|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1053.48275 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
VSF |
2406.695 |
USD/Ton |
-1.03% |
10/27/2016 |
|
ASF |
1889.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1092.61 |
USD/Ton |
0.68% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2347.635 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4355.675 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5566.405 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1336.2325 |
USD/Ton |
0.56% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2170.455 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2030.1875 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1299.32 |
USD/Ton |
1.15% |
10/27/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2546.9625 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2997.295 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1742.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2583.875 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3159.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2318.105 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1860.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2229.515 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.355427 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.835699 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.175294 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.6806665 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.658519 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/27/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14765 USD dtd 27/10/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The crash in cotton prices over a month, due to a better than expected crop and increased arrivals, has had exporters starting to look at signing of contracts for future shipments. The benchmark Shankar-6 variety has fallen 19 per cent in a month, to Rs 10,629 a quintal. During this period, the benchmark Number 2 cotton futures for near-month delivery on the InterContinental Exchange rose a marginal 0.1 per cent, to trade at 69.26 cents a pound. This makes exports viable, noted Kavita Gupta, textile commissioner in the central government. Exporters are waiting for a further fall in local prices before they initiate the signing of contracts with traders for assured supply, before dealing with foreign buyers. Daily arrival of the new cotton crop has been over 100,000 bales (a bale is 170 kg) this week, higher by about 30 per cent than the 80,000 bales of arrival in the last week of October 2015. “Normally, arrival picks up only in November every year,” said Dhiren Sheth, president, Cotton Association of India, not as swiftly as it has this year. The daily arrival could touch 200,000 bales by end-November. The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), chaired by the textile commissioner, has estimated a bumper crop this year, of 35.1 million bales, up 3.8 per cent from the previous year. “Traders anticipate at least Rs 700-1,000 a tonne of further fall in price by mid–November, when arrival of the new season crop hits mandis in full swing,” said M B Lal, former chairman of Cotton Corporation of India and now managing director of Shail Exports. The textiles ministry, however, estimates a sharp decline in exports at five million bales during 2016-17 (October this year to next September), as against 6.9 mn bales the previous year. That is because Pakistan, which took nearly 40 per cent of 2015-16 exports, has had a bumper crop. “Last year, exports to Pakistan not only compensated the decline to China but helped increase the overall shipment. The crop in Pakistan was very bad due to a pest attack. This year, however, no such attack was reported,” said Gupta. Lal thinks markets in Bangladesh and Vietnam could be explored. “Overall export, therefore, is unlikely to decline,” he felt.
Source: Business Standard
The Cabinet has approved a new agreement on trade, commerce and transit between India and Bhutan. The pact provides for a free trade regime between two countries, and duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries. As per the pact, bilateral trade between will continue to be transacted in Indian Rupees and Bhutanese Ngultrums.
Pact expiry
“The agreement was renewed on 29th July 2006 for ten years. The validity of this agreement was extended, with effect from 29th July 2016, for one year or till the new agreement comes into force, through exchange of diplomatic notes,” according to an official statement. Both sides had in July held talks to finalise the text of the draft new agreement. They had then decided that, in the interim, to prevent disruption of trade, the existing agreement should be extended for one year or till the new pact is enforced, whichever is earlier.
SAARC summit
Bhutan was among the SAARC nations that had shared the concerns of India in the wake of the Uri attack, and expressed solidarity with New Delhi saying it was not conducive to hold the SAARC Summit in Islamabad under the situation that prevailed then. Bhutan is also part of the BIMSTEC grouping that had recently held talks with BRICS nations including India to boost ties. The bilateral trade had grown by 55 per cent year-on-year in FY’16 to $750 million, with India’s exports increasing 40.4 per cent to $469 million, while imports from Bhutan rose 87 per cent to $281 million. Bilateral trade had grown by 55 per cent year-on-year in the last fiscal year to $750 million.
