NATIONAL

• Textiles industry seeks measures to stabilise cotton prices
• Odisha wants SPV rule for textile parks relaxed
•  ‘Rigid labour laws, strict control over financial markets behind slow growth’
• Cochin Chamber launching Aadhaar-based e-certificate of origin
• Government hopeful of improving ‘ease of doing business’ rank
• ‘SEZs can succeed if strategically located’
• Bangladesh textile minister hopes for better trade relation with India
• African countries woo investors in Coimbatore
• India can do more to improve ease of doing biz: US official
• India cautions traders about fraud in import-export from China
• Rupee Rallies With Bonds as Modi Inches Closer to Tax Reform

INTERNATIONAL

• Pakistan-Turkey free trade deal talks make progress

Textile Raw Material Price 2016-07-28

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15047 USD dtd 28/07/2016)

The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com.  SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.

Textiles industry seeks measures to stabilise cotton prices

For the textile industry here, hike in cotton prices in two months is having an impact on the competitiveness of the entire textile value chain and hence, the industrial associations have sought measures by the Textile Ministry to stabilise cotton prices. Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman M. Senthil Kumar said the mills want the Indian cotton prices to be on a par with international prices throughout the year. The prices should be stable. When the prices increase suddenly, the entire value chain is affected for about four months in a year. “Hence, when we met the Textile Minister Smriti Irani recently, we appealed him to introduce a system that will bring stability to prices. She has asked for a proposal and we will send it shortly,” he said.

The South India Spinners’ Association had appealed to the Minister that Cotton Corporation of India, which purchases cotton at minimum support price, should sell the cotton only to small and medium-scale textile mills. According to Prabhu Damodaran, secretary of Indian Texpreneurs Federation, one of the main factors that will help textile mills take the right decision on raw material purchase is accurate data on cotton. All the data available now is based on inputs from different sources. Hence, handy meters should be attached to ginning machinery that will register the data on the cotton pressed. This can be compiled by the Textile Commissioner’s office and released to the industry at regular intervals. Similarly, efforts should be taken to have satellite data on cotton production. The Cotton Corporation should purchase 30 per cent to 35 per cent of the cotton produced in the country and sell it to the mills regularly. This will bring down speculation in the market, he said. The SIMA also sought extension of the special package (for Rs. 6,000 crore), which was announced for the garment sector, to the made-ups segment. It said that since the disparity in cotton and yarn prices is bringing down the profitability of mills, the Government should give incentive such as interest subvention for yarn exports. Since spinning capacity in the country has increased over the years, the hank yarn obligation for each mill should be reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent.

SOURCE: The Hindu

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Odisha wants SPV rule for textile parks relaxed

The one third textile entrepreneur stipulation in forming SPVs or Special Purpose Vehicles in setting up Integrated Textile Parks (ITPs) is proving to be a stumbling block in Odisha, according to state government officials who want the centre to relax the rules for smooth implementation of the scheme. As per stipulations, the SPV would require eight entrepreneurs one-third of which should be from the textile manufacturing sector. Finding such entrepreneurs with huge investment proposals is very difficult in a state where the textile industry is in a poor shape, observed a senior official of the state Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department. Entrepreneurs will come forward automatically to set up their plants when an ITP is ready with the requisite infrastructure but not before that, he said implying that the Union ministry's rule on inviting proposals from textile entrepreneurs was “just not possible” in the current scenario. The state PSU Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) had in January this year participated in the expression of interest (EOI) floated by the Union Ministry of textiles (MoT) for setting up a textile park in Bhadrakh district, where land and other infrastructure is available. Officials, who did not want to be named, pointed out that IDCO is eligible for setting up the park as it can develop the requisite infrastructure, which will be helpful for entrepreneurs. However, the MoT seems reluctant over giving in-principle approval to IDCO for ITP and has sought the list of investors in textile sector before giving the green signal.

