INTERNATIONAL
Import of second-hand machinery with subsidies provided by the government is affecting the technical textile sector and garment designers, Union Minister Smriti Irani said. “If you look at the Indian economy from a textile perspective, most of our subsidies have gone in importing of second-hand machines in our country which widely impacts any designer — be it a designer for a garment or technical textiles,” Irani said, while addressing the convocation of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) here. “As a nation that prides itself of self-sufficiency, I think that it is a department that needs strengthening with all the support that we can possibly give,” she added. The convocation was also presided over by ex-cricketer and former BJP MP Chetan Chauhan.
A controversy recently surrounded Chauhan’s appointment as the Chairman of the NIFT, with political parties and fashion designers questioning the government’s decision. Set up in 1986, the institution with centres across the country, comes under the Union Ministry of Textiles. As per the NIFT Act 2006, the Chairperson of its Board of Governors should be eminent academician, scientist or technologist or professional, who is to be nominated by the Visitor — in this case, the President of India. Later, the Minister presented certificates to NIFT students who had completed the graduate and post graduate courses. She hailed the courage and perseverance of two physically challenged students — Devanshi and Anil — who successfully completed the course, battling all odds. Irani told students to make design interventions in areas like zero waste fashion, handcrafted products and self-defence garments by leveraging their skills.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday agreed to sanction a Composite Textile Park for Arunachal Pradesh. The Park would have facilities for skill development, design and product upgradation and facilities for export of finished handicrafts, the Minister said during a meeting with Chief Minister Pema Khandu at New Delhi. Ms Irani assured of deputing a group of experts to handhold the State government in preparation of the DPR and running the centre there after, an official release said. On a request to assist the State in exploring the usage of geo-textiles to mitigate and prevent frequent landslides in the State, Ms Irani asked the State government to get the vulnerability mapping done and submit a proposal.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Govt. of Telangana is engaged in taking serious steps for the establishment of Textile Park. It has explored the possibilities of acquiring lands in Warangal and Medak Districts. It is expected that very soon Textile Park will become functional. According to the plan of the Govt. plot allocated for textile parks would be sold out to investors and various textile industries would be setup on those plot. A meeting was held recently in which the buys were advised to ensure starting of textile production. It is understood that Govt. has earmarked 88 plots for this purpose, out of which 67 plots have already been sold out. Many companies have started production. Very soon, the remaining companies will also start working.
Officials of Industries Dept. hoped that the situation in the State would be totally changed after the project is completed. It will also generate many jobs. CM of Telangana State, Mr. KCR had announced that Textile Park would be established on 2500-3000 acres of land in Madikonda in Warangal District. This park will start reducing Cotton Textile which is being prepared in Surat. It is understood that Govt. released Rs. 300 crore for the acquisition of lands. Revenue Dept. proposes to acquire more than 1000 acre whereas Govt. already has 2000 acres near Madikonda in Warangal. It is presumed that these lands were not sufficient for a spacious Textile Park. It has therefore been decided to acquire more lands. Govt. is contacting noted Textile Companies to start their units in the Textile Park.
SOURCE: The Siasat Daily
Filatex India’s project for manufacturing of 115 TPD Fully Drawn Yarn (FDY) and 200 TPD of Drawn Textured Yarn (FTY) at Dahej, Gujarat has been fully commissioned. The company primarily manufacturing several grades of polyester yarn. The commercial production of FDY and DTY has started in September 2016. Shares of Filatex India rose 5.3 percent intraday Tuesday as it has commenced manufacturing of yarm at its existing unit in Dahej, Gujarat
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.5 per cent to 6.25 per cent with immediate effect. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the Bank Rate to 6.75 per cent. “The decision of the MPC is consistent with an accommodative stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5 per cent by Q4 of 2016-17 and the medium-term target of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth,” the fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2016-17 Resolution of the MPC said. In its assessment of the current economic and monetary situation, MPC said global growth has been slowing more than anticipated through 2016 so far, with weak investment and trade damping aggregate demand. “Meanwhile, risks in the form of Brexit, banking stress in Europe, rebalancing of debt-fuelled growth in China, rising protectionism and diminishing confidence in monetary policy have slanted the outlook to the downside.”
