INTERNATIONAL
Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that New National Textile Policy is to be issued before the end of April, 2016 during the budget session of the Lok Sabha. The new policy sets a target to achieve $300 billion (nearly Rs 20.50 lakh crore) textile exports by 2024-25 and generate employment opportunities with an additional 35 million jobs. The policy is expected to accommodate a series of reforms to make India a truly manufacturing hub in textiles sectors so that Indian textiles players can take maximum advantages of the slowdown in Chinese textiles industry. There would be amendments to the labour law, under the new policy, allowing women to work at night and other concerns related to skilled workforce, labour reforms, attracting investments in the textile sector would be addressed. The government is also looking into special incentives for manufacturing units to be set up in the Northeast, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, where the cost of production would work out to be lower than in Maharashtra and Gujarat, where most of the factories are located. Gangwar said that government is also planning to set up 74 textile parks, which will attract an investment of Rs 30,000 crore.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The government had initially estimated disbursal of Rs18,000 crore under the Technology Funds Scheme (TUFS) but with the increasing interest from the textile industry and the opportunities that lie ahead government is now looking to disburse textile funds of around Rs 30,000 crore under ATUFS scheme by 2022, said Santosh Kumar Gangwar, union minister of textiles, independent charge on the sidelines of the Make in India event held in Mumbai. The amount marks a 67% increase in disbursals from its original plan, Gangwar added. The government also wants to bring Indian textiles sector at least at par with this industry in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan for larger global market access with low cost of manufacturing. The ministry is in the process of finalising guidelines under the A-TUFS, which will be announced by the end of the current month. The textiles ministry has already notified A-TUFS early this year.
Under this new scheme, all new units in the textiles sector would be facilitated with the benefits. Existing units interested in upgrading their technology would also be availed the benefit of this scheme, said Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. In the early nineties, when the TUFS were introduced the scheme proved very successful in attracting investments. With the immense opportunities lie ahead in the textiles sector, the textiles ministry want to extend TUFS scheme to make textile sector more attractive to make India truly a textile manufacturing hub.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The new proposed Textile Policy, which is likely to be placed in the Budget session of Parliament is expected to benefit West Bengal as special incentives may be announced for the eastern region states. "We expect to place the new policy in the Budget session and it will be a long-term policy for 10 years," Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar said here at the National Jute Board event. The government was also looking into special incentives for manufacturing units to be set up in the Northeast, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, officials said. The textile sector employs 35 million people and aims to double the number by 2022. The government is focusing on training youths in different skills to meet this target. Speaking about need for jute diversification, the minister said it is possible in several product lines at launch of three Common Facility centres for jute at National Jute Manufactures Corporation mills at Howrah, Alaxendra and Kinnison at a cost of Rs 6.40 crore and provide direct employment to over 5,000 people. Gangwar announced another two at Jalpaiguri and Sunderbans and sanctioned Rs 2 crore for each centre. With one each at Assam and Bihar, total jute CFCs count will be seven.
Gangwar also launched a new Jute Raw Material Bank (JRMB) Scheme under which each JRMB will be supported by over Rs 15 lakhs annually to help provide jute raw materials at reasonable price and in required quantity to the artisans, crafts person and weavers. Union Textile secretary and Jute Board chairperson Rashmi Verma said, "diversification is the only solution for sustainability and growth of the jute sector." "At these new skilling centres and CFC centres, our collective effort will be to return jute to its rightful place as a glory of the state. We will implement reforms and policy measures to put jute production back on the map," said Jute Commissioner Subrata Gupta.