Former Minister Manmohan Samal, who supports the proposed ITP, is also reported to have brought the matter to the notice of the Union Textiles Minister. Meanwhile, IDCO too has floated an EOI for inviting investors in the textile parks. But state government officials are of the view that the MoT should not insist on such the list of textile entrepreneurs as a pre-requisite and should relax the rules at a time when Odisha is trying to revive the sick Orissa Textile Mills (OTM) and many other spinning mills

SOURCE: Fibre2fashion

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‘Rigid labour laws, strict control over financial markets behind slow growth’

India’s planning till recently has been plagued by rigid labour laws and strict control over financial markets (till 1990s). NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, in his presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also said that in the agriculture sector, the governments of the past failed to curb profiteering and exploitation of farmers by middlemen. Flaws in key social programmes such as the Right to Education Act, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and a poorly targeted and leaky Public Distribution System, have been the reasons for the nation’s slow growth, he added. Panagariya further said the flaws can be corrected through proper analysis by experts, and that internal criticisms of proposed new policies should be given adequate hearing. The Thursday meeting between the Prime Minister and NITI Aayog members was initially supposed to focus on the Vision Document for the next 15 years. However, a late evening request from Modi a day earlier shifted the focus to ‘learning from past mistakes’. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Panagariya said: “My main theme was that India did not think about a lot of the unintended consequences of a particular legislation.”

Slow to correct

Panagariya also pointed out to Modi that India has been slow to admit its mistakes and therefore slow to correct them. “The Prime Minister told us that the Vision Document will not only chart a roadmap for India’s development over the next 15 years but also lay the foundation for the country’s growth,” he said. An official statement added that while laying out the broad contours of India’s development path, Modi told the NITI Aayog that judicious and intelligent application of natural and human resources will be crucial. He also mentioned the use of available land, the country’s mineral wealth and vast untapped solar potential as areas that are important for planning development.

SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line

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Cochin Chamber launching Aadhaar-based e-certificate of origin

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry is launching an Aadhaar based e-Certificate of Origin service. A certificate of origin, a critical document in the course of export, is issued to exporters by the Chamber of Commerce to avail duty benefits under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or prove from where the goods originated. Chambers of Commerce in countries like Australia, Belgium, UK & U.S already provide online certificates of origin to speed up the application, issuance process and provide a more secure documentation environment. It also saves time, costs and increases transparency. This user-friendly online solution enables the Cochin Chamber of Commerce& Industry to manage digital requests and digitally sign off electronic certificates of origin on behalf of exporters and freight forwarders. The process reduces the overall time and cost of procuring and sending critical export documents. Importers can also be sure that these goods actually originated from the mentioned location, as the chances of manipulation of a digital document are virtually nil.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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Government hopeful of improving ‘ease of doing business’ rank

The government on Thursday expressed hope that the reforms by both the Centre and states will help drive up the country’s ranking in the ease of doing business index of the World Bank. Last year, India was ranked 130th in World Bank’s ease of doing business index, an improvement of four notches from a year before. “Ease of doing business is one of the priorities. In the World Bank report, we have improved to 130th and this year too, we hope to make some improvement because enormous amount of work is being done by central government ministries, departments and states,” department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) secretary Ramesh Abhishek said at the tourism investors meet organised by FICCI.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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‘SEZs can succeed if strategically located’

India needs to follow China’s example and focus on developing about 50 large special economic zones (SEZs) or smaller single-sector zones close to each other near ports and economic corridors to turn around the limited success SEZs have had in the country, a government sponsored study has proposed. “The success story of countries such as China shows that their policymakers concentrated on a few good quality SEZs, which helped to boost exports. In India, there has been a rush towards creating several small SEZs without looking at location and connectivity factors which has led to the underperformance of the zones,” the report, brought out by research-body ICRIER pointed out. The Commerce Ministry commissioned the report to find out why SEZs had failed to deliver as per expectations since the policy was rolled out 10 years ago and the steps that need to be taken to turn them into engines of growth. As per the report, the development of SEZs along economic corridors and smart cities would not only help the zones to access the logistics and social infrastructure, but would also enable them to have linkages with other industrial clusters. Larger SEZs could help the zones reap economies of scale. The attractiveness of the SEZ policy will also depend on its ability to provide a conducive business environment and incentives, which is better from the businesses enjoyed elsewhere, including other clusters in the country and in competing countries, the report added.

