INTERNATIONAL
Textile industry sources have expressed the hope that the government would consider a reduction in the manmade fibre (MMF) levies and continue the optional Cenvat route for cotton textiles in the forthcoming Budget. “We hope the government would consider removing the 5 per cent import duty, 4 per cent special additional duty and anti-dumping duty as also reduce the Central excise duty from the present 12.5 per cent to 6 per cent levied on MMF,” the Southern India Mills’ Association Chairman K Senthilkumar said.
Forex earnings
In a statement here today, Senthilkumar said the highly labour-intensive textile industry would be able to earn substantial forex with negligible import content if the government brings down the MMF levies. Saturated growth in the manmade fibre and clothing segment is impacting the industry’s envisaged growth, he said and pointed out that the country’s manmade fibre textiles and clothing accounted for 20 per cent of exports and cotton textiles the remaining 80 per cent. As the price of the basic raw material (manmade fibre and filaments) is expensive by 23 to 30 per cent due to 5 per cent import duty, 4 per cent special additional duty, 12.5 per cent central excise and anti-dumping duty, Indian products are not competitive in the global market. The association has also appealed for continuation of the optional Cenvat route for cotton textiles (introduced way back in 2004) and bail out the ailing spinning sector. “Steep fall in yarn exports is impacting the industry,” he said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Country's textile sector could not achieve the envisaged growth rate primarily due to saturated growth in the man-made fibre (MMF) textiles and clothing segment caused by higher duty structure, industry body SIMA said today. The MMF textiles and clothing exports accounted for 80 per cent and cotton textiles for 20 per cent in China, while in case of India it was totally opposite, Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) said in a statement. This was because MMF and filaments, the basic raw materials were costlier by 23 to 30 per cent due to 5 per cent import duty, four per cent special additional duty, 12.5 per cent central excise duty and anti-dumping duty on certain fibres and filaments, SIMA Chairman Senthil Kumar said.
Stating that indigenous fibre manufacturers were adopting import parity pricing policy taking advantage of the tariff protection, he said adding that white cotton was available at international price. On the forth-coming Budget, Kumar said he is hopeful that the Centre would consider the long pending agenda of removing the 5 per cent import duty, four per cent special additional duty and anti-dumping duty and further reduce the central excise duty from 12.5 per cent to six per cent levied on MMF. The domestic textiles and clothing industry provides jobs to over 105 million people particularly in rural areas and women folks, he said.
It (Indian textile industry) has the potential to become a USD 350 billion industry from the current level of USD 110 billion creating new jobs for about 35 million people by 2023, provided creating a level playing field is mentioned in the Budget, Kumar said. SIMA further requested the government to continue the optional Cenvat route for cotton textiles which was introduced in 2004 owing to a break in the excise net across the textile value chain. It was essential to continue the optional Cenvat and thus prevent hardship for the ailing spinning sector due to steep fall in yarn exports, he added
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Union textile ministry is considering a 3.5 per cent interest subvention on the working capital loan of garment companies, in a bid to counter stagnation in exports because of stiff competition. The high cost of finance has been a major barrier for growth of the textiles sector. “In order to boost the textile sector, we have announced several incentives in the last few months. The major area of concern, however, remains high cost of production because of elevated interest rates on working capital,” said Rashmi Verma, secretary, Union textiles ministry. She added: “Some interest subvention has to be given to the textile sector to make India’s products competitive vis-à-vis other countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam where capital is availed to the textiles players at much lower interest rate than those here.”
According to trade sources, borrowing working capital at high interest rate keeps product prices up, resulting in lowering India’s competitiveness in the world market. As a consequence, countries with lower interest rate regimes, such Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Indonesia, are taking advantage of growth in the global textiles sector. Despite repeated efforts by the government to promote export through various sops, only about $40 billion of textiles per year have been supplied by India to the global market over the past several years. In fact, this year, textile imports are expected to decline to $40 billion from $42 billion last year, mostly because of the global economic slowdown. To address the concern, the textiles ministry has sent a proposal to the finance ministry to chalk out working capital availability at a maximum interest rate of seven per cent, said textile ministry Secretary Rashmi Verma. She added: “The textile ministry is of the view that the working capital should be made available at attractive rates — such as prevalent in Bangladesh or Vietnam, if not less, to make India competitive.”
