INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2016-10-18
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1034.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
VSF |
2490.66 |
USD/Ton |
-0.47% |
10/18/2016 |
|
ASF |
1870.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1053.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2374.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4378.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1291.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2181.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2037.94 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
1254.23 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2567.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5588.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
3072.50 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1729.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2582.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3191.25 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2345.19 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1855.38 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2241.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.36 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.84 |
USD/Meter |
0.18% |
10/18/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.18 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
-0.21% |
10/18/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/18/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14843 USD dtd. 18/10/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Textile Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday stressed on use of technology and pooled efforts of various ministries for the growth of textile sector in India. Irani said that textile sector in India has huge potential due to the cheap availability of cheap labour in the country. Irani made her comments while speaking to Confederation of Indian Industry’s chairman Naushad Forbes at its ‘Make in India’ event. Irani also stressed on collaborated efforts of all ministries for a constructive growth strategy. The minister said that she receives full-fledged support from Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharam-the two ministries closely related to the functioning of Irani-headed Textile.
Speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision on functioning of ministries, Irani said that the former wants all ministries to work together. “It’s never healthy for any government when one ministry fights with another, the PM wants all of us to work together,” Irani said. Irani also stressed on the need to upskill labours and improve technology. She said that a composite structure should come up to enhance the labour and technology available for apparel sector in the country. She said that the mechanism of exporting raw material and importing manfactured product needs to be worked out. “Raw material goes out from India and then comes back after being manufacture overseas, this needs to be worked out,” Irani said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
With an aim to develop textile sector in the state, the fifth largest cotton producing state in the country, government claims to offer scores of facilities and tax relaxations for setting up textile units. Textile is one of the nine focus areas in Global Investors' Summit (GIS). As per the data from Madhya Pradesh Trade and Investment Facilitation Corporation (TRIFAC), units with an investment of up to Rs 1,000 million in plant and machinery will be given entry tax exemption for a period of 5 years and units with an investment of more than Rs 1,000 million in plant and machinery will be exempted from entry tax for a period of 7 years. Sources said, "Due to the availability of raw material the state is best suited for weaving units, processing units for yarn and fabrics and garment units." Key industry players Trident, Grasim, Vardhman Textiles, Raymond and Century Textiles among many others have their facilities in the state.
SOURCE: The Times of India
The Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) is looking at Rs 1 lakh crore business by 2020 and is hopeful that setting up of a knitwear board, research lab and design studio in the textile hub will help achieve that. Also, venturing into new products and creating own designs will help scale up business on the expected lines, TEA President Raja M Shanmugham said. He was speaking at a meeting held by TEA with all stakeholder associations in Tirupur to chalk out a strategy to achieve the goal. To address housing needs of workers, one lakh houses will be constructed with central government aid. CCTVs will be fixed in all 60 wards in the Tirupur corporation to monitor and ensure safety, a TEA release quoting Shanmugham said. He sought co-operation of all associations to realise the objective.
SOURCE: The Tecoya Trend
Parkal MLA Ch Dharma Reddy has exhorted the rural women and girls to gain expertise in tailoring and fashion designing, which would ensure better employment and livelihood opportunities.He said the government was planning to set up a mega Textile Park at Sangem in Parkal assembly segment soon. Once the park was set up, it would open up wide range of employment chances for locals and hence they should be ready to grab such an opportunity by obtaining skills. The MLA has on Tuesday inaugurated a free computer training centre setup at Atmakur mandal headquarters under the aegis of Sarvodaya Youth Organisation (SYO). He stressed the importance of computer literacy, saying it would help a person to be abreast of latest happenings and ensure gainful employment.
The MLA has offered to offer training in accounting software, Tally, free of cost to local women if they excelled in PGDCA course to be offered at the centre. He appreciated the SYO in offering training to women in tailoring and allied courses along with computer training to provide them livelihood.Dharma Reddy asked the organisation to spread its activities to other parts of the district and to neighbouring districts also to benefit the rural women and girls.
Joint Collector M Haritha also suggested to extend the training activities to other parts and to offer driving classes to women and girls. The SYO secretary, Pallepadu Damodar informed their organisation was running training centres at Geesukonda, Atmakur and Hanamkonda with the help of Karl Kübel Foundation (KKS) and German Federal Ministry for Economic and Development. Efforts would be made to extend the activities to other mandals, he added.Gudeppad market committee vice-chairman G Ramu, MPTCs Forum president K Kamalakar, local tahsildar Venkanna, several elected representatives and nearly 500 women and girls attended the programme.
