As the ongoing incentive scheme for textile units is coming to an end on July 31, entrepreneurs have been anxiously waiting for the new scheme hoping it to boost and pump fresh blood into the sector. While giving recommendations to the Government, the Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) members recently urged the policy makers to incentivize power and provide other facilities to the textile units that offers huge employment opportunities especially in the rural part of Vidarbha. “The Government has been giving about 45 per cent capital incentive to textile units under the existing scheme which is a big relief to the entrepreneurs. But we want the authorities to carry forward the scheme by adding more incentives,” said Prashant Mohota, Core Committee Member of VIA. Further, Mohota observed that subsidized power rates that to for a significant period would help the textile units to sustain. “As of now, the Government is offering subsidy on power but is for a specific period. We want the subsidy to continue for a considerable period,” he said adding that the textile units to be made cross subsidy free. Mohota said that entreprenuers want modifications in Minimum Wages Act for women and unskilled employees deployed in textile units based in the region. “Government should bear some portion of the wages so that the employers could be relieved of the heavy burden of wages,” he said. He also urged the policy makers to come out with innovative schemes to create common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) for textile units. Raising voice against the heavy operational and maintenance cost of zero liquid discharge (ZLD), the VIA members asked the Government to subside it and ensure long-term sustainability. Nizamuddin Ansari, President of Maharashtra Powerloom Bunkar Action Committee and VIA core committee members stressed on special scheme to support over 3,500 powerloom units in Nagpur that are facing hardship. “The prevailing scheme of the Government are not meeting the requirements of these small weavers. They need special schemes designed for small weavers. There is also a need to help weavers belonging to backward classes who are bearing the brunt of tough competition from big and established players,” he said. “A dedicated textile park in Nagpur is the need of the hour that will address various issues of the small weavers and give them access to new technology. We are also demanding the policy makers to create an effective marketing platform for products made by small weavers,” he said. Ansari further demanded the policy makers to provide health care facilities for all the small weavers.
Source: The Hitavada
Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta, put forward welfare schemes for the textile workers in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question on July 20. The schemes were directed for Artisans, Handloom weavers and Powerloom workers of the textile industry. The Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthaya Bima Yojana got implemented for the artisans in the handicrafs sector. Also, Life and accident insurance introduced under Aam Admi Bima Yojana. As a support to artisans in indigent circumstances, an award of Rs 3500 provided to Shilp Gurus and recipients of National award or National merit certificates, below 60 years of age and earning less than Rs. 50,000. Under the Credit Guarantee Scheme, the Office of DC (Handicrafts) paid guarantee fee to Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and small enterprises for the coverage of handicraft artisans. Mudra loan for Handicraft Artisans is in line with Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Interest subvention scheme introduced under which interest subvention of 6% is provided to handicraft workers, with a limit of one lakh rupees for three years. Handloom Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme implemented for the Handloom Weavers comprising health, life and accident insurance components as available to the artisans in the handicraft sector. Both the above programmes are under merger with national-level programmes for health, life and accident insurance. Separately, National Handloom Development Programme, the Yarn Supply Scheme as well as the Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development programme, applied under the Textiles Ministry. Under the special package provided for garments and made-ups, the government offers 3.67% share of employer’s contribution towards provident fund in addition to the 8.33% being under Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana, for all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years.
Source: Business World
NEW DELHI: Union cabinet cleared the first of the four labour codes on wages, paving way for consolidation of more than a dozen different central labour laws dealing with wages of labourers. The cabinet also raised the ceiling for gold deposits under the sovereign gold bonds (SGB) scheme to make it more attractive. It also gave ex-post facto approval to an order to roll out goods and services tax in Jammu and Kashmir.