Source: The Hindu
Smart phones are part of the modern vernacular. Smart fibers may be next. A group of researchers at the University of Georgia are on the leading edge of developments that they hope will bring the textile industry back from the dead in the United States. At least four of the leading scientists call Oconee County home. Call them the “Fiber Four?” Last week they met with about 90 leaders from the fabric and textile industry, other researchers and military officials to plot the future of fabrics and textiles. Thursday, Oct. 20 was AFFOA Industry Day at the University of Georgia. Advanced Functional Fabrics of America is a public-private partnership launched last spring and funded partially by a $75 million commitment from the U.S. Department of Defense. The goal is to accelerate innovation involving fibers and textiles through advances in manufacturing and engineering. Gajanan S. Bhat is head of the Department of Fibers and Textiles in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Science. He is a recent transplant from the University of Tennessee. He told The Oconee Enterprise that he would have been happy with whichever football team won recently, which made him uniquely dispassionate about Tennessee’s dramatic win on the last play of the game. Other headliners in the fiber research include Sergiy Minko of Bishop, Jason Locklin of Bogart and Suraj Sharma of Watkinsville, not to be confused with the “Life of Pi” actor of the same name. “The whole idea of this institute, the main purpose, is to help create manufacturing jobs, to bring textiles back to the U.S.,” Bhat told The Oconee Enterprise. “We lost all of those jobs years ago because of labor costs,” he said. “We were not able to compete in terms of cost.” Bhat said the hope is not merely to foster some incremental increase in textile jobs, but a sea change. Bhat said that the research is aiming at developing fibers that can do multiple functions, such as communicate, cool bodies and heal wounds. “They might provide wireless communication on the battlefield so you could differentiate between friend or foe,” Bhat said. “It could be the comfort of athletes. There might be a microbial functionality.” The Oconee Enterprise reported in August, 2011, about Locklin’s research into bonding an antibacterial agent with fibers. Lockin is an associate professor in the College of Engineering. Sharma is an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Minko is a professor in the same college. Humanity has been making fabrics from plants and animals for a long time. It was not until early in the 20th century that synthetic fibers were added to the mix. The latest research is the inevitable next step. While there is certainly a “cool factor” to some of the fabrics under development, the focus is on returning textile manufacturing to prominence. “That is the ultimate goal,” said Bhat. “We cannot get there without filling the gap. That means demonstrating the technology works and also training the workers.” “The event was designed to bring U.S textile and clothing manufacturers to the highest point of modern materials science, with a major goal to create new jobs in this country,” Minko said. “Training and workforce development for the new market was one of the key topics of our discussions.” UGA is part of the research spread across multiple institutions and headed up by MIT. “We’re joining with companies large and small, universities and startup incubators from around the U.S. to drive a manufacturing-based revolution by transforming traditional fibers, yarns and fabrics into highly sophisticated systems and devices for both consumer and defense applications,” said Bhat.
Source: Oconee Enterprises
The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has allowed for strategic sales through a two-stage auction process, which will involve submitting technical and financial bids. The companies approved for strategic sale or privatisation include Scooters India, Pawan Hans, Hindustan Newsprint and units of Cement Corporation of India, a person familiar with the decision told ET. A decision to sell four steel plants of NMDC and Steel Authority of India and merge three state-owned companies with their public sector counterparts was also taken. The government will also sell a 26% stake in Bharat Earth Movers Ltd to a strategic bidder, reducing its stake in the company from 54% to 28 %. Decks cleared for strategic sale! Government okays plan to exit sick PSUs, subsidiaries The strategic sale plan had been prepared by Niti Aayog. “The recommendations of the Niti Aayog with regard to both disinvestment and strategic sale came up for consideration. In principle, the Cabinet has approved the recommendations with regard to some of the units. Specific cases would now come up after detailed examination,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while briefing the media after the meeting. The NDA government in its previous term had followed a privatisation strategy and sold off companies such as Maruti, VSNL, Balco and Hindustan Zinc. But the UPA government, under pressure from the Left parties, had abandoned the programme when came to power in 2004. The government had in this year’s budget set a strategic sale target of Rs 20,500 crore. So far, no money has been raised. “At the moment we are at the mid-point of the year and this year we have already made a significant headway. I am not going to allow it to be undersold merely because there is a calendar limitation,” Jaitley said when asked about the timeline for sale. The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) will take up each case separately and hold discussions with the respective administrative ministry about the suitability as well as the modality of strategic sale.
