|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1015.87 |
USD/Ton |
-1.06% |
12/10/2015 |
|
VSF |
2154.64 |
USD/Ton |
-0.79% |
12/10/2015 |
|
ASF |
1940.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Polyester POY |
966.87 |
USD/Ton |
-0.16% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2380.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
40D Spandex |
5056.03 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2644.69 |
USD/Ton |
-0.87% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
5798.09 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1213.45 |
USD/Ton |
-0.64% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Nylon POY |
2209.09 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2127.42 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1031.43 |
USD/Ton |
-0.30% |
12/10/2015 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2800.26 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1617.93 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2598.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1773.50 |
USD/Ton |
-0.87% |
12/10/2015 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2224.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2971.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2520.23 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.09 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.92 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.00 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.75 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12/10/2015 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15598 USD dtd. 10/12/2015)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The textile ministry has recommended a reduction in the excise duty for man-made fibres to 6% from the current 12% and greater flexibility in labour laws, including doubling of the overtime limit for workers and easing restrictions for women to work at night in factories, to boost growth in the sector, textiles minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said. “Realising the turmoil our exporters are facing, we have recommended a number of corrective steps to various ministries concerned in consultations with industry stakeholders,” Gangwar told FE. At present, man-made fibres like polyester attract a 12% excise duty, but cotton, the competing fibre, attracts none. This duty disparity has distorted the domestic consumption pattern in favour of cotton, contrary to the global trend, while stringent labour laws have pre-vented garment companies from consolidating their capacities under fewer roofs fearing “union militancy” and difficulties in operations. The textile and garment sector is the largest job provider after agriculture, employing around 45 million people, and is proposed to be one of the most important sectors in the government’s Make in India programme.
The industry has long been complaining that the duty disparity is preventing domestic producers from scaling up operations and, consequently, hurting India’s export competitiveness in man-made textiles. This is because while man-made fibres account for around 70% of the world’s total fibre consumption, they make up for less than 30% of India’s demand. Gangwar said his ministry has also suggested to the labour ministry to facilitate certain changes to labour laws. The suggestions include increasing the overtime limit for employees from 50 hours to 100 hours and allowing willing women to work at night, especially in garment factories. The textile ministry has also suggested that the overtime wage be raised to one and a half times the regular rate, in accordance with the International Labour Organisation convention, instead of double the normal rate. The recommendations follow textile secretary SK Panda’s presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year in which the department had listed eight short-term initiatives — including “rationalisation” of duties on man-made fibres, further simplification of labour laws and facilitating more working capital to mills — to be undertaken within a year under the Make in India programme. FE was the first to report on January 22 about Panda’s presentation to the PM. “Stiff labour laws have led to apprehensions that the bigger you grow in size, the more difficult it is to run the businesses. Since garment is the most labour-intensive sector after agriculture, the impact is felt more in garments than in some other textile segments,” textile expert DK Nair added. Around 70% of the garment sector employees are women.
According to the latest data, overall textile and garment exports rose 0.6% to almost $18 billion in the first half of the current fiscal from a year before, while the country’s overall exports plunged by 17.6% during the period. Consequently, the share of such textile and clothing exports in the country’s overall exports have risen to 13.5% in the April-September period this fiscal from 11.1% a year before. However, such exports are expected to miss the target of $47.5 billion for 2015-16 by a wide margin, industry executives said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Come Diwali and one’s Instagram feed is flooded with celebrities flaunting designer wear at sundry parties. What was refreshing this year was that weaves such as Kanjeevaram, Banarsi and ikkat found a prominent place right beside the usual chiffons, georgettes and New Delhi’s favourite wedding fabric — net. Till very recently, Kanjeevarams and the likes were the domain of “older” celebrities, be it Rekha, Vidya Balan or Jaya Bachchan. Recently, though, the younger crops of actors have been boldly embracing traditional weaves. For instance, actor Alia Bhatt wears both a Manish Malhotra creation and a Sanjay Garg lehenga with equal elan.
Giving traditional Indian textiles the space they deserve in the world of fashion, curators Rupa Sood and Sharan Apparao will bring “Nayaab”, an exhibition celebrating the best of Indian weaves, to New Delhi. Apparao, a gallerist from Chennai, explains how the exhibition is an outcome of the various other endeavours towards the uplift of textiles in the country. “We hold a talk every month in Chennai and Delhi. Nayaab will take that forward and get producers and manufacturers to interact with real customers and explain how much effort goes behind each intricate weave,” she says. In many cases, the intricacy of a particular weave makes it expensive and buyers don’t understand the reason behind it, she adds. Coats by Kotwara feature kalamkari Coats by Kotwara feature kalamkari Meera Ali, who co-owns the label Kotwara with husband Muzaffar Ali, adds there is a growing sensitivity to woven fabric and people are realising that “well-crafted brocades and silks breathe on the body”. “As a film maker too, Muzaffar believes that a natural fabric looks much more photogenic than any artificial fabric. Hand-embroidered clothes stand out even from a distance,” she says. Kotwara will be showcasing an eclectic range of apparel that uses kalamkari as the base. Besides coats that use kalamkari collages, the collection will also include woolen carpets with an ikkat concept.