LABOUR REFORMS
The labour bill, marking the first major initiative of this government in amalgamating labour laws thereby significantly improving the ease of doing business as well as ensuring universal minimum wage to all, will now be laid in Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session. The proposed legislation is expected to benefit over 4 crore employees. “It has been approved,” a source told ET. The Code on Wages Bill also seeks to empower the Centre to set a minimum wage across sectors, and states will have to maintain that. However, states will be able to provide higher minimum wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the central government since labour is in the concurrent list. Once approved by Parliament, even workers getting monthly pay of higher than Rs 18,000 would be legally entitled to a minimum wage. At present, laws on wages do not cover workers getting monthly wage of more than Rs 18,000. Besides, the minimum wage will be applicable on all classes of workers. At present, it is applicable for scheduled industries or establishments in the law. Under the code on wages, the labour ministry plans to streamline the definition of wages by amalgamating four wage-related statutes. These include the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. At present, there are about half a dozen definitions of wages in various acts across the Centre and states, which employers have to grapple with.
GOLD BOND SCHEME
The limit under the sovereign gold bonds (SGB) scheme to four kg per fiscal for individuals from the existing 500 gm. The same limit has been extended for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 Kg for trusts and similar entities notified by the government. “The ceiling will be counted on financial year basis and will include the SGBs purchased during the trading in the secondary market,” the government noted in a statement, adding that the ceiling on investment will not include the holdings as collateral by banks and financial institutions. Introduced in 2015, the scheme aimed to develop a financial asset as an alternative to purchasing metal gold. The target was to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for Investment into 'demat' gold bonds. In its statement the government said that in view of less than expected response of the investors to the scheme, and considering its bearing on current account deficit (CAD), and consequently on overall macro-economic health of the country, it was felt necessary to make changes in this scheme in order to make it a success. The target mobilisation under the scheme was pegged at Rs 15,000 crore in 2015-16 and at Rs 10,000 crore in 2016-17. “The amount so far credited in government account is Rs 4,769 crore,” it said. “Specific changes have been made in the attributes of the scheme to make it more attractive, mobilise finances as per the target,” it added.
Source: Economic Times
The Goods & Services Tax (GST) rolled out on July 1, 2017 is not fibre-neutral. The textiles industry faces a unique issue in the presence of a differential duty structure both in different fibre value chains and within specific value chains too. This situation was prevalent in the earlier tax regime and is still relevant for the new GST regime. The result of such a structure is the accumulation of duty at a certain point in the value chain wherein the duty paid on the input is higher while the duty on the output is comparatively lower. This accumulated duty is embedded in the cost of the final product by the seller as he/she is unable to set off the input duty which in turn leads to higher prices, writes Sumit Parmar of Wazir Advisors in an article on Fibre2Fashion. Now, with the onset of higher duties, the quantum of duty accumulation will increase which will lead to further increase of prices, according to Parmar. The article looks at the complete textile value chain and finds that GST has failed to resolve the issue of differential duty structure in the industry as well as the issue of fibre neutrality.
Source: Fibre2fashion
The finance ministry on Tuesday said states can levy certain taxes under the new indirect tax regime as the GST Council did not have any authority to direct them against such a move. The ministry was replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was empowered to stop states from levying certain taxes. “Under the constitution, certain powers of taxation still remain with the state governments after introduction of GST also and within those powers, the state governments are free to decide their rates of taxation. These taxes include stamp duty and registration charges, VAT on potable alcohol, entertainment tax, electricity duty and taxes on vehicle,” the ministry said. As FE had reported earlier, in the first week of GST, Maharasthra and Tamil Nadu had raised local taxes leading to fears that more states could follow suit, thus undermining the objective of GST. The GST, which subsumes most major indirect taxes, is designed to reduce cascading of taxes that jacks up costs to businesses. Prevalence of input taxes that cannot be offset by the downstream industries is against the GST’s basic tenet, analysts said. However, some government official said that the remaining taxation power with states was very limited, and it will prevent distortion of GST unlike the case under the earlier state VAT system. In the past, several states tweaked their laws to restrict flow of input tax credit and impose levies on inter-state transfer of stock under VAT. For instance, Punjab, in December 2013, introduced a system of levy only on the first point of sale for a large variety of items — from electronic goods and packaged foods to mineral water and medicines — at substantially higher rates of 7-25% (as against the weighted average of about 12% in case of other items). This meant the tax is paid either at the manufacturer’s or first importer’s stage and an absence of tax on the value added downstream, including at wholesale and retail points. The imposition of local body taxes will continue for some time before the trend stagnates but it is unlikely to dent the objective of the new regime, a government official said on the condition of anonymity. “The states have enjoyed autonomy over taxation since independence, which has now been stripped off with the implementation of GST. The administrations will take time to adjust to the new reality,” the official said.
