India may witness boom in technical textile segment as Productivity Linked Investment (PLI) scheme of the government has received tremendous response. Out of the total 61 proposals for investment approved under the PLI scheme, over 25 per cent or 17 proposals are for investing in technical textiles, according to the country’s ministry of textiles. Technical textiles, which includes automotive applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agro-textiles and protective clothing, is growing at a fast pace globally. The Indian government had launched PLI scheme for 102 products in the man-made apparel, man-made fabrics and technical textile segments. The scheme was started by the government with the aim to take over good market share through increasing huge production capacity domestically. According to industry experts, there is scope for rapid growth of business in non-cotton textiles in the country, with technical textile segment having the most potential for growth. Being a major exporter in the textile sector, Indian companies have enough capability and experience. Currently, China is the main supplier in the field of technical textiles. According to the ministry, total 13 applications were approved under Part-I of PLI scheme in which each of the investment proposal will not be less than ₹300 crore. Out of these proposals, four proposals are for technical textiles, one each for man-made apparel and man-made fabrics, and the remaining seven for other products. The four proposals of technical textiles approved in Part-I of the scheme will have an investment of ₹3,600 crore in gestation period and ₹3,829 crore investment in total. The selected companies will have total turnover of ₹35,458 crore and they will receive subsidy of ₹1,236 crore under the scheme. In total, the selected 13 companies of Part-I will invest a total of ₹10,061 crore, while they will invest ₹7,863 crore in gestation period. Their total business would be ₹88,689 crore, while subsidy would be ₹3,392 crore. According to official information issued by the ministry, a total of 48 proposals with an investment of at least ₹100 crore each were approved under Part-II of the scheme. Of these, 13 proposals are selected for technical textiles, 9 for MMF apparel, 6 for MMF fabrics and 20 for other products. Under Part-II, a total investment of ₹2,276 crore will be made in 13 proposals of technical textiles, while ₹2,046 crore will be invested in the gestation period of two years. This will result in a total turnover of ₹29,222 crore and subsidy of ₹778 crore. Out of total 48 proposals approved in Part-II, investment of ₹6,991 crore will be made in gestation period and total investment will be ₹9,015 crore. The turnover of these companies would be ₹96,229 crore and subsidy would be ₹2,621 crore. Thus, under the PLI scheme, the government will give a total subsidy of ₹6,013 crore to total 61 investment proposals in the textile sector. These companies will invest ₹14,855 crore in gestation period and ₹19,077 crore investment in total. This will create 240,134 employment opportunities. The investment under the scheme will generate a business of ₹182,917 crore. However, the proposed investment in the textile sector will be lower than the target. The government had targeted to generate 7.50 lakh jobs through investment of ₹19,000 crore and a business of ₹3 lakh crore, for which it had set a subsidy of ₹10,683 crore. Thus, against the target, investment is going to be 78 per cent, employment 32 per cent, business 62 per cent and subsidy 56 per cent. The approved proposals include seven from foreign investors from the US, Israel, South Korea, Germany, Sri Lanka and Japan.
Source: fibre2fashion
• Lanka’s financial crisis and ensuing power cuts are disrupting the production of key exports such as apparel and tea With Sri Lanka buffeted by economic headwinds, Indian apparel exporters are beginning to receive orders from the UK, EU, and even Latin American countries where Indian textiles had little or no presence. Textiles and garments contributed nearly half of Sri Lanka’s exports but fuel shortages amid its worst financial crisis and ensuing power cuts are disrupting the production of key exports such as apparel and tea. Much of the tea orders have already started moving to India and now a similar trend is being witnessed in the textiles sector, experts said, especially as India and Sri Lanka produce similar kinds of apparel and garments. However, Sri Lanka’s apparel and garments exports get duty free access to various countries, unlike Indian exports. “There could be some benefits in the long run. Their exports are duty-free and that makes a difference. Besides they are trying to keep their textile sector protected despite the crisis," A. Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) told Mint. Sakthivel added that discussions are ongoing and that exporters have begun receiving queries from several European countries. Apparel Export promotion council (AEPC) chairman Narendra Goenka concurred that India can emerge as an alternative to Sri Lankan apparel as it can produce the majority of the same products at lower cost. “The shift in demand from Sri Lanka to India may not be large but exporters have started receiving orders even from markets where we had little presence such as Latin America. Demand is also higher from UAE and Australia, too. What could work in our favour is pricing. Sri Lanka’s cost of production of apparel was much higher compared with India’s and this is why customers are looking at us," Goenka added. According to the US International Trade Administration, apparel export industry is key to Sri Lanka’s economy, as it accounts for about 44% of total exports and 33% of manufacturing jobs. Sri Lanka’s earnings from apparel exports have dipped the last few years—they stood at $4.4 billion in 2020, about $1.3 billion less than in 2019. The Indian textile sector, though, is also facing challenges, such as high cotton prices. The government earlier this month removed basic customs duty of 5% on cotton imports but officials said it may not bring prices down significantly as raw material prices are on the rise globally and the gap between production and international demand for cotton is wide. Notably, India is taking steps to boost its textile exports. Eyeing a larger share of the international market, which is dominated by man-made fibres (MMFs), the government earlier this month approved 61 applications with an investment potential of over ₹19,000 crore under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles.