Textile aficionados can also look forward to designs from Rayomand Manickshaw, who works with the traditional gara weave. Popular among Parsis. the gara sarees use a weave that is influenced by 19th-century Chinese motifs. Raw Mango, designer Garg’s label, will showcase its traditional handloom designs, which the label believes are Indian but not “kitschy”. The show-stopper for Hyderabad-based designer Gaurang Shah’s collection will be sarees from the Kalpavriksha, or tree of life, series. Each saree took up to 14 months to be completed. “Every saree has different textures — be it Moga cotton or duplon. The design is drawn on paper and given to the weaver, in the traditional jamdani weave of the Andhra region,” he says. But the challenge, adds Shah, is to make the sarees contemporary and traditional in equal parts. “The younger generation now understands that an outfit made with hand-woven textiles will set them apart from those wearing mill-made lehengas.” While Meera believes that steps towards making Indian textiles popular are not currently adequate, the onus, she says, lies on designers to promote a “passion for such fabrics”. Shah, though, believes that textiles are beginning to make a comeback of sorts, especially because of their price-point. Apparao, however, cautions that a lot of work still needs to be done. “The idea is to give a sense of authorship to artisans so that they don’t give up their precious craft,” she says. Nayaab will be held at The Lodhi, New Delhi, between December 11 and 13, 10.30 am to 8 pm
SOURCE: The Business Standard
As part of its efforts for greater transparency, efficiency and better price discovery, the National Textile Corporation (NTC) has commenced e-auction of yarn. The first e-auction of NTC yarn was launched today by the Union Minister of State for Textiles (I/C), Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, in his chamber in the Ministry of Textiles. The decision to adopt e-auctions has been taken in order to give maximum opportunity to dealers for lifting of NTC stock and thereby reduce inventory and improve cash flow. The transparent electronic bidding process is also expected to result in better price discovery of the yarn stock.
To be extended to open market in future
Initially, three mills of NTC, namely, Vijamohini Mill, Kerala Lakshmi Mill and Rajnagar mill have been selected for selling of its produce through e-auction. NSEiT, a National Stock Exchange subsidiary that has been conducting e-auctions for various PSUs, has been roped in to conduct the e-auction of yarn. The e-auction route has been made open for all registered dealers of NTC. Each dealer has been provided a unique ID and password, and trained by way of mock e-auctions and practice sessions. In future, e-auction shall be extended to the open market as well (after registering the dealers). Base prices will be fixed on Wednesday every week and e-auction will take place on Thursday from 03:30 PM to 04:00 PM. The sale shall be completed and material will be allotted as per the highest bid and quantity, as the case may be. There may be more than one winner for one count of yarn.
An Improvement over the Current Process
Currently, yarn is sold through dealers, registered mill-wise with NTC as per due procedure. Prices are fixed every Wednesday and the yarn is sold to dealers on the YPC rates for the entire week (unless there is a mid-week change). The stock at the fixed / agreed price is then made available to the registered dealers / agents, who lift the material; payment is made as per NTC rules. At present, 4-6 dealers are registered with each mill. If the material is not sold, the same remains unsold and stock piles up. The e-auction mechanism, launched today, provides an opportunity to circumvent this problem, leading to higher stock up-take, reduced inventory and improved cash flow. Ms. Anu Garg, Joint Secretary, Textiles; Shri P C Vaish, Chairman and Managing Director, NTC Ltd; Shri N. Muralidaran, Managing Director & CEO, NSEiT and other senior officials were present on the occasion.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Raymond Group, India’s largest branded fabric and fashion retailers, will be establishing its mega unit in Nandgaonpeth of Amravati district. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Raymond Management would sign an agreement during winter session at Amravati, informed Pravin Pote Patil, Minister of State for Industries while talking to The Hitavada on Wednesday. Pote Patil said, Raymond group has assured investment of Rs 2,500 crore which will create jobs for 10,000 people. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has allocated 300 acres of land for this mega industry. Pote said, Maharashtra Government is promoting industrialisation in the backward Vidarbha region. The Government is implementing its decision- Fiber to Fabric to promote industries based on fabric in the suicide hit Amravati division. Amravati division produces highest cotton bell and hence ideal for the textile industries to set-up their units, ample water is available for these units from Upper Wardha dam. The problem of electricity is also solved. Reliance is one of the leading, integrated producers of suiting fabric in the world, with a capacity of producing 31 million meters of wool and wool-blended fabrics. The Group owns apparel brands like Raymond, Raymond Premium Apparel, Park Avenue, Park Avenue Woman, ColorPlus, & Parx. All the brands are retailed through ‘The Raymond Shop’ – One of the largest network of over 700 retail shops spread across India and overseas, in over 200 cities. Pote said, the Siyaram Mills will start its production from April. This unit will create 1,200 jobs in first phase. The Government has sanctioned 8 textile units in Amravati and proposal of 15 new units in the pipeline. The MIDC has constructed Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) for the treatment of the waste residual from the industries.
