Ahmedabad: The apex body of the powerloom sector, PDEXCIL (Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council) will form a coordination committee to ensure quality of cloth is maintained in the mixing of polyester and viscose with cotton due to high cotton prices. This is the first time such problems have emerged and to resolve them, the committee will have members from the spinning, weaving and textile processing sectors. The association received many complaints regarding quality issues in the last four months from across the country. Bharat Chhajer, former chairman of PDEXCIL said, “We have learned of a large number of cases where there are major problems in the dyeing of polycot and viscose yarn. Some export containers had also been delayed following such issues, where the cotton part of the fabric got proper finishing but the polyester part had problems. In some cases, the buyer is unaware of the blending so an issue arises, it creates a dispute between buyer and seller and the blame was coming on the weavers.” He added that such cases were reported in the major markets of the country such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and PDEXCIL has thus decided to set up a co-ordination committee which will have members from spinning, weaving, grey fabric traders and textile processing houses. India witnessed unprecedented cotton prices this year and this affected the textile value chain badly. Spinning mills suffered losses of around Rs 30-40 per kg of cotton yarn so they started blending polyester and viscose with cotton. According to Chhajer, there was about 25% blending, to reduce the yarn cost. A member of the Ahmedabad Textile Processors’ Association said, “Blending made processing difficult and there are problems in dyeing polycot and viscose fabrics. It has resulted in quality issues and we saw a large number of payment disputes.
Source : Times of India
The Centre has sent letters of approval to a total of 54 applicants under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in August and investments of around ₹700 crore have already been made, according to official sources. “Of the total 64 applicants with a proposed investment of ₹19,798 crore selected by the Selection Committee chaired by Textiles Secretary earlier, as many as 54 have received their letters of approval by August. At the moment, about ₹700 crore have been invested and the amount will steadily go up,” the source told businessline. The PLI scheme for textiles is intended to promote production of manmade fibre (MMF) apparel and fabrics and technical textiles’ products in the country to enable the textile industry to achieve size and scale to become competitive and to create employment opportunities, according to the Textiles Ministry. Amongst States, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have attracted the most investments under the PLI scheme. Although an outlay of ₹10,683 crore was approved for the PLI textiles scheme as incentives, the Textile Ministry has estimated that it would be using a little over ₹6,000 crore. It is thus envisaging a PLI 2.0, but this time the scheme may be extended to cotton garments and made-ups as well, source said. The minimum investment limits and turnover limits to qualify for the incentives is also likely to be lowered in the second part of the scheme to allow MSMEs to also benefit. Interestingly, under the existing scheme, which has two parts, as many as 50 are in the second category where minimum investment requirement is ₹100 crore. In the first part, where minimum investment requirement is ₹300 crore with higher incentives, total number of projects approved is 14.
Source: Business Line
Exporters across India fear liquidity hit after GST exemption ends on export freight at the start of the month. From 1 October, GST on ocean freight will have to be paid at 5 per cent, while exports by air, billed to customers in India, attract 18 per cent levy. The Government’s move, exporters believe, will shrink liquidity at a time when they are dealing with weak demand in advanced countries, prompting them to seek a re-look. The Government officials argue that there was no need to extend the benefit, given that the refund process has become easier. The exporters are of the view that it can take up to three months, if not more, to get the money back. The process is not completed until the returns are filed and the deadline for filing is 20th of every month for transactions in the previous month. With interest rates rising and payment cycles from overseas buyers getting longer, exporters said that there was a need for additional liquidity. The issue is supposed to be discussed with the Union Minister for Textile, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal in a meeting with a number of export promotion councils on 7 October. Exporters, already facing global headwinds and high inflationary pressure, say that the GST exemption is more crucial in the current scenario as container rates are already very high. The recessionary trends have led to tough competition from other countries in international market. International buyers have already started delaying accepting orders. Thus, the inventory cost in holding export consignments in India is also increasing.