LOSS-MAKING ENTITIES
The government has identified seven loss-making entities where it will sell its entire stake to a strategic bidder. These are Scooters India, Bridg & Roof Company India Ltd, Project & Development India Ltd, Pawan Hans Ltd, Bharat Pumps &Compressors Ltd, Central Electronics Ltd, and Hindustan Prefab Ltd. Three companies — Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation Ltd, National Project Construction Corporation Ltd, and Engineering Project (India) Ltd — will be merged with similarly placed central public sector companies.
SUBSIDIARIES AND PLANTS
The plan also includes outright sale of subsidiaries and individual plants of companies. Hindustan Newsprint Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hindustan Paper Corporation, and Ferro Scrap Nigam , a wholly owned subsidiary of MSTC will be sold through a similar two-stage auction to strategic buyers. Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd will sell its entire stake in Hindustan Fluorocarbon completely. Cement Corporation of India will divest its production units independently or in a group of units to strategic buyers. Four steel plants have also been identified as sale. These include Bhadrawati, Salem, and Durgapur units of Steel Authority of India, and Nagarnar Steel plant of NMDC. In all the cases the valuation and the process will be sorted out by the core group of secretaries on disinvestment. “Some of these are important units… each unit would be considered in its own merit, the timing of that would be decided by the government accordingly,” said Jaitley, adding that a transparent system for valuation will be followed which will also take into account immovable property and other assets. The government has set a target of raising Rs 56,500 crore through direct stake sales this year, but so far it has raised only around Rs 4,000 crore. It has, however, managed to raise Rs 21,000 crore by nudging five state-run firms to go for share buyback.
Source: The Economic Times
India is expected to push for a new approach to tariff cuts at the 16-country trade bloc to prevent China from flooding its market with cheap goods. The commerce department is working on ways to give minimum tariff concessions to Chinese goods and delay the concessions by a long number of years even as it allows imports from other member countries at lower duties. As part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade negotiations, India is looking to treat Chinese products differently due to the burgeoning trade deficit it has with Beijing. In 2015-16, India's exports to China were $9 billion while the imports were a staggering $61.7 billion leaving a trade deficit of $52.7 billion. India hopes this longer phasing out of tariff concessions and differential treatment, called “deviations”, will become the basis for RCEP negotiations. The new approach comes ahead of the next ministerial meeting on November 3-4 in the Philippines. Moreover, since India had to do away with a three-tier structure of differential duty cuts as part of the negotiations, deviations are the last ray of hope to contain the trade deficit with China under a formal trade agreement. In the earlier tiered structure, India had proposed to remove duties on 42.5% of the items traded with China, something that Beijing had termed as low. “We hope the tiers come back from the backdoor through deviations,” said a commerce department official, adding that the difference in tariff cuts may not be as much as in the earlier structure of three tiers. “We can look at longer staging periods for China by delaying the concessions by some years or not offer key products for tariff cuts to them at all,” the official said. Despite agreeing to a common concession, India is insisting on a single undertaking for the RCEP which means nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. “With single undertaking, we can be sure other members will not lose interest in India’s demands once we accept their demands for tariff concessions on goods,” the official said.
Source: The Economic Times
India’s big-bang opening of the foreign direct investment regime a few months back is yet to take off pending the facilitatory changes in foreign exchange laws. This has impacted pharmaceuticals the most, where there had been good investment interest. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharmaceutical sector is on the automatic route under the relaxed policy, but investment proposals are getting stuck at the Reserve Bank of India as the decision has not yet been notified. Investors will have to either approach the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) for approvals or wait till the changes are notified. “Proposals again will have to go to FIPB,” said an industry expert advising companies on investments. The government had on June 20 allowed foreign investment in brownfield pharmaceuticals up to 74% through the automatic route and investments above though the FIPB route. Earlier, 100% FDI was allowed under the automatic route in green-field and up to 49% in brown field. The June 24 press note said the changes will have immediate effect. However, the new regime had to be notified under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for its implementation. RBI issues the FEMA notification in consultation with the government.