SOURCE: The Press Trust of India
The Tamil Nadu government has revised the minimum rates of wages for those employed in hosiery manufacturing under the Minimum Wages Act. In a statement, the Tiripur Exporters' Association (TEA) said that the government had constituted a committee, including TEA as a member, for revision of minimum rates of wages for those working in the hosiery sector. The committee after more than seven sittings and after visiting six units, to enquire about wages paid to the workers, recommended the minimum wages to be paid to those employed in the sector. “The notification for revision of wages was published in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette on February 17, 2016 and came into force the same day onwards,” the statement said. As per the gazette, in addition to the minimum rates of basic wages fixed, employees will also have to be paid dearness allowance. The statement added that the dearness allowance is linked to the average Chennai City Consumer Price Index Number for the year 2000, which is 475 points with base year being 1982 and is equal to 100 points. “So, for every rise of one point over and above 475 points, an increase of Rs. 3.80 per month shall be paid as dearness allowance,” TEA explained in the statement. The statement further added that the dearness allowance shall be calculated on April 1 of every year on the basis of the average of the indices for the preceding twelve months, namely, from January to December. “Members may note that dearness allowance payable with effect from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 is based on the average Consumer Price Index of Chennai city for calendar year 2014,” the statement informed.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The government's first-ever policy for the country's capital goods sector unveiled this week envisages creation of 21 million additional jobs by 2025. The policy, unveiled by Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete at the Make in India Week in Mumbai, envisions increasing the share of capital goods in total manufacturing activity from 12 per cent at present to 20 percent by 2025. The objectives of the National Capital Goods Policy are to create an ecosystem for a globally competitive capital goods sector to achieve total production in excess of Rs 7.5 lakh crore by 2025 from the current Rs 2.3 lakh crore. It also aims to increase direct domestic employment from the current 1.4 million to at least 5 million and indirect employment from the current 7 million to 25 million by 2025, thus providing additional employment to over 21 million people. "The capital goods sector is currently going through many challenges and issues and to address those challenges, the government has launched the comprehensive policy document, the National Capital Goods Policy, today," Geete said at a seminar during the Make in India Week.
The National Policy on Capital Goods seeks to unlock the potential of this promising sector and establish India as a global manufacturing powerhouse. It envisages increasing the share of domestic production in India's capital goods demand from 60 per cent to 80 per cent by 2025 and in the process improve domestic capacity utilization to 80-90 percent. To create an ecosystem for globally competitive capital goods sector, the policy recommends devising a long term, stable and rationalized tax and duty structure. It advocates adoption of a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime ensuring effective GST rate across all capital goods sub-sectors competitive with import duty after set-off with a view to ensure level playing field. The policy calls for ensuring parity of import duty structure with domestic duties, for example, equalise Countervailing Duty (CVD) and Excise duty; and Special Additional Duty (SAD) with Sales tax/ VAT or GST. It recommends correcting the existing inverted duty structure anomalies and considering a uniform customs duty on imports of all capital goods related products. The policy also aims to facilitate improvement in technology depth across sub-sectors, increase skill availability, ensure mandatory standards and promote growth and capacity building of MSMEs.
Key policy recommendations include strengthening the existing scheme of the Department of Heavy Industry on enhancement of competitiveness of the capital goods sector by increasing budgetary allocation and increasing its scope to further boost global competitiveness. The policy suggests allowing up to 50 per cent CENVAT credit to manufacturers using such products as raw material or intermediates for further processing or using such goods in the manufacturing of finished goods. It sets the objective of increasing exports to 40 per cent of total production (from Rs 61,000 crore to Rs 3,00,000 crore) by 2025, enabling India's share of global exports in capital goods to increase to 2.5 per cent and making the country a net exporter of capital goods. It also aims to significantly enhance availability of skilled manpower with higher productivity in the capital goods sector by training 50 lakh people by 2025, and create institutions to deliver the human resources with the skills, knowledge and capabilities to fuel growth and profitability.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The commerce ministry has notified guidelines for power generation, transmission and distribution in special economic zones (SEZs), almost modelled after the 2009 norms, and reiterated that a power plant, as part of the infrastructure facility, be set up only in the non-processing area of an SEZ. It said no fiscal benefits would be extended towards the power plant’s operation and maintenance. The latest guidelines, however, made its focus on power generation for IT/ITeS units clearer than earlier. The power plants set up in IT/ITeS zones that require uninterrupted power supply at a stable frequency will get fiscal incentives for establishing and maintenance of generating units.
