INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2016-10-19
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1041.70 |
USD/Ton |
0.72% |
10/19/2016 |
|
VSF |
2489.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
ASF |
1869.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1068.41 |
USD/Ton |
1.41% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2359.40 |
USD/Ton |
-0.62% |
10/19/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4377.51 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5586.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1305.83 |
USD/Ton |
1.15% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2181.33 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2037.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1253.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2559.73 |
USD/Ton |
-0.29% |
10/19/2016 |
|
10S OE Cotton Yarn |
2077.46 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
32S Cotton Carded Yarn |
3409.26 |
USD/Ton |
-0.02% |
10/19/2016 |
|
40S Cotton Combed Yarn |
3872.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
3064.25 |
USD/Ton |
-0.24% |
10/19/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1736.16 |
USD/Ton |
0.43% |
10/19/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2596.83 |
USD/Ton |
0.57% |
10/19/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2240.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
3190.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2344.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1854.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.36 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.84 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.18 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/19/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14839 USD dtd. 19/10/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The Income Tax Department on Tuesday raided the premises of Pothys Private Ltd, a firm that runs a chain of textile showrooms in South India. Nearly hundred officials from the I-T department searched nine places belonging to the retailer in Coimbatore, Puducherry and in the city. An official from the department who confirmed the raids told The Hindu, “Two Pothys employees were caught caught carrying Rs. 1 crore in Puducherry. When questioned, they were unable to give clear answers about the source of the cash.” The official added, “With the announcement of the bypoll date, the model code of conduct has come into force in Puducherry. So based on a tip-off from the police, we conducted the search,” he said.
Till late night
The raids began at 9.30 a.m. and went on till late night. According to Income Tax officials, the searches would continue on Wednesday. Another official, who was a part of the operation, said that only the garments division was being searched. When asked whether any evidence was found, he said, “We have found some evidences and we are verifying them. We cannot say anything now.” On whether other places and businesses belonging to the company would also come under the scanner, the official said: “It’s too early to say.” The directors of Pothys Private Limited could not be reached for their comments. According to Pothys website, the firm began its journey in the year 1930 at Srivilliputtur. It was the first retail showroom in Tamil Nadu to be accredited with the ISO 9001 certification way back in 2003, the site claimed.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
In 2014, India was ranked 142 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rankings. In 2015, it was 130. The otherwise self-assured joint secretary at the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), who is at the epicentre of the action around the ease of doing business reforms cannot help but betray a sense of nervous apprehension whenever he mentions October 25—the date when the rankings will be declared. Last year’s newspapers celebrated the jump in rank as a vindication of the government’s resolve. This year’s rank will certify if it still has the reform mojo intact.
A couple of years back, the new government had given DIPP an almost impossible task—improve ease of doing business in India and show results. Bureaucratic cobwebs accumulated from decades of over-regulation spread across myriad government departments, state governments, political affiliations and well-oiled middlemen and industries had to be done away with. Where does one start? How does one do it? How do you make the behemoth, chaotic machinery of the Indian government listen to one central government department?
The DIPP website, like most government websites is a bit like a quirky museum—where flashing feel-good internet stock photos blip in the midst of a deluge of information, logos and links rolling in horizontal and vertical directions, all shouting for attention. It is easy to miss an innocuous section on the side titled ‘Business Reforms Action Plan-State ranking portal on EODB initiatives’. Click on it, and the enormity of what the DIPP has managed to pull off in the past two years becomes slowly evident. States have been ranked on their ability to implement some 340 ease of doing business reforms—across an exhaustive list of areas—environment, labour, construction, electricity, land, inspections, tax, etc, to name some. And here is where DIPP turns on its head the conventional notion of a lethargic sarkari department—it has made the rankings dynamic! So every time, any state sends an email to DIPP with a copy of the regulation that has been reformed; a few days later, post verification, there will be an inch-up in the rankings!
