In what could bring relief to small taxpayers with cash flow issues, the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) has extended the deadline for taxpayers claiming input tax credit on transition (pre-GST) stocks to file the first interim returns for July by a week to August 28. However, these taxpayers will have to settle their tax liability by the earlier deadline of August 20. The deadline for filing returns will continue to be August 20 for assessees who do not opt to claim ITC in July for goods bought before the GST roll-out. “The taxpayers who want to avail the transitional input tax credit should also calculate their tax liability after estimating the amount of transitional credit as per Form TRANS I. They have to make full settlement of the liability after adjusting the transitional input tax credit before 20th August, 2017,” the CBEC said. The board, however, added that in such cases, the taxpayers will get time till August 28 to submit Form TRANS I and Form 3B on the GST Network, the IT back end. “In case of shortfall in the amount already paid vis-à-vis the amount payable on submission of Form 3B, the same will have to be paid with interest at18% for the period between 21st August, 2017 till the payment of such differential amount,” the CBEC added. Also, the GST Network is expected to release TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms — to be used for claiming ITC on transition stock – on August 21. These new forms will have provision for claiming ITC for pre-GST stocks, addressing the industry’s concerns over absence of the same in the earlier Form 3B. “While past input tax credit might not bother multinationals and large companies, smaller companies can’t afford to let their working capital inflate,” R.N Iyer, managing director of the GST suvudha provider Vayana Network said. Although the initial trends suggested a slow rate of tax filings, GSTN officials said that most a substantial chunk of taxpayers tend to file their return on the last two days of the deadline. “GSTN system is capable of handling even half the total load of filers on the last two days as the redundancy was built based on a study that showed the same return-filing trend even in VAT regime,” the official had said. Till August 5, nearly 87 lakh taxpayers had registered on the GSTN portal as taxpayers under GST. Of this, nearly 71 lakh businesses have migrated from earlier VAT or central excise or service tax regime, while 16 lakh new taxpayers too have registered with the portal. The GSTN had earlier said over 30% of the firms registered on the portal had not completed the second form. This would prevent these businesses from filing returns.
Source: Financial Express
A wave of consolidation is sweeping over the Rs 50,000-crore warehousing industry, thanks to the goods and services tax (GST). The rollout of the tax reform measure could reduce total number of warehouses in the country by at least 40% in the coming months, top industry executives said. For instance, phone maker Lava, which stocked inventory in 28-30 warehouses earlier, has brought down the number to 18, industry sources said. Similarly, white goods company Whirlpool is working on plans to reduce its warehouses from 32 to 18. Other firms, including home grown FMCG major Dabur and electrical equipment manufacturer Havells, are also following suit. "Before GST, companies rented warehouses in every state because each state would impose its own tax," said Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO of Metro Cash and Carry India. "With GST rendering those differential tax slabs redundant, it makes no sense for them to bear the expenditure of having so many warehouses scattered across the country. Dabur is shutting down smaller warehouses and will now operate out of larger ones. Dabur India CFO Lalit Malik said, "We are working on consolidating the number of warehouses." He, however, did not share more details citing competitive reasons. Only around 20% of the warehouses in India are large (above 75,000 sq ft), while the rest are small (below 20,000 sq ft). Safexpress MD Rubal Jain said, "Many small warehouses are lying vacant now with the owners approaching larger players like us to buy them out. The consolidation in the warehousing industry started much before GST." The move to reduce total number of warehouses in favour of operating out of a few strategically-located ones will help companies streamline distribution and save costs. Havells CMD Anil Rai Gupta said, "Currently, we are reorganising our warehouses. These steps will reduce freight cost and help business." But despite the decrease in number of warehouses, demand for storage space is expected to flourish on the back of booming sectors such as e-tail. Sample this: The warehousing space requirement in top seven markets of India is estimated to grow at annual 8% by 2020 and storage requirements of the e-tail segment is expected to double during the same period, according to Knight Frank.
