The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 21 OCTOBER, 2015

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

 

Textile Raw Material Price 2015-10-20

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

1076.95

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

VSF

2277.92

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

ASF

2288.13

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Polyester POY

1001.60

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Nylon FDY

2527.54

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

40D Spandex

5416.16

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Nylon DTY

2763.02

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Viscose Long Filament

5852.59

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Polyester DTY

1279.47

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Nylon POY

2354.85

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Acrylic Top 3D

2476.52

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

Polyester FDY

1083.23

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

30S Spun Rayon Yarn

2857.22

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

32S Polyester Yarn

1742.59

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

45S T/C Yarn

2715.93

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

45S Polyester Yarn

1915.28

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

T/C Yarn 65/35 32S

2307.75

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

40S Rayon Yarn

2998.51

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

T/R Yarn 65/35 32S

2590.34

USD/Ton

0%

10/20/2015

10S Denim Fabric

1.10

USD/Meter

0%

10/20/2015

32S Twill Fabric

0.93

USD/Meter

0%

10/20/2015

40S Combed Poplin

1.02

USD/Meter

0%

10/20/2015

30S Rayon Fabric

0.75

USD/Meter

0%

10/20/2015

45S T/C Fabric

0.75

USD/Meter

0%

10/20/2015

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15699 USD dtd. 20/10/2015)

The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com.  SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.

Textile sector stares at crisis

Krishna (name changed), a supervisor at a garment mall at Chikkadpalli, is a worried lot these days. Having an experience of over two years in garment sale, he may have to go back to his native place Khammam as his shop owner now is looking to reduce the number of salesmen. This is not just an isolated case. More such people, who have migrated from neighbouring districts, may have to face job loss, thanks to the booming online garments trade. Hit by the e-commerce penetration, a majority of textile traders especially the ready-made garment dealers are mulling to retrench the sales persons in a big way in order to reduce their establishment and other overheads. “We are forced to reduce sales persons in the first place as we cannot reduce the rent or electricity charges, which are fixed in nature,” a manager of a retail-chain, who is not willing to be quoted, told this correspondent. He further revealed that the local textile retail chain has already initiated retrenching sales persons (both boys and girls). The expected rate of fall in the sales jobs is in the order of about 50 to 60 per cent, he points out.   

Confirming this and the troubles being faced by the textile trade because of online trading of item-cloths, the Hyderabad Cloth Merchants Association President, OP Tibrewala said, “The turnovers are falling over 50 per cent, which is not sufficient to support the kind of establishment costs now we are incurring.”“We are ready to compete with the online traders in terms of prices, provided we get the fair opportunity,” he added when reminded him about lower and discounted prices being offered by the online traders.  Tibrewala vehemently seeks quick intervention by the state and central government agencies in order to provide relief to the retail traders to protect the interest of trade and other stakeholders including sales persons.  He points out, that the online trader need not spend on the premises or on displays, power, air conditions, besides sales people. While the retail traders have to pay government and local body taxes, obtain trade license, and other statutory requirements such as transport permits etc, he adds.    A quick tour to retail trade hubs like general bazaar or Abids or begum bazaar in the city gives a fair picture that the footfalls have fallen over 50 per cent and more shoppers are taking ‘window shopping’.A midlevel trader at Abids insists that the customers shall not take snap of the product, as he feels that the buyers like to compare with online photos and eventually buy online.

SOURCE: The Hans India

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India falls back in global apparel trade

India’s share in global apparel trade is unlikely to increase significantly over the long term unless the structural challenges which constrain the industry are addressed, finds industry body ICRA. The fragmented nature of the industry with low levels of modernisation, high costs of production and limited presence in man-made fibre apparels are the main factors which have constrained the growth in India’s apparel exports. The share of India in global apparel trade remained low with 4 per cent in calendar year 2014 which has increased only marginally from 3 per cent in CY 2004, despite removal of quota system from 2005.

India is the world’s sixth largest apparel exporter after China, Bangladesh, Italy, Germany and Vietnam and the share of India in global apparel exports has remained modest over the last decade at 3 to 4 per cent despite India being one of the world’s largest cotton producer with world’s second largest spinning and weaving capacity. The global apparel trade industry is extremely competitive and price sensitive which is reflected in a modest increase in the average realisation of apparel exporters during the last decade, which is in contrast to relatively higher increase in the fibre costs apart from the increase in the cost of labour, power and other manufacturing costs. The average price of apparel imported by US has been flat at $3 per square metre over the last decade, while the average realisation of apparel imports by EU had increased at a modest CAGR of two per cent over the last decade to €16/kg.

