At the Asian Textile Conference (ATEXCON) organised by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, he also asked industry to make best use of the free trade agreements (FTA) that India is entering into. Textile minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that India’s textile ecosystem can reach $250 billion in the next 5-7 years and help the country become a developed economy. At the Asian Textile Conference (ATEXCON) organised by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, he also asked industry to make best use of the free trade agreements (FTA) that India is entering into. “We can have atleast a quarter of a trillion textile ecosystem in India in the next 5- 7 years and…become a developed nation,” Goyal said, and asked textile industry to expand to $100 billion business at the earliest. “FTAs with the developed world is the agenda of the government. I hope you will study our FTAs and make their best use, enjoy the fruits of that,” Goyal said. The minister stated that unless there is a significant ramp up of India’s exports to these areas, “we won’t get the satisfaction that we’re doing the right thing”. “You get market access for labour intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, sportswear but for that we will also be sacrificing or opening our markets,” Goyal said. He emphasised on greater and visible outcome from the textile sector. Referring to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that CITI and Egyptian Cotton signed, Goyal said: “Digitisation will play an important role in traceability. We have had some issues with Egypt in the recent past. I hope the new MoU you’re doing, we can cross that hub and reduce the trust deficit typically between two friendly nations.” He suggested that the industry should think about high quality products and elementary products like zip and embellishments which are being imported.
Source: Economic Times
Union minister of state for textile Darshana Jardosh urged the Indian textile industry to prepare itself to face the challenges of structural shift in the global textile market. She was speaking as the guest of honour at the theme session of the tenth edition of the Asian Textile Conference (ATEXCON) currently underway in New Delhi, India. Senior ministry officials and industry captains are attending the ATEXCON. The minister appreciated Indian industry for playing a proactive role in the global market. She said that the recent ban by the US on cotton originating from Xinjiang region in China can cause cotton prices to go up in the international market and the Indian industry needs to prepare itself to face the problem. Indian currency has recorded depreciation against the US dollar which may provide temporary relief, but other Asian currencies have recorded more depreciation against the dollar, which may cause the competition to intensify in the international market. Indian textile exporters will have to develop capacity to face the stiff competition. The theme for this edition of ATEXCON is the prospects and challenges of textile Industry in the next decade. The minister said in the theme session that Indian industry will not only have to face current challenges but also need to prepare itself for the next decade. She said that there was a structural shift after COVID-19 and textile sourcing countries are working on China Plus One concept which presents tremendous opportunities for the domestic industry. Minister Jardosh appealed to the industry that it should focus on research and innovation to achieve the goal as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She emphasised on training workers who work in the country’s cottage industry of the textile sector. Textile secretary Upendra Prasad Singh said in the theme session that every industry and sector in India must play a role in achieving the target of becoming a developed nation in the next 25 years as per the vision of the Prime Minister. He said that the Indian textile industry has the strength to expand in the global market as it has a complete value chain. Many other countries lack such strength. The government is working proactively to address the current problems of the industry. Singh added that the industry is demanding raw material security which is an important area to be addressed. The government is working to increase cotton production and quality. But man-made fibre is quite important to ensure raw material supplies. He asked industry representatives to focus on the sustainability of the value chain. Many products can be produced by blending recycled fibre which is more cost effective and sustainable. He urged the industry to increase efficiency to face global challenges. Bangladesh and Vietnam have succeeded in increasing their share in the US market and the Indian industry will also have to develop the strength to expand its market share. T. Rajkumar, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said in his welcome address that the global textile industry is witnessing a reshuffle of the entire supply chain including the countries from which apparel is sourced. Terms like ‘China Plus One’, re-shoring, onshoring, etc are being commonly heard in interactions across the textile value chain. He said that the value of global textile and apparel exports stood at $828 billion in 2021, registering a growth of 8 per cent over $770 billion in the previous year. Accounting for around 37 per cent of the figure, China continues to be the number one textile-apparel exporting country. With around 5 per cent share each, Bangladesh, Germany, and India are neck-and-neck, followed by Vietnam at 4.5 per cent. The share of textile, apparel and handicrafts in India’s total exports was 10.62 per cent in 2021-22. In addition to being the largest producer of cotton and jute, India is the second largest producer of silk. The technical textiles segment too has an estimated 9-11 per cent share in the global market. The government of India too had temporarily removed basic customs duty on cotton import till September 30, and later extended it by a month till October 31, 2022. But this did not help the industry in reducing the overall production cost as raw material prices saw an exponential rise globally.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Agenda for next meeting of GST Council in Madurai almost ready The GST Council is unlikely to take up correcting inverted duty structure for textile anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Council in its next meeting will take up two issues–a circular for not imposing IGST on ocean freight and opening up windows for transitional credit beside reports by two Group of Ministers (GoM).
