INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2016-07-19
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1014.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
VSF |
2241.30 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
ASF |
1882.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1031.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2211.42 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4258.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5571.87 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1262.60 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2039.58 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2054.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1150.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2420.60 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2779.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1658.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2398.19 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2928.63 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2211.42 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1793.04 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2136.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.33 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.81 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.15 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/19/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14942 USD dtd. 19/07/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
In my business life, I have not seen a worse situation than this, where such a big disparity is there between spot cotton prices and yarn prices. This disparity for such an extended period of time shows there is a deep rooted problem and it’s not a temporary feature. The current isolated spurt in Indian cotton prices has aggravated the situation to an extent that many can hear the death knell. The more disturbing fact is that no domestic yarn buyer is hassled or is rushing to buy yarn — they know cotton prices have moved 50% and yarn just 20% — still no anxiety !!!
International buyers have diverted their orders as cotton in India has increased much much more in comparison to international cotton prices. Indian spinners have been going through a very difficult time over the last 2 years despite cotton prices being reasonably low due to a demand supply imbalance created out of new spinning mills coming up in some States (viable due to incentives rather than fundamentals) and slow demand locally due to two successive poor monsoons and overall subdued sentiments in the globe. Exports have failed to cheer us up due to the disadvantage created by FTAs of our competitors with the big buying nations and we as usual not able to break any ice anywhere.
Cotton yarn has suffered further as the Government felt that yarn needs no incentives. It’s true that yarn needs no more any investment incentives but it surely needs incentives to export. Requests went unheeded by the Govt from various Associations because they didn’t go into the details of demand – supply minutely or tried to understand the plight of spinning industry (though its classified as a stress industry by the Banking sector). The recent RBI Financial Stability report stated that Textiles had the highest slippages from Standard Account to NPAs I.e. 8.8% in 2015 and the way the industry is going 2016 is going to be worse. Indian spinning industry is the most developed segment of the textile and clothing industry. It is a market leader in the global markets and we have 30% exportable surplus, which is being exported, all across the world. Hence it seems to be an industry needing no assistance, as the Government (Central & State) has given it a lot of incentives over the years leading to the industry coming of age with the best technology. However surprisingly the excessive and long term continuation of incentives has been the bane of the industry. It has grown no doubt but more on incentives rather than fundamentals. The Central Govt realised this and as a first step curbed incentives to the industry and finally stopped all incentives. However State Governments (Gujarat Maharashtra, Andhra, Rajasthan, MP etc.) came in with even higher incentives leading to the industry continuing its expansion. We live with hope that things will improve, however instead of seeing green shoots suddenly the industry faces a dark black tunnel through which many may not get through to see the light of the day. It’s a serious crisis, hence kindly read me out (even if you disagree or find it boring)
WHY ARE WE HERE TODAY ?
Unplanned and illogical incentives being given for building spinning capacities (so much that it’s practically irresistible for one to not invest (Central Govt has finally understood, but State Governments still haven’t)
Today the way the spinning industry is placed, there seems no hope for the industry – we have excess capacity, which has to be dumped to China at below cost prices to keep the mills running. High fixed costs makes production cuts difficult. As a result NPAs are increasing, mills are partially or fully closing down on one hand while new investments are coming on the other hand. Old and new mills have a cost differential of 10% in an industry, which doesn’t even have a consistent Net Profit margin of 5%.
Government is sitting peacefully and hoping as value added industry grows the balance will set in (don’t know how they expect industry to get through these prolonged times before value added industry catches up !!). It’s amazing that despite this unprecedented and isolated increase of Indian cotton prices in 3 months, the Government has not come out in any visible fashion to understand the issues and problems. Weak and small mills have been left to the mercy of God to wither away with the strong bull winds as the world looks on. There hasn’t been even a statement from the Government !! Of course some mills who have stocked cotton are making big gains out of this sudden boom in cotton, but the health of majority has got critical.
Anyway we live in hope and with a new Cabinet rank Minister we expect that the Government shall pay heed to the spinning industry problems and work with it to find solutions to atleast breakeven. We have everything that spinning industry needs, still we are suffering – a real pity.
WHAT WE FEEL THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO (IN ORDER OF PRIORITY):
Sincerely hope the step motherly treatment to the existing spinning capacity with high leverage and created out of incentives won’t be allowed to wither away. Spinning is a capital intensive industry and is very important for the value added industry to develop and thrive.