A government official said companies can approach the FIPB till the time changes are made and that a FEMA notification corresponding to the changes in the FDI regime is in the works. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government had unveiled big ticket FDI reforms in November 2015 and followed them up with further liberalisation in June to spur foreign investment in the country. Changes introduced in the policy included increase in sectoral caps, bringing more activities under the automatic route and easing of conditions for foreign investment. The amendments were aimed at further simplifying the regulations governing FDI and make India an attractive destination for foreign investors. A number of sectors, including defence, construction development, insurance, pensions, broadcasting, plantations, single brand retail, aviation and asset reconstruction companies have been liberalised as part of the government’s reform drive. Press notes about these decisions were issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion on June 24.Following this, the FIPB refused to entertain many proposals, and companies were told that these did not lie before FIPB. An FIPB press release stated so in relation to proposals from Perrigo API India, Ceva Sante Animale and FTF Pharma. FDI flows increased to $55.46 billion in financial year 2015-16, as against $36.04 billion in 2013-14, the highest ever FDI inflow in a particular financial year.
Source: The Economic Times
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 48.50 per barrel (bbl) on 27.10.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 48.23 per bbl on previous publishing day of 26.10.2016. In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3244.05 per bbl on 27.10.2016 as compared to Rs. 3219.71 per bbl on 26.10.2016. Rupee closed weaker at Rs. 66.89 per US$ on 27.10.2016 as against Rs. 66.76 per US$ on 26.10.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on October 27, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 26.09.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.10.2016 (Sep 29, 2016 to Oct 12, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
48.50 (48.23) |
48.69 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3244.05 (3219.71) |
3243.24 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.89 (66.76) |
66.61 |
Source: PIB
With an aim to strengthen processing of export transactions of taxpayers under GST, Goods and Services Network (GSTN) has signed an MoU with the commerce ministry for sharing of foreign exchange realisation and import-export code data. The move is "expected to strengthen processing of export transactions of taxpayers under GST, increase transparency and reduce human interface," the commerce ministry said in a statement today. GSTN is a not-for-profit, non-government, private limited company promoted by the central and state governments with the specific mandate to build the IT infrastructure and the services required for implementing GST. The MoU was signed by Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Ajay K Bhalla and GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar. An electronic bank realisation certificate captures transaction level details of foreign exchange realised in India. The eBRC (electronic Bank Realization Certificate) project implemented by DGFT created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all bank realisation related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. The e-BRC project enabled banks to upload foreign exchange realisation information related to exports on to the DGFT server under a secured protocol.
Source: The Economic Times
New research presented by Greenpeace Italy claims four out of Greenpeace's eleven groups of hazardous chemical substances were found in laboratory tests of 228 dyestuffs, which represent 90 per cent of colorants used by the textile supply chains. Greenpeace claims to have found aromatic amines derived from azo dyes, ethoxylated alkylphenols (APEOs), phthalates and chlorophenols which, in 70 per cent of cases, were "beyond Detox limits." Greenpeace has also claimed that only 0.8 per cent of the chemicals "wouldn't be in compliance with the ZDHC (Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals) MRSL limits."
Source: Eco Textiles
Industry experts, researchers and military officials discussed the future of textiles and fabrics in the digital era at the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America partnership (AFFOA) Industry Day event organised at the University of Georgia (UGA). Emerging textile materials for department of defense needs were also discussed at the conference. The AFFOA seeks to accelerate fabric innovations through advances in manufacturing and engineering. At its Industry Day event, experts presented their views regarding the use of modern materials sciences in the textile industry as well as transformation of fibres and yarns into sophisticated systems for consumer and defense applications. “The event was designed to bring US textile and clothing manufacturers to the highest point of modern materials science, with a major goal to create new jobs in this country. Training and workforce development for the new market was one of the key topics of our discussions,” said Sergiy Minko, Georgia power professor of polymers, fibres and textiles in the college of family and consumer sciences (FACS) and professor in the Franklin college of arts and sciences department of chemistry. Gajanan Bhat, the Georgia athletic association professor of fibres and textiles within the FACS department of textiles, merchandising and interiors said, “We're joining with companies large and small, universities and startup incubators from around the US to drive a manufacturing-based