|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1087.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
VSF |
2085.42 |
USD/Ton |
0.07% |
3/17/2016 |
|
ASF |
1912.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1084.11 |
USD/Ton |
-0.84% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2246.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4523.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1280.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2047.09 |
USD/Ton |
0.38% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2096.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
1169.22 |
USD/Ton |
-0.72% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2491.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5714.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2775.45 |
USD/Ton |
0.56% |
3/17/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1748.08 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2453.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2928.79 |
USD/Ton |
0.53% |
3/17/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2453.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1855.41 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2116.09 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.07 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.90 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.97 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.72 |
USD/Meter |
0.43% |
3/17/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/17/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15353 USD dtd17/03/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Impasse continues in the talks been held between trade unions and textile associations to chalk out a new wage pact for the knitwear workers in Tirupur cluster, though there was a slight progress during the negotiations on Thursday, sources said. The previous four-year wage agreement, signed between various textile associations and trade unions, expired on January 30 this year. On the day, representatives of textile associations agreed to relax their previous stance and put forward a suggestion to increase the basic wages of the workers by 18 per cent in the first year and enhance the wages by3 per cent in each of the three subsequent years. The eight trade unions also then came down from their demand for a 100 per cent increase in the wages to 90 per cent. “We have now asked for a 50 per cent increase in wages for the first year, 20 increase in second year and 10 per cent increase in each of the next two years,” said M. Chandran, State secretary of CITU. Till the previous rounds, the textile unit owners were of the view that they would give a total of 24 per cent hike in wages spread over four years. Tthe trade unions were adamant on the view that the increase in wages should be 100 per cent considering the inflation. The next round of talks was slated to be held on March 24.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Readymade garments traders and textile merchants downed shutters in the city on Thursday, demanding that the Centre roll back 2 per cent excise duty immediately. They held a rally from Lenin Centre to the sub-collector's office raising slogans and later submitted a memorandum to the sub-collector. Urging the government to withdraw its proposal, they said that they are ready to fight it out. The traders opined that branded garments will be out of reach for middle class sections with the implementation of 2 per cent excise duty. They said they were already paying 5 per cent excise duty and with the additional 2 per cent, it will drive them into severe losses.
President of Apparel Manufacturers and Marketers Association (AMMA) G V S Harishchandra said that additional excise duty will have an adverse impact on the garment sector. "The garment sector is already crippled and this additional tax burden will wreck the business. More than 60 per cent of small-scale readymade traders will suffer severe losses," he pointed out. He said the garment sector generates the second highest employment after agriculture in the state. Members of Vijayawada Textile Merchants Welfare Association expressed solidarity by closing shops in Vasthralatha and Krishnaveni cloth market.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Hundreds of textile units in the country would be shut down if the Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) subsidy is not released on time, said the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), the apex body of textile mills in the South. Association Chairman M Senthilkumar has in a communication to Union Finance Minister appealed for immediate allocation of adequate funds for clearing TUF subsidy backlog since September 2014. “The subsidy has been pending for more than one-and-half years. Meanwhile, there has been complete erosion of working capital and a good number of textile units have started to incur cash losses due to glut in the market,” he said. “TUF allocation in the 2016-17 budget is only Rs. 1,480 crore against the actual requirement of over Rs. 7,000 crore,” he said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Indian ready-made garments exporters are hopeful of gaining a larger market share in the European Union (EU) over the next few years as the 28-member bloc has decided to continue extending tariff preference to the sector for three years while the same was withdrawn from China. The tariff preference fixed at 20 per cent of total tariff, applicable from 2017-19, was, however, withdrawn for textile exporters from India as the sector graduated out of the scheme. This happened because its share in EU imports from GSP beneficiaries exceeded 17.5 per cent. “With EU being one of the biggest markets for Indian readymade garment products, the tariff preference news is a big relief for Indian exporters. With China’s absence in the preference list, Indian products will gain a new edge in new markets (in the bloc),” according to the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC). Of India’s total annual garments exports of around $17 billion, about a third go to the EU.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The next level of bilateral trade between the United States and India would be focused on innovation in clean tech and entrepreneurship, informed a Charles H Rivkin, Assistant Secretary of State, US Department of State - Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs during an innovation roadshow here. While the Government of India has laid down a road map to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation through its newly launched start-up policy, it is providing an opportunity to Indian entrepreneurs to innovate and engage with their international counterparts to grow further. "All know that climate change is our biggest global economic challenge... But it is also global economic opportunity and that's why I am here with my senior advisors and representatives of American clean tech companies. The opportunity and the scale of the opportunity in clean tech is enormous. We have had 14 gigawatts in 2016, and growing to 175 gigawatts by 2022, which requires financing of about US$ 100 billion. So, its a social challenge as well as social opportunity and an economic challenge and economic opportunity," Rivkin told BusinessLine here. However, Rivkin further pointed out that instead of merely discussing at the Federal level, this time during the American Innovation Roadshow, the approach is to strike a people-to-people engagement. "We are the two great nations, two friends, two markets, two Federalist societies so it makes more sense if we engage at state to state level, city to city level as well as on the federal government level."