SOURCE: The Tecoya Trend
The Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) has welcomed the government order on sale of cotton stocks with Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to MSME spinning mills registered with the office of the Textile Commissioner. Thanking the Union Textiles minister for addressing the concerns of the spinning sector that is already burdened with over capacity and reeling under rising prices of stock, the Secretary General of SIMA, Dr K Selvaraju expressed the hope that the government would make the order permanent so as to limit the sale of CCI cotton stocks to spinning mills directly. The industry body described the government order to this effect as “proactive” saying that the move would bring about stability in cotton prices during off season and also satisfy the raw material requirement of small spinning mills. Meanwhile, Chairman of SIMA, Mr M Senthilkumar advised the spinning mills against resorting to panic buying. In a press release issued by SIMA, he said cotton prices would soften with the availability of 43 lakh bales of closing stock estimated by the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) and imported cotton already contracted by some millers. According to Mr M Senthilkumar, cotton imports during the next three months might exceed 15 lakh bales as large number of mills had already contracted for imports with African countries and Australia.
Giving the backdrop against rising prices, the release noted, that thespot price of benchmark cotton variety, Sankar-6 which was ruling at Rs 33,000 per candy of 355 kg during first week of April 2016, had increased to Rs 34,700 per candy by the month end, and then further increased to Rs 36,800 by the end of May 2016 and to Rs 42,700 by the end of June. In July, the prices had touched Rs 48,000 per candy – an increase of over 45% over three months. This translated into an increase of Rs 60 per kg of clean cotton cost used for combed count yarns. Obviously, the sudden spurt in cotton price could not be absorbed by the textile value chain, specially the spinning mills, who raised a hue and cry over the issue.Little wonder, SIMA heaved a sigh of relief after the government order on sale of cotton.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
In line with the government's policy of encouraging entrepreneurial spirit among the youth, the Union Minister of MSME Kalraj Mishra today inaugurated the Incubation Cell at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) designed to provide export start-ups with necessary hand holding support for expanding their existing domestic business into foreign markets. Called “KITTES (Knowledge for Innovation in Trade & Technology for Entrepreneurial Start-ups), the incubation cell is an initiative dedicated to startups in the domain of international business. Run by the Centre of MSME Studies at IIFT (Delhi), the aim of KITTES is to provide guidance and technical support for MSME start-ups right from ideation stage to their internationalization towards taking a final leap into foreign markets, an official release said. The Incubation cell will be supported by an advisory body consisting of industrialists, venture capitalists, technical specialists and managers to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams through a range of infrastructure, business advisory, mentoring and financial services. IIFT will facilitate mobilising of loans for export purpose, build awareness on export financing and insurance schemes and export promotion measures, it said.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill which prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupations or processes except where the child helps his family, with the provision for imprisonment up to two years for any violation. 'The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill' makes employment of children below 14 years as cognizable offence for employers and provides for penalty for parents. The Bill, which was almost unanimously passed by voice vote, defines children between 14-18 years as adolescents and lays down that they should not be employed in any hazardous occupations and processes. It provides for enhanced punishment for violators. The penalty for employing a child has been increased to imprisonment between 6 months and two years (from 3 months to one year) or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 (from Rs 10,000-20,000) or both. The second time offence will attract imprisonment of one year to three years from the earlier 6 months and two years. According to provisions of the Bill, no child should be employed in any occupation or process except where he or she helps his family after school hours or helps his family in fields, home based work, forest gathering or attends technical institutions during vacations for the purpose of learning. Explaining the exception, Dattatreya said that 'family' has been exempted as the relationship between employer and employee does not exist and that a law should be framed keeping in mind the ground realities as well as ensuring that it is implementable. Recalling his own childhood, he said even he used to help his family.
SOURCE: The Times of India
After a steady rise over the years, cotton cultivation in the country has declined by 8% this year. The national cotton acreage has come down from 128 lakh hectare to 118 lakh hectare between 2014-15 to 2015-16, revealed the latest Cotton Corporation (CCI) of India statistics. The CCI had earlier predicted higher cotton acreage for 2015-16. Now, the total cotton output of India is also expected to be a dismal 352 lakh bales, compared to the 380 lakh bales a year ago. A large number of cotton growing farmers are supposed to have switched to food crops such as soybean for better returns this time. Generally, farmers prefer cotton as it requires lesser water. Recession in the global market last year, however, has led to a crash in cotton prices, which has alerted the growers now. In addition, poor yield, high cultivation cost and decreasing resistance of BT cotton have made it less lucrative over the years, according to activists.