Given the flat to modest increase in the average apparel realisation in the backdrop of increasing cost, countries with benefits of economies of scale and abundant availability of cheap labour, such as China, Bangladesh and Vietnam have been able to garner a larger share in the global apparel exports over the last decade, said Rohit Inamdar, senior vice president, ICRA. The fragmented nature of the weaving, processing and garmenting industries with its low levels of modernisation and higher cost of production, combined with modest share of MMF apparels and reliance on imported machinery across the textile chain have been the key factors which had constrained the growth in the India’s apparel exports. India’s downstream sectors in the textile industry like weaving, processing and garmenting have not been able to derive benefit from the government’s Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). “When it comes to yarn, most spinning mills are facing working capital crunch with subsidies under TUFS still pending. Since 2010, subsidies amounting to Rs 3000 crore have been pending and the incentive under the focus market scheme has been withdrawn,” said K Selvaraju, secretary general, South Indian Mills Association. The government’s earlier policy of reserving the sector for the smallscale units which had specified cap on investments in plant and machinery had been one of the reasons for the fragmented nature of the industry. These factors have also resulted in low quality and higher cost of end products such as fabric and garments than that of other major exporting countries. “In the case case of garments and apparels, Indian exporters have to pay 16 per cent import duty while shipping to its largest market Europe, while competitors like Cambodia, Vietnam and Pakistan enjoy zero per cent duty. “Indian exports will grow significantly if the country signs a free trade agreement with the Eurozone. The industry has been asking the government this for quite some time now,” said D K Nair, secretary general, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry. While the domestic apparel industry is mostly accounted by manmade fibre apparels, exports are mostly concentrated towards cotton apparels. High domestic prices for MMF as compared to international prices (due to trade restrictions), differential excise duty on MMF vs cotton and unavailability of the TUFS benefits to the MMF sector are other factors constraining the industry participation and growth of MMF apparel sector.

SOURCE: The MyDigitalFc

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Spinners in Tamil Nadu allege cartelisation by Chinese yarn buyers

The spinning mill owners of the Kongu Nadu region of the state today said they are facing problems in doing business due to alleged cartelisation by Chinese yarn buyers. The owners also submitted a letter to the Union Textile Ministry pertaining to the issue. Chinese yarn buyers and traders were crushing the Indian yarn manufacturers allegedly by forming a cartel, Indian Texprenuers Federation (ITF), a body of spinning mills in this textile region, said.

A cartel is an agreement between competing firms to keep prices under control or check any new competitor's entry into market. Under this sellers or buyers agree to fix prices of selling, purchase prices, or lower production. ITF Secretary Prabhu Damodaran, in the letter submitted to the Union Textile Secretary, said that allowing the yarn manufacturers to open common selling offices in China would help avoid exploitation by the buyers, besides strengthening Indian players with updated an constant market intelligence He also said that instead of waiting for mega trade pacts, the ministry, in coordination with Commerce ministry, should soon initiate textile-specific trade pacts with various untapped markets. Exports of cotton yarn and fabrics showed a positive growth of five per cent in September and with big opportunity and huge capacity within the country, a little push and coordinated efforts by the ministry will beat the downtrend in export, helping the spinning and garment sectors to come out of current trend of losses, Damodaran said.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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Welspun India net up 33%; to bring down debt further

The world's third largest home textile manufacturer Welspun India, which reported its best-ever quarterly profit with a 32.7 per cent rise at Rs 172.35 crore for the September quarter, said it will considerably bring down its debt this fiscal year. As of the September quarter, the company had a debt of Rs 2,427.7 crore, down from Rs 2,609.4 crore a year ago, after the company paid back Rs 181.7 crore during the quarter from internal accruals. The company also said it has cash balance of Rs 182 crore on its book now. "We brought down our debt by Rs 182 crore in Q2 making our debt-equity ratio to 1.8:1. We want to bring this down to 1.4:1 by the end of this fiscal year," Welspun India Executive Director Dipali Goenka told PTI here. The company's net sales rose 6.3 per cent to Rs 1,336.92 crore and Goenka said that lower sales were result of high base effect in the year ago period, when it had the best sales turnover. The company had invested Rs 1,400 crore in expansion last fiscal and Rs 1,000 crore over the next one year. She also said the ongoing vertical integration at its Vapi and Anjar plants in Gujarat, which are also under an expansion, will result in better realisation and margins going forward. Commenting on the good set of numbers, Welspun Group Chairman B K Goenka said, "We've sustained our growth momentum during the quarter and hope to continue on our growth path and target to reach an annual turnover of USD 2.5 billion, more than double the current figure, by the turn of the decade." On the sales and profit outlook, Dipali Goenka said the company hopes to maintain a revenue guidance of 15 per cent rise and profit guidance of over 22 per cent for the rest of the fiscal year. Welspun currently is a contract manufacturer for some of the world's largest retailers like Walmart, JC Penny and Macy's among others and nets more than 65 per cent of its revenue from the US market where it is the single largest organised player with over 5 per cent of the USD 17 billion American home textile market.