A delegation of US energy and infrastructure companies would engage with central and state government leaders, civil society groups and entrepreneurs sharing experiences with US innovators and Indian entrepreneurs. The senior US official also mentioned that the India-US bilateral trade will further get boost given the India's government engages on the policy level discussions. "We can do together to get better investment climate by exploring a possibility of both governments entering into a bilateral investment treaty - BIT. We are discussing with the Government of India weather it is interested in engaging in this kind of discussion... I understand there is about US $ 19 billion worth of Indian investments in the US, but what is important is to send out a clear signal to US investors that India is a place to invest. BIT can benefit the bilateral trade and economic growth." The trade between India and the US has increased by three times since 2005, and number of US companies operating inn India has increased from 200 to 500 now. "It is fair to say that defense, clean energy, economics and trade have broken past records. So we are already heading in a good direction but our job working with Prime Minister Modi's government is to turbo charge that and deliver on the expectations," he added.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Government should review free trade agreements and come out with a fresh strategy to stem continuous fall in exports, industry body Assocham said. It said that going by the trend, the country's exports in 2016-17 would be down to the level of 2010-11. "With a 16-18 per cent contraction, exports will aggregate around $260 billion, a level quite close to $251 billion attained in 2010-11. This is the lowest since the exports broke the $300 billion-mark for the first time in 2011-12," Assocham said in a statement. It has given this detail as part of the feedback to the Rajya Sabha for Examination of Demand for Grants for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for 2016-17.
Dropping for the 15th month in a row, exports dipped by 5 per cent in February. "How severe is the situation can be gauged from a possibility that it would take another few years, maybe not before 2017-18, before we retrieve the export levels achieved in 2011-12. That would be a seven-year reversal," Assocham said. It said that while the external sector would remain challenging, new game plan including review of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) should be devised. India has signed many trade pacts, more for geo-political reasons rather than commercial reasons, it added. "The South Asian Free Trade Agreement, which has not resulted in any significant export gains. India's trade deficit has widened with the ASEAN. Further, most of India's preferential trade agreements are shallow in terms of product coverage," it said. It also said that India's pharmaceutical exports have not benefited from tariff reductions under the India-Japan CEPA, mainly because it's too cumbersome to deal with Japan's drug regulator. Further, it said that India's trade pacts have exacerbated inverted duty structure - high import duties on raw materials and intermediates, and lower duties on finished goods - that discourage the production and export of value-added items.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The shipping ministry has relaxed cabotage restrictions for ports that transship at least half of the containers handled by them. Transhipment ports that are eligible for cabotage relaxation will now enable foreign container lines to carry export-import (exim) laden and empty containers between that port and other Indian ports. Earlier, the cabotage law restricted foreign flag ocean carriers from transporting containers between domestic gateway ports. The government said the move will help India create hubs within the country and cut dependence on neighbouring hub ports. Currently, India is heavily dependent on Colombo and Singapore ports for transhipment. Earlier, only India-registered ships were allowed to ply on local routes for carrying cargo. By easing its cabotage regulations, India hopes to attract more containerized cargo. International container carriers have long been lobbying with the government for relaxing the cabotage law arguing that lack of adequate Indian ships was stalling the growth of transhipment ports. The container port seeking cabotage relaxation for transshipment port would have to achieve transshipment of 50%. Inability of the port to transship at least 50% of the containers handled in a year will result in revocation of the said relaxation. The port whose relaxation is revoked will not be considered for cabotage relaxation for the next three years. The container handling port will also be required to provide monthly container traffic data for monitoring to Directorate General of Shipping and the shipping ministry by 5th of the following month.