Barring Punjab, Gujarat and MP, all cotton growing states have witnessed a huge drop in acreage this year. Tamil Nadu topped the chart with one-third of the cotton land going to other crops. Maharashtra – the second largest cotton growing state in the country after Gujarat – has witnessed a 9% decline (from 42 lakh hectare to 38 lakh hectare) in cotton sowing. A campaign of "withdraw cotton" has also been launched in the state last year, which seems to have started showing its results. Last year's recession in the cotton market, reduced exports to China and the US, international stock hoarding and skewed minimum support price (MSP) are supposed to be the prime factors behind the sudden decline in cultivation of this 'cash crop', which has propelled India's rural economy over the last decade. The MSP for cotton has been fixed at Rs3,750 for medium staple and Rs4,050 for long staple. It was almost double five years ago. Farmer activist Kishor Tiwari hailed the trend. "Maharashtra started growing BT cotton in 2004. That is the year when the crisis of farmer suicides took off in Maharashtra. Most of those who took their lives were cotton growers. BT cotton didn't give them good returns due to rising cultivation cost, staggering yield, increasing resistance and other factors."
Despite crop failure and rising farmer suicides, cotton cultivation in Maharashtra increased 35% over a decade. "Now, we can expect a sharp decline in suicides as well," said Tiwari, who has been heading the state's mission for 14 distressed districts for the last one-and-a-half years. He said suicides in Yavatmal have halved this year and gave credit to the withdraw cotton campaign spearheaded by him. The Union government launched 'Technology Mission on Cotton' in 2000, introducing the "high-yielding" BT cotton variety. While the government claimed that the BT cotton helped the yield per hectare to jump from 300kg to 500-550kg per hectare, the world average of 700-800kg per hectare made such claims hollow. Nevertheless, the domestic textile industry might bear the brunt of all this. Anticipation of low cotton production has already led to a sudden jump in the cotton and yarn price. This spells tough time for the sector that is already under stress due to skewed global demand for the last two years. Experts say that till 1970s, the country used to import massive quantities of cotton. Due to intensive efforts, the country has become self-sufficient in cotton production barring a few years in the late 90s and early 20s, when large quantities of cotton had to be imported due to lower crop production and increasing requirements of the domestic textile industry.
SOURCE: The DNA India
Thailand and India have agreed to accelerate finalisation of their bilateral trade agreement after negotiations have dragged on for 12 years, with both countries now being more concerned with mutual benefits rather than gains at the expense of the other side. After joining the 30th round of talks in New Delhi last Wednesday and Thursday, Sirinart Chaimun, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said she and her counterpart Ravi Capoor, deputy permanent secretary of the Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry, agreed that the Thai-Indian Free Trade Agreement should be finalised soon. "Thailand and India [agreed] that we will be concerned more with win-win benefits rather than losses as in past negotiations so that this FTA can move forward and be implemented in the near future to promote trade, investment, and closer cooperation between the two sides," she said.
During the meeting, Thailand asked India to provide additional market access for the Kingdom's rubber, rice and chemical products, while India asked Thailand to allow computer engineers from India to work in the Kingdom. They also agreed to adjust their rules of origins to facilitate trade flows, and to discuss sanitary, phytosanitary and technical trade barriers in order to avoid disputes. The Thai-Indian FTA talks have stalled over disagreements on details of the liberalisation of trade in goods, services and investment. If the pact is finalised, many Thai enterprises could expand in India.
Thailand could be a logistics centre and gateway for India to connect with other Asean countries as well as the main East Asian nations - China, Japan and South Korea. India is Thailand's 15th-largest trading partner and No 1 in South Asia. Two-way trade has averaged US$8.46 billion annually in the past five years and last year reached $7.92 billion (Bt277 billion), accounting for 1.9 per cent of Thailand's total trade.
SOURCE: The Nation Multimedia
The Indian port sector is at a crossroads. Relatively untapped all these decades as far as its potential to contribute to economic development is concerned, it is poised for the big leap over the next decade, if only the Union government’s ambitious roadmap translates into change at the ground, nay, port level. This holds for the long term though. In FY16, major ports, with a volume of 606 million tonnes, registered moderate 4% growth over the previous fiscal, largely due to a slowdown in coal imports. A decline of 22% in iron-ore cargo volumes was another factor behind the subdued performance—in contrast, cargo throughput at the major ports for the first two months of FY17 has registered 6% growth, driven by a five-fold increase in iron ore cargo volumes.