Source: Business Line
Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal said that Textile Industry has a big role to play in making Free Trade Agreements a success. Delivering the Keynote address at the 10th Asian Textiles Conference TEXCON on the theme- 'Reimagining the Textile and Apparel Industry for the next Decade', he said that FTAs with Developed Countries is high on the agenda of Modi Government. Shri Goyal said that innovation is going to be the defining feature in India's march towards becoming a Developed Nation. He highlighted the role of innovation across all value chains in the Textile sector and also urged the Textile sector to focus on recycling and digitization. He said if the industry focuses on innovation, sustainability, digitisation, newer products and utilisation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), it can grow fast and compete with the best in the world. Speaking on sustainability, Shri Goyal said that textiles sector can reduce the pressure on the environment by using reusable resources as well as reduce its own production costs. Shri Piyush Goyal said that digitisation is another area which can help optimise the entire value chain in the sector. He expressed satisfaction at the fact that the industry captains are talking about digitisation. In current era of information technology, every industry is benefitting from new technologies like blockchain and more. He suggested that the industry should think about high quality products and elementary products like zip and embellishments, which the Indian textile industry imports at present. The Minister said that the industry is now benefitting greatly from the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shri Goyal said that as we complete 75 years of independence, we can take pride in achievements of Textiles sector over 75 years. Referring to PM’s independence speech where he referred to Panch Pran of Goal of Developed India; Remove Colonial Mindset, Take Pride in Roots; Unity and Sense of Duty, the Minister said, “Every citizen has a role to play with collective energy and collective commitment and the resolve of 1.3 billion people will help us achieve the five commiments articulated by the Prime Minister. Complementing Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, CITI, for bringing together all stakeholders of the Textiles value chain on one platform , the Minister said that the theme, ‘Reimagining the Textile and Apparel Industry for the Next Decade’ is very appropriate, specially with Indian textile exports aiming to reach the target of $100 billion by 2030. He appreciated the forward looking approach of the 10th edition of the Asian Textile Conference. CITI and Egyptian Cotton also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the presence of the Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal. Both the industry bodies will work together for mutual benefits. Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh in her address, urged the captains of the Indian textile and apparel industry to prepare themselves to face the challenges of structural shift in the global textile market. In his address, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri Upendra Prasad Singh, said that every industry and sector in India must play a role in achieving the target of becoming a developed nation in the next 25 years as per the vision of the Prime Minister. He said that the Indian textile industry has the strength to expand in the global market as it has a complete value chain. The government is working proactively to address the current problems of the industry, he added. T. Rajkumar, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) in his welcome address said that the global textile industry is witnessing a reshuffle of the entire supply chain including the countries from which apparel is sourced. Terms like ‘China Plus One’, re-shoring, onshoring, etc are being commonly heard in interactions across the textile value chain. He said that the value of global textile and apparel exports stood at $828 billion in 2021, registering a growth of 8 per cent over $770 billion in the previous year. The share of textile, apparel and handicrafts in India’s total exports was 10.62 per cent in 2021-22. In addition to being the largest producer of cotton and jute, India is the second largest producer of silk. The technical textiles segment too has an estimated 9-11 per cent share in the global market.