Dilip Jiwrajka, managing director, Alok Industries, in a recent interaction, had estimated average interest rate on working capital between 10.5 and11 per cent, and had urged the government to bring it down. “When the Technology Upgradation-Fund-Scheme was introduced first in early nineties, the average interest rate on working capital was offered at three per cent, which brought lots of investment into the textile sector. But, now the interest rate has surged to around 11 per cent, which has made servicing the debt difficult,” said Jiwrajka. The textile sector contributes nearly seven per cent to India’s gross domestic product, and 13 per cent to merchandised exports.
Recently, India introduced the amended TUFS for attracting more investment. The government has also announced the inclusion of man-made fibre for up to 15 per cent in exports to get benefit of duty drawbacks. Textile ministry secretary said: “Most textile units are small and fragmented. These avail no economies of scale and have low productivity.” She also emphasised on increasing value addition locally and reducing exports of raw materials like cotton and yarn in addition to tax holidays to textiles mills to compensate the loss incurred through free-trade agreements.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
During the last about one decade, the pace of industrial development in Punjab had been slower than the national average, resulting in higher unemployment and drug addiction of youth, especially in rural areas. In spite of the claimed best efforts by the present government, some of the main reasons of the slow development are as follows:
The above mentioned anomalies if not addressed immediately can lead to political fallout in the coming elections.
It is suggested that all the departments dealing with the industry should be under one roof in the industrial towns to reduce the implementation time of entrepreneurs and to ensure ease of business.
SOURCE: The Tribune India
Knitwear manufacturers in Tirupur cluster are eyeing the North-East States in the country for major market expansion seeing the growing potential for apparels in the region. To facilitate easy tapping of the markets there and reduce the marketing costs, the Sripuram Trust formed of different textile stakeholders in Tirupur cluster and NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute are planning to infuse the apparel producers in the cluster to utilise the e-portal which the two bodies are planning to host on the internet platform soon. “The markets for apparels made of ‘heavy GSM (grams per square metre) fabrics’ that could withstand the cool climates in the North East States such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh and fashion garments, are growing exponentially in tandem with the increase happening in the ratio of youth among the total population in those States,” pointed out T. R. Vijayakumar, coordinator of Sripuram Trust.
Seeing the immense prospectives, even the knitwear exporters are showing the inclination to venture into the North-East region apart from the garment manufacturers in the cluster who had been into the domestic sales catering to the other parts of the country. Promotion of e-commerce route is going to help the knitwear manufacturers immensely as it drastically cut the cost of marketing otherwise could be incurred by travelling all the way to that region. “Knowledge of English is high in North-East States where some of them even have English as official language. People also use the internet well. However, we plan to host the product details on the portal in different regional languages too which will come in handy to generate awareness among other people,” said Raja M. Shanmugam, an apparel exporter and chief mentor of NIFT-TEA Institute.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Since the mid-2000s India's Free Trade Agreements have doubled to about 42 today. They have increased trade with FTA countries more than would have happened otherwise. Increased trade has been more on the import than export side, because India maintains relatively high tariffs and hence had larger tariff reductions than its FTA partners, the Finance Ministry said in a press release. In case of the ASEAN FTA, India has benefitted on both sides of trade flows with a statistically significant 33 per cent increase in exports and 79 per cent increase in imports. The trade increases have been much greater with the ASEAN than other FTAs and they have been greater in certain industries, such as metals on the import side. On the export side, FTAs have led to increased dynamism in apparels, especially in ASEAN markets. The overall effect on trade of an FTA is positive and statistically significant. The cumulative effect between the year of the FTA and 2013 on trade with ASEAN, Japan, and Korea is approximately equal to 50 per cent. India's increased trade with FTA countries is not due to diversion of imports from more efficient non-FTA countries, the release said.