World trade volume has contracted sharper than expected in the first half of 2016, and the outlook has worsened with the recent falling off of imports by advanced economies (AEs) from emerging market economies (EMEs). Inflation remains subdued in AEs and has started to edge down in EMEs.
Speaking about domestic front, the MPC said the outlook for agricultural activity has brightened considerably. The south west monsoon ended the season with a cumulative deficit of only 3 per cent below the long period average, with 85 per cent of the country's geographical area having received normal to excess precipitation. Kharif sowing has surpassed last year's acreage, barring cotton, sugarcane and jute and mesta. The industrial sector, by contrast, suffered a manufacturing-driven contraction in early fiscal year Q2, after a sequential deceleration in gross value added in Q1. Even after trimming the statistical effects of the lumpy and order-driven contraction of insulated rubber cables, industrial production as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) turned out to be slower than a year ago.
Nonetheless, business expectations polled in the Reserve Bank's industrial outlook survey and by other agencies remain expansionary in Q2 and Q3. The strong public investment in roads, railways and inland waterways, the recent efforts to unclog cash flows in large projects under arbitration, and the boost to spending from the 7th Pay Commission's award, should improve the industrial outlook.
In the services sector, the acceleration in the pace of activity in Q1 appears to have been sustained. An increasing number of high frequency indicators are moving into positive territory, construction is boosted by policy initiatives, and public administration, defence and other services will be supported by the pay commission award. In the external sector, merchandise exports contracted in the first two months of Q2. Subdued domestic demand was, however, reflected in a faster contraction in imports. Moreoever, the still soft crude prices pared off a fifth of the oil import bill and gold import volume slumped to a fifth of its volume a year ago. Consequently, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed by $10 billion in April-August on a year-on-year basis. While the pace of foreign direct investment slowed compared to a year ago, portfolio flows were stronger after the Brexit vote, galvanised by a search for returns in an expanding universe of negative yields. The level of foreign exchange reserves rose to $372 billion by September 30, 2016 – an all-time high.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The government is likely to overhaul the central board of excise and customs’ (CBEC) organisational structure to administer the Central GST (CGST) and Integrated-GST (IGST) from April 1, the appointed date for rolling out the goods and service tax (GST) regime. Under the CBEC, it is proposed to create one GST commissionerate each for 15,000-20,000 assessees and R5,000-crore revenue. In all, it is proposed, there would be 24 zones, 107 commissionerates, 53 audit commissionerates, 53 commissioner (appeals) and 535 GST divisions across the country. Currently, there are separate structures for the central excise and service tax administration, with 23 excise zones and 4 service tax zones. The distinctions would cease to exist when GST comes into force next year.
Even though no additional posts need to be created now, it has proposed to match the existing manpower with the future requirement. While GST Commisionerates would look after CGST and IGST work, they will also handle the exclusive central excise work as well as legacy issues. A directorate general for dispute resolution has been proposed too, while specialised adjudication verticals have been suggested in seven major cities. The Board of the CBEC will also undergo changes to include a member GST while carrying out other rationalisations. The extant large taxpayer units will be dispensed with.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The statistics department has released the supply-use table to clear gross domestic product (GDP) data discrepancies, blamed for showing an economic growth of close to eight per cent in the last quarter of 2015-16. The Central Statistics Office has only released supply-use tables (SUTs) for 2011-12 and 2012-13 now, but plans to work these out for the following years as well. This is for the first time the CSO has compiled the SUTs with 140 products and 66 industries of the Indian economy. “The GDP derived from the production side and expenditure side often do not match. This can be obviated by the compilation of SUT,” said T C A Anant, chief statistician of India. The supply-use tables are like the input-output matrix but cover more data than the latter. These would cover both services as well as manufacturing, unlike the input-output matrix, which covers only factory production. The supply table describes the supply of goods and services, which are either produced in the domestic industry or imported. The use table shows where and how goods and services are used in the economy.