Source: Apparel Resources
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today asked the Quality Council of India (QCI) to strive to bring about convergence of all the various quality and standards organizations in the country so that they may work in tandem towards building a worldclass quality system in India and make quality a national mission. He was addressing the gathering at the Silver Jubilee Celebration of QCI in New Delhi today. With the motto ‘Gunnwatta se Atmanirbharta’, the event commemorated the efforts made by QCI in its pursuit of delivering quality of services, products, and lives. “Convergence will also help us scale up absorption of quality standards, help us take the national quality mission to every citizen and every business in the country so that the business environment, the investment environment that we have been able to create in the country can grow from strength to strength and help India become a developed nation by 2047”, Shri Goyal said. He also urged QCI to help align India with international quality standards. Other dignitaries in attendance at the event included Shri Amitabh Kant, India’s Sherpa to the G20, Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Shri Anil Agrawal, Additional Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairperson, QCI and Capacity Building Commission and Secretary General of QCI, Dr. Ravi P. Singh. Shri Goyal emphasized that quality will define brand India in the time to come. He observed that quality never comes at a cost but saved costs and improved productivity. He urged the citizens of the nation to imbibe the determination to do everything they do in a better, more efficient, more cost effective, more useful and more measurable manner. "The culture of quality has to be ingrained in the nation if it is to become a developed country by 2047. This idea of quality can truly transform this country faster than anything else", the Minister added. The Minister spoke of the Panch Pran articulated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as India celebrated 75 years of independence and said that PM Modi wanted India to change its mindset, remove the historical baggage of colonialism, become more confident, more self-reliant and bolder in our ambitions to plan for India being a developed nation by 2047. The Minister said that PM wanted India to be proud of its history, culture, heritage and traditions which held a lot of lessons capable of helping India progress as a society. He said that we must be very proud of the thread of unity that binds us amidst great diversity. He asked that we perform our duties towards fellow citizens and the nation with ‘kartavya bhavna’. The Minister highlighted that commitment to quality was a virtue that would transcend every single one of the Panch Pran, a virtue that would help us achieve all the five vows faster and smarter. He applauded QCI for bringing quality consciousness into the entire coal ecosystem and said that this initiative of QCI has been in the spirit of national service because it transformed the way coal industry perceived quality. He opined that prior to 2014, there was significant gap in the price paid and the quality of coal received due to lack of adherence to quality standards. He noted that once QCI stepped in and started undertaking initiatives like third party sampling of coal, there was transformative improvement in quality in the sector. Shri Goyal noted that Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) commitment to quality had resulted in better quality food grains reaching consumers who were mostly underprivileged. Shri Goyal also highlighted that the process of distribution of these food grains was now completely technology enabled using biometrics and said that under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), beneficiaries could pick up their food from anywhere in the nation. “The entitlement is transparent, the delivery is transparent and all of this happens through a quality-assured process”, Shri Goyal said. The Minister also applauded the role played by QCI in the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative to encourage products from remote areas to find markets in India and abroad. He said that QCI was helping the Commerce Ministry introduce the concept of quality in remote parts of the country so that products from these areas also become acceptable in Indian and international markets. He added that QCI had also contributed significantly in the GI tagging initiative and in completing the Swacch Surveykshan. Shri Goyal also appreciated the QCI for helping bring quality consciousness at storage points in various warehouses of FCI, the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and different states. Shri Goyal pointed out that QCI had played a leadership role in the initiative of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). “ONDC will help us save mom and pop stores, save millions of jobs and democratize e-Commerce so that the entire ecosystem gets a chance to engage with modern technology of e-Commerce and become stakeholders of a vibrant future India which cares for every section of the industry, big or small and focuses deeply on customer satisfaction”, he said. Quoting PM Modi, the Minister said that it was time that the nation adopted ‘zero-defect and zero-affect’ policy. He said that a quality orientation can also help us significantly when we are looking at a sustainable future for the country. While urging QCI to not merely rest on its laurels, the Minister said that the 25th anniversary must re-kindle a new spirit, a new excitement and open up new opportunities, new thinking and aspirations to scale all programs to make them national in character, helping us make quality a part of our day to day life. Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, shared his views about India’s journey towards quality and productivity and QCI’s significant role in it at the event. Shri Jain recognized QCI’s contributions in setting up standard operating procedures which have helped in the transformation of processes of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), including live surveillance systems piloted by QCI for monitoring food grains through a tech-enabled approach that has helped bring in greater transparency in public service delivery. He also lauded QCI’s initiative in helping DPIIT incubate the ONDC in a mission mode at QCI. The revolutionary initiative of ONDC has the potential to disrupt e-commerce like UPI did for the payments ecosystem in India. The project shall serve as a game-changer for small retailers, he observed. Speaking of the journey that QCI had set upon with the goal of enabling quality of life for India's billion-plus citizens, Shri Adil Zainulbhai listed some of the key achievements of QCI including measuring the number of toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the quality of electricity delivered in villages, houses constructed under PM Awas Yojana, gas cylinders delivery under Ujjwala yojana, and the survey of Swachh Bharat for both urban and rural India. Renowned musician Sukhwinder Singh composed a special anthem for the occasion that celebrates the positive change brought into people’s lives via multiple avenues. A coffee table book and the 7th Edition of QCI DL Shah Quality Best Practices Book were also launched at the event, highlighting India’s progress towards development, its efforts to improve the lives of billions of Indians and QCI’s contribution towards the goal.