Source: Live Mint
The red carpet is being laid in Gujarat for the arrival of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday. This is the first time that a British PM is visiting the state on an official visit. As discussions are underway for a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and India, the textile and IT industries in Gujarat are hopeful it will open a window of opportunity for Indian players. According to estimates by the UK India Business Council, bilateral trade between India and the UK stood at £24 billion in preCovid period. However, according to UKIBC officials, the two countries have agreed to increase bilateral trade to £50 billion. In a virtual interaction, UKIBC managing director Kevin McCole said, “The FTA will open up many more opportunities to boost bilateral trade between the two countries. UK-based companies can set up a manufacturing base in India under the Make in India initiative and export from here. Indian companies too, will gain the benefit of lower tariffs to export from here.” Around 6 lakh Gujaratis live in the UK and is the largest Indian community there, according to industry estimates. “After Brexit, India stands a strong chance of increasing exports to the UK and the FTA will be a catalyst. This is especially true for sectors such as IT and ITeS along with textiles,” said Pathik Patwari, senior vice-president, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI). Industry sources said that Gujarat-based textile manufacturers are already facing stiff competition from their counterparts in Bangladesh and Vietnam as the two countries enjoy FTAs with the EU and other countries. “Cost-competitiveness of Indian manufacturers reduces in the export market and therefore, an FTA with the UK will surely open a lot of opportunities for Gujarat’s textile manufacturers across the value-chain,” said a source.
Source: Times of India
Gokaldas Exports expects production linked incentive (PLI) scheme benefits to kick in from FY24, Sivaramkrishnan Ganapathi, managing director, told CNBC-TV18. India’s textile sector gets a major thrust as the government has approved 61 companies for the textile production linked incentive (PLI) scheme with investments worth Rs 19,000 crore and an expected turnover of Rs 1.84 lakh crore in 5 years. The hope is to reach USD 100 billion in textile exports and create 2.4 lakh jobs in India. He said, “PLI will really kick in in FY24. So I would not count on PLI for FY23. I think at the moment, I would say that our opportunity for FY23 is very robust. We have a fairly good order booking and I am reasonably confident that we will have a very strong growth in FY23. Over and above a strong growth in FY22 as well.” According to him, PLI is expected to increase investments in man-made fibre space in India. “This was lacking in the country and the government has done the right thing by encouraging investment in this space,” Ganapathi said.
Source: CNBCTV18
A Gujarat based textile company has proposed to invest Rs 5,400 crore in the state for setting up a solar cell and a textile unit in Ratlam. According to the Industry Policy and Investment Promotion Department, the Gujarat based group has proposed to set up a unit of solar cell, solar glass and PV module production in Ratlam with a capital investment of Rs 4,600 crore. The group is expected to set up the unit on about 250 acre. The company has proposed to generate employment for around 3,000 people. The company also plans to set up a textile unit in Ratlam in an area of 30 acres with an investment of Rs 800 crore and provide employment to 900 people. The Gujarat based company has diversified businesses in the fields of spinning, weaving, knitting, fabric processing, chemicals and petrochemicals, according to information on the company’s website. According to the industry department, the director of the group Jyoti Prasad Chiripal held a meeting with the Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan early this week in Bhopal. According to Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (MPIDC), Indore around 50 textile and garment industries have booked land in the Indore region in the last one year by paying 25 per cent of the total premium amount to set up factories and estimated investments from these units is Rs 1,560 crore. Pinning hopes on fresh investment from industries, MPIDC is upgrading old industrial belts of the state under which infrastructure at around 16 industrial belts of the state will be upgraded and the estimated cost of development is Rs 200 crore.