At the end of two years, 16 states have implemented over 70% of the suggested list of reforms. Out of this, 10 of them have implemented over 90% of the reforms. Interestingly, seven of the 16 are actually non-BJP ruled states—who otherwise have no political compulsion to toe the central government line. Out of the non-BJP seven, are Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who are in fact the top two in India, trouncing heavy weights like Gujarat at 3; MP at 7, and Maharashtra at 11.
Whatever did the DIPP say or do, that galvanised almost half of the country, across party lines, to undertake regulatory reform and cut red tape? Textbook behavioural economics: DIPP and the World Bank have long had a love-hate relationship. Every year the World Bank would publish a dismal score for India’s ease of doing business rank. And every year, India would criticise the methodology of the ranking. And that would be all that would ever be done around ease of doing business! World Bank would again return the next year and discover that nothing has changed from its previous survey. And the cycle would continue.
However with the new government, DIPP did something different. Instead of criticising World Bank, it instead decided to ask for its assistance. It adopted a two-pronged approach. One—it clinically tried to address the concerns in Mumbai and Delhi (which are the only cities World Bank surveys!), so as to arithmetically climb up the rankings. So, the next time the World Bank inspectors were in town, the whole government machinery clicked its boots to attention, literally chaperoning the whole process. And two, DIPP decided to use their assistance to go beyond the two cities, and try to improve ease of doing business across the country. And, herein, it did something that should be adopted in textbooks of how to go about reforms in a country. It listed out a questionnaire of 98 reforms—which had only a Yes or No answer. ‘Does the state have a single window?’ ‘Does the state have a centralized helpline’, ‘Does the state have a definite timeline for a business application?’ And then it asked states to implement these reforms and file reports by a particular date.
Some states took this seriously. Some didn’t. However when the interstate rankings got declared, it caused an uproar. Newspaper reports shamed states that ranked poorly. All of a sudden, DIPP found itself in possession of the attention of the chief ministers and chief secretaries, that it so crucially needed for ease of doing business. States that had done well had no qualms in splaying this tacit endorsement by the central government on their investment advertisements. States that did poorly complained bitterly to DIPP on the ranking methodology. Just as the DIPP had done for so long with the World Bank!
Either ways, states started to realise that if they had to compete for investment, it was no longer enough to have an expensive invest-in-us or make-in-us jamboree event with dozens of MoUs signed with abandon by high profile CEO’s eager to justify their invite. State bureaucrats started holding cross-governmental meetings to figure out how to improve their rankings. Government grapevines would carry news of chief secretaries furiously hauling up different departments, to replace paper pushing with paper trashing. DIPP on its part sent World Bank teams to handhold states in implementing these reforms. It started talking to other countries on best practices—for instance, the UK has offered to send its experts to share with frontline inspectors and regulators how it went about cutting red tape and improving ease of doing business.
Madhu’s problem: Madhu is a local fishmonger. Recently he opened a shop. He had to pay R1 lakh—partly to grease the palms of the government inspectors and partly to pay off the goons of the local party in the area. He didn’t seem particularly perturbed—he seemed to resign it to be an acceptable cost of doing business. DIPP’s ultimate challenge is to get all its ambitious reforms to reach the likes of Madhu—the small business owners who will always struggle to reach the hallowed corridors of secretariats, to push their files. DIPP’s next port of call needs to be not just the quantity of reforms undertaken, but their quality. To check if indeed businesses are benefitting with 90% of 340 reforms that states have implemented. Ease of doing business, after all, has to be about businesses. Not bureaucrats. India is unfortunately learning this lesson quite late in the day. Luckily, it is taking its next exams more seriously.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Hoping to roll out the Goods and Services Tax on a clean slate, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) plans to clear all pending cases before next April. “A heavy burden of legacy work regime would hamper us in giving our undivided attention to GST. The solution is to immediately chalk out an Action Plan to reduce the pendencies to the maximum possible extent in the balance months of the current financial year,” CBEC Chairman Najib Shah said in a recent letter to field formations. The move comes just six months before the Centre’s targeted roll-out date for GST of April 1, 2017 and at a time when the Finance Ministry is also initiating work on tax proposals for the Budget 2017-18.