SOURCE: The MoneyControl

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Macroscope: India’s exports need policy upgrades

One of the key highlights this fortnight on the macro front was the annual jamboree of the IMF-World Bank. Discussions focused on the transitions unfolding in the global economy and need for ‘policy upgrades’ to respond to them. While deliberations on China’s growth model, Fed lift off and lower commodity prices have been well documented, an interesting takeaway was a call for ‘policy upgrades’ both at the individual country level and collectively at the international level to address these transitions. As IMF chief Christine Lagarde stated, these ‘policy upgrades’ should include advanced economies giving due consideration to spillover risks, emerging economies addressing debt build-up and a restart of the stalling engine of global trade.

My previous column (FE, October 7, goo.gl/EQiDCr) analysed the impact of the transition in the China growth model moving away from investments and exports to services and consumption, where we concluded that India was relatively less impacted but given that it is a capital dependent economy, there remains no room for complacency. Today, we look at the evolving global trade dynamics given that it is one of the ‘policy upgrades’ that officials are focusing on as most of the growth downgrades have been due to lower external demand. Interestingly, just prior to the IMF-WB meetings, the World Trade Organization cut its growth estimate for world merchandise trade volume from 3.3% to 2.8% in 2015, which, if realized, would mark the fourth consecutive year in which annual trade growth has fallen below 3%. As stated by WTO, it would also be the fourth year where trade has grown at roughly the same rate as world GDP, rather than twice as fast, as was the case in the 1990s and early 2000s. This then leads to the debate whether the trade slowdown is cyclical or structural.

Taking a quick look at that, with EM exports being in the red for the last 9-10 months, there has been a lot of discussion whether the contraction is all cyclical or if there is a structural element to it as well. Recent studies indicate that apart from a cyclical element of lower global demand impacting trade, there is a structural element—a breakdown in global value chains (GVC), i.e., trade in intermediate goods that serve as inputs for subsequent re-exports. As stated by the IMF, this is reflected in declining elasticity of world trade with respect to GDP which is currently at 0.7 versus 1.5 during 2001-2007 and a high of 2.2 between1986-2000. While acknowledging that exports have not hitherto been India’s key growth driver, India’s merchandise exports have been in the red for nearly 10 months, with the decline steeper than its Asian counterparts (September exports are down 24%). While part of this is attributed to commodity-linked exports (oil, metal, ores and food), the contraction is broad-based, impacting non-commodity sector such as engineering goods, textiles and gems & jewellery. On a destination basis, while exports to the US and Europe have held up, there has been a deceleration in exports to Asia and the Middle East.

While Indian exports play a smaller role in the global value chain, the weakness in global trade appears to be primarily driven by lower commodity prices and subdued global demand. The trade data suggests that Indian exporters are finding it difficult to gain market share in an environment where the rupee has held up relatively better than its peers in a world with significant global excess capacity. Key to note is that the overall trade deficit picture remains benign as 17% fall in exports so far this fiscal is accompanied with a 14% fall in imports, resulting in a narrowing of the trade deficit. So, what are the potential ‘policy upgrades’ needed on the export front? Apart from the conventional approaches to improving the ease of doing business in terms of better infrastructure, taxation policy, labour etc, the focus should be on:

In the Make-in-India initiative, especially given India’s advantage in terms of democracy, demography, and demand, whereby the country develops manufacturing capabilities to cater to domestic as well as international demand; however, given the slowdown in the global economy, one should be cognisant of the need to not focus on sectors seeing a build-up of excess capacity,

* addressing the skills gap to help consolidate service exports,

* and, last but not the least, a re-look at the country’s policies on regional trade agreements, especially with the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Interestingly, a Peterson study by Fred Bergsten indicates that if China and the rest of APEC join at the second stage of a TPP that continues to exclude India, India would lose $50 billion annually. But if it joins, the gains would be very significant, around $500 billion a year! India faces critical choices, and its decisions would have far reaching consequences on its trade linkages with the world economy.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Extra 2% flexibility for states in an otherwise even GST

Even as the composite rate for the goods and services tax (GST) is yet to be finalised, policymakers here have come to an understanding that the proposed comprehensive indirect tax will have equal central and state components (C-GST and S-GST). However, states will have the flexibility to keep a slightly higher rate of S-GST for some goods to meet their revenue expediencies or even as a policy tool. A senior official said here on Tuesday that this “narrow band” over and above the S-GST rate would, however, be capped at 2%, meaning if the standard rate is 8%, some items could for specified periods be taxed at rates not exceeding 10%. Rashmi Verma, special secretary (revenue) in the finance ministry, said at a conference organised by industry chamber CII: “The (narrow band) could be kept lower than 2% but certainly not above 2%.”