Centre easing norms to make idle facilities attractive for firmsSEZs: In standstill modeIT SEZs allowed to set up backup centres anywhere in IndiaGovt mulls incentives for SEZs in remote regionsInfosys,Wipro SEZs OK'dNew tax code to cut SEZs I-T sops Centre easing norms to make idle facilities attractive for firmsSEZs: In standstill modeIT SEZs allowed to set up backup centres anywhere in IndiaGovt mulls incentives for SEZs in remote regionsI nfosys,Wipro SEZs OK'dNew tax code to cut SEZs I-T sops. Centre easing norms to make idle facilities attractive for firmsSEZs: In standstill modeIT SEZs allowed to set up backup centres anywhere in India Govt mulls incentives for SEZs in remote regionsInfosys,Wipro SEZs OK'dNew tax code to cut SEZs I-T sops. “In such cases, generation of power will be carried out as a unit within the processing area, and such a power plant including non-conventional energy power plant, will be entitled to all the fiscal benefits covered under Section 26 of the SEZ Act, including the benefits for initial setting up, maintenance and the duty free import of raw materials and consumables for the generation of the power.” Such duty-free imports of capital goods, raw material and consumables would be counted towards the net foreign exchange (NFE) obligation of the unit.
The latest guidelines were issued after SEZ developers operating power plants requested the government to restore some of the operation and maintenance benefits. The guidelines were initially declared in February 2009 and revised in 2012. The latest notification said the present guidelines would replace the earlier ones. The commerce ministry has been actively pursuing the case of SEZs, reeling as they are under a minimum alternate tax (MAT) and a dividend distribution tax regime imposed in the 2011-12 Budget. Recently, according to sources, the commerce ministry had convinced the finance ministry to reinstate MAT exemption, which may be announced in the coming Budget.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
Government on Friday approved eight highway projects worth Rs 6,000 crore for six states - Punjab, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha. With Friday's approval, the number of projects cleared by Road Transport and Highways Ministry this month so far has swelled to 37, entailing a total investment of about Rs 34,000 crore. "The Ministry has approved eight projects with a total length of about 350 kms and aggregate total project cost of Rs 6,000 crore," Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra said.Of these, six will be implemented in EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode and two in hybrid annuity mode, he said. The projects approved today include construction of partially access controlled four-lane elevated highway between Samrala Chowk to Ludhiana Municipal limit on NH 95 in Punjab on hybrid annuity mode to be executed at a cost of Rs 910 crore. Another project for Punjab pertains to four-lane Laddowal Bypass (linking NH 95 WITH NH 1 via Laddowal seed farm at Ludhiana) under NHDP on hybrid annuity mode at a cost of Rs 444 crore. Two projects approved for Jharkhand today include four/two laning with paved shoulder of Govindpur Chas-West Bengal border section of NH 32 on EPC mode at Rs 946 crore and four-laning of Barhi-Hazaribag section of NH 33 on EPC mode at a cost of Rs 700 crore. A Rs 302 crore project was approved for Madhya Pradesh for balance work of 2 lane with paved shoulder of Bhopal to Sanchi section of NH 86. Three more projects -- one each for Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha -- were approved today at a cost of Rs 396 crore, Rs 887 crore and Rs 1,369 crore for NH 116, NH 22 and NH 23 stretches, respectively. No clearance is required for approval of these projects as their construction cost is less than Rs 1,000 crore, the limit fixed by the government recently for award of projects by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.
The government plans to award most of these projects within this fiscal. The government has a target of awarding road contracts of 10,000 kms for this fiscal and it has so far awarded 7,677 kms. It has already set a target to increase the length of National Highways to 2 lakh kms from the existing 96,000 kms. Last week, the Ministry had approved 13 projects worth Rs 10,300 crore that included five projects by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and eight projects by the Ministry. As many as 18 projects worth Rs 17,000 crore for building about 1,000 kms of highways, including nine on the recently approved hybrid annuity mode, were approved in a meeting, chaired by Mitra, earlier this month.
