INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2016-05-29
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1010.44 |
USD/Ton |
-0.08% |
5/29/2016 |
|
VSF |
2051.35 |
USD/Ton |
0.37% |
5/29/2016 |
|
ASF |
1918.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
974.66 |
USD/Ton |
-0.39% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2223.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4355.49 |
USD/Ton |
-0.35% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2063.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2093.99 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1101.06 |
USD/Ton |
-0.28% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2451.87 |
USD/Ton |
-0.31% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
5678.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1241.16 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2771.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1681.28 |
USD/Ton |
-0.09% |
5/29/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2436.64 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2923.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2223.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1812.25 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2132.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.35 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.81 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.16 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/29/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15229 USD dtd. 2905/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
A two-day exhibition on Indian textile will begin in Dhaka today aiming at establishing personal contacts for mutually beneficial business tie-ups, including possibility of having long term venture alliances with their Indian counterparts. The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) of India in association with High Commission of India, Dhaka is organising the fair tilted Intexpo Bangladesh 2016 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel. Vice-Chairman at SRTEPC Srinarain Aggarwal disclosed deatails about the event at a press conference in a city hotel yesterday. Mashiur Rahman, economic affairs advisor to the Prime Minister, is expected to inaugurate the exhibition. A total 30 leading Indian manufacturing or exporting companies will display their latest range of textile items such as suiting, shirting’s, dress materials, embroidered fabrics, high fashion fabrics, furnishings, home textiles, made-ups like scares, stoles, shawls, laces, synthetic and blended yarns, fibres and garments etc. under one roof in Dhaka. The Synthetic and Rayon Textile Industry in India is vibrant and growing steadily. The leading markets for Indian synthetic textiles today are UAE, USA, Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Bangladesh, Germany, UK, Italy, and Belgium and so on. India supplies a wide range of items both in small and large volumes catering to high quality and at an affordable price. During the past five years, exports of synthetic and blended textiles from India to Bangladesh have reached from $137m in 2010-11 to $338m in 2014-15.
SOURCE: The Dhaka Tribune
As the textile transporters' strike entered its sixth day, many traders have started hiring transporters from Bharuch, Vapi and Ahmedabad to deliver goods to Delhi and other parts of the country. Textile traders said that the orders for Ramadan and Eid festival are placed by the buyers well in advance. These include designer burkha, kurtis and salwar kameez. The transporters have decided to go on indefinite strike at wrong time and thus the traders are forced to think of alternative arrangement in order to save themselves from huge losses. Industry sources said that the dress material manufactured for the Eid was different altogether. The colours of the fabrics are very bright, studded with tikkis and heavy embroidery work. The Muslim women prefer bright and shining colours. However, if the traders will not sell the fabrics during this time, they would incur huge losses.
Chairman of SGCCI's textile committee, Devkishan Manghani said, "Most of the traders have approached Ahmedabad-based transporters to supply their goods to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc. Compared to Surat, the traders have been paying heavy transport charges. Their profits have shrunk to less than 8%, but still they do not want to incur huge losses sitting on the goods." There are 165 markets housing more than 70,000 textile shops. The Ramandan and Eid attracts business to the tune of over Rs 3,000 crore. Manghani added, "Most of the traders have turned to the railways for supplying their goods." S K Yadav, area railway manager said, "The parcel inquiry from the textile industry has increased in the last few days. The traders have been supplying goods through railways due to the indefinite strike called by the transporters."
SOURCE: The Times of India
A large number of entrepreneurs have expressed their desire to set up their units at the proposed textile park, planned to be set up at Padalur, on the Tiruchi – Chennai National Highway. The proposal, which witnessed several impediments in the initial three years, saw the light of the day about a couple of years ago when the site was finalised. About 35 entrepreneurs have expressed their desire to set up their plants. Most of them hail from the western districts and possess adequate expertise for starting the units. In fact, one of the entrepreneurs had already successfully set up a mini textile unit, not far away from the park, and has demanded an acre in the park, indicating the scope for the textile park in this area. The site is to come up on an area of 40.35 hectares — 36.79 hectares of government poramboke land in the Padalur village and 3.56 hectares government poramboke land in Irur village. The park is located at a distance about one km from the Tiruchi – Chennai National Highway and an approach road is planned tobe laid at an estimate of Rs. One crore.