Apart from tax disputes, the Department also has pending cases related to adjudications, refunds, rebates, drawback as well as export related schemes. While there is no official estimate of the number of pending cases with the CBEC and its field divisions, officers said that they must be running in thousands if not crores. Shah said that addressing the pending cases would also reassure stakeholders the trade facilitation remains the CBEC’s top priority and would also give them confidence that the Department is capable of handling reforms such as GST.
Referring to a similar initiative launched in Hyderabad by the Department, he said that similar initiatives must be started by field offices across the country. “It must be a collective responsibility which means that local solutions must be found to aid the Commissionerates with higher pendencies. This could involve temporary diversion of staff or even redistribution of pending cases,” he noted, adding that initiatives such as pre-audit would also improve the disposal of refund and rebate claims. Asking Chief Commissioners to closely monitor the progress in resolving such cases, Shah said, further said that a “First In First Out” approach must be used at each stage of processing such cases to ensure transparency and efficiency. The CBEC had last month asked field formations to take stock of the pending tax cases and resolve them at the earliest.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
On a crucial day in which the GST Council was to decide the future course of action over Goods and Services Tax implementation, it has emerged that the various parties could not come to a consensus. Sources say that the GST Council will meet again on November 4-5 again. Just a day earlier, 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).
It was decided on Tuesday, in order to compute the states’ revenues losses from the goods and services tax (GST), a 14% annual growth over the 2015-16 VAT revenue base would be assumed over the initial 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 added to the revenue base of the 11 geographically disadvantaged states. Also, the CST revenue in the base year with the actual rate of 2% would be added to the revenue base, and not 4% as initially demanded by the states.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), the agency in charge of building the technological infrastructure for the implementation of GST, has received over 200 applications from IT and fintech companies who seek to become GST Suvidha Providers, but there are very few startups among them. The GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) will offer products and services to help tax payers and businesses in compliance. While leading tech companies such as SAP India, Tally Solutions, Vayam Technologies and MastekBSE 0.71 % Holdings have sought to become GSPs, ClearTax seems to be among the few startups to have applied. The problem is the stringent criteria related to paid-up capital and turnover.
An IT/ITeS or financial company looking to become a GSP must have paid-up (raised) capital of at least Rs 5 crore and an average turnover of at least Rs 10 crore during the last three financial years. “We kept the criteria stringent because, at the beginning, we want companies who are tested and whom we can rely on, since we are also building our own infrastructure. Also, we cannot handle a large number of GSPs right in the beginning,” GSTN chairman Navin Kumar told ET. “However, we are not barring startups from applying, and we have given a notification that even companies that don’t fit the criteria can apply and we will consider them in the next phase of selecting GSPs,” he added.
Software think tank iSPIRT said it was pushing to relax the GSP criteria to help startups. “iSPIRT is looking for an open policy that allows any startup or a small company to become a GSP. Instead of turnover, the GSTN could use other instruments like surety bonds or bank guarantees of Rs 5-10 lakh for a period of 12 to 18 months,” said Sudhir Singh, a policy expert at the iSPIRT. “The real concern of GSTN should be the product that the GSP develops. To ascertain the application security and ICT infrastructure of GSPs, they can use third parties to verify that the technical criteria is met,” Singh said. Becoming a GSP can also open a business opportunity as the selected companies are allowed to turn their services and products into a revenue model.