Source: Financial Express
Companies opting for Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) may use marked-to-market (MTM) losses for the purpose of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) regarding financial instruments such as equity for the purpose of trading. MTM is the revaluing of assets are current prices. These companies need not do further adjustment for these losses in their profit and loss (P&L) accounts, since these are allowed under the MAT provisions. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a list of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQs) on the subject, to clarify doubts from companies relating to amendments in the MAT provisions to align these with Ind-AS. Explaining the FAQs, Hitesh Sawhney, partner, direct tax, with consultancy PwC, says for financial instruments whose fair value adjustments are recognised through P&L accounts, no further adjustment nee be made for the purpose of MAT. He said investments in equity for the purpose of trading, or debt not held till maturity and where there is no surety of principal or interest recovery, would come under these instruments. Neeru Ahuja of consultancy Deloitte said: “Where MTM losses are recognised in the P&L account, such loss would be allowable for MAT computation. So, no adjustment is required.”However, in a provision for reduction in value of assets other than these financial instruments, adjustments will have to be made. Explaining, Sawhney said if provisions for bad debts were made by a company, these will have to be added back to the profits for the purpose of MAT. However, adjustments relating to provision for doubtful debts will not be considered for the purpose of computation of the transition amount. An EY note says, "There would be concerns due to the clarification on the exclusion of provisions for bad and doubtful debts from the 'transition amount', which may never, in the future, become deductible in computation of book profit." In the case of dividends, one of the FAQs clarified that it would be recognised in the year in which it was declared and not when it accrued. Also, in the case of preference shares, dividend is usually paid as interest. For this, CBDT clarified that this would be recognised whether termed dividend or interest. Barring banks, insurance and non-banking financial companies, most companies were required to adopt Ind-AS from April 1, 2017. Unlisted companies of less than Rs 250 crore of net worth, are exempt.
Source: Business Standard
The highest decision making body on special economic zones - Board of Approval (BoA) has approved 81 cases of de-notification of SEZs, Parliament was informed today. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the reasons given for de-notification include economic slowdown, poor market response, lack of demand for SEZ space and change in the fiscal incentive regime for these zones. "As on 30th June, on the request of the SEZ developers, the BoA has approved 81 cases of de-notification of SEZs subject to the refund of all duties and tax benefits availed by the SEZ developer and on receipt of no-objection from the concerned state government," she said. She also said that the Department of Commerce had advised all states to ensure that de-notified land of SEZs would be utilised towards creation of infrastructure. In a separate reply, she said total exports from SEZs were Rs 4.67 lakh crore in 2015-2016, which increased to Rs 5.23 lakh crore in 2016-17. "There has been an increase of 12.05 per cent in the total exports from SEZs during 2016-17 in comparison to the previous year," she added. In a separate reply, the minister said representations have been received from exporters/growers associations regarding alleged import of low quality pesticide contaminated pepper from Vietnam through Sri Lanka. On analysis of the data of import and production of pepper in Sri Lanka in the last three years, it is observed that the quantum of total import of pepper in Sri Lanka was very small as compared to the production of pepper as well as the quantum of exports from Sri Lanka to India. "Therefore, there is little possibility of Vietnamese pepper being imported to India, through Sri Lanka," she said. The matter was examined and necessary directions were issued to Central Board of Excise and Customs and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for taking suitable measures like strict verification of Certificates of Origin and further to check the possibility of contaminated Vietnamese pepper being imported into India, she added.