SOURCE: The Hans India
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is currently the talk of all countries. The partnership is a trade agreement of twelve Pacific Rim countries which will be formed to create a free-trade zone amongst these nations. India being the sixth largest textile and apparel exporter in the world stands to lose, Care Ratings said, “Indian apparel exports are partially protected from the adherence to the “Yarn forward” rule i.e. the yarn used in manufacturing textile and apparel goods must be spun or extruded in one of the TPP participating countries for the final goods to qualify for benefits.” It is expected that TPP will execute or reduce duties on textile and apparel goods whichever derived from these 12 countries, provided the specific “Rule of Origin” requirements are met i.e. “Yarn forward” rule; whereas the Indian apparel exports would be entitled to 15-45% duty.
Care Ratings explained, “The passage of TPP may bring India in a disadvantageous position in longer term, against other countries like Vietnam which has gained duty-free access to US. Textile and garments produced from yarn and fabric made by a TPP nation will qualify for duty-free status.” Despite the weak global apparel trade, the Indian apparel exports have consistently risen. In the last fiscal (FY16), the country’s apparel export grew by 1% in FY16 as compared with FY15.
Till March 2016, India retail market value was at $40 billion, which was almost entirely produced within the country. If production from both domestic and export markets combined, the country’s value jumps to $57 billion, against with $24 and $20 billion in Bangladesh and Vietnam, respectively. Care Ratings added, “With increasing competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam along with the passage of TPP, the export demand for Indian apparel is expected to moderate.” Government intervention is seen as a major reason to stem this probable decline of India's global textile export market. Various measures have been adapted by government of India like allocating Rs.1,480 crore towards the Amended Technology Upgraded Fund (A-TUF) Scheme incentive and Rs.100 crore under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP). The rating agency said, “Given the continuous efforts by the Government of India to response the increasing competition from Vietnam and Bangladesh, India is in a sweet spot to increase its market share in world apparel trade given the declining competitiveness of China.” The government recently announced Rs.6,000 crore package for this sector which involves additional incentives for duty drawback scheme for apparels, flexibility in labor laws and tax and production incentives to garment manufacturing units. Meanwhile led by lack of sufficient spinning and weaving capacities, would not lead India under the danger position for a large extent, as Care Ratings expects it to force member countries till the time required capacities are built.
SOURCE: The Zee Business
Ministry of Textiles is continually communicating with the Ministry of Commerce to facilitate FTA with EU to boost the international trade, especially in the textile sector, said Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Rashmi stated that India has greater competitive advantage as compared to other nations in terms of environmental compliances. She added that Bangladesh enjoys preferential treatment and tax benefits for textile exports, however, countries of the European Union lay huge importance to environmental compliances and that is where India stands to gain over Bangladesh. She appealed industry to take full advantage of the special package announced by the Government for the textile sector. She also pointed out that industry needs to increasingly focus on innovation, modernisation and technological advancement to become world-leaders in the textile sector.
Indian textile industry is at a turning point. On one hand China's export growth in textiles is decreasing while India, riding on cost advantage, have huge potential to play a prominent role in international textile trade. India is also amongst very few countries which have the entire value chain existing with the country. Further, following the true spirit of federal competitiveness, several states are coming out with their own policy and incentives scheme for the textile sector, which augurs well with the aim to make India a leading global play in the textile sector. Roll out of the GST will also greatly help in streamlining the tax structure and improve compliance, she added.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
In order to maintain the competitiveness of the country’s textile and textile products (TPT) in the global market, the Indonesian Textile Association (API) has requested the local players in the industry to regularly upgrade their production facilities. Most of the textile makers in the country presently are relied on old textile machineries and were getting more reluctant to invest more in the backdrop of weakening global demand, said API chairman, Ade Sudrajat. Ade recommended the government facilitate collaboration between local businesses and textile machinery manufacturers in India, deemed as one of leading nations in the industry, to deal with the issue. “Indonesia and India can deepen their cooperation, by, for example, providing credit facilities for the purchase of [textile] machinery,” Ade said recently, after attending an event in Bandung to introduce the 10th India International Textile Machinery Exhibition (India ITME-2016).
India currently had at least 1,000 manufacturers of spinning and dyeing machinery, Ade said. There are 45 million workers in the textile industry alone in India, a home to around 1.2 billion people. Indonesian textile exports have failed to make significant progress over the last five years partly due to declining orders from the country’s main trading partners, including Japan and the US. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show that the amount of textile exports remained stagnant at around US$13 billion since 2011. Another reason to choose India as a trading partner, Ade continued, was because the price of textile machinery was as cheap as China-made ones.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Container shipping companies, which handle about 55 percent of the country’s merchandise trade, say exports volumes are picking up. The improvement they have witnessed on the ground is starting to show in official exports numbers, which in September rose at the fastest pace in almost two years, according to figures released by the Commerce Ministry. Data gathered in 17 ports by Maersk Line show overseas shipments grew 11 percent in the first half of the year, putting containerized trade on track to expand as much as 9 percent this year, five times the global pace forecast by the World Trade Organization. The data, along with government numbers released Friday, could be an early sign of a turnaround in trade, which has held back India’s economy and left growth dependent on government and private consumption. “The container industry is really the indicator of where the new markets are, the strength of the economy — you see the trends quickly,” said Franck Dedenis, the manager director of the shipping line’s South Asia unit. “This year we have seen strong growth for exports, so that’s a massive change.”