Source: Times of India
Sitharaman is in Washington DC to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank India is planning to set up “digital only” banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to ensure that business continuity in the lending system is not affected even in exceptional times. In her first public appearance before the Atlantic Council think tank, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a select Washington audience that the government had made efforts to achieve macroeconomic stability by recapitalising banks and increasing foreign exchange reserves. “Bad loans and provisioning were taxing. We have to keep infusing money into banks ... We have amalgamated several of them … The Reserve Bank of India has also been very nimble about setting up 'digital only' NBFCs. Now we are in the process of setting up digital banks as well, not one but 75 of them this year,” she said. Sitharaman is in Washington DC to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Exuding confidence about India posting robust economic growth this decade, she said recovery from the pandemic was distinct. “So, as we look at India, given the pandemic and the recovery from it, and also where we stand today, we see the decade before us...2030 as a very robust decade where India would definitely be one of the fastest growing economies," she said. At the same time, she said the task ahead was challenging in view of rising commodity prices, especially those of crude oil and natural gas, geopolitical uncertainties, and the global growth slowdown. On inflation she said India had breached the upper threshold of 6 per cent but “not so badly”. Sitharaman said, along with the response to the pandemic, the government had taken reform measures, including those on the supply side. She told the audience the government’s focus was on pushing capital expenditure without losing sight of its moral obligation towards the underprivileged. The minister had announced in the Budget an increase in capital expenditure by a sharp 35.4 per cent to a record Rs 7.50 trillion, from Rs 5.54 trillion in the last financial year. The government has extended the free ration scheme for about 800 million people for another six months. This cost the exchequer about Rs 80,000 crore. The minister said she was meeting semiconductor manufacturers to draw in investment in at least 13 sunrise sectors, including solar energy panels and hydrogen missions. “India could be the next manufacturing hub — an alternative for those who had gone through a supply-disruptive cycle,” she said. On India’s renewable energy plans, she said it looked challenging and the timeline of those might be relooked. On the much-debated cryptocurrency regulations, Sitharaman reiterated the government was not against distributed ledger technology. However, it requires a technology solution, she said. With regard to taxing income from transactions in crypto assets, Sitharaman said it was a means to check the source and trail but not to legitimise them. “We haven’t said this is a currency. We haven’t said this has an intrinsic value. Certain operations are taxable for the sovereign,” she said.
Source: Business Standard
The country recently clocked more than USD 500 billion in foreign direct investment in the last eight years and hit a record USD 400 billion in exports. This essay is about two critical data points that tell us which way India's economic future is going. The country recently clocked more than USD 500 billion in foreign direct investment in the last eight years and hit a record USD 400 billion in exports. These two numbers are important because they encapsulate a transition in the Indian economy - from an informal-driven, loose, investment destination of great potential, and a domestic consumption-driven framework to a more structured, formal, streamlined, stable investment destination that is continuously pushing the boundaries of its exports. The USD 500-billion number suggests something particularly important at this moment of great global turbulence. The world is unravelling and fracturing. The certainty of an older order is giving way to a time of transition, conflict (even in parts of the world that can scarcely believe that war has returned to their neighbourhood) and a churning of many a system arrogantly considered irretrievably 'global'. This would be bad enough on its own, but it is made infinitely worse by global warming, which is already - years ahead of schedule - making summers in many major cities unbearable and any work in the open is increasingly impossible to contemplate. Investors are seeking safe refuge in such an environment where growth of a certain measure at the very least is guaranteed both by political stability, positive policies and demographic predictability. India is consistently seeking to build such policies across the board, whether it is through tax breaks or consistently chipping away at the compliance burdens (around 22,000 outdated compliances have been removed in recent years) or providing an ecosystem for new ventures including in start-ups to thrive. The world'’s third largest start-up ecosystem in India is an attractive destination for investors seeking growth in a conducive regulatory environment. The other number is equally important. India aims to hit USD 1 trillion in exports in the coming years and has already touched a record USD 400 billion in merchandise exports for the first time. This is a change in the India story. For a long time, the propellant in the narrative was domestic consumption and services exports. But the dynamic growth in merchandise exports is now shaping new possibilities. Many economists had argued in the past that India has missed the manufacturing and export-driven growth bus, but this is clearly not true. A renewed push towards 'Make in