But there was something to cheer about in terms of infrastructure upgrade in FY2016, which saw major ports adding 94 MTPA capacity—historically the highest ever in a year—to take aggregate capacity to 965 MTPA against 871 MTPA at FY2015 end. A total of seven mechanisation projects were also awarded in 2015-16, involving an estimated investment of R2,560 crore and capacity addition of 57 MTPA. The year also saw progress on setting up of four greenfield ports. It is such infrastructure creation that is expected to lead to a paradigm shift over the long term, with the Union government showing keen intent to develop ports and address the constraints faced by the sector. Its Sagarmala initiative has moved ahead from the drawing board stage and the National Perspective Plan (NPP) was unveiled in April this year.
Successful implementation of Sagarmala can be a game-changer in terms of savings, employment generation, and value creation but the challenges in the way are just as formidable, with as much as R4 lakh crore of investment needed in infrastructure. It is a no-brainer that the private sector would need to play a huge role if such mammoth investment is to materialise. And this is not likely to happen unless the structural and systemic issues hindering growth are resolved.
Commenting on the road map, Jaideep Ghosh, Partner & Head of Transport, KPMG in India says, “The overhaul of India’s port infrastructure was long overdue. The Sagarmala initiative is quite grand in its scope though it might be too ambitious to implement in a decade’s time. It seems a better idea to develop port-based clusters on a pilot basis at one or two places before the plan is implemented at a pan-India level.” With the intent of clearing regulatory hurdles, the Ministry of Shipping has released a draft of the Central Port Authorities Act 2016 that seeks to provide more autonomy to major ports, enabling them to function like corporate entities. It does away with the regulation of tariff by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), delegating the power to the Board of the port authority. Experts say this doesn’t address the problem since the board would continue to be governed by the 2005/2008 guidelines which are flawed. “Only the uniform application of 2013 guidelines to all existing terminal operators will provide the requisite impetus for advanced technology in the existing terminals to improve operational efficiencies and provide better services to the trade,” says
Aiming to increase port capacity from 1,400 MT to 3,000 MT by 2025, the Union government is also revising the Model Concession Agreement (MCA) used by major ports while entering into PPP projects with private players for cargo-handling facilities. The new MCA aims to boost investor sentiment through better allocation of risks between the state and private firms. Regarding the overall prospects for the sector, Ravichandran says the uncertainty associated with particular cargo categories like imported coal and containers renders the outlook subdued in the near to medium term. However, the outlook for cargo growth continues to be strong over the medium to long term, driven by the 3Cs—coal, crude oil, and containers. The implementation of Sagarmala could lead to increased cargo for the ports; however, several challenges remain given the scale of the project and significant funding resources and PPP participation required to meet its goals, he says.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has marginally scaled down India's economic growth projections by 0.1 percentage point to 7.4 per cent each for the current financial year and 2017-18, due to a slower investment revival than expected earlier. "In India, economic activity remains buoyant, but the growth forecast for 2016-17 was trimmed slightly, reflecting a more sluggish investment recovery," IMF said in its update on World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday. The economic growth of 7.4 per cent and also its earlier projection of 7.5 per cent for the two financial years would be lower than 7.6 per cent registered for 2015-16. The government expected economic growth in the range of 7-7.75 per cent for the current financial year. On Monday, Asian Development Bank had retained its projections for India at 7.4 per cent for 2016-17. However, it had pegged the economic growth much higher at 7.8 per cent for 2017-18 than what has IMF projected in its latest report. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley had revised its growth estimate from 7.5 per cent to 7.7 per cent for 2016.
IMF cuts India's growth projections slightly It also scaled up growth rate to 7.8 per cent, from earlier 7.7 per cent for 2017. The sluggish pace of investments in the country could be gauged from the fact that capital goods declined for the seventh consecutive month in May and that, too, by 12.4 per cent. The gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), a proxy for investment, contracted 1.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015-16. It had risen as high as 7.1 per cent and 9.7 per cent in the first and second quarters, respectively. However, third quarter also saw a small increase of 1.2 per cent. While revising its growth projections for India, Morgan Stanley also said the growth recovery is becoming more broad-based, driven by public capex, foreign direct investment (FDI) and consumption. This indicated that private investments are yet to pick up. On the other hand, IMF slightly revised China's growth by 0.1 percentage points for 2016 and retained it for 2017.