ClearTax’s B2B business of providing software products to businesses brings 60% of the company’s revenue, and is expected to grow to 65% after integration with the GST ecosystem, said CEO Archit Gupta. “Startups have an important role to play in the GST ecosystem for their speed of innovation and the quality of the products. They should be encouraged to become GSPs,” he said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Centre has reportedly proposed four rates — ranging from 6 per cent to 26 per cent — for the goods and services tax (GST), with a cess on the highest tariff for ultra-luxury and demerit goods. This makes sense. The notion that multiple rates are hostile to GST is misplaced. They have functioned in the EU where value added tax (VAT) rates vary among member states, and there is no reason why it will not work in India. Two standard rates of 12 per cent and 18 per cent, presumably worked out after excluding real estate, electricity, alcohol and petroleum products, will cover a majority of taxable goods. A lower slab of 6 per cent for essential goods that do not attract excise duty is welcome, given that exemptions break the GST chain, increase the possibility of evasion and create systemic inefficiencies. A 4 per cent GST on gold is in sync with the recommendations of the Arvind Subramanian panel. It will help wean consumers away from gold and reduce inflationary pressures.
The panel had recommended a composite 40 per cent excise duty on non-merit goods. Instead, the Centre has now proposed a 26 per cent rate and a cess component not eligible for input tax credit. This will keep the GST chain unbroken, while discouraging sin consumption and mobilising revenue for the Centre outside the divisible pool. Manufacturers can also claim credit for the taxes paid on demerit goods used to make the final product. However, states are miffed as cesses are excluded from the divisible pool. With a dual GST, states will collect tax on services that account for a lion’s share of GDP, on par with the Centre, and also get to tax the value addition in the production of goods. In addition, the Centre has guaranteed full compensation for revenue loss during the transition to GST for five years. So, states must see reason.
There is a case for revising the system of the Centre sharing taxes with the states. While income and customs taxes are best collected by the Centre and shared with the states, there is little reason for the Centre to share central GST proceeds with the states, apart from what is required to compensate states for revenue loss.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India and Myanmar on Wednesday vowed to maintain security in the shared border areas during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi. Both the countries share a 1,640-km-long border. “As close and friendly neighbours, the security interests of India and Myanmar are closely aligned. We have agreed that close coordination to ensure security in the areas along our border, and sensitivity to each other’s strategic interests will serve the interests of both our countries,” Modi said after the meeting. India and Myanmar also agreed that the border guarding forces on both sides would further coordinate and exchange information toward securing the common borders. It was also agreed that both sides will “expedite discussions” regarding the relevant border segments.
“Both sides underlined their mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and reaffirmed their shared commitment to fight insurgent activity and the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” according to a joint statement issued after the meeting. Both the leaders also addressed the need to resolve outstanding boundary demarcation issues through existing mechanisms. Modi also condemned the recent armed attacks against three border posts in the northern part of Rakhine State of Myanmar. "We have always admired India for being the greatest democracy in the world. We are confident that our countries can overcome challenges … It is out ambition to bring peace and stability in our country and beyond because we have suffered from instability for a long time,” Suu Kyi said.
Business and trade
To facilitate easy movement of people across the land borders for business, tourism and other purposes, both sides also agreed to coordinate, through diplomatic channels, the setting up of immigration facilities at the Tamu-Moreh and Rhi-Zowkhathar border crossing points. In an effort to boost trade investment ties, India and Myanmar inked three agreements for cooperation in sectors such as power, banking and insurance. Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) later, Suu Kyi said India’s investment in Myanmar must be linked to the country’s overall development. She said Myanmar will roll out investment norms that will accord equal treatment to foreign companies.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Bank credit to industry fell for the first time in at least five years on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis in August, dropping 0.2% to R26.18 lakh crore, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. In August 2015, the figure stood at R26.24 lakh crore, up 5% from August 2014. A decline in credit deployment in medium and micro & small industries primarily accounted for the drop, falling 5.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Loans to large industries grew a paltry 0.7% from the previous year and stemmed the overall fall in credit to industry. Industrial credit has been depressed since the beginning of the current financial year, struggling to clock 1% growth as banks have turned cautious amid the worsening asset quality while private investments remained muted.
In contrast, loans to individuals have been consistently clocking growth in the medium to late teens since May 2015. In August, retail loans grew more than 18% from the previous year to R14.56 lakh crore, with housing loans making up for more than 54% of the pie. Vehicle loans accounted for nearly 11%.