While India accounts for a mere 6 percent of the global container business, the country is set to gain market share by growing at least 7-8 percent a year in the next five years, according to Maersk, which operates the world’s largest fleet. Thaddeus Choo, the managing director for the Indian unit of global shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line, is also seeing an exports revival, helped by a “slight rebound” of demand in the U.S. and Europe. Orders for agricultural goods and cars was strong among neighboring countries, South East Asia and East Africa, with the depreciating rupee also giving a boost, he said in an e-mail.
Containers are used for shipping finished goods and some food. A successful harvest spurred vegetable shipping by 56 percent in January-June, while garments rose 13 percent and cars and spare parts 9 percent, according to Maersk, a unit of Denmark-based A.P. Moeller Maersk A/S. The 11 percent overseas shipment growth compares with a 2 percent expansion last year, while imports rose 12 percent, the same as in 2015. Good rains during this year’s monsoon will also help extend the exports growth, according to India’s Container Shipping Lines Association, which estimates that containers out of India grew 8 percent in the seven months through July. The industry tracks numbers by volume, which can help monitor demand more closely. Economists at Yes Bank Ltd. in Mumbai studied exports volume for 97 categories of goods and found that 54 showed an increase in the first seven months, compared with 50 in the year earlier period. The exports data reported by government are in dollar terms and are catching up, after contracting for all but one month since December 2014. They climbed 4.6 percent in September, the most since November 2014. “Looking ahead, there are reasons to think that export growth in US$ terms will gradually accelerate,” wrote Shilan Shah, a Singapore-based economist at Capital Economics, citing rising oil prices and expectations of a “mild” rupee depreciation.
India is not alone in reporting declines in exports by dollar value, with China seeing a 10 percent slide in September from a year before. Looking at volumes, China container foreign trade rose 4 percent in the first nine months, according to data by the Chinese Ministry of Transport. That’s not automatic good news for India: A slowing China cut demand for Indian products by 22 percent last month. Other India clients, such as the Gulf Cooperation countries, are also losing steam, hurting prospects for Indian exports. “I would put it as an early sign of improving,” Suvodeep Rakshit, an economist at Kotak Securities Ltd. in Mumbai, said of Maersk’s data. “Is it a definitive sign that things are picking up? I would not be so sure,” he said.
Playing in India’s favor is competitive production and labor costs, along with a push by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to streamline bureaucracy, according to Dedenis. Still, there’s more the government can do to cut red tape and improve transparency, he said. Exporters in Shanghai need 37 hours to complete border and documentary compliance procedures, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business report. For counterparts in Mumbai, it takes 149 hours. Multiple checkpoints and road delays mean a container that takes 11 days to get from Shanghai to Mumbai by ship then needs 20 days to reach New Delhi by road. The introduction of a national sales tax, which will sweep away a welter of state levies, “should improve matters considerably,” the bank said in a separate report. “We believe India will continue to grow for years to come at a very decent pace,” Dedenis said. It “has a big chance to develop its footprint in the global trade.”
SOURCE: The Financial Express
India continues to be one of the main growth markets for DHL Express which opened a new USD 100 million South Asia Hub in Singapore. India-led South Asian markets accounted for 30 per cent growth in express cargo deliveries for DHL between 2012-15, the company's executives said, adding that India itself is a double-digit growth market. The company, which inaugurated the new 140 million Singapore dollar (USD 100 million) South Asia Hub here, serves India with two dedicated daily flights to Bangalore and Delhi as well as commercial flights for express cargo deliveries to Mumbai, the officials said. The two dedicated flights to Bangalore and Delhi offers 195 tonnes per flight six times a week. South Asia accounts for 30 per cent of the company's daily shipment growth between 2012-2015, said Ken Lee, CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific. Oceania accounts 50 per cent and South East Asia about 25 per cent, he said. "India is a double-digit growth market for DHL Express," said Sean Wall, executive vice president for network, operations and aviation for Asia Pacific.
