|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1024.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
VSF |
2037.42 |
USD/Ton |
0.08% |
5/22/2016 |
|
ASF |
1924.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1014.13 |
USD/Ton |
-0.15% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2229.86 |
USD/Ton |
-0.68% |
5/22/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4429.17 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5695.30 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1260.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2069.49 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2100.04 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1118.75 |
USD/Ton |
0.34% |
5/22/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2481.86 |
USD/Ton |
-0.31% |
5/22/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2794.96 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1695.30 |
USD/Ton |
-0.45% |
5/22/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2443.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2138.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2932.42 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2229.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1848.03 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.35 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.81 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.16 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/22/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15273 USD dtd. 22/05/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Textile industry leaders have urged the central government to get the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) from the European Union (EU) for inclusion of Indian textile products as Pakistan exporters are re-exporting the textile products imported directly or indirectly from country’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) hub Surat to EU due to its inclusion in the GSP in 2014, according to experts in the MMF sector. As per an estimate, textile fabrics to the tune of over Rs 4,000 crore from India, especially Surat, land in Pakistan from direct and indirect channels. Sources said that textile fabrics, especially saris and dress materials, manufactured in Surat, reach Pakistan via Dubai, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In 2014, the European Union included Pakistan to the list of GSP, which allowed duty-free access to EU markets for textile exports. Consequently, exporters from Pakistan are now able to ship fabrics, made-ups and garments with no tariffs. On the other hand, Indian exporters, however, pay 9.6% export duty for made-ups and garments, and 6.5-8% duty on fabric items, making exports from India more expensive which has resulted in India losing around 37 textile productions, including fabrics and garments, in the EU to Pakistan. According to textile industry expert Ashish Gujarathi, textile sector is seeking for a major boost from government policies. First, the government should impose duty levy on imports of fabrics from China and secondly, efforts should be made to get GSP status in EU to boost textile exports of India. As per the export figures available from April-February-2016, Pakistan is the third largest market for India's MMF textile export with a share of 9 percent. UAE and the USA are top export markets at 13 percent and 10 percent respectively. During the April-February 2016, the overall export of MMF textiles stood at $41 billion.
Source: Yarn and Fibre
The year 2015 has not been good for agri commodities. Reduced acreage (prompted by price shock of 2014), bad weather-driven crop loss, unexpected demand from Pakistan, and delay in the release of Chinese inventories, however, helped cotton to outperform. With better weather forecasts and starting of Chinese cotton auction, things are likely to change.
Global production
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts substantially higher production with a moderate increase in consumption. Global production is estimated at 104. 35 million bales (1 bale = 480 pounds) in 2016-17 compared to 99.54 in 2014-15, up 4.8 per cent. The likely increase in production is largely attributed to the US, India, and Pakistan. There aren’t any major increases in acreage, but extreme weather conditions and pest attack of last year that negatively impacted crop yields are not anticipated in 2016-17. In 2016-17, the USDA expects US cotton production at 14.8 million bales, India at 28 million bales and Pakistan at nine million bales, which are 15 per cent, 4 per cent, and 29 per cent higher than 2015-16 figures, respectively. However, Brazil and China are likely to have lower production. China’s cotton production has been pruned for a third consecutive year to 23.8 million bales in 2015-16 and 22.5 million bales in 2016-17. The slide comes in the midst of lower price realisations (cotton prices lost 30 per cent in 2014), reduced support prices and increased preference for foodgrain crops.
Global consumption
The USDA estimates global cotton consumption at 110.78 million bales in 2016-17 compared to 109.02 million bales in 2015-16. China’s cotton consumption (use of cotton by mills) had gone down in recent years on account of factors like higher domestic prices, falling man-made fibre prices and overall industrial slowdown; and no major upturn is expected. However, cotton consumption in China is expected to grow slightly in 2016-17 on lower domestic prices. China’s plan to auction two million tonnes of cotton began on schedule on May 3 and will run through till August end. The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) estimates that China’s auctioning of its cotton reserves will reduce Chinese stocks to a five-year low at 2008-09 level. China has also expressed its intention to purchase high-quality cotton from international markets between September and February to improve the quality of its reserves. This creates doubts over the quality of existing stocks. Reduced Chinese import hurt India’s cotton exports badly, prompting India to focus on alternative export destinations, such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Turkey.