India' and programmes like the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes have helped change the direction of the narrative and shown how much pent-up potential exists for exports. The latest PLI scheme in textiles for instance has cleared proposals from 61 companies with an investment potential of more than Rs 19,000 crore, with a projected turnover of over Rs 1,84,000 crore, and proposed employment for more than 2,40,000 people. Hitting USD 400 billion in exports has eliminated the question of whether India can achieve export-driven growth; hitting USD 1 trillion will show the kind of potential the country always had in manufacturing, and which was being held back due to structural and policy hurdles. As Apple starts to manufacture its latest iPhone 13 in India, it is a sign that in a world seeking shorter and stable supply chains, our nation is one of the biggest destinations able to provide the business continuity that investors seek. As conflict grows around the world and demand for business resilience becomes paramount, our country has a unique opportunity to offer a promise, we can perhaps call it, the India promise. This promise is based on providing a business climate that is unlikely to dramatically change - after all what business needs more than anything else is certainty. Business decisions are based on what will happen tomorrow, not what is happening today. This promise is also based on being able to provide a large domestic, and democratic, consumer base, greater intellectual property right protection, and a world-class manufacturing base to export to other nations from India. This promise is based on - to highlight but two numbers - the 400/500 formula. These numbers illustrate neatly that this is only the beginning of the India growth story. The writer is Vice President & Head of Research at Invest India, GoI's national investment promotion agency.
Source: New Indian Express
Stressing that the war sets back the worldwide economic recovery, the Fund also trimmed its global growth projection for 2022 by 80 basis points from the earlier estimate to 3.6%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday scaled down its FY23 growth forecast for India by 80 basis points (bps) from its January projection to 8.2%, as it underscored the ripple effect of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on net oil importers and their aggregate demand. Stressing that the war sets back the worldwide economic recovery, the Fund also trimmed its global growth projection for 2022 by 80 basis points from the earlier estimate to 3.6%. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the multilateral body cited a severe doubledigit drop in GDP for Ukraine and a steeper contraction in Russia, along with worldwide spill-overs through commodity markets, trade and financial channels for the downward revision. It warned that these forecasts are fraught with heightened uncertainties, with risks tilted to the downside. The IMF also lowered its FY24 growth projection for India by 20 bps to 6.9%. Global growth will also drop by 20 bps in 2023 to 3.6%. “Notable downgrades to the 2022 forecast include Japan (0.9 percentage point) and India (0.8 percentage point), reflecting in part weaker domestic demand—as higher oil prices are expected to weigh on private consumption and investment—and a drag from lower net exports,” the IMF said. Given the elevated energy prices, it estimates India’s inflation to inch up to 6.1% in FY23 from 5.5% in FY22. Similarly, the country’s current account deficit is projected to rise to 3.1% in the current fiscal from an estimated 1.6% in FY22 before settling at 2.7% in FY24. Of course, India will still remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy, ahead of China, which is likely to record real growth of 4.4% and 5.1% in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Moreover, its inflation outlook is still much better than that of developing countries, which, together, will likely witness price pressure rising to as much as 8.5% in 2022. Inflation in even advanced economises is projected at an elevated level of 5.7% in 2022. The Fund has also slashed its growth projections for world trade volume by 100 bps and 50 bps in 2022 and 2023, respectively, to 5% and 4.4%. It will also weigh on India’s bid to build on its stellar export performance in FY22. Global trade volumes had risen by 10.1% in 2021, supported by an industrial resurgence in advanced economies in the aftermath of the pandemic. The Ukraine war, the Fund said, has dealt a double whammy: while it will serve to reduce global economic growth, it will also add to inflation. Elevated price pressure will complicate the trade-offs central banks face between curbing inflation and protecting growth. As key central banks tighten policy, interest rates are set to rise, exerting pressure on emerging market and developing economies. Authorities should also be vigilant about private sector vulnerabilities to rising interest rates, it added. Meanwhile, fuel and food prices have increased rapidly. Many poor and developing countries, which have limited fiscal policy space to cushion the impact of the war on their economies, will suffer, as the Ukraine war adds to the economic strains wrought by the pandemic. On top of this, the recent lockdowns in key manufacturing and trade hubs in China can potentially compound supply-chain disruptions elsewhere. Beyond 2023, global growth is projected to drop to about 3.3% over the medium term (from 3.6% in 2022 and 2023). Interestingly, the IMF pitched for carbon pricing and fossil fuel subsidy reform, which, it said, could also help with the transition to a cleaner mode of production, less exposed to fossil fuel prices. This is “more important than ever in light of the fallout of the war on the global energy market”, it added.