The central and state governments are yet to decide on the number of tax slabs in the GST but there would indeed be one merit rate applicable on items like essential commodities and foodgrains and the more commonly applied higher rate called the standard rate. While there is no consensus yet in the Rajya Sabha on the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill (which requires two-thirds majority of all present and voting), the Centre and states are going ahead with drafting the model GST legislation so that the tax reform could be rolled out once the political logjam is resolved.

Verma said that GST regime does not encourage tax exemptions. However, the state-specific exemptions could continue. “The taxpayer will have to pay GST in full, but the states could refund them as they do in some cases now (if regional exemptions are to be maintained),” Verma said. One example is the refund of entertainment tax on regional movies that some states give. While about 250 manufactured items and about 100 services are exempted from central taxes, all states put together have about 99 exemptions from value-added tax (VAT). While these exemptions may more or less continue in the initial years of GST, the idea is to converge them over a period of time.

Many expert panels have recommended revenue-neutral rates (RNR) for an all-encompassing GST between 12% and 27%. However, the Rajya Sabha select panel that reviewed the GST Bill is of the view the GST rate should not exceed 20% and finance minister Arun Jaitley also articulated his preference for keeping GST rate as low as possible. The finance ministry on Tuesday invited public comments on the report on tax returns to be filed by businesses and traders. The report revamps the entire input tax credit system with the help of a massive IT network that attempts to plug tax evasion. VS Krishnan, member, GST in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), said businesses will file GST returns based on self-assessment. When one of the parties to a transaction files details of a sale or a purchase in the GST network, it would auto-populate the details on the other parties’ expected return. If the returns are not matched in two months, the tax credit allowed would be reversed. “The return filing system is designed to save time and increase tax compliance,” explained Krishnan. The report on GST returns specifies the frequency and contents of filings to be made by different classes of taxpayers.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Ink FTA with EU to offset adverse impact of TPP on textiles: Assocham

India should sign a free trade agreement with the European Union to offset the negative impact anticipated from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) accord on the country's textiles exports, Assocham said.  In August, expressing disappointment and concern over the EU banning sale of around 700 pharma products clinically tested by GVK Biosciences, India has deferred the talks with the European Union on the proposed free trade agreement ( FTA).

Pointing out that the textiles industry has the potential to touch USD 500 billion by 2025 from the current level of USD 100 billion, the industry body advocated signing of a free trade pact with European Union (EU) "before our industry becomes uncompetitive due to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)".  The US, Japan and 10 other Pacific-Rim nations recently reached a final agreement on the largest regional trade accord in history dubbed as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.  "The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) between US, Japan, Canada, Chile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Brunei, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru, which has been signed last week will cause trade diversions effects in some of the key sectors such as textiles and clothing industries for India," Assocham said.

In a note submitted to the government, the chamber has stated that the estimated USD 500 billion potential consists of domestic sales of USD 315 billion and exports of USD 185 billion.  "The domestic market has to grow at 16-17 per cent from the present USD 68 billion to around USD 315 billion. Currently, the total textile exports from India are around USD 40 billion," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.  "Since we have not been able to complete the Doha Round of trade talks, our textiles industry is to face duty of 15-30 per cent in the developed markets of US and EU against the Least Developed (LD) countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar who are at zero duty," he added.

The US accounts for 20-35 per cent of India's ready-made garment exports and the TPP is going to affect India's textile sector in two ways: First, TPP member countries will get preferential access in the US markets as against Indian exporters. This would disadvantage India as US import duties on ready-made garments are high, the industry body noted.  Secondly, the Yarn Forward Rule -- a key feature of TPP -- makes it mandatory to source yarn, fabric and other inputs from any or a combination of TPP partner countries to avail duty preference. This would change the dynamics of the existing global supply chain in textile and clothing sector.  At present, India exports yarn and fabric to Vietnam, which then makes the textiles and exports to countries like the US. Now, because of yarn forward rule, they will be under pressure to develop local production.  While Vietnam will have zero-duty access to the US market for textiles, Indian players will have to pay higher duties, which will make India's textiles exports uncompetitive.  The India-EU trade talks, formally known as Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), remain stuck as both sides are not satisfied with each other's offers.  The talks were launched in June, 2007 and have missed several deadlines.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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India, Russia decide to boost trade ties