SOURCE: The DNA
Pakistan has become the top buyer of Indian cotton this season due to a decline in its domestic availability, caused by widespread crop damage from whiteflies. So far, Bangladesh was the top buyer of Indian cotton. For the first time, demand from Pakistan has been to the tune of some 16 lakh bales. According to top officials from the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), the requirement so far has been the tune of 16 lakh bales from India and there is a potential for more bookings. “Cotton export to Pakistan has been negligible for the last couple of years. However, Pakistan reduced its area to 26 lakh hectares from 31 lakh hectares in the last season. This has been compounded by an outbreak of whitefly infestation. Therefore, the expectation of the usual production of around 120 lakh bales of production has been affected,” K R Kranthi, director, CICR, said. Moreover, since local prices are better than in Pakistan, the preference is to purchase cotton from India, he said. The shortage is to the tune of 25 lakh bales and the bookings are quite likely to increase, he said. Statistics compiled by the textiles commissioner’s office under the textiles ministry has also shown that Pakistan imported 16.6 lakh bales (1 bale = 170 kg) of cotton from India during the December 2015 quarter. In the same quarter in the previous year, India’s total cotton exports stood at 19.3 lakh bales, with Pakistan’s contribution coming in at 3.8 lakh bales.
The ministry has raised its cotton export forecast of the current season to 70 lakh bales for the full year of 2015-16, an over 21% increase from last year’s level of 57.7 lakh bales. Bangladesh has so far imported some 8.6 lakh bales from India last year. Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan are the main buyers of Indian cotton. Between 2011 to 2013, China imported at least 88 lakh bales of cotton from India and therefore, China began reducing cotton imports from India. Vietnam has purchased 5.5 lakh bales and demand from Bangladesh is around 5 lakh bales. Meanwhile, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has purchased 8 lakh bales so far in the 2015-16 marketing year and has decided not to buy more, as domestic prices have firmed up slightly after demand from Pakistan. Last year, CCI had procured 87 lakh bales of cotton. The cotton marketing year runs from October to September. This year too, the government’s cotton procurement was expected to be higher at last year’s level due to sluggish demand from China. But an increase in shipments to Pakistan, as well as the announcement of a bonus over and above the MSP to cotton growers in Gujarat, have supported led domestic prices rising.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The prospects of a pan-political agreement on the deadlocked goods and services tax (GST) framework appeared to brighten marginally on Friday with the newly appointed Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers sounding a note of tempered positivity. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra acknowledged that a political consensus on the contentious Constitution Amendment Bill for the indirect tax regime posed the biggest challenge, as did the necessity of protecting the interests of the States. But Mitra told BusinessLine that his “main role” in his new capacity would be to “build consensus amongst all the State Finance Ministers and bring everybody on board for a smooth roll-out of GST.” “It is too premature to comment on the mood of the Empowered Group,” Mitra noted.
Nevertheless, what lends political significance to his statement about building a consensus is that Mitra belongs to the Trinamool Congress, whose leader Mamata Banerjee has positioned herself against the BJP. The Centre is hoping the Constitution Amendment Bill will be passed in the forthcoming Budget Session, paving the way for the physical roll-out of the GST from April 1, 2017. The next meeting of the Empowered Committee is unlikely to take place this month as most States have their Budget. There is a broad consensus among State Finance Ministers that a single tax regime, which protects their revenue interests, is beneficial for all stakeholders — consumers, industry as well as the States.