Even then, latest projections for China at 6.6 per cent for 2016 would be quite lower than India's. Also, China's growth rate will come down to 6.1 per cent for 2017, while India's will remain intact at 7.4 per cent for 2017-18, according to IMF. The IMF report said indicators of real activity were somewhat stronger than expected in China, reflecting policy stimulus. Benchmark lending rates were cut five times in 2015, fiscal policy turned expansionary in the second half of the year, infrastructure spending picked up, and credit growth accelerated in China, IMF said. IMF latest update is titled, Uncertainty in the Aftermath of the UK Referendum. It said the vote in the United Kingdom in favour of leaving the European Union (EU) added significant uncertainty to an already fragile global recovery. "The vote has caused significant political change in the United Kingdom, generated uncertainty about the nature of its future economic relations with the EU, and could heighten political risks in the EU itself," it said. It admitted that the impact and persistence of the uncertainty are hard to quantify at this stage. The financial market reaction so far has been generally orderly and contained. However, global confidence effects and tighter financial conditions-amid the prolonged negotiations that are likely to precede a new relationship between the UK and EU-could affect global growth negatively beyond what is envisaged in the baseline scenario, IMF said. IMF cut global economic growth by 0.1 percentage points each for 2016 and 2017 to 3.1 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
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$ 43.63 per barrel (bbl) on 19.07.2016. This was lower than the price of US$ 44.37 per bbl on previous publishing day of 18.07.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 2929.81 per bbl on 19.07.2016 as compared to Rs. 2977.60 per bbl on 18.07.2016. Rupee closed weaker at Rs. 67.15 per US$ on 19.07.2016 as against Rs. 67.10per US$ on 18.07.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on July 19, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 18.07.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.07.2016 (June 29, 2016 to July 13, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
43.63 (44.37) |
45.17 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2929.81 (2977.60) |
3043.55 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
67.15 (67.10) |
67.38 |
SOURCE: PIB
Pakistan Readymade Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea) has urged government to take notice of a 25 per cent surge in yarn prices “due to cartelisation of local manufacturers”. In a statement issued on Monday, Prgmea Chief Coordinator Ijaz Khokhar said a rise in yarn prices to Rs11,500 from Rs9,950 during the last one-and-a-half months was adversely affecting the apparel sector. He blamed the price hike on a cartel of local manufacturers who, he said, were taking advantage of 10pc additional regulatory duty on yarn imports. The prices of all varieties — including 10-count single yarn, 16-count 30 yarn and 16-count 20 yarn — had increased by the same ratio.
Urging the government to take preventive measures, Mr Khokhar said the export target of $25 billion could not be achieved in the previous fiscal year due to high energy cost and discriminating import duties on industry raw material. He also asked the government to abolish additional regulatory duty on cotton yarn. “As the apparel sector already has a very limited production line owing to lack of latest fabric varieties at local level, the harsh duties are leading to decline in apparel exports.” Mr Khokhar also suggested the government should ban exports of raw cotton and cotton yarn for a short period until the arrivals of new crop start to rise and prices rationalise on the domestic market. He asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to personally direct policymakers to work for reduction in all input costs otherwise the export-oriented industries would shut down and millions of workers would lose their jobs. The premier, he said, had committed to hold meetings with export-oriented industries on a quarterly basis, but no such meeting had been held so for. “We don’t see any improvement in the present scenario. In fact, exports situation would be further aggravated as the textile ministry is operating without its minister,” he said.
SOURCE: The Global Textiles
There is an urgent need to ban the import of used machinery in Pakistan that is badly impacting the competitiveness of the economy, and turning the country into a junkyard of obsolete equipment. Most of the emerging economies have stopped importing used industrial machines to remain competitive globally. However, here there is almost no restriction on importing used and reconditioned machinery. Almost every industrial sector, at one time or another has imported used machines, these include textile machinery, packaging plants, moulding machines, plastic machines, crushers, sliding and screw cutting machines, used wood working machines, cutting and drilling machines, CNC machining centres, CNC turning lathe, and even used industrial boilers and refurbished boilers. Used and refurbished industrial machinery facilitated the industrialisation process in the country during the last three decades. This was the period when the developed economies were opting out of labour intensive low value-adding industries, and disposing their machineries at throw away prices to the developing countries. Pakistan was among the beneficiaries of this process. Numerous refurbished engineering, textiles, plastic and few used sugar and cement plants were established during that period. These industries flourished for a while, but with the passage of time they lost competitiveness. The manufacturers faced problems in replacing the worn out parts because the original manufacturers had stopped producing spares.