Bankers say retail credit is doing well this festive season, led by the vehicles loans segment. Jaya Chakraborty, general manager for priority, RRB, MSME and retail banking at Dena Bank, said: “We are definitely seeing a pick-up in the retail segment, especially in autos. It is there in home loans as well, but not in metros. Rather, we are getting more queries from tier-II and tier-III locations.” The bank had seen two-wheeler and four-wheeler loan disbursal to the tune of R14,000 crore during the festive season last year, and expects to surpass that figure this year, she said. Analysts expect industrial credit off take to languish for some more time as companies increasingly move to raise cash from money markets, which have been more effective in transmitting lower policy rates to borrowers than banks.
SOURCE: The Financial 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$ 50.41 per barrel (bbl) on 19.10.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 49.67 per bbl on previous publishing day of 18.10.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3363.38 per bbl on 19.10.2016 as compared to Rs. 3314.29 per bbl on 18.10.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 66.71 per US$ on 19.10.2016 as against Rs. 66.73 per US$ on 18.10.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on October 19, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 18.09.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.10.2016 (Sep 29, 2016 to Oct 12, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
50.41 (49.67) |
48.69 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3363.38 (3314.29) |
3243.24 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.71 (66.73) |
66.61 |
SOURCE: PIB
In a bid to save the sector, Minister for Commerce Engineer Khurram Dastgir Wednesday said that the government has proposed a Rs200-billion bailout package for the revival and modernisation of the textile industry. While informing the Senate Standing Committee on Textile, he said that a special package was under consideration meant to introduce new technology and infrastructural modernisation in the sector. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Mohsin Aziz at the Ministry of Textile Industry. The commerce minister said that the government would give special incentives on taxes to enhance value addition. “The government is committed to the technological revival of the textile sector and is willing to compete with other regional competitors.”
In the six-member high level committee, relevant ministries and stakeholders were constituted to review the challenges facing the textile industry. He added that the committee came up with a comprehensive recommendation for the revival of the textile industry. On the occasion, the committee showed strong reservations over the performance of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee. Dastgir added that the government was looking into developing public private partnerships for better solution and enhancing the capacity of the institution, which is currently not functioning. In the meeting, the committee had reservations on decreasing cotton production and called for improving seed quality and providing fertiliser to farmers. The committee was informed that the cotton growing areas of south Punjab have switched to other crops like maize and sugarcane due to losses in cotton.
SOURCE: The Tribune
The Knit Concern Group, founded in 1990 is specialized in the production of high-quality warp-knitted and knitted fabric. At the beginning Knit Concern had about 500 workers. In the meantime the company has grown and is one of the biggest textile producers in Bangladesh. Among other things Knit Concern produces T-shirts, polo shirts, sweat shirts and nightwear for well-known labels such as H&M, Camaieu, Obaibi, Okaidi, We, Mas Intimates and others. Currently almost 200.000 pieces of clothing are produced each day which means about 35 t of knitted articles. Knit Concern will enlarge in the near future their production so that they will produce daily 100 t of textiles. The company aims at becoming the leading producer and exporter of knitted fabric in Bangladesh. In 2005 Knit Concern bought their first BRÜCKNER stenter. Since that time the company has been continuously growing and the number of BRÜCKNER machines in their production grows with it. During the last ten years Knit Concern invested in another ten BRÜCKNER lines, among them several stenters, a sanforizing line, a felt calender, a compactor and a relaxation dryer.