Promoted by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), the park is expected to give a fillip to the industrial growth in the backward district of Perambalur. Sources said that availability of skilled labour and un-skilled workers were the major advantages in this region. The state government had accorded permission to the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles for setting up the park. The park will mainly cater to the needs of export-oriented ready-made garments units, production of yarn and so on. No dyeing unit will be permitted with a view to protecting the underground water table in the area. But strong objection from the local residents made the district administration shifted the site to the Padalur where a vast extent of government porrambokke land was available. Export-oriented units making readymade garments will come up.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Various fashion brands and platforms in BENGALURU are producing and promoting eco-friendly, tech-backed upcycling of clothing and accessories. Sustainability is their buzzword. And, their customers are the happier for it. Priyanka Nagpal recently turned to city-based mobile app Elanic where she picks up high-quality used brands and even sells her own stuff. "For instance, clothes not even used once or twice are up for sale because sellers had some minor issue with the size, colour or fit," says the 25-year-old digital marketing professional. "At the same time, product prices go down significantly just because it was owned by someone before." Quality and authenticity are vouched for since the app's in-house mechanisms have inspected, sanitised and repackaged the products. Says Elanic cofounder Abhilash Narahari: "It is a market waiting to be tapped. We are essentially bringing in the next level of efficiency by using technology to solve the problem of plenty." The app, which launched seven months ago, has 1 lakh downloads and a 40,000 user base. It expanded pan-India only last month.
Although Bengaluru is behind Mumbai and Delhi in terms of users, the untapped luxury market where people balance experimentation with affordability makes this a ripe time for business, believes Mehal Kejriwal, cofounder, DuaVivo, which launched in April. The app, which offers used luxury clothes, bags, footwear, watches and accessories across brands like Hermes, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Armani, DKNY, Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Alexander McQueen, saw more than 30 products sell in less than a month. "With many immigrants and job opportunities, the love for luxury here is huge. There are many people who carry these brands and have not one or two but many such products in their closet," she said. Technology and logistics infrastructure is built in a manner that offers authentication certification, sanitisation and repackaging of products, pickup and drop facilities and cash on delivery. Buyers and sellers are allowed to deal directly with each other.
For fashion labels, this is also a way to ensure more textiles don't get dumped in landfills. Dhatri Bhatt , spokesperson of H&M that launched in March, is getting a favourable response for its 'Garment Collect' initiative, where clothes dropped off by customers at their offline stores are mixed and matched to launch fresh creations. "Depending on conditions, sorted items are put to different uses like re-wear, reuse and recycling," she says. Sonia Agarwal, founder of Asia's largest ethical marketplace Whitenife , said that the basic misunderstanding that recycled products do not match up in quality is being done away with. "We are working hard to create awareness so that people know and make a conscious choice in adopting a different consumption lifestyle," she says.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Commerce Ministry has eased the process of filing of application for claiming benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with a view to improve ease of doing business in the country. Commerce Ministry has done away with separate applications required for shipments from different electronic data interchange (EDI) ports. “The procedure for filing of application under MEIS for EDI shipping bills is simplified. Shipments from different EDI ports will not require separate applications,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade has said in a public notice. Rewards under MEIS are payable as percentage of realised free-on-board value and the MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties, including the basic customs duty. In terms of trading across borders, India ranked at 133rd out of 189 economies, according to the World Banks report on ease of doing business. The ministry has been engaged with with different ministries including shipping to fast-track clearance processes and improve ease of doing business to boost shipments.