Source: The Times of India
When Saudi Arabia decided in June to raise price of crude and cut shipments to Asia and the US, it may have unwittingly provided the spark for India's maiden drive towards America for supplies and helped New Delhi to undercut Opec's sway over the world's third largest oil consumer. The opportunity to change things came when PM Narendra Modi met Donald Trump in the White House on June 27. Modi said India had one of the world's fastest growing energy demands, in response to Trump's line about reviving American energy exports. Modi responded that India would consider it if the price was right. The price, as it has turned out, is more than just right even after the long shipping distance, as the first US ship sails with shale oil bound for Indian markets. Indian officials say that even after factoring in the distance, US oil is working out to be cheaper than Middle East oil. India now wants to leverage its status as a major energy buyer to get a better price, but also more importantly, to make a political point to its suppliers. Since Saudi oil prices affect cost of supplies from other West Asian producers, Saudi Aramco's decision to raise Arab Light crude price by 60 cents per barrel for Asian buyers narrowed the differential between West Asian crudes and North Sea Brent, the benchmark for most of global oil trade. The narrowed differential suddenly turned US oil, currently witnessing rising productio on the back of a fracking boom, attractive for India as a mix of West Asian supplies account for 73% of its imports and Brent making up the rest. India's largest state-run refiner-marketer IndianOil immediately put its bet on US Eagle Ford and Mars crudes, buying consignments from trading house Trafigura. The ship with first consignment has sailed from the US for the company's latest refinery at Paradip in oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan's home state, Odisha, where it will dock next month. With the advent of US-origin crude into its oil mix, India is making three points - first, diversifying its sources of oil (India's top suppliers are Iraq and Saudi Arabia); second, compel them to offer better prices (IOC officials observed that soon after India had secured its first US buy, Iraq decided to lower its prices); most importantly, it would help reduce the trade surplus India holds with the US, a sore point for the Trump administration. Indian officials say this could become a longer term affair, giving India greater room for manoeuvre with other tougher partners like Iran. India has recently dropped its intake of oil from Iran, peeved with Tehran's recalcitrance on a promised gas field. IndianOil's consignment is worth only $100 million, a miniscule fraction of India's $70 billion oil import bill for 2016-17. But it has a potential to grow into a $2 billion tradeand indicates the strategic ties between India and the US are expanding beyond defence and intelligence to energy. The foundations of an energy bridge was sown by state-run gas utility GAIL by contracting nearly 6 million tonne of shale gas from Sabine Pass project in Louisiana and Cove Point project in Maryland. The shipments are to begin from January.
Source: The Times of India
Tirupati: The temple city is fast emerging as a textile manufacturing hub with powerloom units have sprung up in large numbers in the last one decade busy in making fabrics. According to unofficial estimates, there were only 50 powerlooms a decade ago and now the number has increased to 250. The powerloom units are largely concentrated on the outskirts of Tirupati like Yogi Mallavaram, Rajiv Colony near Auto Nagar and Third Mile area.
Highlights:
• About 250 powerloom units are engaged in making fabrics
• Powerloom weavers seek subsidy in power bills, loans from banks and monthly pension for retired weavers
• One upon a time, handloom weavers used to make fabrics. After the improvement of technology, some families have turned into powerloom weavers. Lot of fabric making work has been outsourced to Tirupati from Chennai textile market as demand is growing for the last 20 years. In Tamil Nadu market, there is huge demand for exporting of fabrics. Textile owners from Chennai are supplying colour yarn and other raw material to local powerloom units for making of different clothes. Weavers are making saris, chudidars and other dress materials and sending it to Chennai. However, owners of powerloom units say that they are earning only Rs 20,000 per month where as their counter parts in Tamil Nadu are earning more than Rs 35,000. They say that the Tamil Nadu government has been supporting powerloom industry by giving subsidy in power bills and arranging loans from nationalised banks for purchas of yarn and colours. Speaking to The Hans India, a weaver B R Ealumali said that he is continuing in the profession despite facing several problems. Another weaver M Yogananda stated that the Tamil Nadu government has been providing Rs 1,500 pension to retired weavers but there is no such provision from the AP government.
Source: The Hans India
MUMBAI: Textile and apparel major Raymond today said it has acquired its joint venture partner Ansell's stake in JK Ansell, which will help it to scale its FMCG portfolio.