Discrepancies arise because the expenditure side of GDP is computed using production-side numbers. The difference is given as discrepancies. After estimating gross value added in production side, indirect product taxes are added and subsidies subtracted to arrive at GDP. On the expenditure side, there would always be discrepancies until the SUT comes out. These inaccuracies could be because the break-up of GDP at market prices (which is a new definition of GDP) either overshoots the headline number or falls short of it.
NSSO surveys, consumption surveys, data on use of services from manufacturing side in the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data and some data from state governments have been used. An official of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation explained that on expenditure side, lots of rates and ratios are used because of which discrepancies emerge, as data is not exactly measured.
In the short run, there will always be discrepancies. These could be eliminated by distributing the numbers pro-rata to the other components of the expenditure side — private final consumption expenditure, government final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation and so on. India's GDP growth rose 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015-16. However, if discrepancies are taken out, the growth would only be 3.9 per cent. This could be corrected once CSO comes out with SUT for 2015-16 as well. If the break-up of private final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation, government final consumption expenditure, change in stocks, valuables, and net exports exceed GDP, discrepancies will be negative. If it is less than GDP, the discrepancies will be positive. In the GDP estimates of advanced countries, there are no discrepancies due to the SUT. Most countries use GDP at market prices.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised projections for India’s economic growth by 0.2 percentage points to 7.6 per cent for 2016-17 and 2017-18. The projections came in at a time when the Fund said global economic growth will be subdued this year, following a slowdown in the US and Britain’s vote to exit the European Union. It, however, retained global economic growth at 3.1 per cent for 2016 and 3.4 per cent for 2017. In its World Economic Outlook, IMF also kept gross domestic product (GDP) expansion for China unchanged at 6.6 per cent in 2016, which would decelerate to 6.2 per cent in 2017. That way, India would keep its position of the fastest-growing large economy that it snatched from China in 2015-16. “India’s GDP will continue to expand at the fastest pace among major economies, with growth forecast at 7.6 per cent in 2016–17,” it said in its outlook released three days ahead of its annual meetings with the World Bank in Washington. The Fund cut growth rate of the US by 0.6 percentage points for 2016.
It, however, cautioned India that weak corporate and public-sector banks’ balance sheets would restrict private investment in the near-term where the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) continued role to increase lenders’ capacity to give loans would be critical. It highlighted the importance of the goods and services tax, which is targeted to be introduced from April 1, 2017 and elimination of poorly targeted subsidies. IMF had released its previous estimates through an update in July. However, if looked from the April outlook, the global growth was cut by 0.1 percentage point each for 2016 and 2017, while it was raised for India by 0.1 percentage point for 2016-17 and 2017-18.
IMF’s projection is more or less in line with the finance ministry’s optimism that the growth would be towards the upper band of its projections — 7-7.75 per cent — in the current financial year. However, it is higher than what the Asian Development Bank and Fitch predicted. India’s economy expanded 7.6 per cent in 2015-16. So, IMF’s projections also mean that the GDP growth would remain stagnant for three consecutive years. The growth rate was five-quarter low at 7.1 per cent in the first three months of the current financial year. IMF revises India's growth to 7.6% for FY17 and FY18IMF also projected India’s economic growth rate to touch 8.1 per cent in 2021-22. Fitch had said on Monday that India’s GDP growth could touch eight per cent only in 2018-19, as it expects the benefits of reforms and impact of monetary easing to kick in with a lag. IMF did not give projections for 2018-19 and 2019-20. It said India’s economy continued to recover strongly, benefiting from a large improvement in the terms of trade triggered by lower commodity prices, effective policy actions and stronger external buffers which have helped boost investment. Inflation has declined more than expected, it said.
Consumer price index-based inflation fell to a five-month low of 5.05 per cent in August from 6.07 per cent in July. IMF projected inflation to average 5.5 per cent in the current financial year and decelerate to 5.2 per cent next year. Nevertheless, underlying inflationary pressures arising from bottlenecks in the food storage and distribution sector point to the need for structural reforms to ensure that consumer price inflation remains within the target band over the medium term, the Fund said. Additional labour market reforms to reduce rigidities are essential for maximising the employment potential of the demographic dividend and making growth more inclusive, it said. In the near term, it said private investment will likely be constrained by weakened corporate and public bank balance sheets. "Continued efforts by the Reserve Bank of India to strengthen bank balance sheets through full recognition of losses and increasing bank capital buffers remain critical for improving the quality of domestic financial intermediation," it said. The multi-lateral agency said important policy actions toward the implementation of GST have been taken, which will be positive for investment and growth. Constitution amendment legislation to enable the Centre and states implement GST has been enacted. The GST Council, comprising representatives of the Centre and states, have been formed which has already solved prickly issue of a threshold over which GST would apply and cleared rules for registration and refunds under the new tax regime.