On the import side, a ten per cent reduction in FTA tariffs for metals and machinery increased imports by 1.4 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively, compared to other products from FTAs or all products from non-FTA countries. In the current context of slowing demand and excess capacity with threats of circumvention of trade rules, progress on FTAs, if pursued, must be combined with strengthening India's ability to respond with WTO-consistent measures such as anti-dumping and conventional duties and safeguard measures. Analytical and other preparatory work must begin in earnest to prepare India for a mega-regional world, the release said.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The Economic Survey on Friday unequivocally questioned India’s long-time stance of insisting on a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) and a permanent solution to its public stockholding issue at the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the country’s strategy should instead evolve around the need to shift away from tariff armours for producers to domestic support, and that too at an appropriate level and form. The Survey pointed out that the policies being defended are those that “India intends to move out of in any case” due to well-documented impacts, including a decline in water tables and the over-use of electricity and fertilisers. FE was the first to question India’s stance at the WTO on these issues on January 17.
Given that the real need for an extra protection in the form of the SSM arises only in the case of a very tiny segment and applied tariffs on most farm items are far below the bound rates, India should discuss SSMs not as “a generic issue of principle but as a pragmatic negotiating objective covering a small part of agricultural tariffs”. “Perhaps, in this instance, lofty theologising about freedom and sovereignty needs to cede to mundane haggling over hides and hibiscuses,” the Survey said. India’s applied rate is less than 5% of the bound rate for about 4% of tariff lines, and less than 20% for about 16% of its tariff lines. It also expressed reservations as to whether pressing for a permanent solution to the stockholding issue is vitally necessary, especially when the country has managed to get a “peace clause” in Bali which was reiterated at the Nairobi ministerial in December last year.
Prescribing a way forward, the Survey said what India should consider offering a cut in its very high tariff bindings and in return seek more freedom to provide higher levels of domestic support, especially for pulses. It must also desist from policy volatility on trade. The survey also asks India, China and other similar nations “to offer to open up their markets and undertake greater commitments in the context of future WTO negotiations” in return for similar actions by its trading partners (say, more mobility for Indian labour) if the multilateral body is not to be consigned to irrelevance.
The Survey cautioned against resorting to more protectionist measures to deal with the current global stress, especially in the case of items that could undermine the competitiveness of downstream industries. Instead, the rupee should be allowed to have a fair value without strengthening. India should strengthen procedures that allow WTO-consistent actions against dumping, subsidisation and surges in imports to be taken expeditiously and effectively, it said. It should remove any negative protection for domestic manufacturing, which can be achieved by the GST implementation. And if it’s delayed, a similar result could be achieved by eliminating the countervailing duty exemptions.
Different opinion
SOURCE: The Financial Express
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$ 32.53 per barrel (bbl) on 26.02.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 31.01 per bbl on previous publishing day of 25.02.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 2237.02 per bbl on 26.02.2016 as compared to Rs 2127.01 per bbl on 25.02.2016. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 68.78 per US$ on 26.02.2016 as against Rs 68.60 per US$ on 25.02.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on February 26, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 25.02.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.02.2016 (28 Jan to 11 Feb, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
32.53 (31.01) |
30.05 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2237.02 (2127.01) |
2040.70 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
68.78 (68.60) |
67.91 |
SOURCE: PIB
Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Patron Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday blamed export managers for pushing the country into a debt trap by failing to spur external trade. Semi-qualified and outdated export managers are unaware of changing export trends and they are too much focused on politics, he said. Speaking to the business community, he said collection of Export Development Fund should be stopped immediately as it is being used to advance personal agenda, which warrants an action. Butt said the existing economic team is focused on loans discounting tax reforms and exports, which leads the government to borrow. He noted that Pakistan is getting most of the remittances from Saudi Arabia and UAE, which are facing economic hardships which can result in reduced foreign exchange, resulting in trade deficit.
The government should immediately chalk out a strategy like other countries to counter the threat otherwise the situation can take an unpleasant turn, he warned. Butt said that textile sector holding 57 percent share in exports is on the verge of collapse. Pakistani textiles rose by 40 percent during 2009 to 2014 while the Indian textile sector grew by 140 percent and Bangladesh textile sector sprang up by 104 percent during the same period for which policymakers should share some blame. The veteran business leader said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) agreement signed on February 4 in Auckland can reduce Pakistan’s exports by ten percent therefore policymakers should make plan B starting from finding new markets.
