasing the latest range of yarn and fabrics in a bid to strengthen the trade between the two countries, particularly in the fast growing area of modern textiles. The third edition of the Indian Textiles Exhibition in Egypt (Intexpo Egypt) which began on October 1 at Cairo International Conference Centre will be on till October 4, according to an official statement. Thirty three Indian textile companies are taking part in the exhibition. “Indian-Egyptian trade and investment relations are witnessing promising and continuous growth,” said Indian Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya, commenting on the exhibition. The four-day exhibition is being organised by the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) of India in association with the Embassy of India and with the active support of Cairo Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
The 33 participating Indian companies will showcase their latest range of yarn and, which includes suitings, shirtings, dress materials, and embroidered fabrics/high fashion fabrics, furnishing, home textiles, scarves, stoles, shawls and yarns of man-made fibre and their blends.
“I am confident that competent Indian companies will take advantage of the opportunities by presenting the latest innovations to the Egyptian market during this exhibition, to build durable and mutually-beneficial partnerships,” ambassador Bhattacharyya added. India exported around $360 million worth of textiles and clothing products to Egypt during the year 2014-15. The exhibition aims at forging win-win partnership among the Indian and Egyptian companies for effective forward and backward business linkages in the near future. (SH)
Source : Fibre2fashion
Investors should not worry about the monsoon: Jan Dehn Foreign fund inflows cross Rs 81,000-cr mark in 2015 Foreign outflows to continue as other markets become attractive: HSBC FPIs take out Rs 4,600 cr from capital markets in September Foreign investors navigate turmoil in Chinese markets with new playbook Capital outflows from emerging markets are on track to exceed inflows this year for the first time since 1988 amid concern that a slowdown in China, a currency selloff and higher interest rates in the US will make riskier assets less attractive. Investors are estimated to pull $540 billion from developing markets in 2015, according to the Institute of International Finance based on data for 30 nations. Foreign inflows will fall to $548 billion, about half of last year's level and below the amounts recorded during the financial crisis in 2008. At the same time, local outflows are accelerating amid heightened market volatility, pushing net flows into negative territory. Concerns about China's growth and the Federal Reserve's preparations for an increase in the near-zero US rates have roiled emerging markets from Colombia to Kazakhstan and spurred a deepening of the rout in commodities, further dimming sentiment toward countries like Russia and Brazil. Developing-nation economies are projected to expand by 4 per cent this year, the slowest pace since 2009, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg "Unlike the 2008 crisis, the pullback from emerging markets has been driven primarily by internal factors, basically reflecting a sustained slowdown in EM growth and amplified by rising uncertainty about China's economy and policies," IIF analysts including Charles Collyns wrote in a report published Thursday. "The many emerging market commodity exporters have also faced particular strains as their exports have been damaged by sharp price corrections as global demand prospects have been scaled back."
No catalyst
Foreign investor inflows will fall to about 2 per ent of gross domestic product in emerging markets this year, down from a record of about 8 per ent in 2007. Net outflows will slow to $306 billion in 2016, according to the IIF's estimate.China's surprise devaluation of the yuan in August, global growth concerns and political turmoil in places like Brazil and Turkey sent exchange rates across all emerging markets diving. The Turkish lira and Brazilian real have lost about a quarter of their value this year, a threshold commonly used to identify an external crisis, the IIF analysts said. Developing-nation equities lost $4.3 trillion in market value during the third quarter when investors dumped riskier assets amid worse-than-estimated economic data from China, a surprise devaluation of the yuan and speculation about the timing of an increase in US interest rates. That depressed valuations of stocks in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to 10.7 times projected earnings, below their 10-year average and 28 per ent cheaper than the advanced-country shares. "From a markets perspective, EM equity valuations have fallen to very low levels, but near-term downside risks are high enough to keep investors cautious, absent a clear catalyst for re-entry," according to the report.