The locally produced spares were substandard impacted the efficiency of the machines. But since trade was not liberalised until 1994, the local industry was protected from imports. However, as trade liberalisation started, industries established on used machines started feeling the heat from imports. They pressurised successive governments to continue with protection. The duty protection was gradually withdrawn, forcing the industries to opt for better technology and efficiency. The textile industry operated without crutches for almost a decade from 2001 to 2010 as it was more efficient than the competing foreign producers (Pakistan imported most of the high tech textile machines that were closed in the United States after 9/11). It started losing its competitive edge thereafter as it failed to upgrade its technology, while competing economies shifted to latest and most efficient machines.
SOURCE: The News
Colombian ambassador Tito Saul Pinilla says the ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea will give his country a foothold in East Asia. The trade pact entered force last Friday (15 July) and will see the elimination of tariffs on goods subject to bilateral trade over the next ten years, according to Business Korea. South Korea becomes the first Asian country to enter an FTA with the Latin American nation. Pinilla told the Korea Times the deal signified the "strongest step to diversify trade in Asia," with the move set to open up new opportunities for Colombia’s agricultural sector. When South Korea’s National Assembly approved the FTA in 2014, Pinilla anticipated the deal would boost trade throughout the Asian region. “Given that Korea is close to China, Japan and Indonesia, Colombian farmers and businesspeople are expected to have more access to these economies as well, once the trade pact goes into effect,” he explained. South Korea currently has free trade agreements in place with fellow Latin American countries Chile and Peru. The Asian nation’s exports to Colombia were valued at US$1.1bn last year, according to the Korea Times, with imports totaling US$800m. Colombia has the third largest population in Latin America (47.6 m) while its GDP of US$377.9bn is the fourth largest in the region.
SOURCE: The Fruit Net
Kenya and Iran will look to build their trade portfolio in agro processing, textiles, leather, management and technical services and materials, oil, gas, mining and constructive materials. Speaking during a Kenyan-Iranian bilateral trade meeting in Nairobi, the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Adan Mohamed confirmed the Iranian delegation led by the Iranian Minister of Trade, Mining and Trade, Mohammad Reza Nezmatzadeh is in the country seeking attractive investment opportunities to invest in. “We are excited at these potential opportunities to amplify our trade relationship as we seek to leverage our competitive advantages in diverse industries for our mutual benefit”, said Mohamed. “We have had long and productive trade connections in the past and these discussions today will further that bond as we expand our portfolio of commodities and to develop our industrial capacity” Mohamed said the meeting is a follow-up of a memorandum signed between the two countries during the WTO and the successful visit by the Iranian Minister last year. And added: “Being part of EAC and COMESA trading blocs has given us an improved the status with our counterparts and has provided Kenya with a favourable reputation in the global economy. We now want to leverage this global perception to further the country’s economic capacity for production and expand our trade commodity variety to access different markets,” said Mohamed. According to Mr. Nezmatzadeh, Iran is targeting better relations with Africa and Kenya competitive positioning in Africa is crucial in this agenda. “Through these discussions we can explore alternative industries to expand our trade ties like ICT, Leather, and textile among others. We look forward to increased interaction in the coming months and years.” Said Nezmatzadeh
Iran, the 4th largest producer and exporter in the world for tiles and Ceramics has had a fruitful relationship with Kenya. It is currently a large importer of Kenyan Tea, horticulture and a major exporter of Oil to Kenya as it has plans to expand their reach in East Africa. Kenya boasts being the fifth largest economy south of the Sahara, having a well-educated, qualified and skilled youthful labour force, advanced infrastructure and IT capabilities and access to vast agricultural resources is well placed to provide a in the coming years. The bilateral partnership comes a time when Kenya has ramped up its business environment, proposed tax incentives for Export based industries like Special economic zones in Mombasa, Lamu and Kisumu. Kenya has also been active industry sector development in the country through the planned construction of a leather industrial park in Machakos to increase production capacity in the country.
