The Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) has welcomed the amendment of 2 per cent export benefit under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) permitting the export of fabrics and man-made fibre spun yarns to leading markets such as African countries, the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Earlier, the benefit was confined only to to exports to countries in Group A and Japan in Group B and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Group C for fabrics. In the case of manmade fibre spun yarn, the benefit was extended only to countries in Group A and Japan in Group B. Now the benefit has been extended to all countries in Group A, B and C for both fabrics and manmade fibre spun yarn. In the case of made-ups and garments, the benefit was extended to all countries in Group A and only Japan in Group B. Now the benefit has been extended to all countries in Group A and B.
In a press release, SIMA Chairman M Senthilkumar said that this amendment has come as a relief to the textile industry which is under severe stress and is struggling with excess production capacity, particularly in the spinning sector.“Cotton yarn also could have been included as the highly capital and labour intensive spinning sector is under more stress when compared to other segments. The relief given to the manmade fibre spun yarn might slightly increase the exports and help the spinning sector to certain extent,” he said.Senthilkumar also said that the domestic demand for yarn might slightly improve if the fabric and other value added product exports increase taking advantage of the benefit.The SIMA chief appealed to the Government to expedite the announcement of interest subvention for all textile products which is under consideration for the last one year.
In recent times, the Indian textile industry has been facing one of the worst ever crisis in its history due to slow down in the global market for textiles and clothing, regional FTAs that reduced exports from India due to tariff barriers, expensive cotton and manmade fibre price when compared to the international price, undue delay in disbursement of TUF subsidies, etc.The industry had been demanding to extend additional incentives under MEIS and also 3 per cent interest subvention for export of all textile products till the Indian textiles and clothing exports reach their potential growth rate and a level playing field is created in the open market.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
Century Textiles & Industries named Kumar Mangalam Birla its vice-chairman, an ascension that was due for a while. With the chairman of the $41 billion Aditya Birla Group tightening his grip on his uncle's company, markets have become abuzz with an imminent restructuring of its business, sending the shares higher. BK Birla, the 94-year-old Birla family patriarch, had often hinted that the control of Century Textiles, one of the most valued company in his group, would go to KM Birla, but the longer than expected time it took for the formal announcement resulted in extreme speculations. Analysts saw Friday's announcement as a precursor to the much talked about restructuring of Century Textiles and expected the company would be at a cusp of a major transformation. Century has BK Birla group's real estate, cement, textiles and papermaking businesses. The market has been speculating that the company may sell its over 13 million tonne cement business, estimated to be worth over Rs 10,500 crore, to Aditya Birla's Ultratech Cement in a share-swap deal. Analysts also expect that there could be a change in shareholding even in the paper and textiles businesses, with Century focusing fully on real estate. Century has already started development at Parel in Mumbai where it may sell more than 50 lakh square feet of commercial and residential space. The company also owns more than 500 acres at Sahahad at Kalyan near Mumbai. The textiles business, along with apparels sold under the 'Cottons' brand, has synergy with Aditya Birla's Madura Garments and Pantaloon Fashions. The company's share rose more than 3% after it made the announcement, but gave up part of the gains to close Friday 1% higher at Rs 554.40 in a negative Mumbai market. "KM Birla's appointment was long due and restructuring of the company is a necessity to unlock value and give a major push to all the businesses that are scattered as of now," said SP Tulsian, independent analyst at Premium Investments. "The restructuring would give boost to Aditya Birla group's cement as well as real estate business."