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Indian rupee today closed at an over two-month high of 66.75 per US dollar by gaining 47 paise on persistent selling of the American currency by banks and exporters after the US Fed indicated a slower pace on rate hike. Fresh foreign capital inflows also boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. The benchmark Sensex ended steady at 24,677.37 after moving in a wide range of 24,948.30 and 24,576.52. The rupee resumed higher at 66.90 as against the yesterday’s closing level of 67.22 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and firmed up further to 66.64 before ending at more than 2-month high at 66.75, showing a gain of 47 paise or 0.70 per cent. It had last ended at 66.63 per dollar on January 8, 2016. The rupee has gained by 63 paise or 0.93 per cent in two days. Weakness in the US dollar persisted during Asia trade today, briefly hitting a three-week low against the yen. The dollar dropped swiftly and sharply against main rivals today after the Federal Reserve cut an old projection for US interest rate hikes to two from four for 2016, a move that initially spurred a risk-on rally throughout global equities and oil.
The Fed on Wednesday injected more caution into its outlook, including for interest-rate increases this year. And although dollar-supportive higher rates in the US stand in marked contrast to easier monetary policy in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, traders unwound some of their pro-dollar stance. Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity Financial Services said, “The rupee opened on a much stronger note, taking cues from FOMC statement (where Fed kept rate unchanged, leaving dovish stance) thus by weakening USD. This move will have a pressure on USD going forward. Positive sentiment in domestic equity market added fuel in rally of the rupee and helped the rupee to break resistance of 66.80/USD.” In domestic equity market we saw a remarkable gap up opening and to end the day Nifty closed with a marginal gain of 14 points. Stronger rupee closed with a gain of 47 paise at 66.75/USD. Trading range for spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 66.20 to 67/USD for the day. In forward market, premium for dollar dropped further due to persistent receivings from exporters. The benchmark six-month premium for August dropped to 210-212 paise from 217-219 paise yesterday while far-forward February 2017 contract also closed lower at 414-416 paise from 423-425 paise. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 66.8806 and euro at 75.0735. In cross-currency trades, the rupee dropped against the pound sterling to finish at 95.76 from 94.73 yesterday and also moved down against the euro to close at 75.49 from 74.48. The domestic unit fell against the yen to settle at 59.97 per 100 yen from 59.24.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The Reserve Bank on Thursday revised rules pertaining to revival of advances to small businesses and asked lenders to form district-level committees to resolve stressed loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In order to enable faster resolution of stress in an MSME account, every bank shall form Committees for Stressed MSME," RBI said in a notification. The rules have been revised for "revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs having loan limits up to Rs 25 crore". "Restructuring of loan accounts with exposure of above Rs 25 crore will continue to be governed by the extant guidelines on Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) or Joint Lenders' Forum (JLF) mechanism," the notification said. The notification follows a May 2015 government decision to provide a simple and fast mechanism to address stress in accounts of MSMEs and also help in the promotion of such businesses, it said. A board-approved policy to operationalise the revised framework will have to be put in place by banks before June 30, the regulator said. These will be district-level committees which will resolve the stress in MSMEs under their jurisdictions, it said, adding in case of a MSME banking with multiple lenders, the lead bank's panel's should deal with the issue. The committees shall comprise regional head of the bank as chairperson, and MSME loans in-charge as the convener and member. The bank should also appoint an external expert nominated by the bank and a representative of the State Government, it said.
