The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 9 DEC, 2016

NATIONAL

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

 

Textile Raw Material Price 2016-12-08

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

1110.40

USD/Ton

0.66%

12/8/2016

VSF

2199.02

USD/Ton

-0.07%

12/8/2016

ASF

1857.92

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

Polyester POY

1161.20

USD/Ton

1.91%

12/8/2016

Nylon FDY

2844.94

USD/Ton

4.26%

12/8/2016

40D Spandex

4310.96

USD/Ton

0.68%

12/8/2016

Polyester DTY

3033.64

USD/Ton

4.50%

12/8/2016

Nylon POY

5479.41

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

Acrylic Top 3D

1393.44

USD/Ton

1.59%

12/8/2016

Polyester FDY

2685.28

USD/Ton

5.11%

12/8/2016

Nylon DTY

2032.10

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

Viscose Long Filament

1466.02

USD/Ton

0.50%

12/8/2016

30S Spun Rayon Yarn

2859.46

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

32S Polyester Yarn

1749.06

USD/Ton

0.42%

12/8/2016

45S T/C Yarn

2612.70

USD/Ton

1.12%

12/8/2016

40S Rayon Yarn

1886.95

USD/Ton

0.78%

12/8/2016

T/R Yarn 65/35 32S

2220.80

USD/Ton

0.66%

12/8/2016

45S Polyester Yarn

3004.61

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

T/C Yarn 65/35 32S

2249.83

USD/Ton

0%

12/8/2016

10S Denim Fabric

1.33

USD/Meter

0%

12/8/2016

32S Twill Fabric

0.82

USD/Meter

0%

12/8/2016

40S Combed Poplin

1.15

USD/Meter

0%

12/8/2016

30S Rayon Fabric

0.66

USD/Meter

0%

12/8/2016

45S T/C Fabric

0.64

USD/Meter

0.23%

12/8/2016

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14515USD dtd. 9/12/2016)

The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com.  SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.

 

Textile industry hails package for made-ups, hopes to boost exports

Textile industry associations have hailed the Centre’s announcement of a special package for the made-ups sector. The package includes 10 per cent enhanced subsidy under Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, extension of Pradhan Mantri Paridhan Rozgar Protsahan Yojana Scheme for providing additional 3.67 per cent share of employer’s contribution in addition to 8.33 per cent already covered under PMRPY for all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment, rebate of state levies, relaxed labour norms etc. Industry sources said these interventions would help boost exports and create 11 lakh jobs in the next three years. “We are confident that with the continuous focus and support from the Centre, the industry would be able to create more jobs for the rural youth and women. The growth of the made ups sector is directly linked to the Indian SME weaving sector. Many weaving clusters can grow and upgrade technologically,” said Prabhu Dhamodharan, Secretary, Indian Texpreneurs' Federation.

M Senthilkumar, Chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association, said the intervention would greatly help the made-ups segment to improve its global competitiveness and create more demand for fabrics, yarn and fibre in the domestic market. The SIMA chief appealed for extension of the 2 per cent MES and 3 per cent IES benefit on cotton yarn export – a long-pending demand of the spinning sector. “This can be extended as an interim package till the supply-demand gap is bridged,” he added. Ujwal Lahoti, Chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), said the timely announcement has come as a huge relief to the exporters of made-ups, especially at a juncture when the sector is passing through a difficult phase as their products face duty disadvantage in the main market of the European Union.

SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line

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Labour ministry in dark over optional EPF in textile made-ups sector

The government may seek post facto approval for making provident fund optional for the textile made-ups sector by seeking to amend the Employee’s Provident Fund Act, 1952. “The Union Cabinet has given its approval to reforms to boost employment generation and exports in the made-ups sector (a sub-sector of textiles and apparel)... making employees’ contribution to EPF optional for employees earning less than Rs 15,000 per month,” a cabinet statement said. According to the EPF Act, employees earning up to Rs 15,000 have to contribute 12% of their basic pay towards provident fund. The employer must match the employee's minimum contribution of 12% of basic pay.