SOURCE: The Capital Business
The G20 has agreed to come together on reviving global trade for improving global economic growth. The proactive trade agenda was largely pushed by China in the recently concluded G20 Commerce Ministers’ meeting. The call to revive trade has come at a time when the G20 is a rather divided house on trade. More specifically, it is a divided house on trade matters with China. It is ironical that the world’s largest socialist economy is calling for the global community to unite on curbing protectionism. And protective barriers are being considered most actively by countries that have traditionally been champions of free trade—the US and EU. In a sense, the global trade wheel has turned full circle where non-market economies like China are harping on free trade; and ‘market’ economies like the US and EU are unwilling to play ball.
This odd situation can be explained by the current circumstances in one particular industry that has taken global trade by storm: steel. The global steel industry is experiencing turbulent times that are largely responsible for the US and EU turning their backs on China and resorting to protective action. The situation has its roots in the tremendous expansion experienced by the Chinese finished steel industry during the last couple of decades. Fed by huge demand from its growing infrastructure, China began investing in sophisticated modern steel plants with large capacities. The emphasis was on production of finished steel and steel products that went into the huge rail infrastructure that China began building from around the beginning of the current century. Tonnes of steel also fed into the large automobile assembling plants that, practically, all global auto majors had built in China. They also sustained the real estate boom in mainland China, primarily, due to real estate being the only long-term asset capable of yielding appreciating returns in an economy where financial savings and linked instruments languished due to an underdeveloped capital market leaving precious little savings options for households.
Over time, as domestic infrastructure projects began producing lower and lower returns, and real estate became pricier and moved beyond middle class budgets, steel plants began developing idle capacities. In order to maintain the economic prospects of its steel industry, China focused attention outward. As outward investments from China increased, it began providing new outlets for Chinese steel, which was cheaper than the steel available in countries where China invested. A high point of this strategy was China’s embarking on ambitious regional connectivity projects, none more spectacular than the One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR). The OBOR, apart from its other objectives, is expected to create infrastructure projects that would provide outlets for surplus production from China’s steel plants to be absorbed in large quantities.
The tide began turning against China as Europe and American steel industries began pressing their governments for acting against Chinese steel. The former steel industries have indeed been hit hard in recent times. While their stagnation has much to do with their inability to enhance efficiency, they have been able to brand Chinese steel as the main culprit behind their dark days. At a time when industries across the world are cutting costs for protecting shares in shrinking markets, cheap Chinese steel has been a blessing for most industries using steel as raw materials.
The automobile industry is a pertinent example, which has been favouring lightweight steel built in China. This forced the US steel industry to lodge a complaint at the WTO against Chinese steelmakers for stealing the ‘trade secret’ of making lightweight steel. It is hardly surprising that Donald Trump’s maximum tirade against China has come out of Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is languishing from industrial stagnation, contributed in no small measure by large imports of cheap Chinese steel. The situation is pretty similar in Europe where the plight of the domestic steel industry is best evident from the hard days that Tata Steel’s overseas facilities are experiencing.
Both Europe and the US have now decided not to grant China ‘market economy’ status unless China addresses overproduction by its steel industry and stops flooding world markets with cheap steel. By not recognising China as ‘market economy’, Europe and US retain the flexibility in taking protective measures against Chinese imports, much faster and with less justification than they can against other WTO members.
The US and Europe versus China trade-off puts the G20 promise of reviving global trade on a rather sticky wicket. The US, Europe and China are important members of the G20. The possibility of them agreeing on a common G20 agenda for minimising protection and bringing down trade barriers is remote as that would mean US and Europe not acting against Chinese imports. The current political environment in both continents refrains their legislatures and executives from acting liberally on China. What this means, therefore, is the likelihood of the G20 action plan on reviving trade getting grounded well before it takes off.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The thirteenth edition of Techtextil and third edition of Texprocess Americas recently colocated with the JEC Americas show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Over a period of three days, the three-shows-in-one highlighted the technologies and products of 589 exhibitors to 9,357 visitors. These numbers represent an increase in participation compared to the East-coast edition of the three shows held in Atlanta in 2014. “We are proud to take these events to the next level as we better serve the U.S. sewn products industry, Made-in-America manufacturers and the technical textile industry,” said Dennis Smith, president, Messe Frankfurt North America. The event covered a broad spectrum of textile technologies from technical textiles, nonwovens and composites to sewn products and the latest in textile machinery for all segments. Country pavilions grouped companies from Italy, Belgium, China, Germany, Taiwan and France; and the Texprocess Americas side of the show featured a Made in USA pavilion sponsored by SEAMS.