Declining for 17th straight month in April, exports dipped by 6.74 per cent to USD 20.5 billion due to sharp fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering products amid tepid global demand. In a separate trade notice, the DGFT said that applicants who have been allowed to import pepper under the India-Sri Lanka free trade agreement for 2016-17 may contact concerned regional authorities for obtaining license. The validity of the quota is till March 31 next year. “Failure to fully utilise the quota would debar the applicant from applying under India-Sri Lanka FTA for the next three financial year,” it said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
India's digital engagement with WTO is on the rise as the country accounted for third largest number of visitors to the global trade body's website in 2015. Also, the country was on the top in the number of registrations for receiving email alerts about latest developments at the Geneva-based body. "In 2015, total page views rose to 47.8 million, compared with 43.6 million the previous year. A total of 16 per cent of the visitors are from the US, followed by 6 per cent from Mexico, 5.75 per cent from India and 4.5 per cent from China," the annual report of WTO said. Over 2,000 web pages were created or updated during the course of the year. The number of people registered to receive email alerts when news items are published on the website stands at just over 1, 00,000. "The countries with the largest number of registrations are India (10 per cent), the US (8 per cent), Mexico (5 per cent), China (4 per cent) and France (4 per cent)," it added. The largest categories for these alerts are university students (30 per cent), the business community (13 per cent), government officials (12 per cent), the academic community (12 per cent) and lawyers (8 per cent). The WTO expanded its use of social media, almost doubling its number of Twitter followers.
In 2015, the multi-lateral body expanded its use of social media to provide more regular updates about WTO activities and major events, it said adding an average of 3,56,000 video clips were watched on the website every month. It said that the WTO's Twitter followers had almost doubled to 2, 45,000 by the end of 2015. WTO tweets were viewed over 6 million times in 2015, the report said adding the WTO's Facebook page was 'liked' by over 1,70,000 users, a 40 per cent increase from a year earlier. The audience for the social media activities includes WTO delegates, students and academics. The WTO is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. As on 30 November 2015, 162 countries including India are members of this body.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The state government has extended the deadline for textile operators to submit applications seeking 5% subsidy, under the technology upgradation fund (TUF) scheme, till the end of June. Last week, the government had announced that textile units need to submit their applications online before May 3. Operators, however, objected to the announcement being made at such short notice and demanded an extension of the deadline. According to an official communication by Suresh Halwankar, Ichalkaranji MLA, the state announced the subsidy, but it came in late due to administrative delay followed by the failure of the government server. "Many textile unit operators could not upload their claims in time. To avoid any further inconvenience, the issued was raised before state textile minister Chandrakant Patil a couple of days back and he immediately issued extension orders," read the MLA's communication. Patil had recently stated that that business persons from the textile sector would not be suffer for the mistakes of the state government. Halwankar said all textile operators are being informed about the extension in the deadline for submitting the application. The MLA added that he would try to form proper communication between textile operators and the state government. Ichalkaranji is the second largest textile hub in the state, with more than 50 international apparel brands sourcing their products from there. The industry is growing with more units coming up.State Extends TUF Subsidy Deadline Till June end
SOURCE: The Times of India
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Minister Kalraj Mishra tells Aditi Phadnis that a moribund ministry has now got off the ground. Edited excerpts:
You've spent two years in office. What have you got to show for it?
In general, our government has done spectacularly well. Just go back a few years and you will recall all the scams - 2G spectrum, coal block allocation... Our government, on the other hand, has provided clean, transparent governance. Coal blocks and telecom spectrum have been allocated with complete transparency. Do you hear phrases like Radia tapes, de facto and de jure power centres, which pointed to a weak, motivation-less and visionless United Progressive Alliance regime? Nobody can dispute that a regime of personal gain and loot of public resources was replaced by one run on the strength of integrity and values, following the 2014 general elections.
What have you achieved in your area of responsibility?
This a valid question. There are around 40 million MSMEs in India employing around 100 million people. Our share in manufacturing output is around 45 per cent and in mercantile exports 40 per cent. Our share in gross domestic product is eight per cent in manufacturing and 30 per cent in services, so the total share stands at 38 per cent. After agriculture, our sector is the largest employer of Indians. MSME is the future job creator and provider.