Domestic scenario
The USDA expects India to harvest 26.8 million bales of cotton in 2015-16 against 29.5 million bales in 2014-15, down almost 9 per cent. However, local sources expect India’s cotton production to decline 17 per cent to 33.5 million bales (1bale = 170 kg) in 2015-16 due to whitefly and cotton leaf curl virus attack in northern India. Traders estimate total cotton availability at 40.1 million bales with total consumption at around 39.2 million bales for 2015-16, which would leave a surplus of nine lakh bales by September. However, carry-forward stock from the 2014-15 season was 5.5 million bales as opening stock for the 2015-16 season. Domestic prices are strong amidst reports of significant crop loss, firm export demand, and positive global cues. The Cotton Corporation of India has reduced the export forecast to 6 million bales from 6.6 million bales forecast earlier amid firm domestic prices.
Outlook
Indian cotton looks to trade range-bound with a positive note in the short to medium term due to likely lower production in 2015-16. Robust buying from domestic spinners and millers is expected due to the scarcity of good-quality cotton. However, higher production prospects for 2016-17 and bleak prospects for exports may restrict any gains. This year’s sowing progress, planting conditions, and weather will need to be tracked. International cotton may trade steady unless weather forecasts change dramatically.
Source: Business Line
Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Coimbatore are major textile clusters in the country, only Coimbatore has managed to sustain and grow the manufacturing activity against all odds. Speaking as chief guest at Texfair 2016, President of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Palani G Periasamy said that the city is the largest hub not only for textiles and clothing manufacture but also for textile machinery, spares, accessories and equipment manufacture. He suggested measure to build Brand Coimbatore. The industry needs government support to make it globally competitive, Periaswamy urged the domestic textile industry to focus on modernization and keep itself updated on the latest trends to remain globally competitive. He said that India could soon replace China as the world's leading textile manufacturer, with the latter shifting its focus on manufacturing activities. The textile industry has a remarkable future, but there will be a stiff competition in the global arena. One has to remain fit to grab opportunities. India, currently the second largest textile manufacturing country in the world, could become the global leaders in this front in the coming decade. For this, manufacturers should concentrate on innovation, energy services, automation and online control to become globally competitive, Periyasamy said. The textile industry should work to its potential by making the best use of special schemes announced by the central and state governments. The four-day international fair, organised by the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA), is expected to showcase modern developments in the industry. Major products on display are textile machinery, spares, accessories, testing equipment and electrical and electronic components. Textile mills on an average spend 2.5%-3% of their annual turnover on spares and accessories and 4%-6% on modernization. This fair would be an ideal platform for these mills to zero in on their requirements, meet all suppliers under one roof and plan their investments, cost cutting options and ways to improve their quality. The four-day fair running at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex on Avinashi Road would conclude on Monday at 6pm.