Source Business Standard
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 49.38 per barrel (bbl) on 26.07.2017. This was higher than the price of US$ 47.92 per bbl on previous publishing day of 25.07.2017. In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3181.31 per bbl on 26.07.2017 as compared to Rs. 3084.05 per bbl on 25.07.2017. Rupee closed weaker at Rs. 64.42 per US$ on 26.07.2017 as compared to Rs. 64.36 per US$ on 25.07.2017. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on July 26, 2017 Previous trading day i.e. 25.07.2017) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
49.38 (47.92) |
|
(Rs/bbl) |
3181.31 (3084.05) |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
64.42 (64.36) |
Source : PIB
RAJKOT/AHMEDABAD:The torrential rain in the state has hurt sowing and has resulted in damage to 30% of the cotton and groundnut crop where sowing had been completed. Sowing this season had progressed faster than last year, and was about 23% for land was sown at the same point last year. "Around 25% of land sown with cotton is affected. Banaskantha, Rajkot, Morbi and Amreli have seen some part of sown fields washed out by the heavy rains. Whether these fields are re-sown remains to be seen," said Arun Dalal, a city-based cotton trader. According to him, cotton prices showed a downward trend one week ago as sowing had picked up pace. Reports of crop damage led to prices moving up, albeit marginally. "Cotton prices inched up by Rs 300 to about Rs 42,500 to Rs 43,000 per candy," he added. "Groundnut sowing will be adversely affected by the heavy rains of the past few days. Junagadh, Rajkot and Jamnagar are major groundnut growing areas in the state. Although, groundnut sowing in Junagadh has not been impacted, Rajkot and Jamnagar are expected to be adversely affected. The exact scale will only be revealed after the water recedes," said Govind Patel, a former president of the Solvent Extractors Association of India. Market yards officials and traders said that there has been no immediate impact on prices of groundnut as several market yards in these areas saw no arrival of groundnut due to the heavy rains. The office-bearer of a market yard in Banaskantha said that actual damage would be clear only once the water recedes, but in several areas, entire fields have been washed away and will not be worth sowing again, as the top soil has been fully washed away. According to officials, in Banaskantha, Amreli and Rajkot, sowing of both groundnut and cotton has been affected, while in the Surendranagar only cotton has been affected. Apart from cotton and groundnut, sesame and guar are other crops sown that will be affected by the torrential rains. With Gujarat having already received 64% of its average annual rainfall, sowing this year has been completed on 23% more acreage than at the same point last year. The area sown with groundnut and cotton are at 114% and 95% of their three-year average area sown for the entire season, respectively. According to data released by the state government, sowing has been complete on around 81.83% of the three-year average area sown, which is 85.76 lakh hectares (ha). By July 25, 70.18 lakh ha had been sown. Last year, 57.01lakh ha had been sown by the same date. Officials said that with good rains relatively early this year, the area currently sown is 13.17 lakh ha more than at the same point last year. Interestingly, cotton has gained ground this year. The fibre crop has already been sown on 25.84 lakh ha, which is more than the total area sown with it in 2016.
Source: PTI
The Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta, stated in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question on July 20, that there is no shortage of either cotton or yarn in the country, while delivering information on the availability of cotton for the textile industry. There are various policy initiatives and schemes introduced by the government for the domestic manufacturers and exporters. Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), schemes for the development of the Power-loom Sector and Technical Textiles, scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) and Textile Processing Development (IPDS) are some of the programmes to enable the textile industry to upgrade and make it more competitive. The Government has also launched Rs. 6000 crore Scheme for Production and Employment Linked Support for Garmenting Units (SPELSGU) under ATUFS, to incentivize production and employment generation in the garmenting Sector. “These initiatives and schemes will help in the development of the downstream value added segments which in turn will create increased demand for yarn and thereby lead to increased production of yarn,” said Tamta. Government also introduced special packages for apparel and made-ups sector in June 2016 and December 2016 respectively, which include schemes such as Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS), Pradhan Mantri Paridhan Rojgar Protsahan Yojna (PMPRPY) and Scheme of Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) on export of garments. Besides, with a view to modernize textile industry and increase production, schemes such as Scheme for Technical textiles, Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) and Integrated Skill Development Scheme are also being run by the Government.