The 24-hour express hub facility located within Changi Airfreight Centre at Singapore Changi Airport, spread across 23,600 square metres, is outfitted with the industry's first fully automated express parcel sorting and processing system in South Asia and is set to boost its operational capacity and efficiency at DHL Express. "The facility in Singapore processes up to 24,000 shipments and documents per hour and can handle over 628 tonnes of cargo during the peak processing window - tripling our cargo handling capacity and processing shipments six times faster as compared to the manual operations in the previous hub," said Frank-Uwe Ungerer, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DHL Express Singapore.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
In order to compute the states’ revenues losses from the goods and services tax (GST), a 14% annual growth over the 2015-16 base would be assumed in their VAT revenue over the next five years, when the Centre will be obliged to fully compensate them for these losses. The broad contours of the compensation formula finalised here by the GST Council adds to the revenue base of the 11 geographically disadvantaged states what they forewent to run the area-based excise relief schemes, which cost them R19,000 crore in 2015-16, but not in case of other states. Also, the CST revenue in the base year with the actual rate of 2% will be added to the revenue base, and not 4% as initially demanded by the states.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the 14% secular rate of growth was agreed on after discussing five different formulas to compute the states’ possible VAT revenue growth in a non-GST scenario (any shortfall from this level is eligible to be compensated). These were a mutually agreed-upon fixed rate (which is what has come through); the average of the three best (high-growth) years in the past five years; and the average of median three of the last five years after leaving the two outliers. States had earlier turned down the Centre’s proposal for taking the average of the last three years for projecting future revenue growth, saying these years haven’t been particularly good due to the economic slowdown. The average VAT revenue growth in the five years to 2015-16 was 14.2%, while the five formulas discussed produced a broad range of 10-18%.
While the Centre has mooted a cess on “ultra-luxury items” to create a fund for compensating states in the GST regime, the states have come out against the proposal, saying it negated the principle of GST. “While the Subramanian panel had suggested a demerit rate of 40%, the Centre is now proposing a lower rate 26% for luxury items in order to create space for imposing a cess on them and mobilise resources for compensation. States want a higher rate of 30%-plus on demerit and luxury goods so that the tax rate on essential items can be brought down to 4% (from 6% proposed),” Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac told FE. Currently, demerit goods attract more than 30%, he said. Isaac also sought a standard rate of 20%-plus.
While the crucial issue of the GST rate structure will be discussed by the council on Wednesday and Thursday, revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia told FE that the Centre favoured a four-slab structure to start with. “We are suggesting the standard rate to be divided into two — 18% and 12%. And we propose another lower tax slab of 6% (for essential items), considering that there are about 300 items which are currently exempted from the central excise and on which VAT rate is 5%. Now, (the rate on) these items cannot be straight away taken to 12%. And the demerit goods could be brought under the highest rate of 26%,” he said. It may be recalled that the Arvind Subramanian panel had recommended a single standard rate of 18%, a 12% merit rate and a demerit rate of 40% for a clutch of items like luxury cars, aerated beverages, paan masala, etc. He also discussed the options of raising the rate on precious metals to 4-6%.
Jaitley reiterated that the GST structure won’t be inflationary, but said that while states would have adequate revenue, the Centre would need to have way to discharge its obligation of compensating states. It is learnt that the Centre mooted a cess on ultra-luxury and demerit items for this purpose, a proposal opposed by states in Tuesday’s meeting. “Apart from the existing clean environment cess, there could be an additional impost on tobacco, luxury cars and paan masala. All these put together would yield R50,000 crore, which could be used for compensation. The cess proceeds would not come to the Centre and go to a different kitty,” Adhia told FE. In the case of essential and mass consumption items, there won’t be steep increases in rates, he said. Jaitley said that there would only be the least possible burden on the taxpayer.
The revenue secretary added that cess would vary from item to item and would be on end consumption except for clean environment cess. “From the clean environment cess at R400 per tonne, we are expecting R26,000 crore. The idea is that existing tax burden should not come down heavily in case of luxury items. About 25% of the total taxable base would be under 26% rate, 70% of the base under either 18% or 12%,” he added. The states taxable income to be protected — of taxes to be subsumed in GST (other imposts line stamp duty, registration fee, excise on alcohol, etc, they will continue to levy), needs to be determined in the light of R4.4 lakh crore of such income in 2015-16 and R56,000 crore of CST revenue (which will be absent in the GST regime).
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The GST Council on Tuesday discussed a four-tier rate structure suggested by the Centre and agreed on compensation to loss-incurring states for the first five years of the new tax regime. The Opposition might voice differences with the proposal. The council was apprised of the proposal of these slabs — 6, 12, 18 and 26 per cent, with cess on the highest tariff for ultra luxury and demerit items. The proposal also includes four-per cent rate on gold, but the Centre said it can’t be called a slab because it is specific to just one commodity. Discussions will continue over the next two days. The council is headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprises finance ministers and representatives of states.