The BRÜCKNER relaxation dryer is designed particularly for the finishing of open-width fabric, but if required the line can also be used for tubular fabric. Mainly articles made of natural fibres for example cotton or viscose are dryed, relaxed and shrunk on this 2.60 m wide dryer. Two padders are arranged in front of the dryer. The first one dewaters the fabric and provides a uniform fabric moisture. The second padder serves mainly for the impregnation of the fabric with plasticizer. Before the fabric passes through the dryer, it is transported through an inclined pre-stentering zone and is overstretched in wet condition. Given a corresponding overfeed of 80 to 100 % and a width overstretching between 30 and 50 % the lengthwise distortions resulting from the previous wet processes (washing, dyeing, padding) are reduced. The complete process on the pre-stentering zone serves to pre-relax the fabric which can be shrunk considerably better in the subsequent drying process and which reaches thus minimum residual shrinkage values. Within the dryer the fabric first passes an air-through zone where it is pre-heated. In the following two passages the drying and shrinking process as such begins which takes place by means of a tumble-like fabric movement.
Pre-heating the fabric in the air-through zone has several benefits. On the one hand, this zone is heated up exclusively by the exhaust air of the two drying passages arranged below. This means no additonal energy is required. On the other hand the fabric heats faster and requires thus less dwell time in the subsequent drying process. The fabric can pass this dryer faster than other dryers. Another benefit is the reduced exhaust air temperature. This air-through principle developed by BRÜCKNER allows energy savings of up to 15 % with a simultaneous increase of production of up to 20 %, depending on the type of fabric and the machine configuration.
This highly sophisticated BRÜCKNER relaxation dryer can be very easily integrated into an existing line concept. Due to the fact that the drying passages are arranged one above the other this line is saving space. Knit Concern understood and estimated the advantages of this machine concept and benefits of the very good and stable residual shrinkage, the high efficiency and the drying performance. About 12 tons of knitted fabric are finished on this line every day.
In addition Knit Concern uses the advantages of the good BRÜCKNER service in Bangladesh. A local service team which is trained regularly in Germany or by German technicians and technologists on site supports their customers in Bangladesh during the installation and commissioning of their lines and is at anytime available and arrives if required very rapidly on site. BRÜCKNER has in addition a service station in Dhaka with a large spare parts and lubricants stock. The most important parts are thus very fast available.
“Our vision is to be the country leader in producing and exporting knitted fabric in the export market“, says Joynal Abedin Mollah, MD of Knit Concern Ltd. “Quality Assurance & Product Safety is one of Knit Concern’s main focuses. Therefore we need to have also high-quality machinery in our production and that is one reason for buying BRÜCKNER machines. In addition, we have a long-term and strong relationship with Pacific Associates Ltd., BRÜCKNER’s agent in Bangladesh. The support and service is always excellent and we can count on the expertise by their technicians at any time.”
SOURCE: The Textile World
Building upon the relaunch of its global textile business, Microban International, a leader in antimicrobial solutions, has announced the expansion of its global textiles team. The appointments include Thomas Case, director of business development for textiles; Zsolt Huszágh, head of textile business development in Europe; Dr Lance Li, senior formulations chemist; Jerry Wang, regional director of Asia Textile Services; and Simon Zhao, senior technical engineer and business development specialist. “With the relaunch of our global textile division, it was vital to bring in additional assets to strengthen and manage our customer relationships and product offerings,” said Lisa Owen, senior director of global textiles business at Microban. “This expansion reinforces our commitment to our brand and mill partners, and shows we are dedicated to providing them with superior technologies and services that align with their business strategies and industries. All have years of experience in their respective fields, and we welcome them to the Microban family.” Case is based in Portland, OR, Huszágh in Hungary, Dr Li in Huntersville, NC, Wang in Taiwan, and Zhao in Shanghai, China.
America and Europe
As director of business development for textiles, Case is responsible for the Microban and Aegis brands in the Western US, Central America and Mexico. He targets marketing and materials innovation executives of leading active wear, apparel and footwear brands, and coordinates programs globally with customer mill partners and Microban teams. With 20 years of experience in B2B industry sales, marketing and business development, combined with his knowledge of the textile industry, Huszágh will be responsible for leading business development in Europe. Additionally, he holds a textile chemistry degree, and his background includes seven years of leading international sales teams, and eight years of international marketing and communication.