Labour ministry officials said they were clueless about the government’s decision to extend the move to the made-ups sector. “I was not aware about it, but the government has to seek necessary approval from Parliament,” a ministry official said. The government in June had decided to change labour laws in the textiles sector. Besides making provident fund contributions optional for employees earning less than Rs 15,000 per month, it allowed fixed-term employment, making it easier for employers to hire contract workers. A textile ministry official said many other items would be added to the category of the made-ups sector. “This goes against the principle of making India a pensioned society, about which the government is always talking about. We will strongly oppose such a move,” said Virjesh Upadhay, general secretary, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the trade union affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. “The objective of this move seems to diverge from the idea of a pensioned society. It is also against government attempts to bring the sector into the formal economy,” said Subramanyan Sreenivasaiah, chief executive officer of Ascent HR, a consulting firm.

In February, severe differences arose between the finance and labour ministries when the EPF rate of interest was reduced to 8.75% from the 8.8% suggested by the labour ministry. “The labour ministry should be kept in the loop. After all, it is the decision of the government as a whole,” Upadhay said.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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Package will boost made-ups sector: SIMA

The reforms package approved by the Union Cabinet to boost employment generation and exports in the made-ups sector will greatly help the segment to improve its global competitiveness in the global market, the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has said. The policy interventions are expected to boost exports and create up to 11 lakh jobs in 3 years. “The reforms would create more demand for fabrics, yarns and fibres in the domestic market and thereby help the down sectors that have been suffering due to excess production capacity to a certain extent,” SIMA chairman M Senthil Kumar said in a statement. The reforms to boost employment generation and exports in the made-ups sector have come at a time when the sector has been facing challenges in the international market due to high costs of production, non-refund of state levies, and high tariff barrier when compared to competing nations such as Pakistan, Vietnam, etc, SIMA said.

SIMA chairman thanked textiles minister Smriti Irani for considering the representation made by the association and including the made-ups sector under the Rs 6,006 crore special export package announced for the garment sector in June 2016. Made-ups sector generates the largest employment of over 120 jobs per rupees one crore investment, especially to the rural women. The finished fabrics are largely converted into apparel and made-ups. Both the sectors have the same manufacturing activities of cutting and sewing. The global made-ups market size currently is around $40 billion and India accounts around 13 per cent ($7 billion). Made-ups textile products are broadly grouped into bed linen, kitchen linen, table linen and toilet linen categories. In recent years, the global demand for made-ups with special finishes such fire retardant, water repellent, stain resistant, easy care, wrinkle free, anti bacterial and microbial, fragrance, etc. are increasing exponentially. The Indian textile industry has started making huge investments across the textile value chain (from spinning to finishing) to meet the increasing global demand, the statement said. In the total Indian made-ups exports, US accounts around 45 per cent, followed by UAE with 9 per cent, UK with 5.5 per cent and Germany 5.1 per cent share.

SOURCE: Fibre2fashion

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Andhra Pradesh to develop 12 textile clusters

Industries minister K T Rama Rao said that the state government will develop 12 textile clusters apart from bringing a textile policy for taking up several welfare measures for weavers' benefit. The minister visited a textile park in Pochampally , Yadadri district and enquired about their problems. Weavers of Pochampally and Gadwal earned fame for their products across the country. However, of the 2,000 handlooms only 250 were functional in the state. He assured to provide marketing for the products. An outlet will be opened on the national highway at Malkapur. He said that he would ask politicians and government officials to wear handlooms at least once in a week to promote weavers.Aletter would be sent to them, he added. The minister purchased Pochampally products at the textile park.

SOURCE: The Times of India

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USD 48 billion textile exports target looks hard to achieve: Government

Government today admitted it may be “hard to achieve” the USD 48 billion target for textiles and garment exports for 2016-17, mainly because of less demand in major markets such as the US, EU and China. The overall exports of textiles and garments from India during 2015-16 was USD 40 billion, falling way short of the USD 47.5 billion target. Asked whether the target would be “hard to achieve” due to less demand from China, US and EU, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani replied in the affirmative.