Compensation concerns
But their main concern relates to compensation, which is now part of the Constitution Amendment Bill. Mitra has been most vocal on including compensation as part of the Bill. The States’ fears arise from their experience with the reduction of the Central Sales Tax. The tax rate was halved without any warning, resulting in the States incurring revenue losses and getting erratic compensation from the Centre.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
At the winter meeting of its Board of Directors in Tampa, Florida, the American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA) voted to formally support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement. The final TPP text had been signed at a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand on February 4, 2016, by the US and 11 other countries. In a press release, the AFMA said its Board recognized the special care given to fibre producer's analysis and advice by US Trade Representative Michael Froman and his team across more than five years of intense and complicated multi-country negotiations. “Inclusion in the final TPP text of the yarn-forward textile rule of origin so critical to U.S. fiber and yarn producers underpins our endorsement,” said AFMA Chairman William McCrary, Jr. at the conclusion of the Association's Board meeting. “This important trade provision is now intact in US free trade agreements with over 20 countries, a consistent outcome that assures an integrity in US trade policy so important to America's manufactured fiber producers, workers, and communities,” he added. The AFMA Board took note of the recent TPP endorsement by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO). AFMA and its members will continue to work with NCTO in the pursuit of public policies important to the success and prosperity of the entire American textile supply chain, the release said.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The failure of state governments to implement the National Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Policy is the main reason for failure of textile companies in the country, Nigeria's Bank of Industry (BoI) has said, according to Nigerian media reports. During a regional vocational skill competition in Kaduna organised by BoI in partnership with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Waheed Olagunju, BoI's executive director, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) said, the failure to implement the recommendation on increasing cotton production was the prime reason for the downfall. He further added that lack of lubricants added to the woes of the companies. Olagunju disclosed that the CTG scheme, which was launched in the year 2010, had provision to fund up to 100 billion Nigerian naira, and about 60 per cent of this amount was disbursed to industries in that sector before being converted to equity. He said the industries did not perform well despite of the funding because the recommendations were not implemented properly. “You will agree with me that funding is only one of the factors of production, there are other things that go with running a successful industrial enterprise. The bank made money available, but other recommendations were not implemented,” he said. “If other recommendations were implemented alongside the funding, it would have led to the revival of the CTG sector,” he added. Olagunju also said that the Nigerian economy is experiencing shortages in terms of the required manpower needed to operate the industries.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The Indonesian government has introduced a third stimulus package stipulates that industrial activities get electricity price cuts from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. However, the textile industry and the state electricity company PLN, which supplies the power, interpret the stipulation differently. Based on PLN’s understanding, the price cut will only be given to companies consuming more than they usually do every day. The textile industry, meanwhile, says the price cut should be given to industrial activities during the specified timeframe regardless of the amount of their power consumption. Indonesian Textile Association (API) chairman Ade Sudrajat said on Thursday his group praised the 10 stimulus packages issued by the government, but he added that they needed to be better implemented. He said that the stimulus packages are a response to their concerns and it has provided certainty for business. However, the implementation can still be improved. He added that the group particularly highlights implementation of the stimulus packages that mainly have to do with electricity price cuts, gas price reductions and income tax incentives. Ade said that they had been asking for a further discussion with PLN, the Finance Ministry and the Office of the Economic Coordinating Minister on the matter. His association has also requested lower gas prices for the textile industry. He quoted that the government reduced gas prices for the textile industry from US$12 per million British thermal unit (mbbtu) to $9 per mbbtu, in the government’s seventh stimulus package, while in fact oil exported to Singapore is priced at $3.70 per mbbtu. The textile industry players want effective implementation of economic stimulus packages to improve competitiveness as the country is moving toward free trade agreements with several countries. Benny Soetrisno, chairman of the API’s board of advisors, welcomed the economic packages as they provide more business certainty. He said, however, a relatively high production cost — because of electricity and gas prices — has made local products less competitive. The API’s data show that Indonesia’s textile industry had benefited from a free trade agreement with Japan.
Exports of Indonesia’s textiles and textile products surged from only $572.4 million in 2008, when the Indonesia-Japan economic partnership was first implemented, to $1.4 billion in 2014, according to the API’s data. Indonesia’s worldwide exports, meanwhile, only increased a little from $8.6 billion in 2005 to $12.7 billion in 2014, with exports to major markets in the US and Europe having slightly increased throughout the years. Vietnam enjoyed surging exports worldwide from $5.3 billion in 2005 to $26.2 billion in 2014. Vietnam has a trade deal with the EU and it is now in the process of ratifying the TPP along with another 11 signatories. In addition, Benny said Indonesia’s trade deal with the European Union under the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and participation in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would help boost exports of its textiles and textile products. He added that they are ready to join the TPP, as the textile industry views. However, the government should also make sure that other sectors, such as services, are well prepared.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The second NED University of Engineering and Technology International Textile Conference 2016 was held on Friday. Speakers from abroad including Iran, China, and the UK and from various universities within Pakistan attended the conference. Representative from relevant industries also attended the conference. The conference was inaugurated by NED Vice Chancellor Dr Azfal Haque. In his speech, he highlighted upon the research activities taking place in the university. He stressed upon initiating activity research in the area of technical textile and suggested for exploring the possibility of collaborative efforts by the institutions for research in these areas. He hoped that the textile engineering community including academia and industry will be benefited by the outcomes of the conference. Dr Yipiing Qiu from Dong Hua University China presented keynote speech.