Collaborating with the R&D teams, engineering groups and testing laboratories, Dr Li will develop technologies and protocols to assess the performance of surface treatments. He designs new, or improves existing, liquid base coating formulations that keep surfaces cleaner through the reduction of bacteria, odours and soils. Dr Li has more than 10 years of experience in formulations, synthesis, purification and characterization of small molecules, monomers, polymers and nanocomposites using standard analytical tools. Additionally, he has work published in more than 15 papers in his respective fields of expertise.
Asian market
Working with Asian textile mills, Microban R&D, Microban sales and distribution partners, Wang will leverage his expertise in textile processing through integration of Microban odour control solutions into customer textile products. He provides local technical support to Asian textile mills that apply Microban odour control finishes to fabrics, yarn and fibres. Wang has more than 25 years of experience in material development, new business, application and technology advancements and quality assurance working with global brands and textile material suppliers.
Zhao has been with Microban since 2013, and will take on additional responsibilities in his new role, providing technical sales support to China based brands and manufacturers, while continuing to work technically with apparel customers throughout Asia. He has more than 10 years of experience working in textile chemistry and functional textiles industries. Through his past work, Zhao is an expert in the field of textiles production involving pre-treating, dyeing, printing and post-finishing.
SOURCE: The Innovation in Textiles
Zurich Insurance has launched Zurich Supply Chain insurance, a first-of-its-kind solution in the Asia Pacific region, to provide risk assessment services and protect businesses against the risks associated with supply chain management disruptions, delays or failures. The service is now available for eligible customers based in Hong Kong and Singapore. Supply Chain insurance is designed to help reduce the number of supply chain failures and provide cover in the event of an incident whereby supplies are not delivered or are otherwise delayed resulting in a financial impact on a company's operations. It is an all risks cover, focusing on incidents outside of the insured's control, including disruptions related to both physical and non-physical damage, through to the lower tiers of the supply chain. “Many organisations are not aware who their key suppliers are, especially in the lower levels of the supply chain, and very few have visibility over their entire supply chain. Half of supply chain disruptions occur beyond the preliminary supplier of goods, therefore making it extremely difficult to establish where an organisation lies within its suppliers' priorities,” said Hassan Karim, technical underwriting manager, Zurich Asia Pacific. “Effective supply chain risk management can present significant benefits to businesses and is becoming an increasingly important driver of their profits. Every customer's supply chain is different so we work with them to shape the appropriate solution and offer an individually tailored policy to meet their specific needs,” he added.
There are two components to the proposition - risk assessment and insurance. In the first phase, Zurich risk engineers conduct a comprehensive supply chain risk assessment in order to identify and evaluate customers' exposure to critical risks throughout their supply chain and prioritised mitigation actions are recommended. The results of this risk assessment together with other sources of data are then used to underwrite and price the risk in the second phase. Claims are managed by the Zurich claims team and supported by specialist third parties where necessary. Zurich Supply Chain insurance was launched in Europe and North America over six years ago.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The average oil price that Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget will fall this year by only half as much as forecast six months ago, according to the International Monetary Fund. The country’s fiscal break-even price will drop to $79.70 a barrel this year from $92.90 in 2015, the IMF said in a report released on Wednesday, a fall of 14 percent. In April, the IMF projected that the Saudi break-even price would decrease by 30 percent this year, to $66.70 a barrel from $94.80. The new numbers, released ahead of Saudi Arabia’s first-ever international bond sale, suggest that the government’s efforts to cut costs and diversify its economy away from petroleum are having less of an effect than the IMF forecast previously. Saudi Arabia generates more than 80 percent of its official revenue from oil, according to a World Bank report in July. The IMF’s revised projection could also help to explain why Saudi Arabia supported an OPEC deal last month in Algiers that will effectively force it to cut production to support oil prices, even though its regional rival Iran will be exempt from capping its output. In April, Saudi Arabia vetoed a proposed production freeze after Iran refused to take part.
