Exporters have asked the government to fast-track the GST refund process to improve their liquidity, claiming `65,000 crore could get stuck for the July-October period if the current mechanism continues. Exporters flagged their concerns over the liquidity crunch and the loss of competitiveness of India's exports on account of the refund process to a committee headed by revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
Members of seven export promotion councils, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations and officials from the commerce ministry discussed the issues with Adhia, chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian and the GST commissioners of various states.
The next meeting of the GST Council is scheduled for October 6. Adhia is also chairman of the committee on exports set up by GST Council.
“If refunds don't start flowing immediately, then about `65,000 crore would be stuck by the end of October. This will further deteriorate exporters' li quidity situation,“ said FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai.
With filing of return forms GSTR-1, 2 and 3 for July now extended to October 10, October 31and November 10, respectively, refunds are likely to come in by December. “Huge capital is blocked in refunds. Exporters will have to pay GST for the July-to-October period from their own resources,“ FIEO said in its presentation. The apex export promotion council suggested a quickrefund mechanism based on GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B forms. While GSTR-3B is the initial simplified return that businesses have to file, GSTR-1 is the final sales return to be filed every month.Exporters also sought a uniform rate for job work at 5%, which in sectors other than textiles is 18%.
Exporters wanted GST exemption for imports meant for exports. Citing the examples of EU, Vietnam, Australia, Canada and Malaysia, which give ab initio exemption from GST payment, they sought relief on schemes such as advanced authorisation, export promotion capital goods and import of gold by nominated agencies.
MSMEs do not have the capacity to pay further GST and are thus refusing further orders.
At the meeting, the exporters said growth in employment-intensive sectors such as carpets, handicrafts, footwear, apparels, tiles and jewellery was lower. FIEO said the order booking position from October shows a 15-20% decline and Christmas and New Year exports are affected.
Source: Times of India
A day after exporters flagged worries related to refund of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and blockage of working capital to committee chaired by the revenue secretary, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said that the government is working to address their concerns.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Prabhu said the commerce ministry is working with the finance ministry to address the blockage of working capital and with NITI Aayog to create jobs through exports.
“Speeding up refunds of taxes paid by exporters and making incentives for exporters more attractive,“ Prabhu tweeted.
Exporters have asked the government to fast-track the GST refund process to improve their liquidity, claiming `65,000 crore could get stuck for the July-October period if the current mechanism continues.
Exporters flagged their concerns over the loss of competitiveness of India's exports on account of the refund process. They also told the committee on Tuesday that the order booking position from October shows a 15-20% decline and Christmas and New Year exports are affected. India's exports rose 10.3% year-on-year in August but the growth was due to pre-GST contracts, composite duty drawback facility available till September 30 and low base effect.
Source: Times of India
More than 250 exhibitors will showcase their products at the 6th edition of the textile fair Vastra. The 4-day international textile and apparel fair will present a fusion of the finest and latest in textile products – from fibre to fashion, services and technology. The exhibition will begin from September 21 at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd. (RIICO) will organise the trade event in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The trade event will host over 300 international buyers and around 200 representatives from 100 Indian buying houses or agents, RIICO managing director Mugdha Sinha said in a press release.
One of the added attractions of Vastra 2017 will be the combination of B2C along with B2B. First three days of the international trade event will be devoted exclusively to B2B and the last day will focus on B2C activities, involving retail sales. This will provide simultaneous opportunities to those exhibitors who are looking to get in direct touch with the end users. The fair will establish its name to newer heights and create a unique space in the textile and apparel sectors all across the globe. It would be a new paradigm in terms of relevance, quality and new product offerings in textiles and apparel while presenting enhanced business opportunities for all stakeholders.
The fair will be inaugurated by Union textiles minister Smriti Irani and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. (RR)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Another set of claims on input tax credit on stocks related to the period before the introduction of the GS Tis set to aggravate the government’ s problems. While the governmentis rattled by the input tax credit claimed for pr e-G ST stocks because it accounted for over 68 percent of the taxes paid in the new tax regime, moreclaimsare expected from traders and retailers without invoices.
Another set of claims of input tax credit on stocks from the period before the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) is likely to aggravate the government’s problems.
