The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 1ST FEBRUARY, 2016

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Textile Raw Material Price 2016-01-31

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

933.28

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

VSF

1889.36

USD/Ton

0.49%

1/31/2016

ASF

1896.20

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Polyester POY

952.28

USD/Ton

-0.08%

1/31/2016

Nylon FDY

2188.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

40D Spandex

4788.00

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Nylon DTY

2462.40

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Viscose Long Filament

5663.52

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Polyester DTY

1124.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Nylon POY

2036.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Acrylic Top 3D

2078.60

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

Polyester FDY

1026.00

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

30S Spun Rayon Yarn

2644.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

32S Polyester Yarn

1535.20

USD/Ton

1.00%

1/31/2016

45S T/C Yarn

2432.00

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

45S Polyester Yarn

1687.20

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

T/C Yarn 65/35 32S

2097.60

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

40S Rayon Yarn

2796.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

T/R Yarn 65/35 32S

2416.80

USD/Ton

0.00%

1/31/2016

10S Denim Fabric

1.06

USD/Meter

0.00%

1/31/2016

32S Twill Fabric

0.89

USD/Meter

0.00%

1/31/2016

40S Combed Poplin

0.97

USD/Meter

0.00%

1/31/2016

30S Rayon Fabric

0.71

USD/Meter

0.00%

1/31/2016

45S T/C Fabric

0.73

USD/Meter

0.00%

1/31/2016

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.152 USD dtd.31/1/2016)

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

Back to top

Centre has sanctioned 20 textile parks in one year: Gangwar

The Union government has sanctioned 20 textile parks in the last one year while apparel garment units are being set up to promote the textile sector. A special emphasis is being laid on the technical textile sector. This was stated by Union Minister for Textiles (independent charge) Santosh Gangwar while addressing mediapersons here today. Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was also present. Gangwar said the NDA government had taken several remarkable initiatives in the past 20 months. “India has emerged as the new growth engine under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The NDA government has launched several schemes such as the Namami Gange, the Bharat Swachh Abhiyan and Startup India have been launched by” said Gangwar. He said the BJP had promised to provide corruption-free governance during the elections and it had succeeded in implementing the same. He said during the UPA tenure, several scams came to the fore but no such scandal had surfaced under the NDA government so far.

He said they were committed to ensuing cleanliness in the Ganga. He urged people not to pollute the holy river. When asked about Union Ganga Rejuvenation and Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti’s assurance of ensuring the cleanliness in the Ganga before the start of Ardh Kumbh, the Union minister said he would take up the issue with her. He, however, said a comprehensive plan was being made under the Namami Gange project to clean the Ganga. On the delay in the release of funds for Ardh Kumbh under Niti Ayog, the Union minister said sooner or later, the funds would be provided to the Uttarakhand government. Nishank said he would also take up the issue with officials concerned and Chief Minister Harish Rawat to know where problems were coming in receiving the Kumbh grant. On the non-inclusion of Dehradun in the first list of top 20 smart cities, he said various factors were considered during the selection process. “The city may be included in the next list,” he added. On the BJP’s defeat in the Delhi and Bihar Assembly segments and the panchayat elections in Haridwar recently, Nishank said they were finding out the reasons behind the defeat.

Source: The Tribune India

Back to top

Vidarbha to get its first ever centre aided integrated textile park

The first-ever Rs108 crore integrated textile park project with Prashant kumar Mohota as lead promoter will be coming up in Vidarbha at Hinganghat in Wardha district under the Central government scheme (SITP) which is expected to generate at least 1000 jobs and provide much needed fillip to the cotton economy of the region.  Although the main cash crop, cotton of Vidarbha has been in news more for driving farmers to suicide. But the reasons for cotton belt's growing distress is uncertainty over prices and inability to process raw cotton up to textile and garment stages to spur demand. Inept political leadership of the region along with lackadaisical entrepreneurship saw to it that textile units did not come up in the region and cotton produced here was transported to far off south India or western Maharashtra where they made capital of the white gold while farmers growing it always got a raw deal.