“SEZs have contributed hugely in driving manufacturing and increasing exports in countries such as China, Taiwan and South Korea. There is no reason why they should not deliver in India if the policy focus is right,” an official from the Commerce Ministry told BusinessLine . The essential steps, according to the report, that the government needs to take to make SEZs deliver include strengthening the regulatory and administrative mechanism, addressing land-related issues, providing meaningful incentives to SEZs, promoting backward and forward linkages and proactive marketing for SEZs in India. In India there are 202 notified SEZs while the number of formally approved SEZs (projects with land in possession) declined from 564 (in 2014) to 437 a year later.

SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line

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Bangladesh textile minister hopes for better trade relation with India

India ITME Society, after 4 decades of successful service to textile engineering Industry, led a delegation to Bangladesh on 19 July 2016 despite the disturbances and security concerns in Dhaka. It is the first ever official delegation to Bangladesh by India ITME Society led by Sanjiv Lathia, Chairman and joined by Seema Srivastava, Exe. Director, Shekhar Shridhankar Jt. Director along with participants of ITME 2016, ITEMA S.p.A, ITALY, Duratech Automation Pvt. Ltd., CHTC Fongs Industries Co. Ltd. and Suvin Advisors Pvt. Ltd. Textile Trend from Kolkata and Screen Tex and Labels talk, two of the Media partners to India ITME 2016 joined the delegation from India. Mirza Azam, MP, Honourable State Minister for Textile & Jute, Govt. of Bangladesh was the chief guest and Dr. Adarsh Swaika, Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of India, Guest of Honor launched the India ITME theme tune in Dhaka, commemorating the successful growth of the organization in four decades. Dr. Adarsh Swaika, Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of India graced the occasion as Guest of Honour and highlighted the opportunities for collaboration and cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the textile sector. Mashud Ahmed , Prof. Engr, Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh University of Textiles spoke about the various training programs offered, selection and admission process followed by prestigious University of Textiles. He spoke about brilliant opportunities for students and faculty from both the neighbouring countries for joint study and research programs.

Dhaka program also was first of its kind promotional activity organised by India ITME Society creating an unique platform for better customer interaction and direct access to local market at prominent and upcoming textile hubs. Five Companies participated in this promotional program, displaying catalogue and making presentation to introduce their products to customers. This also increased the interest of business visitors in the 10th India International Textile Machinery Exhibition to be held in Mumbai from 3rd to 8th December 2016 at Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. Mr. Sanjiv Lathia, Chairman, India ITME Society extended a cordial welcome to Bangladesh business men and also invited Mr. Mirza Azam, Honourable State Minister for Textile & Jute, Govt. of Bangladesh to form a high level delegation to visit India ITME 2016 in December 2016. The invitation was accepted graciously by the Honorable Minister with a promise to encourage a delegation to India.

SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers

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African countries woo investors in Coimbatore

Diplomats of seven African countries invited the trade and industry in Coimbatore region to invest in their countries, especially in sectors such as agriculture, textiles, energy, and education. They spoke at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Industry here on Thursday on “Africa Seminar Series – the Land of Unexplored Potential”. According to Niankoro Yeah Samake, Ambassador of Mali, Coimbatore is of special interest to Mali because cotton is a major export product for the country and Coimbatore is a hub for textile industry. In February 2017, a trade mission from India will visit Mali to explore opportunities in agriculture business, cotton, mining, healthcare and telecommunications. “Tourism is another sector we are pro-actively opening to investments,” he said. Mohammed Hija, acting High Commissioner of Tanzania, said entrepreneurs can look at tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, education, and information and communication technology to invest in Tanzania. “Now, we have opened up to investments in solar energy,” he said.