In addition, more than 20 symposium sessions provided attendees the chance to learn, as well as collaborate with speakers and fellow show visitors. After the show, feedback from exhibitors and visitors alike was positive. “Techtextil Atlanta was a very rewarding experience for our company,” said Kenny Parrish, country manager U.S., Devan Chemicals. “Being located where it is in Atlanta affords not only the U.S. visitors, but those visiting from overseas, an easy and enjoyable venue. The textile industry as a whole really embraces this event and you can see the benefits as it is growing each year with ever increasing involvement and expanded business opportunities.” “I love the diversity of the different vendors here,” said Lynette Grant, Tranglah LLC. “I’m developing a small business so I’m looking for one hub here I can get a wealth of information to get the business going, so it has been very informative for me.”
In 2017, the West-coast edition of Techtextil North America will be held in Chicago in June. The combined East-coast edition of Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas will be held Atlanta in May 2018. “We look forward to the next chapter in our journey and would welcome everyone to our 2017 Techtextil edition in Chicago and the joint platform once again in Atlanta in 2018,” Smith said.
SOURCE: The Textile World
More than 550 exhibitors are anticipated for the 11th edition of Apparel Sourcing Paris, which will take place from 12-15 September, an increase of 37.5% compared to the 2015 edition, organisers report. According to Messe Frankfurt, with the arrival of new countries and the presentation of new products, Apparel Sourcing Paris is making its platform of expertise in ready-to-wear and accessories even more exhaustive, at the forefront of current needs in the profession. For the September 2016 edition, it will deploy its offering of apparel for men's, women's and children's wear over a net area of 6,000 m2. "Apparel Sourcing Paris directly contributes to the competitiveness of apparel/ accessories manufacturers and the performance of their clients who are mindful that this platform has become essential for the global fashion system,” commented Michael Scherpe, CEO of Messe Frankfurt France.
Guatemalan pavilion
Determined to offer its European visitors relevant, efficient and innovative solutions, Apparel Sourcing Paris welcomes Guatemala. Under the aegis of the CBI, the Dutch Centre for Promoting Imports from Developing Countries, a Guatemalan pavilion will be open to visitors for the first time at Apparel Sourcing Paris. A very careful selection process chose to focus on Guatemala, because the textile industry has become one of the country's most fundamental growth levers. It represents 4% of domestic production and 19% of industrial production, operating through 159 companies for apparel, 250 for accessories and services, and 47 textile factories. The industry specialises in weaving cotton and cotton and synthetic fibre blends (22.39%) and knitting of cotton and synthetic fibres, as well as mixes such as jersey, interlock, rib (77.61%). “In September 2016, the latest South American knowhow will be showcased through Guatemala, a country that has placed the textile industry at the heart of its economic boom. Apparel Sourcing Paris proposes effective and diversified solutions and is pursuing its mission thanks to the loyalty of its exhibitors, particularly from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and also Morocco, which is making a come-back,” said Michael Scherpe.
Exhibitors are back
Apparel Sourcing Paris earned loyalty from exhibitors, as a huge amount of them come back for this edition. A number of countries have also strengthened their presence following the successful business climate experienced at the September 2015 session. Shawls & Scarves has now become the essential corollary of Apparel Sourcing Paris for everything that has to do with fashion accessories. China is consolidating its position as a lead player in the global textile and clothing industry. Number one apparel supplier of the European Union and leading exporter in the world, China stands out for its versatility, with new regions that are coming on the scene. CCPITTEX (the Chinese Chamber of Commerce dedicated to the international promotion of the textile industry) will be present with 426 exhibitors to celebrate 10 years of CTAF at Apparel Sourcing Paris. Many Indian exhibitors present in September 2015 will be back for the 2016 edition in force and in larger numbers, constituting a 20% increase of exhibitors to date. Exhibitors from Vietnam have a preference for the September edition, because one trade show a year provides them with a sufficient level of business for the whole year. Finally, the Hong Kong Trade Council will be strengthening its presence with a pavilion of 10 exhibitors, capping the twenty or so firms spread across the show.
Shawls and scarves
Positioned between Texworld Paris and Apparel Sourcing, Shawls & Scarves was, as its name indicates, dedicated to shawls and scarves. It has now become the essential corollary of Apparel Sourcing Paris for everything that has to do with fashion accessories (bonnets, suspenders, headscarves, caps, belts, hats, socks, neckties, stoles, scarves and gloves). For the September 2016 edition, new products will be available, such as umbrellas, leather bags and bow ties.
SOURCE: The Knitting Industry