Source: Business World
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1225.69 |
USD/Ton |
-0.30% |
7/26/2017 |
|
VSF |
2347.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
ASF |
2192.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Polyester POY |
1248.65 |
USD/Ton |
-0.24% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3051.27 |
USD/Ton |
0.49% |
7/26/2017 |
|
40D Spandex |
4962.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1592.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Nylon POY |
3184.58 |
USD/Ton |
1.42% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
5687.81 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1458.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2769.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2369.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2977.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1829.28 |
USD/Ton |
-0.24% |
7/26/2017 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2740.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1910.75 |
USD/Ton |
-2.27% |
7/26/2017 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2295.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3125.33 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2266.24 |
USD/Ton |
-2.55% |
7/26/2017 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.38 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.85 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.19 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/26/2017 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14812 USD dtd. 26/7/2017). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Riding on a duty-free trade privilege, Bangladesh's garment export to China increased 14.77 percent year-on-year to $391.59 million in fiscal 2016-17, something exporters are seeing as a sign that new opportunities are awaiting. China, the global leader in apparel business, has turned into a major export destination for Bangladesh because of its huge population with a growing section of middle-income households. Moreover, China is shifting production from basic to high-end garment products and has a shortage of skilled labour. Garment manufacturers are also giving more preference to Chinese markets for a shorter lead-time and better prices from retailers and brands. Exporters are upbeat about Chinese markets as this potential can be a very good substitute for continued apparel export growth at a time when shipments to other traditional destinations like the US, EU and Canada is falling. During the 2008-2009 global recessions, global trade experienced a significant slump but Bangladesh's export got a boost for increased shipments to China. “Garment export from my group has been maintaining 10 percent growth every year to China. China is a new destination for us,” said Asif Zahir, director of Ananta Group, a leading garment exporter. Zahir exported garment products, mainly of denim and trousers, worth US $15 million last year. Retailers like H&M, GAP and Zara are his main buyers from Chinese markets. Moreover, China has its own retailers and brands which buy a lot of garment items from Bangladesh, he said. Export of trousers, denim, non-denim and t-shirts, is high from Bangladesh to China, he said. “We need a strong marketing for the Chinese markets. We have a very strong potential in the Chinese market,” Zahir said. China itself is very strong in jackets and lingerie, for which export of such products from Bangladesh is not yet high. The growing Chinese middle class are the main customers of Bangladeshi apparel, exporters said.
Chinese manufacturers produce high-end garment products which middle class consumers can hardly afford. As a result, demand for Bangladeshi garment items is high.Since Chinese manufacturers have already shifted their focus to high-end products, the Chinese government started exploring an alternative market for middle class consumers. As a measure, the Chinese government in April 2011 allowed duty-free access to 4,721 products, of which a majority are garment items. Since then, garment export to China from Bangladesh is on the rise. Recently, a study by Switzerland-based International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) said by the end of 2020, China would produce US $750 billion worth garments from the current US $300 billion, half for export and the remaining for domestic use. Currently, about 80 percent of China's garment products are produced for local consumption. So Bangladesh should focus on this Asian economic giant for its future export growth. The remaining export-focused 20 percent make up about 40 percent of global apparel trade, worth nearly US $200 billion. China has 1.35 billion people, for which many Chinese manufacturers do not bother with exports, the study said.
Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, a former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the Chinese market would grow automatically as they have already shifted from producing basic items. “We should maintain a warm relationship with China for higher export,” Parvez said. Local garment exporters enjoy a three percent cash incentive on export to China under a new market stimulus package introduced in 2009 to minimise fallouts of global financial recession. China's state-owned companies and private sector entrepreneurs are also very much interested in Bangladesh for a new initiative of the Chinese government's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, which includes Bangladesh. In the fiscal 2016-17, overall export also increased by 17.49 percent to US $949.41 million from US $808.14 million in the 2015-16 fiscal, according to data from Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau. Very soon China would become the second Asian market after Japan for Bangladeshi exports to cross the US $1 billion mark.