Jaitley told reporters the base year for calculating the revenue of a state would be 2015-16 and secular growth of 14 per cent would be taken for calculating the likely revenue of each state in the first five years. The council also looked at standard GST rates of 12 and 18 per cent, under which 70 per cent of taxable goods would be covered. According to the proposal, the highest slab would be 26 per cent. It would cover 20 to 25 per cent of taxable goods, including consumer durable and vehicles. For ultra-luxury items, such as expensive cars, or demerit items, such as tobacco, a cess above the 26-per cent rate would apply, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said after the meeting. “The proceeds from such cess, estimated to be around Rs 50,000 crore, would be exclusively used by the Centre to compensate states,” he added. Items that attract a five-per cent value added tax will come under the lowest bracket of six per cent, Adhia said. He added services would be either in the 12 per cent and 18 per cent brackets.
ON GST RATES
“The principles of fixing the rate would be it should be inflation neutral, states and Centre continue with their expenditure and taxpayers are not burdened”- Arun Jaitley, Finance minister
“As an indirect tax, GST affects the rich and the poor alike. I urge GST Council to keep the rate at 18 per cent or lower” - Rahul Gandhi, Vice-president, Congress
“Our state govt wanted the highest rate to be fixed at 30 per cent so that common man can either be exempt or levied with lower tax rate” - Thomas Issac, Finance minister, Kerala
“We will like to keep GST rate slabs as low as possible and as clean as possible. But current revenues should not be compromised” - Abhimanyu Sindhu, Finance minister, Haryana
Jaitley said, “The principles of fixing the rate would be it should be inflation neutral, states and Centre continue with their expenditure and taxpayers are not burdened.” Once the rate structure is finalised, the technical group of state and central tax officers would discuss which item would fall in which tax bracket. “So far, between the last two meetings and today, we have been one by one reaching a consensus on each issue and so far all decisions have been taken by a consensus,” said Jaitley. “And the object is to keep on discussing and re-discussing even when there is no agreement on the first instance, and take as many decision as possible by consensus,” he added.
Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac said his state government wanted the highest rate to be fixed at 30 per cent so that common man items can either be exempt or levied with lower tax rates. The compensation to states would be “limited to taxes subsumed into GST”, he said.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Discussions on the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) are expected to accelerate at the upcoming India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meet on Thursday, October 20, but a conclusive agreement will be difficult to reach. The TPF, the premier bilateral arena for discussing trade and investment issues between nations, will see the BIT being discussed in detail, but questions remain over a conclusive deal, a government official said on the condition of anonymity. With the US presidential elections to be held in November, both governments are being cautious, the official added. The BIT is expected to eventually replace the existing bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements (BIPPAs) that India has signed with 72 nations, the model draft of which was cleared by the Cabinet in December 2015. In August, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said after the conclusion of the second round of India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in New Delhi that India will wait for the US’s response on the issue.
At the same time, US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker had signalled that discussions will require some time, arguing that any agreement should include similar standards set by the Trans Pacific Partnership, a proposed mega trade pact between the US and 11 Pacific rim nations. The model BIT states that India or any other country cannot nationalise or expropriate any asset of a foreign company unless the law is followed, is done for public purpose and fair compensation paid. Public purpose is not defined in any treaty India has signed with other nations. The BIT states that dispute-resolution tribunals, including foreign tribunals, can question “public purpose” and re-examine a legal issue settled by Indian judicial bodies. However, other nations have reservations about the BIT allowing foreign companies and related aggrieved parties to seek international arbitration only after exhausting all domestic redressal options. India received $17.95 billion in foreign direct investment from the US between April 2000 and March 2016.
Other crucial issues like Visa regulations, customs cooperation, greater market access for goods, and intellectual property rights are also set to be discussed at the 10th edition of the TPF in New Delhi. The TPF has five focus groups overseeing agriculture, investment, intellectual property rights, services, and tariff, non-tariff barriers. In its annual meeting in July 2015, India had pressed for setting up a high level group to discuss its concerns on the Totalisation and Social Security Act of the US. According to India, this law discriminates against Indian workers in the US, who end up losing their social security contributions because of a discrepancy in the Visa and social security regimes. India wants early conclusion of the issue, aiming to protect the interests of Indian professionals who contribute around a $1 billion (Rs 6,670 crore) each year to the US social security. Under this pact, professionals of both the countries would be exempted from social security taxes when they go to work for a short period in the other country. Similarly, the issue of increase in visa fee and reduction in the number of available H1B and L1 visas proposed by US lawmakers will also be discussed. While India claims it will adversely affect the Indian information technology industry, Pritzker had claimed earlier that a majority of such visas were granted to Indians. "In 2014-15, as much as 69 per cent of the all H1B visas and 30 per cent of L1 visas were issued to Indians,” she had said. Indian companies are an important part of the US economy, with Indian foreign direct investment into the US reaching in $11.8 billion in 2015.