Elaborating upon measures being taken by the government to attain the goal, the Minister, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said that to promote exports in garments sector, a special package of incentives was announced in June this year which includes relaxation in certain labour laws, income tax concession, 100 per cent employer’s contribution to EPFO by government, rebate of state levies for exports, etc. Moreover, the government implements various export promotion schemes to promote exports of all the segments in the sector on a sustained basis, Irani said. “These include, Interest Equalisation Scheme, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, Market Access Initiative, Market Development Assistance and Duty Drawback,” she said.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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R&D is key to textile industry's growth: Kavita Gupta

Research and development is the key to the growth of the textiles industry and the government has already invested in R&D in the textile machinery manufacturing sector, said textiles commissioner Kavita Gupta. She also added that India’s textile industry can overtake China’s in the near future as the former is more competitive in terms of labour and power. The government will also ensure a favourable business environment with policies and infrastructural support, said Gupta while addressing the visitors at the ongoing textile machinery exhibition India ITME 2016 in Mumbai. “R&D is a key to this growth. The government has added R&D investments in textile machinery manufacturing to get all benefits as any other sector. There is no reason why India cannot overtake China in near future. We are already more competitive than China in labour, power and manufacturing costs in textile industry,” said Gupta.

At a conference at India ITME, the leaders of textile industry were unanimous in their view that the industry is witnessing a paradigm shift worldwide and India can seize the opportunity to be a dominant player. The textile sector’s share in the overall Indian exports stands at 11 per cent and the country exported goods worth $40 billion in the fiscal 2015-16. India is well on its way to achieve the target of generating $300 billion through textile exports, according to RD Udeshi, president polyester value chain, Reliance. Faster technology upgradation, marketing innovation, better policy framework, focus on quality and enhancing production capacities were identified as some of the growth drivers for textile and apparel business by the industry stakeholders. They also said that the ‘Make in India’ initiative by Indian government also needs to be leveraged to achieve scalability and be globally competitive.

Sustainability in textile manufacturing was also discussed at length at the conference in India ITME. “More efficient machines that are smaller, consume less water and energy need to be adopted. Sustainability would play a critical role in tomorrow’s technologies,” said BK Behra, head of department, Textiles, IIT. Bulent Eksoy and Sandeep Arora of Polyspin, India, said that the industry needs to replace urea urgently to save the impact on environment. Manish Mehta, MD of Sundrem TexVentures was of the opinion that Linen and Lincel are gaining faster acceptance as they are more sustainable in nature as raw materials. The textile consumption within India is growing rapidly. Also, with China’s share in world textiles trade about seven times of that of India, the Indian manufacturers are sensing better exports in future, said the organisers of Indian ITME. Visitors from 38 countries are participating in the ongoing exhibition that is witnessing dozens of product launches. It is proving to be an effective platform for joint ventures and collaborations between the stakeholders of textile industry in India and overseas.

SOURCE: Fibre2fashion

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India can outperform China in coming years in home textile market

Thanking the Centre for extending a special package to Made-ups sector, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), a textile industry body in the region today said with estimated size of $96 Billion of global home textile market, India can outperform China in the coming years with this support measure.  This measure, on the back of the special package for apparel sector, will help to increase the market share of home textile market globally, ITF Secretary, Prabhu Dhamodharan said in a statement here.  For the past few years, Made-Ups exports was in uptrend on year on year basis particularly India's share in USA market increasing steadily with the current share of 17 per cent, he said.  With this enhanced duty drawback rates to cover State levies along with increase in capital subsidy and reforms in labor laws, the industry can expect a solid growth in investments in this sector, Prabhu said.

Stating that the growth of made ups sector was directly linked with the Indian SME weaving sector, he said that many weaving clusters can grow and upgrade to next level of technology parallelly. "We are extremely happy to witness continuous focus and support by the government to various segments of textile manufacturing sector and industry is confident of creating further huge employment opportunities to many rural youths particularly women and textile sector will be the ideal example for success of "Make In India," Prabhu said.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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Telangana government to come out with Handloom Policy soon

Minister for Textile and Handlooms K.T.Rama Rao has assured that the Telangana Government will announce a ‘Handloom Policy’ soon, to take more measures for development of handloom products and the weaver community. The policy will include establishment of 12 handloom clusters in the State. Visiting the Pochampally Textile Park in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district on Thursday, Mr.Rao said the Government will also try to increase budgetary support for the sector. Lamenting that only 250 looms out of 2000 are working in Pochampally, he said the Government will provide funds and programmes for development of the Textile Park. He also visited the textile park in Malkapur. The online marketing facility for handloom products will be expanded through talks with e-commerce websites, and special outlets will be opened at Yadadri and Malkapur to sell the products. The products will also be displayed and sold at ‘Golconda’, the handicrafts showroom being established in New Delhi by the State Government.