In the past two years, we observed this sector closely and identified interventions necessary to unleash its real potential. For starters, registration of an MSME is imperative if an entrepreneur wants to access schemes and government benefits. We noticed that registration of MSMEs was a cumbersome process with lots of bureaucratic hurdles. We designed a simple, elegant, user -friendly and internet-based registration process and named it Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM). Now, one can register a unit by filling a short online form and get registration within 10 minutes. Registration does not entail any visit to any office. In the past eight months, more than 700,000 MSMEs have registered on this platform.
If your ministry is the second-largest provider of jobs, how have you fared in terms of jobs creation?
The Prime Minister's Employment Guarantee Programme (PMEGP) is our flagship scheme. It accounts for one third of the expenditure of our ministry. We nurture around 45,000 micro-level entrepreneurs around the country through this programme and generate employment for around 335,000 people. Through constant monitoring and review, we ensured the release of Rs 1,254.79 crore of margin money for this programme in 2015-16; it was just Rs 988.36 crore in 2013-14. This scheme is a launch pad for entrepreneurs who dream big.
Last year, we launched ASPIRE (A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Agro-based Industry). It takes care of the skill needs of different sections of society. We have Livelihood Business Incubators (LBI) to train the youth to set up small businesses, which can be integrated into the local economy to meet one's livelihood needs. We have Technology Business Incubators (TBI) to meet the skill needs of more ambitious individuals. We realised that if we cannot fund the innovative ideas of young visionary minds, this exercise is futile. So we have come up with ASPIRE Fund of Funds (FoF). The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) manages this FoF for us. We have placed Rs 60 crore with Sidbi and finalised how it should run. We have sanctioned 22 LBIs and two TBIs; six LBIs have already started functioning.
The failure of MSMEs is usually in getting access to competitive, appropriate and intelligent technology…
True, MSMEs need modern technology. We have 18 state-of-the-art tool rooms across the country to meet the technological needs of this sector. All our tool rooms are profit-making ventures. In these tool rooms we have trained 180,160 pupils in entrepreneurship and assisted 36,156 units directly to enhance productivity and efficiency in 2016. In 2013-14 these figures were 120,340 and 28,861 respectively. The figures speak for themselves.
What about training? After all, one can't go straight from the tool room to start his/her own business….
We have started a placement service, which has shown good results. With assistance from the World Bank, we will create 15 more tool rooms worth Rs 2,200 crore. As this financial year ends, the construction of at least nine out of 15 tool rooms will have reached an advanced stage. So we should be able to serve catchment MSMEs in the next fiscal year.
Suppose, I have struggled and set up an MSME using the facilities the government has provided. But if nobody buys what I produce, I am still going to starve….
Public procurement is one area where micro and small enterprises (MSE) can find a big window to sell their products. Under the Public Procurement Order, every central public sector unit has to necessarily buy 20 per cent share of its procurement from MSEs; 20 per cent of this, that is four per cent of the total procurement, should be bought from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. We have started rigorous monitoring to ensure that MSEs get their due share in public procurement. We have made it clear that buyers can relax prior turnover and experience conditions to enable MSEs to participate in public procurement tenders. The 20 per cent public procurement clause became mandatory from April 1, 2015. I am also reviewing it at my level. I am determined to provide MSEs their due share in public procurement from central public sector undertakings and other central government entities.
What about non-performing assets in the MSME sector?
We have come up with a plan to revive and rehabilitate sick industries. We are working on an ambitious and visionary MSME policy, which will be unveiled soon.
Your area of political work is Uttar Pradesh. How do you rate the Bharatiya Janata Party's prospects in the state's Assembly elections next year?