Source: Yarn and Fibre
The government is looking to expand the scope of the single-window clearance mechanism for importers launched on April 1, which could significantly cut the cost and time for importers and, in turn, help improve ease of doing business. To further simplify inbound shipments, the government is working towards allowing all physical import licences to be uploaded online with a digital signature. This will do away with the cumbersome compliance measures requiring importers to show physical copies of import licences or rules of origin certificates to the authorities each time. "The next step is to do away with the need to present physical copies of licences each time one imports. It will all be made online within the next two months," said a government official. The import facilitation move is expected to benefit a large volume of imports and, in turn, the economic growth and manufacturing, which is largely import-dependent. Currently, a bill of entry requires an average of three documents. An importer has to go and present physical copies of documents for approval from the authorities. The government's proposed initiative will allow importers to upload scanned documents with digital signatures. "With this, an importer will not have to do anything. After uploading the scanned copy with digital signature once, you don't need to redo it. This will minimise interference," said the official. The documentation requirement also pertains to catalogues with description of goods, scientific background etc. The government is upgrading capacity of its processes and servers to allow the huge volume of documents that would be uploaded. India is ranked 133 in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking on the "trading across borders" parameter on account of cumbersome paper work and high costs. Documentary compliance takes 67 hours and four hours, respectively. Border and documentary compliance for imports together cost an average $695 in India compared with $148 in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, according to the rankings.Officials, however, countered this saying the facilitation level for trade in India was 70 per cent. The government on April 1 launched a single-window mechanism framework, which is seeing 17,000 bills of entries every day. "Now an importer is not required to go through various other agencies while making consignment declaration. They are automatically routed through. There have been well over 300,000 bills of entries through the facility since the launch," said the official. The Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade provides a single-point interface for clearance and has benefited 97 per cent of India's imports. It has connected 50 offices of six government agencies with the Indian customs department. These are the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Department of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage; Drug Controller; Animal Quarantine; Wild Life Crime Control Bureau and Textile Committee. Imports are now subjected only to risk-based checks by all these agencies instead of compulsory testing.
Source: Business Standard
Indian rupee vs US dollar Profits, for a clutch of 686 companies (excluding banks and financials, Cairn and Vedanta), in the three months to March, have risen 27% year-on-year, thanks to a near 400 basis points drop in the share of raw materials to sales and virtually no increase in interest costs. (Photo: AP) Benign prices of commodities and some traction in volumes are helping India Inc post better numbers this earnings season, reports fe Bureau in Mumbai. Profits, for a clutch of 686 companies (excluding banks and financials, Cairn and Vedanta), in the three months to March, have risen 27% year-on-year, thanks to a near 400 basis points drop in the share of raw materials to sales and virtually no increase in interest costs. The 4.7% rise in revenues, while seemingly subdued, must be seen against the backdrop of a disinflationary environment. However, it’s a fact that companies have lost pricing power — Hindustan Unilever and Asian Paints have taken price cuts to ensure they are able to retain market share — though volumes are beginning to rise for some sectors. Ultratech Cement for instance, reported a volume increase of a smart 15% year-on-year. Most heavyweights have surprised the street but the good news is that both large and small companies seem to be doing well, especially in the consumer good space. At Marico too volumes were strong at 10.5% y-o-y, the highest in the last 14 quarters while at Dabur they were up 7%. Smaller engineering firms such as Voltas beat estimates thanks to better inflows in the projects division and good execution which helped drive up margins. The firm’s consumer business also fared well with AC sales up 10% year-on-year. However, a full recovery could be some time away. At Siemens, margins rose 160 basis points y-o-y to 11% driving up profits by 9% y-o-y; more important, order inflows rose 10% y-o-y although they fell sequentially and consequently the orderbook at the end of the March quarter was at levels seen in 2009. The management observed it was seeing a pick-up in capex by government but not yet from the private sector.
Source: The Financial Express
Raghuram Rajan - Subramanian Swamy Raghuram Rajan said the world is growing “extremely slowly”, with the factors differing from one country to other and termed notions of a de-coupling of growth between industrial countries and emerging markets as “illusory”. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said India should restrain itself from being “too ambitious” at a time when the world is full of uncertainties and instead focus on sensible policies to ensure a sustainable economic growth. “Given great uncertainty about outlook and policies of others in these times, a country like India should try to take sensible measures without getting too ambitious, as we have done so far,” Rajan said, delivering the Mahtab Memorial Lecture in Bhubaneswar late last evening. “This will serve as a sound basis for strong and sustainable Indian growth as the world economy picks up,” Rajan, whose remarks comparing the Indian economy with an one-eyed king in a blind world led to a controversy, added. The Indian government has been working hard to fasten the GDP growth and aspiring to take it to the double-digit mark from the current 7.5 per cent in the medium term. It has, however, adhered to key targets like the fiscal deficit number and also made inflation-targeting a key objective for the central bank. Rajan said the world is growing “extremely slowly”, with the factors differing from one country to other and termed notions of a de-coupling of growth between industrial countries and emerging markets as “illusory”. “Easy and unconventional monetary policy in industrial countries could increasingly be a part of the problem,” the academic-turned-central banker said and reiterated this creates problems around capital flows for emerging markets. He called central banks around the world to “start thinking more internationally” and stressed on the need to “start discussing new rules of the monetary policy game in the international setting.” As such a goal will take years, an emerging country like India should focus on macro-stabilisation, building buffers and reducing vulnerabilities, Rajan said. “Good policy is the first line of defence – including our focus on controlling fiscal deficits, reforms like the Bankruptcy Code and Aadhaar, and our steady fight against inflation,” he added. The country has also taken other additional measures like control inflows, intervening in the foreign exchange market as a macro prudential measure to reduce volatility, and maintaining sufficient foreign exchange reserves to be able to withstand a sudden stop in capital inflows, Rajan said.