Source: PIB
If the government wants 100 of India's brands as global champions by 2047, then we need these reforms Trade has been pivotal to every country's growth since time immemorial. This holds true in the 21st century. Trade determines many parameters of an economy, be it in manufacturing, or employment, and even the strength of the currency. Indian government understands this and has hence come up with a committee under the Ministry of Commerce to reliase India's trade ambitions.
What are the latest proposals? The government of India wants India's export to touch 2 trillion USD by 2030. To achieve this goal, we need better administration. In order to achieve this, the trade promotion body proposed by the ministry of commerce has been set up to enhance India's export. The work of this council will be to promote and plan a trade-related restructuring body. The focus is in improving India's branding and focus markets. These include the textile, IT, leather sector, etc as the target market. Boston Consulting Group had earlier submitted a 14-volume report, asking the Ministry of Commerce to restructure itself. This development has resulted in the formation of the ‘Trade Promotion Body'. This body will include key private sector players who will have freedom of operation. They will set targets for trade and will monitor it every six months, including at state as well as sectoral levels. The trade promotion body will include 13 elements including ‘brand India', government-to-government liaising, industry liaising, and exporter training. We have bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations with many countries, the body will look into restructuring the same. The body will have a single data source for exporters and buyers. It will be a marketplace for exporters and buyers. These will be the primary responsibilities of the council, which will be working under the Ministry of Commerce.
Why do we need the changes? As per World Trade Statistical Review, 2021, India accounts for 1.6 percent of global exports and 2.1 percent of imports. Apart from the already documented data, India is at a stage where repo rates are rising, inflation is skyrocketing, gas prices are going up, and oil rates are fluctuating. We are also living among global political tensions, and fear of recession. The demands and exports are suffering greatly today. In fact, United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has predicted that India will grow at a rate of 5.7 percent this fiscal year, which will further drop down to 4.3 percent in the year after that due to these factors. In spite of these bottlenecks, India wants to scale up production and export in pharma, gems and jewelry, marine and farmers' products, textiles and leather, engineering goods, electronics and telecommunication products, and chemicals. In such a climate, it is important to approach in a planned way. The Commerce Ministry is taking prudent decisions around the same to make India future ready. They are planning to take India's exports from $650 billion to $2 trillion by FY31. If the government wants 100 of India's brands as global champions by 2047, then we need these reforms. Instead of having multiple export promotion councils we need to create a single body that functions as an umbrella and brings everyone to the same table. Whether the trade promotion council will be successful or not depends on how the trade promotion body will be structured and their suggestions implemented.