On the welfare front, the handloom workers in the park will be provided health insurance and pension facilities. All these measures will be incorporated into the handloom policy. The Minister promised to write a letter urging public representatives and officials to wear handloom clothes at least once a week, and bought clothes for members of his family. Textile Commissioner Shailaja Ramaiyar, Collector of Yadadri Anita Ramachandran, legislators and others accompanied Mr.Rao.

SOURCE: The Hindu

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Govt rushes officials to textile hubs to ease demonetisation pain of workers

Amid complaints that many workers are deprived of wages following demonetisation announced a month ago, the government has sent officials to various textile and garment clusters across the country to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for workers, including the casual ones, and help them adopt digital transactions, official sources told FE. The officials are expected to soon submit inputs from the ground on how the cash crunch has impacted people in general and the textile and garment sector labourers in particular. Apart from the textile ministry, the cabinet secretariat is learnt to be monitoring the development regularly, the sources said. The move is important, as the textile and garment sector is the largest job provider in the country after agriculture, having employed almost 32 million people, many of whom are casual workers who are paid either daily or weekly. Demonetisation is said to have hurt this segment of labourers the most, also because most of them don’t have bank accounts in the cities of work. For instance, most of such temporary workers in the garment hub of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu are from the northern and north-eastern parts of the country.

Apart from setting up workshops to open bank accounts, these officials will also promote the use of the unified payment interface (UPI) app for those who have bank accounts to effect digital transaction using cell phones. The UPI transfers the fund immediately, without constraints of holidays or late hours or even bank strikes. Even the recipient’s bank account details and IFSC code are also not required. All the sender needs to transfer money is a unique ID of the recipient — called the Virtual Payment Address — that the latter’s bank has allotted him/her. The cost of transferring money, again, is much less than some other modes of electronic transfer. Late last month, FE had reported that in a letter to all deputy chief labour commissioners (central), chief labour commissioner (central) AK Nayak said employers must be “advised” to pay wages or salary to even contract and casual workers “only through bank accounts”.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Duty drawback benefit extended for home textile

In a boost to the home textile segment, the government has extended a five per cent duty drawback benefit to the made-ups (including towels, bedsheets, curtains, decorative cotton products, etc) sector. In June, the government had announced a Rs 6,000-crore package for the textile sector, aimed to generate 10 million jobs in the next three years. The made-ups sector was left out and the government was urged, led by the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), to rectify this. And, on Wednesday, the Cabinet approved the inclusion of made-ups in the apparel package, in a time-bound manner. Extension of the package would benefit companies in the segment — Welspun, Trident, Century Textiles, Indo Count, GHCL. “This is a positive move by the government and a relief to exporters of made-ups, passing through a difficult phase as their products face duty disadvantage in the main market, the European Union, as compared to products from competing countries on account of preferential tariffs given to some of those,” said Ujawal Lahoti, chairman, Texprocil.

The package includes similar measures given to apparel. Such as additional 10 per cent subsidy under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, additional contribution under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana and Rebate of State Levies. The made-ups segment generates jobs for women and in rural areas, and the government has recognised this potential while announcing the measures. Price Chart “Beside employment, it will boost exports. Made-ups manufacturers use locally made fabrics and thus the package is likely to boost the entire supply chain, up to yarn,” said B K Goenka, chairman, Welspun Group, and co-head of the textile committee at the Confederation of Indian Industry. R K Dalmia, senior president, Century Textiles & Industries, agreed, saying it would benefit the entire made-ups segment and help it compete in export markets.

Permissible overtime has also been increased up to 100 hours a quarter and employees' provident fund contribution has been made optional for those earning less than Rs 15,000 a month. Reacting to the government decision, the share price of Century Textile jumped by 4.7 per cent, to close on Thursday at Rs 821.25. Trident’s stock moved up by 2.7 per cent, to close at Rs 56.80. Other stocks in this segment saw a marginal rise.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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Note ban woes force foreign embassies to cut costs, cancel diplomats’ visits

Diplomatic missions across the country are cancelling key delegation-level visits of their dignitaries to India or cutting down their engagements in the wake of the Centre’s demonetisation drive. This is even as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is awaiting the Finance Ministry’s response on the concerns raised by diplomats.