While the government is rattled by the input tax credit (ITC) claimed for preGST stocks because it accounted for more than 68 per cent of the taxes paid in the new tax regime, more claims are expected from traders and retailers without invoices.
For the close to ~95,000 crore revenue collected so far in July, around ~65,000 crore has been claimed as input tax credit by filing TRAN 1 for taxes paid for the period before July 1. These are only for the stocks with invoices.
Filing TRAN 2, for claiming input tax credit by traders and retailers for transient stocks without an invoice, is yet to begin.
“The ITC claimed under TRAN 1 seems quite steep and is being verified. But the story doesn't end here. We are not sure how much will be claimed under TRAN 2. We are still evaluating the revenue impact," said a government official.
The revenue outflow might be high in the initial months, he added.
Companies had 90 days from July 1 to claim credit for the excise duty paid on inputs.
The GST Council had allowed companies to claim 100 per cent input tax credit by uploading excise payment invoices for the period before July 1.
In the case of invoices not being available, the Council had first allowed 40 per cent input tax credit through TRAN 2.
The limit was later raised to 60 per cent on items with a tax rate of more than 18 per cent GST. Claims relating to the pre- GST period could impact GST collections because many of these would have to be offset in the August payments.
Source: Business Standard
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council might not take up the issue of including petroleum under the new indirect tax system at its next meeting, which was advanced by a couple of weeks to October 6. The meeting is likely to take up the issue of problems affecting the GST Network (GSTN) and exporters’ concerns.
Just three months since the roll out of the GST, the Centre will not ask the states to agree to imposing the new indirect tax on petroleum, a senior finance ministry official said. The next meeting of the GST Council, to be held through a video conferencing, was scheduled on October 24, but has now been bought forward, the official said. Finance minister and the chairman of the GST Council, Arun Jaitley, is travelling overseas during the week.
Earlier, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had pushed for including petroleum under the GST to bring down its retail prices. Currently, the indirect tax is not levied on five items of petroleum — crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel. The GST Council will decide on imposing the GST on these fuels in two years.
Abhishek Rastogi of the law firm Khaitan & Co said, “The concerns of the states to keep petroleum products out of the GST gamut arise only due to the apprehension of loss of revenue. It remains to be seen how the central government will convince the states in the larger interest of the economy." However, the finance ministry official said the Centre may not do it so soon. Rastogi said, “The GST Council has not yet gone for voting so far. We are hopeful this is not the first issue on which voting happens, and these products are brought under the gamut of the indirect tax soon.”
Oil refiners and marketers are set to take a hit of Rs 25,000 crore a year because of the exclusion of the five petroleum products. Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are likely to bear a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore this financial year. But, states are not willing to bring petroleum under the GST because 50-55 per cent of their VAT revenue came from these products.
Petroleum constituted 25-30 per cent of the states’ gross domestic product on an average. The GST is now levied on less than 70 per cent of state GDP, as alcohol and real estate are also kept out. On Monday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had also said the inclusion of petroleum in GST would require more discussions. His deputy Sushil Kumar Modi is leading a group of minister on the problems affecting the GSTN.
Exporters met Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Tuesday. Adhia is heading a committee to address their difficulties under the GST regime.
Source: Business Standard
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), the apex body representing the entire textile industry in the country, has elected its new office-bearers at its First Meeting of the Committee held in Mumbai on September 20, 2017. Sanjay K Jain, T Rajkumar and DL Sharma have been elected as chairman, deputy chairman and vice chairman respectively.
CITI’s Board Members’ cumulative turnover is over $30 billion (approx Rs 2 lakh crore plus).
Sanjay K Jain, the new CITI chairman, is managing director of New Delhi based TT Limited, a vertically integrated textiles company having its manufacturing units in various States of the country. Jain is a double gold medalist from IIM, Ahmedabad and a Rank Holder Cost Accountant and Company Secretary. He is also the chairman of NITRA and immediate past chairman of NITMA, vice president of FOHMA and WBHA. He is also on the committees of Texprocil, SIMA, FICCI Textiles Group and various other bodies. “He is young, dynamic and very articulate in dealing with the core issues of the textile industry,” CITI said in a press release.