Century's cement business, if merged with Ultratech, would expand the latter company's capacity to more than 100 million tonnes a year, taking it way ahead of another large player in the sector, Holcim. "The merger of Century's cement business with Ultratech will lead to higher physical, geographical distribution reach and a sharp increment in capacity for Ultratech," said Vinay Khattar, head of research at Edelweiss Financial Services. "KM Birla's appointment is a positive move and a step that the industry has been expecting for a while. It was believed that Century Textiles would eventually come to KM Birla."KM Birla is also expected to increase his holding in Century by 5% before December 18 by converting 101 lakh warrants that he holds via private companies.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Update calls for three key domestic reforms for the economy to achieve its potential. First, boosting the balance sheets of the banking sector by addressing the underlying challenges in the infrastructure sector, especially power and roads. The poor and deteriorating asset-quality of public sector banks is the biggest challenge facing the financial sector and a drag on credit growth, the Update says. Second, continuing to improve the ease of doing business and enacting the GST; and third, enhancing the capacity of states and local governments to deliver public service as more resources are devolved from the center. “The most significant risks to the outlook stem from the banking sector and financing requirements of infrastructure companies. Public sector banks, which account for three-fourths of domestic credit, are under stress, with a rising share of non-performing. This restricts financing for private investment. Apart from the welcome capital injections and governance reforms that the Government is undertaking, ensuring a long-term solution to the debt overhang of infrastructure firms is needed to ensure sustainable financing,” Frederico Gil Sander, Senior Country Economist and Task Team Leader of the India Development Update.
Specifically the Update calls for the timely implementation of the GST in order to make India a truly single market and suggests the widest possible base for goods to be included under the GST. It suggests eventually bringing in alcohol, electricity, and real estate under the preview of the proposed GST, which are currently excluded from it.
According to the Update, even though alcohol and petroleum account for over 40 to 45 per cent of VAT/sales tax revenues for the states, there are few technical reasons for excluding them from the GST. Exclusion of electricity would mean that manufacturing firms are unable to claim credits for the duty they pay and are, therefore, taxed twice. In the case of alcohol, including it in GST would help address concerns about state excise rate arbitrage. Bringing real estate under the GST umbrella may complement the government's efforts to curb undeclared 'black money' in the sector, the Update explains. Another significant step taken by the government has been the greater devolution of the spending power from the centre to the states and local bodies, it says. States are now responsible for 57 per cent of the spending, which accounts for 16 percent of GDP. Of this, nearly 74 per cent of the funds are untied (compared to an average of 57 per cent during the 13th Finance Commission period), allowing more flexibility to states.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) likely grew around 7.3% in the July-September quarter, up from 7% in the first quarter of FY16, but it remained below the country’s potential, Moody’s Analytics said on Friday. Though India’s potential is around 9-10% GDP growth, it said closing the negative output gap is difficult as external headwinds are blowing stronger and the government has failed to deliver promised reforms. “We believe GDP will grow at 7.6% this year and in 2016,” it said. Key economic reforms including in land acquisition, a national goods and service tax, and revamped labour laws, would help the country deliver higher GDP growth, it said. The World Bank on Thursday retained growth forecast for India at 7.5% for this year citing a pick up in investment due to higher capital expenditure by the Centre. India’s GDP grew by 7.3% in FY15.
However, Moody’s cautioned that getting the Rajya Sabha nod to some of the key reforms could get obstructed by an “obstructionist” opposition as recent controversial comments from ruling-Bharatiya Janata Party members won’t help the government’s cause. The ongoing state election in Bihar could prove pivotal to Modi’s leadership, it said. A win, would help the ruling party secure a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Unlike in the Lok Sabha, the GST bill is held up in the Rajya Sabha as the government does not have a majority in the upper house. On the other side, the Reserve Bank of India has helped kick-start the economic recovery by cutting the repo rate by 125 basis points this year. Banks have also started passing the rate cut benefits to consumers. Further rate cuts in 2015 are unlikely, Moody’s said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
India’s improvement in the ease of doing business ranking is a reflection of the series of small steps announced by the government but there is still a long way to go, says a Nomura report. According to the Japanese brokerage firm, India is on the right track, but has a long road ahead. Out of 189 countries ranked by the World Bank in its ease of doing business report, India’s rank has improved to 130 this year. In 2015, India was originally placed at 142nd position and later the same was revised to 134th place. “The improvement reflects the series of small steps announced by the government to foster an investment-friendly environment,” Nomura said in a research note.
The report further noted that “with reform efforts ongoing, including the likely introduction of a bankruptcy law in winter session of the parliament, this trend of improving the ease of doing business in India should continue.” India’s ranking on ‘getting electricity’ and ‘starting a business’ parameter has improved. Businesses can now get electricity sooner due to fast internal processing and the removal of redundant inspections. In addition, starting a business has been made easier by eliminating minimum capital requirements through amendments to the Companies Act, Nomura said. “Compared to other emerging markets, India’s ranking lags behind peers the most in dealing with construction permits, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency,” it said. As part of making the process easier for starting a business, the government has eliminated the requirements for a paid-in minimum capital and a certificate to commence business operations, significantly streamlining the process of starting a business. The government targets breaking into the top-50 ranking within three years (by 2017).