Source : Business Standard
The Victoria & Albert, Uk’s India Festival will be the first major exhibition to explore the 3rd to 21st century dynamic and multifaceted world of handmade textiles from India. The exhibition offers an introduction to the raw materials and processes of making cloth by hand. Displays of the basic fibres of silk, cotton and wool illustrate the importance of India’s natural resources to its textile-making traditions. Divia Patel, co-curator of the exhibition said that this was a tremendous task and they looked at it from a historic perspective as well as making it relevant today. There is a vague chronology to give it a sense of history but the broad divisions reflect the technical mastery and creativity of Indian textiles. Two-third’s of the exhibits are from the V&A’s own collections and the remaining have been borrowed by museums and private collections in India, the US and France. The opening section shows fabrics dyed with natural materials such as pomegranate and indigo and the complex techniques of block printing, weaving and embroidery across the ages, together creating a visual compendium of India’s astonishingly diverse array of fabrics. Highlights range from muslin embroidered with glittering green beetle wings, to a vast wall hanging appliqued with designs of elephants and geometrical patterns, to a boy’s jacket densely embroidered with brightly coloured silk thread and mirrors. Wealth, power and religious devotion are all expressed through textiles, and the exhibition examines how fabrics were used in courtly and spiritual life.
Fabrics created for temples and shrines vary widely in imagery and techniques, depending on the religions context, level of patronage and region of production. V&A’s world-renowned collection together with masterpieces from international partners and leading designers, the exhibition will feature over 200 objects, many on display for the first time. Visitors can expect a stunning range of historic dress, heirloom fabrics, and cutting-edge fashion. The astonishing skills and variety evident in India’s incomparably rich textile tradition will surprise and inform even those with prior knowledge of the subject, and is sure to delight visitors.
Source : Yarn and fibre
Christine Lagarde Ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings next week in the Peruvian capital Lima, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that India remains a bright spot amid a global slowdown. Speaking at a function in Washington called "A Conversation with Christine Lagarde", hosted by Council of the Americas, she said global growth will likely be weaker this year than last, with only a modest acceleration expected in 2016. “China is slowing down as it rebalances away from export-led growth. Countries such as Russia and Brazil are facing serious economic difficulties. Growth in Latin American countries, in general, continues to slow sharply. We are also seeing weaker activity in low-income countries – which will be increasingly affected by the worsening external environment,” Lagarde said in her speech. The IMF chief said that at the global level, there is still a drag on the economy because financial stability is not yet assured. Despite progress in recent years, financial sector weaknesses remain in many countries, and financial risks are now elevated in emerging markets. “If we put all this together, we see global growth that is disappointing and uneven. In addition, medium-term growth prospects have become weaker. The “new mediocre” of which I warned exactly a year ago – the risk of low growth for a long time – looms closer,” Lagarde said. She also voiced her concern on the economic front. “The prospect of rising interest rates in the US and China's slowdown are contributing to uncertainty and higher market volatility. There has been a sharp deceleration in the growth of global trade. And the rapid drop in commodity prices is posing problems for resource-based economies. “Besides the heartbreaking suffering from conflict and forced migration, there is a human toll from economic dislocation and low activity: more than 200 million people are unemployed worldwide; income and wealth inequality keep on rising; and women continue to be disadvantaged both in pay and labor market opportunities,” she said. (SH)
Source : Fibre2fashion\
The cost of borrowing in overseas markets for Indian companies has fallen to more than two-year lows as international investors look at India positively among emerging market economies, which are in general facing headwinds on macro economy. Low cost of funds could well be to the advantage of Indian companies as the Reserve Bank of India eased norms on such loans from overseas where it allowed even Real Estate Investment Trusts to raise funds. This could also be a boost for the Indian Rupee "Investor (lender) confidence in India's macros has gone up. With Fed still keeping the rates low has made such borrowings attractive," said SK Ghosh, chief economic advisor, State Bank of India. "Besides, the stability of the rupee then also added to the interest in exposure to India by lenders." The spreads or margins for external commercial borrowings over six month Libor (London inter-bank offered rate) have remained below 2% since February this year, data from RBI shows. These spreads touched a high of 4.24% in February 2012 compared to precrisis spreads of less than 1% when global liquidity was abundant. The spreads on ECB reflect the lenders perception of the borrowers' credit worthiness as well as the economic outlook. Higher the spread, higher the risk of a company not fulfillin. Currently the Reserve Bank allows Indian firms to borrow up to three percentage points above Libor for loans up to four years. If hedging cost of around 7% is factored in to the six month Libor rate of around 0.12%, borrowing from overseas markets works out to be cheaper at around 9% compared to borrowing from local banks which still could cost 9.25%. But the absolute amount of funds raised remained lower than a year earlier, reflecting the slow recovery. Despite cheaper cost of funds, Indian firms sought approvals for loans worth only $8. 2 billion compared to $10.3 billion approved in the same period a year ago. At a time when the Indian currency is weak against the dollar, borrowing translates into higher rupee proceeds.