In 2005, SITP was launched by the Union textile ministry but till date not a single textile park had come up under it in Vidarbha. To make SITP attractive, 40% funding (with cap of Rs 40 crore) is provided by the Centre and the State government chipping in with 9% (or Rs 9 crore maximum) capital for the park. Out of the 14 projects sanctioned under SITP, 13 are outside Vidarbha. To be specific, eight of them are located in politically influential western Maharashtra where not a bale of cotton is grown, three in Marathwada and one each at Dhule and Bhiwandi. Hinganghat Integrated Textile Park Pvt Ltd was incorporated on March 19, 2015, and has authorized share capital is Rs 180,000,000 with paid up capital of Rs 59,500,000.  Mohotas are into textile business for a long time will have local advantage as anchor. The plan is to set up 11 units in the integrated park spread over 32.63 acres. Of them one each will be for ginning, twisting/doubling, knitting, processing, fibre-yarn dying, garmenting, technical textiles and two each for spinning and weaving.  The tenders for construction work would be floated next week, said a company spokeman.

The total cost of Hinganghat Integrated Textile Park worth Rs 108 crore shall be funded through a mix of equity/grant from Union ministry of textiles, state government, State Industrial Development Corporation, Industry, project management consultant and loans from banks/ financial institutions. The Centre has already released first instalment of Rs 4 crore of the grant.

Source: Yarn and fibers

Back to top

Rajasthan textile sector clinch highest investment proposals

Rajasthan textile industry vilified for polluting the environment, the sector needed modernization and new technologies to keep alive the rich textile heritage and also build on the brand image. The state government has not only addressed those concerns but also given a very encouraging policy support unmatched anywhere in the country. The high conversion rate of investment proposals into textile projects is the result of the confidence the government generated among the investors, said Industries minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar. The Rajastan government has signed investment proposals for 23 textile projects amounting to a little over Rs 7,000 crore and as of now, 18 of them have got off the ground, said a top official in the industry department. The textile industry that was pilloried for inflicting large-scale damage to environment appears to have emerged as the dark horse to become the top sector for clinching the highest conversion rate of investment proposals into projects. As most of the investors have land already in their possession, they have started construction of the units. In some cases, machinery have been installed. In fact, companies like Nitin Spinners, RSWM, and Sudiva Spinners have actually started production, said L C Jain, additional director, industries. Textiles sector, which provides direct and indirect jobs to nearly 7 lakh people and contributes 17% to the state's exports, has been accorded priority status. It is one of the very few sectors to enjoy interest subsidy of 5-7% given by the state government.

Other sweeteners like VAT exemption of 50% on purchase of raw material and 50% exemption of entry tax on capital goods are extended to the investors. Availability of raw material for the textile industry also played its part. Rajasthan is today counted as one of the leading states for cotton production with an annual output of about 20 lakh bales. Similarly, 85% of the wool produced in the country is from Rajasthan. The strong resource base required a policy boost to build on the vibrant textile heritage of the state. The seriousness shown by the investors in putting up projects indicates that the government has done something right, said an industry expert. About a year ago, the major processing and printing hubs in the state stared at the dire consequence of shutting down due to the environmental degradation they created. Finding a solution was urgent to regain the investors' faith. The printing and processing hubs such as Balotra, Jasoli, Pali and Sanganer now look at a different future, thanks to the textile ministry's integrated processing development scheme (IPDS) that provides grants for using environmentally friendly processing standards and technology. The ministry has already approved Rs 115 crore for Balotra, Rs 20 crore for Jasoli, Rs 110 crore for Pali and Rs 150 crore for Sanganer. Besides creating an identity for Bagru and Sanganer prints internationally, Rajasthan also boasts of being the largest producer of polyester viscose yarn and synthetic suiting material in the country. The new investments are expected to expand further the base of the industry in the country. Under the IPD scheme, the ministry of textiles gives 50% financial grant for setting up zero liquid discharge common effluent treatment plants, while 25% of the cost is contributed by the state. Out of the remaining 25%, 15% is provided by the units in the cluster and 10% as bank loan. All this has come as a huge morale booster for the industry and Resurgent Rajasthan has demonstrated the potential of the sector.