SOURCE: The Daily Times
The National Union of Textiles Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) have rejected the lifting of import ban on textile products by the government, saying it was illegal and did not follow due process, the Nigerian media has reported. Earlier this week, the government through the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko had announced at the official launch of the implementation of Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Common External Tariff (CET) that Nigerians can now import textile materials into the country if right duties are paid.
But the General Secretary of NUTGTWN, Issa Aremu said in Lagos that the ban on import of textiles into the country was imposed by the Olusegun Obasanjo's government in 2010, after due consultation with all stakeholders. He said the ban was imposed to help the Nigerian textile manufacturers gain comparative advantage over foreign firms and the decision to reverse the ban will kill the textile industry that is reeling under the impact of cheap Chinese imports and smuggling. Aremu, who is also the factional deputy president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the ban on import was necessary if the textile industry should get back to its former glory and help in the industrialisation of Nigeria. He called upon President Buhari to reverse the decision to lift the ban.
Emmanuel Cobham, the Director-General of NACCIMA also condemned the revocation of the ban on import of textiles products. He said the decision would expose the Nigerian textile industry to serious danger. Cobham said lifting the embargo on importation of textile products would be counterproductive to government’s efforts to revive the moribund textiles sector of the economy. “We are mortgaging our economy; the economy will not grow under such circumstances. We now depend on China and India for things that can be locally produced,” Cobham said.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The country’s textile industry, which was crippled by the loss of AGOA almost two years ago, will again retain its vibrancy as the European Union (EU) will open a duty-free market for 9 600 products including textile by October. AGOA is the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This would be through the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Through this agreement, countries are allowed to export goods to the EU, duty-free. The country is in the process of ratifying the agreement with the assistance of the EU. EU’s Gijs Berends disclosed that once the ratification came to an end, the country will benefit through shipping its goods to the union without delay. Berends was speaking at the EU offices on Friday. The EU was giving an update of the progress regarding the ratification process. A delegation from the EU assisting Swaziland with the process held a workshop on Friday where industry players were made aware of the benefits of the agreement.
Through this agreement, Berends said Swaziland would become more competitive and attractive to investors who would be looking at accessing the lucrative EU market. “The EPA agreement will liberalise 9 600 products and all the products will enter our market duty-free. It has to be mentioned that this will not be just a temporary trade agreement but a permanent one. We are looking forward to seeing Swaziland becoming a beneficiary from the market as that would positively contribute to its economic development,” Berends said.
SOURCE: The Times of Swaziland
A designer and exporter of soft furnishings in Jakarta has told WTiN.com how her country’s home textile sector can prosper by using more of Jakarta’s rich and varied tradition of woven fabrics in its design, especially if production can be scaled up, reducing unit costs. Melissa Gobel, founder of Calissa, which supplies soft furnishings to a high-end customer base, such as residential, office and hotel clients, stressed the wide variety of traditional fabrics available in Jakarta. They include woven fabrics from Sumatra’s Palembang city (called Songket Palembang); from North Sumatra (a fabric called Ulos); from Central Java and Yogyakarta (Lurik fabric); and Tenun woven fabrics made in eastern Indonesia, including Tenun Lombok, Tenun Sumbawa, Tenun Tanimbar, Tenun Rote and many others.
But while many interior designers in Indonesia have started using traditional woven fabrics, even mentoring weavers, they are still sourcing from traditional producers whose methods are slow and labour intensive. “The price is so expensive – which is millions of rupiah per piece of fabric, and it takes time to produce [those fabrics],” says Gobel. “Therefore, we cannot serve market demand.” She and other designers regret that the government of Indonesia has yet to promote industrial production of traditional fabrics. “The problem is that there is no attention from the government to promote our traditional fabrics,” says Gobel. “We only can get traditional weaving.”
As it stands, woven traditional fabrics are rarely used for sofas or curtains in Indonesia at present, according to Gobel, but are more commonly used for pillow and cushion covers. “Both Indonesian and foreigners like details with woven fabrics,” she says. But availability remains limited. That said, some Indonesian designers are trying to pioneer the use of more woven fabrics in decorative home textile details and mostly for sofa pillows, using Songket Palembang fabric and table cloths from various traditional woven fabrics. Some designers even make mosquito nets for beds from Tenun Garut fabric, as well as sofa covers. Others have used woven fabrics for wall coverings, employing Songket Palembang. Could domestic demand rise for woven fabrics in home textiles? There is certainly growing demand in Indonesia for home textile products, as the country experiences continuous economic growth, expanding the size of the middle class. However, at present, standard fabrics are more commonly used. “For sofa, there is more demand for velvet, thick silk, linen and polyester,” says Gobel. “It depends on the house that we want to design. For classic motifs, we use velvet, silk, polyester and leather. For modern and minimalist styling, linen, chenille and polyester are fabrics that would be preferred, with many Indonesian customers liking plain motifs.”