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Helped by higher dividends and tax receipts, the Centre’s fiscal deficit was contained at Rs 3.78 lakh crore or 68.1% of the FY16 budget estimates in the first six months of the fiscal even after giving a good-enough booster dose to Plan Expenditure. In the first half of last fiscal, the fiscal deficit stood at 82.6% of the corresponding target. The fiscal deficit in April-September was Rs 3.78 lakh crore, while the deficit estimated in the Budget (BE) for the full year is Rs 5.56 lakh crore. While revenue receipts have been rather strong, the Centre also managed to curb non-Plan expenditures, mostly of the routine variety and not reckoned to be very productive in nature. Gross tax collections grew about 22% to Rs 5.96 lakh crore in April-September as against just 7% in the same period a year ago. After transfers to states, the tax revenue stood at Rs 3.69 lakh crore or 40.2% of the BE compared with 33.1% in the year ago period.
Total revenue receipts in April-September stood at Rs 5.13 lakh crore, or 45% of the BE of Rs 11.41 lakh crore, thanks to a higher dividend of Rs 75,545 crore, most of it from the central bank’s surplus profit transfer. For the same period last year, revenue receipts were 35.1% of the BE. Total expenditure in April-September was Rs 9.1 lakh crore or 51.2% of the BE, according to data compiled by the Controller General of Accounts. Total expenditure in the same period last year was 48% of the BE for that year.
In April-September, Plan Expenditure stood at Rs 2.54 lakh crore or 54.6% of the BE, which is a substantial improvement compared to 42.8% of the BE in the year-ago period. Non-Plan spending during the first six months of FY16 stood at Rs 6.57 lakh crore, or 50% of the BE against 50.5% of the BE of FY15. While the deficit has been contained better than last year so far, the government seems to be clamping down on non-Plan spending to make room for some additional spending commitments to be met in later months, including bank capitalisation. The narrowing of fiscal deficit in the first six months could remove concerns about achieving the target of 3.9% of GDP in FY16 despite a likely shortfall in tax revenues of Rs 50,000 crore in FY16 and likely significant underachievement of disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore. Analysts say fall in crude prices and higher indirect tax collections due to increases in tax rates in the latest budget, has given the Centre some breathing space for fiscal management.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
With the US keen on accelerating the BIT negotiations process, India has shared with it the draft copy of the proposed bilateral investment treaty that awaits Cabinet approval. During the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting that concluded yesterday, Indian officials told their American counterparts that they would be in a better position to talk on it once the draft of the model text for the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is approved by the Cabinet. "In fact, they wanted us to have a detailed talk on it. The investment treaty is awaiting Cabinet clearance. Draft copies (of BIT) was exchanged," Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Indian reporters at the conclusion of ninth round of India-US TPF, which she co-chaired with the US Trade Representative Mike Froman. Sitharaman told US officials that India would be in a better position to hold talks on it once it is cleared by the Cabinet, which is expected soon.
Responding to a question, Sitharaman said India is not taking away jobs from the US. In fact, Indian investment in the US is giving jobs to thousands of Americans. The US noted India's concerns over the limitations on mobility of skilled professionals and issues concerning H1B and L1 visas, including the spike in rejection rates of L-1 visas. ndia also underlined its interest in the early conclusion of a Totalisation Agreement and the need to address the anomaly in US law which requires Indian professionals to pay social security without receiving the related benefits.