Source: Yarn and fibre

 

Back to top

Grasim to spend over Rs. 4,000 cr on capacity expansion in 2016-17 fiscal

Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries will spend more than Rs. 4,000 crore on capacity expansion of its various businesses — cement, chemicals and VSF — in the coming financial year. Grasim Industries is engaged in the manufacturing of Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) — used in apparels — and cement, which account for over 90 per cent of its revenues. The firm had clocked a turnover of around Rs. 32,838 crore in the 2014-15 fiscal.  While the company will invest Rs. 3,800 crore on its subsidiary, cement maker Ultratech, in 2016-17 fiscal, it will pour in Rs. 255 crore in its VSF and chemicals business during the same period. The company had earmarked Rs. 2,140 crore for Ultratech in this fiscal, of which Rs. 1,630 crore was spent during the April-December period on capacity expansion, logistic infrastructure, modernisation, upgradation and its ready mixed concrete business. On the VSF and chemicals business, the firm had earmarked Rs. 450 crore for 2015-16 fiscal, of which it had spent Rs. 310 crore in the first nine months of the financial year, Grasim said in a regulatory filing. The firm said it will spend Rs. 4,055 crore on capex in the 2016-17 fiscal onwards against 2,590 crore in 2015-16 and Rs. 6,645 crore till March 2015, it added. For the October-December quarter of this fiscal, Grasim Industries said all its businesses — VSF, Chemical and Cement — posted encouraging results and investments made on capacity expansions and acquisitions are yielding results. Its total income rose to Rs. 9,044 crore in the December quarter from Rs. 8,035 crore during the same quarter in 2014-15. It had posted a net profit of Rs. 650 crore against Rs. 334 crore during the quarter under review. Going ahead in the VSF segment, the firm said it will continue to focus on expanding its domestic market through product development activities, working closely with brands, designers and retailers. In the case of cement, the demand is expected to pick up in the near term with the government’s focus on infrastructure development, housing sector, smart cities, roads, among others and the firm is well positioned across the country to cater to the growth in demand.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Back to top

Commerce Ministry prepares strategy to boost exports to Africa

Department of Commerce to hold consultations with Ambassadors and High Commissioners of nations concerned.  Govt taking steps to achieve $900 bn exports target: Nirmala Sitharaman Industry raises concerns over FTAs with Commerce Ministry Worried over declining exports, the commerce ministry has prepared a strategy to boost shipments to Africa and has identified engineering as a major sector for export to several nations of that continent. The Department of Commerce will now hold consultations with Ambassadors and High Commissioners of major African nations and industry stakeholders to implement that strategy, an official said. At a time of global demand slowdown, African nations including South Africa and Nigeria, are major export destinations for India, he said. “The ministry has identified several sectors as part of the strategy and engineering including agriculture and farm equipment have emerged as a major one,” the official said, adding that the ministry is also engaged with the Engineering Export Promotion Council for the implementation of the strategy. Exporters body Federation of Indian Export organisations (FIEO) too said that Africa is ideally suited for engineering exports. “Indian farm and agri equipment are competitive as compared to western products. There are huge tracts of land in Africa and agriculture is the growing sector there. There is good demand for tractors and also automobiles in African countries like Nigeria and South Africa,” FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai said. The two-way commerce between India and Africa is about USD 75 billion. India's exports contracted for the 13th month in a row, dipping about 15 per cent in December to USD 22.2 billion due to steep decline in engineering and petroleum shipments. The total exports in 2015-16 will thus be lower than the previous fiscal's figure of USD 310.5 billion. Engineering accounts for about 25 per cent of the country's total exports in 2014-15. Engineering exports slipped 16 per cent to USD 5.8 billion in December.

Source: Business Standard

 