Source: The Financial Express
The rupee recovered 19 paise to 67.25 against the dollar in early trade on Monday on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid a higher opening in the domestic stock market. Forex dealers said weakness in the dollar against other currencies overseas supported the rupee. Further, a higher opening in the domestic equity market added to the upside. On Friday, the rupee had lost 8 paise to close at 2—1/2 month low of 67.44 a dollar, falling for the seventh straight session, on persistent demand for the US currency from banks and importers amid higher crude oil prices and a fall in domestic stocks. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 217.36 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 25,519.26 in early session on Monday.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
The Modi government, wisely perhaps, did not fully pass on the gains from lower international oil prices to consumers. Instead, in the last two years, it has raised the specific excise duty on diesel from Rs 3.56 to Rs 17.33 a litre and that on petrol from Rs 9.48 to Rs 21.48 a litre. Recently, Uday Kotak tweeted that India’s “honeymoon” with inflation and current account deficits may be over, as global oil prices again touch $ 50 per barrel. The billionaire banker has a point. From a low of $ 24.03 per dollar reached on January 20, the average cost of crude imported by Indian refiners has now climbed to $ 45.51. That’s not quite $ 50 — leaves alone the $ 108/barrel levels when the current NDA regime took over — but the direction seems clear. As the Narendra Modi government enters its third year, the comfort from cheap oil may well be a thing of the past. Low oil prices provided a cushion against inflation that would normally have accompanied two consecutive years of drought. They also helped halve the value of India’s oil imports from $ 164.77 billion in 2013-14 to $ 82.66 billion in 2015-16 and, in turn, reduce its current account deficit from a peak of $ 88.16 billion in 2012-13 to an estimated $ 20 billion in the fiscal gone by. Apart from the two obvious benefits cited by Kotak, there is a third one that cheap crude has conferred in the form of a fiscal windfall for the Centre. The Modi government, wisely perhaps, did not fully pass on the gains from lower international oil prices to consumers. Instead, in the last two years, it has raised the specific excise duty on diesel from Rs 3.56 to Rs 17.33 a litre and that on petrol from Rs 9.48 to Rs 21.48 a litre. The additional revenues from this alone, taking annual consumption of 8.8 crore kilo-litres of diesel and 3 crore kilo-litres of petrol, works out to over Rs 157,000 crore. That’s not all. Previously, oil marketing companies were losing money on sales of most petro-products. The “under-recoveries” from these — the burden of which had to significantly be borne by the Centre, either directly as subsidy or as lower dividends from national oil companies — amounted to Rs 143,738 crore in 2013-14 and a mere Rs 27,571 crore last fiscal. The Centre’s overall yearly fiscal windfall from the global oil crash would, thus, be upwards of Rs 250,000 crore. If crude were to cross the $ 50/barrel mark, there is the possibility of pressures on all three fronts — inflation, current account and fiscal — returning. A good monsoon can, of course, mitigate the first risk; this would be the reverse of the “good luck” from oil neutralising the “bad luck” from drought in the first two years of the Modi government. That leaves the “twin deficits” problem, a major source of macroeconomic instability during the UPA regime’s second innings. Not allowing it to reappear will be a challenge for this government in the next three years.