Source: The Daily Star
Bangladesh's exports of apparel items to the European Union remained sluggish in fiscal 2016-17 mainly due to Brexit, national elections in major European countries, depreciation of the euro against the dollar, prolonged labour unrest at home and poor port services. Exports to the EU grew only 3.49 percent year-on-year to $17.75 billion in fiscal 2016-17, while the growth was 11.66 percent in the year before, according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data. Against this backdrop, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed is scheduled to sit with EU diplomats and businesses at the third business climate dialogue between Bangladesh and EU in the ministry today to discuss investment and export. Riding on a duty-free privilege, Bangladesh's garment export to the EU has been maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 10 percent over the last 15 years. However, this growth was the lowest in 2016-17 as per exporters. The Brexit in June last year was mainly responsible for the slowdown in garment export to the EU, where nearly 60 percent of garment items are shipped in a year. Last fiscal year, garment export to the UK declined 5.97 percent to $3.31 billion. It was $3.52 billion in the year before, registering a 21.37 percent year-on-year growth rate. The UK is the third largest garment export destination for Bangladesh. However, it has been suffering from high inflation stemming from the freefall of the pound against the euro and US dollar. The rising cost of foreign package holidays and imported computer games pushed the UK inflation rate up to 2.9 percent last month from 2.7 percent in April. The latest inflation rate is the highest since June 2013 and above the Bank of England's target of 2 percent. The fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit referendum has increased the cost of imports which has been one of the key factors behind the rise in inflation.
The Retail Prices Index measure of inflation increased to 3.7 percent in June, up from 3.5 percent the month before, according to BBC. Garment export to some major EU members increased slightly between 3 and 5 percent year-on-year. To Germany, the second largest export destination for Bangladesh, export amounted to $5.14 billion in fiscal 2016-17. Export earnings from France, Spain and Italy were nearly $2 billion each in the last fiscal year, according to EPB data. This year was of elections for the major economies of the EU. France, the Netherlands and the UK have already had theirs while Germany is going to hold it on September 24. During such periods, retailers and consumers tend to wait for the new government's policy decisions, so it has a negative impact on business activities, said exporters. Bangladesh logged in $34.83 billion in export receipts for fiscal 2016-17, up 1.69 percent year-on-year. Had there been favourable exchange rates, the earnings could have been at least $3 billion more as the volume of shipments from the country increased. But the receipts belied it. In August 2016, one euro was exchanged for $1.135. It came down to $1.045 in December. The trend continued until June this year before reversing. In the first week of July, one euro was exchanged for $1.140. A massive labour unrest in December 2016 at the garment manufacturing hub of Ashulia forced owners to stop production in nearly 100 factories for more than one month. Production was badly hampered for the closure, intended to avoid a spillover of vandalism by workers for a raise in salary. Poor services at Chittagong port, where the release of goods takes nearly 15 days, was another major cause of concern for exporters, said Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. “We need to reduce the lead-time drastically amid fierce competition of the apparel business,” he said. Previously, retailers and brands gave 90 days' lead-time but now they reduced it to 70 days, he said. Competing countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India can supply to retailers and brands at a shorter lead-time but Bangladesh is still lagging behind due to lower productivity, port congestion and poor infrastructure, Rahman said. On the prospects of Bangladeshi apparel in the EU, Kurt Salmon Global Sourcing Reference, a European research firm, stated in a study that Bangladesh was gaining the market share with regard to sourcing by both Europe and North America. It is still mainly focused on less complex products but it has the potential to further strengthen its relative position if production capabilities can evolve and quality can be improved, while ensuring social and environmental compliance standards, the study said.