Another thorny issue of rates, compensation and dual administrative control over service tax would come up at the Council's scheduled meeting for later this month. IMF said this tax reform and the elimination of poorly targeted subsidies are needed to widen the revenue base and expand the fiscal envelope to support investment in infrastructure, education, and health care. More broadly, while several positive measures have been undertaken over the past two years, IMF pointed out, suggesting that additional measures to enhance efficiency in the mining sector and increase electricity generation are required to boost productive capacity.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
The Indian rupee closed higher after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key lending rate or the repo rate by 25 basis points to a six-year low of 6.25%, from 6.5% earlier. The rupee hit a one-month high against the US dollar, while bond yields hit a fresh seven-year low. On the macro-front, the widely-tracked Nikkei Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed a reading of 52.1 in September, declining marginally from 52.6 in August 2016. On the economy front, fiscal deficit in the first five months of the current fiscal stood at Rs.4.08 trn, which was 76.4% of Budget estimates for 2016-17. India's eight core industries, which have a collective weightage of 37.90 percent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew by 3.2% in August, 2016 as compared to the same month of the previous year. On the global front, the US non farm payrolls report for September would come on Friday. The Indian currency ended higher by 13 paise at 66.59/$. The local unit had hit a high of 66.62 and a low of 66.84. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.53 and for the Euro stood at 74.71. The RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 65.70; reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 85.8675.
SOURCE: The India Infoline
India and Canada are committed to deepen the economic and financial relationship and enhance strategic partnership, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said as he invited Canadian investment in India’s infrastructure sector. “Both countries are committed to strengthen economic ties as there is a positive environment. Negotiators from both countries will meet soon to resolve sticking points,” he said. Jaitley yesterday met his Canadian counterpart Bill Morneau and Canada’s International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and reviewed progress in India Canada relationship including proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and Foreign Investment and Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). “Both countries are very keen to finalise both the proposed agreements,” Jaitley said. He said that the two countries have also agreed to enhance strategic partnership. The minister also held a series of meetings with Canadian pension funds, bankers, financial sector companies. “Foreign Direct Investment by Canadian Investors was about 12 billion dollar in India in the past 24 months. This does not include portfolio investment by Canadian investors,” he said. “India has a good story to tell and is moving much faster than rest of the world. The likely return on investments in India is much higher and the risk is much less than other nations,” he said.
Canadian Finance Minister Morneau in a statement said: “I am pleased to build on Canada’s longstanding relationship with India by exploring ways to deepen our economic and financial ties. It is important that Canada continues to engage with the world to create more opportunities and prosperity for the middle class.” The two ministers will travel to the US later this week to attend the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group as well as a G20 meeting. As co-chairs of the working group responsible for G20 growth strategies, both ministers are expected to highlight the importance of seizing the opportunity to invest in people and infrastructure to build a strong and prosperous global economy. Canada and India have longstanding bilateral relations, built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections with an Indian diaspora of more than one million in Canada, Morneau said. Building on this strong relationship, Morneau highlighted the Canada-India Finance Ministers Dialogue as an important initiative to deepen the economic and financial relationship between the two countries.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian Special Forces will be “extremely marginal”. Addressing a gathering at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been “temporary”, and that foreign direct investment into India “continues to increase”. “Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned. The impact was not what it would have been years ago,” he said.
Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be “extremely marginal”, he said. Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India. The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmir’s Uri, killing 19 soldiers. Pakistan has denied India’s claim of surgical strikes and termed it as “cross-border” firing.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
During a bilateral meeting between Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, India and Singapore have decided to “expedite” the second review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to boost two-way trade. “The trade and investment ties form the bedrock of our bilateral relationship. We enjoy a strong network of business-to-business partnerships. “In this context, Prime Minister Lee and I have agreed to expedite the second review of our Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement,” Modi said after the meeting. The India-Singapore CECA had been effective since 2005.