The company has acquired 100 per cent ownership of the sexual wellness and personal care business under the brand KamaSutra. "With this transaction, the sexual wellness and personal care business will continue to remain in JK Ansell, which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of JK Investo Trade (JKIT), a Raymond group company. As per the proposed deal, JKIT will sell its stake in the gloves business to Pacific Dunlop Holdings (Singapore), an Ansell group company," the company said in a statement here. The acquisition will help to scale up the company's FMCG business and unlock the potential of brand KamaSutra globally, it added. "Scaling up and creating a strong FMCG business is an important driver of value creation for the group. This acquisition of Ansell's 50 per cent stake gives us the full ownership of brand KamaSutra that strengthens our FMCG portfolio and is a step towards value creation," Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania said. The KamaSutra brand, launched 25 years ago in the sexual wellness space, has been extended to deodorants. The acquisition will allow the company to structure its FMCG businesses to unlock cost and revenue synergies with the other group company JK Helene Curtis. "With this acquisition combined FMCG business is expected to be Rs 800 crore in consumer value in FY18. This gives us the scale and opportunity to rejuvenate our FMCG brands and strengthen sales and distribution network. Having outlined a detailed roadmap, brand KamaSutra is poised to feature among the top five global brands in the sexual wellness category," Raymond President - FMCG Business Giriraj Bagri said.
Source: PTI
An official team from Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), led by its chairman Kihak Sung, which is in India to explore business and investment opportunities in the country, visited the proposed textile park site here on Thursday. The Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Managing Director, Venkata Narasimha Reddy, said Textiles Minister K.T. Rama Rao had invited Mr. Sung, who also owns the Youngone Corporation, to be one of the main investors in the upcoming textile park. The Minister met the delegation on Wednesday in Hyderabad and explained the features and benefits of the project to them. A presentation on the facilities that would come up at the park was also given by the Minister. On arriving in Warangal on Thursday, Mr. Sung and his team members were received by TSIIC MD Venkata Narasimha Reddy and District Collector Prashanth Jeevan Patil. They were shown the work of local weavers. Later, Mr. Sung enquired about the facilities available in the area where the mega textile park is proposed to come up. He discussed the master plan for the park and suggested that a bridge over the railway line abutting the textile park would ensure the smooth flow of traffic. The park should work in such a way that it should grow with lesser investment, he opined, adding that the weavers who work hard to produce the products should be provided a market within the textile park.
Source: The Hindu
Group KFPL began its modest journey in 1979 as a small company – Kohinoor Textile, with one single brand of 36 inch shirting i.e. Yashfab. Over the years with sheer determination and vision the company has registered phenomenal growth. The group has brands under the name of Yashfab, D&J, Nemesis, S&Y, Keith James, Vercelli, Cotton Universe, Linen Fusion, Ambarish which offer a complete variety of shirting and suiting to its discerning customers spread across India. The company follows an innovative approach by offering something new each year, be it a new brand or a unique collection. The group has a network of more than 4,000 retailers pan India to whom company sells goods directly through a team of dedicated sales agents Haresh Mehta is the Chairman and MD of this group. He is renowned within the textile industry. He is also considered as a guru in the field of Textile Marketing and has been an advisor to some of the top textile companies in India as well. The group has a network of more than 4,000 retailer’s pan India to whom company sells goods directly through a team of dedicated sales agents. Talking about the company’s successful journey Chairman & MD, KFPL Group, Haresh Mehta says, “We have had a positive growth levels since origin. With an organic growth of 20 per cent per annum the company has been steady growing in achieving new frontiers. Our image is known in the market for giving quality and innovation. In total, the retail turnover of the company is around Rs 300 crore and we have a target to achieve a growth of 25 per cent wherein I want to touch a target of Rs 375 crore by FY17-18.” Adding further on the retail positioning Mehta quotes, “In South and West the company address direct to retail. And in places like Punjab, Bihar, UP etc we appoint wholesalers who supply at the retail end. In total we address approx 4,000 retailers across the country. In this matrix around 1,000 retailer order fabric in every 2 months. And around 500 retailers order every month. 