Source: The Financial Express
Tax treaty with Singapore was signed in 2005 and one of the covenants of the agreement was that provisions of Mauritius treaty revision would extend to it. DTAA, finance minister India, Arun Jaitley agreements, world news, FM DTAA, DTAA rules in india Tax treaty with Singapore was signed in 2005 and one of the covenants of the agreement was that provisions of Mauritius treaty revision would extend to it. After revising the tax treaty with Mauritius, the Centre will soon initiate the process of modifying tax agreements with Singapore and Cyprus and hopes to complete the process within the current fiscal so that there is uniformity on capital gains tax with regard to investments. “We hope to revise Singapore and Cyprus tax treaty in line with Mauritius by year end so that there is uniformity in taxation on investment coming from different jurisdictions,” a senior government official told PTI. Although the revision tax pact is between two sovereign nation is a tedious process, it is the endeavour of Finance Ministry to finish this as soon as possible, official added. Tax treaty with Singapore was signed in 2005 and one of the covenants of the agreement was that provisions of Mauritius treaty revision would extend to it. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Cyprus, one of the top 10 foreign investment source, was signed in 1995. Last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Demetrios A Theophylactou, High Commissioner of Cyprus to India and is believed to have discussed the renegotiation of tax treaty. Following the revision of 34-year-old tax treaty with Mauritius, speculation were rife that the clauses pertaining to levy of capital gain tax will also automatically apply to investment being routed through Singapore. The finance minister later clarified that Singapore is a sovereign nation and government will have to renegotiate the treaty and clauses of the Mauritius treaty will not apply automatically. Of the USD 29.4 billion FDI into India in April-December, USD 17 billion came from Mauritius and Singapore. After toiling for almost a decade to redraw the treaty, India and Mauritius agreed to impose capital gains tax on investments in shares through Mauritius from April next. Following the revised agreement, short-term capital gains tax will be levied at half the rate prevailing during the first two—year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. Short—term capital gains are taxed at 15 per cent at present. The full rate will kick in from April 1, 2019.
Source: The Financial Express
Falling oil prices have had a sweeping impact on the oil producing economies of GCC, severely denting their oil revenues and spending by both governments and households.
The Gulf lost some charm for India last fiscal, both as a destination for exports and a source of remittances, but a hard look at the numbers suggests the situation isn’t as bad as it appears. India’s goods exports to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) declined 18.7% in fiscal 2016. To be sure, the decline in exports has been led by falling oil prices which have brought down the value of petroleum exports. A quarter of the exports to the region, incidentally, are petroleum products.Falling oil prices have had a sweeping impact on the oil producing economies of GCC, severely denting their oil revenues and spending by both governments and households. This has had a negative impact on remittances from the region, which declined for the first time in six years, falling 2.2% in 2015. More than half of India’s remittance income comes from GCC.India’s net external position with GCC is intact—thanks to remittances On a positive note though, while falling oil prices have curbed India’s exports to GCC, imports from GCC have also fallen steeply. In FY16, imports from these countries fell at a faster clip of 34.2%. This has helped alleviate some stress from lower remittance and export income. In fact, India’s trade deficit with the GCC has fallen a whopping $44 billion, or 76%, in three years, to $14 billion because of rapidly declining imports. So, while the big news is that remittance incomes from GCC have dropped, what is less known is that, even at the current level (around $36 billion), remittances have been stickier and more than funded the goods trade deficit—leaving a surplus of $22 billion. Indeed, at the all-India level, remittances were only 0.6 times the goods trade deficit in FY16, whereas with GCC they were 2.6 times. However, going forward, as oil prices start rising and trade deficit expands faster than remittances, some of these gains could reverse. Remittances story holds out hope : India, maintaining its top slot globally, is estimated to have received remittances worth $68.9 billion in 2015 compared with $70.4 billion in 2014. Remittance from GCC was also marginally lower at $35.9 billion compared with $36.7 billion. A few points worth highlighting here: First, the growth slowdown in GCC remittances was marginal (down 2.2%) despite a 47% slump in oil prices in 2015. This indicates that these economies—especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are the largest two remitters within GCC—are relatively less dependent on oil income. As such, given the bearish oil price outlook, most of these countries are expediting efforts to diversify their economies, as the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 plan testifies to. This also seems to tie up with a 2015 World Bank study which finds that the elasticity of outward remittances from GCC countries with oil price decline is small, at around 0.1. Of course, if oil prices continue to remain too low for too long, the sovereign wealth of these nations would deplete faster and the elasticity may not remain that low in future.