SOURCE: The Hitavada
India is the fifth largest market for Saudi exports accounting for 8.87 percent. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in coordination with the state-run Saudi Exporters Development Authority jointly organized a business-to business (B2B) meeting with an exporters' delegation from Saudi Arabia in New Delhi on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia which is India's fourth largest trade partner and a major source of energy, India imports around 20 percent of its crude oil requirements. A delegation of 25 exporters from the oil-rich kingdom is lead by a senior Saudi government official for the first such B2B organised by CII with Saudi Arabian business, the CII said, adding the areas of interest of the visiting delegation include textiles,agriculture, chemicals food, metals, plastics and spices.
Earlier this month, the Saudi Indian Business Network, along with the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia had organised a B2B meeting for 13 participating company delegates with Saudi businessmen from the health, cosmetic and chemical sectors. During the last fiscal, India's imports from Saudi Arabia reached USD 28.2 billion, registering a decline of 22.42 percent over the previous year, whereas exports to Saudi Arabia reached USD 11.2 billion registering a decline of 8.61 percent over the previous year. The bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 39.4 billion during 2014-15, registering a decrease of over 18 percent over 2013-14.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
With two months left for the Make in India Week in Mumbai to promote the local manufacturing initiative, preparations are in full throttle at the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) for the grand event. The industry department is abuzz with activity and marathon meetings are being held as officials gear up for the Make in India Week, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13. The DIPP has called upon the ambassadors of over a dozen countries, inviting them to bring their corporate and government delegations for the event. "We are finalising the list of people we want to invite to attend the event and getting in place all the required permissions for such a large-scale event," a senior official said. The event will showcase initiatives taken by the government to promote manufacturing in the country. The focus is on design, innovation, manufacturing and sustainability. Industry experts said Make in India can take off if the global economy gets back on the growth track and the country continues to take steps to make doing business easier for domestic and foreign players. "We have clarity why India is a key destination for manufacturing and all that the government is doing to promote this sector. We will be working closely with the skill development and heavy industries department to promote Make in India 2.0 globally," said Mehul Lanvers Shah, managing director, Hannover Milano Fairs India.
The Make in India Week will focus on 10 key sectors for manufacturing including aerospace & defence, automobiles, construction, food processing, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, information technology and textiles. The host city will hold a session on 'Reimagining Mumbai' to get ideas from global planners for successful urban planning. Museums and art galleries in the city will hold exhibitions on Make in India and there will be music, culture, street art, light and sound shows. A hackathon is scheduled for coders, engineers, designers and architects to collaborate intensively for 24 hours to come up with ideas to solve urban design problems. DIPP is looking to strike partnerships with companies and government entities. The Make in India programme was launched by Modi in September 2014 in the presence of over 120 CEOs of major Indian companies. In the past year, the government has approved 24 new industrial clusters and allotted them grants of Rs 624 crore.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
With the Indian basket of crude oil price plummeting to an 11-year-low of $37.34 a barrel, the country is set to save Rs 2.14 lakh crore on its oil import bill alone in FY16, according to the oil ministry. This is in addition to the benefits to the government in the form of lower petroleum subsidy and expected cuts in fuel prices for consumers. The price of the basket of crude that India buys, came down to $37.34 (Rs 2,494) a barrel on Tuesday, on an exchange rate of Rs 66.8 a dollar, a 3.2 per cent decline over Monday’s price of $38.61 a barrel. Experts say there is a possibility of the oil prices breaching the record levels in a day or two and take a long time to recover from the low levels thereafter, given the refusal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) at a meeting in Vienna last week, to impose a fresh cap on production by member nations creating a supply glut. The ministry has estimated India will import 188.23 million tonne (mt) of crude oil in FY16 at a cost of Rs 4,72,932 crore, compared to 189.43 mt crude worth Rs 6,87,416 crore imported in FY15, saving Rs 2,14,484 crore on fuel bill.
