Government sources have indicated that the 11-month trade data between April 2023 and February 2024 showed an annual fall in exports of textiles. Terming exports as a function of demand and supply and dependent on several variables, sources attributed the fall in exports to slack international demand and geopolitical challenges like the Red Sea conflict. Other variables were described as order flow, inventory and availability of shipping containers and ships. Sources added that the export of readymade garments fell to $13.05 billion between April 2023 and February 2024, compared to $14.73 billion during the same period last year. During the same period, the value of yarn shipments declined to $4.23 billion from $4.47 billion while the value of jute exports fell from $400 million to $310 million. However, sources pointed out that initial estimates for February 2024 have shown over 12% growth in textiles exports compared to February 2023. In January 2024, government sources informed that the cost of shipments had risen by around 20% and the turnaround time had increased by around two weeks due to curbed services by two private shipping lines due to the Red Sea crisis. An inter-ministerial panel held several meetings to discuss strategies to deal with the impact of the ongoing conflict. While the Department of Financial Services (DFS) was asked to maintain credit flow for exporters, the Ministry of Shipping had been told to monitor volumes of trade.
Source: CNBC News
AHMEDABAD: A new textile industry park is set to be established near Ahmedabad, which is anticipated to address the pollution challenges faced by the existing textile industry in Ahmedabad. Being developed by Rupam Eco Green Textile Park, the facility will span across 100 acres of land at Mahijadi village near Ahmedabad. The company had signed an MoU to invest Rs 500 crore for the textile park project in the recently held Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2024. This park will have the necessary infrastructure to support the textile industry. One of the key features of this textile park will be a 6 MLD Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system, which is an advanced wastewater treatment process that eliminates liquid waste and prevents water pollution. Nandan Shah, chairman, Rupam Eco Green Textile Park said, “ZLD system ensures 96% water recovery which will help us address the pollution problems. Waste water reuse will save 17 crore litre water per month which is equivalent to the water requirement of around 30,000 people. Our project aligns with sustainability goals achieving zero-waste, low groundwater usage and netzero outcomes. An additional 6 MLD ZLD system is also planned to be developed, ensuring that the park adheres to the highest environmental standards and contributes to sustainable industrial practices.” He added that the basic infrastructure will be developed within a year. The new textile park is expected to attract around 50 textile processing units, which will create numerous job opportunities. The arrival of these units is particularly significant considering the recent challenges faced by the Ahmedabad-based textile industry. Due to stringent pollution control measures, some textile units in Ahmedabad have been shut down for around two years. Ahmedabad is considered as one of the biggest cotton textile processing hubs with more than 800 units having an installed capacity of more than 3,500 million meters of fabric annually
Source: Times of India
India is home to one of the largest textile industries in the world – holding 4% of the global textile and apparel market share, contributing 2% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employing over 45 million people directly (making it the second largest employer in the country), the industry is projected to achieve US$250 billion in textile production by 2030. The textile industry has assumed a substantial impetus over the past five years, with numerous central government strategies thrusting upon enhancing India’s role as a global textile producer, basis the 5F vision of “Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign”. Through initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles, Kasturi Cotton Bharat programme, National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), SAMARTH, and PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme, the textile industry has undergone a substantial facelift. Drawing from India’s ambitious endeavours to achieve US$100 billion in exports by 2030, Maharashtra has emerged as a potent contender in driving the country’s textile industry. Our contribution to the national textile industry is paramount – accounting for 10.4% of the total textile and apparel production and employing over 10% of the total employment in India. Furthermore, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has expedited the growth of the state’s textile industry with the development of 11 exclusive textile parks, strategically located in areas like Amravati, Thane, Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, and Nandurbar (as of 2020).