Jain said his priority would be to strongly pursue the important issues of the industry so that the industry gets the much-needed push to take the Indian textile industry to the next level and make it a significant global player.
T Rajkumar, the new deputy chairman of CITI, is chairman, Sri Mahasakthi Mills Limited, Kerala, Sri Arumuga Enterprise Limited and Foundation One Infrastructures Pvt Ltd, Tamil Nadu. He is the immediate past chairman of SIMA and chairman & managing trustee of Global Pathway School, Coimbatore, secretary of Nachimuthu Gounder Rukmani Ammal Charitable Trust, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, apart from being actively involved in various industrial bodies and educational institutions.
DL Sharma, the new vice chairman of CITI, is director, Vardhman Group and managing director of Vardhman Yarns and Threads Limited. He is the chairman of the CII Regional Committee on HR & IR (Northern Region) for the year 2017-18. He is also the member of CII National Committee on Textiles, and a member of CII’s National Committee on Industrial Relations. He has also served as chairman of Punjab State Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and president of Ludhiana Management Association. (RKS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
In their joint declaration issued on September 14, Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi condemned North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes, noting that they posed a “real threat to international peace and security”. It included pointed references to North Korea’s “uranium enrichment facilities” and the “importance of holding accountable all parties that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes”.
The very next day, North Korea launched a ballistic missile with an estimated range of 3700 km which flew over Japanese territory, much like the missile Pyongyang had tested two weeks earlier. Just a few days before this, North Korea surprised and shocked the world by testing a thermonuclear/boosted fission weapon with a massive capacity of 200 kilotons.
The call for “accountability” of the powers that played a role in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes is important. Over the past three decades, the world has seen the emergence of an “axis of nuclear and missile proliferation” comprising China, North Korea and Pakistan.
China supplied Pakistan with nuclear weapons designs, advanced inverters for uranium enrichment, and plutonium reactors and reprocessing facilities for Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons and possibly boosted fission devices.
Moreover, Pakistan’s Shaheen missiles, with ranges extending from Delhi to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are of Chinese origin.
The Pakistan-North Korea Axis involved such luminaries as Benazir Bhutto, Gen Jehangir Karamat and the redoubtable AQ Khan. North Korea supplied Pakistan intermediate range Nodong missiles renamed as Ghauri by Pakistan in exchange for designs of inverters for uranium enrichment. Aircraft from the PAF owned Shaheen Airlines were reportedly used to transport nuclear and missile equipment between Pakistan and North Korea, with transit halts in China.
Changed relations
The pace of change in relations between India and Japan has been remarkable. Japan imposed rigorous sanctions on India after its nuclear tests.
Things started changing after Abe assumed office for the first time in 2006, and when Japanese politicians realistically recognised the challenges posed by a growingly assertive and jingoistic China.
Things worsened as China assertively laid claim on Japan’s disputed Senkaku Islands, much like it has behaved towards other maritime neighbours such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. Chinese military provocations against Japan over the issue of sovereignty and control of the disputed Senkaku Islands were stepped up. China cooled off temporarily when the Obama administration clarified that its security relationship with Japan extended to defence of the Senkaku Islands.
But with President Trump disowning the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japan and its Asean partners, and emphasising ‘America First’ policies, there are doubts across the region about the American commitment to safeguard the security interests of its Asia-Pacific partners. Interestingly, barely a fortnight before Abe’s visit to India, six Chinese bombers skirted Japanese airspace and flew between Okinawa and Miyako Island from the East China Sea for the first time, encircling Japan from the south and east.
The India-Japan strategic partnership has to be viewed in the context of all these developments.
With its huge industrial production and high-tech capabilities, Japan realises that India has the potential to be a significant power in the Indo-Pacific region extending across the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
Japan now views India not merely as a South Asian but a regional power. While neither country seeks tensions with China, both realise that a jingoistic China has no intention of giving them any strategic space for influence in the neighbourhood. China deliberately backs anti-Indian leaders across South Asia. It arms and assists Pakistan as the trump card of its policies to ‘contain’ India. With FDI inflows from Mauritius and Singapore coming primarily from third countries, Japan is today the single largest source of FDI in India. FDI inflow from Japan had risen by 80 per cent to $4.7 billion from a year earlier, at the end of 2016-17.