revolution by transforming traditional fibres, yarns and fabrics into highly sophisticated systems and devices for both consumer and defense applications.” FACS alumna and co-founder of Brrr! Inc., Tosha Hays also attended the event and was of the opinion that working together towards one goal with each individual or company contributing their own expertise can make incredible things happen. Her company that develops and commercialises textile technologies, launched a material with cooling technology to lower the skin temperature by 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit. A poster session also took place during lunch to give University students an opportunity to connect directly with industry, get feedback on their work and understand more about industry needs. The AFFOA industry Day event was jointly sponsored by the UGA office of the vice president for research, the FACS and the college of engineering. It was a part of the FACS Week, the college's signature event that celebrates communities, academic excellence and the future of families. Members of the AFFOA partnership include Fortune 500 as well as small and medium-sized companies. It also includes leaders of the fabric industry, such as Inman Mills, and leading research universities MIT, Drexel University and the University of Texas at Austin. (KD)
Source: Fibre2fashion
Dutch designer Anbasja Blanken and Italian mill ITV Denim was the winning collaboration for this year’s Best Collection award at the Global Denim Awards (GDA), while Indian mill Arvind walked away with the Honorary Best Fabric award. At GDA, 11 teams of fashion designers and denim mills presented their co-created denim capsule collections. The winning team of Blanken and ITV Denim showcased a glow in the dark denim collection inspired by corals. Blanken said, “My concept was about the deep sea, and more specifically coral, the ‘flowers of the sea’. Some coral’s colours alternate when the light changes. It can even be luminescent. What if my denim pieces produced light themselves?” “It was not easy but we found a way of putting the luminescence into our yarn,” said Barbara Gnutti of ITV Denim. Indian denim mill Arvind won the Honorary Best Fabric award for its innovative yet traditional fabrics. The khadi fabrics, which were used by designer Roosmarijn Koster for her capsule collection developed in collaboration with Arvind, were traditionally handwoven. “To us as a jury, innovation is not only a way of creating new technologies, but it’s also looking back and realising that if we lose the past, we’ll lose it forever. By conserving the past, we are nurturing the future. Arvind supports villages and its inhabitants to continue creating this traditional denim. Economically that does not make sense. But from a sustainability point of view, it’s invaluable. That’s why the Fabric Award also goes to the mill’s community, not to Arvind alone,” said jury member Leverton. GDA 2016 paired 11 emerging fashion designers with a selection of the most progressive denim mills worldwide, in order to co-create elaborate and inspired capsule collections. These collections showcased the collaborators’ combined craftsmanship, original designs and denim innovations. The collections were judged by an international jury of denim industry experts, comprised of the designer and best-selling author of Denim Dudes Amy Leverton, the designer/stylist duo Art Comes First, trendhunter and self-confessed denim junkie Kelly Harrington, and the global sales director of Scotch & Soda Alex Jaspers. The GDA was made possible by e3 Cotton, and initiated and organised by HTNK fashion recruitment and consultancy agency, Kingpins denim sourcing show and House of Denim, an Amsterdam-based foundation. The winning collection will be exhibited at Kingpins Shows in New York City and Hong Kong, before returning to the Netherlands for Amsterdam Denim Days 2017.
Source: Fibre2fashion
The Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) has urged the Federal Government to channel proceeds from Textile Development Levy to boost the competitiveness of the textile industry. Mr Hamma Kwajaffa, Director-General of NTMA, said in Lagos that the accrual from the levy would bridge the infrastructure deficits that presently impeded the industry. The Federal Government set aside 10 per cent import levy on imported fabrics to develop operations of local textile manufacturers. The levy was to be collected on behalf of the government by the Nigerian Customs Service. According to Kwajaffa, no textile manufacturers has accessed the 10 per cent import levy on textile materials since it was established in 1997. “We are supposed to have 10 per cent of any fabric coming into the country as textile development levy. Till date, nothing has come to the coffers of textile manufacturers. “The levy was to cushion the infrastructure decay that has impeded our competitiveness with other countries and boost the export of locally produced fabrics. “Last year, about 4 billion dollars worth of fabrics was imported into the country. The development levy from this, just like others, we did not get. “Now that all these proceeds are channeled into the Treasury Single Account (TSA), we are appealing to the government to establish it as a fund that would catalyse the activities of the industry. “The accrual should be given to Bank of Industry (BoI) to keep on our behalf and charge small interest rate of, maybe one or two per cent, from our members.” The director-general said the establishment of the fund would reduce the need for textile manufacturers to source finance from commercial banks at high interest rates. He stressed that the fund would boost production, competitiveness, employment, GDP contribution and revitalise the textile industry.