250 retailers order every week and other order according to seasons around 2 to 3 times in a year.” The company also has one exclusive outlet in Parel, Mumbai and plans to open more in 2018 once it’s totally ready with its feedback and research. Initially, the company will invest by opening its shops by its own investment and moving ahead would consider franchising route also. KFPL is also exporting to countries like Indonesia, Hong Kong, Africa which have Indian origin and have tailoring shops. KFPL- Annual Conference- Cochin Each year, KFPL organizes an annual conference wherein they address there top 250-300 retailers to some destination in India or abroad. This year their annual conference was held at Le Meridien Cochin from July 30 to August 2. The recently held conference was marked the biggest event in the entire history of the group. The event hosted a gala evening which marked an enviable gathering of their distinguished guests who had come from more than 300 cities of India. During the course of the evening, the group launched 7 new catalogues for all its prestigious brands. These new collections showcased in the catalogues showcase the group’s strength in the textile industry in terms of quality, variety, fashion and presentation. Among the list also marked the launch of a suiting collection under the group KFPL’s brand D&J which is top of the world and top of its class. It is the first time that such a fabric has been made. It is crafted from the finest Supima Cotton with Tencil and Lycra which imparts a feel and finish like no other. This innovative fabric is Freefit Collection by D&J. Created under special collaboration with Luthai Textiles, China. Talking about the collaboration with Luthai Textiles, “The company was already there in shirting and was supplying to India and we asked them to develop cotton suiting which is going to be the future. Since we encouraged them to create something innovative for the Indian market, the monopoly to retail this fabric is especially with us.” Group KFPL also held their prestigious legend awards to acclaim the true winner in the textile retail across India. The first category of these awards were given to the different states wherein the following were the winners for the prestigious legend awards:
1) Legend Award for the State of Tamil Nadu went to Pothi’s Group.
2) The State of Karnataka went to SVT Group.
3) The State of Andhra Pradesh went to Chandana Brothers Group. 4) The State of Telangana went to RS Brothers & South India Shopping Mall Group.
5) The State of Kerala went to Poolimootil Group.
6) The State of Maharashtra was a tie and went to Jaihind Group, Pune and Kohinoor Group Ahmednagar.
7) The State of Gujarat went to Bhagwandas & Company Group , Surat.
8) The State of Goa went to JK Kavlekar Group, Panjim.
9) The State of Uttarakhand went to Atam Prakash & Sons Group From Roorkee.
10) The State of Punjab went to Titu Creations Group from Kotkapura.
11) The State of Uttar Pradesh went to Garah Bhandar Group.
12) The State of Madhya Pradesh went to Pakiza Group, Indore.
13) The State of West Bengal went to JS Mohamadally Group, Kolkata.
14) The State of Assam went to RD Textiles Group.
15) The State of Rajasthan went to Sunil Textiles Group.
16) For Delhi went to Sri Ram & Sons Group.
THE SPECIAL CATEGORY AWARDS
This is being given to one Group chosen from across India, with the fastest expansion and growth speed. This went to the Jade Blue Group, Ahmedabad
UPCOMING GROUP AWARDS
This was given to very distinguished Groups who were small in size once but are now on the fast road to expansion and progressing at a rapid pace.
Group KFPL Upcoming Group Award was presented to the following:
1- Senthil Kumar Textiles Group, Karnataka
2- Kataria Vanesons Group, Karnataka
3- Maharashtra Emporium, Nagpur
4- Shankar Cloth Store, Jodhpur
5- Sultans, Nizamabad
6- Kanawar Group, Nanded
7- Anand Bazaar Group
8- MVM Pachiyappa
9- Beauty Silk Group
10- Selection, Panjim
11- RK Gitanjali Silk, Udipi
12 – Gulshan, Bengaluru
II VERY SPECIAL AWARDS
These Awards are being presented to 2 distinguished individuals who are the heart and soul of KFPL Group since 25 years. This was the year of their Silver Jubilee and they are instrumental success in their respective states. These are prominent agents of Group KFPL who are Ashok Bajaj, Andhra Pradesh and N Vijayakumar, Tamil Nadu.