Source: Business World
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta held a joint presser on October 06 in Auckland, New Zealand. Jaishankar said that the best way of pursuing economic opportunities right now is to encourage more business collaborations… For full video: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/jaishankar-onfree-trade-agreement-with-new-zealand-encourage-more-businesscollaborations/videoshow/94685439.cms
Source: Economic Times
The Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) will seek detailed clarifications and submit its suggestions to the Union government by October 20 on the proposed second round of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for textile sector. According to Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of ITF, at least 25 companies that manufacture garments or home textiles in the western districts of Tamil Nadu are expected to invest under the scheme, when it is implemented. These will make investments in the ₹15 crore or ₹30 crore brackets. The scheme is fibre neutral and hence, textile and clothing industries in Tamil Nadu, which are predominantly cotton based, can benefit from this. The ITF conducted two rounds of discussions with its members and has joined hands with KPMG to discuss the scheme with the potential investors of the region and submit its suggestions to the government. There are conditions such as minimum number of machines to be installed. This cannot be common for home textiles and garment sectors. The government should allow the entrepreneurs to choose the machinery, he said. The average size of apparel units in Tiruppur and home textile units in Karur is ₹20 crore to ₹30 crore annual turnover. With several buyers looking at China plus one approach for sourcing, there are huge opportunities for Indian exporters. The units need scale, competitiveness, and specialisation to tap the opportunities, Mr. Dhamodharan said. The proposed scheme will benefit small and medium-scale industries that want to scale up and invest in modern machinery, he added. Applications approved The Central government announced a PLI Scheme for textile sector in September last year and approved 64 applications for production of manmade fibre apparel, fabrics, and 10 product lines in technical textiles. The total outgo for the scheme is envisaged to be ₹ 6,400 crore of the total allocation of ₹ 10,683 crore. Now, the government has released a draft on second round of the scheme for the textile sector and it is for apparel, garments, home textiles and textile accessories, such as embellishments, trimmings, zippers, and elastic tapes. Products under three HS codes (61, 62, 63) can be produced by units under this scheme and the outgo is expected to be ₹ 4,283 crores. The participating company is expected to complete investment during the gestation period (2022-2023 to 2023-2024) and achieve the required turnover from 2024-2025. For garments and home textiles, the minimum investment can be ₹ 15 crore (minimum 1,000 machines) or ₹ 30 crore (minimum 2000 machines) or ₹45 crore (minimum 3,000 machines) and the annual turnover from the new investment should be ₹30 crore, ₹ 60 crore or ₹90 crore respectively. The qualifying investment and turnover for textile accessories is ₹10 crore and ₹20 crore.
Source: The Hindu
Britain's Home Secretary has cast doubts over a proposed free trade agreement with India over the issue of migration Britain's Indian-origin Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has cast doubts over a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with India over the issue of migration and branded Indians as the largest group of people who overstay their visas in the UK. Expressing concerns over what she feared would be an open borders migration policy in an interview with The Spectator' on Thursday, the senior minister seemed to indicate that she would not offer Cabinet backing to a trade deal that offers India greater visa concessions. It would pitch her in a possible clash with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who wants an FTA with India now in the final round of negotiations within the Diwali deadline set by her predecessor Boris Johnson. I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don't think that's what people voted for with Brexit, Braverman told the British weekly news magazine. Asked about visa flexibility for students and entrepreneurs under an India-UK FTA, she said: But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants. We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well, the 42-year-old minister said. Braverman was referencing the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) clinched between her predecessor in the Home Office, Indian-origin former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in May last year. This landmark agreement with our close partners in the government of India will provide new opportunities to thousands of young people in the UK and India seeking to live, work and experience each other's cultures. This agreement will also ensure that the British government can remove those with no right to be in the UK more easily and crack down on those abusing our system, Patel said of the MMP at the time. But Braverman's contention that the pact has not worked very well is seen as a clear indication that she is unlikely to back her boss, Liz Truss, on any further visa offers that are expected to be a part of a wider FTA. It comes in the wake of her comments at the Conservative Party annual conference earlier this week, where she targeted low skilled migrants and the growing numbers of student visas being issued. We should be looking more at students. We've had a massive increase in the number of students coming into this country. I do think we do get to a point where we have to look at some of the courses that people are doing in this country, some of the institutions, they are not always very good quality, said Braverman. I think it's legitimate to question whether that is going to serve our economic objectives, and taking a more discerning, smart approach to the number of student visas I think is highly consistent with our agenda for growth, she noted. Her intervention comes at a time when India has overtaken China as the country with the highest number of student visas issued to study at higher education institutions in the UK. According to the latest Home Office data, around 118,000 Indian students received a UK student visa in the year ending June 2022 an 89 per cent increase from the previous year. Indians have also consistently topped the charts of high skilled migrants issued visas to live and work in the UK. Under a new FTA, it has been widely expected that India would be seeking to bolster that trend for its students and professionals as part of an enhanced two-way exchange across different sectors. Braverman was named as the Home Secretary by Prime Minister Liz Truss on September 6. The mother of two children is the daughter of Hindu Tamil mother Uma and Goan-origin father Christie Fernandes. Her mother migrated to the UK from Mauritius while her father migrated from Kenya in the 1960s.