SOURCE: The Daily Times
Around 33 exhibitors would showcase their products at the forthcoming London Fabric show to be held from 29 February to 1 March, 2016, according to its organiser—the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM). The latest exhibition will feature products from countries like the UK, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Compared to previous year, BFM has reported in its website a 41 percent increase in the number of pre-registered visitors this year. “There will be cottons, linens, velvets, chenille, boucles, lining fabrics and tweeds, everything from mattress ticking to light and heavy duty jacquards will be on display. There will also be leathers, faux leathers and synthetic fabrics from which to choose,” said the organiser. The exhibition will give British upholstery, bed and mattress manufacturers and retailers a unique opportunity to witness some of the best fabrics available under one roof. “We are delighted to see a large increase in the number of pre-registered visitors. This is a growing and developing show and gives UK furniture and soft furnishing manufacturers, and fabric buyers, a truly unique opportunity to see some of the best international and British fabric producers under one roof,” said Jackie Bazeley, managing director of BFM. “We have a greater diversity of fabrics on offer this year, whilst retaining a very high quality level. We are looking forward to a successful show for both exhibitors and visitors,” he added.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The Trade Ministry of Belarus is organizing Beltexlegprom - Belarus' biggest industrial exhibition again this year. The exhibition is organized by the Belexpo National Exhibition Center under the support of the Trade Ministry. The business program of the exhibition will include special-purpose seminars, roundtables with the participation of leading companies, representatives of the trade sector and mass media, and also the presentation of participating firms and a display of clothes and footwear collections. The Trade Ministry said that the exhibition will feature clothes, fabric and nonwoven fabric, knitwear, lingerie, corsetry, swimwear, fur, leather and goods made of them, home textiles, headgear, shawls, scarves. It will also include footwear and component parts for its production, textile and leather haberdashery, yarn, home decoration materials, raw material and equipment for the textile and light industries, arts and crafts and many more.
The 38th international trade show of consumer and textile goods “Beltexlegprom Spring” will take place at the Belexpo National Exhibition Center on 29-31 March. In 2015 partaking in it were more than 150 firms from six countries (Belarus, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine). Republican Unitary Enterprise “National Exhibition Centre “BelExpo” is an enterprise of a republican form of ownership. he main activity of the company is the organization of exhibitions and fairs. Nowadays NEC “BelExpo” is the biggest exhibition company in Belarus. The exhibition is to be held in the capital, Minsk, of the landlocked nation Belarus of Eastern Europe.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
China is to ban foreign firms from "online publishing" under new rules issued this week, as the country increasingly seeks to minimise Western influence. Chinese websites are already among the world's most censored, with Beijing blocking many foreign Internet services with a system known as the "Great Firewall of China". Regulations posted on a government website, set to go into force next month, state that foreign firms "are not to engage in online publishing". The regulations define online publishing as the provision over the Internet of books, maps, music, cartoons, computer games and "thoughtful text", as well as other content. It was unclear how the ban would be enforced or whether it would be applied to websites hosted on China-based servers or sites aimed at users in China. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), which issued a draft of the rules, could not immediately be contacted by AFP. The regulations say any Chinese publishers cooperating with foreign firms to provide online content would need prior approval from the body. Chinese publishing expert Xu Yi told AFP that the implications of the rules were unclear. "I think these regulations provide a legal basis for the government to manage foreign companies setting up websites in China," he said. "I don't think this means that websites opened by foreigners in China will be forced to close...it all depends on the Chinese government's intentions".