Furthermore, according to Gobel, classic curtains sold to wealthier Indonesians usually use velvet and silky, glamourous looking materials with plain motifs. For minimalist or modern style decorations, curtain materials used are usually linen and polyester. At present, around 90% of soft-furnishing products sourced by her company in Indonesia are for domestic consumption, with the remainder for exports to customers in wealthier countries such as Singapore and the US. Data from Indonesia’s industry ministry shows that the country’s exports of soft furnishings using textiles (which include fitted furniture, such as couches and sofas) earned US$3.126m in 2014, down slightly from US$3.193m in 2013.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
According to owners of ITMA Asia + CITME, as the closing date for registering draws closer, almost 1,000 manufacturers have already applied for space. “Space applications for the exhibition to be held at the new National Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC) in Shanghai from October 21 to 25, 2016 will close on February 29, 2016,” a press release revealed. The trade show is jointly owned by CEMATEX, China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA), the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT (CCPIT-Tex) and China Exhibition Centre Group Corporation (CIEC). Gu Ping, vice president of CTMA said, “We have seen a greater number of Chinese manufacturers signing up to exhibit at the combined show this year.” “Interestingly, nearly 30 per cent of the applicants are first-time participants and this attests to the reputation of the combined show as a leading-edge industry platform,” he added.
CEMATEX president Charles Beauduin too said, “As the deadline for space application draws near, we are receiving increasing numbers of applications from members, anxious to secure a booth before the deadline.” “As expected, interest from global machinery manufacturers is strong as everyone wants to tap into the market opportunities in China,” Beauduin stated. The owners further added that textile machinery manufacturers are leveraging the show as a strategic platform to showcase their latest technologies as China textile industry rolls out the 13th Five-Year Plan.
Under the plan, the Chinese textile industry will focus on industrial transformation and upgrading, while structural adjustments will continue to be made in all sectors. “This is expected to expand opportunities for the further development of textile enterprises and in areas such as technical textiles,” the show owners observed. According to CTMA, China's textile industry has been making greater investments to stay more competitive as there were a total of 15,235 new projects in 2015. From January to November 2015, fixed asset investments in textile projects of more than RMB 5 million each amounted to RMB 1.09 trillion, up 2 per cent from the same period in 2014. “In view of these positive trends, which will spawn demand for better technologies, and the resounding success of the 2014 show, we are confident that participation in the upcoming show will be outstanding,” Ping noted. ITMA Asia + CITME 2016 is organised by Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co Ltd and co-organised by MP Expositions Pte Ltd, while Japan Textile Machinery Association is a special partner. The last ITMA Asia + CITME show in 2014 was held over 150,000 square metres and attracted around 1,600 exhibitors from 28 economies and 100,000 visitors from 102 countries visited the show.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
Nanoengineered functional textiles are going to revolutionize the clothing that you'll wear. The potential of nanotechnology in the development of new materials in the textile industry is considerable. On the one hand, existing functionality can be improved using nanotechnology and on the other, it could make possible the manufacture of textiles with entirely new properties or the combination of different functions in one textile material. A first generation of nano-enhanced textiles benefitted from nano finishing: Coating the surface of textiles and clothing with nanoparticles is an approach to the production of highly active surfaces to have UV-blocking, antimicrobial, antistatic, flame retardant, water and oil repellent, wrinkle resistant, and self-cleaning properties. One stubborn hurdle that prevents nanomaterial-enhanced textiles from becoming more of a commercial reality is the insufficient durability of nanocoatings on textile fibers or the stability of various properties endowed by nanoparticles. Quite simply put, the 'smart' comes off during washing. While antimicrobial properties are exerted by nano-silver, UV blocking, self-cleaning and flame-retardant properties are imparted by nano-metal oxide coatings. Zinc oxide nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrices like soluble starch are a good example of functional nanostructures with potential for applications such as UV-protection ability in textiles and sunscreens, and antibacterial finishes in medical textiles and inner wears
A just published review paper in the February 26, 2016 online edition of ACS Nano ("Nanotechnology in Textiles") discusses electronic and photonic nanotechnologies that are integrated with textiles and shows their applications in displays, sensing, and drug release within the context of performance, durability, and connectivity. In these smart clothes the textile structures themselves perform electronic or electric functions. Ideally, the nanoelectronic components will be completely fused with the textile material, resulting in that textile and non-textile components cannot be differentiated and 'foreign particles' can no longer be seen or felt. In their review, the authors discuss the electrical conductivity of conducting polymers and graphene, both of which are attractive for creating textiles that enable the incorporation of sensors and actuators.