Source : The Economic Times
Kenneth Rogoff: Inequality, immigration and hypocrisy India, US stronger with cooperation Jindal criticises rival Trump for slur on immigrants Presidential debate: Republican candidates slam Obama over immigration policies. In early September, the State Department gave exciting news to tens of thousands of highly skilled legal immigrants in the United States who had been stuck for years in visa backlogs, waiting for green cards. On October 1, they would take a big step forward along the path to their documents, a department bulletin said. Then, just as suddenly and with no explanation, the department reversed course September 25, sending most of the immigrants - including many people from India and China with advanced degrees and professional careers in the United States - back to where they had been in slow-moving visa lines, dashing their hopes and disrupting their lives. The problem was that immigration officials realised belatedly that they did not have enough green card visas, which are limited by yearly quotas, for all the immigrants they had allowed to apply for them, Obama administration officials said. "It was a devastating blow for the workers and their families with skills we are trying to retain in the United States," said Lynden Melmed, a lawyer at Berry, Appleman & Leiden in Washington, who was formerly general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security agency that administers immigration with the State Department. Immigrants who were affected filed a federal lawsuit in Seattle, accusing the administration of "arbitrary and capricious action" that cost them millions of dollars.
The bait-and-switch was also a new setback for President Obama's efforts to make fixes to immigration through executive actions he announced last November. His actions to protect immigrants in the country illegally have been held up by federal courts. New guidelines to speed up green card applications for highly skilled workers were another part of his programs. The turnabout resulted, officials said, from communication failures between the State Department and Homeland Security. After the State Department published its monthly visa bulletin on September 9 under the new guidelines allowing many thousands of immigrants to apply early for green cards, officials did further hurried calculations and saw that under annual limits, not enough visas were immediately available. "This revision seriously undermines the stability and predictability of our immigration system," Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Michael Honda, both California Democrats said. Officials at the Homeland Security and State Departments and the White House said they could not comment on the matter because it was under litigation.
Many immigrants caught in the boomerang are on temporary H-1B visas. That program has been under fire from Americans who say foreign workers with the visas displaced them from jobs. But immigrants seeking green cards have been working for some time in specialized fields like science, medicine and technology. They have passed a hurdle requiring their employers to show the Labor Department that no Americans were available for their jobs. "We have been here years, we have kids here, we bought houses," said Vikram Desai, 33, an electrical engineer from India who has worked on temporary visas for 13 years.
"We consider ourselves future Americans, not temporary workers," said Mr. Desai, a leader of Immigration Voice, a legal immigrants' organization But they have been mired in green card backlogs. With a cap of 140,000 employment-based green cards each year, the number of applicants has long exceeded the limit. No country can have more than 7 per cent of the visas, so immigrants from India and China must wait for a decade or more. On September 9, the State Department notified them they would be able to advance early to the next step: filing a formal application. They scrambled to have medical tests and hired lawyers and document translators, paying thousands of dollars in fees. Many postponed travel; some changed plans to marry or move. "People made life-altering decisions," said Aman Kapoor, the founder of Immigration Voice, a national nonprofit group. Only a fraction of at least 50,000 immigrants who expected to move forward will now be able to do so. They are keenly disappointed because they will not receive new benefits that would have come after their applications were filed, while they waited for their green cards. In that period, immigrants can obtain work permits that allow them to change jobs and employers, freeing them from H-1B constraints tying them to the same employer. In some states, their children can attend college at discounted resident rates. They can travel out of the United States more easily. Sadhak Sengupta, a medical research scientist from India, said that when he heard the first State Department announcement, "my heart was overjoyed." Now he may have to close down his research at the Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, RI, where he is part of a team developing a treatment for brain cancer using immunology. Sengupta, also a professor at Boston University School of Medicine, came to the United States in 2002. Working on H-1B visas, he began the green card process in 2010. His team's research advances have attracted patients from around the world to the medical center, Sengupta said. He had plans to start his own biomedical company. But this year, the federal government unexpectedly failed to renew his H-1B visa. With no green card application, he is scrambling to avoid leaving the United States in December. "I am so disappointed, I don't have words to describe," Sengupta said. "Instead of hiring workers here, shall I bundle up my research for a cure for brain tumors and take it back to India? Is that what America wants?" Lawyers said the episode had shaken immigrants' confidence in the system. "It's no wonder people have so little faith in the government," said Gregory Chen, director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, "when they can't even count their visas."Immigrants sent thousands of bouquets to Homeland Security headquarters in Washington on Thursday as a mild-mannered protest.