Writing on the website Tech In Asia, veteran China watcher Charles Custer said the rules were an attempt by SAPPRFT to play a bigger role in content management, previously seen as the domain of other government agencies. "SAPPRFT has traditionally been a regulator of offline publications, but it has increasingly been flexing its online muscles over the past decade, and occasionally clashing with other censorship organs," he said. "In practice, the new regulation isn't likely to change much beyond adding another hurdle would-be publishers have to jump through," he added. The regulations come at a time of heightened political restrictions in China. Authorities have proposed a new law to control the activities of foreign non-governmental organisations, while state media have warned of "hostile foreign forces" said to be using them to foment revolution. In recent years, censors in Beijing have moved to ban certain TV shows and movies from abroad from being shown online and authorities have decried "Western" influence on the country's educational system.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
The global dye sublimation print market is expected to more than double in the next five years creating a global market worth nearly 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) by 2021. The increase in dye sublimation printing is part of the broader rise of digital inkjet systems in the textile trade, Smithers Pira said in its new report titled Future of Dye Sublimation Printing to 2021. It tracks the increased use of this technology across key end-use segments – signage, technical, household, and garments. According to the latest exclusive market data from Smithers Pira, which carries out global testing, consulting and information services business on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains, a strong year-on-year growth is projected in the amount of material printed – 18.4 per cent – over the next five years. Smithers Pira forecasts that in 2021 nearly 900,000 sq m of textiles will be printed with the process, creating a global market worth nearly €3 billion ($3.4 billion). As the dye sublimation market booms it will create numerous opportunities for ink and textile suppliers, press builders, and partners across the value chain. In its analysis, Smithers identified five factors that would shape the growth of the dye sublimation print market: Garments, new machines, Italy the key hub, takeovers and pigment inks. Smithers Pira's data showed that garments – swimwear, sportswear, haute couture, fashion, ties and scarves, and other clothing – represented a clear majority of the market value and volume in 2016. This relative share would increase across the study period (2016-20121).
Greater use of the Dye Sublimation Printing technology will be aided by the fashion industry itself transforming with the arrival of internet shopping and fast-fashion. Already digital textile printing had enabled quicker turnaround and response to orders minimising stock holdings that have resulted in retailers and brands increasingly running a greater number of collections every year. Dye sublimation and similar digital platforms allow the supply chain to be shortened further and made more flexible, with some manufacturing moving close to the retailers, the report said. The report, further, pointed towards an interesting variance in the market: while Asia was poised to remain the biggest volume producer of dye sublimation materials, the highest per-unit prices were commanded in Western Europe. The cluster of fashion houses in North Italy had made the region a world centre for development of dye sublimation textile printing. Italian print service providers consequently represent over three quarters of the garment dye sublimation market in Western Europe today. Other countries have a lead in other segments like signage and household décor; and there are technology hubs across the region, including in Germany, and the UK. Also, the maturing of the dye sublimation market witnessed a number of moves by mainstream print companies into this segment. For instance, in October 2015 Konica Minolta opened a 5 million euro ($5.54 million) textile innovation centre at Bregnano, near Milan, in the heart of Europe's textile printing operations; Electronics for Imaging (EFI) bought Italian technology provider Reggiani in July 2015, adding its expertise and extensive line up of water-based industrial inkjet printers to EFI's existing Vutek line.
In June 2015, Epson completed the acquisition of Italian ink supplier Fortex and was in talks for partnership with dye sublimation equipment builder Robustelli. Elsewhere in the consumables area, Sensient bought UK firm Xennia in May 2015. A major presence in dye sublimation remains the Dover Group of companies – J-Teck3, Kiian Digital, Sawgrass Industrial and MS Italy. The increase in demand for dye sublimation print is driving the development of larger presses, expected to transform the value proposition of dye sublimation prints from samples and short runs to let it challenge analogue processes, like screen and gravure, in longer bulk production runs of multiple thousands of linear metres. Seven such presses were launched at ITMA 2015 last November. There is also much focus on innovation that minimised downtime on presses; for example, Kyocera and Ricoh have developed a recirculating head that reduces nozzle clogging, following Xaar's innovation of some years ago. For visual communications, the number of requested applications of dye sublimation products is growing, but the technology is not today developing fast enough to accommodate all client requirements, the report mentioned.
Despite the overall positive outlook for dye sublimation, as a process it is limited to use with synthetic or synthetic-coated materials – overwhelmingly polyester – by the need to bind the dyes into the internal fibres. Thus, in future dye sublimation systems may face competition from pigment inks if their suppliers can resolve quality, reliability and other issues. Pigments have greater substrate flexibility, significantly this includes natural substrates, like cotton. This combined with their simplicity of processing and the tactility of the printed textile will enable pigment inks to grow, if the print process can become reliable enough at production scale
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