India and Russia today discussed ways to boost their economic ties to achieve the target of $30 billion in bilateral trade in the next 10 years. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, chairing the 21st India-Russia Inter-Governmental Consultations, also looked at ways to enhance the mutual direct investment to $15 billion by 2025. Both the sides identified various sectors to achieve these commercial targets, agreed upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit meeting last year. Bilateral trade during in 2014 amounted to $9.51 billion, with Indian export touching $3.17 billion and imports from Russia $6.34 billion. Agriculture, pharmaceutical and infrastructure were some of the areas identified by both sides to strengthen their economic engagement. While economic agenda was one of the focus areas in the consultations today, the other areas deliberated upon were space, energy, culture and science and technology. Officials said India also reiterated its commitment to work towards having 12 Russian nuclear plants as was agreed between Modi and Putin.

Russia is an important partner for India in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Earlier Swaraj interacted with top Russian Indologists. The Indologists briefed her about their work including translations of Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as teaching of Indian languages. In her remarks, Swaraj said hallmark of Indian literature and culture has been respect for all points of view. "From translations of Ramayana and Mahabharata to Rabindra Sangeet and teaching of Indian languages, Russian Indologists briefed the External Affairs Minister on their work," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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India, Canada closely working to finalise CEPA: Brian Parrott

India and Canada are closely working to finalise the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), Minister (Commercial) High Commission of Canada Brian Parrott said.  The negotiations for the free trade agreement, officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), between the countries were launched in November, 2010. The proposed pact seeks to open services sector and facilitate investment proposals.

Inaugurating the International Conference on Smart Cities at the PHD Chamber of Commerce here today, Parrott said that Canada can help India in building some of the smart cities with world-class infrastructure. "318 Canadian companies have their footprints in India and with increased globalisation, Canadian companies' presence in India will multiply in due course of time, especially when India accepts the Canadian expertise and technological development in building for it a number of smart cities," Parrott said.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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India-Africa meet on Oct 23 to spur trade ties

In a bid to bolster trade relations and fast-track regional agreements, particularly in the oil and gas sector and maritime cooperation, trade ministers from the African continent will meet their Indian counterparts in the national capital on Friday. Trade ministers, representatives and 400 businessmen from 53 nations of the region, will converge in New Delhi in the run-up to the India-Africa Summit to discuss ways to reinforce trade ties with India. Speaking to FE, senior officials said: “Trade ministers along with 400 businessmen from the region will meet top ministers and industry captains at the India-Africa Trade Ministers’ Meeting (IATMM) being organised by the ministry of commerce and Industry. The trade ministers from the region will discuss ways to bolster trade ties with India and fast-track regional agreements. And will provide an opportunity to take stock of our trade relations and explore the possibilities of taking our engagements to the next level,” they added. Trade ministers of 53 countries have been extended invitations to participate in the 4th IATMM, along with the Commissioner for Trade and Industry, African Union Commission, and secretary-generals/heads of eight RECs in Africa.

The eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) include Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Secretary (west), ministry of external affairs, Navtej Sarna, said: “India’s current trade with Africa stands at around $75 billion and it has granted some $7.4 billion for various developmental and capacity building projects in the past four years. India has implemented a total of 137 projects in 41 African countries during the said period, said Navtej Sarna, secretary (west), MEA. A number of African countries, including Tanzania, Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda, have huge oil and gas reserves and India wants to invest in the sector to fuel its economic growth. Ties between India and the 54 African countries assumes importance in the face of two mega regional trading agreements being negotiated — the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and the EU and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) among 12 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan. Significantly, the 10th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which will be held in Nairobi on December 15-18, is expected to see the developed world led by the US and the EU in a stand-off against developing countries led by India, China and others.

Sources said the negotiations that will take place at the trade meet on October 23, would seek to form a support base of partnership in countering such heavy-handedness from big blocs. Besides forming a common partnership on international trading concerns, the India-Africa Forum Summit would also see India and the 54 African countries forming a partnership on global issues like reform of the UN Security Council for greater representation and on climate change. The discussions on climate change are set to figure in a major way at the summit, especially ahead of ‘Conference of the Parties’ in Paris next month.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Global crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 45.34 per bbl on 20.10.2015

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 45.34 per barrel (bbl) on 20.10.2015. This was lower than the price of US$ 46.47 per bbl on previous publishing day of 19.10.2015.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs 2942.04 per bbl on 20.10.2015 as compared to Rs 3012.31 per bbl on 19.10.2015. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 64.89 per US$ on 20.10.2015 as against Rs 64.82 per US$ on 19.10.2015. The table below gives details in this regard: 

Particulars

Unit

Price on October 20, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 19.10.2015)