Source: The Hindu
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday announced a power subsidy package for Pakistan’s export industries with per unit electricity cost set at Rs19.99. In a media talk after negotiations with the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) in Islamabad, he termed the demand for energy subsidies “just” and promised that the government would bear the difference between the new fixed price and the actual per unit production cost. “I expect the industries to now increase Pakistan’s exports.” Dar said the annual burden of the subsidy would amount to around Rs90-100 billion, adding that the “all-inclusive” package was announced for the five major exporting sectors, and not just the textile sector. He denied that the subsidy would have any impact on the primary or budget deficit, assuring that “everything will be taken care of”. Meanwhile, in response to a question on whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was taken into confidence on the package, the finance minister said: “I don’t need to take [the IMF] into confidence […] when I know what I am doing then it is my responsibility to create [fiscal] space for it and I have done so.” Dar added that he believed in taking “prudent decisions” and had a source of funds available for the package. “[I will explain it myself] when talks are held with them [IMF delegation] and when they arrive on October 25,” he added. Dawn had earlier reported that the minister was considering a hefty package of energy subsidies for the textile sector to help it compete with regional countries. Earlier this year, the PTEA held three meetings with former finance minister Miftah Ismail to sensitise the government about the rising energy cost in the country which rendered textile exports less competitive in comparison with other regional countries. Market in the ‘right direction’ The finance minister also addressed the continuous depreciation of the US dollar against the rupee, saying that the development occurred without him even doing anything. “I want to clarify that I can genuinely prove that its (dollar) actual value is below Rs200.” He said the market was now going in the “right direction” and correcting itself. Dar added that today’s rupee appreciation brought a reduction of around Rs2,600bn in public debt and liabilities without “giving back even a single rupee”.
Source: The Dawn
The Malaysian cabinet recently approved the ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). On September 30, the government officially submitted the instrument of ratification (IOR) for the multilateral agreement to CPTPP depositary New Zealand, the ministry of international trade and industry said. The agreement involving 11 countries was signed on March 8, 2018. This agreement has already been ratified and implemented in stages since December 2018, by Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam and Peru. Malaysia is the ninth country to ratify. The agreement broadens Malaysia's access to new markets like Canada, Mexico and Peru, which are not covered by any existing free trade agreement (FTAs), providing access to a wider range of high-quality raw materials at competitive prices, and increases the country's attractiveness as an investment destination. Malaysia has already implemented 15 FTAs. At the same time, the CPTPP offers technical assistance and capacity building programmes that are aimed at improving and developing local sectoral capabilities in key industrial areas like automotives, chemicals, optical and scientific equipment and medical devices. A cost-benefit analysis projects that Malaysia’s total trade is expected to rise to $655.9 billion in 2030, through the CPTPP, the ministry said in a press release. Exports are projected to reach $354.7 billion in 2030, with trade balance remaining in strong surplus at 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the same year. Under the CPTPP, by January 1, 2033, almost cent per cent of Malaysian exports to all CPTPP countries will enjoy duty-free treatment. As soon as the CPTPP enters into force for Malaysia, all its exports to Australia and Singapore will readily enter these markets without being subject to any duties. Subsequently, in 2024 and 2029, all Malaysian products exported to New Zealand and Canada, respectively, will enter these countries duty-free. Following the implementation, Malaysian companies will have immediate access to the government procurement markets of other CPTPP countries at much lower thresholds compared to the high thresholds committed by Malaysia.