Maharashtra: A Potent Textile Player in the Making
With the establishment of the Bombay Spinning and Weaving in 1854 – commemorating India’s expansion into the modern cotton industry – Maharashtra marked its place in the country’s textile industry for decades to come, contributing to 60% of the cotton mills in the 1870s. Owing to our geographical positioning – with sprawling fertile soil for cotton (leading the national cotton acreage with 39.41 lakh ha), and access to extensive coastline (the state has a total of 50 ports) – we are furthering our efforts in increasing the state’s stakes as a leading textile centre as we prepare to establish a garment trading hub in Mumbai, giving it a competitive edge alongside China’s Guangzhou and Turkey’s Istanbul. As we continue retain a host of intrinsic features that deepens our potential as a textile hub, a robust focus on policies and interventions also remains fundamental in strengthening our infrastructural capacities to facilitate Maharashtra’s growth as a global textile hub. In the recent times, the state’s exponential efforts in revolutionising the textile industry paved the way towards recognition at the national front, as we become one of the seven recipients of the PM MITRA Park Scheme – to be established in Amravati – projecting to attract INR 10,000 crore and create direct and indirect employment opportunities for nearly 300,000 people. The PM MITRA Park, which would be developed by Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation (MIDC), and funded by the central government, aims to ease business operations for investors by establishing the entire infrastructure under the state government – allowing investors to kickstart their operations. Advancing its vision of establishing itself as a textile hub, we have further committed to developing 18 mini textile parks – aiming to attract INR1,800 crores as investment and providing employment opportunities to 36,000 individuals.
Progress in the State’s Textile Industry
To emerge as the leading textile hub, the recently released Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy 2023-2028 manifests our stringent efforts in fostering robust conditions to attract investments, strengthen economic growth, and create significant/massive employment opportunities within the state – positioning it as a key player in the global textile market. To enhance the textile and apparel industry in the state, the Policy aims to promote its textile value chain via technological upgradation and envisages to attract a staggering INR 25,000 crore investment, increasing the production of cotton to 80%, while creating over 5 lakh job opportunities in the next 5 years. Further, the development of six technical textile parks, enhancement of research and development to implement sustainable innovations, with additional emphasis on utilising information technology (IT) to promote ease of doing business, and augment skill development to ensure adequate skilled manpower in the industry, demonstrates our commitment to completely transform the state’s textile sector. As Maharashtra embarks on its journey to becoming a global textile hub, the transformative and inclusive Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy is destined to unlock the state’s true potential.
Source: Financial Express
In terms of fibre type, man-made fibres continued to dominate US textile and apparel imports as a whole. This 2024 update contains analysis and insight into the USA’s top ten foreign suppliers of textiles and clothing in 2023, along with more specific information on US imports of cotton dresses, cotton knitted shirts, cotton non-knitted (woven) shirts, cotton skirts, cotton trousers, cotton underwear, man-made fibre bras, man-made fibre dresses, man-made fibre knitted shirts, man-made fibre skirts and man-made fibre trousers. The report also includes an outlook for 2024 and beyond, and a statistical appendix containing data on exchange rates and US imports of cotton and man-made fibre baby garments, cotton coats, cotton pile towels, denim trousers, man-made fibre coats, and wool coats.
In 2023 US textile and clothing imports fell in value to their third lowest level since 2013. They also fell in volume terms, although they were still at their third highest level on record. Within the 2023 total, imports of clothing plunged in volume terms to their second lowest level since 2012 and imports of yarn fell to their lowest level since 2016. Imports of fabrics also fell but they were still at their second highest level on record. Imports of made-up textiles fell too but they were still at their fourth highest level on record. The average price of US textile and clothing imports fell in 2023 to a record low, reflecting the fact that the fall was the 11th in 12 years. The fall reflected a decline in the average price of textile imports and a decline in the average price of clothing imports. In terms of fibre type, man-made fibres continued to dominate US textile and apparel imports as a whole, and man-made fibre products accounted for the largest share of US apparel imports in 2023 for the tenth consecutive year. China remained by far the USA’s biggest textile and clothing supplier but imports from China were down sharply in value terms and in volume terms. There were also sharp declines in imports from several of the other nine supplying countries which ranked among the leading ten. The steepest decline in value terms was in US textile and clothing imports from Bangladesh, followed by those from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Mexico and Italy. In fact, the only increase in value or in volume was in the volume of US textile and clothing imports from Mexico.