Directive to withdraw cash

Vikas Swarup, spokesperson, MEA, said on Thursday that the Finance Ministry has been asked to issue directives to banks to allow embassy officials with identity cards to withdraw money on a priority basis. “We are confident that the missions would bear with the temporary difficulties that arise in that process, even as we seek to address their concerns,” Swarup said. Dean of Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Hans Dannenberg Castellanos from the Dominican Republic, told BusinessLine that “Presidential visits and high delegation-level visits have become difficult. And even if they are happening, some of the embassies are being forced to limit the activities and events around these visits. The day-to-day operations of embassies have taken a huge hit and nothing has yet been resolved.” He said countries such as Indonesia, Mongolia and a couple of Central Asian countries were forced to cancel some of their visits and events due to the problems arising out of demonetisation.

‘Facing difficulties’

Castellanos said he has not yet received any official response from the Ministry of External Affairs on the letters written by him last month urging the government to address concerns of diplomats and foreigners residing in India who are facing immense difficulties following the government’s decision to ban Rs. 500/1000 notes. Last week, the government had increased the limit of withdrawals for diplomats to Rs. 50,000 from Rs. 10,000 a week earlier. But that has not helped the expat community much, Castellanos added. “This is not sufficient amount for the daily expenses and operations of diplomats,” he added. Castellanos had written two letters so far to the MEA on November 9 and 17. He also held a detailed meeting with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to seek relief, Russia and Nepal have sought direct intervention of the MEA and have taken up the matter with it separately. While Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin has written to the MEA stating that the functioning of his embassy was getting adversely impacted, Nepal’s central bank — Nepal Rastra Bank — is in constant touch with the Reserve Bank of India.

Task force meeting

Meanwhile, the MEA is believed to have sent a series of recommendations to the DEA under the Finance Ministry, the approval of which is still pending. Apparently, the task force entrusted with the job is also meeting on a regular basis, according to sources. The committee was set up last month after the Dean of Diplomatic Corps approached the MEA with some of the grave concerns and adversities faced by diplomats. The inter-ministerial committee is headed by an Additional Secretary of the Finance Ministry.

SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line

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Council may reduce tax slabs in future, says CBEC chief

The goods and services tax (GST) Council may, in future, decide to reduce the tax slabs under the GST regime after analysing the revenue garnered and the compensation payouts to states, a top official said on Thursday. With industry demanding lowering of proposed GST rates of five per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent after demonetisation, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman Najib Shah said the Centre and the states at present collect Rs 8 lakh crore from indirect taxes - minus Customs duty — and the same level of revenue has to be collected in the GST regime.

Any change in tax slab is possible after assessing the revenues, the effect of exemptions and deductions given in the new tax regime, and analysing it with the expenditure. “Once we see how much money is collected from these taxes, we can certainly look at the rates. It is not cast in stone. The GST Council has complete flexibility to do so and will do so I am sure,” Shah said.

In November, the GST Council, which is headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and has state representatives, agreed on the four-slab structure along with a cess on luxury and ‘sin’ goods such as tobacco. “The central government has committed to compensating the states for five years. Now it is a huge burden which the central government has cast upon itself. The underlying theme is GST will increase revenues and the need for compensation perhaps will be lesser,” he said. Shah added the GST Council has to take into consideration the range of products under GST and the political compulsion of every state, while taxing them. Currently, the VAT and excise duty on commodities range from six per cent to 300 per cent on sin goods.

“Where do we get the money from, if we don’t have the flexibility to have rates? The task of fitting a product to a rate is easier said than done. How do we still give money after giving exemptions? The multiplicity of rate is a necessity — both economic and political. Should we reduce that number from five to three to two? Once we see how much money is collected from these taxes, we can certainly look at the rates,” Shah said. He said the officers committee has already started work on which goods are to be placed in which tax bracket and the final call would be taken by the GST Council.