Source: Financial Express
"So, as we look at India, given the pandemic and the recovery from it, and also where we stand today, we see the decade before us...2030 as a very robust decade where India would definitely be one of the fastest growing economy," she said. Describing the Indian economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as 'distinct' and 'pronounced', Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday exuded confidence about India posting robust economic growth this decade. Sitharaman is here to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In her first public appearance before the Atlantic Council think-tank, the finance minister told a select group of Washington audience about how the people together with the Indian government successfully faced the challenge posed by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns. So, as we look at India, given the pandemic and the recovery from it, and also where we stand today, we see the decade before us...2030 as a very robust decade where India would definitely be one of the fastest growing economy," she said. She noted that before and after COVID-19, India undertook various structural reforms and also converted the pandemic into an opportunity to push them further. The minister said a distinguishing feature of India's response to the pandemic has been an emphasis on supply-side reforms rather than total reliance on demand management. She listed out the successful rollout of GST and digitisation programs as some of the key elements of the reforms that were started before the pandemic. "...prior to the pandemic, because digitisation was happening, we brought in a financial inclusion programme never seen anywhere in the world," she said. Also as a result of the programs, which she described as digital revolution, three of the largest public digital platforms in the world are from India -- Aadhaar, which is the largest unique digital identity platform; UPI, which is the largest digital payments ecosystem; and Co-WIN, the largest vaccination platform, Sitharaman said. India's low-cost, at-scale digitisation improves ease of living for its citizens in all income categories, the minister noted. "Adoption of technology, I am so pleased to see, that it has gone down to villages... They're now very savvy about using it. And of course the India stack has also done a bit more by saying you don't need to have a smartphone, you can do it to with a feature phone. So technology is also moving to involve many more people," she pointed out. Sitharaman said along with the response to the pandemic, the government undertook various reform measures, including supply-side reforms. During the last few years, the Modi government has focused on structural reforms such as launch of PM-GatiShakti programme, reduction in corporate taxes, ease of paying taxes, ending tax disputes, removal of retrospective taxation, privatisation of AirIndia, production linked incentives for various sectors, and labour law reforms, she said. According to the minister, during this period, the Indian government has made sincere efforts to achieve macroeconomic stability by recapitalising banks and increasing foreign exchange reserves. The banking system went through a decade of repair to work off the excesses of the boom of the previous decade; banks were recapitalised and some lenders were merged, she said, adding there has been a consistent effort to reduce the NPAs in the banking system. Sitharaman told the audience that the government focus is on pushing capital expenditure with the aim to promote growth without losing sight of its moral obligation towards the underprivileged. The finance minister in the Budget had announced an increase in capital expenditure by a sharp 35.4 per cent to a record Rs 7.50 lakh crore, from Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the last financial year. The government has also extended the free ration scheme for about 80 crore population for another six months, costing the exchequer about Rs 80,000 crore. The minister was of the view that once pandemic linked uncertainties abate and the current state of uncertainty clears up, private demand should recover along with the results of the positive push created by the reforms undertaken, capital expenditure by the private sector will ramp up, leading to investment growth, employment generation and economic expansion. At the same time, she said, the task ahead is still formidable in view of elevated commodity prices, especially that of crude and natural gas, geopolitical uncertainty and global growth slowdown, which pose risks to near-term growth and inflation.