On IPR issues, India has consistently maintained its stand that its IPR laws are compliant with global and World Trade Organization norms, but the US has raised concerns over the patent regime, particularly in the pharmaceuticals sector. On trade secrets, the US wants a separate law. Currently, bilateral trade between the countries is around $100 billion (around Rs 6.67 lakh crore), with merchandise trade accounting for $62.11 billion (around Rs 4.14 lakh crore). Both sides have agreed to increase this to $500 billion in the coming years.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
An India-US totalisation agreement exempting short-term work-visa holders from contributing to social security and lowering of visa fees for IT professionals will continue to dominate India’s agenda at the bilateral trade policy forum (TPF) meeting beginning on Wednesday. New Delhi will also make a case for greater market access for basmati, grapes and mangoes at the series of meetings between officials which includes Ministerial-level talks between USTR Michael Froman and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “The US has said that its legal system does not allow a totalisation agreement with India, but we are not ready to accept such an argument. It is unfair to force Indian workers to pay social security when their visa tenure is shorter than the minimum working years required to benefit from social security,” a government official told BusinessLine.
Since the TPF is a forum for both countries to air their grievances, New Delhi hopes to change Washington’s outlook towards a social security agreement, which could save India an estimated $4 billion annually, through constant discussion at the forum. Under the TPF, there would be technical level discussions on October 19 on the four working group issues — agriculture, trade in services and goods, promotion of investment in manufacturing and intellectual property. Technical discussions would be followed by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia and the Deputy USTR the next day.
Export partner
The US is India’s largest export partner accounting for more than $40 billion of exports in 2015-16. The hefty additional fees imposed on temporary work visas by the US last year, which has hit mostly Indian IT professionals working for companies such as Infosys and Wipro, will be another area of prominence for India. Although India has dragged the US to the WTO on the matter, it is finding it difficult to build a sound case due to difficulty in accessing relevant data on visas issued by the US government.
Problems faced by Indian exporters of mangoes, basmati rice and grapes due to various unwarranted requirements and restrictions imposed by the US will also be raised by Indian officials. “Although the US allows exports of mangoes and basmati rice, there are many issues related to sanitary & phytosanitary norms that act as irritants. These have to be removed,” the official said.
The US, on its part, would push India to tighten its IPR norms and move beyond the commitments made in the multilateral TRIPS agreement entered into by all World Trade Organisation (WTO) members. New Delhi has been maintaining that while it would work towards have an easier and friendlier IPR regime for innovators, it was not ready to take on additional commitments as it would harm the interest of poor patients in the country.
New issues
Washington would also try to convince India to agree to discuss new issues at the WTO such as e-commerce, investments and environment, which the country has been resisting so far. As part of the annual work plan jointly agreed between India and US, the four working groups have been meeting with an intention of understanding the best practices, facilitating investment and raising concerns relating to the trade.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
In order to promote brand India in global markets, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is planning to hold day-long deliberations with stakeholders. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that promoting and protecting brand India outside is important for gaining access to global markets, not just inviting investments. It will also help the domestic market, she said. “We plan to hold day-long deliberations on this. People from all over the world can give ideas on what we need to do to promote Indian brand abroad,” she said here at a function on ‘Make in India’. She said that the ministry would revamp the IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) in terms of ways to do the branding exercise in the future.
IBEF is a trust set up by the Department of Commerce. Its primary objective is to promote and create international awareness of the Made in India label in markets overseas and to facilitate dissemination of knowledge of Indian products and services. On the government’s initiative to increase the share of manufacturing to 25 per cent by 2025, the minister said work is moving fast on further improving the ease of doing business and trade facilitation. On increasing competitiveness of India’s exports, she said the ministry is in discussions with the Railway Ministry to reduce the mounting logistics costs and smoothen freight movement across the country. On why Indian companies are cautious in terms of investments in the domestic markets, she said: “I think, Indian companies are cautious but the time for cautiousness is over. They should have the bullishness”.
Talking about SMEs and their financing issues, she appealed banks to do brainstorming with SMEs on the matter as the sector has huge potential for growth. “I will strongly urge banks to understand how to fund SMEs in a sustained manner,” she said, adding that they can play fundamental role in increasing manufacturing sector’s share in GDP. When asked about her expectations about the interest rate cut by RBI, Sitharaman said, “it (RBI panel MPC) has made a good beginning”. The commerce minister urged industry associations to increase membership of SMEs as it will become easier to hold discussions with them at one platform. “(Otherwise it is very difficult to access them (together) at one platform”, she added.