Source: India Retailing
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1198.32 |
USD/Ton |
-0.62% |
8/17/2017 |
|
VSF |
2396.64 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
ASF |
2216.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Polyester POY |
1217.04 |
USD/Ton |
0.25% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3160.57 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
40D Spandex |
5167.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1512.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Nylon POY |
3280.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
5662.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1426.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2875.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2396.64 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2995.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1804.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2771.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1932.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2321.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3160.57 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2306.77 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.39 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.85 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.19 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
8/17/2017 |
Source : Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14979 USD dtd. 17/8/2017). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The Centre for Foreign Economic Cooperation under the Chinese ministry of agriculture recently organised a seminar in Havana to offer guidance to Cuban silk industry representatives on improving production and industrialization of the fibre and explore avenues for bilateral growth. China-Cuba cooperation in sericulture began five years ago. The seminar last week included visits to production sites and training on new techniques. China also operates a small experimental sericulture field in Cuba, according to a news agency report. Cuba’s agriculture ministry seeks to expand its five-year sericulture program and attract Chinese investment in the sector. The country is adopting sericulture as a sustainable alternative to support the development of its biomedical, biotechnological and textile industries, expecting rise in employment and income. Wei Kai, a professor from the Soochow University in Suzhou City in eastern China and three other Chinese sericulture experts will provide training to more than 20 Cuban officials. "Our courses here cover the whole process, from cultivating silkworms to producing silk, to silk cocoon processing, dying, weaving and even include the medical use of silk fibre," said Wei. “Our courses here are intended to introduce all relevant technology and products in the sericulture downstream industrial chain to Cuban researchers," the news agency quoted Wei as saying.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
If USDA projections hold, the 2017 U.S. cotton crop could be the largest in over a decade. Big cotton is in the harvest cards, according to USDA’s latest report. Low commodity prices for corn, grain sorghum and soybeans pulled in more cotton acreage in 2017, and the numbers are reflected in USDA’s latest estimates. With yields projected at 892 lb. per acre, up 25 lb. from 2016, the overall forecast calls for 20.5 million bales across the Cotton Belt, with Upland accounting for 19.5 million bales and Pima totaling 770,000 bales. If USDA projections hold, the 2017 U.S. cotton crop could be the largest in over a decade. As always, Texas dwarfs all other cotton-producing states, with roughly 5.7 million Upland acres planted and an estimated 8.8 million bales set for harvest. Fourth-generation producer Charles Ring farms in Sinton in south Texas, and says his harvest is showing strong cotton: "This year the timing of rainfall was good and so our crops have been good. So far they're shaping up to be awfully good." Ring has already harvested some 2.5- to 2.75-bale dryland cotton and has yet to pick his irrigated ground. "Cotton is looking good and the quality is good because we haven't had rain since the bolls opened. So we're in good shape,” he says. Bobby Rieder, also of Sinton, believes 2017 is shaping up as one of his better cotton years. For the past decade, Rieder has been involved with San Patricio County test plots and says 2017 yields were 2.25- to 2.5-bale cotton. Some of his neighbors had near-perfect timing on rain and are at 3-bale cotton or even better. Rieder says he was fortunate to sell at 75 cents: "Unfortunately, cotton is an expensive crop to raise and you need to make a bale to a bale and a half just to break even on your expenses,” he explains. “When you get 3-bale cotton you can start doing quite well." Like Ring and Sinton, Bobby Nedbalek also produces in San Patricio County. He says 2017 has been a year of ideal rain patterns that have essentially allowed growers to try to beat the market. “You have to out-yield the market and that's not a healthy thing to see because we should we should be getting ahead this year … We really need to do some catch-up because we've had some years when things haven't been profitable,” Nedbalek explains. “We've got so much debt now with the cost of inputs."