Molalign Asfaw, Minister Counsellor and Charge d’ Affairs, Embassy of Ethiopia, pointed out that Ethiopia has registered double digit growth for more than a decade and over 600 Indian companies have registered in Ethiopia. Of these, 250 have started operations. The country has 12 industrial parks and offers several tax incentives to investors. There are opportunities in agro processing, textiles and apparel industries. According to Kedisi N. Margaret, Minister Counsellor – Uganda High Commission, location and availability of natural resources are advantages for Uganda. Companies will have 100 per cent ownership of their investments. She urged the participants to visit Uganda as a tourist. Lubinda Namunda Mwitumwa, Counsellor – Zambia High Commission, said the country is looking for partnerships for investment in solar energy. It is a “land-linked” country and there is huge potential for companies in road development. Agro processing, mining, and value addition to gems are some of the areas with scope for investment.

Meipelo Mogotsi, First Secretary – Economic, Botswana High Commission, said, “We are looking for Foreign Direct Investment and believe India has expertise and simple technologies.” Botswana exports 70 per cent of the diamonds mined there to India. Indian industries can look at investment in agriculture, manufacturing, education and healthcare, apart from diamond cutting and polishing and value addition to leather. Seewraj Nundlall, Counsellor (Trade and Investment), Mauritius High Commission, said some of the emerging areas that Mauritius was focusing on were ocean economy, financial sector and small and medium-scale enterprises. S. Narayanan, vice-chairman of CII, Coimbatore Zone, said Coimbatore leads in sectors such as textiles, foundries, and pumpsets and has over 25,000 micro, small and medium-scale enterprises.

SOURCE: The Hindu

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India can do more to improve ease of doing biz: US official

Pitching for a bilateral investment treaty between India and the US, a key US official today said the Narendra Modi led-NDA government can do more to improve ease of doing business in the country. “One of the most important things the government can do right now is to improve the ease of doing business here,” Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs & Deputy Assistant to President Barack Obama, said at a Ficci event here. “One of the things that would help attract Smart Capital is a bilateral investment treaty,” Wally said. He said the “central issue was how do we create jobs for the young people” observing that more protectionism leads to lesser jobs and prosperity. He hoped to carry forward the potential to strategic and commercial relationship between the two countries forged during the Obama administration to the next administration. Wally said the India and the US bilateral relations had made “a great deal of progress” during the course of the Obama administration. He said the bilateral relationship was critical for the 21st century and the two countries were working on climate change agenda.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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India cautions traders about fraud in import-export from China

Indian diplomatic missions in China have cautioned traders from India that they may end up getting sand, stones, salt, bricks, mud etc in place of items ordered and issued detailed guidelines to avoid incidents of cheating. The Indian Embassy and the Consulates have issued trade advisories to various trade bodies and associations cautioning traders and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) planning to do business with China after receiving several complaints. “It is to enhance the commercial cooperation between India and China by drawing attention to some of the risks faced by Indian traders/SMEs to take preventive and/or mitigating action,” said the advisory. “The information contained in this advisory is based on trade-related problems that are periodically brought to the Consulate’s attention for information, facilitation and assistance,” according to the advisory circulated among the members of he Indian Association of Shanghai. However, the advisory was not put on the website of the Indian missions in China to avoid misunderstanding considering the strain in ties due to differences on issues relating to listing of Pakistan-based militants and groups as terrorists by UN and Beijing’s reluctance to support India’s application to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, informed sources said.

Listing some of the complaints brought to the notice of missions, the advisory said importers should be careful about supply of sub-standard goods, inferior quality. The items to dupe Indian importers included supply of sand, stones, salt, bricks, mud etc in place of chemicals, Silicon Carbide, Aluminium and Zinc ingots, shellac, plastics, polymers etc, it said. Other complaints included refusal to send consignments on receipt of payment, quantity dispute, stopping of communications on receipt of advance payment, dispatch of defective machinery, diversion of payment into unassociated bank accounts by third fraudulent parties by hacking into email IDs. Other methods included taking money for sample dispatch and then stopping all correspondences. The Indian exporters should be careful about refusal to make payment after taking control of consignment exported from India on some pretext and refusal to take delivery of the consignment when the market value of the imported item has gone down from the value fixed in agreement, it said.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Rupee Rallies With Bonds as Modi Inches Closer to Tax Reform