Source: PIB
This will be Dhaka’s first trade pact with any country, and it has given preference to India despite requests from China and Japan to have free-trade agreements, ET has learnt. Pacts with Japan and China are still at an assessment stage. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given the green signal to begin formal negotiations for signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with India in what can also boost trade and investments in eastern and north-eastern India in a big way. This will be Dhaka’s first trade pact with any country, and it has given preference to India despite requests from China and Japan to have free-trade agreements, ET has learnt. Pacts with Japan and China are still at an assessment stage. The CEPA will figure high on the agenda during Hasina’s proposed visit here on September 6-7. The proposed deal is expected to boost Bangladesh's export earnings by 190% and India's by 188%, and gross domestic product by 1.72% and 0.03%, respectively, as revealed by a DhakaDelhi joint feasibility study. The CEPA will cover trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights and ecommerce. In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh's exports to India rose to nearly $2 billion for the first time. Imports from India totalled $14 billion. Officials from Dhaka said Bangladesh already enjoyed duty-free and quota-free benefits for the exports of all but 25 products, including tobacco and alcohol, to India, as a least developed country under the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement. During the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Bangladesh in March 2021, he and Hasina issued instructions on concluding the joint feasibility study relating to the signing of the CEPA. Accordingly, Bangladesh's Foreign Trade Institute and India's Centre for Regional Trade conducted the detailed joint feasibility study. In May this year, they sent the study report to their respective commerce ministries. The report suggested launching negotiations for the signing of the CEPA. Once the trade deal is signed, Bangladesh's export earnings will go up by $3-5 billion and India's by $4-10 billion in the next 7-10 years, according to a final draft report of the joint feasibility study. It will also open new investment windows for both countries, the study claimedIt may be concluded that the estimates and analysis of this study indicate that the proposed CEPA between India and Bangladesh is not only feasible but also mutually beneficial in terms of possible gains in the realms of trade in goods and services, and investment," according to the study. Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia, and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh.
Source: Economic Times
Amid a recent fall in global oil prices and refining spreads, the central government is planning to further cut windfall taxes on locally produced crude and export of diesel, Financial Express reported Thursday. The Centre's move will benefit oil producers like ONGC and Vedanta Ltd. The government is expected to review the new taxes, imposed on July 1, for the third time soon, FE reported quoting sources. On July 1, export duties of Rs 6 per litre ($12 per barrel) were levied on petrol and ATF and a Rs 13 a litre tax on the export of diesel ($26 a barrel). The government levied Rs 23,250 per tonne windfall tax on domestic crude production ($40 per barrel) to rein in inflation and ensure adequate local supply. However, in its first review meeting on July 20, the Centre reduced tax on domestically produced crude to Rs 17,000 per tonne. The government had also scrapped the export duty of Rs 6/litre on petrol and reduced the taxes on diesel export and ATF by Rs 2 per litre, each to Rs 11 and Rs 4, respectively. In its second review meeting on August 2, the central government increased the tax on crude export to Rs Rs 17,750 a tonne and limited the windfall tax on diesel shipments to just Rs 5 per litre. Meanwhile, the tax on ATF was removed. In Wednesday's intraday trade, Brent crude prices fell to $91.51, the lowest since February. At the last review meeting, the crude oil prices were around $100-103 per barrel. The Centre will capture the decline of oil prices from August 1 to 15 in the third review on windfall taxes.
Source: Business Standard
Union Cabinet has approved the enhancement in the limit of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by Rs 50,000 crore Rs 5 Lakh crore, with the additional amount being earmarked entities in hospitality.The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to increase the limit of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by Rs. 50,000 crore to Rs. 5 trillion. The additional amount is being earmarked for entities in hospitality and related sectors. According to the government statement, while other sectors recovered faster, demand continued to be subdued for hospitality and related sectors, requiring the need for suitable interventions for sustenance and recovery. “With high immunization levels, progressive roll-back of restrictions and overall economic recovery, conditions are in place for sustained growth in demand for these sectors as well. This additional guarantee cover is expected to support the recovery of these sectors as well,” the statement said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech this year, had announced extension of the ECLGS till March 2023, and expansion of the guarantee cover by Rs. 50,000. The ECLGS scheme was announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package in 2020 to help businesses meet their operational liabilities and resume post the pandemic. Banks are provided 100 per cent guarantee against any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment by borrowers. Loans of about Rs. 3.67 trillion have been sanctioned under the scheme as of August 5, 2022. In March 2022, the Centre had allowed eligible borrowers in hospitality and related sectors to avail up to 50 per cent of their highest fund-based credit, outstanding on any of three reference dates — February 29, 2020, March 31, 2021 and January 31, 2022, subject to a cap of Rs. 200 crore per borrower. The move will be beneficial for sectors which have seen traction in the last six months, said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “The lower cost will help fund working capital for tourist operators, small hotels and restaurants. We shouldn’t expect this to lead to any sharp investment as that is done by the larger companies and not small businesses,” he said.
Source: Business Standard
Polyester-cotton blends are cheap, long lasting—and account for half of textile waste. A relaunched biofuel startup has invented a way to recycle them into new threads. The advent of fast fashion kicked textile manufacturing into overdrive, with production doubling between 2000 to 2015. Fast fashion’s low cost and easy accessibility promoted the idea that textiles were disposable, and consumers bought into it. The average European produces about 33 pounds of textile waste a year, only 19% of which is recycled. A full truckload of textile waste is dumped into a landfill or incinerated every second. But there’s a piece of good news here—the recycling of textiles is improving.