Back to top

Low input costs shore up profits even as revenues fall in Q3

Net profit of 420 companies grows 4.2% year-on-year while the top line dips 3.4%Corporates have shown an improvement in profits in the December 2015-16 quarter over the year-ago period, shows an analysis of 420 companies that have declared their results so far. Cheaper inputs have helped shore up profits even as weak demand and price cuts continued to affect topline growth for most firms in the three months ended December 2015.  Companies catering to urban consumption and in the field of road infrastructure were among the bright spots. Firms in the export-oriented segment, such as pharma, did well too. Banks and finance companies have been excluded from this analysis. With many companies yet to announce their numbers, the picture can change by the end of the earnings season. Support at operating level Net sales of the 420 companies that have declared their results dropped 3.4 per cent over the December 2014 quarter. The rout in commodities hurt the topline of companies in the metals, mining and steel sectors, while players in the oil and gas space bore the brunt of the fall in crude oil prices. With the economy yet to gather speed, firms in the construction and power sectors saw their topline growth slow down too. Companies in the logistics space such as Gati and Container Corporation were exceptions. Despite this, there was a growth in their earnings. The net profit of the 420 companies grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year in the December quarter. With ‘other income’, or earnings from non-core activities, such as treasury and sale of assets, dropping 13 per cent year-on-year, the profit growth was supported by operational performance. The fall in input costs — raw material as a percentage of sales came down from 46.9 per cent in the three months ended December 2014 to 41.3 per cent now — helped the companies at the operating level. Companies in the auto sector, such as Maruti Suzuki, TVS Motor, Gabriel India and MRF, among the most raw-material intensive, saw relief on this front. Lower prices of crude derivates also saw companies such as Asian Paints and Nerolac doing well both on the margins and bottomline fronts. Overall, operating profits for the quarter grew 1 per cent year-on-year. The growth could have been higher if not for the increase in staff costs and selling/other expenses. FMCG companies, for instance, increased advertising spends in a bid to shore up volumes. Hindustan Unilever’s ad spend touched 14.5 per cent of sales this quarter. It was 12.8 per cent a year ago. Similarly, other FMCG players Dabur, Emami, Godrej Consumer, Jyothy Labs also increased their ad spends. Also, employee costs as a percentage of sales moved up from 10.4 per cent in the December 2014 quarter to 12.1 per cent now. However, cheaper inputs helped operating margins improve across companies. Operating margins rose from 19.8 per cent a year ago, to 20.7 per cent now.

Growth pockets

Companies such as Maruti Suzuki, PC Jeweller, Titan, Somany Ceramics, Symphony and TTK Prestige logging double-digit growth in sales and profits, pointed to improving urban consumption. Besides, the sliding rupee aided the export-oriented pharma sector, which saw double-digit sales and profit growth. IT companies such as Infosys and TCS too benefited from the falling rupee. Companies such as Ashoka Buildcon and IRB Infra did well too, thanks to the pickup in orders in the roads space. Demand likely to rise.  Better interest rate transmission, the Seventh Pay Commission payouts, and higher minimum support prices for agri commodities are expected to further boost consumption in the coming quarters. Even if the commodity advantage wears off, greater demand and higher volumes could support growth. Along with this, if investments speed up and translate into new orders, double-digit sales and profit growth for India Inc may not be far away.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Back to top

FM likely to announce 4 major ports in Budget

These ports would be at Andhra Pradesh's Dahanu & Dugarajapatnam, Tamil Nadu's Colachel and West Bengal's SagarFinance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to propose four new major ports to be constructed, in the Budget for 2016-17. These ports would be at Dahanu (Andhra Pradesh), Colachel (Tamil Nadu), Sagar (West Bengal) and Dugarajapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) at an estimated cost of Rs 32,000 crore, sources said. Spanning 13 maritime states and Union territories, India's 7,516.6-km coastline is serviced by 12 major ports, and 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. The 12 major ports are Chennai, Cochin, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Kamarajar, Kandla, Kolkata and Haldia, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, V O Chidambaranar, and Vishakhapatnam. In 2014-15, these ports handled 581.33 million tonnes (mt) of traffic.

Read our full coverage on Union Budget 2016 A study by Mckinsey and Aecom for the shipping ministry underlined the need of building coastal capacities to meet future cargo volume. The study notes Indian ports handled 857 mt of bulk cargo in 2013-14. It estimates that in 2025, bulk traffic will increase to 1,850 mt a year. Exim bulk will rise four per cent to reach 1,000 mt a year. The growth in export-import cargo will remain muted due to increase in production of coal and continued weak global demand for iron ore. The coastal bulk traffic, however, will grow at the rate of 22 per cent to reach 750 mt by 2025. This would require building dedicated coastal capacities at specific ports. The study also states that Indian ports handled 10.7 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) container traffic in 2013-14. Container traffic has grown at eight per cent over the past decade as the level of containerisation also increased from 60 per cent in 2004-5 to 67 per cent in 2013-14. The study estimates that container traffic will grow at 6.5 per cent rate under 'business-as-usual' and reach 21.5 million TEU by 2025. With programmes such as 'Make in India' and development of industrial corridor, the estimated traffic can grow to 24-25 million TEU. Currently, the handling capacity of major ports in India is sufficient to match trade demand. The capacity of all the major ports as on March 31, 2015 was 871.52 mt, compared with 581.33 mt in cargo traffic handled through 2014-15. The government has taken several measures to improve operational efficiency through mechanisation, deepening the draft and speedy evacuations. In these ports, capacity increased by 71 mt, traffic grew 4.6 per cent, average turn-around time on port account improved to 2.13 days and operating ratio to 67.2 per cent in 2014-15.