India to save Rs 2 lakh cr on crude imports as oil hits 11-year low The government’s calculation is based on estimated average crude oil price of $55 a barrel for the rest of the financial year, till March 2016, and an exchange rate of Rs 65 a dollar. Experts say even this could be an overestimate. “Global oil price has averaged at $55 per barrel up to October and is estimated to be in the $40-45 per barrel range for the rest of FY16,” said K Ravichandran, senior vice-president at ICRA. He attributed the price to slump to the “severe supply pressure” owing to Opec’s decision, but said prices might not sustain at the current level for long. “At a price level lower than $40 per barrel, it becomes difficult even for large producers to sustain operations. So, the supply pressure will ease soon,” he said. Every $1 per barrel change in the crude price will impact India’s net import bill by $0.54 billion (bn) during the rest of FY16.
According to ICRA’s estimate, average Indian basket price of crude is likely to stand at $49 a barrel in FY16 compared to $84 a barrel in FY15. Ravichandran says the difference translates into $35 a barrel or a total of $48 bn savings on oil imports. The value of India’s oil imports would stand at $65 bn in 2015-16, compared to $113 bn in FY15. Since June 2014, the global oil price benchmark Brent crude has fallen by 60 per cent, from $110 a barrel to less than $40 a barrel. However, domestic petrol prices have come down by only 15 per cent, to Rs 60 a litre. Similarly, the retail price of diesel has come down by 19 per cent from Rs 57 a litre in June 2014 to Rs 46 a litre. The main reason why the drop in petrol and diesel prices has not kept pace with the crash in global crude prices is the five excise duty hikes since November 2014 to increase revenue collection. Excise duty on petrol and diesel has doubled since the new government came to power in May 2014.
The duty on petrol has risen from Rs 9.48 per liter to Rs 19 per liter. Similarly the excise duty on diesel has gone up from Rs 3.65 per liter to Rs 10.6 per liter at present. "As per our estimates, there is a further possibility of increase in excise duty. There is room for the government to opt for another round of duty hike given the deficit on disinvestment proceeds and tax collections. However, some benefit could still be passed on to consumers as the decline in crude price has been sharp," Ravichandran said. A senior executive from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said the benefit of the huge decline in crude prices would be "definitely" passed on to the consumers when retail rates are revised next on 15 December. He added that the reduction would, however, depend on whether the centre opts for another round of duty hikes.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
A day after it reassured currency markets saying it would step in via exchange traded currency derivatives if needed to support the rupee, the Reserve Bank on India (RBI) on Thursday announced a host of products — cross-currency futures and exchange-traded cross-currency option contracts — across a range of currencies. The move makes it easier for companies hedge exposures in foreign currencies and will be particularly useful to information technology and pharmaceutical firms that operate in the US, Europe and Japan.
“The currency markets will become deeper over the medium term because there will be more products and more players,” Jayesh Mehta, managing director and treasurer, Bank of America, explained, pointing out that while the products were available on the over-the-counter markets, they were only for corporates with underlying requirements. “These have now been introduced on the exchanges with the open positions to be prescribed by the exchanges,” Mehta observed.
Meanwhile, the central bank also announced measures to broaden the “when issued” securities market, allowing banks to go short and players such as mutual funds, NBFCs, insurance firms and pension funds to go long. It also revised the open position limits for both new and reissued securities, doing away with limits on long positions. “With trading limits having been enhanced, liquidity will improve leading to better price discovery at the auctions,” explained Shashikant Rathi, EVP and head, investments, at Axis Bank.
The “when issued” market refers to a conditional market with transactions being settled when the securities are auctioned and issued. The new products introduced in the forex market include currency futures and exchange-traded cross-currency option contracts in the currency pairs of euro-dollar, pound-dollar and dollar-yen. Further, exchange-traded option contracts in the currency pairs of euro-rupee, pound-rupee and yen-rupee have been introduced in addition to the existing dollar-rupee pair. “The cross-currency contracts shall enable direct hedging of exposures in foreign currencies and facilitate execution of cross-currency strategies by market participants,” the central bank said in a statement.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The rhythmic throb of engines and the diesel fumes warn you of some massive operation at Chennai’s DLF IT SEZ. But only when you are near the arched-entrance do you realise the enormity of the task: pumping water out of a three-level basement parking, stretching 22 acres and 12 metres deep. The operation, which started on Saturday with a dozen pumps, is now running 24x7 with some 50 pumps. Pipelines snake across the grounds emptying the water into a channel that leads to the Adyar River. Basement 1 is clear and a few cars can be seen standing in the slush-covered floor. Water is brimming up to the ceiling of Basement 2. The 45-acre SEZ, one of the largest in Chennai, was inundated last week when the Adyar overflowed its banks after water from a reservoir was released following unprecedented rains. While DLF could cope with the rain and keep the basement clear of water, it could not manage the water from the river. “We coped with the record rains between November 30 and December 1. “But on December 3 afternoon there was no rain but the river overflowed, and the flooding started,” said a DLF official. Over 60,000 staff working in 50 information technology companies that have rented space at the 5-million-square-feet SEZ had to be moved out. “As we were able to warn staff in time, there were no casualties,” said an official handling recovery work. “We also managed to move out a few hundred cars and two-wheelers.” But several hundred more cars and two-wheelers are still under water, in Basements 2 and 3.