SOURCE: The Times of India
India cannot surpass China's GDP despite the "potential" to become a big power, a state-run Chinese daily said today, underlining that "unrealistic" praise and forecasts for India are just giving an "illusory picture". The higher projections of India's economic growth rate in comparison to China's slowing down economy has riled the Chinese official media which argues that India is far away in catching up with China's GDP. "It is inescapably clear that India won't easily outgrow China as predicted by the West. From a macro perspective, China's GDP in 2015 was nearly USD 10.42 trillion, which is around 5 times as much as India's USD 2.18 trillion," an article in the Global Times said. The daily said that it is foreseeable that China's future economic growth rate may slow down slightly, but the possibility of zero and negative growth is "almost nonexistent". "As a result, there is no possibility of India surpassing China," the article said, adding that "authors in the West never tire of choosing India to compare with China. They seem to consider that India could replace China in the near future." "It must be admitted that India is a potential big power. But unrealistic praise and forecasts for India are just painting an illusory picture for it," the article said. It said that though international agencies such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and IMF try to "trumpet" India's advantages, India is not yet a dominant player on the international economic arena, and it has many ingrained problems."
Pointing that India's electric power, urban water supply, public transport and other infrastructure construction are lagging behind, it said the gap between India and China has not narrowed but expanded after so many years of development. "Most of India's indicators of the level of social development today, such as life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, power consumption, proportion of rural population and proportion of poverty, still remain at the level of China's at the end of 20th century," it said. India's last year GDP grew at 7.2 per cent while China's decelerated to 6.9 per cent slipping below seven per cent for the first time in a quarter century. The government fixed this year's target at 6.5 to seven per cent. In its forecast, the IMF predicted Chinese economy to further decelerate to 6.3 per cent in 2016 and 6 per cent for 2017, whereas for India, it has projected 7.3 per cent GDP in 2015-16 and 7.5 per cent in 2016-17.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Emphasising that it is time for action, Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur today expressed hope of resuming the talks on India-EFTA free trade pact. The trade talks between India and Europe Free Trade Association (EFTA) -- the grouping of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein -- have been stalled on a host of issues. Hoping to restart negotiations on the pact, Castelmur said, "we have a very optimistic view and we will be happy to resume negotiations". With regard to the proposed pact, he said there are certain issues related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and data safety that have to be sorted out.
Noting that negotiations have been stuck since November 2013, he said now is time for action and that Switzerland is ready. India-EFTA trade talks were launched in 2008. The proposed pact covers both trade in goods (industrial and agricultural products) and in services, market access for investments, protection of intellectual property and public procurement. Negotiations were stuck on some issues related to IPR. EFTA wants India to commit more on IPR. They were also demanding for data exclusivity, which India is completely opposed to. Data exclusivity provides protection to the technical data generated by innovator companies to prove the usefulness of their products. In pharmaceutical sector, drug companies generate the data through expensive global clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of their new medicine. Switzerland has huge interest in this sector. By gaining exclusive rights over this data, innovator companies can prevent their competitors from obtaining marketing licence for low-cost versions during the tenure of this exclusivity. Both the sides have completed over a dozen rounds of talks so far. Two-way trade between India and EFTA stood at $24.5 billion in 2014-15 as against $22.1 billion in 2013-14.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Both India and Vietnam have agreed that the two countries have made significant progress in textile and garment trade last year. Clearly pleased with the improvement in trade ties with India in this sector, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, who was attending the third meeting of Vietnam-India Joint Sub-Commission on Trade in New Delhi on March 15, stated that bilateral cooperation has seen notable progress since the previous meeting of the Vietnam-India Joint Sub-Commission on Trade in Hanoi last year. The highlight of the 2nd meeting had been textiles and garments, followed by energy and industry, footwear and chemicals. Also hailing the strong ties between Vietnam and India at the same meeting, Commerce Secretary of India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry Rita Teaotia spoke highly of Vietnam as a “current coordinator” between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 2015-2018. She pointed out that ties between the two nations have improved in textiles and garments sector, among others.