Source: Mr-Mag
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) recently approved three new investment projects in in the Kampong Speu province and Phnom Penh with a total capital of $15.7 million. The approved garment and yarn factories will belong to Jade Fashion (Cambodia) Garments Company Limited, Hong Yu Fang Garment Co., Ltd. and Shun Wei Fang Zhi Ke Ji Co. Ltd. The projects would help create around 2,300 jobs. Jade Fashion will set up a garment tailoring factory in Phnom Penh, while Hong Yu Fang’s garment tailoring unit and Shun Wei Fang’s yarn production factory will be based in the Kampong Speu province. In the first week of this month, CDC approved five investment projects worth $26.3 million, with the potential to generate 4,192 jobs, according to Cambodian media reports. The five projects were related to the garments, shoe accessories, solar panels, wardrobes, etc, CDC said. The factories will be based in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Preah Sihanouk and Kampong Speu. The country’s garment, footwear and travel goods industry posted a 40 per cent increase in exports in the first half this year. It exported products worth $6.6 billion during the January-June period this year, compared to exports valued at $4.72 billion for the same period last year.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
With a pessimistic outlook for the second half of 2022, textile firms are calling for favourable governmental policies to turn their situation around. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said that textile firms came out of the first seven months of the year relatively well. Textile exports hit US$26.55 billion, up 16.5 per cent year-on-year. Textile trade surplus reached US$11.07 billion, 31 per cent higher than last year. The industry created 1.9 million jobs with an average monthly wage of VNĐ8.5 million. However, VITAS was concerned that the situation would worsen in the next five months due to three unfavourable factors. The first factor is the weakening demand of Việt Nam's trade partners. Specifically, China, Japan and many other countries are tightening their preventive measures against COVID-19, causing trade disruptions. High inflation in large importers such as the US and EU fuel the situation by eroding consumer buying power, further dragging down textile demand. It is also worth noting that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will likely grow fiercer in the short term. With the conflict unabated, textile flows to the countries would remain low for several months. Meanwhile, the recent depreciation of neighbouring currencies against the US dollar is putting Vietnamese exporters at a disadvantage. The Chinese yuan has depreciated by 5.3 per cent and the Japanese yen by 16 per cent against the US dollar, whereas the Vietnamese đồng by just 1.8 per cent, eroding Vietnamese textiles' price advantages. On top of that, the US's Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLP) and the EU's plan on carbon fees are expected to set the bar high on cotton. Vietnamese firms thus must overcome more administrative barriers to bring their cotton-derived products to those markets. The second factor is labour shortages caused by shrinking urban labour forces. It is a burning issue because textiles is a labour-intensive industry. Given many workers left cities during the pandemic and never returned, and others took early retirement, the industry is expected to remain slack for the rest of 2022. The last factor is the faltering financial situation of many textile firms amid mounting costs. Notably, input costs have increased by around 25 per cent, and transport costs have tripled since early in the year. As the firms were drained inside-out during the pandemic, mounting costs are expected to drive them further into economic woes, eroding profits and hampering expansion. VITAS urged the Government to approve "The Development Strategy for Textile and Footwear Industries to 2030, with a Vision to 2035" to benefit better from free trade agreements (FTAs) as the strategy would pave the way for large industrial parks that meet FTAs standards. VITAS also called for the abolition of several tariffs on imported goods used to manufacture exports since the tariffs are believed to discourage textile trade. VITAS also called on tax authorities to process tax refunds faster to save textile firms from unnecessary costs. Many firms borrow money from banks to pay taxes. That means the more delays in tax refunds, the more interest the firms have to pay for their loans. Additionally, VITAS called for amendments to the Law on Social Insurance to promote labour stability. The association said the current social insurance premium is so high that it encourages early retirement, resulting in volatile labour forces. VITAS also urged the Government to discuss the facilitation of goods movements with its neighbouring countries to boost trade and keep firms well-informed about the UFLP Act.