Work apace
With work apace, the official is confident that DLF will get at least half the IT space back into operation by the middle of next week, and the entire facility a week later. Meenakshi Sundaram, whose Ford is stuck in the basement, says the car has been under water since Thursday. “The insurance company says the surveyor has to take pictures of the car on the spot. I am waiting,” he says. He and others like him are calling for tow trucks, vans, friends… anything, anybody who can help with towing. And with DLF and other similar office-space infrastructure out of bounds, real estate agents say there is a scramble for IT and office space in the city. Most companies have managed to accommodate their employees in other campuses but additional space is at a premium, they say.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
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$ 36.65 per barrel (bbl) on 10.12.2015. This was lower than the price of US$ 36.75 per bbl on previous publishing day of 09.12.2015.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs 2447.95 per bbl on 10.12.2015 as compared to Rs 2453.22 per bbl on 09.12.2015. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 66.79 per US$ on 10.12.2015 as against Rs 66.75 per US$ on 09.12.2015. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on December 10, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 09.12.2015) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.12.2015 (Nov 11 to Nov 26, 2015) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
36.65 (36.75) |
41.17 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2447.95 (2453.22) |
2725.87 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.79 (66.75) |
66.21 |
SOURCE: http://pib.nic.in/
The goods and service tax (GST) is “absolutely a good thing” for the country, said RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan here on Thursday. According to him, imposition of GST would lead to an increase in the tax net. Interestingly, he pointed out that this would not necessarily mean higher tax rates. More people coming under the tax ambit would mean more revenues and people sharing the revenue burden; which, he maintained, was a good thing for the country. “If you ask for my opinion, GST is absolutely a good thing for the country. There are two big effects.... increase in tax net; while not increasing the tax rate. The other would be reducing barriers between States,” he said while responding to queries from students and guests after delivering the Eighth Dipak Banerjee Memorial Lecture at the Presidency University here. The GST will unify the country, reduce barriers between States and provide a “common market”, he added.
Borrowings
Calling for a “golden mean”, Rajan pointed out that it was the best option between the two extremes of “excess borrowings” and equity and debt-less growth. “Moderation is required and some debt is good. But not too much. Avoid over borrowings,” he said. Citing the instance of Indian banks, Rajan said the foreign share in government debt is 3-3.2 per cent, which is very reasonable.
Populism
The RBI Governor also came down hard on populism of both the Left and Right wing variety. “My definition of populist summary is who proposes simple solutions to everything. And, who doesn't recognize the world is really a complex place. I think, we are today in the world of populism; whether populism of Left or Right who always have simple, clear and absolute wrong solutions to everything,” he added. He maintained that distorting price in a significant way eventually leads to misallocation of resources and hurts the economy in the long term.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
India's exports, which have been in the negative zone since December last year, are soon expected to show improvement in growth because of the incentives announced recently, the government said. The exports have been declining because of global demand slowdown, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "We have given support under MEIS (Merchandise Export India Scheme). We have also announced the interest subvention scheme. So there should be an improvement on our exports soon," she told reporters here. The government has recently extended incentives under the MEIS, 3 per cent interest subsidy and enhanced duty drawback rates. Under MEIS, the government has announced incentives of Rs 3,000 crore to several products, including textiles and electronics. Under the scheme, the government provides duty benefits at 2 per cent, 3 per cent and 5 per cent depending upon the product and country. The government had also raised duty refund rates on a host of items, including iron, steel, garments and marine products, with a view to promote exports.
India's exports remained in the negative territory for the 11th month in a row by registering a dip of 17.53 per cent in October to USD 21.35 billion due to a demand slowdown, while trade deficit showed an improvement. "There is a global depression as a result we are suffering," she said. Exports have contracted due to steep decline in shipments of petroleum products (57 per cent), iron ore (85.5 pc), engineering (11.65 pc) and gems and jewelery (12.84 pc) amid a global demand slump.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Ahead of the World Trade Organisation ministerial meet next week, India has clarified that it has no intention of causing any delays in the new round of negotiations but said that it wants the Doha development round to reach its logical conclusion first. "We have DDA (Doha Development Agenda) on the table. Let us achieve outcomes there. We don't want DDA to be dispensed with. We hope there is political will from all member countries...our intention is not to delay anything," said commerce secretary Rita Teaotia, while addressing the media in Delhi. This will be the key point of discussions when trade ministers of 162 countries meet in Nairobi from December 15-18.