CECA logjam
However, the second review of the pact has been stuck for over six years now over the issue of India demanding more access in that market for its professionals and banks. However, Singapore has maintained that Indian banks lack international standards and they have to follow certain quality benchmarks to be present in Singapore. Bilateral trade between India and Singapore has been declining for the last five years with Indian exports to that country falling at a faster rate. Total trade between the two declined 11.25 per cent to $15.02 billion in 2015-16 from $17 billion in 2014-15, according to official statistics.
Shared priorities
On the issue of defence and security, which forms a crucial part of the strategic partnership between the two countries, Modi said it is a shared priority of both countries to maintain open sea lanes of communication and respect for international legal order of seas. “The rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave challenges to our security. They threaten the very fabric of our societies. It is my firm belief that those who believe in peace and humanity need to stand and act together against this menace. “Today, we have agreed to enhance our cooperation to counter these threats, including in the domain of cyber security,” he said. Lee, who is on a five-day visit to India, also met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier in the day. Both sides also signed three memorandums of understanding on intellectual property, skills development and technical and vocational education and training. Bilateral trade between India and Singapore has been declining for the last five years with Indian exports to that country falling at a faster rate. Total trade between the two declined 11.25 per cent to $15.02 billion in 2015-16 from $17 billion in 2014-15, according to official statistics.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 48.10 per barrel (bbl) on 03.10.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 46.22 per bbl on previous publishing day of 30.09.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3200.41 per bbl on 03.10.2016 as compared to Rs. 3081.14 per bbl on 30.09.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 66.53 per US$ on 03.10.2016 as against Rs. 66.66 per US$ on 30.09.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on October 03, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 30.09.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.10.2016 (Sep 14, 2016 to Sep 28, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
48.10 (46.22) |
43.95 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3200.41 (3081.14) |
2936.30 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.53 (66.66) |
66.81 |
SOURCE: PIB
Around 12 percent drop in rains and acreage that hit soon to be harvested crop have led to concerns over cotton supplies, making the fibre as much as 20 per cent costlier than at this time last year. Raw cotton prices were in the range of Rs 5,400 per 100 kg, even as fresh crop has started arriving in the wholesale markets of Punjab and Haryana. Because of the firm prices, people are buying only as per their requirement, traders, ginner and millers said. The prices are higher than anticipated as arrivals are slow. Major spinning companies from Trident to Vardhman have entered the market, buy buying as per their requirement. The raw cotton prices are expected to ease to Rs 4,700-4,900 per 100 kg by December when arrivals will pick up across the country. On Monday, the spot cotton lint (cotton without seed, accounting for roughly about a third of the weight of raw) price was Rs 21,970 per bale of 170 kg on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Improving the health and safety of workers in the textile sector, Pakistan’s largest industry, can boost productivity, competitiveness and compliance, according to studies released by the Aga Khan University (AKU) and Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Giz), a German development agency, at a collaborative event Monday. The textile mill employees are exposed to cotton dust leading to respiratory diseases such as byssinosis and complaints of chest tightness, shortness of breath and persistent coughing, said AKU community health sciences department assistant professor Asaad Nafees.“About one in every 10 textile workers developed byssinosis, two in 10 suffered from shortness of breath and three in 10 complained of chest tightness,” he shared.
The MultiTex research project, carried out by AKU’s community health sciences department, found that employees most at risk of chest ailments were the least aware of health hazards, said Dr Natasha Shaukat, adding that while interviewing 300 employees at seven textile mills in Karachi – with a workforce of approximately 9,000 people – it was found that almost 90% of them are uneducated and had little awareness of the health risks of cotton dust. The ratio is the worst among those working longer shifts and more days per week, she said, adding that more than 80% of the workers did not use safety precautions that will help protect them against hazards at the workplace.