Source: Business Standard

 

Back to top

Govt relaxes UID number norm for textile projects

State government has simplified the process for textile projects to avail the schemes implemented by the government. The state's Co-operation, Textiles and Marketing Department issued a notification on January 29 relaxing the mandatory condition of obtaining unique identity number (UID) for availing the state's schemes. "Government of Maharashtra has relaxed the condition of obtaining UID number from Textile Commissioner, Government of India and receiving Government of India subsidy for availing benefits under the state's scheme for the textile projects which have been sanctioned long term loan by banks as per TUFS norms during the period from April 1, 2011 to February 20, 2014 for interest subsidy and from March 1, 2012 to February 20, 2014 for capital subsidy through this government resolution. This relaxation is applicable only to those textile projects which have applied to Textile Commissioner for UID and their applications are pending. Those textile projects which have not applied to

Textile Commissioner for UID are not eligible for this relaxation," said section officer to Government of Maharashtra RA Khadse.

Source: The Times of India

 

Back to top

Textile sector ahead of solar ininvestment plan conversion rate

The textile industry that was pilloried for inflicting large-scale damage to environment appears to have emerged as the dark horse to become the top sector for clinching the highest conversion rate of investment proposals into projects even as solar vies for the honour over a period of time. In the build-up to the Resurgent Rajasthan, the government had signed investment proposals for 23 textile projects amounting to a little over Rs 7,000 crore and as of now, 18 of them have got off the ground, said a top official in the industry department. He said some of them have actually started production, while the rest five will take some more time to implement the projects.

"As most of the investors have land already in their possession, they have started construction of the units. In some cases, machinery have been installed. In fact, companies like Nitin Spinners, RSWM, and Sudiva Spinners have started production," said L C Jain, additional director, industries department. Textiles sector, which provides direct and indirect jobs to nearly 7 lakh people and contributes 17% to the state's exports, has been accorded priority status. It is one of the very few sectors to enjoy interest subsidy of 5-7% given by the state government. Other sweeteners like VAT exemption of 50% on purchase of raw material and 50% exemption of entry tax on capital goods are extended to the investors. Speaking to TOI, industries minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said, "Vilified for polluting the environment, the sector needed modernization and new technologies to keep alive the rich textile heritage and also build on the brand image.The state government has not only addressed those concerns but also given a very encouraging policy support unmatched anywhere in the country. The high conversion rate is the result of the confidence the government generated among the investors." Availability of raw material for the textile industry also played its part. Rajasthan is today counted as one of the leading states for cotton production with an annual output of about 20 lakh bales. Similarly, 85% of the wool produced in the country is from Rajasthan. "The strong resource base required a policy boost to build on the vibrant textile heritage of the state. The seriousness shown by the investors in putting up projects indicates that the government has done something right," said an industry expert. About a year ago, the major processing and printing hubs in the state stared at the dire consequence of shutting down due to the environmental degradation they created. Finding a solution was urgent to regain the investors' faith. "The printing and processing hubs such as Balotra, Jasoli, Pali and Sanganer now look at a different future, thanks to the textile ministry's integrated processing development scheme (IPDS) that provides grants for using environmentally friendly processing standards and technology," said Jain.

The ministry has already approved Rs 115 crore for Balotra, Rs 20 crore for Jasoli, Rs 110 crore for Pali and Rs 150 crore for Sanganer. Under the IPD scheme, the ministry of textiles gives 50% financial grant for setting up zero liquid discharge common effluent treatment plants, while 25% of the cost is contributed by the state. Out of the remaining 25%, 15% is provided by the units in the cluster and 10% as bank loan. "This has come as a huge morale booster for the industry and Resurgent Rajasthan has demonstrated the potential of the sector," added Jain. Besides creating an identity for Bagru and Sanganer prints internationally, Rajasthan also boasts of being the largest producer of polyester viscose yarn and synthetic suiting material in the country. The new investments are expected to expand further the base of the industry in the country.