Iran’s break-even price for this year will be $55.30, the IMF said, down from $60.10 in 2015. That’s lower than the $61.50 the IMF forecast for Iran in April, and much less than the fund’s revised break-even price for Saudi Arabia, showing how Iran’s more diversified economy has given it an edge over the kingdom. Both countries will be hard-pressed to balance their budgets this year. Benchmark Brent crude has averaged less than $45 a barrel in 2016 and was trading at about $52 in London on Wednesday. Prices will probably stay between $50 and $60 for the foreseeable future, according to executives, traders and officials gathered at the annual Oil and Money conference in London this week.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
China's economic growth remained stable in the third quarter, all but ensuring the government's full-year growth target and opening a window for policymakers to deliver on vows to rein in excessive credit and surging property prices. Gross domestic product rose 6.7 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, matching the median projection by economists surveyed by Bloomberg, and smack in the middle of the government's 2016 goal of 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent growth. Services industries paced the expansion in the first nine months of the year, expanding 7.6 per cent. Stabilising growth gives room for policies aimed at containing swelling leverage and curbing excessive financial risks, with IMF researchers among those calling for such efforts. The government released guidelines last week for reducing debt, yet past pledges have often been ignored as rampant credit growth fuels surging house prices in the nation's biggest cities. "It's amazing what a housing bubble and crazy debt increases can achieve," said Michael Every, head of financial markets research at Rabobank in Hong Kong. "This is not sustainable - but then the alternative is nothing anyone wants to think about."
China September quarter GDP grows 6.7% Releases for September showed the continuing shift in China's economy toward consumer spending, with retail sales gains outpacing the rise in industrial production. Investment spending continues to be led by the public sector, the figures showed, with subdued private business spending highlighting the problem of high levels of debt. September data showed Industrial output rose 6.1 per cent from a year earlier, against the median forecast for 6.4 percent. Retail sales gained 10.7 per cent, matching the median forecast Fixed-asset investment increased 8.2 per cent for January through September, matching the forecast. State firms drove the gain, with a 21.1 per cent jump in investment, while private investment advanced 2.5 per cent "Economic activity seems to be holding up reasonably well, with few signs that a renewed slowdown is just around the corner," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics in Singapore, "Nonetheless, the recent recovery is ultimately on borrowed time given that it has been driven in large part by faster credit growth and a property market boom, both of which policy makers are now working to rein in."
China's broadest measure of new credit exceeded estimates in September, data released Tuesday showed, underscoring escalating concerns over a property binge and the pace of debt expansion. Property developers seem to have taken heart from surging prices in major cities, with completed investment in real estate development rising at a 5.8 per cent pace in the first nine months of the year. But they appear positively restrained when compared with the market for apartments: the value of China's new home sales rose 61 per cent in September from a year earlier, defying policy makers' moves to cool the boom. At least 21 cities have introduced purchase restrictions and toughened mortgage lending since late September, reversing two years of easing to support home buyers. Goldman Sachs Group. has said more tightening is likely to follow if prices keep soaring, while Citigroup. estimates shrinking demand may lead sales volume to contract in the fourth quarter. "Growth seems to be underpinned by real estate," said Raymond Yeung, chief greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. in Hong Kong. While manufacturing and exports confront challenges, "growth no longer concerns the PBOC this year," he said, referring to the People's Bank of China. The economy maintained expansion of about 7.1 per cent in September, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence monthly growth gauge. China's steel mills have meanwhile clicked into a higher gear, with production climbing from a year earlier as the property boom drives domestic demand. Shares in Shanghai held modest gains after the data while the yuan was little changed. Wednesday's reports also showed further evidence of diminishing disinflationary pressures in the world's No. 2 economy, with the GDP deflator - a broad measure of costs - rising 0.74 per cent for the first nine months of the year, the quickest pace since 2014. That comes on top of figures last week that showed the first gain in factory-gate prices in China since 2012.
THE GROWING DEBT PROBLEM
SOURCE: The Business Standard