This trend is set to continue. Apart from the massive $17-billion financing of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train, Japan will be assisting the modernisation and expansion of the conventional railway system and the construction of metro rails in India, together with promoting investment in transport corridors and smart cities. Japan will also assist in the development of our northeastern States bordering China.
Rapid expansion of ties
Bilateral ties with Japan are set to expand rapidly. New Delhi and Tokyo are committed to complementing each other in economic partnerships across our entire eastern and western neighbourhood, aligning India’s Act East policy with Japan’s Open Indo-Pacific policy. Given the growing realisation worldwide about the economic hazards of participating in Chinese projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Hambantota Port, New Delhi and Tokyo are set to develop growing connectivity across the Indian Ocean, to the shores of East Africa. ISRO will be enhancing its capabilities by expanding cooperation with its Japanese counterpart in the fields of earth observation, satellite-based navigation, space sciences and lunar exploration.
People across the entire Indian Ocean region can now seek better terms for infrastructure projects than those offered by China.
These efforts could well be complemented by India and Japan being joined by countries like the US, Australia and Indonesia, in promoting the security of the sea-lanes of the Indian Ocean.
Despite a show of nonchalance, China is now slowly recognising that unilaterally using coercion to enforce its claims on maritime boundaries across the South China Sea are establishing that it is a hegemonic power.
In recent days, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has directly challenged China’s maritime boundary claims by including the North Natuna Sea in Indonesia’s new map, unveiled last month.
This has evoked strong protest from Beijing. India, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam can now join hands with others facing Chinese military pressures on their maritime borders in forums like the East Asia Summit to challenge China’s hegemonic claims. Shinzo Abe’s visit to India has laid the groundwork for getting China to understand that cooperation and not coercion should be the basis of its conduct across the Indo-Pacific region.
There has been speculation recently if Japan will become a nuclear power in the next decade. India exercised its nuclear option when faced with a de facto alliance between two nuclear neighbours, China and Pakistan. Japan today faces similar challenges from its neighbours, China and North Korea.
Source: Business Line
The sixth edition of the 4-day international textile and apparel fair ‘Vastra’ will be organised in Jaipur from September 21 to 24 at Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC) in Sitapura. It will be inaugurated by Union Textiles & Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Zubin Irani and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 21 September, 2017.
Rajasthan Industries Minister, Rajpal Singh Shekhawat will be the guest of honour. The exposition is an all en compassing trade fair and conference on textiles and apparel, which will present a fusion of the finest and the latest in textile products from fibre to fashion, services and technology, Managing Director of Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd (RIICO), Mugdha Sinha said today in a release.
She further said over 250 exhibitors from 13 states will showcase their products. Around 300 overseas buyers from more than 50 countries and 200 representatives from around 100 Indian buying houses/agents are slated to attend the event. Karnataka is participating as partner state, and Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttrakhand and West Bengal are participating as supporting states in the event, she added. The first three days of the event will be devoted exclusively to B2B and the last day will be open for B2C, involving retail sales. The fair will be open for general public on 24th September.
India needs to double the income of cotton farmers and non-farmers associated with the cotton industry by 2022 in addition to raising cotton productivity and improving its quality, the country’s textile commissioner Kavita Gupta said recently. The planned second technology mission on cotton would make that possible, she told cotton researchers in Nagpur.
Expressing concern over the declining quality of Indian cotton, she said contamination and adulteration are the two major problems that need to be addressed to bring cotton to international standards and be competitive.
Despite having the highest area — around 36 per cent — under cotton cultivation and being the biggest cotton producer, India’s productivity was almost half of that of the major cotton growing countries. The average productivity in India was 500-570 kg/hectare compared to the world average of more than 900 kg/hectare, she said. India exports one third of the produce.
Gupta was speaking at the valedictory function of the three day Asian Cotton Research and Development Network (ACRDN) meeting organized by the Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI) in collaboration with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and the Central Institute for Research in Cotton Technology (CIRCOT).