Source: Business Standard
A conference entitled Garment and Textile – Opportunities and Challenges, focusing on integration was held in Ha Noi yesterday as the development of Vietnam's garment and textile industry was behind other countries. Moreover, many domestic garment and textile companies would face more challenges from large rivals following integration. Tran Quang Nghi, chairman of the National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex), speaking at the conference said that a shortage of capital and backwards technology, along with weak management capacities, had created difficulties for the businesses. This caused considerable competitive pressures in the local garment and textile industry after Vietnam joins the free trade agreements, Nghi added. Viet Nam has some 5,000 businesses in the sector. Most of them are small- and medium sized enterprises with weak associations. Echoing Nghi, Truong Thi Thanh Ha, general director of Dong Xuan Knitting Company, said that their technology remained backwards, as several machines were purchased 20 years ago. Of note, domestic garment and textile companies have not been able to invest in modern technology lines to enjoy benefits from the FTA, especially FTA Viet Nam-EU and Trans-Pacific Partnership (PPP). Domestic firms had been faced with more challenges than opportunities. This was the reason that the Government should provide supports for businesses, in terms of land rental and taxes.
In the first half of the year, Vietnam's garment exports to markets participating in the TPP accounted for 70 percent of its total export value. However, Phan Chi Dung, head of the Light Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that there were few enterprises manufacturing in all stages, from cotton to completed products. Especially, local firms have much depended upon imported materials, in combination with low productivity, thus making them difficult to enjoy benefits from FTAs. The added value in garment exports was still limited, despite high growth rates of 15-20 per cent a year. Domestic garment and textile companies have not developed their own markets and products, which have been shortcomings for the sector, he added. According to the development strategy for the garment and textile sector to the year of 2020, approved by the ministry, the country's exports would reach US$35 billion and up to $60 billion by 2030. Further, Deputy minister Do Thang Hai said that investment in material areas and support industries would have special meaning in improving their competitiveness. The association among businesses in this sector could create a large capital base and improve management capacities, as well as technology, which would be a decisive factor for firms to better compete with rivals. To support garment and textile firms over the next five years, Chairman of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) Tran Bac Ha has committed to provide US$2 billion as loan. The businesses need to restructure to improve their competitiveness within the integration. The opportunities for businesses would be considerable, including a wave of foreign investment in the garment and textile in Vietnam. The first benefit was that Viet Nam would have a wider market and investors would gradually shift their production into the country.
Source: Yarn and fibre
The US government has announced addition of five upland cotton fibre products to eligibility for duty-free treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) when imported from least developed country (LDC) beneficiaries. Changes to GSP tariff treatment for these products are effective from October 1, 2015. The action of adding the five cotton products fulfils the US pledge in the World Trade Organization to make imports of all upland cotton products from LDCs duty-free and quota-free, the Office of the USTR said on its website. The decision is part of the outcome of the Obama Administration's Limited Product Review under the GSP, a 39-year-old trade preference programme under which the United States provides duty-free treatment to many imports from developing countries. “With the recent bipartisan renewal of the GSP programme, thousands of products from over 120 developing countries are once again eligible for duty-free entry into the United States, supporting those countries' economic development and helping to keep US manufacturers competitive,” said US trade representative Michael Froman. “The annual GSP product review helps to ensure that the programme is meeting statutory requirements and keeping up with evolving trade patterns, including those related to the competitiveness of beneficiary countries in different product areas,” he added. Consistent with statutory provisions concerning country eligibility, three GSP beneficiary countries – Seychelles, Uruguay, and Venezuela – have recently surpassed the GSP income threshold and, therefore, will be graduated from eligibility for GSP trade benefits, effective January 1, 2017. Since GSP eligibility is a pre-condition for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Seychelles – which is currently a beneficiary of AGOA – will also graduate from benefits for that programme effective January 1, 2017. Under the GSP programme, up to 5,000 types of products from 122 beneficiary developing countries and territories, including 43 LDCs, are eligible for duty-free treatment when exported to the US. In 2014, the total value of imports that entered the US duty-free under GSP was $18.3 billion. (RKS)
Source: Fibre2fashion