Dismissing suggestion of having single-rate GST as in the European Union (EU), he said the wide range of products and their varied taxation rates make it imminent to have a multiple tier-tax structure. “How can you possibly have one rate for edible oil and car or for atta and computers? We cannot have one rate. We can reach one rate 20 years down the line. The EU, several countries have one rate of 18/20 per cent. Will that be acceptable to us? No. We have to have multiple rates,” Shah said.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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GST needs to be deferred, says Amit Mitra

Amit Mitra, chairman of the Empowered Committee of Ministers on GST, said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) needs to be deferred so the economy is not hit by another disruption after demonetisation kicked in unexpectedly. In an interview with Karan Thapar on India Today, Mitra said the compensation to be paid to the states was likely to shoot up in the wake of demonetisation making its implementation unfeasible at the moment. During the course of the previous meetings between several state finance ministers on GST, Mitra said there was consensus that ~55,000 crore would be needed to compensate the states for the revenue loss arising from adopting the GST regime. However, states, which could post a 14% growth, were not to be compensated from the fund.

But with demonetisation, state taxes collected would sharply decline, Mitra said, adding, “That would mean the compensation to the states, who could have made 14% growth in revenue, is going to fall below the 14%, which means, by constitutional amendment, they will also have to be compensated.” The West Bengal finance minister said ~1 lakh crore would most likely be needed to compensate the states. Since the compensatory fund consists of taxes from sales of luxury cars, aerated drinks, tobacco and other commodities, from where tax collection is likely to decline in wake of demonetisation, the fund itself will come under stress, he explained. “While the compensation sources are falling, your need for compensation is steeply rising,” he said, questioning if the country’s populace was ready to take another “destabilisation of the economy by another hit called GST”. Mitra took a swipe at Urjit Patel, saying, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor seemed to have “lost his way”.

Every state, like the Centre, under the GST regime will have to do away with various tax collection departments, which will result in disruption of an enormous scale, he said. “The whole tax architecture will have to change, which is a huge challenge in the form of destabilisation. Can we not move GST a little bit on so that when the economy stabilises (and) people come back to normal living conditions, you bring in another disruption,” he asked.

Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing in a sudden economic disruption in the form of demonetisation, Mitra said, the PM was gradually changing the narrative for the disruption from referring to eradicating black money to Digital India. According to Mitra, in the best case scenario, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was likely to be hit by 2%, implying a scaling down from 7.5% to 5.5%, while in the worst-case scenario, GDP was likely to fall by 3.2% from the current 7.5%. West Bengal is likely to lose Rs 5,000-6,000 crore as tax collection on account of demonetisation.

SOURCE: The Business Standard

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Pakistan resumes cotton imports from India: Official

Pakistan has resumed cotton imports from its top supplier India after suspending them for few days, government and industry officials told Reuters on Thursday.  The resumption in the cotton trade will help India in exporting surplus, while Pakistan will benefit from cheaper supplies from the neighbouring country. Last month Pakistan suspended cotton imports from India, saying shipments failed to fulfil phyto-sanitary certification, threatening the $822 million-a-year trade. "Our move was portrayed as if we had banned imports," Imran Shami, director general of Pakistan's Plant Protection Department (DPP) told Reuters, so we have started re-issuing permits, he added. Authorities are still working on the certification issue.

Indian traders have signed contracts to export 350,000 bales to Pakistan since the start of the marketing year on Oct.1. Out of that nearly 300,000 bales for shipments in December and January were stuck after Pakistan suspended imports. "Since Pakistan has started issuing import permits, we are hopeful that buyers will fulfil the contracts," said an exporter based in the western state of Gujarat. In 2015/16, Pakistan surpassed Bangladesh to become India's biggest cotton buyer, accounting for 40 percent of exports. "Pakistan still needs to import at least 2 to 2.5 million bales. Resumption in trading will help both the countries," said Chirag Patel, chief executive officer of Indian exporter Jaydeep Cotton Fibers. Pakistan's cotton consumption is pegged around 15 million bales, while it is likely to produce around 10.5 million bales, Patel said. Last year, Pakistan bought 2.7 million bales from India and supported Indian cotton prices at a time when China was cutting imports, traders said.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

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India-UK experts discuss reforms for ease of doing business

Experts from India and the UK are discussing issues related to ease of doing business including regulatory and inspection reforms, tax administration, trade facilitation, insolvency, electricity, land registry and standards at a two-day conference which began here. The conference follows the commitments made by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. A Commerce Ministry statement described the conference as the “most ambitious” outreach yet undertaken on the ease of doing business, adding that it will act as a “springboard to propel the strategic bilateral partnership between the two countries to the next level”. “It (the conference) will showcase India’s focus on simplifying its business ecosystem and making it a preferred business destination, as well as the work that the UK government is doing to share the key features of its globally renowned business ecosystem and practices. “Representatives from various Indian state governments will also highlight their business reform action plan, implementation strategy, and lessons & leanings,” it said.