Source: EIN News
Recycling fibers and implementing circular processes is a medium term goal set by many apparel companies, but little headway has been made to recycle mixed fabrics, like polycotton. Polyester cotton is one of the most unsustainable fabric blends yet loved by fast fashion companies because of their low cost cheap and durability. Circ, a Virginiabased biofuel and textile recycling startup, is hoping to counter reliance on virgin polyester-cotton blends, which are inexpensive to produce but nearly impossible to break down. Polycotton also accounts for half of global textile waste. Polycotton accounts for half of global textile waste. While plastic and polyester can be recycled when they are ‘pure’ blended fabrics, those mixed with natural fibers such as cotton face recycling challenges without one of the fabrics degrading during the process. Raising 30 million dollars in a successful funding round last month, Circ is investing in new technologies that (re)sources and (re)harvests raw ingredients out of clothing waste. The company claims it can entirely eliminate the demand for raw ingredients needed to make clothing by creating new clothes entirely out of old ones. The process employs part recycling and part groundbreaking science, using water, pressure and responsible chemistry to recover natural materials from man-made products. Circ is already working with companies such as Inditex and Patagonia, recycling fabrics such as cotton, polyester and polycotton, to achieve the specific product requirements by its clients. Circ technology aims to design closed-loop, certified manufacturing systems that power clothing brands entirely designed for sustainability and circularity without ever needing to source new raw materials. One of its goals is to recycle 10 billion garments by 2030, representing 10 percent of the global apparel market, which will save more than 100 million trees.
Source: Fashion United
A majority of South Korean exporters expect exports to drop in the second half of this year, compared to the first six months, due to declining demand in China and the US, and rising commodity prices, a recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed Wednesday. According to the poll conducted in the last week of July, 65 percent of 300 local exporters said exports will fall in the June-December period, while 23 percent said they won’t change much, and the remaining 12.3 percent said exports will increase. As for why they think exports will decline, 44.3 percent picked “China risk,” or shrinking demand in China and other major export destinations; and 37.6 percent chose “components and commodity shock;” while 18.1 percent selected “chain crisis.” Among companies doing business in China, 72 percent said they think exports will drop in the second half.They projected exports to fall 5.32 percent on average, according to the survey. By industry, exports of home appliances were expected to decrease the most – by 6.67 percent – followed by textiles and clothing (-5.86 percent); steel (-4.32 percent); ships and plants (-0.3 percent); pharmaceuticals (-0.67 percent). China’s economic growth has slowed from 4.8 percent in the first quarter of this year to 0.4 percent in the second quarter. China’s export growth has also greatly slowed to 14.2 percent in the first half of this year, from 38.5 percent a year ago. The Bank of Korea has said that in addition to slow recovery of China’s consumption and employment, its exports can also slow in the long term, so China’s economy is unlikely to recover any time soon. As for components, the KCCI said that on top of existing global supply chain jams, prices of raw materials have jumped, resulting in unstable supply and rising cost burdens for local exporters. The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index, an indicator of daily changes in 19 international commodity prices, peaked at 351.25 points on June 9, up 42 percent compared to Jan. 3 this year. The CRB Index later tumbled down to figures last seen in the late 2000s, but stood at 309.76 points on Aug. 15, up 82.17 points from a year ago. While the situation in Ukraine has destabilized commodity prices, extreme weather conditions across major breadbaskets worldwide are likely to act as a destabilizer for grain and raw material prices, the KCCI said. The persisting supply chain crisis that began with the pandemic and worsened as the war in Ukraine continues is also a key challenge for local exporters. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, the most widely used index for sea freight rates for container transport from China’s main ports, increased by 3.9-fold from January 2020 (999 points) to July 2022 (3,887 points), according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The air freight rate for transport between Hong Kong and North America jumped 2.7- fold in the same period. To the KCCI poll questionnaire on what they want the South Korean government to do, 37 percent of the exporters picked “strengthen economic security by securing global supply channels.” Twenty-six percent chose “support (businesses’) entry to emerging markets and export diversification;” and another 25 percent selected “expand bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and improve trade strategy.”Forty-seven percent of the exporters picked the US as the country South Korea should work most closely with, in order to diversify supply channels. This is because the US is seen as a stable supplier with both the resources and high-tech, the KCCI said. As for the “Chip 4” alliance in the semiconductor industry, only 5.3 percent of the respondents said South Korea should not take part. Forty-one percent said Korea should join Chip 4, but not now. As for the reason why Seoul should join the alliance with the US, Japan and Taiwan, 50 percent said they expect it to help them gain an upper hand in the supply chain reorganization process. Forty-two percent picked “cooperation on semiconductor supply chains is the most important.”
Source: Korea Herald