The research suggested the use of personal protective equipment, such as facemasks to reduce inhalation of harmful particles and occupational health and safety (OHS) training for managers and workers to improve knowledge, attitude and practices. It further suggested organisational changes to minimise the number of workers in danger zones and to reduce the time spent by workers in high exposure settings and structural changes that involved the purchase of new machinery and improved workplace design and ventilation.
Innovation will help boost textile sector
“The research findings shared today will help build a case for textile industry stakeholders to improve health and safety since it will benefit both workers and the financial performance of companies,” said Olaf Petermann from The German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the energy, textile, electrical and media products sectors. There are 15 million workers in the textile and garment industry and the sector provides 40% of Pakistan’s workforce, said SAA Centre for the Improvement of Working Conditions and Environment, health and safety officer Muhammad Mujahid
According to their study, OHS practices protect employees against workplace accidents and illness and ensure the employees’ social protection. Companies also profit in a formal and informal way, said Mujahid. It’s vital to educate workers and conduct their training, said Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research joint director Zulfiqar Shah, blaming the labour department for not being serious in this regard since the past many years. The Sindh labour department has been facing challenges, however, we are fully committed to improve the OHS standards in the industry,” said the department’s joint director for health and safety, Ali Ashraf Naqvi.
SOURCE: The Tribune
With more and more apparel companies sourcing garments from Ethiopia, including H&M and PVH Corp., trade show organizer Messe Frankfurt has decided to expand its event portfolio to encompass East Africa. Texworld, Apparel Sourcing and Texprocess will each debut at Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week (ASFW) in Ethiopia in 2017, as part of an agreement Messe Frankfurt recently reached with Trade and Fairs East Africa. This marks Messe’s first foray into the African textile industry. “Due to increased wages and growing domestic demand within Asia, as well as the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) agreement between Africa and the USA, the African continent is becoming ever more important for textile production,” said Skander Negasi, managing director of Trade and Fairs East Africa, noting that Kenya and Ethiopia are playing a leading role in this. “Africa’s biggest textile trade fair, the Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week, is continuing to grow. By collaborating with Messe Frankfurt and its Texpertise Network, this positive development will be accelerated.” “For us, this partnership marks the start of our textile trade fair activities on an exceptionally interesting continent that is becoming more and more important for the textile industry and whose players will come increasingly to prominence,” said Olaf Schmidt, vice president of textiles and textile technologies at Messe Frankfurt. “We look forward to our collaboration as part of the Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week and are excited about the upcoming event.”
About 160 international exhibitors from Turkey, Sri Lanka, India and more will present apparel, leather goods and accessories at this year’s edition of ASFW, taking place Oct. 4-7 in Addis Ababa, and at 2017’s show, visitors will also have the opportunity to check out Texworld, Apparel Sourcing and Texprocess. Last year, 19,000 exhibitors and roughly 465,000 visitors attended Messe Frankfurt’s trade fairs in Europe, North America and Asia that cover the entire value creation chain, from apparel fabrics and fashion to home and contract textiles to technical textiles and the processing and care of textiles.
SOURCE: The Sourcing Journal Online
Teijin Ltd. announced today that Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd., the Teijin group’s fiber-product converting company — and Nantong Teijin Co, Ltd., the group’s textile manufacturing and sales company based in Nantong, China — will participate in Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics–Autumn Edition 2016, one of the world’s biggest and most comprehensive exhibitions of apparel fabric and accessories. The show will be held at theNational Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from October 11 to 13. Teijin Frontier (stand 6.2-C79), which will be attending for its sixth consecutive year, will exhibit materials developed with advanced post-processing, spinning and yarn-processing processes. It also will present a wide variety of high-quality clothes, including suits, pants and outer wears, made with two outstanding materials:
Nantong Teijin (stand 4.2-H19), which will be attending for its 14th year, will showcase eco-friendly materials including recycling polyester fiber, partially bio-delivered materials, and newly developed materials using ECO CIRCLETM. The stand also will present MICROFT® fabric andother solutions for fashionable wear, uniform, and knitted materials. ECO CIRCLETM, the world’s first closed-loop polyester recycling system, was developed by the Teijin group. MICROFT® is a moisture-permeable, water-repellent fabric made with high-performance microfiber. Teijin Frontier and Nantong Teijin look forward to developing new customers in China and expanding its global market through participation in Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics–Autumn Edition 2016. The exhibition attracted a record 66,000 people and 4,600 companies from nearly 30 countries last year. More than 2,700 suppliers are expected to participate in the show this year.