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) is conducting further studies on possible outcomes of the country joining the world's largest China-led trade deal, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said yesterday. In July this year, the BTTC in a study said Bangladesh would greatly benefit in international trade if the country joins this mega regional trade deal. "However, we need to conduct more studies before joining the RCEP as some terms and conditions seem tough for us to abide by," Ghosh told The Daily Star at his office in Dhaka yesterday. So, the BTTC has been assigned to conduct studies on the RCEP further, Ghosh said, adding that Bangladesh's target was to grab a bigger market share under the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) trade bloc alongside another six countries by joining the RCEP. "We could see that Bangladesh imports more from the RCEP signatory countries," Ghosh said, adding that Bangladesh has been looking to find ways to export more goods by signing the RCEP agreement. Bangladesh imports textile materials and capital machinery from the RCEP nations. Once Bangladesh makes the United Nations status graduation from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing one, preferential trade benefits will erode and Bangladesh will need preferential market access globally by signing trade agreements. "We will sign trade deals keeping in minds three important factors including protecting our domestic industries, revenue generation by the government from import tariff and market access after the LDC graduation," Ghosh said. "So, we are moving a bit slow in signing the trade deal," he added. For instance, Bangladesh imports goods worth more than $20 billion from China, the country's single largest source for imports, from where the government receives nearly Tk 30,000 crore in the form of import tariff. Similarly, Bangladesh imports goods worth more than $16 billion from India, the second largest source for imports, and the government earns nearly Tk 20,000 crore from it as import tariff in a year. Once, the country makes the graduation from an LDC to a developing nation in 2026, Bangladesh will have to gradually liberalise its tariff regime for other trading nations for which the government will lose a big amount of revenue from import duty. In the particular case of the RCEP, Ghosh said Bangladesh has up to December next year to inform whether it would be joining the RCEP. Currently, Bangladesh has been negotiating with different trading partners to sign free trade agreements (FTAs), comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs) and preferential trade agreements (PTAs) to retain preferential trade benefits after the LDC graduation. However, so far, Bangladesh could sign only a PTA with Bhutan in December 2020 enabling 34 Bhutanese goods zero-duty market access to Bangladesh and 100 of Bangladesh's to Bhutan. Retaining the duty-free market access for Bangladesh is very important as more than 73 per cent of the country's exports come under the purview of benefits enabled for LDCs and as an LDC, the country enjoys duty benefits to 38 countries. A recent estimate of World Trade Organization (WTO) said after the LDC graduation, Bangladesh would lose 15 per cent of trade. If the export value of $42.61 billion of last fiscal year is taken into account, there is a possibility of losing $6.39 billion in a year after the LDC graduation. The loss will be substantial in the markets of Canada, Japan and European Union due to the increase of tariffs to around 14.47 per cent, 8.89 per cent and 8.91 per cent respectively, said Mostafa Abid Khan, former member of the BTTC, in an article recently. Earlier in July this year, an inter-ministerial meeting agreed that the county would join the RCEP if an opportunity was created after negotiations. China initiated the RCEP as a free trade agreement among itself, the 10 Asean states and Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. India later refused to join the RCEP. The negotiations were formally launched at an Asean summit in Cambodia in November 2020. In 2017, prospective RCEP member states accounted for a population of 3.4 billion or 45 per cent of the world's population and about 40 per cent of world trade. The total gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $49.5 trillion, more than half of which is made up of that of China and India, surpassing the combined GDP of TransPacific Partnership (TPP) members in 2007. On January 23, 2017, US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum that stated withdrawal of the country from the TPP, a trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, a move which is believed to have improved the chances of success for the RCEP. According to estimates by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the GDP of the RCEP member states is likely to amount to nearly $250 trillion by 2050.