In this connection, she emphasised that two countries need to work on improving information exchanges in trade and commerce, while strengthening air and sea links. Meanwhile, Do Thang Hai suggested that the two nations must work on strengthening regional value chains and identifying ways to support businesses in order to further cement economic ties between the two countries. Thang Hai also urged the Indian government to expedite implementation of India’s privileged credit package, worth US$ 300 million for investments in Vietnam’s garment and textile sector. He also suggested that India must consider opening a bonded warehouse in Vietnam to reduce costs and increase competitiveness for its products. Later in the day, Hai met India’s Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, during which they discussed the opportunities that Vietnam and India had before them and how working together could reap benefits for both sides.
Vietnam has signed several FTAs, including a large market for exports, and has the advantage of having a large number of skilled workers in the textiles and garments sector, while India is a big supplier of cotton and fabrics. It is noteworthy here that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon going to visit Vietnam. Over the past several years, Vietnam’s textile and garment industry has seen fast and sustainable growth. While employment is high in this sector, the export value of its products has also climbed to the second position in the country’s export revenue, earning a major source of foreign exchange and contributing substantially to Vietnam’s gross national product and budget. As per data from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s total import and export turnover in the first 2 months of 2016 reached $46.69 billion, down 1.5 per cent ($701 million) compared to the same period of 2015. Its import-export FDI turnover was estimated at $30.37 billion, up 0.6 per cent over the same period. Vietnam had five export commodities, with turnover of more than $1 billion, including textiles and garment with $3.3 billion.
During the same period, the country’s imports reached about $23 billion, down 5.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2015. The FDI sector accounted for $13.77 billion, down 6.4 per cent yoy. The main import products include: cloth material, and garment and textile raw materials, apart from computers, electronic products and components; machinery, equipment and spare parts; phone and components; iron and steel; plastics; petroleum. In the first two months, Vietnam obtained trade surplus of $680 million. The FDI sector continued to play a prominent role in the country’s economy, accounting for 65 per cent of its total import-export turnover.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
With India becoming an increasingly central economy, the US should work more comprehensively to integrate the country in global economic institutions, a top American expert on South Asia has said. Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said that the US should take action and champion Indian membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. "As India becomes an increasingly central global economy, the United States should work more comprehensively to integrate India in global economic institutions. APEC should be the highest priority," Ayres told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing. "India seeks membership and has been waiting for nearly twenty years. APEC membership would be a helpful step toward the possibility of considering Indian participation in an expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) down the line, and APEC membership would include (India) in a range of peer consultations committed toward the shared goals of free and open trade and investment," Ayres said. There are other economic institutions in which India should become a member, she said. India currently holds "key partner" status in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD), but it should become a member, she said. This is one of the world's primary information sharing mechanisms on global development, a conversation India has been participating in, but not as a full member, she said. "OECD membership would also open up the opportunity for Indian membership in the International Energy Agency (IEA). Again, India is a 'key partner' of the IEA, but as India ranks among the world's top energy importers, it no longer makes sense for it to be outside this organisation," Ayres said.