SOURCE: The Textile World
Hyosung Corporation, a leading textile company in South Korea plans to invest US$27 million to expand spandex capacity by 5000 tons in Istanbul, Turkey amid increasing demand from European and Middle Eastern markets. The company is planning to complete the expansion by H1 2017 and the capacity will be 25000 tons per year. By then, it would also be ready to open a new factory in Quzhou, China, with annual capacity of 16,000 tons. The company’s total global spandex output capacity would be ramped up to 221,000 tons next year. In 2009, Hyosung built a spandex factory in Çerkezköy, Tekirdağ, about 100 kilometers away from Istanbul. Due to sharp increase in spandex from Europe and the Middle East, the textile company decided to construct a new factory on a site of 87,000 square meters near the existing factory. The company expects its market share of creora®, Hyosung’s spandex brand, to grow to over 31 percent after the capacity increase. They would make ceaseless efforts to increase the supply of spandex and develop products to meet the customers’ demand at the same time.
Spandex is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is widely used for underwear, swimsuits, jeans and sportswear, as well as diapers and gloves for industrial use. It has been recently used in hijab, traditional clothe of Islamic women. The textile company developed spandex with its own technology for the first time as a Korean company in 1992 and, since then, it has targeted the global market. The company has topped global market share in spandex for the last six years.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Ministers are looking to negotiate a transitional trade deal with the EU — including possibly paying a single market access fee to Brussels — to avoid a “cliff-edge” for exporters and the City of London after Brexit in 2019. A smooth transition over several years after Brexit is a key demand for the City and for countries such as Japan, which fear there could be disruption in trade while Britain and the EU hammer out a new free-trade agreement. One senior banker said people in the sector were “shooting themselves in the head” on Tuesday after Bloomberg cited a senior figure in Theresa May’s administration saying her team had privately dismissed an interim deal with the EU. But the claim was strongly denied by Mrs May’s allies. Several ministers told the Financial Times that a transitional trade deal was likely to be a key part of Brexit negotiations that begin next year. “We are working to deliver the best possible exit from the European Union and it is completely wrong to suggest we have ruled in or out transitional arrangements,” a government spokesman said. “Just this week we announced that European laws and regulations would be transferred to British law upon our exit from the European Union, in order to provide certainty for businesses that operate in the UK.”
One option being considered is that Britain might continue to pay into EU coffers as an entry fee to the single market during the interim period, pending agreement and ratification of a new trade deal. Although such a move would be contentious with Tory Eurosceptics, ministers acknowledge there would be a gap of several years between Brexit — scheduled for 2019 — and the entry into force of new trade arrangements. A similar trade deal between the EU and Canada has been under preparation for seven years; the ratification by all 27 remaining member states of a potentially more complicated deal with Britain could take a number of years. There is a “la la la la la la” moment going on. Financial services companies are not the top priority at the moment.
The City of London nevertheless is increasingly jittery about Brexit and a sense that Mrs May is prioritising controls on immigration over seeking to ensure privileged access to the single market for the financial services sector. Mrs May’s allies insist she does care about financial services but the banks needed to realise she also had to take other interests into account and that they should engage with government like any other sector. Some senior officials say bankers can appear “too needy” and that they have “cried wolf” before — notably when warning that the City would be badly hit if Britain didn’t join the euro. They also acknowledge that this time the banks may have a point. Delegates at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham have noted an absence of ministers from fringe sessions about the financial services industry compared with usual.
The City of London has lobbied hard for adequate transitional arrangements that will minimise the impact of even a “hard” Brexit — which the latest City report forecasts will cost the UK as many as 75,000 jobs and £10bn of tax revenues. The report from Oliver Wyman, the consultants, says transitional arrangements and grandfathering rights are “critical”. Wall Street bankers last month warned Theresa May that they needed a “long runway”, and a transition period lasting several years, in what was described by British officials as “a frank exchange of views”.
SOURCE: The Financial Times