Source: AgWeb
The New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) is partnering Sur International Textile (SIT), a Turkish firm, to invest $15 million to reactivate the collapsed Kaduna Textile Company. NNDC Group Managing Director Dr Ahmed Musa made this known to reporters, shortly after a meeting with the Turkish business delegation at the NNDC’s head office in Kaduna. Musa said the NNDC and SIT would invest the amount to revitalise the textile company. According to the proposal, the Turkish firm will provide 35 per cent of the amount, the Federal Government, 45 per cent, and KTL will give 20 per cent. Musa said in the short term, the KTL would produce uniforms for the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other paramilitary agencies in the country, and across West African. He said revamping the KTL would boost Kaduna State economy and create employment for the unemployed within and outside the state. “We held a private meeting with a team of delegation from Turkey. They want to invest in Kaduna Textile and turn it around. In summary, they want to start producing military and paramilitary uniforms for members of the Nigerian Armed Forces,” Musa said. According to him, the project is a laudable one that will boost the state economy and increase its revenue drive while creating massive employment. “We have been able to attract investors into the state,” he added. The NNDC’s Executive Director, Investments, Alhaji Abdullahi Ali-Gombe, said the agreement would revamp the textile firm owned by the 19 northern states. Besides boosting the economy, when operational, the firm will go into the production of military and paramilitary garments. Ali-Gombe, who is also the Chairman, Restructuring Committee of the KTL, said: “We cannot say tentatively when this will take off. We are hoping very soon.” The Kaduna Textile Limited, established in 1957, operated a large integrated textile mill, producing various kinds of garments. The company started operation in November 1957, spinning the country’s cotton. In 1961, it began the production of finished garments. The firm was financed by the Northern Nigeria Regional Marketing Board and the region’s development corporation and was managed by an expatriate firm, David Whitehead & Sons. It was closed down in 2000 following various financial crises and inadequate power supply.
Source: The Nation
RICHMOND, Ky. — The textile industry is a global industry, and there are many factors involved in the process, from producing fibers to producing goods to laundry processing. These elements can greatly impact the supply chain, which in turn can impact the cost of producing and processing textile and linen goods by manufacturers and service providers. Tom Langdon, vice president and GM of Encompass Group LLC, shared some key factors affecting the textile supply during the Association for Linen Management (ALM) webinar titled Global Market Update.
FIBER
Langdon began by exploring the state of the international cotton market. Obviously, the production of cotton around the world greatly impacts supply and prices for the production of linens and textiles. He says that according to the International Cotton Advisory Council, about 21 million tons were produced in the crop year 2015-16, followed by nearly 23 million the next year. It’s projected that 23 million tons will be produced in the upcoming crop year. “The interesting factor is that we’ve actually consumed, as a world, 24 million tons in ’15-’16, which was 3 million more than we produced, a million more the following year and then anticipated a million more the next year,” Langdon says. “What that does is impacts our ending stocks. After the growing season is over, they estimate how much cotton is in the environment.” He says higher cotton consumption is what caused the sharp increase in cotton prices in 2011 when it was thought because the ending stocks were so low that the world could possibly run out of cotton. After factoring in all this information, he says the Council projects what the price of cotton will be for the international market. “For the previous year, they had priced it about 70 cents a pound,” Langdon says. “For the current year we’re in, they priced it at 78 cents a pound, and then next year they’re looking at a possible decrease to 73 cents a pound.” Tracking global cotton prices from 2013-14 to 2015-16, Langdon says there was good downward movement in ’14-’15, but starting in 2016, prices began to increase. Then, from February 2016 through March 2017, he says cotton prices went up 30%. “In February 2016, the price was 66.5 cents a pound. At the end of March this year, it was almost 87 cents a pound,” Langdon says. “The New York futures, China, India, Pakistan, which are the major textile producing regions, there’s an upward trend.” Then there are the prices for yarn by product type. Langdon says that for bedding, 20s, which is a common yarn size for sheeting products and even in patient gowns, is up 38% since January 2016. He says there are similar trends for blankets, knitted sheets and terry. “What this does, we’ve actually had to take price increases for these product groups for shipping starting in April because the yarn prices have gone up so much,” he says. Langdon says his company’s office in Pakistan tracks yarn prices on a weekly basis, and the word is that there’s not going to be much relief until the new crop starts this fall.
CRUDE OIL
Next, Langdon discussed crude oil, since it provides a key component of polyester fibers. Price fluctuations impact raw materials for textile producers. He says that, in general, polyester staple fiber prices trend similarly to crude oil but not always. “Back in July of last year, crude oil spiked, but polyester remained flat,” says Langdon “Then, crude oil dropped in September, but polyester fiber actually went up. Then again, oil spiked in November/December and poly remained on a flatter trend. But in general, they do trend similarly.” Part of the reason for the spikes, he says, could be the capacity or supply and demand that affect one product versus the other. Langdon says synthetic fiber prices from March ’15 to March ’17 went from price decreases to price increases. The highest consumer for synthetic fiber is Asia, and prices in that part of the world increased the most. “There are a lot of price pressures in the marketplace right now for synthetic fiber,” he says.