Nevertheless, even as oil prices are expected to remain low for some time to come, we have possibly seen the trough for now and prices are only expected to recover from here. Second, the World Bank noted in a press release on April 13: “Remittance flows are expected to recover this year, after a bottoming out in 2015, with growth driven by continued economic recovery in the United States and the euro area, and a stabilisation of the dollar exchange rates of remittance-source countries.” This suggests that even if there is some downside to remittances flowing into India from GCC, the rest of world will make up for it. Third, India’s dependence on remittances and the resultant vulnerability is much lower than some of its Asian peers who receive similar proportions of remittances from GCC countries. The accompanying chart plots the current account deficit (CAD) ex-remittances as a share of GDP. It indicates how much each country’s current account deficit would be if it were to not receive any remittance. The data supports the point made earlier about any slowdown in remittances from GCC due to lower oil prices getting more than compensated by lower oil imports in value terms. With the slide in exports more than matched by the slide in imports, India’s trade deficit with GCC as well as well as the rest of the world has narrowed. However, if oil prices remain weak for an extended period, economic activity in GCC will come down sharply as the fiscal stress mounts. This can certainly impact GCC remittances to India.
Source: The Financial Express
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 46.67 per barrel (bbl) on 20.05.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 45.51 per bbl on previous publishing day of 19.05.2016. In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3145.62 per bbl on 20.05.2016 as compared to Rs. 3059.64 per bbl on 19.05.2016. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 67.41 per US$ on 20.05.2016 as against Rs 67.23 per US$ on 19.05.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on May 20, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 19.05.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.05.2016 (28 Apr to 11 May, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
46.67 (45.51) |
43.00 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3145.62 (3059.64) |
2859.50 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
67.41 (67.23) |
66.50 |
Source: Ministry of Textiles
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said it was collaborating with trade unions, government as well as the UN to improve workers' conditions after a study found violations in supplying garment factories in India and Cambodia. The study by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) found workers stitching clothes for H&M in factories in Delhi and Phnom Penh faced problems such as low wages, fixed-term contracts, forced overtime and loss of job if pregnant. The AFWA, a coalition of trade unions and labour rights groups, accused the Western high street retailer of failing on its commitments to clean up its supply chain. An official from H&M told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Saturday that the fashion firm has been working actively to improve the lives of textile workers for many years. "The report raises important issues and we are dedicated to contribute to positive long-term development for the people working in the textile industry in our sourcing markets," said Therese Sundberg from H&M's press and communications department.
Source: Business Standard
In Ethiopian textile and apparel sector, presently there are 60 companies, out of which 32 are foreign companies are operating. In the past nine months the Ethiopia’s textile export earning has shown significant decline by generating only USD 65 million against the set target of USD110 million for the period. Commenting on the issue Taddese Haile, State Minister for Industry, said that the slip was because of low performance, failure to expand market and business administrative issues of larger companies. He further added that low quality and quantity along with investment projects’ failure to commence production as per planned are also other reasons for the decline in performance. According to Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute, income generated in the 9 months has dropped by 18 million USD when compared to the same period last year. The sector has the advantage of high quality cotton that is grown in the country, as well as duty free access to US through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the EU market.
Source: YNFX.