On Wednesday, Government gave ex post facto approval to an MoU between India and the United Kingdom to support ease of doing business in India. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Currently, India is ranked 130th among 190 economies (as per Doing Business Report, 2017) while UK is at 7th. The UK government has achieved phenomenal improvement in its rankings in recent years. “The India and UK partnership on ease of doing business is important because of the role that the business environment plays in encouraging trade, investment, innovation and economic growth,” the statement said.

During the UK Prime Minister’s visit to India last month, both Modi and May witnessed the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding on the ease of doing business, which said how the UK and India would work together to share expertise and best practice. The conference is the next step in this process, bringing together officials from state and Central Government in India with UK experts. The conference was jointly inaugurated by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek and British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith.

SOURCE: The Financial Express

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Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 51.03 per bbl on 08.12.2016

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$ 51.03 per barrel (bbl) on 08.12.2016. This was lower than the price of US$ 51.34 per bbl on previous publishing day of 07.12.2016.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 3440.97 per bbl on 08.12.2016 as compared to Rs. 3484.26 per bbl on 07.12.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 67.43 per US$ on 08.11.2016 as against Rs. 67.87 per US$ on 07.12.2016.. The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars

Unit

Price on December 08, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 07.12.2016)

Pricing Fortnight for 01.12.2016

(Nov 12, 2016 to Nov 28, 2016)

Crude Oil (Indian Basket)

($/bbl)

51.03              (51.34)

44.87

(Rs/bbl

3440.97       (3484.26)

3061.48

Exchange Rate

(Rs/$)

67.43              (67.87)

68.23

 

SOURCE: PIB

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'Pak should increase textile exports to Argentina'

Pakistan exporters should focus on increasing textile exports to Argentina while efficiently competing with their counterparts from India and China, said Argentinean ambassador Ivan Ivanissevich. He added that the country should also look out for opportunities to increase their share in the Argentina market by focusing on branding as well. Argentina imports 60 per cent of its textile products and produces the remaining locally. In the first quarter of 2016, there was 27 per cent rise in the import of textile products, said Ivanissevich at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). China and Brazil are Argentina's biggest textile supplier nations while a major portion of Argentina's textiles and garments are exported to Brazil and Chile.

Talking of improving business relations between both the countries, Ivanissevich said that Pakistan should also increase the efficiency of its agriculture sector as it is not as developed when compared with Argentina's agriculture. Argentina can help Pakistani farmers by teaching them techniques to improve their yield. The embassy is also thinking of sending the farmers to Argentina to improve their skills, according to a leading daily.  For the FY 2015-16, Pakistan's total exports to Argentina were around $52 million, which is 17 per cent more than exports of previous year. Similarly, there was 37 per cent rise in Pakistan's imports from Argentina which stood at $194 million during FY 2015-16. KCCI intends to promote good business relations between both the countries, said KCCI president Shamim Firpo at the meeting. Trade and investment delegations, trade fairs, exhibitions, seminars and meeting will help in the development of Pakistan-Argentine business and investment cooperation, according to Firpo.

SOURCE: Fibre2fashion

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Indonesia may ease procedures for raw material import

In order to boost the competitiveness of the domestic textile industry, the Indonesian government is likely to ease procedures for importing raw materials. President Joko Widodo has instructed the relevant ministries to take necessary steps in this regard. Textile raw materials entering Indonesia currently attract import duty of 5-20 per cent. The government must simplify import procedures for import of raw materials used in the textile and apparel industry, to lift the burden off businesses, Widodo said at a Cabinet meeting, a leading Indonesian daily reported. The Indonesian textile and clothing industry is facing severe global competition and its exports dropped by nearly 4 per cent to $3.3 billion in 2015. Indonesian regional competitors like Vietnam impose no import tariff on textile raw materials.