On totalisation agreement, in her meetings, Sitharaman told the American officials that social security network may not be comparable in countries. "They say as long as we do not have a comparable social security cover in India, they think it may not be fair for them to extend the benefit to us. In the absence of that it is not possible for them to extend (social security cover)," she said. Next week, Sitharaman is scheduled to attend a meeting of Fortune 500 companies in San Francisco. "This is essentially to talk about investment climate in India. Considering that they are Fortune 500 companies, we certainly want to engage them and explain about things happening in India," she said. According to a joint statement issued at the conclusion of India-US TPF, Sitharaman and Froman highlighted the important role of the services sector in the two countries and the significant potential for increasing bilateral services trade and investment.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India and the US held a key trade meeting here that focussed on translating "enhanced" engagement into tangible results amid a "high bar" of relationship set by their top leadership. "Our work this week under the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) focussed on translating engagement into tangible results that will increase the pace of trade growth between our economies," US Trade Representative Michael Froman said. Froman was speaking at a reception hosted in honour of Nirmala Sitharaman - Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Commerce & Industry, as well as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Finance Ministry - by the US India Business Council (USIBC). The two co-chaired the ninth India US Trade Policy Forum meeting. "To that end, Minister Sitharaman and I focussed our work on forward looking policy initiatives in intellectual property, manufacturing, agriculture and services that can expand trade and investment and benefit our manufacturers, workers, innovators, service providers, farmers, and ranchers," Froman said. "We have seen enhanced engagement between the United States and India in the course of the past year, with a high bar set by President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Sitharaman congratulated Froman on the successful conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after eight years of painstaking efforts. "The US-India Trade Policy Forum was an intense engagement, one which we can say with confidence is moving forward with a lot of positive outcomes," she said. The TPF represents another important step towards strengthened trade relations between the US and India, said USIBC president Mukesh Aghi. India is growing to be one of the most open economies in the world today and USIBC member companies are excited by the opportunity to grow the bilateral trade five-fold, he said. Increasing FDI projects in sectors like manufacturing, defence, Smart Cities and clean technology along with positive environment fostered by initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' are proving to be game-changers and creating jobs for the Indian economy, Aghi said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Poland expects its trade volume with India to grow to $4 billion by 2020 from $2 billion now and wants its companies to expand collaboration with local companies in a host of sectors. Polish Ambassador to India Tomasz Lukaszuk today said companies from his country are keen to collaborate with domestic firms in sectors like IT, coal, food processing, power, petrochemicals, defence, science and technology. "Our bilateral trade today stands at $2 billion and we are hopeful of doubling the same to $4 billion in the next five-year period. We have identified sectors like IT/ICT, coal, food processing, power and energy, petrochemicals, chemicals, defence, science and technology, which have high potential for cooperation," Lukaszuk told PTI. The envoy was here for a meeting with a high-level business delegation from Poland organised by All India Association of Industries (AIAI). Lukaszuk said Poland is especially keen on cooperation with Indian IT firms, which have made a name for themselves in providing software services. Leading domestic IT firms like Wipro, Infosys and HCL already have a presence in the eastern European country.
India is perceived in Poland as one of the most important non-European economic partners. Poland is already India's largest trading partner in Central Europe, with trade between them witnessing an encouraging trend in recent years, the Ambassador said. He pointed out that Poland imports more than what it exports to India and the trade deficit is increasing. India exports cotton, textiles, chemical products, vehicles and vessels, while imports electromechanical appliances, mineral and chemical products, among other items. India is an economic leader and a promising place for the Polish exporter and investors, Lukaszuk said. The envoy said his country wants to expand and deepen economic ties with India and become part of 'Make in India' mission that focuses on making Asia's third-largest economy a global manufacturing base.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Dutch delegation of industrialists and businessmen lead by Netherlands Ambassador to India Alfonsus Stoelinga on Thursday met the Chief Minister N Chandrababu who briefed the delegation on various initiative his government has taken in ten sectors to attract investment. The chief minister told the delegation that in AP apart from natural and human resources, there was enough land, power supply and connectivity. The delegation, after discussion with the CM, evinced interest in investing in AP and decided to set up a joint working group to devise a road map.