Source: Innovation in textiles
The UK government’s decision to replace the popular Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) programme, which offered import duty concessions to developing nations and LDCs for certain items, with the “simpler and more generous” Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) has resulted in some inadvertent confusion for Indian exporters as product description under the new scheme is different from one used by India for exports, sources have said. Efforts are now on by the exporters’ body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) to match the products by drawing equivalents so that there is clarity for exporters on the items being referred to under the new scheme, a source tracking the matter told businessline. “It is important for Indian exporters to sort out technical issues related to product identification under the DCTS as India’s exports worth an estimated $2.5 billion annually were entitled for the GSP benefit in the UK,” the source said. The scheme is intended to benefit labour-intensive sectors such as leather, carpets, chemicals, iron and steel and textiles. The DCTS, which is described by the UK government as a simpler and more generous preferential trading scheme designed to boost trade with developing countries, offers import duty cuts similar to the GSP scheme, but the origin declaration process for exporters for their goods to claim benefits was changed. “The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has recently issued a notification on the changed origin declaration requirements under the UK DCTS which replaced the GSP. But the products were not notified. The UK website gives the product description with HS 12- digit codes but India uses HS 8-digit codes. Now somebody has to find out the equivalent 8-digit code as that is what is used by Indian exporters. FIEO has stepped in to do so and hopefully, the matter will be sorted out soon,” the source said. HS classification The Harmonised System (HS) classification is an international customs classification system which allocates a unique 6-digit HS code to each group of products which lays down the chapter, heading and sub-heading under which a given item is classified to determine what tariffs they attract. The HS codes are further subdivided into 7 to 12- digit items or more depending on the country for a finer classification of items. “In international trade, the HS classification nomenclature varies from country to country. But there is no change in the HS 6-digit code which is strictly according to the World Customs Organisation classification. So if products get identified at the HS 6-digit level then concurrence between the subgroups at the higher levels of classification can be worked out. Exporters can do the matching,” a government official said. “Starting from January 1, 2024, Indian exporters to the UK are required to adhere to the new rules under DCTS to avail concessions on their exports to the UK,” the trade notice issued by the DGFT last week noted. Goods that meet the UK DCTS Rules of Origin (ROO) requirements would be eligible to claim a concessional rate of import duty for exports to the UK. “Consequently, the origin criteria necessary for satisfying the ROO to avail tariff concessions on exports from India to the UK must be filled in through self-certification,” it added. Indian exporters must, therefore, use origin declaration wording under the DCTS scheme, in place of origin declaration wording under GSP.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Though slower growth, particularly in key trading partners like Europe, is dampening the demand for India’s exports, a decline in global commodity prices from their post-Ukraine conflict highs offers some relief, according to the latest monthly economic review of the economic division of India’s finance ministry. While import volumes have increased substantially, a fall in international commodity prices has brought down the overall value of imports. The rise in the volume of imports reflects India’s sustained domestic demand for imports driven by a rapidly growing and expanding economy, it noted. India’s manufacturing sector registered double-digit growth in the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal 2023-24 (FY24), driven by a surge in investment, improved investor confidence and strong domestic demand conditions, the review said. The strength of the manufacturing sector is also underscored by the India manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which, as of December last year, stood at five-months high of 56.9, supported by new orders and favourable demand conditions. This has been partially led by improved domestic demand and a decline in the inventory of finished goods. The volume indicators like the index of industrial production and the index of eight core industries have also observed growth of 5.8 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively during Q3 FY24. Though rejuvenating demand scenarios in the advanced economies are expected to have a positive impact on India, the country may face a sectoral impact on agricultural commodities, marine products, textiles and chemicals, capital goods and petroleum products due to the Red Sea crisis. To effectively address these challenges, there may be a need to diversify trade routes and transportation options. That would increase transit costs and affect the price competitiveness of Indian merchandise exports, the review added.