Another section of the review is dedicated to power sources suitable for e-textiles. This covers lightweight fabric carbon nanotube supercapacitor electrodes; stretchable graphene and PPy-based supercapacitors; triboelectric nanogenerators; flexible fiber and stripe batteries; and stretchable PPy-based supercapacitors for energy transfer. Adding digital components to these e-textiles would open up an entirely new area of functional clothing. OLEDs in fiber form could lead to revolutionary applications by integrating optical and optoelectronic devices into textile. Combined with nanoelectronic devices, we might one day see flexible optical sensors and display screens woven into shirts and other garments. You could literally wear your next-generation smart phone or iPad on your sleeves; including the solar panels to power them (read more: "Light-emitting nanofibers shine the way for optoelectronic textiles").
Photonic technologies for textiles
Want your clothes to change color at the push of a button, in response to ambient heat or illumination, warning you about airborne pollutants or pollen, or glow in the dark? The integration of optical technologies into garments will make this possible. As the authors write, "photonic materials and devices including films, nanoadditives, or optical fibers have been adopted in the fabrication of textiles and garments to not only enhance the aesthetic performance but also endow the garments with additional functionalities. The most distinctive and basic application of optical technologies on fabrics or garments is perhaps tuning their appearance by controlling the intensity, color, and pattern of light. "For example, optical films made of periodical dielectric multilayers could be directly coated on fabrics, thus offering a highly reflective colorful appearance and enabling different color perceptions depending on the angle of observation. Holographic films may also achieve similar functions and even provide a more complex 3D visual effect."
Sensing and drug release in textiles
Lab-on-fiber technology will allow the implementation of sophisticated, autonomous multifunction sensing and actuating systems – all integrated in individual optical fibers. Such multifunctional labs integrated into a single optical fiber, exchanging information and combining sensorial data, could provide effective auto-diagnostic features as well as new photonic and electro-optic functionalities (read more: "Move over chips – here come multifunctional labs on a single fiber"). The general sensing principle of a plasmonic fiber sensor is described in detail in the review paper: "In a plasmonic fiber sensor, a lossy surface plasmon mode propagating along a metal/dielectric interface can be excited at its resonance by an optical fiber core-guided mode via evanescent wave coupling when the phase-matching condition between the two modes is satisfied at a certain frequency. The presence of such a plasmonic mode manifests itself as a spectral dip in the fiber transmission spectrum, with its spectral location corresponding to the phase-matching frequency. Variations in the refractive index of an analyte adjacent to the metal layer could significantly modify the phase-matching condition, thus displacing the spectral dip in the optical fiber transmission spectrum."
Already, temperature, humidity, and pressure sensors have been incorporated in textiles. In future, microfluidics can be incorporated in thread-based channels for application in point-of-care diagnostics. Combined with LEDs, these textiles can give visual sensing information. Combined with drug-loaded nanoparticles, textile fibers could provide programmable release of therapeutic drugs. For example, the designer Matilda Ceesay created a hooded body suit embedded at the molecular level with insecticides to ward off mosquitoes infected with malaria. The cotton mesh used for this anti-malaria garment was coated with a material where an insect repellent and fabric are bound at the nano level using metal organic framework molecules (MOFs). Concluding their review, after an extensive discussion of fabrication methods and functionalities, the authors also address the issues of toxicity of nanomaterials in textiles as well as commercial trends in the global nanotechnology-enhanced textile market.