SHIPPING
Shipping is a key factor in the textile supply chain, and Langdon went over five shipping trends affecting the market this year. First is increased consolidation. “One example is the recent purchase of Hamburg Sud by Maersk,” he says. “One large shipping company purchased another large shipping company. It was estimated that in 2016 this industry saw losses between $5-10 billion, and that’s part of the reason Hanjin went under.” The second trend is U.S.-China trade relations. Langdon says these are the two largest trading nations in the world, and they’re going to impact global logistics more than anything. “It’s really going to depend on whether the Trump administration stays with its protectionism threats, or we’re able to maintain free trade and focus on growth,” he says. “Everyone in the shipping industry is watching this very closely.” The third factor that will affect shipping is labor unions. With the losses that were sustained in 2016, the labor unions in shipping are concerned about protecting their workers, Langdon says. Two of the biggest unions are the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union on the West Coast and the PMA on the East Coast, which is contracted to 2019. He says these unions would like to renegotiate this year. “I’m sure some of you remember the headaches we had back in 2014-15 when we had the longshoremen worker slowdown on the West Coast,” says Langdon. “It was never officially called a strike, but it was started when they closed the ports for Labor Day and didn’t pay the longshoremen for it, so when they did go back to work, they slowed down and it really created a backlog of container ships that took months and months to clear. We are very concerned about that.” The fourth trend Langdon discussed is uncertain pricing. From 2008 to 2016, capacity has outpaced growth by 5% in shipping, he says.
“What that means is we built more ships to haul more containers than we actually had the demand for the containers,” says Langdon. “What that does is when you have overcapacity, it causes prices to drop, and that’s what’s contributed to the losses in this sector last year.” The last trend Langdon covered is a new one—increased alliances. He says there have been discussions about vessel-sharing agreements where one company would use another company’s trade routes and vessels. “This would impact how and where ships picked up cargo and the days on the water,” Langdon says. “A survey was done, and about 50% of the supply chain surveyed anticipated this would create disruptions in the supply chain.” Check back Tuesday for part two, which will cover environmental and social responsibility factors.
Source: American Laundry News
The country’s exports of readymade garments (RMG) to the United States, a major market, have continued to show declining trends this year, according to official statistics.
In the first six months of this calendar year, Bangladesh has exported apparel products worth $2.570 billion, which is 5.5 per cent lower than the value of exports last year. RMG exports also fell in 2016 when Bangladesh exported garment products valued at $5.3 billion, 1.77 per cent lower than the previous year’s apparel exports of $5.4 billion. The year 2015 still saw a growth of 11.74 per cent compared to the exports the year before. The state of Bangladesh’s exports has been reflected in a report on imports of garments from different countries published by the office of textiles and apparel at the US Department of Commerce recently. It showed that although Bangladesh’s apparel exports have fallen by 5.5 per cent in terms of value, the exports in volume decreased just slightly. The country’s RMG exports declined 0.86 per cent in terms of units - it exported apparel products made up of 960 million square meters of cloth in the said six months, as against 970 million square meters during the same period last year. Mohammad Nasir, vice president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), blamed negative publicity about Bangladesh’s apparel industry and lessening of its competitiveness due to higher prices of gas and electricity for the decline in exports to the US market. “We’ve taken certain initiative to brand the Bangladeshi apparel products. We’ll uphold the progress our industry has made by this time, in front of foreign buyers,” he added. The exports of garments from six major manufacturing countries to the US market marked the lowest growth during the period as the US apparel imports declined. The world’s largest economy imported garments worth $37.24 billion in the first six months of the year, compared to imports valued $37.95 billion during the same period in 2016. Bangladesh is the third largest exporter of apparel products to the US, followed by Indonesia in fourth position. Garment exports from China, which is the largest exporter, has also decreased during the period. However, Vietnam, which stood second in garment exports to the US market, has seen the highest growth at 5.52 per cent during the period.
Source: Prothom Alo