Source: EIN News
Global fibre production increased again to a record 113 million tonnes in 2021, after a slight decline due to COVID-19 in 2020. In the last 20 years, global fibre production has almost doubled from 58 million tonnes in 2000 to 113 million tonnes in 2021 and is expected to grow to 149 million tonnes in 2030 if business as usual continues. The share of recycled fibres slightly increased from 8.4 per cent in 2020 to 8.9 per cent in 2021 —mainly due to an increase in bottle-based polyester fibre, according to the Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report by non-profit Textile Exchange. Still, less than 1 per cent of the global fibre market was from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2021. The production of fossil-based synthetics raised from 60 million tonnes in 2020 to 63 million tonnes in 2021. The report summarises the following key takeaways and projections for textiles: Cotton: The market share of ‘preferred’ cotton — defined by a list of recognised programmes — decreased from 27 per cent of the total cotton production in 2019-20 to 24 per cent in 2020-21 after years of growth. The reasons consist of a variety of factors, including weather variations, changes in the Better Cotton programme, market conditions, and socio-political challenges. Polyester: The production volume of polyester fibres increased from 57 million tonnes in 2020 to 61 million tonnes in 2021. With a market share of 54 per cent of the global total fibre production in 2021, polyester continues to be the most widely produced fibre. The market share of recycled polyester fibres slightly increased from 14.7 per cent in 2020 to 14.8 per cent in 2021. Due to low prices of fossil-based polyester, the recycled polyester market has been growing slowly in the past years. Polyamide: Polyamide had a market share of 5 per cent of the global fibre market in 2021. Due to technical challenges and low prices for fossil-based polyamide, the market share of recycled polyamide is only 1.94 per cent of all polyamide fibre. As the secondmost used synthetic fibre, polyamide offers significant impact potential by transitioning to recycled and biobased polyamide. Most recycled polyamide is made from preconsumer waste; some are from discarded fishing nets and carpets. Increasing the use of post-consumer textiles is needed. The market share of biobased polyamide fibres in 2021 remained low at around 0.4 per cent of the global polyamide fibre market. Manmade Cellulosics: Production of manmade cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) including viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate, and cupro increased from 6.5 million tonnes in 2020 to 7.2 million tonnes in 2021. The market share of FSC- and/or PEFC certified MMCFs increased from around 55-60 per cent in 2020 to around 60-65 per cent of all MMCFs in 2021. In March 2022, FSC and PEFC announced their decision to suspend Russian and Belarus wood certification. This equals a ban of around 18 per cent of all FSCand/or PEFC-certified forests. The market share of ‘recycled MMCFs’ increased to an estimated 0.5 per cent. Wool: Global wool fibre production was relatively unchanged at around 1 million tonnes in 2021. Conventional wool accounts for the vast majority of the wool market but the market for non-mulesed and preferred wool programmes is increasing. The market share of wool produced according to the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), ZQ, and SustainaWOOL GOLD and GREEN reached around 3 per cent in 2021. Mohair: Global mohair fibre production in 2021 was around 4,320 tonnes of greasy fibre. The Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS), covering both animal welfare and responsible land use criteria, was launched in March 2020. Its market share reached 20 per cent in 2020, its first year of existence, and increased to 35 per cent of all mohair produced worldwide in 2021. The RMS market share increased to 67 per cent of the total mohair production in South Africa and 42 per cent of the total mohair production in Australia in 2021. Alpaca: Global alpaca fibre production was around 6,000 tonnes in 2021. In April 2021, Textile Exchange launched its Responsible Alpaca Standard (RAS) with animal welfare and responsible land use criteria. The first groups in Peru have been certified to RAS, but the certified alpaca fibre is already committed to specific supply chains. It will take time to build the volume of certified fibre in order to make it available on the open market. Cashmere: Global cashmere production was around 26,344 tonnes of greasy fibres in 2021. The market share of the cashmere programmes — AVFS, Good Cashmere Standard, Responsible Nomads, SFA Cashmere Standard, and WCS combined — significantly increased from 6.6 per cent of all cashmere produced worldwide in 2020 to 17.4 per cent in 2021. Down: Global down production volume was estimated at around 0.57 million tonnes in 2021. Awareness of animal welfare issues has led to successful growth in the use of standards such as the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) with a market share of 3.2 per cent and Downpass with a market share of around 1.2 per cent of the total down market. While influencing change at the farm level is challenging, the use of preferred down standards helps to reduce the risks along the supply chain. Leather: Leather—measured in terms of fresh hides of cattle, sheep, goat, and buffalo, had a global production volume of around 12.5 million tonnes in 2021. Until recently, leather processing risks (tanning, chemical use) have been the main focus, but there is a growing interest in animal welfare, deforestation, land use change (and associated biodiversity loss), and climate change issues.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