I cannot be a hypocrite. Both the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) and the SP (Samajwadi Party) are worthy opponents and they have their strengths. But neither am I a defeatist. The Assam election results have been a morale booster for our workers. The prime minister's image is sky-high. Our government has done excellent work. If we are able to rise at the organisational level - and I am sure we will - we can form the government in Uttar Pradesh.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 16.5% to $2.46 billion in March this year. The FDI inflows were at $2.11 billion in the same month of last year, according to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). For the entire 2015-16 fiscal ended March 31, the inflows grew by 29% to $40 billion as against $30.93 billion in 2014-15. FDI for 2015-16 was the highest since 2000-01. The services segment attracted the highest investments of $6.88 billion followed by computer hardware and software ($5.90 billion), trading business ($3.84 billion) and automobile industry ($2.52 billion). Singapore toppled Mauritius as the top FDI source for FDI in India last fiscal. India received $13.69 billion overseas inflows from Singapore, followed by Mauritius ($8.35 billion), the US ($4.19 billion), the Netherlands ($2.64 billion) and Japan ($2.61 billion). The government has taken several steps to promote investments through a liberal FDI policy. It is expected to soon take a decision on permitting 100% FDI in the food processing sector through the FIPB approval route. Foreign investment is considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
I thank you for your kind words of welcome. I am delighted to begin my state visit to China here in Guangzhou. This historic city has always been an important port of call for Indian business. It is here that we find the ancient foundations of the thriving trade and economic ties that exist between India and China today. Han Shu (Book of Han) of second century BCE talks about a direct sea route from Guangdong to Kanchipuram in south India. As early as the fourth century BCE, Chinese silk is mentioned in Kautilya's treatise, the Arthashastra. It is noteworthy that the age-old commercial contacts between our peoples - through land and sea routes - have so successfully evolved, flourished and expanded - and spanned the centuries without interruption. In 2014, an agreement for a sister-province relationship was signed between Gujarat state in India and the Guangdong province of China. A pilot Smart City cooperation project has been announced between Shenzhen and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat in 2015. As I stand before you today, I would, at the very outset, like to say that this is an exciting time for India and China to reinforce the old linkages and join hands for new.
Ladies and gentlemen! India is a young nation. Our primary goal is to build a modern economy that puts a premium on sustainable development. We are steadily moving towards this objective and a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place in our country. China's economic achievements are a source of inspiration for us. We believe that stepping up our two-way trade and investment flows will be of mutual benefit to both our nations. Our bilateral trade has grown steadily since the turn of this century. From $2.91 billion in the year 2000, it reached the level of $71 billion last year. Although the trade balance continues to be in favour of China, we look forward to expanding our commerce to make it more equitable. India would like to see a greater market for our products in China - particularly in sectors where we have natural complementarities - as in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT and IT-related services and agro-products. It is a matter of satisfaction that there is emerging focus on two-way investment flows. We welcome Chinese investments and entrepreneurs to participate in Make in India and other flagship initiatives of our government. We will facilitate your efforts to make your investments in India profitable. We must take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the growth of both our economies.
India has recorded a steady growth at the rate of 7.6 per cent each year for over a decade now. We believe that India cannot grow in isolation. In an increasingly interconnected world, India would like to benefit from technology advances and best practices of different countries. The comprehensive reforms introduced in key areas of our economy have enhanced the ease of doing business in India. Our foreign investment regime has been liberalised through simplified procedures and removal of restrictions on foreign investments. These reforms have renewed the interest of global investors in India. In 2014, there was a 32 per cent growth in investments and in 2015, India emerged as one of the biggest global investment destinations.
Ladies and gentlemen! China's overseas direct investment has crossed the $100-billion mark - we would like more of it to reach India. As you are aware, India, today, presents a promising demographic scenario. The average age of its population will reach 29 years by 2020. To convert this young population into an asset, we have introduced the Skill India initiative to skill 400 million young men and women by the year 2022. At the same time, to ensure growth sustainability, it is important to ignite the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in all sectors of our economy. The Start-Up India initiative will aid job creation through innovation and entrepreneurship. Simultaneously, a high priority has been to develop world-class infrastructure in a time-bound and cost-efficient manner. My government is establishing industrial corridors, national investment and manufacturing zones and dedicated freight corridors to stimulate investment in this sector. Its 100 Smart Cities initiative will transform a hundred of our cities and towns into engines of growth. The Digital India programme aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. India welcomes your participation in these programmes. Chinese companies, with inherent strengths in infrastructure and manufacturing, can look towards India as an important destination in their Going Global strategy. On their part, Indian companies can partner with Chinese enterprises in the new domain of Internet of Things, which underlines the Made in China 2025 strategy.