Source: Fibre2fashion
New Delhi: India's textile exports shrank 4.2% year-on-year (yoy) in the first 11 months of the current financial year, hurt by adverse economic conditions in major destinations such as the European Union (EU), the US, and West Asian nations, according to the commerce India exported textiles worth $30.96 billion during April 2023-February 2024, down from $32.33 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. "The possibility of a course-correction in the upcoming months is bleak, and the downward trend is expected to continue in March as well. Adverse economic conditions, coupled with the Red Sea crisis, are impacting the export of textile products, including ready-made garments, to foreign destinations," a senior government official, who requested not to be identified, said. During the 11 months till February, the export of ready-made garments fell to $13.05 billion from $14.73 billion in the corresponding months of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, the export of jute declined to $310 million from $400 million, while yarn exports fell from $4.47 billion to $4.23 billion. The export performance of different categories in the textile sector varied during the current fiscal year. The export of ready-made garments contracted by 11.4%, while jute exports saw a more significant contraction of 22.5%. Yarn exports also experienced a contraction, albeit at a lower rate of 5.3%. However, industry experts are hopeful that exports will improve in the upcoming months, especially with the US market showing signs of revival. According to Crisil, India’s textile industry is expected to grow in calendar year 2024, driven by a consistent improvement in domestic demand, gradual recovery in exports, and lower cotton prices. "Also, the luxury sector is relatively immune to economic cycles and can be an opportunity for India's rich tradition in weaving and embroidery," Ramanathan added. The main buyers of Indian ready-made garments (RMG) are European nations led by Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Denmark. Queries sent to the textiles ministry remained unanswered till press time. As Yemen's Houthi militants continue to target ships in the Red Sea, Indian exports are facing higher shipping costs due to rerouting from Africa. Around 95% of vessels have rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 4,000-6,000 nautical miles and 14-20 days to journeys, the commerce ministry had stated in a report last month, a copy of which has been seen by Mint. India is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of textiles and apparel, with the domestic apparel and textile industry contributing about 2.3% to the country’s GDP, 13% to industrial production, and 12% to exports. India’s textile and apparel market size is growing at a CAGR of 14.59% from $172.3 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $387.3 billion by 2028, according to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a body established by the ministry of commerce and industry. The textile industry is also the second-largest employer after agriculture, providing direct employment to 45 million people and 100 million people in the allied sector.
Source : Live Mint
New Delhi: Rajeev Ranjan Kumar (IDAS) has been selected for the appointment as Director in the Ministry of Textile on Tuesday. According to an order issued from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Kumar has been selected for the appointment under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) for a period of five years from the date of taking over charge of the post or until further orders, whichever event takes place earlier. Kumar is an Indian Defence Account Service (IDAS) officer of 2009 batch. He was recommended for the Central deputation by the Ministry of Defence. “He may kindly be relieved of his duties immediately with instructions to take up his new assignment in the Ministry of Textiles,” the order further reads.