Pricing Fortnight for 16.10.2015

(Sep 29 to Oct 13, 2015)

Crude Oil (Indian Basket)

($/bbl)

45.34              (46.47)

47.70

(Rs/bbl

2942.04          (3012.31)

3115.29

Exchange Rate

(Rs/$)

64.89            (64.82)

65.31

SOURCE: PIB

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New report sheds light on the technical textile market

Technical textiles is a global knowledge-based research-oriented industry. Since the past few years, the sector is gaining slow but steady growth worldwide due to its technical performance and functional properties in the global textiles industry. Technical textile is a special type of material or product designed for specific applications, while offering unique & exclusive characteristics that are different from those of normal fabric.  The technical textiles market has grown exponentially in the last few years and this trend is projected to continue. The market was valued at USD 144.07 billion in 2014. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.18% from 2014 to reach USD 193.91 billion by 2020. The market is primarily driven by factors such as improving economic condition of countries, technology advancements, and increasing end-use applications.

The technical textiles market is led by Asia-Pacific followed by North America. The Chinese technical textiles market not only dominates the region but also the global market. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the fastest-growing technical textiles market for the period under consideration. The market is projected to grow significantly at a CAGR of 5.63% in terms of value from 2015 to 2020. The U.S. is the major market in North America owing to increasing awareness and increasing expenditure on technical textile products.

The technical textiles market has broadly been segmented on the basis of fiber type, technology, application, and region. The report analyzes various market trends and identifies market dynamics, such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges. The key players adopted both organic and inorganic growth strategies. Leading market players of the technical textiles market opted for new product launch, investments, expansions, mergers & acquisitions, and agreements in order to gain advantage. Major players such as E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co (U.S.), Asahi Kasei Corporation (Japan), and Freudenberg & Co. KG. (Germany) opted for new product launch as one of the major key strategies to capture the technical textiles market globally, by adding innovative products to their product portfolio. Other players such as Kimberly Clarke Corporation (U.S.), Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo), and SRF Company (India) adopted expansions & investments as key strategies to expand their business.

SOURCE: The Whatech

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Taipei textile show opens with record exhibitors

Taipei Innovation Textile Application Show kicked off Oct. 19, with a record 370 exhibitors from 10 countries and territories participating in the three-day event. Organized by Taiwan Textile Federation, the annual show features the latest and greatest products at 790 booths. In addition, more than 1,000 one-on-one business matchmaking sessions are scheduled in the hope of generating over NT$2 billion (US$61.69 million) in trade for local firms. During the opening ceremony, ROC Vice President Wu Den-yih said Taiwan’s textile industry produced foreign reserve income of US$8.13 billion in 2014. He also praised the sector for creating jobs, boosting the national economy and helping maintain social stability. “Taiwan’s 4,300 firms produced NT$439.2 billion in output last year, a per capita equivalent of NT$3.07 million for the sector’s 140,000 employees,” he said, adding that the show affords local firms the opportunity to sharpen global competitiveness through innovation.

One of the highlights of the event is the debut of a smart clothing fabric with electrically conductive membrane for monitoring the wearer’s physical condition by Taipei City-based Far Eastern New Century Corp. Equally important is increasing interest in local products by foreign firms. These include first-time show participants Hugo Boss of Germany, Ralph Lauren of the U.S. and Taiwan-Turkey Business Council. TTF Secretary-General Justin Huang said the business council’s participation is especially significant at a time when local firms are looking to grow their commercial footprints in Central Asia, Europe and South Russia. “Turkish firms command an 18 percent market share in Europe and maintain working relationships with partners in Germany, Spain and the U.K.,” Huang said. “This makes them a big fish well worth landing.” “We will continue enhancing exchanges and interactions with the business council so as to open the door for Taiwan-made functional fabrics to Europe.”

SOURCE: The Taiwan Today

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Pakistan’s Value-added textile sector critical of poor infrastructure

Value-added textile manufacturers-cum-exporters on Tuesday slammed the PPP government in Sindh for letting industries suffer with decaying infrastructure, dwindling water and power supplies. Speaking at a meeting with Sindh Industries Minister Muhammad Ali Malkani at PHMA House, Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Abdul Rasheed said that the PPP government continued to ignore Karachi from its development plans despite the city provided over 63 percent revenue to the national economy.  Political governments are busier in boosting up their vote bank, he said, adding that the industries continued to suffer from the broken infrastructure despite being vital to the national exchequer. "Karachi is treated as orphan and burnt into flames," he said, adding that "however for the last few months situation has considerably improved."  He said that the provincial taxes were uncounted, which needed a consolidation to help facilitate the industrial taxpayers. He blamed the government for numerous taxes saying the manifold taxation system had been kept intact just to protect the bureaucracy. Similarly, he said that the social security audit was just harassment to the exporters by the government and nothing else.