Source: The Daily Star
Cotton futures slumped Wednesday, unable to sustain gains that followed a report showing crop conditions slipping in the U.S. The weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture report, released Tuesday, showed that 55% of cotton is in good or excellent condition, down from 60% last week but still higher than 52% a year ago for this time of year. Cotton for December delivery lost 0.6% to settle at 68.40 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange as traders look ahead to Thursday's report on demand for cotton overseas. Rose Commodity Group said that its technical trading analysis suggests the overall risk of prices making a sustained move more to the downside is somewhat greater than that to the upside. While weather forecasts are calling for hot and dry weather that is causing stress to parts of Texas, which are the largest U.S. growing regions, irrigated areas are managing through the heat, say Price Futures Group and the U.S. delta and southeast growing regions have seen good growing conditions. "Mother Nature holds the key to forthcoming price activity," said O.A. Cleveland, consulting economist at Cotton Experts. In other markets, raw sugar for October was up 2.4% to close at 14.23 cents a pound, cocoa for September lost 0.7% to settle at $1,912 a ton, arabica coffee for September was up 3.2% to end at $1.3480 a pound and September frozen concentrated orange juice added 1.1% to settle at $1.3405 a pound.
Source: Fox Business
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing committee on Textile Industry on Wednesday emphasized for value addition and priorities the garments exports to enhance the country's exports. The committee give recommendations for giving incentives to garments sector and small industries for enhancing their capacity in value addition. The committee meeting was chaired by MNA Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari here in ministry of textile industry's building and discussed on the current situation of textile industry and proposal from exporters. In meeting Federal Minister for Textile, Eng. Khurram Dastgir Khan said the government is committed to resolve the issues of electricity prices and sales tax on priority bases. He informed the committee that Rs.15 billion would pays to the textile sector through Prime Minister "Trade Enhancement Package" by August 14, 2017. He said that priority of the government is facilitating the textile sector for providing them competitiveness to enhance the country's exports. "We want to revive the confidence of textile sector through "Trade Enhancement Package" amount of Rs.162 billion for the textile industry, announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, he informed. Khurram said that "We are committed for the revival of textile industry and to providing enabling environment for textile sector". The committee gives recommendation for proper execution of "Trade Enhancement Package" for the textile industry. The committee stressed the need for protecting local textile industry to enhance exports volume of the country. In meeting Chairman All Pakistan Textile Sizing Industries Association (APTSIA) Mian Zahid Rasheed said that government must support the textile industry for export led growth. He informed the committee that now trade deficit is big challenge for country and stresses to provide facilities to the textile sector. He stressed to enhance the regional trade for competing to other regional countries in textile sector and asked to authorities concerned to resolve the genuine problems of the industry. Chairman APTSIA demanded for proper implementation on PM export enhancement package for facilitating the textile industry. He claimed that as compared to the other regional countries in Pakistan the member mills of APTSIA were concerned about the high cost of doing business, including burdening of the industry with surcharges in electricity bills, and taxation on the export-oriented textile industry. MNA Jamshaid Ahmed Dasti,Dr. Amirullah Marwat, Abdul Rashid Godil, Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, Malik shakir Bashir Awan, Ms. Belum Hasnain, Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam, Secretary Commerce and representative of APTSIA attended the meeting.