SOURCE: Fibre2fashion

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Steady growth in technical textile visible for global textile companies

Steady growth opportunities are visible for textile companies as the global textile consumption is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% through 2020, indicating. The key factors anticipated to boost demand for technical textiles include steady growth of automotive sector, rapid industrialisation in emerging economies, robust demand from healthcare sector and even growing environmental awareness. The automotive sector in emerging economies is anticipated to fuel demand for technical textiles. Use of technical textiles per mid-size car is anticipated to increase from the current 25-27 kg to 34-36 kg by 2020. The global industrial production is anticipated to increase by 3.5% to 5% from 2015 to 2020. Owing to steady industrial growth, demand for woven and dust filters, and conveyor belts is expected to receive a boost. Demand for Meditech technical textiles is projected to grow in Asia Pacific, as providing affordable healthcare becomes a priority for governments.

On the back of mounting concerns over conservation of environment, Oekotech technical textiles are gaining traction among end-users. Demand for Oekotech is expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period 2015-2020. According to statistics, the global technical textile market is expected to reach US$ 193 billion in revenues in 2020, with global consumption expected to surpass 37 million tonnes. Robust demand from China and India is projected to continue, whereas the demand for advanced materials will become stronger in the U.S. and EU5. By application, Hometech, Buildtech, and Meditech will remain the highest-selling technical textiles throughout the forecast period 2015-2020, with Homtech technical textile consumption anticipated to reach 6.43 million tonnes by 2020. By process type, non-wovens will continue to have a dominant edge over composites, owing to their versatility in medical and industrial applications.

Asia Pacific’s revenue share of the global technical textiles market is anticipated to reach 44.6% by 2020. Among all the technical textile types, demand for Hometech will remain the strongest. This technical textile segment is expected to account for over one-fourth volume share of the global market by 2020. The U.S. and EU5 countries will remain the other leading markets for technical textiles, with Mobiltech expected to witness the highest demand. While the global technical textiles market is anticipated to grow at a steady CAGR, few challenges can restrain growth. High price of finished products has remained a longstanding challenge for end-users, and in price-sensitive markets, it can be a major impediment. Further, the technical textile market is highly fragmented with small and medium scale enterprises in Asia Pacific giving intense competition to European players. The technical textiles market remains highly fragmented with local players in Asia Pacific offering cost-effective variants of technical textiles. Multinational players are facing a stiff competition from local players, and mergers and acquisitions remain a key strategy for many leading players.

SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers

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TCF Council Fiji receives govt grant to promote itself to more int’l markets

The Fiji’s Textile, Clothing and Footwear sector exports total 100 million dollars per annum and currently employs around seven thousand people of which around 90% of the workers are women in the forty textile, clothing and footwear factories around Fiji. The Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Council has received a grant of $100,000 from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Fiji. Permanent Secretary Shaheen Ali handed over the cheque to TCF Council President Kaushik Kumar stating that with the government grant, the council will be able to promote itself to more international market. Ali further added that the government will continue supporting the industry and over the years has provided $850,000 for marketing purposes. The grant will be paid on a half yearly basis. The second half of the payment will be made in March next year. Meanwhile, the Council President, Kaushik Kumar said that with the previous grants they were able to promote new markets in North America and Europe. There is a potential to do a lot more. They are also looking at the United States. Fiji’s main export markets are New Zealand, Australia and other Pacific Island countries.

SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers

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China's November exports up 5.9%, imports up 13%

China's exports in yuan terms ended previous drops to rise 5.9 percent year on year in November, while imports continued to pick up steam by increasing 13 percent, customs data showed on Thursday. Foreign trade volume reached 2.35 trillion yuan ($340 billion) in November, with trade surplus narrowing to 298 billion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). Trade volume for the first eleven months dropped 1.2 percent from a year earlier to 21.8 trillion yuan while trade surplus shrank 5.8 percent to 3.1 trillion yuan. Foreign trade with China's largest trade partner -- the European Union -- rose 3.1 percent in the first eleven months. In the same period, foreign trade with the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, fell 1.7 percent, and that with ASEAN, its third-largest trade partner, gained 0.8 percent.

Exports of machinery and electronic products as well as goods in labor-intensive sectors like textiles and toys posted declines in the first eleven months and private firms still led the country's exports. Meanwhile, imports of large commodity goods including iron ore and crude oil continued to grow in the January-November period featuring general price drops, customs data showed. An official index predicting future trade growth prospects began to rise again in November, climbing by 1.3 points from the previous month.

SOURCE: The Global Textiles

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