SOURCE: The Nanowerk
On February 15 in Doha, there was an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) producers Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela and non-Opec producer Russia to freeze crude oil output at levels seen before January 11, 2016. These talks were followed by meetings between Iraq, Iran, Venezuela and Qatar day to discuss a collective production freeze. Just after the talks, Iran said it agreed in principle to help balance the oil market, but did not sign up to the proposal. Any production freeze based on pre-January 11 numbers was tantamount to Iran in particular not being able to bring an additional supply after the sanctions on it were lifted unless countries such as Saudi Arabia agree to production cuts, definitely not the case in the Doha talks.
Cracks clearly appeared in the days following the Doha talks. On February 23, Saudi Arabia's oil minister Al Naimi suggested the country would not cut production. He also said Saudi Arabia would continue to invest to maintain its total production capacity at 12.5 million barrels a day. Equally, Iran commented it was "ridiculous" to expect Iran to agree to any production freeze.
Indeed, freezing output at January 11 levels, which were 32.4 million barrels a day including Indonesia, (31.63 million barrels a day excluding Indonesia) could help balance the markets as early as the third quarter of this year with oil prices rallying $40 a barrel to justify the marginal barrel production. However, we don't think such a deal is in sight. As markets realise soon the probability for a deal between Opec members is very low and the only way a deal could be met is through production cuts by some members and realistically allowing countries such as Iran to increase production, probably slightly slower than initially Iran would have thought, we would once again see oil prices coming under pressure and reacting to the ever weakening fundamentals as we don't expect any production cuts being announced by Opec or non-Opec countries.
We are still expecting an excess in the market of 2.2 million barrels a day in the first quarter if CY2016 and 1.8 million barrels a day in the second quarter of CY2016, which could test on-shore storage capacities globally and push prices below $30 a barrel, possibly even closer to $20 a barrel once again towards the end of March or early April. We maintain our forecast for Brent crude to average $30 a barrel in the first quarter of CY2016 and then recovering slowly towards $34 a barrel in the second quarter of CY2016. This should help start the market balance process as we could see production shut-ins. With demand seasonally and year-on-year rising in the second quarter of CY2016, the markets should, then, start to balance together with a steep fall in non-Opec supply led by a US production decline. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Brent spreads have widened once again due to increased pressure on WTI thanks to crude storage running almost full in Cushing. These spreads should narrow once we are past the crude injection period of the first quarter of CY2016 and part of the second quarter of CY2016 when refineries go offline for seasonal maintenance.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
China's currency was expected to be one of the the main topics at this week's Group of 20 meeting. Instead, Japan's yen and monetary policy were identified as a source of concern for some officials from the world's leading economies. "The debate was also about Japan, to be honest - there was some concern that we would get into a situation of competitive devaluations," Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said in Shanghai. Once one country devalues it's currency, "the risk is very large that another follows and we get into competitive devaluation," Dijsselbloem told reporters. The comments indicated increasing concern about the Bank of Japan's unprecedented monetary stimulus, which has weakened the yen against the dollar and driven bond yields to historic lows. The announcement of a negative rate policy last month surprised markets and spurred currency volatility.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters in Shanghai Saturday that there was no opposition to the bank's negative rate policy at the G-20 meeting, and that he got understanding from G-20 members. A Japanese Finance Ministry official told reporters Friday that there weren't any questions from other nations in response to Kuroda's presentation to the G-20. If devaluation is a consequence of monetary policy that is motivated by real macro-economic domestic reasons, then nations must make sure to inform and consult with each other so there are no surprises, Dijsselbloem said Saturday.
By contrast, one official from the G-20, who asked not to be identified as the talks were private, said members were broadly reassured that China isn't going to start weakening its currency. Chinese policy makers have repeatedly said there's no basis for long-term depreciation of the yuan. Brazilian Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa claimed credit for his country in convincing China to avoid competitive devaluation. The BOJ in January followed the European Central Bank, the Swiss monetary authority and others in charging financial institutions interest on some of the reserves they keep at the central bank. The policy doesn't target foreign exchange rates, Kuroda said in parliament Friday before heading to Shanghai.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