Referring to the new issues such as e-commerce, labour and environment, which developed countries want to include in the WTO negotiations, Teaotia said, "There are differing interests in the DDA framework, but enough space to find consensus." India has been pushing for the continuation of the Doha round arguing on behalf of the developing countries that the development agenda on agricultural issues, cotton subsidies and least developed countries or LDCs has not been completely addressed. Almost a hundred other countries want such issues to be addressed and are opposed to the closure of this round. Apart from the existing issues, India also wants the right to safeguard mechanism in case of sudden rise in imports or fall in prices. Teaotia said that the mechanism is not a bargaining chip for India but a facility that is available to many other countries.
PMO OKAYS NEGOTIATING MANDATE
The commerce department has secured a negotiating mandate from the Prime Minister's Office and will apprise the Cabinet after the talks. "In a sense, the discussions have taken place. So there will be no further meeting. It has been happening intermittently. We have been given the negotiating mandate by the Cabinet Secretariat. It has been already taken from the PMO also," said a commerce department official. Separately, the department has prepared another Cabinet note on India's preparedness on ratifying the Trade Facilitation Agreement, detailing which all commitments can be fulfilled immediately and which require a transition period. "We are already committed to trade facilitation and these are just formalities of the accession," said another official. Since other departments are in the process of sharing their views on it, it is unlikely that India will ratify the pact during the ministerial, the official said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
A 35-member Taiwanese delegation led by its Economic Affairs Vice Minister John Chin Shen visited Greater Noida's sector Ecotech VI and VII today to explore setting up an electronics manufacturing cluster in the city. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has already been signed between Uttar Pradesh Development System Corporation Ltd (UPDESCO) and Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Associations (TEEMA) on August 13, 2015 for establishment of electronic cluster at Greater Noida. Land measuring 210 acres has already been allotted for the cluster and an initial amount of over Rs 200 crore is expected to be invested at the cluster by TEEMA. Chung Kwang Tien, Ambassador, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India; Francis Tsai, Chairman, India Committee, TEEMA and other industry leaders from Taiwan were in the delegation. Rama Raman Chairman, Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority said the city has international level infrastructure and manpower is available in abundance due to presence of technical universities and other professional institutes in Greater Noida. He said Greater Noida is a pioneer in privatization of electricity distribution system since 1993 and assured uninterrupted power supply to the cluster and assured to act as facilitator with other organizations as and when required.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
While China had dampened the spirits of Indian cotton exporters a few months earlier, neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar have brought a smile back on their face. There has been a 35 per cent surge in export contracts till November 30, over a year before, owing primarily to doubling of import orders from Pakistan. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar have emerged as the top importers in the current cotton year (October 2015 to September 2016). According to industry sources, around three million bales (170 kg is one bale) of cotton export contracts have been registered, of which orders for a million are from Pakistan. Last year at the same period, total export contract was 2.2 mn bales and Pakistan's share in it was negligible. “The reason for higher Pak import is floods in the region, which damaged the cotton crop drastically,” said Dhiren Sheth, president, Cotton Association of India.
Pakistan imported 500,000 bales in all of 2014-15. The Indian industry expects Pak import of 1.5-1.7 mn bales in this season. Pak cheers Indian cotton industry Arvind Pan, managing director of Jaydeep Cotton Fibres, Rajkot, said: “Generally, Pakistan imports cotton from the Wagah border at Punjab. This year, it has been importing through the sea route, mainly from Gujarat and Maharashtra.” Jaydeep exported 80,000 bales this year to Pakistan. According to Pan, contracts with Pakistan has been done in a range of Rs 32,500 per candy (a candy is 356 kg). In 2014-15, our cotton export declined to 5.4 mn bales. Export to China was 11 mn bales in 2013-14 and which reduced to 2.5 mn the next year. This year, demand from China is likely to be even less. However, total export this year could touch 6-6.5 mn bales. “Pakistan will play a major role, as its import might cross 1.5 mn bales,” said Arun Dalal, a leading trader from Ahmedabad. CAI estimates output at 37.05 mn bales in 2015-16, against 38.27 mn last year. Domestic consumption is estimated at 32.5 mn bales and import at 1.4 mn. The opening stock was 7.86 mn bales.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Bangladesh’s textile value chain is rising faster than any other Asian countries because of low-cost manufacturing firms shifting out of China, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB). Firms from Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, which have traditionally relied on low-cost production in China, have had to adjust. The progress in sector-level value chains’ intraregional production activities within sectors appears to be changing, with shares within industrial exports showing interesting shifts between 2000 and 2011, according to the ADB’s Asian Economic Integration Report 2015 released. The report examines trends in trade, finance, migration, foreign direct investment and other economic activities in the region. “Intraregional trade within the labour-intensive Asian textile industry still increasingly dominated by the China—which covers about two-thirds of intraregional exports—shows Bangladesh and Vietnam emerging as important players,” said the report.