Source: Economic Times
Growth in credit to industry recovered to 6.5% in February 2022 from 1% a year ago, RBI data showed The surge in commodity prices in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war may have turned out to be a boon for banks in India as lenders are now witnessing higher demand for working capital. The increased cost of raw materials has led to companies utilising their working capital limits and even seeking top-ups, according to bankers FE spoke to. The credit offtake improved during FY22, with the gradual return of normalcy after two waves of the pandemic and despite a relatively milder third wave. Non-food credit extended by banks grew 9.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) as on March 25, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. Growth in credit to industry recovered to 6.5% in February 2022 from 1% a year ago. Rajneesh Karnatak, executive director, Union Bank of India, said working capital limits which had been lying idle are now getting utilised. “Corporates who have been utilising their limits have also been coming for additional working capital because the cost of production has gone up. The availing has increased by about 10%,” he said. This trend has emerged in the last one or two months as the Covid situation improved and the RussiaUkraine situation led to price increases, Karnatak said, adding that higher costs have led to better demand across sectors such as steel, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and thermal power projects. In February 2022, State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Khara said the unutilised portion in the bank’s working capital loans had fallen to about 43% from 52% in September 2021. Crude oil prices surged to a 14-year high of $133 per barrel in the first week of March, and prices have been volatile since then, hovering around $110 per barrel. Base metal prices, measured by Bloomberg’s base metal spot index, increased by 25% between September 2021 and March 2022. “Rising commodity prices are certainly playing a part in the improved credit growth that you’re seeing. Utilisation is getting better and there is also more demand for LCs (letters of credit) by manufacturers,” said a senior banker with a mid-sized private bank. Credit to large industry shrugged off an extended period of contraction and sub-par growth to grow 0.5% in February 2022, led by engineering, chemicals, food processing, leather, rubber and plastic products. According to the RBI, infrastructure credit, which accounts for 38% of the total industrial credit, grew 11.9% in February 2022, driven by the road and power sectors and the government’s capex push. In its monetary policy report for April 2022, the RBI said the firming up of global crude oil prices was the main factor that impacted prices of industrial inputs such as naphtha, aviation turbine fuel, bitumen, petroleum coke and furnace oil. “They also contributed to double-digit inflation in high-speed diesel, which in turn drove up farm input price inflation. Other contributory factors comprise fertiliser prices that edged up in sympathy with international prices, and prices of some non-food articles that remained in double digits – raw cotton and oilseeds,” the report said. The price of electricity – a key input in both industrial and farm inputs – also increased sharply during the second half of FY22 in line with the revival in demand.
Source: Financial Express
Trade cost as a share of trade revenue in Bangladesh remained the highest in South Asia— over 80 per cent of trade revenues in 2020—due to higher total transport expenses, according to a study by Commonwealth Secretariat on shift to paperless trading. It is 80 per cent in Pakistan, over 60 per cent in India and Sri Lanka, and less than 20 per cent in the United Kingdom. The figure is over 20 per cent in Singapore, Canada and New Zealand. The study was conducted on the 54 Commonwealth economies engaged in trade worth more than $5 trillion. This exorbitant cost in Bangladesh may be reduced to less than 20 per cent once the overall digitisation is adopted by 2026, the report was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi media. However, public sentiment across emerging Asia, particularly Bangladesh and Malaysia, is a potential obstacle to rapid adoption or reforms in reducing trade costs, the report noted. The report also seeks solution to the current challenges facing Commonwealth nations in implementing paperless trade by means of qualitative desk research, discourse analysis and semi-structured in-depth interviews. The documentary-compliance cost in Bangladesh also remained over $200 for a $25,000 shipment. The report blames the pandemic-induced supply disruptions for the higher transport costs.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
New guideline to contribute to country's ambitious climate, pollution targets China, producer of half the world's textile fiber, has unveiled a guideline that aims to significantly beef up its capability to recycle textile waste, most of which is nonbiodegradable. Experts have lauded the initiative for its potential role in promoting low-carbon, circular economic development, saying it will contribute to the country's ambitious climate and pollution targets. The country aims to recycle a quarter of its textile waste and use it to produce 2 million metric tons of recycled fiber annually by 2025, according to a document unveiled by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, and the ministries of industry and information technology, and commerce. Five years on from 2025, a relatively complete system for textile waste recycling will have been established in the country, it said. By then, China will be able to recycle 30 percent of its textile waste and produce 3 million tons of recycled fiber annually. "As a key part of establishing and then improving a green, low-carbon and circular economic system, recycling helps in resource conservation and the reduction of pollutants and carbon emissions," the commission said in a news release. Zhao Kai, executive vice-president of the China Association of Circular Economy, said that as people live wealthier lifestyles, there is a greater demand for clothing, which creates more waste. Only about one-fifth of the roughly 22 million tons of textile waste generated in the country in 2020 was recycled. China produced only 1.5 million tons of recycled fiber that year. "There is a lot of room for improvement in the country's capability to recycle textile waste," Zhao stressed. The guideline will hopefully address a series of weak links in textile waste recycling, he continued. The document, for example, vows to introduce preferential policies to motivate companies to improve product design, so that they can be more easily dismantled, classified and recycled after being discarded. Aside from improving the network for collecting textile waste, he said, the guideline also aims to address problems that hinder reuse and recycling. The country will hammer out and strive to improve the industrial standards and norms on cleaning, disinfection, epidemic control and trading of secondhand clothes, he said. Export control of used garments will be further strengthened. The guideline pledged to foster leading enterprises in an endeavor to promote the use of recycled fiber in the textile, construction, automobile, agriculture and environmental protection sectors, he noted. Other experts stressed the environmental benefits the document will bring. Tang Shijun, former head of the Quartermaster Equipment Research Institute, said the use of every kilogram of recycled textile waste will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.6 kg and save 6,000 liters of water. Sun Huaibin, vice-president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, said China currently gets recycled fiber as a raw material mainly from plastic bottles and industrial textiles. Only a very small amount of old clothes are recycled.