I am happy to note that a good start has been made by Chinese businesses who are investing in infrastructure projects and industrial parks in India. Bilateral cooperation in India's railway sector is also progressing well. A good number of premier Indian IT firms and other manufacturers are present in China. Our people are also considering the prospects of jointly exploring opportunities in other countries.
To sum up, ladies and gentlemen, India believes that there is great potential for economic and commercial cooperation among our two nations, which face similar opportunities and challenges. The stability of our relationship in recent years provides an enabling basis for utilising these opportunities and coming together. To realise the full potential of our economic partnership, it is important to bridge the information gap between our business communities. We are committed to providing a conducive environment for more investments from China. We stand ready to facilitate many more collaborations between the industry and businesses of our two countries across different sectors. India invites investors from China to be partners in India's growth story. Ladies and gentlemen, I am aware of the significant numbers of Indian business visitors to Guangdong province and those who have chosen to live and work here. I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency, Mr Zhu Xiaodan, governor of the Guangdong province, and its residents for making the people of India feel so welcome and comfortable among you.
With these words, I would like to once again thank the India-China Business Forum for its contribution in strengthening the economic relations between India and China. I wish this forum great success in its deliberations today and look forward to the positive outcome of its work and initiatives.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
India, US and Brazil were the leading initiators of anti-dumping investigations in 2015, a WTO report said. It said that the WTO members initiated 107 new anti-dumping investigations from January to June 2015, just slightly up from 106 in the same period in 2014. “The top initiators in 2015 were again the US (15 new investigations), followed by Brazil (12) and India (12), with Turkey also launching 12,” WTO’s Annual Report 2016 said. The WTO members are allowed to apply anti-dumping measures on imports of a product where the exporting company ships the product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its home market and the dumped imports cause or threaten to cause injury to the domestic industry. The report also said that the safeguard investigations were initiated by 11 members including India, Indonesia and Malaysia. The products covered ranged from ceramic tiles and cars to polyethylene terephthalate, used for making beverage containers, and alloy and non-alloy steel, it added. A safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or are threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry. “…many WTO members expressed concerns about the proliferation of safeguard measures,” it said. Further, it said that few members had raised the issue of local content requirements in solar power generation projects in India.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
In what could be a blip in the NDA government’s second anniversary celebrations, economic growth in 2015-16 may not have been as strong as projected due to sluggish industrial recovery and muted pick-up in private investment. While the Advance Estimates of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that was released in February this year had pegged gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2015-16 at 7.6 per cent, economists have forecast that it could be marginally lower between 7.4 per cent and 7.5 per cent because of weaker growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal. “There is likelihood of a somewhat downward reduction. The industry has performed much weaker than expected in the fourth quarter,” said DK Joshi, Chief Economist, Crisil, adding that the agency has not made any concrete projection. The CSO will release the GDP estimate for the quarter January-March 2016 and the provisional annual estimates for 2015-16 on May 31. This will not only give the government a chance to review its economic goalposts for the current fiscal but will also be one of the crucial and last sets of data before the Reserve Bank of India decides on its policy stance for the second bi-monthly monetary policy on June 7. Aditi Nayar, Senior Economist, ICRA, said that along with the expectation of muted fourth quarter data, there may be some revisions to the data for earlier quarters. “We estimate growth of gross value added at 7.2 per cent and GDP at 7.4 per cent for 2015-16,” she said.