In the meantime, it said domestic value added shares of three East Asian economies—Japan, Korea and Taipei, China—have declined 6-8 percentage points during this period. “With rising production costs in other economies in general, setting up operations such as in Bangladesh and Vietnam has been on the rise,” it said. Apart from rising domestic value added shares, the foreign value added to Bangladesh and Vietnam exports is also increasing in a much faster pace than that experienced by the rest of their peers (excluding China). The report found that trade in Asia has slowed faster than that of world trade in recent years. The region’s trade expansion has witnessed low gross-domestic product growth since 2012. The report also included a study of Special Economic Zones in the region. It found that governance gaps and lack of focus undermined performance in some zones, while successful zones managed to build close ties with the domestic economy.
Economies with low incomes and young population (high ratios of 20-34 years old to total population) are generally relied on migrant sources —such as India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Bangladesh has attracted FDI in garments and generated new trade, but has had limited success in upgrading and diversifying Special Economic Zone (SEZ) exports. Overall, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka continue to reap static SEZ benefits, in particular employment generation and FDI inflows—based on orthodox and heterodox approaches.
SOURCE: The Dhaka Tribune
Low wages, cheap power and a stable political situation have prompted foreign textile companies like H&M to start sourcing from Ethiopia. The country has a huge workforce and would like to become the next international textile hub. But the workers themselves are struggling to make ends meet. Jeroen van LoonSewing machines rattle away in the huge GG Super Garment factory in Debre Zeyit, some 45 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Hundreds of women and a few men are sewing singlets and T-shirts, destined for the Swedish company H&M. As a result of rising salaries and growing labor unrest in Asia, an increasing number of foreign companies have started moving their production to Ethiopia. According to factory manager Joseph Elisso, the conditions in the East African country are far more favorable. "Ethiopia is stable and peaceful, electrical power is cheap and labor costs are very low," he explains. Entry-level salaries for workers in Ethiopia's textile industry range from $35 to $40 (32 to 37 euros) per month - lower than Bangladesh's minimum wage of $68 per month and far below the average wage of $500 in the Chinese textile sector. Ethiopia doesn't have a minimum wage, and due to high unemployment, workers are often forced to accept whatever wage they are offered.
Not enough to live on
Although Ethiopian workers are generally happy that increasing foreign investment is bringing jobs, many are battling to make ends meet. "I only get 850 Ethiopian birr (about 38 euro) per month and struggle to cover all my expenses," Tigist Teshome says. The 23-year-old factory worker, dressed in a checkered pinafore, is living with friends to share the costs. "I would like to live on my own, but rent alone is already 600 birr. How will I manage to pay food and clothing?" she asks. Shoes for Guess and Toms are produced by the nearly 4,000 workers at Huajian's factory in Ethiopia. In Duken, about a half hour drive from the Debre Zeyit garment plant, there's a big shoe factory run by Chinese company Huajian. Around 3,800 Ethiopian men and women are busy hammering soles on shoes, sewing pieces of leather together, operating machines and checking the final products. "Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi invited us to set up a factory in Ethiopia because the employment rate is very low so they need labor intensive industry," Song Yiping, a manager with Huajian, says. The company plans to produce 2 million pairs of shoes this year, mostly for American and European customers like Guess, Naturalizer and Toms. Ethiopia has one of the largest heads of cattle in Africa and leather is widely available in the country. The company is planning to expand production, boosting the number of workers to 50,000 in 10 years. Although Huajian has created many news jobs, the company's employees complain their wages are too low . "My basic salary is just 600 birr (26 euros) and only when I work 10 instead of eight hours a day I get 750 birr (32 euros) a month, which still isn't enough. My rent alone is already 400 birr," says 24-year-old leather cutter Abu Ibrahim. "Also, our Chinese bosses shout at us in Chinese all the time and sometimes we aren't even allowed to go to the toilet," he adds. Manager Song, however, says the low pay reflects the low productivity and quality of work. "The workers' lack of skill has impacted quality. Many shoes were rejected by our customers and we had to pay 4.5 million euros as compensation in the first two years," Song states.