Pakistan textile exports registered an increase of 11.2 percent, a $1.11 billion in the month of August 2015 as compared to $998 million during the same period of 2014, as per data released by the Ministry of Textile Industry. According to data except cotton yarn all major textile items registered significant increase in the month of August with respect to quantity and value as well. Ministry officials and industry stakeholders termed it a cyclical increase while saying that next month exports would determine the actual situation. They said that power and gas supply remained the same in the month of August as in July. Raw cotton worth $17 million was exported in August 2015 against $16 million during the same period of last year, registering an increase of 7 percent; cotton year export dropped by 7 percent from $159 million in August 2014 to $138 million in August 2015, cotton cloth export increased from $192 million to $198 million (3 percent), knitwear garments increased from $174 million to $211 million (21 percent), readymade garments increased from $135 million to $176 million (30 percent), bed wear from $153 million to $179 million (17 percent), towels from $50 million to $64 million (28 percent) and others from $119 million to $127 million (6 percent) during the period under review. The data also shows a significant increase in the quantity of exported textile items as raw cotton exports increased by 38 percent, cotton yarn by 9 percent, knitwear garments by 34 percent, readymade garments by 13 percent, bed wear by 24 percent and towels by 22 percent, however cotton cloth exports dropped by 11 percent. Textile exports increased by 8 percent as compared to $1.02 billion in the month of July 2015 however it declined compared to $1.16 billion in July 2014. Chairman Pakistan Readymade Garments and Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMA), Ijaz Kokar said sometimes vessels are stuck at ports however as more vessels get earlier clearance next month exports would increase. The industry is waiting for a relief package from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which would help to boost textile exports.
Source Yarn and fibre
The Vietnamese government has released a new regulation that specifies requirements on permitted limit of formaldehyde and azo dyes contents in textile products that are manufactured, imported and traded in Vietnam. “The new draft circular will supersede circular no. 32/2009/tt-bct dated November 5, 2009 and becomes effective in February 2016,” a press release from SGS stated. The earlier circular temporarily gave the regulated acceptable limits for the content of formaldehyde and content of aromatic amines which can be released from azo dyes in reduction conditions in textile and apparel products. The new draft circular states the same permitted limits of formaldehyde and azo dyes content in textile products, but further specifies requirements on sampling methods. This has been done by referring to updated international test method standards and provides relevant quality management requirements. Textile products that fall within the scope of the restriction are listed in Annexure 1 of the new draft circular. The restrictions do not apply to untreated yarn, untreated fabric, fabrics imported for processing export products and textile products in transit or stored in custom's warehouses. Other goods include textile products temporarily imported for re-export and types of products made from textile materials used in industrial production. All textile products that are imported, distributed and marketed in Vietnam are required to provide a certificate issued by an accredited testing laboratory to ensure conformity in accordance to the regulation. (AR)
Source: Fibre2fashion
Zambai, currently has only two factories operating by the names of Sakiza and Kariba but these are not enough to promote the export of essential goods and services to other countries. Zambia has the potential to grow the textile industry because it has the best cotton in Africa thus government has started promoting the establishment of textile factories that can create wealth and jobs for the locals, said the DEPUTY Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Miles Sampa. Sampa further added that the government is also considering to soon re-invest in Mulungushi Textiles to revive its operations. The move is aimed at growing the textile industry that will reduce on the importation of goods and services. The investors who expressed interest to take over the operations of the company did not qualify. He said that the government is concerned with the low contribution of the manufacturing industry to the country’s gross domestic product and the formal workforce. Mr Sampa also reaffirmed government’s commitment to dialogue with all key stakeholders in addressing the various challenges affecting the growth of the manufacturing industry in the country. Mr. Sampa was speaking in Parliament in response to Mpongwe Member of Parliament, Gabriel Namulambe during the questions for oral and answer session. He also said that the government will soon produce a list of goods and services that will be banned for import.
Mr. Namulambe said that a robust textile industry in Zambia will help increase exports which will in turn stabilize the Kwacha.Meanwhile Mbala Member of Parliament, Mwalimu Simfukwe said that the ban on importation of some goods that can be produced in Zambia will be good for the country’s economy. It is a global practice to protect local industries. The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) between September 2011 and June 2015 collected 1.04 percent revenue from the textile factories and 0.56 percent from imported second-hand clothes between September 2011 and June 2015.
Source : Yarn and fibre