As Pakistan’s local textile industry fails to invest in its modernization, lack of product diversity and diversification to explore new exports avenue, bringing it’s share in the international market down which has affected textile exports. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, textile exports has plunged by 7.72 percent to $10.395 billion, as per official data. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed that textile exports fetched $11.26 billion in the July-April period of the last fiscal year. According to a World Bank’s report, issued in April, product diversity and availability is a key concern facing the country’s textile industry. The country has specialty in basic cotton, woven, denim and chino trousers, low-priced knitwear, such as polo shirts and T-shirts, and fleece sweatshirts. The report mentioned the limited availability of manmade fiber- (MMF) based products and barriers to MMF textile imports as some of the key concerns. One way to increase product diversity and move away from cotton-based apparel is to reduce barriers on imports to ease access to MMFs. They could attract global buyers and investors by adopting policies to reduce red-tape and increase transparency. The bank said that the country’s exports are increasing at a higher rate than the world average, but Bangladesh enjoys the largest increase in global market share in south Asia region. The report said that many buyers avoid Pakistan because of the security situation and hence entrepreneurs have to travel to Dubai to meet them, which complicates sourcing. Also Sri Lanka has outshined both India and Pakistan in EU’s textile market, although the latter two, are the big winners for U.S. market. An official, associated with the world biggest retail chain Wal Mart, said that the industry couldn’t able to benefit from the European Union’s generalized system of preferences (GSP) plus status to Pakistan. An analysis said that the country’s exporters are losing competitiveness in the international markets as the industry, accounting for nine percent to GDP and more than 60 percent of exports, is facing liquidity crunch. In April, textile exports increased 3.07 percent to $1.033 billion over March, but they decreased 3.48 percent over the same month a year ago. The PBS data showed that exports of raw cotton, cotton yarn, cotton cloth, knitwear and bed wear fell 47 percent, 32 percent, 9.89 percent, 1.91 percent and 4.34 percent, respectively in July-April 2015/16. Exports of readymade garments and towels rose 4.87 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively in the period under review. Total exports declined 12.99 percent to $17.322 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year while imports of raw cotton, synthetic fibre, worn clothing and others surged 27 percent to $2.663 billion, as per PBS data.
Source: Yarn and fibre
Greek lawmakers approved tax increases and a new privatisation fund on Sunday and freed up the sale of non-performing loans in exchange for much-needed bailout loans and debt relief. Athens hopes the measures, two days before a key euro zone finance ministers meeting, will help it unlock the funds it needs to pay IMF loans, ECB bonds maturing in July and increasing state arrears. “Greeks have already paid a lot, but this is probably the first time that the possibility of these sacrifices being the last is so evident,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers before a vote in parliament. His left-led coalition, re-elected in September on pledges to implement the terms of a 86-billion euro bailout it signed up to in July, has a narrow majority of 153 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The coalition voted in favour of the reforms with only one MP against some articles on the new privatisation fund and a contingency mechanism of spending cuts that will be activated only if Athens looks set to miss its fiscal targets. Syriza MP Vassiliki Katrivanou later resigned saying in a post she uploaded on Facebook that: “we are implementing measures and policies which are against the core of our values.” Her resignation will not affect the government’s majority since she will be replaced. The taxes will hit Greeks where it hurts, with increases in value added tax by one point to 24 percent, more tax on fuel, tobacco, internet usage and an extension of a property tax. Hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside parliament in the evening to protest against the reforms. “It’s a disaster!,” said 60-year old businessman Panayiotis Kehris. “We will cut down on everything, from food to driving.” To appease the angry public, Tsipras told lawmakers that each time Athens exceeds its annual primary surplus targets, the extra state revenues would go to a social solidarity fund. About 700 million euros would go to the fund this year, he said.
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Talks between Athens and its foreign creditors over the reforms have dragged on for months, mainly due to a rift between the EU and the IMF over Greece’s fiscal progress and resistance in Athens to unpopular measures. The IMF says Greece cannot achieve a 3.5 percent primary surplus target in 2018 or later unless it gets substantial debt relief and takes upfront measures. It has set both as conditions for its participation in the bailout. EU lenders, eager to wrap up the negotiations quickly and avoid a new crisis in the bloc, insist the targets are feasible but euro zone paymaster Germany needs the IMF to be involved. To help break the deadlock, Athens has included a contingency mechanism of spending cuts, which will be activated if it is set to miss its bailout targets. The IMF has yet to approve it, a source close to the lenders said. The May 24 Eurogroup meeting will discuss the mechanism and flesh out details on how to ease the country’s debt burden. The government wants a concrete deal on short-term and medium debt relief. Tsipras hopes a debt restructuring will help attract investors and convince Greeks their sacrifices are starting to pay off after seven years of austerity. “European leaders will receive a message tonight, that Greece fulfils its obligations. Tomorrow, the other side must also take responsibility,” he said.