Chief Coordinator, PHMA, Javed Bilwani said the government should allow 10 other power distributing companies in the city to end the K-Electric monopoly. He asked the government to introduce an incentive package for the industrial growth. He said that the government should also build a circular railways network for the public to end the transportation chaos in the city. He termed the federal government's imposition of 10 percent regularity duty on cotton yarn import, saying the imposition was illegal in line with the international laws. "Nowhere in the world, the governments places regularity duties on import of raw material but in Pakistan," he added.

Muhammad Ali Malkani said the Sindh government was unable and unwilling to own steel mills for its financial constraints. He said the people party was not opposed to the privatization of national entities rather wanted to protect the workers' rights and jobs. For some technical reasons, he said that the power distribution companies could not be allowed to function in the city. He assured the exporters to meet their demands and remove concerns in the next fiscal budget.

SOURCE: The Business Recorder

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World Bank revises down forecast of crude oil prices

The World Bank on Tuesday lowered its 2015 forecast for crude oil prices from $57 per barrel in its July report to $52 per barrel, a development that could bring in additional savings to the Indian treasury. Bank's quarterly Commodity Markets Outlook said the revised forecast reflects a further slowing in global economic performance, high current oil inventories and expectations that Iranian oil exports will rise after the lifting of international sanctions. According to the report, the Bank's Energy Price Index tumbled 17 per cent in the third quarter of 2015 from the previous three-month period, led by a renewed plunge in oil prices prompted by expectations of slower global growth, particularly in China and other emerging markets, abundant supplies and prospects of higher Iranian exports next year. Energy prices are expected to average 43 per cent lower in 2015 than in 2014. For commodities, excluding energy, the World Bank reports a five per cent decline in prices in third quarter and forecasts that non-energy prices will register a 14 per cent decline in 2015 from the previous year's levels. "We see a five-year-long slide in most commodity prices continuing in the third quarter of 2015. There are sufficient inventories of oil and other commodities and demand is weak, especially for industrial commodities, which is why prices may stay persistently low," said John Baffes, Senior Economist and lead author of Commodity Markets Outlook. The Bank said within several months, Iran could increase crude oil production by 0.5-0.7 million barrels per day (mb/d), potentially reaching a 2011 pre-sanctions level of 3.6 mb/d.

In addition, Iran could immediately begin exporting from its 40 million barrels of floating storage of oil, it noted. Given that Iran has the largest known gas global reserves (18 per cent of the world total), it has the potential to produce and export a significant volume of natural gas over the long term, the Bank said. "The potential impact of Iranian oil and gas exports on global and regional markets could be large over the long term if Iran can attract the necessary foreign investment and technology to leverage its substantial reserves," said Ayhan Kose, Director of the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group. Uncertainty about Iran's capacity to ramp up exports adds to risks to the energy-price forecast. Downside risks include higher-than-expected OPEC production and continuing falling costs along with improved productivity of the US shale oil industry. Slowing demand and high stocks could further weigh on oil prices, the Bank said in its report. Falling crude oil prices is a blessing for India's economy as it helps macro-economic management (both budget and fiscal) by improving macro fundamentals (inflation, fiscal deficit and current account deficit). India imports more than two-thirds of its oil requirement, which constitutes around 30 per cent of total imports. A fall of one-dollar in the price of oil saves the country about Rs 40 billion.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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Trans-Pacific Partnership: Indonesia’s lost opportunity?

On Sept. 5, negotiators from 12 countries in the Pacific Rim agreed to a trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Although a free trade agreement, it also covers a wide range of issues beyond trade, such as investment, government procurement and intellectual property rights. The agreement can be influential to world trade, as the economy of its 12 member countries accounts for around 11 percent of the world population and 37 percent of the global economy.These 12 countries are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States. The pact promises to usher in closer economic relations between members and become a benchmark for future trade deals.