Source: The Times of India

 

Back to top

Rupee up 4 paise at 67.74 on increased dollar selling

The rupee advanced by four paise to 67.74 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Forex dealers said besides fresh foreign capital inflows, a higher opening in the domestic equity market and dollar’s weakness against other currencies overseas supported the domestic unit. On Friday, the rupee had recovered by 45 paise to close at 67.78 per dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters in view of a sharp recovery in equities. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex regained the crucial 25,000-mark by rising 131.63 points or 0.52 per cent to 25,002.32 in early trade.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Back to top

Ethiopian textile export touch USD41.1mn last six months of Fiscal year

Export performance of the textile sector is lagging behind plan during the 2015/16 fiscal year first half year. This is found at the cotton development and textile industry performance evaluation, the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI) announced that the export of textile has reached 41.1 million USD against the nation’s plan to obtain some 60.07 million USD. Only 70 percent of the plan has been achieved.

Institute Plan and Information Management Director Abebe Kasse said that the government believes that the sector has to be export oriented by giving due emphasis to quality. The last six month export performance is 70 percent of the plan because of the several challenges faced by the sector. Some of the major challenge in the export performance focus on local market, managerial and technical capacity of companies, power outage and fluctuation, shortage of manpower and high turnover, weak company linkage, investment project implementation delay and the like

However, it is the conviction of the Institute that there is still potential to achieve the target for the year within the coming six months. Most of the industries established at Bole Lemi industrial park are garment producers and they are expected to commence production next month and they would become additional input to achieve the target, Abebe Kasse added. Despite the country's comparative advantage in cotton production, it has not managed to meet its local demand. According to the evaluation, during the production year, the planned land for cotton is 262,000 hectare but actual covered land was only 65,000 hectares. In addition, the performance evaluation shows that due to the El Nino, over 14,000 hectares of cotton plantation has been damaged and replanted with other crops. However, a total of 65,000 hectares (50,000 from Omo and 15,000 from Beles) was reversed from sugar to cotton production. It was also noted as per the government's aspiration to support producers to get bank loan for cotton production, 4.2 billion Birr was approved and around 3 billion was disbursed yet the loan has not been fully invested in cotton production. It is the responsibility of the banks to lend the money after conducting feasibility study. However, [because of the practice of crop rotation], it is impossible for the producers to plant cotton every year. If the land is covered with cotton this year, it has to be covered with other crop say for instance sesame the next year. The point is, the loan was approved in the name of cotton production and there are some investors who received land but not yet commenced production. Industry State Minister Tadesse Haile on his part said that the textile sector has been growing significantly from time to time in terms of capacity, scale, production, employment and export. But according to the plan, much remains to be done.  Besides formulating appropriate policy framework, the government has been working to produce the manpower needed to develop the textile industry and its exports. In addition, various institutions including ETIDI have also been established to provide support to the sector. The Bahir Dar Institute of Technology has also been made to focus entirely on textile and textile related courses, the State Minister said. In addition, five universities have also launched textile programs and produce engineers for the sector. Industrial parks suitable for textile production have also been established.

Source: Yarn and fibre

Back to top

Manufacturers ask Nigerian government to ban import of textile

The Zamfara Textile industry on Sunday urged the Federal Government to ban import of foreign fabrics to revive the nation’s ailing textile mills. Sani Muhammad, the Administrative Secretary of the mill, made the call while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria in Gusau. He said the importation of textile materials led to the collapse of the nation’s textile sector. Mr. Muhammad lamented that Zamfara Textile Industry, established in 1965, had laid off over 2, 500 workers in 2004.“It is unfortunate that the industry is not able to come back fully,” the manager said. He described the plan by the government to improve power supply as a `welcome development’, adding that if the importation of textile goods were not stopped, surviving local mills would be operating at a loss. He said cotton farmers, who produced raw materials for the mills had moved to other crops with the collapse of the sector. He, therefore, urged the government to provide improved cotton seeds and modern textile machines for Nigerian fabrics to favourably compete with foreign ones. The Chairman, Ginners Association of Nigeria in the state, Sani Dahiru, blamed poor cotton production on the neglect of the agricultural sector and collapse of the textile industries. He said of the 15 ginneries operating in the state, only two offered skeletal services. Mr. Dahiru urged the government to provide trained agricultural extension workers to assist cotton famers meet the needs of the surviving mills. When contacted, the Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture in the state, Musa Raji, said despite government’s efforts to encourage cotton farmers, there was no much progress. He said that the ministry, which has supplied improved seeds and fertilizer to the farmers, was always ready to offer professional advice to them. Similarly, the state Commissioner for Information, Umar Jibo, said the state government would provide ready markets to the cotton farmers and other stakeholders.