The 10 sectors include textile-apparel, Agro-food processing, life sciences, electronics, mineral industry, aerospace, energy, leather, petroleum, chemicals, petro-chemicals and automobiles.He also told the delegation that the products being manufactured are proposed to be sold through big names like Amazon, Flipcart, Big Basket and Snapdeal. Philips offered to come up with energy saving devices for major industries, commercial complexes and houses. They could form special purpose vehicles with power utilities in the state and work in this direction.The chief minister praised Netherlands for occupying second position in the world in export of agriculture products. If AP laid focus on mechanisation of agriculture, the state could become unbeatable in the sector as he was also promoting inland water transport just as in Netherland. An official press release from the chief minister’s office claimed that the Netherlands Ambassador praised Naidu for his commitment to take the state forward.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Vietnamese textile and garment stocks may receive a boost after Viet Nam completes free trade agreements with other countries and organisations, experts said yesterday at a meeting. Dang Tran Hai Dang, deputy head of Vietinbank Securities Corporation's Market Analysis, said that textile-garment stocks were among the strongest gainers in the last 12 months with an increase of 27 per cent in value, behind only construction material producers. He said that most local producers have fulfilled their production capacity until the end of this year and lower input costs had helped them increase profit margins. He said that the growth potential for textile-garment stocks was along side the potential for the Vietnamese stock market as there are many positive factors that can boost the local market such as the price to earning ratio now is 12, proving that the country has a lot of investment opportunities compared to other markets such as Malaysia with P/E of 17.31 and Thailand with P/E of 16.53.
Vu Duc Giang, president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said that the textile and garment industry would be among three industries receiving the most benefits from the free trade agreements (FTAs) that the country is now finalising, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said that Vietnamese textile-garment producers were now expanding production all around country and some of them, such as Viet Tien Garment JSC and Garment 10 Corporation were completing procedures to be listed on the stock market in the near future. At the moment, some of textile-garment producers are already listed on the stock market, such as Binh Thanh Import-Export Production & Trade JSC (GIL), Everpia JSC (EVE) and Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment Trading JSC (TCM).The industry has recorded a good annual growth rate of 17-18 per cent since Viet Nam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in late 2006.Last year, the textile-garment industry exported US$24.7 billion, equal to 16 per cent of the country's total export value, and Viet Nam was among top six textile-garment exporters in the world with China, EU, Turkey, Bangladesh and India.This year, VITAS targets a maximum export value of $28 billion to make Viet Nam a top five textile-garment exporters.
Since the TPP talks reached final agreement in early October, Giang said that the TPP and other FTAs were expected to help boost the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry when they take effect. FDI would provide huge additional capital for local companies, especially material producers as VITAS was trying to raise the percentage of local-made materials in textile-garment industry from the current 50 per cent to 70 per cent in the next three years, he said. "FDI will help Viet Nam's textile-garment industry provide more job opportunities for local people and produce cheap and high-quality products for both domestic and overseas markets", Giang said. In addition, Vietnamese companies would have many chances to learn from foreign business models and receive investment from them through buying shares and increasing foreign ownership in local companies, he said. However, the local textile-garment industry would face some challenges from international partnerships, he said. He said that the industry lacked a long-term development strategy for the next 30-40 years and the quality of human resources was insufficient to meet the industry's demand for managing the production chain. The country must be aware of environmental issues related to textile-garment factories – which are often built in coastal areas and the Government should reconsider the monetary policy that may make Vietnamese companies less competitive in both domestic and global markets, he added.
SOURCE: The Vietnam News
Even as India woos the world with its Make in India programme, South Africa wants Indian firms to manufacture in the country, South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane said. In New Delhi for the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), Mashabane said South Africa wanted to enhance economic partnership with India in a way that was mutually beneficial for both the countries. "As much as Make in India, also we can Make in South Africa, as long as it is in partnership and mutually beneficial," Mashabane, a former South African ambassador in India (1999-2005), told IANS in response to a question on what kind of cooperation South Africa was looking forward to with India. Mashabane said South Africa wants to benefit from its natural resources and attain the poverty alleviation goals as per Agenda 2063 of the African Union. "When we say we want to process our raw materials... we have the raw material, but we need to work on skilling our people," she said. "To know when we talk about seven most important aspirations of Agenda 2063, you know that people cannot come from somewhere, take our raw material and leave us even without the basic knowledge. So we want industrialisation which is skill-based and we will encourage many Indian companies for partnership," she said.