Source: PSU Watch
Textile exporters have asked the government to take concrete measures to boost the performance of this critical sector of the economy for enhancing exports and job creation. Pakistan Textile Exporters Association’s patron-in-chief Khurram Mukhtar told Wealth that the textile sector was facing the biggest issue of expensive energy. He said the per unit electricity rate had been increased from Rs20 per kWh to Rs43.07 per kWh, creating issues for the exporters. “The government has to improve the sales tax refunds system, which is creating a plethora of problems for the exporters by delaying their refunds,” he said. Similarly, he said the high interest rates were badly hitting the industrialisation in Pakistan and called for reducing the key policy rate. “The cost of establishing a new industrial unit is very high amid the highest-ever policy rate, and investors tend to not take a risk,” he added. Mukhtar said that due to the tough economic conditions, the textile sector was not operating at its optimum level. He said, “The authorities have to devise a strategy to reactivate the idle units to help boost exports and generate jobs. Without bolstering exports, we cannot battle the ballooning trade deficit.” Ahmed Ali, another textile exporter, said successive governments had failed to realise the textile sector’s potential to rid the country of the forex exchange issues and create jobs for millions. He said the governments had never given weightage to the suggestions of the textile exporters. He also blasted the government for withholding their sales tax refunds. “How can a business operate without finance? The withholding of refunds leads to financial crunch,” he said, adding that the government recently promised that halted funds of billions of rupees would be released soon, but to no avail. “We have the capacity to outclass our regional business rivals, including India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. To achieve this task, we need to have smooth supply of electricity and gas at affordable rates along with raw material. These facilities are essential components to run the textile sector,” he said. He said without introducing export-friendly policies with inputs from stakeholders and ensuring consistency of policies, Pakistan could not achieve a sustainable and inclusive economic growth. He said efforts should be made to ensure the rupee-dollar parity, which is badly hitting the export sector. “As demand for textile products is increasing in the international market, we must seize this opportunity by making our products competitive.” He also urged the government to immediately ban the export of raw fabric as it would neither benefit the textile sector nor the national kitty. “We must export the fabric after adding some value to it,” he added.
Ameen Ahmed, a junkyard owner, told WealthPK that scores of power loom owners had sold their machines citing rising expenditures of gas, electricity and raw material. “In the past, when the power looms sector was thriving, we benefited from purchasing its scrap. However, now the situation is different as the unit owners are selling machines forced by tough economic conditions,” he said.
Source: The Nation
Innovate UK's Digital Catapult unveils four textile innovation projects aimed at driving down emissions and ramping up hydrogen uptake in fashion supply chains. New Look has joined one of a series of efforts to slash carbon emissions and accelerate hydrogen adoption throughout the UK textile industry supply chain, as part of a several initiatives announced today by Innovate UK's Digital Catapult. The high street fashion retailer is sponsoring one of four challenges underpinning Digital Catapult's 'Made Smarter Innovation Digital Supply Chain Hub', which are each being provided with £100,000 of funding to help solve industrial challenges in textile supply chains. As part of the initiative, New Look is set to support software provider Looper in developing a system to help better understand the lifecycle of the retailer's garments by aggregating measurements from product life cycle assessments. In gaining more robust data on each of its product's environmental impacts from raw material extraction to end of life, New Look said it would be able to provide customers with more sustainable clothing options and meet growing demand from environmentally minded consumers. The initiative is one of four textile supply chain "challenges" announced by Digital Catapult today. These include a project led by transport management firm Loadar, which has been tapped to develop a new pricing engine to optimise truck journeys and cut the carbon footprints of logistics providers, backed by support from Norfolk-based sustainable clothing disposal expert ShredStation. Moreover, tech start-up MadeBy is aiming to develop a new system to track the flow of materials for different products across a textiles supply chain, as part of another project sponsored by consultancy QSA Partners. And green hydrogen firm Heuris Energy is participating in another challenge to cut costs in the UK's "fragmented" hydrogen supply chain for textile customers by standardising data and modelling, with the eventual solution developed set to be tested for wider industrial use. Tim Lawrence, director of the Digital Supply Chain Hub, said the fashion and textiles industry currently contributed £62bn to the UK economy every year while supporting 1.3 million jobs, yet over half - 52 per cent - of consumers now claim that rising prices have made them more aware of the importance of sustainable fashion. "The UK's textiles and hydrogen industries are critical to the economy, and the challenges set to be solved on this programme will play a crucial role in helping these sectors to simultaneously improve efficiency and cut cost through sustainable innovation," he said. "As sustainability remains front of mind for key stakeholders in these sectors, the tools developed and deployed on this programme will further arm the challenge sponsors with the solutions they need to meet demand from their customers and commercial partners and will sharpen their competitive edge."