Military drills for more discipline
The Huajian company, which was founded in China in the 1980s by former military officer Zhang Huarong, has also adopted a rather unusual method to motivate its staff. Every day, all the workers have to line up in the parking lot in front of the factory to perform a military drill, including marching, shouting, saluting and singing. "In the military they do marching to become disciplined and obey orders. We want to create the same effect," says human resources manager Zeng Lizhuo. Not all workers appreciate this activity, though. "I have to walk long distances to fetch water at home, so I don't like to do even more physical exercise at work," 25-year-old worker Abebeye Makonen, dressed in a red T-shirt and skirt, says. She also hates the "Huajian song" that the workers are obliged to sing in Mandarin during the daily drill. According to Zeng, the song is to unite the workers. "They sing that they make Huajian better and better to move forward and forward," he says.
Workers too scared to start a union
Although Ethiopia's constitution guarantees workers the right to associate, most factories, including Huajian, do not have trade unions. At Huajian, workers who tried to start a union were fired, according to Abu Ibrahim. "There were a couple of employees who tried to start a labor union, but when they were collecting money for this, Huajian dismissed them. Now everybody is too scared to start a union," the leather cutter says. The way workers are treated at the Huajian factory is not unusual. About 75 percent of all Ethiopian companies still refuse to permit trade unions, says Angesom Yohannes from the Industrial Federation of Ethiopian Textile Trade Unions. "Most owners, especially the Chinese, don't want a trade union because they know that the next step will be collective bargaining, and certain benefits will be taken away from the owner or the factory," Yohannes adds. He and his colleagues from the union nevertheless negotiate with individual factories in an attempt to secure better wages for the workers. After negotiating for three years, the union achieved a 25-percent wage increase in a collective bargaining agreement with the Turkish factory Ayka, which employs 7,000 Ethiopians. "We achieved this salary increase following pressure from Ayka's German client Tchibo," Yohannes says.
More pressure from outside
However, the union only has five full-time staff members and lacks the manpower and political weight to lobby for all factories. But Yohannes says pressure from customers abroad, like in the case of Tchibo, can have a big impact on strengthening workers' rights. He hopes H&M will also put pressure on GG Super Garment to raise salaries. Dereje Feyissa Dori, research professor at the International Law and Policy Institute in Addis Ababa, believes that Ethiopia won't become a second Bangladesh, with dangerous working conditions. Factories aren't housed in shacky flats like in Asia, but in large production halls. Dori believes that Ethiopia's relaxed attitude towards foreign investors regarding labor rights won't last. "The government is so desperate to attract foreign investment. It doesn't want to scare or chase investors away by putting too many conditions, but it will become more strict in a couple of years," Dori says. Ethiopian factory workers aren't optimistic about the future, according to Ibrahim. He says working conditions at Huajian are becoming worse. "In the beginning they allowed us two breaks per day, but now only one, while we have to work 10 hours a day," the leather cutter says, adding that he's not holding out for the government to take action. "Politicians don't help us either. Because they are happy with all the investments, they will always choose to side with the foreign companies."
SOURCE: The DW
Zion Research has come up with a new report titled, ‘Textile Chemicals (Coating & Sizing Chemicals, Colorants & Auxiliaries, Finishing Agents, Surfactants, Desizing Agents, Bleaching Agents and Yarn Lubricants) Market for Home Furnishing, Apparel and Industrial & Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, and Forecast 2014 – 2020’. As per the report, the global demand for textile chemicals was priced at US $ 20.5 billion in 2014 and is likely to reach US $ 25.5 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of around 4% between 2015 and 2020. In terms of volume, the global textile chemicals market stood at above 9,500 kilo tonnes in 2014.
The textile industry can be classified on the basis of product types like coating and sizing chemicals, colourants and auxiliaries, finishing agents, surfactants, desizing agents, bleaching agents and yarn lubricants. The textile chemicals are vital division of the textile industry as various chemicals are required in the textile industry right from pre-treatment stage to the finishing of textile. Textile chemicals can be a compound, intermediates or chemicals used at any stage of textile production and with its use the manufacturers of textile manage to get the desired colours, appearance, texture and properties in their final product. Several important chemicals used at different level of textile manufacturing include pre-treatment chemicals, textile dyeing chemicals, dyeing and printing chemicals, finishing chemicals, antistatic agents and other specialty chemicals.
In context to India, the ‘India Textile Chemicals Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2018’, put the textile chemicals market in India to grow at the CAGR of approximately 12%, in terms of industry revenues. The major players such as BASF, Clariant and Huntsman are emphasizing towards product innovation in textile chemicals through preparation of eco-friendly products as well as high-end products, which add functional properties to the end-products i.e. textiles. These companies are extensively using bio-auxiliaries and other environment-friendly chemicals in order to decrease the overall pollution load faced by textile processing plants.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