Although Indonesia has at times expressed interest, it has never been a part of the negotiations. And unlike Japan, neither did it join at later negotiating stages. Indonesia is paying a price for excluding itself from the TPP.First is the lost chance to shape the agreement. The TPP is an open-accession agreement; countries can join it later on. Given its benefits, Indonesia has expressed interest in joining the TPP on separate occasions. But countries that do will not be able to shape the agreed provisions. By not being a member since the TPP’s inception, Indonesia deprived itself of the ability to mold the provisions according to its national interests. For example, there are reports that some countries were pushing for provisions that afford 12 years of data exclusivity for pharmaceutical patent holders. As a developing country, Indonesia has an interest to lower this data exclusivity period in order to produce cheaper generic drugs for its populace. Indonesia lost the opportunity to influence this provision by not becoming a TPP negotiating member.Second is the potential trade diversion from the agreement. A free trade agreement tends to increase trade between members, called trade creation. Conversely, it tends to decrease trade between members and non-members, called trade diversion. The threat of trade diversion looms especially large between countries of similar profile in their export products. Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are exporters of manufactured goods, such as textiles, automotive parts, tires and electronics.With Vietnam and Malaysia being members of TPP, producers of such manufactured goods there will gain preferential tariffs and better access to markets in the US and Japan. Better access translates to more orders and production. Such a threat to textile exports is especially alarming, as the US textile market is the largest for Indonesian exporters, accounting for 36 percent in 2014, according to data from the Indonesian Textile Association. By being excluded from the TPP, Indonesia’s manufacturing exports might stagnate and lose out to its peers in Vietnam and Malaysia. This also runs contrary to the goal of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to reorient Indonesia’s exports from commodities to manufactured goods.

Considering the price Indonesia is paying, one might wonder why the government was not a TPP negotiating member. The perception that Indonesia ‘is not ready’ is often cited as the reason. TPP will require high standards in areas such as trade in services, intellectual property rights, government procurement and investor-state dispute settlement. Yet this argument can be easily reversed. The TPP can be used as an impetus for furthering Indonesia’s domestic reforms. It can be used as an opportunity to accelerate Indonesia’s service liberalization, strengthen its intellectual property rights regime, ensure efficiency and transparency in government procurement and spur much-needed foreign investment.The recent announcement by Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong that the country could join the pact in the next two years is welcome news. However, as explained in the first point above, Indonesia has lost the opportunity to shape the agreement. This calls for the government to pay attention to the timing of entering a pact and its negotiations. Yet, on the second point, the government can still prevent Vietnam and Malaysia from grabbing Indonesia’s market share in the US by joining the agreement. Indonesia could still reap the benefits from the TPP.

SOURCE: The Jakarta Post

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Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) promotes trade pacts

DBS Bank Taiwan yesterday said that the nation’s textile sector might overcome political constraints and reap the tariff benefits of major regional trade bloc agreements by establishing a greater manufacturing presence in Vietnam. In the face of sweeping global changes, such as rising competition from Chinese rivals, the nation’s textile sector is at risk of losing its dominant position in the world market if Taiwan is excluded from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), DBS said yesterday. The TPP, whose 12 prospective member states represent 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of international trade, is poised to expand access to the US and Japan markets for local companies, while the RCEP is to benefit from trade with China, which accounts for 21.6 percent of textile exports, the bank said. Most notably, free-trade agreements have begun shaping sourcing decisions by major international brands as tariff cuts or elimination vastly outweigh savings on labor costs gained through setting up production bases in countries where labor is cheaper, DBS said. “A major reshuffling of market share control is expected in the future, as we have observed that major clients have been asking whether their suppliers have established manufacturing capacity in Vietnam,” DBS Vickers Hong Kong Ltd research director Dennis Lam said. “Compared with other countries, where the cost of labor remains relatively low, Vietnam has the most established infrastructure,” Lam said at a forum in Taipei. He said that investing in Vietnam is the best option for local players to stay competitive by leveraging their technical expertise in the upper segments of the textiles supply chain.

However, for companies with production bases in Vietnam, TPP tariff benefits are to be limited by the “yarn forward” rules of origin demand, whereby signatory nations use yarn produced by TPP members to receive access to zero tariffs. The quality and price competitiveness of Vietnam-made yarns still lags behind that of Taiwan and China, and companies would still rely on imports to produce garments, disqualifying their products from tariff exemptions. “We expect yarn supply constraints in Vietnam to diminish rapidly in the near future after the TPP is implemented, and shortages would spur further investments in the segment,” Lam said.

Given their smaller scale, Lam advised Taiwanese companies to partner with Chinese companies in Vietnam to establish a virtually integrated supply chain by drawing on each others’ strengths. “Although wages in Vietnam have been rising, there is still a considerable gap compared with China, where wages have been rising 12 percent annually,” he added. In addition, as Vietnam does not have a well-established cotton and yarn industry, foreign investment plans are not expected to face a backlash from protectionism policies. Foreign direct investments in Vietnam last year reached US$20 billion, of which US$12 billion was allocated to the local textile industry. Overall, growth in the global textile sector is to be driven by rising demand for fast fashion garments and casual sportswear, high-performance sportswear made of functional fabrics, and the increasing purchasing power of Asia’s middle class, DBS said.

SOURCE: The Taipei Times

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