Source: Business Green
The EU exported 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles in 2022, more than twice as much as in 2000. Aproposal by France, Denmark and Sweden to restrict used-clothing exports from the European Union could hurt the clothing resale industry in Kenya, which employs 2 million Kenyans, a representative of second-hand clothes sellers said. The EU exported 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles in 2022, more than twice as much as in 2000 according to U.N. trade data. Exports to developing countries can lead to pollution when clothes that can not be resold end up in dumps, the EU has said. The three countries are proposing that the EU apply the Basel Convention to used clothes, banning exports of hazardous textile waste and requiring prior informed consent to be obtained before importing textile waste. The export of textile waste from the EU to developing countries causes significant environmental, social, and health problems. The EU has to put an end to this practice," Denmark's deputy permanent representative to the EU, Soren Jacobsen, told an Environment Council meeting in Brussels on Monday. The aim of including used clothes in the Basel Convention would be to reduce or even end exports of used clothes from the EU, and instead to promote the development of textile recycling within the bloc, Cyril Piquemal, France's deputy permanent representative to the EU, said. But Teresia Wairimu Njenga, chair of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya, which represents sellers of second-hand clothes, told Reuters imports of used clothes supported livelihoods and generated tax revenues for the country. Njenga denied that the imports contain large amounts of unusable items that end up in landfill. Nobody is giving us trash by force – what we are buying is good quality clothes, and if a supplier wants to sell us trash, we would be happy to refuse their consignment," she said. Kenya imported 177,386 tonnes of used clothing in 2022, a 76% increase on the amount imported in 2013, according to U.N. trade data. African countries including Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa are also significant importers of used clothing, the data shows. Around 1%-2% of each imported bale of used clothes ends up as waste, according to research commissioned by the association and published in September last year, based on 120 interviews with importers of second-hand clothes in Nairobi. Njenga has met officials in Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden, to argue against the proposal, and plans to meet officials from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade and the Directorate-General for the Environment.
Source: Minute hack
The European Council recently adopted the decision on the conclusion of the Interim Agreement on trade (iTA) between the European Union (EU) and Chile, marking the end of the internal ratification process within the EU and paving the way for the entry into force of the deal. This agreement focuses on trade and investment liberalisation exclusively within the EU’s competence, while investment protection provisions are covered by the broader Advanced Framework Agreement (AFA), which is still in the ratification process within the member states. The iTA will expire when the AFA, after ratification by all member states, enters into force. The agreements aim to update the current EU-Chile association agreement and will strengthen EU-Chile political and economic relations and deepen cooperation and trade, an official release said. The EU is Chile’s third-largest trade partner. Around 99.9 per cent of EU exports will be free of tariffs on the entry into force of the agreement, which is expected to increase EU exports to Chile by up to €4.5 billion (~$4.87 billion). The agreement will bring greater access to raw materials and clean fuel, such as lithium, copper and hydrogen, which are crucial for the transition to the green economy. It will also make it easier for EU companies to provide their services in Chile, including delivery services, telecommunications, maritime transport and financial services. It will provide the same treatment for both EU investors and Chilean investors in Chile and will give EU companies improved access to Chilean government procurement contracts for goods, services, works and works concessions, and vice versa. The agreement includes a dedicated chapter on small and medium-sized enterprises to help ensure that smaller businesses fully benefit from the agreement, including by cutting red tape. The iTA only requires ratification by the EU and not by individual member states. Therefore, it can enter into force as soon as the Chilean side completes its internal ratification process.The iTA will expire when the AFA, subject to ratification by all member states, enters into force.
Source: Fibre2fashion
According to data from the Statistics Agency, Uzbekistan exported textile products worth $519.4 million in the first two months of 2024. This figure accounts for 14.3% of the total exports, marking a 3% increase compared to the same period last year. The exported textile products mainly consisted of finished textile goods (37.4%), and yarn (47.7%). During January and February of 2024, Uzbekistan exported 496 types of textile products to 52 countries around the world.
The composition of textiles exported included:
Yarn – $247.8 million
Finished textiles – $194.4 million
Knitted fabric – $42.8 million
Fabrics – $26.8 million
Hosiery – $7.7 million
Source: Kun.UZ