Stressing that the two nations should build on their historical ties, she said South Africa felt Mahatma Gandhi belongs to it as much as he belongs to India. "India's place in the world has been determined by Mahatma Gandhi. He is Mahatma Gandhi of South Africa as much as he is Mahatma Gandhi of India," she said. The minister also pointed out that she has lived in India for five and a half years, and loves the country. She said both the countries had several things in common, including the "history, joint struggle against colonialism, joint struggle of non-occupation, freedom, values of respect of law, and respect of human rights". "We have proven to the world that democracy and development can go together," she said. She, however, added that the two developing nations now needed to build on their economic relations. "People cannot eat just democracy, they need bread on the table. Our focus would be the dynamism, strengthening of our economic ties in line with the agenda of the African union," she said, when asked about the expected outcome from the summit. She said Africa, along with other developing countries and China, should act to prioritise poverty eradication. "We want India, Africa, other developing countries, plus China, to make sure that we transcend the MDG (millennium development goal) to sustainable development goals ... that we still prioritise poverty eradication," she said.
Asked about joining hands with India on the climate change agenda, the minister said the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" cannot be overlooked. "We will want, together with India and other members, to make sure the outcome of COP 21 is really based on the very simple principle of a common but differentiated responsibility". "We also are aware now that the issues of climate change are also equally a development issue. But above all it is about the economy; so we will defend what is important for us," she added. The bilateral trade between India and South Africa currently stands at US$15 billion and both the countries are trying to take it beyond US$20 billion by 2018. India and South Africa historically share friendly terms with common icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela who are revered in both the countries. People of Indian origin account for almost 2.5 per cent of the country's population with Durban having the highest concentration of the community.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
In the midst of an uncertain global economic environment, GDP growth for the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region is expected to increase to 1.4 per cent for 2015, with 1.8 per cent growth projected for 2016. But prospects for countries vary widely: the western part of the region will likely continue its fragile recovery in 2016, while the eastern part of the region will increasingly suffer large income losses.
According to the World Bank's newly released ECA region's Economic Outlook, “Low Commodity Prices and Weak Currencies” the Europe and Central Asia region has still not fully recovered from the after-effects of the global financial crisis and part of the region is facing strong headwinds. To build economic resilience and set the stage for robust growth in the eastern part of the region, it is critical, therefore, to adjust to the 'new normal' of lower oil prices with exchange rate flexibility and an agile business climate, the report said. For countries directly and indirectly affected adversely by lower oil prices in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, such as Tajikistan, GDP tells only a small part of the story when it comes to the sharp decline in spending power available to their citizens. Real domestic income of a country includes real GDP and also remittances received from abroad, as well as gains or losses from changes in export and import prices. The effect of the oil price shock and devaluation of the ruble has had a much stronger adverse impact on buying power than what is reflected simply by GDP. Given the weaker buying power of many households in the eastern part of the region, there is a risk of reversal of the previous downward trend toward lower poverty rates across the region. “To mitigate the risk of further deterioration of poverty trends, there is a need for flexible exchange rates, fiscal adjustment and reinvigoration of longer term reforms to facilitate investments in sectors with competitive job opportunities,” said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia, at a presentation of the report in Dushanbe. “This adjustment is a necessary step toward building economic resistance and setting Tajikistan as well as other countries of the eastern part of ECA back on the path to robust growth and job creation.”
The South Caucasus, other Eastern European countries (Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine), and Central Asia have been hard hit by the downturn in Russia and the oil price shock, directly and indirectly through the fall in oil prices, remittances and trade. Growth rates in 2015 are expected to be about half those seen in 2014 in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, while other Eastern European countries are estimated to have fallen further into recession. (SH)
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
According to the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), textile machinery orders saw a drop of 2% in the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same period last year. The value of the orders index for textile machinery stood at 86.9 points (basis 2010=100) for the period ranging from July to September 2015. The orders in the foreign market declined abruptly after four consecutive periods of growth. The index of orders has decreased by 4% as compared to the same period last year. This drop is due to lower than expected demand from China and Turkey, which are the major markets in the world for textile manufacturing. However, orders in the domestic market saw a rise, according to the reports. After signs of a recovery observed during the previous quarter, Italy’s domestic market took one more step forward, with a domestic orders index that jumped up by 44% compared to the same period for 2014.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