The rupee climbed to a two-week high on optimism Indian lawmakers will be able to implement a national sales tax, with inflows into local assets picking up as global central banks boost stimulus. Sovereign bonds rose the most since Feb. 29 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet met a key opposition demand on proposed legislation that would clear the way for the goods-and-services tax, or GST, the nation’s most ambitious economic reform since the 1990s. The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s statement released Wednesday signaled policy makers were in no rush to raise interest rates, spurring gains in emerging-market currencies. “Improving prospects of GST getting passed is one of the key reasons boosting domestic sentiment,” said Bhupesh Bameta, head of research for currencies and rates at Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd. in Mumbai. “Fed’s policy statement appeared more dovish than people were anticipating.”

The rupee gained for a third day, rising 0.2 percent to 67.0350 a dollar in Mumbai, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It rose to 66.9975 earlier, the strongest level since July 15. Foreign funds have been net buyers of $1.3 billion of Indian stocks this month, set for the biggest purchases since March. Holdings of rupee-denominated debt have climbed 75.5 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in July.

Yields Plunge

The yield on government notes due January 2026 dropped six basis points to 7.19 percent, prices from the central bank’s trading system show. That’s the lowest close for a benchmark 10-year security since May 2013. The yield is down 26 basis points for July. The daily turnover for sovereign debt on the Reserve Bank of India’s dealing platform reached a record 1.43 trillion rupees on Thursday, data from The Clearing Corp. of India show. Bonds have rallied on hopes a revival in monsoon rains this month will aid crop output and help contain food costs, improving the overall inflation outlook. Mounting speculation that a successor to Governor Raghuram Rajan will be more aggressive in cutting interest rates has contributed to the gains. Japan announced plans Wednesday for more than 28 trillion yen ($267 billion) in economic stimulus amid efforts to prop up its economy.

“Bond yields have scope to fall further as India is among the few countries following conventional policies and offering very attractive yields,” Bameta said, adding that India’s “risk profile, based on current account deficit and fiscal deficit, has also improved, which means the foreign inflows will continue.” The cabinet decided late Wednesday to eliminate an additional 1 percent charge on inter-state sales that was included in a constitutional amendment bill to create the GST. The opposition had argued that the additional levy would undermine the goal of creating a single market among India’s 1.3 billion people. Modi’s party has indicated it will push the measure next week for discussion and possibly a vote before the current parliament session ends Aug. 12.

SOURCE: The Bloomberg

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Pakistan-Turkey free trade deal talks make progress

The third round of the Pakistan-Turkey free trade agreement negotiations has been concluded in Ankara, with both sides expressing satisfaction with the progress made, a Pakistani embassy statement said Thursday. The negotiations were held between July 25 and July 27. Draft texts for agreements on trade in goods, services and investment were discussed during the third round, according to the statement. The meeting also discussed tariffs, customs facilitation, safeguard measures, rules of origin, tariff reduction modality, bilateral investment mechanisms and services in detail. "Both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the negotiations," the statement said. Robina Athar from Pakistani Ministry of Commerce led the Pakistani delegation, which included representatives from Pakistani Ministry of Commerce, Board of Investment and Federal Board of Revenue.The Turkish side was led by Husnu Dilemre, deputy undersecretary of Turkey's Economy Ministry. The Consul General of Pakistan in Istanbul Dr. Yusuf Junaid and Ambassador to Turkey Sohail Mahmood participated in the event. The fourth round is expected to be held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad in August.

Negotiations over the deal were launched by former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the latter’s visit to Turkey in October 2015. Former Turkish Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas and Pakistani Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan had inked the Free Trade Agreement framework in Islamabad in March 2016. Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries was around $600 million, including $289 million in imports from Turkey. Turkey mainly exports telecommunication equipment, televisions, textiles and machinery, while imports from Pakistan include textile yarn, cotton fabrics, plastics and organic chemicals.

SOURCE: The AA

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