In her testimony, she also called to elevate support for India's economic growth to the highest bilateral priority for the US agenda with India. A recent CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on US-India Relations recommended completion of a bilateral investment treaty; high-level discussion of bilateral sectoral agreements, such as in services; and identification of a longer-term pathway to a free trade agreement or Indian membership in an expanded TPP as an equivalent. It also called for creation of initiatives that respond to Indian interest in domestic reform needs, such as technical advice on market-based approaches to infrastructure financing, shared work with international financial institutions to re-prioritise infrastructure financing, continued joint work on science and technology, labour, transportation, and vocational skills training. US-India trade, she said remains well below its potential only a little more than one-tenth of US-China trade in goods, and more on the scale of Taiwan or the Netherlands. The Obama administration has held out a target of $500 billion for two-way US-India trade as a vision statement, but the anticipated timeframe as well as the path to get there remains unelaborated.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 38.05 per barrel (bbl) on 17.03.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 36.10 per bbl on previous publishing day of 16.03.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 2544.87 per bbl on 17.03.2016 as compared to Rs 2431.94 per bbl on 16.03.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 66.88 per US$ on 17.03.2016 as against Rs 67.37 per US$ on 16.03.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on March 17, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 16.03.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.03.2016 (26 Feb to 11 Mar, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
38.05 (36.10) |
34.82 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2544.87 (2431.94) |
2356.62 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.88 (67.37) |
67.68 |
SOURCE: PIB
Compared with 14.5 billion pounds in 2014, US textile and apparel fibre imports rose for a third consecutive year in 2015 to their highest on record, reaching 15.7 billion raw fibre equivalent pounds. “Total fibre product imports reached 19.4 billion pounds in 2015, also a record and nearly 7 per cent above 2014,” a USDA press release said. Total product exports, on the other hand, were unchanged for the third consecutive year in 2015 at 3.7 billion pounds. “US net imports consist mostly of cotton and manmade fibre products, as demand for linen, wool, and silk products remain relatively small,” the US agency added. USDA also observed that with manmade fibre imports expanding steadily in recent years, cotton's share has declined consistently. In 2015, cotton textile and apparel products accounted for 44 per cent of the total, while manmade fibres contributed nearly 49 per cent. “By comparison, cotton contributed 54 per cent of the total five years ago, compared with manmade fibres' share of 40 per cent,” USDA noted.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
Owing to changing policies and complicated procedures ahead of Trans-Pacific Partnership, many Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises plans to withdraw from the market. This was revealed by Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) at a seminar on opportunities and challenges from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in Hanoi on March 15. According to local textile enterprises in Vietnam, the complicated rules and procedures are hampering their operations. Seeing this trend, Vitas has warned that many apparel firms plan on pulling out of the market. And if that happens, it would become hard for the labor-intensive industry to make the most of the trade pact, which was signed in New Zealand last month. To explain this situation, Truong Van Cam, General Secretary, VITAS, cited an example saying that for instance, to import garment printers, it will take importers six months to get a license. Under Decree 60, business owners must hold tertiary or higher degrees to meet the requirement for importing such printers. Furthermore, he added that the textile-garment industry exported products, worth US$27 billion, last year, with 60 per cent of the total volume going to TPP countries. Quoting a Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) survey, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the WTO Center under VCCI, said that at least 68 per cent Vietnamese enterprises have agreed to all terms and conditions of the TPP. “The number of enterprises in favour of the TPP is high and rising. Though we have reason to be optimistic about the future, we worry as 70 per cent of local enterprises, aware of the TPP, have vague knowledge of it.”
SOURCE: The CCF Group
Pakistan is keen to see Turkmenistan join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in order to promote linkages with the southern port of Gwadar and the Arabian Sea, says the minister of commerce. “As we move forward to improve regional connectivity, we could further align our economic and trade interests,” said Khurram Dastgir while speaking at the first Pakistan-Turkmenistan Business Forum on Thursday. He underlined Pakistan’s commitment to forging strong relations with regional states in an attempt to give a boost to trade and economic activities. He called the holding of the first business forum a step in the right direction, which would be instrumental in deepening linkages between business communities of the two countries and raising the level of bilateral trade significantly as at present it stood well below the potential.
Dastgir noted that extensive interaction between the Pakistani and Central Asian leadership reflected the fact that the two regions were coming closer and clearing the way for realising the dream of strong inter-regional connectivity. He highlighted that the western route of CPEC would provide landlocked countries of Central Asia the shortest trading route with East Asia. “Opportunities like the CPEC emerge in decades and in economic significance it is comparable to the great trade route discoveries of the world,” he remarked. The minister, however, pointed out that trade between Pakistan and Turkmenistan stood quite low at $25 million and had the potential to go higher. The factors that continued to hamper expansion of trade were lack of direct cargo links, safe and direct land routes, knowledge of Pakistani products and visa facilitation. “Efforts are being made to overcome these challenges and strengthen trade ties with special focus on enhanced market access, trade promotion and trade facilitation,” he said. Dastgir was of the view that Pakistan’s recent accession to the TIR (international road transport) convention would greatly facilitate trade with Turkmenistan and other Central Asian states.