Talking about the investment cycle in India, Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava said that ‘Make in India’ should become make competitively in India. “Competitiveness implies both quality and cost of production,” he said adding there is a need to look at competitiveness in terms of why countries like Vietnam are attracting investments in manufacturing and not India.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The rupee moved up further by 6 paise to 66.67 against the dollar today, with exporters and banks going on a selling spree of the US currency and a higher opening in the stock market backing it up. Forex dealers said the dollar faced some headwinds against other currencies overseas after core US inflation rose less than forecast in September. Continued inflows by foreign funds too supported the uptrend. The rupee had gained 15 paise to end at 66.73 yesterday on fresh bout of dollar selling amid weak overseas sentiment. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex advanced 80.19 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 28,131.07 in early trade today.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
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$ 49.57 per barrel (bbl) on 17.10.2016. This was lower than the price of US$ 49.94 per bbl on previous publishing day of 14.10.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 3310.03 per bbl on 17.10.2016 as compared to Rs. 3338.72 per bbl on 14.10.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 66.78 per US$ on 17.10.2016 as against Rs. 66.85 per US$ on 14.10.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on October 17, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 14.09.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.10.2016 (Sep 29, 2016 to Oct 12, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
49.57 (49.94) |
48.69 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3310.03 (3338.72) |
3243.24 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.78 (66.85) |
66.61 |
SOURCE: PIB
Advanced fibre-based materials, digitisation of manufacturing and supply chains, new sustainable and customer-centric business models and access to growth markets will shape the future of the textile and fashion industries in Europe, the Textile ETP reports. Some 150 participants from 24 countries attended the conference called European Textiles – going digital, going high-tech, which was held from 12-13 October in Brussels. The key highlight of the event, organised by the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (Textile ETP), was the unveiling of the Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).
Innovation themes and research priorities
The SIRA outlines the major innovation themes and research priorities which are expected to drive and shape the future of the textile and clothing sector in Europe over the coming decade. It has been jointly developed by over 100 textile industry, technology and research experts from across Europe. The document is entitled Towards a 4th Industrial Revolution of Textiles and Clothing. It expresses the conviction that the interplay of technology trends, such as digitization and automation, market trends, such as growing technical textile applications and more demand for sustainable fashion products, and new business models, such as circular and sharing economy concepts and personalized product-services, will provide a new basis for a more knowledge-intensive, growing and more profitable textile and clothing industry in Europe.
Future trends
“The trends we foresaw during the development of the first Strategic Agenda in 2006, of an industry that is shedding production volumes in favour of higher value-added products for niche markets have played out very strongly in the last 10 years,” said Textile ETP President Paolo Canonico in his opening words. “The EU textile and clothing sector has reduced turnover by 19% while labour productivity has grown by 36% and extra-EU exports by 37%. Since the economic crisis in 2009 this trend has further accelerated and by 2015 virtually all key figures for the sector, including employment numbers have shown growth. This can continue for the foreseeable future provided research and innovation, education and training and technology transfer to the many small companies in the sector is smartly supported at EU, national and regional level.”
Representatives of the European Commission detailed the policies and programmes in place to provide support to the industry for more research in materials, manufacturing technologies, digitisation and new business models; a stronger sectoral education and training provision and investment in clusters and other innovation support mechanisms at regional level.
Attendance
The strong presence of the textile machinery sector at the conference through companies such as Brückner, Lindauer Dornier or Picanol underlined the importance of a close collaboration between leading Europe-based technology developers and their local lead industry customers to exploit advantages arising from greater resource efficiency, digitisation and new material processing. The conference also featured a number of young companies exploiting research know-how and advanced technologies for revolutionary textile based products for the health (Bioserenity), construction (Lucem, Raina Industries), energy (MACO Technology) protection (Clara Swiss Safety Tech) or outdoor (inuheat) markets. Textile consultancy Gherzi-Van Delden presented the preliminary results of a study on the competitiveness and export opportunities for European technical textile producers showing impressive growth rates and export market shares for EU producers, especially on the attractive US market. This current position of strength is based on knowledge, innovation and investment in advanced manufacturing technologies by European companies.
SOURCE: The Innovation in Textiles
Pakistan on Tuesday asked the United States to revise travel advisory, ensure a preferential access to the country’s textile products and ease visa regime for exporters of information technology-related services to further strengthen trade ties between the two countries. Khurram Dastgir Khan, minister for commerce, said this during the 8th Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) council meeting. The commerce minister is heading the Pakistan’s delegation to deliberate upon the trade ties between the two countries. The US delegation is led by Ambassador Michael Froman, United States Trade Representative (USTR) at the meeting, and included Ambassador David Hale, Matthew Vogel, deputy USTR and others.