A month ahead of the start of this year’s United Nations climate summit (“COP27”), the International Chamber of Commerce has launched a call to banks, corporates and technology companies to participate in piloting a ground-breaking framework to grade the sustainability profile of individual trade transactions. Following an extensive global consultation exercise earlier this year on the initial recommendations set out in ICC’s white paper on “Standards for Sustainable Trade and Sustainable Trade Finance”, the organisation – in partnership with Boston Consulting Group – has worked to define an initial framework capable of being piloted today in high-volume transaction environments. To this end, the “wave one” ICC Sustainable Trade Framework will work on the basis of a simple matrix to determine whether the different elements of a transaction are sustainable, drawing on readily available data and – to ensure the integrity of assessments – globally recognized sustainability standards. In this connection, ICC has taken the decision to temporarily exclude the assessment of transportation under the framework due to the current low maturity of shipping standards compared to those in other industries. Raelene Martin, ICC’s Head of Sustainability said: “Given the urgency of ensuring that trade and associated financing can contribute actively to meeting global sustainability goals, we have placed an absolute emphasis in delivering an initial industry framework that is immediately workable – while, crucially, integrating robust and recognized sustainability standards. Simply put: our aim is to deliver a system capable of rewarding sustainable practices by companies across global value chains while eliminating risks of greenwashing.” Industry pilots In order to focus resource in this first phase of the project, ICC has taken the decision to focus the piloting of the new Sustainable Trade Framework on the textile industry. As such, for the purposes of the “wave one” framework only textile-specific standards have been approved by ICC for measuring the relevant components of any given transaction. ICC is now inviting applications from banks, corporates and technology providers to pilot the application of the framework for relevant transactions over an initial threemonth period. These pilots will be used to gauge industry experience in assessing transactions under the framework in practice – the results of which will feed into its future elaboration and extension to other industries. Ms Martin added: “We see it as a vital step to carefully test the framework in partnership with banks, corporates and fintechs to understand its utility and practicality in the real world. The findings of these pilots will feed directly into the elaboration of a broader framework which we hope will be capable of being applied across a wide range of sectors and industries.” The businesses piloting the framework will be announced at a high-level event at COP27 in November – along with the publication of the full “wave one” Sustainable Trade Framework.
Source: ICCWBO
More ambition and joint European efforts are needed to address high energy prices, EURATEX said in its response to the latest EU energy council decision. The council regulation proposal recently passed by the EU ministers focuses on the electricity prices and demand reduction, on a solidarity levy from the fossil fuel sector and a retail levy for SMEs. These initiatives miss the point of bringing gas prices down – the one measure that would bring the biggest impact on Europe. EURATEX – as the voice of the European apparel and textiles manufacturers – regrets this lack of ambition: the regulation does not foresee any meaningful action to directly support the European industry. This can accelerate the de-industrialisation of Europe and loss of industrial capacity to secure the European standard of living and implement the green deal. “We call on the EU and member states to pursue our common European interests. The hesitation to adopt a European price cap on natural gas, accompanied by massive national spending programs to subsidise domestic gas consumption, is a dereliction of duty,” said director general Dirk Vantyghem. Triggering competition among member states rather than promoting cooperation in bringing gas prices down for all European companies will also prove ineffective: indeed, the industrial structure in the European Union is fully integrated. Once a segment of the value chain perishes because of the crisis in one country, all companies based in the EU will suffer its negative effect, driving prices up in the supply chain and adding further strain to our operations. The European industry will be saved as a unified industry, or it will not be saved at all. Fragmenting the internal market will not protect any member state’s domestic manufacturing, EURATEX said in a press release. In addition to a EU-wide price cap on gas, EURATEX calls on the European Commission to swiftly amend the temporary crisis framework, making sure the criteria and thresholds applied do not exclude vulnerable companies from possible support (e.g. in textile finishing and services). We also encourage the European commission to revise the ETS indirect carbon leakage mechanism and include the man-made fibres, nonwovens, spinning and weaving sectors. It is high time now for the European Union – in particular for member states and the commission – to step up their ambition and adopt a European vision: a chaotic and fragmented approach will not mitigate the crisis but accelerate it.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