Talking to meeting participants, Turkmenistan Deputy Minister of Textile Nepes Gaylyyev highlighted that Turkmenistan was producing fine-quality cotton but its textile industry lacked technological advancement and did not produce a wide variety of products. “Pakistan is one of the few countries that have a complete chain of industries in the textile sector established since decades,” he said and invited businessmen to invest in the textile sector of Turkmenistan and cash in on the investment opportunities that the emerging market presented.
SOURCE: The Tribune
Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on the global shipping sector to negative as it expects supply growth to outpace demand growth in 2016 by more than 2 percent, suppressing freight rates, particularly in the dry bulk and containership segments. However, the outlook for the tanker segment remains stable as low crude oil prices will continue to boost demand for tankers."Even though the tanker segment continues to perform strongly, we expect the supply-demand gap for the industry overall to exceed 2 percent in 2016, and possibly into 2017, as large new vessel deliveries coincide with subdued demand for dry bulk and container ships," Moody's said quoting Marie Fischer-Sabatie, senior vice president in its report.
China's slowdown is weighing on demand for commodities, such as coal and iron ore, which in turn affects dry bulk seaborne transportation demand. On the back of weaker freight rates in the dry bulk and container segments, Moody's now forecasts a low single-digit percentage decline in aggregate EBITDA for the rated shipping companies in 2016, versus growth in the low single-digits in its previous forecast late last year. While fuel prices, which make up a large cost item for container shipping companies, have continued to fall over the past six months, the benefits to the container shipping segment will fade somewhat in 2016 because they have already passed lower fuel costs on to their customers via reduced freight rates, limiting the upside.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Here’s something to think about the next time you hear a U.S. presidential candidate criticize China for unfair trade: labor costs adjusted for productivity in China are only 4 percent cheaper than in the U.S. Even with the dollar’s rally since 2014, U.S. manufacturing is benefiting from the world’s strongest rate of productivity, a flexible labor market, cheap energy and from having a big domestic market. That’s according to new research by Oxford Economics, which found that the U.S. manufacturing sector remains a world beater. “Although U.S. manufacturing is currently facing meaningful headwinds from a stronger dollar and the collapse in investment in the shale energy sector, it remains the most competitive worldwide,” analysts Gregory Daco and Jeremy Leonard wrote in a note. The figures are striking. Manufacturing output per employee in the U.S. rose around 40 percent from 2003 to 2016 compared with 25 percent growth in Germany and 30 percent growth in the UK. While productivity has doubled in India and China, the U.S. remains 80 percent to 90 percent more productive. It’s that robust productivity that has helped the U.S. keep down the unit cost of labor—or wages in relation to worker output. “Since wage growth in China has largely outpaced productivity growth, and the renminbi has strengthened, China’s unit labor costs are now only 4 percent lower than in the U.S.,” the analysts wrote.
Two caveats: Productivity growth throughout the U.S. economy as a whole has been meager in recent years, partly dragged down by the burgeoning, albeit inefficient, health-care sector. And the U.S. continues to run a trade deficit with China. There are other risks ahead. If the U.S. dollar starts to rally again, that would spell danger for exporters. “Another 20 percent appreciation of the dollar,” the analysts wrote, “would certainly dent U.S. competitiveness, and once again make China an attractive production hub, as well as giving Japanese manufacturers a significant advantage.” Criticism of China is a hot topic in U.S. politics right now. Republican presidential candidates led by Donald Trump have blamed China for the decline of the American middle class through manipulating its currency and one-sided trade policies. Premier Li Keqiang brushed off the criticism on Wednesday when he said relations with the U.S. will endure no matter who wins the election.
SOURCE: The American Journal of Transportation