Source: The Premium Times Nigeria

 

Back to top

Taiwan's textile sector shows contraction in December

The domestic textile sector of Taiwan continued to show contraction in December 2015, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER). The increasing competition from developing economies and weak demand from China led to drop in orders in the textile segment. However, the demand for sportswear and functional textiles stood strong in December 2015, TIER said, according to Taiwanese media reports. The manufacturing sectors of Taiwan including the textile industry continued to flash blue light for the ninth consecutive month indicating continued weakness amid a global economic slowdown. TIER uses a five-light system to indicate economic activity, with red showing overheating, yellow-red showing fast growth, green for stable growth, yellow-blue for slow growth, and blue conveying contraction. The composite index for the local manufacturing sector compiled by TIER fell to 9.33 points in November from 10.13 in October 2015 for the local manufacturing sector. It further dropped to 9.01 in December.

Source: Fibre2fashion

Back to top

Malaysian Textile manufacturers oppose 'unexpected' levy changes to foreign workers

The Malaysian Knitting Manufacturers Association (MKMA) has lashed out against a hike in foreign worker levy in the manufacturing sector, saying the move came as a "shock, unexpected and without consultation and discussion with private sector”. In a statement today, its president Tang Chong Chin said the association is "disappointed" and "strongly objects" to the government's decision to double the levy of foreign workers in the manufacturing sector effective today. Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported as saying that the government's decision to restructure the levy rate system for foreign workers is expected to bring in an extra income of RM2.5 billion to the country. He said the new rate applies to two categories. The first is for those in the manufacturing, construction and service sector where each foreign worker will be charged the new rate of RM2,500. For those in plantation and agriculture, which come under the second category, the rate is RM1,500 per worker, Ahmad Zahid added. Tang said MKMA urges the government to suspend and defer the decision as the current businesses environment is already burdened with a multiple whammy such as economy slow down, new minimum wage expected on July 1 this year, the goods and services tax, withdrawal of government subsidies, toll hike and the depreciating of the ringgit. "MKMA believe such a decision would create the huge negative impact on the private sector and invite for domino effect to the already ill and sickening economy environment. Such move would negate the intended stimulation as per newly announced in the budget adjustment made by the prime minister," he said. MKMA is of the view that any measurement on foreign worker should be focused on the illegal Foreign Worker (PATI) rather than legal foreign workers. "Such (a) decision seems like a punishment to the genuine manufacturer. The government should focus on the enforcement and legalisation of the PATI in order to fill up the gap of the employment need from the private sector," said Tang. "The current levy should be maintained to keep the private sector remain competitive and space to breath in its current difficulties and challenges," he added.

Source: The Edge Markets

Back to top

Researchers develop eco-friendly wrinkle-resistant fabric

Environmentally friendly and cost effective wrinkle-resistant cotton fabrics, which may mean an end to the tedious task of ironing clothes, have been developed by a team of researchers from Shanghai (China) and Nebraska (US), according to a research article published in ‘ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering’. The team developed new cross-linking methods by investigating several chemicals that has shown wrinkle-resistant properties without requiring formaldehyde. All combinations of these chemicals were then tested and the best results were obtained by cross-linking citric acid with xylitol. Citric acid which is a mediocre anti-wrinkling agent, tends to yellow fabrics. However, when it is cross-linked with xylitol, the discolouration is mitigated and the anti-wrinkling effect is improved. This combination is entirely environmentally friendly, made up with renewable raw materials. The researchers – Jian Liu, Bijia Wang, Xiaomei Xu, Jiangang Chen, Luyi Chen, and Yiqi Yang – also established a scale-up method that is more cost-effective than other "green" or formaldehyde-based options. Presently, manufacturers use a chemical process called cross-linking to create textiles that are less likely to wrinkle. But this method often involves hazardous chemical agents that contain a significant amount of formaldehyde, which could leak from the clothing during the manufacturing, wearing or washing process raising environmental and health concerns. This research was funded by the Chinese national high technology research and development program and US department of agriculture.

Source: Fibre2fashion

Back to top