Source: ECNS
TMC has introduced Herculan, the world’s first product that offers performance benefits of wool coupled with unmatched durability and sustainability for apparel. Due to its unique durability, Herculan is a technology that opens the door for wool to be used in high abrasion and impact zones in apparel and other applications, without succumbing to wear. A result of more than three years of R&D, Herculan is a patented technology that was developed by making ground-up modifications to TMC’s proprietary Nuyarn spinning machines, enabling them to accommodate strong wool – the coarsest and most durable grade of wool fibers (>38 microns) historically suitable only for interior textiles, like flooring and upholstery. This “carpet wool” as the industry coins, has a low market value, and during recent bearish years, is often cost-prohibitive to process, package, and ship, and therefore discarded into landfills, the company said in a press release. According to the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), it is estimated that anywhere from 40-50 per cent of the global wool yield is Interior Textile Wool. With the new innovative technology, these coarse long wool fibres are drafted around a performance filament, creating an extremely fine yarn – Herculan – which, pound for pound, outlasted some of the industry’s leading synthetic textiles in the Martindale abrasion tests. In addition to its extreme durability, Herculan has significantly better performance and comfort benefits to both natural wool textiles (that is twisted) and synthetic fibres alike; efficient moisture management and quicker dry times, higher volume, aeration, elasticity, and thermal retention, non-reflective, quiet, and naturally odour-resistant. This is due to Herculan’s unique yarn construction –-like Nuyarn – which is built by drafting carpet wool around a performance filament without twisting or fraying. “We are incredibly excited to be introducing Herculan. There is nothing like it on the market and it meets the needs of consumers, who want more sustainable and durable natural fibres in their garments, while also creating new potential categories for performance and technical apparel brands,” said TMC Ltd. CEO Andy Wynne. “When we first started working to transition carpet wool into the apparel sector, everyone thought we were crazy because it has never been done before. But we had a vision and were determined, and ultimately our team found the solution. The durability, performance, and comfort results speak for themselves.” Sustainable manufacturing processes like Herculan, which take advantage of materials that are often cast aside, simplify supply chains and encourage end users to waste less by making natural fiber garments that last longer and have performance comfort benefits. “Herculan is the total package,” added Wynne. “We took an underutilised and overabundant natural fibre and turned it into a durable yarn to meet the abrasion demands that only synthetic fibres could previously meet, all while increasing the natural performance benefits of wool.”
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
Ambassador of Uzbekistan Mukhsinkhoja Abdurakhmonov met with the Vice President of Japan’s YKK Corporation Makoto Nishizako. During the talks, Makoto Nishizako got acquainted with the investment potential and export opportunities of Uzbekistan’s textile industry. It was emphasized that the Cotton Campaign ended the global boycott of Uzbek cotton. The attention of Japanese partners was drawn to the fact that the abolition of the cotton boycott would help attract world brands to Uzbekistan and increase the volume of exports of Uzbekistan’s products to foreign countries, including Japan, by 1,196 Uzbekistan textile enterprises. Makoto Nishizako was interested in the production capacities of textile enterprises, the import of zippers and rivets, and the logistics routes for products exported and delivered to the country. Following the talks, the main priority areas of cooperation were identified. An agreement was reached on further elaboration of joint proposals, including those received from YKK Corporation.
Source: EIN News