HDFC Bank, too, said GDP growth for 2015-16 would be slightly lower at 7.5 per cent but the GVA (gross value added) growth is still in line with CSO’s projection of 7.3 per cent. “The acceleration in private consumption in the fourth quarter may not be as strong as the CSO estimate. Also, the January to March Index of Industrial Production was lower than market expectation at 0.2 per cent. The only silver lining could be a sharp boost in government expenditure,” Tushar Arora, Senior Economist, HDFC Bank. Similarly, India Ratings also pegged GDP growth marginally lower at 7.5 per cent and said the fourth quarter growth is likely to be 7.4 per cent as against the CSO estimate of 7.6 per cent. GDP growth in the third quarter of the last fiscal was muted at 7.3 per cent compared with growth of 7.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent in the first and the second quarter of the fiscal, respectively.
Fiscal deficit
But, in some comfort for the government, the Centre’s fiscal deficit is not likely to be impacted by the lower than estimated GDP growth. The Centre had projected the fiscal deficit at 3.9 per cent of the GDP in 2015-16. The Finance Ministry had said last month that this target had been met.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
As global consumers are becoming more and more cautious on environment and global retailers are looking for suppliers of apparel produced in eco-friendly factories. Bangladesh’s apparel manufacturers have entered into sustainable manufacturing practices by establishing eco-friendly factories and introducing energy-efficient latest technologies to give a cushion against carbon emission. Sustainable manufacturing refers to the creation of manufactured products through economically-sound processes that minimize negative environmental impacts while conserving energy and natural resources. Since 2011, a total of 28 Bangladeshi RMG factories have got certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC) as green building. Of them, six got certification on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum, 13 in Gold, 5 in silver and 4 certified as green. Besides, there are 118 RMG units, which applied for the green certification in different categories. Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Textile, a LEED Platinum certified textile company said that to make an industry sustainable, it has to consider environmental issues since the climate change is a big concern among the global consumers and buyers because of higher carbon emission. The process makes business more competitive as it consumes less water, chemical and electricity to give less pressure on natural resources which is the reason, they are going green and using energy-efficient technologies for sustainable manufacturing.
Besides, textile and woven manufacturers have already introduced green technology that consume less water, chemical and electricity. Giant Textile Limited has installed “Water Saving Technology” (WST), an internationally acclaimed and certified Environmentally friendly dyeing machine, to reduce the use of water in dyeing process significantly, said Faruque Hassan, managing director of Giant Group. GTL has adopted such sustainable and environmentally friendly technology supported by Green Project, which will not only save water, but also reduce carbon emission. GTL is equipped with a full-fledged biological Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) that can treat about 30 tonnes of discharged water per day. Mustafiz Uddin, managing director of Denim Expert Limited, said that using laser technology instead of traditional ones in making a pair of jeans, they can reduce the use of water by 30%-40% while chemicals by 20 to 30 percent. Mustafiz labelled the laser technology as very precise and more productive when the same number of workers are working at the same time. It also poses a little health hazard since a less amount of chemicals are used in the process.