Source: Yarn and fibres
Renewed selling pressure pushed cotton prices lower in line with global trend on Wednesday. Spinners suddenly withdrew to the sidelines and only indulged in small-lot deals to meet their near future demand. Floor brokers said that sluggish performance by cotton yarn and fabric markets kept spinners nervous who have restricted their buying activity to avoid huge losses. The crisis-ridden textile industry faced with high cost of doing business and liquidity crunch has taken cautious approach after failing to get any support from the government, they added. Barring small lot deals, spinners generally preferred to stay away which renewed pressure on cotton prices on panic selling from ginners. Phutti (seed cotton) prices also came under pressure and fell by Rs50 for both Sindh and Punjab qualities. The New York cotton market for the second consecutive session moved lower for all future contracts. The Karachi Cotton Association cut its spot rate by Rs50, to Rs5,950 per maund (around 37 kilograms). Major deals on the ready counter were: 1,000 bales from Shahdadpur (Rs5,750 to Rs5,800), 1,400 bales Nawabshah (Rs5,900 to Rs5,950), 4,000 bales Khairpur (Rs6,075 to Rs6,115), 1,400 bales Rohri (Rs6,100 to Rs6,150), 1,400 bales Saleh Pat (Rs6,100 to Rs6,150), 1,000 bales Rajanpur (Rs6,150), 1,000 bales Fort Abbas (Rs6,175 to Rs6,200), 1,800 bales Rahimyar Khan (Rs6,225), 800 bales Haroonabad (Rs6,200 to Rs6,225) and 200 bales Liaquatpur (Rs6,225).
Source: Dawn.
In 2015, around 189 cotton farmers from Brazil were licensed to produced Better Cotton, according to the 2015 Harvest Report for Brazil by BCI, Better Cotton Initiative, a not-for-profit organisation stewarding the global standards for Better Cotton, and bringing together cotton's complex supply chain, from cotton farmers to the retailers. This marks the fifth year of Better Cotton production in Brazil, and the second year of BCI's Strategic Partnership with ABRAPA, the Brazilian Cotton Growers' Association, that represents farmers that produce about 99 per cent of Brazil's cotton, mainly on large-scale mechanised farms. In 2015, Brazil maintained its position as the largest source of Better Cotton globally. Around 189 cotton farmers produced 762,000 metric tonnes of Better Cotton lint across 556,000 hectares of land. Including the expansion into the state of Piauí in 2015, a total of seven states now choose to participate in the collaboration between ABR and BCI in Brazil: Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Piauí. In 2015, Better Cotton amounted to 57 per cent of the entire cotton crop in Brazil, compared to 45 per cent in 2014. The total volume of cotton produced in Brazil decreased in 2015, boosting Better Cotton's percentage share of Brazil's entire cotton crop. Rainfall shortages, caused by El Niño conditions, presented challenges in 2015 as Brazilian cotton is primarily rain-fed. The North Eastern states of Bahia, Piauí and Maranhão were particularly affected by drought, resulting in lower than expected yields. Farmers used precision agriculture technology, which enables smarter weather prediction and better decision-making through field data analysis, to address the challenging climatic conditions. ABRAPA's Sustainability Working Group and dedicated Sustainability Manager (an internal working group that was established in 2015 that directs ABRAPA's sustainability and innovation agenda) are working together to pursue sustainable initiatives and maintain the benchmarked agreement with the Better Cotton Standard System. To support more sustainable practices, ABRAPA is looking to invest in technological innovations that offer both social and environmental benefits. Advanced technology currently plays a key role in Brazilian cotton fields, particularly in enabling farmers to stay resilient through challenging weather conditions.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Is the Chinese economy about to implode? With its debt overhangs and property bubbles, its zombie state-owned enterprises and struggling banks, China is increasingly portrayed as the next disaster in a crisis-prone world. I remain convinced that such fears are overblown, and that China has the strategy, wherewithal, and commitment to achieve a dramatic structural transformation into a services-based consumer society while successfully dodging daunting cyclical headwinds. But I certainly recognise that this is now a minority opinion. For example, US treasury secretary Jacob J Lew continues to express the rather puzzling view that the United States “can’t be the only engine in the world economy.” Actually, it’s not: the Chinese economy is on track to contribute well over four times as much to global growth as the US this year. But maybe Lew is already assuming the worst for China in his assessment of the world economy. So, what if the China doubters are right? What if China’s economy does indeed come crashing down, with its growth rate plunging into low single digits, or even negative territory, as would be the case in most crisis economies? China would suffer, of course, but so