The Pakistani delegation included Secretary Commerce Azmat Ranjha, Additional Secretary Commerce Asad Hayauddin and Trade Minister at Washington DC Ali Tahir. Minister Khan said there are several reasons for which Pakistan deserves preferential access to the US textile market. “Several international institutions have substantiated Pakistan’s stable economy, while the security situation has also greatly improved,” he said. “Pakistan is now a lot safer today than it was a few years ago.” The minister said a durably stable Pakistan will not only bring prosperity to its people, but will also allow it to play its role in creating a stable region, “which is our mutual goal.” Ambassador Michael Forman said TIFA serves as a premier forum for advancing bilateral trade investment relationship. “Current economic relationship with Pakistan is just a fraction of what it could be and with TIFA we can seek that potential,” Forman said. He said under the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, important structural reforms have been undertaken in Pakistan. He said the economic and energy reforms resulted in enhancing overall economic growth and lowering inflation and provided a conducive environment for further strengthening the trade ties between two countries.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways and means to improve access of Pakistani exports, including textiles and agricultural items, and enforcement of intellectual property rights in Pakistan, dispute resolution mechanisms, opening up of defence procurement in Afghanistan to Pakistani companies, holding of the next business opportunities conference in Pakistan and other trade related matters.
SOURCE: The News
The maiden edition of the Ghana Writers Awards (GWA) is set to make history as the only awards event in Ghana to be attended with only an African wear as the prescribed dress code. The idea is to promote the Ghanaian textile industry and also create wealth for players in the sewing sector. The Vice President of the Ghana Writers Awards, Mr. Kingsley Kojo Antwi, in an interview said the rationale for making African wear the prescribed dress code for the awards was to encourage the patronage of the Ghanaian textile industry. "We need to promote every aspect of our culture. Our dressing defines our cultural identity", he said. He said patronising the Ghanaian textile materials promotes the country's economy by creating jobs and wealth for some people. "The event will be an interesting one. Apart from [us] celebrating Ghanaian literature and writers in a grand style, we are also going to display to the world our unique Ghanaian fashion", Mr. Antwi said. Ghana Writers Awards is a literary prize instituted by some Ghanaian literary compatriots to promote and celebrate Ghanaian writers and literature.
Touching on the awards, he said 16 writers including six females and 10 males have been shortlisted for the awards slated for Saturday, October 29, 2016 at Marvels Ghana Mini Golf Course in Dzorwulu in the Greater Accra region. Mr. Antwi said the theme for the awards is: "Preserving the Ghanaian culture through creative writing: the role of writers". According to him, the awards ceremony would be attended by writers, publishers, academics, poets, spoken word artistes, journalists, and lovers of arts, musicians and government officials. He said awards was being organised in partnership with KARIS, Writers International Network (Canada), Mensa Press (USA), the Arachneed (India), Turf, Media Mail, Bea Works, Zulu Nation, Tangent Studios, and MacAid Organisation.
SOURCE: The Star FM Online
Sir, Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain, was reported last week as encouraging a China-UK free trade agreement. This should not be allowed to pass as merely another diplomatic statement. Brexit requires the UK to make its own way in the world, and a China-UK FTA is a real positive policy direction. China shows willing to embark on an FTA. Brexit enables the UK to avoid the various obstacles the EU has thrown up to an EU-China FTA for various internal political reasons, perhaps most remarkably resistance even to a feasibility study for an FTA. The UK is currently well positioned vis-à-vis China given its acceptance of China having market economy status, the welcome to renminbi markets by the City and the initiative to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. There are areas of potential difficulty. China has red lines regarding arbitration, intellectual property and trade unions. These will require careful navigation. It is true that FTA negotiations can be difficult and time-consuming but experience teaches that where the political will is present on both sides swift acceleration to completing an FTA is achievable. Liam Fox, the UK’s international trade secretary, may recognise as a generality that the UK’s opportunities for trade with China are “enormous”. The priority for concrete progress, however, must be a China-UK FTA to come into force the day after Brexit.
SOURCE: The Financial Times
Representatives from the Association of South East Asian Nations and the European Union have confirmed their "commitment to intensify work towards the timely resumption of region-to-region free trade agreement negotiations." They met in Bangkok on October 13-14. The EU and ASEAN (comprising Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) started talks on an FTA in 2007, but when those negotiations were suspended in 2009, the EU decided to instead pursue negotiations towards FTAs with the individual countries within ASEAN. The EU initialed an FTA with Singapore in October 2014, launched FTA talks with the Philippines at the end of last year, and concluded negotiations with Vietnam in February this year. However, the EU's goal has always been said to be to use such agreements as strategic "building blocks" for an eventual broader region-to-region deal with ASEAN as a whole.
SOURCE: The Tax News