Source: The Financial Express
THE move by the government to declare Bulawayo a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for clothing and textiles is not going to help revive industry in that city because the sector has been overtaken by events, analysts have said.Last year, government declared Bulawayo a SEZ for textile, clothing and leather sectors in a bid to revive the once industrial hub of the nation. The government is already crafting the SEZs Bill to enable its implementation.However, economic analysts and industrialists say the move (specialisation in textile) is not going to help revive industry. They argue that the government should look at other sectors to revive the city’s industry. They have suggested information technology (IT), transport as well as leather, among other sectors. Addressing delegates at the recently ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair business conference in Bulawayo, First Mutual Holdings Limited group chief executive officer, Douglas Hoto said the government and business community should think of other ways of reviving Bulawayo as the textile industry was no longer feasible. “In here [Zimbabwe], we try to do textile and Bulawayo is a particular town. Bulawayo must be revived [but] conversation is around wrong issues of things — that Security Mills and Merlin are going to come back to be what they were. That has been overtaken by events,” he said. “We have to find something else to do with Bulawayo; not thinking that we are going to have textiles again. That is not going to happen. So we better do something about certain developments. We have to build business models that are constructive across industry and very competitive.” Hoto said there were things that were part of the city’s competitive advantage and textiles were not one of them.
Economic analyst Reginald Shoko said there were no economic fundamentals to support the textile industry and urged government to focus on the beef industry, among other sectors. “It’s a good policy but for textile it might be a mismatch or it has come late. I believe there are no economic fundamentals to support it. We need to ask ourselves how many textile companies are still operational and how many closed shop and why? Are they not going to be importing cotton? For leather, yes, the value-chain is big in terms of leather,” Shoko said. More than 20 000 workers have been left jobless in Bulawayo over the past few years after over 100 firms, mostly in the manufacturing, textile and clothing sectors, closed down. Many large companies that formed the backbone of the city’s industry have either closed shop, liquidated or have been placed under judiciary management. These include Merlin, David Whitehead Limited, Textile Mills, Belmore Manufacturers and Ascot Clothing. National Blankets and Security Mills are under judicial management, while Cold Storage Company, National Railways of Zimbabwe, United Refineries, Dunlop Zimbabwe and Archer Clothing have down-sized, leaving thousands jobless. Economic and policy analyst Butler Tambo said the textile industry would find it hard to thrive as companies were operating obsolete technology and could, therefore, not compete with products from Asian countries such as China.
“There are also issues of labour costs, imports as well as power outages. The cost of producing textile products is going to be very high and that will affect competitiveness,” he said. He said the value chain sectors that might work in Bulawayo were the transport and beef industries, among others. However, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Busisa Moyo said leather, clothing and textiles value chains would create jobs. He said the aim was not to revive old companies only, but to attract new investment into the sector. “We must take on a value chain impact approach. This means cotton growing will start to happen around Bulawayo to supply cotton, we will attract ginners and linters into Bulawayo, weavers and spinners will also be required to support the cluster in the zone,” he said. Moyo said oil pressing and soap manufacturing were also by-products of the value chain and would be covered to make the other parts of the cluster successful. “I think those lobbying for the IT sector must do so without discrediting previous work done by others, they must think of selling their IT services in part to the industries mentioned above,” Moyo said. “I am sure the people you refer to are not aware that we are exporting leather to France for luxury goods to the likes of Hermes, a $4 billion company.” “The livestock, meat and leather value chain cluster has a huge potential to boost the economy with an export prospect given that at its peak, the beef sector alone used to earn Zimbabwe $40 million annually,” he said.
Source: The Zimbabwe Standard