Bangladesh RMG manufacturers introduced Clutch Motor replacing Servo Motor and LED lights instead of T-8 lights only to give a cushion to the earth. Rezaul Karim, GM of Rising Knit Textile said that they are using Clutch Motor, which consumes about 50% less electricity while LED lights save around 30%-40% energy. In traditional process, the Servo Motor consumes 80 to 100 litre of water for per kilogramme of fabrics, which came down to 40 to 50 litre due to installation of the new technology. According to a baseline study conducted by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) over a period of more than six months over the same number of operating hours, LED lights consumed 57% and 33% less energy compared to T-8 and T-5 lights respectively. The study was done on RMG factories. Besides the worker safety issues, the sector have to concentrate on environmental consequences as the industry is rapidly expanding. It would be an opportunity if Bangladesh can enhance its capacity to attract higher shares of the global RMG market. Currently, Bangladesh holds 6.4% of RMG market share,
According to BGMEA Vice-President Mahmud Hossain khan Babu, it is the high time that the apparel sector invested in green manufacturing to take the lead in sustainable manufacturing, which would act as a catalyst to achieve $50 billion export target. It also will help the government in lowering carbon emission below 5% as per its target. Meanwhile, the government is providing financial support for establishing green industry, especially in RMG sector. The BGMEA vice-president said that hough the government is providing financial support, it is only for factory establishing. The support should be for replacement of technologies to make existing factories eco-friendly. As per the Bangladesh Bank directive, the owners are enjoying loans at 9% rate. In the last fiscal year, banks and non-banking financial institutions disbursed Tk465.9 billion as part of green financing to encourage green industrialization. Of the total amount, nearly Tk396.95 billion was disbursed for green industry, of which RMG is a major stakeholder. The big challenge in going sustainable manufacturing is financing as it is a costly investment.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that the incumbent government is committed to enhance textile exports and will consider the proposals put forth by All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) in ongoing exercise for preparation of budget for fiscal year 2016-17. He made these assurances while speaking to a delegation of APTMA which held a meeting with him here on Sunday and shared with the Minister details on the current profile of textile sector in the country and also apprised him about their budget proposals. Senator Ishaq Dar said that the government holds in high esteem, contribution of textile sector in foreign exchange earnings as well as revenue generation locally. He said all possible facilitation would be extended to the textile sector in the budget 2016-17. The Minister added that while the government was prepared to facilitate all sectors of the economy, it also expected them to strengthen government’s efforts for revenue generation and economic growth. The delegation thanked the Minister for the meeting and assured all possible support for Government’s efforts aimed at inclusive growth and employment generation. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan, Chairman FBR, Nisar Mohammad Khan and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and FBR attended the meeting.
SOURCE: The Nation
Egypt and China signed a framework agreement earlier this week on to establish a zone for textile industries in the Egyptian governorate Minya. The agreement was signed between Egyptian Textile Industries Council and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), according to Egyptian news portal Amwal Al Ghad. Egypt's Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Tarek Qabil asserted that establishing a comprehensive zone for textiles is an important step for Egypt to reclaim its leading position in Middle East and North Africa since it has potential and wide expertise in the field of weaving and textiles. The minister made these remarks during his meeting with a delegation of Chinese businessmen headed by CNTAC's Vice-President, Gao Yong. The Chinese mission and Qabil also discussed means of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in textile field as well as future visions for such important industry in Egypt. Building the new zone is set to participate directly in achieving strategy of trade ministry to develop textile industry in Egypt besides enhancing the process of economic and social development by attracting more local and foreign investments. Qabil added that the Ministry agreed with Minya governor to allocate around 1.2 million square meters of land to establish the zone. He noted that the Egyptian government is paying great attention for this large project and committed to support it.
Textile industries contribute 3 per cent to Egypt's GDP and accommodate around 1.2 million workers and engineers which is 30 per cent of industrial labour in Egypt, the minister said. Qabil pointed out that that the textile industry contributes 16 per cent of Egypt's non-petroleum exports with a revenue of $2.6 billion. CNTAC delegation head Gao said the visit of the Chinese mission to Egypt targets boosting mutual cooperation between two countries in the field of textiles field as Chinese firms keen on expanding their footprints. Chinese investments in Egypt's textile market are expected to increase, he said.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
Business leaders from Germany and Pakistan signed a Declaration of Intent on Thursday to create a sustainable textile industry across the entire value chain. Acting Chairman of All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Punjab Chapter) Syed Ali Ahsan and Dr Ulrike Reviere from German Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) signed the document on behalf of their respective organizations, media reports said. A website www.spc.org.pk was also launched to create awareness on Sustainable Production Centre.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Stefan Oswald, Head of Afghanistan/Pakistan in the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation, said the German ministry of Economic co-operation would continue to support the textile industry, which was the backbone of Pakistan's economy. Dr Oswald, also underlined the need for the textile industry to consider the option of using solar energy for heating water in textile processing industry. He also stressed upon the diversification of SPC and termed it crucial for growth of the textile industry in Pakistan.
SOURCE: The CCF Group