would an already-shaky global economy. With all the handwringing over the Chinese economy, it’s worth considering this thought experiment in detail. For starters, without China, the world economy would already be in recession. China’s growth rate this year appears set to hit 6.7%—considerably higher than most forecasters have been expecting. According to the International Monetary Fund—the official arbiter of global economic metrics—the Chinese economy accounts for 17.3% of world GDP (measured on a purchasing-power-parity basis). A 6.7% increase in Chinese real GDP thus translates into about 1.2 percentage points of world growth. Absent China, that contribution would need to be subtracted from the IMF’s downwardly revised 3.1% estimate for world GDP growth in 2016, dragging it down to 1.9%—well below the 2.5% threshold commonly associated with global recessions. Of course, that’s just the direct effect of a world without China. Then there are cross-border linkages with other major economies. The so-called resource economies—namely, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, and Brazil—would be hit especially hard. As a resource-intensive growth juggernaut, China has transformed these economies, which collectively account for nearly 9% of world GDP. While all of them argue that they have diversified economic structures that are not overly dependent on Chinese commodity demand, currency markets say otherwise: whenever China’s growth expectations are revised—upward or downward—their exchange rates move in tandem. The IMF currently projects that these five economies will contract by a combined 0.7% in 2016, reflecting ongoing recessions in Russia and Brazil and modest growth in the other three. Needless to say, in a China implosion scenario, this baseline estimate would be revised downward significantly. The same would be the case for China’s Asian trading partners—most of which remain export-dependent economies, with the Chinese market their largest source of external demand. That is true not only of smaller Asian developing economies such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, but also of the larger and more developed economies in the region, such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Collectively, these six China-dependent Asian economies make up another 11% of world GDP. A China implosion could easily knock at least one percentage point off their combined growth rate. The United States is also a case in point. China is America’s third-largest and most rapidly growing export market. In a China-implosion scenario, that export demand would all but dry up —knocking approximately 0.2-0.3 percentage points off already sub-par US economic growth of around 1.6% in 2016. Finally, there is Europe to consider. Growth in Germany, long the engine of an otherwise sclerotic Continental economy, remains heavily dependent on exports. That is due increasingly to the importance of China—now Germany’s third-largest export market, after the European Union and the United States. In a China implosion scenario, German economic growth could also be significantly lower, dragging down the rest of a Germany-led Europe. Interestingly, in its just-released October update of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF devotes an entire chapter to what it calls a China spillover analysis—a model-based assessment of the global impacts of a China slowdown. Consistent with the arguments above, the IMF focuses on linkages to commodity exporters, Asian exporters, and what they call “systemic advanced economies” (Germany, Japan, and the US) that would be most exposed to a Chinese downturn. By their reckoning, the impact on Asia would be the largest, followed closely by the resource economies; the sensitivity of the three developed economies is estimated to be about half that of China’s non-Japan Asian trading partners. The IMF research suggests that China’s global spillovers would add about another 25% to the direct effects of China’s growth shortfall. That means that if Chinese economic growth vanished into thin air, in accordance with our thought experiment, the sum of the direct effects (1.2 percentage points of global growth) and indirect spillovers (roughly another 0.3 percentage points) would essentially halve the current baseline estimate of 2016 global growth, from 3.1% to 1.6%. While that would be far short of the record 0.1% global contraction in 2009, it wouldn’t be much different than two earlier deep world recessions, in 1975 (1% growth) and 1982 (0.7%). I may be one of the only China optimists left. While I am hardly upbeat about prospects for the global economy, I think the world faces far bigger problems than a major meltdown in China. Yet I would be the first to concede that a post-crisis world economy without Chinese growth would be in grave difficulty. China bears need to be careful what they wish for. Roach, a faculty member at Yale University and a former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, is the author of Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China.
Source: Financial Express