Source: Business Recorder
The VDMA Textile Machinery Association from Germany has published demanding and comprehensive programs of its B2B forums and conferences, which will be held in Charlotte (NC) and Mexico City in November 2017. Online registrations for the programs are now open and are available at www.germantech-ustextile.de and www.germantech-mextextile.de. Industry experts from the VDMA member companies will present practice-oriented technology topics to decision makers from the local textile industries. For the conference in Charlotte, taking place on November 6, 2017 at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel, three parallel sessions are scheduled: textile machinery and components for the fibre and yarn industry; nonwovens and technical textiles industry; and apparel, home textile & carpet industry. The sessions will feature application-oriented technology presentations from around 25 VDMA member companies. The program in Mexico City will cover two days, November 8 and 9, 2017, at the Hilton Mexico City Santa Fe. The content for the programs include textile machinery and components for the apparel and home textile industry, textile machinery and components for the fibre and yarn industry, and textile machinery and components for the nonwovens and technical textiles industry. Around 29 VDMA member companies will present their latest technologies. Interested decision makers (for example technical management, production managers, quality and maintenance managers, mill owners) from the textile, nonwoven, and carpet manufacturing industries, along the entire textile chain, are requested to register for the forum. Each registrant will be checked and approved. A few weeks prior to the events, the approved registrants will be able to pre-arrange B2B meetings with the experts from the participating VDMA member companies, their subsidiaries and agents via the above-mentioned websites. The training session at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Textil) to be held in Mexico City on 10 November, 2017 will focus on future engineers.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Bangladesh's exports of apparel items to the European Union remained sluggish in fiscal 2016-17 mainly due to Brexit, national elections in major European countries, depreciation of the euro against the dollar, prolonged labour unrest at home and poor port services. Exports to the EU grew only 3.49 percent year-on-year to $17.75 billion in fiscal 2016-17, while the growth was 11.66 percent in the year before, according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data. Against this backdrop, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed is scheduled to sit with EU diplomats and businesses at the third business climate dialogue between Bangladesh and EU in the ministry today to discuss investment and export. Riding on a duty-free privilege, Bangladesh's garment export to the EU has been maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 10 percent over the last 15 years. However, this growth was the lowest in 2016-17 as per exporters. The Brexit in June last year was mainly responsible for the slowdown in garment export to the EU, where nearly 60 percent of garment items are shipped in a year. Last fiscal year, garment export to the UK declined 5.97 percent to $3.31 billion. It was $3.52 billion in the year before, registering a 21.37 percent year-on-year growth rate. The UK is the third largest garment export destination for Bangladesh. However, it has been suffering from high inflation stemming from the freefall of the pound against the euro and US dollar. The rising cost of foreign package holidays and imported computer games pushed the UK inflation rate up to 2.9 percent last month from 2.7 percent in April. The latest inflation rate is the highest since June 2013 and above the Bank of England's target of 2 percent. The fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit referendum has increased the cost of imports which has been one of the key factors behind the rise in inflation. The Retail Prices Index measure of inflation increased to 3.7 percent in June, up from 3.5 percent the month before, according to BBC. Garment export to some major EU members increased slightly between 3 and 5 percent year-on-year. To Germany, the second largest export destination for Bangladesh, export amounted to $5.14 billion in fiscal 2016-17. Export earnings from France, Spain and Italy were nearly $2 billion each in the last fiscal year, according to EPB data. This year was of elections for the major economies of the EU. France, the Netherlands and the UK have already had theirs while Germany is going to hold it on September 24. During such periods, retailers and consumers tend to wait for the new government's policy decisions, so it has a negative impact on business activities, said exporters. Bangladesh logged in $34.83 billion in export receipts for fiscal 2016-17, up 1.69 percent year-on-year. Had there been favourable exchange rates, the earnings could have been at least $3 billion more as the volume of shipments from the country increased. But the receipts belied it. In August 2016, one euro was exchanged for $1.135. It came down to $1.045 in December. The trend continued until June this year before reversing. In the first week of July, one euro was exchanged for $1.140. A massive labour unrest in December 2016 at the garment manufacturing hub of Ashulia forced owners to stop production in nearly 100 factories for more than one month. Production was badly hampered for the closure, intended to avoid a spillover of vandalism by workers for a raise in salary. Poor services at Chittagong port, where the release of goods takes nearly 15 days, was another major cause of concern for exporters, said Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. “We need to reduce the lead-time drastically amid fierce competition of the apparel business,” he said. Previously, retailers and brands gave 90 days' lead-time but now they reduced it to 70 days, he said. Competing countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India can supply to retailers and brands at a shorter lead-time but Bangladesh is still lagging behind due to lower productivity, port congestion and poor infrastructure, Rahman said. On the prospects of Bangladeshi apparel in the EU, Kurt Salmon Global Sourcing Reference, a European research firm, stated in a study that Bangladesh was gaining the market share with regard to sourcing by both Europe and North America. It is still mainly focused on less complex products but it has the potential to further strengthen its relative position if production capabilities can evolve and quality can be improved, while ensuring social and environmental compliance standards, the study said.
Source: The Daily Star.