India launched its first technology mission on cotton in February 2000 with an aim to raise yield, improve quality, increase farmers’ income by reducing the cost of cultivation and improve the infrastructure in the market yards by modernizing the ginning and pressing factories and setting up new units. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is now seeking concessions from the government to import labour from regional economies to address the local labour shortage, National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said yesterday.
“We have tens of thousands of jobs that cannot be filled in the apparel sector, in the (industrial) zones, because no one wants to take those jobs. So people are coming to us and telling us ‘Harsha, could you give us some concessions so we can get some people from Nepal or Bangladesh or Myanmmar’ or various other places,” he said. He was speaking at a seminar on US Generalized System of Preferences programme by the Sri Lanka- USA Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Many other industries, such as shipbuilding, construction and plantations have also shown interest in importing labour due to manpower shortages.
However, protectionist elements in the social and political spheres are resisting attempts to import labour to Sri Lanka. The construction industry seems to have already succeeded in its efforts, since thousands of Chinese Indian and Bangladesh labourers work at construction sites in Colombo, both legally with proper visa and illegally with tourist visas.
Meanwhile, Dr. de Silva also expressed doubts about the sustainability of the apparel industry, even if it is allowed to import labour.
“But, then, how sustainable is that? Is that what we really want? All what we want is to create jobs that pay good salaries and get people employed with higher paid salaries.
That’s the difficult question we as policy makers have,” he said.
Dr. de Silva said that although the apparel industry has served Sri Lanka reasonably well for the past several decades, it will have very limited potential going forward, unless the industry upgrades itself to the next level.
“Unless we move to the next level of apparel, (such as) high-tech apparel, wearable technology (and) designer apparel, the scope is limited,” he said.
Only a handful of companies have currently invested in such technologies.
The apparel sector enjoys high margins, with owners and professionals in corporate offices earning super incomes.
However, as Dr. de Silva mentioned, labourers are not keen to take up lower level jobs in the apparel industry or industrial zones.
In spite of this, the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Board of Investment held at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone saw predominantly apparel industrialists being felicitated with awards.
Source: Daily Miror
Growth rates among the world’s major economies are synchronising at levels not seen in years as the euro zone catches up with United States, the OECD said on Wednesday in an update of its forecasts.
The global economy is set for growth this year of 3.5 percent before reaching 3.7 percent next year, up marginally from estimates in June and the best rate since 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
“We’ve got some short-term momentum, it’s become broad-based and one way to measure that is to look around the world and see nobody is contracting for the first time since 2008,” OECD chief economist Catherine Mann said.
“We know that a synchronised upturn is an important signal for businesses to invest,” Mann told Reuters in an interview.
The Paris-based policy forum raised its outlook for euro zone growth this year to 2.1 percent, up from 1.8 percent the last time the OECD issued forecasts and putting it on par with the United States, whose forecast of 2.1 percent was unchanged.
Erstwhile euro zone laggards France and Italy were among the main drivers for this brighter outlook. French growth this year was revised up to 1.7 percent from 1.3 percent previously, while Italian growth was bumped up to 1.4 percent from 1.0 percent.
Not even a 13-percent increase in the euro’s strength against the dollar since the start of the year would knock back euro zone growth as firm global demand drove exports, Mann said.
BRITAIN OUTCLASSED BY EURO ZONE
Outclassed by a resurgent euro zone, Britain would lag all major economies with growth of only 1.6 percent this year - no better nor worse than estimated in June - as it struggled to get to grips with its exit from the European Union.
On monetary policy, the OECD said the U.S Federal Reserve should stick to gradually raising interest rates and soon start reining in its balance sheet. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank should keep trimming its assets purchases before phasing out its negative interest rates.
But central banks would need a strategy rethink if exuberant financial markets stumbled and inflation targets continued to prove elusive.
Among the major economies not within the 35-nation OECD, India was a rarity in seeing its estimates cut. India’s growth estimate was cut to 6.7 percent from 7.3 percent previously, due to the impact of reforms on goods and services tax.
China, on the other hand, was looking stronger with its growth revised up to 6.8 percent for 2017 and 6.6 percent for 2018.
Source: Reuters
The Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) has appealed to the commerce ministry to include textile products while negotiating expansion of its preferential trade agreement (PTA) with the MERCOSUR trading bloc in Latin America comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and discuss ways to reduce duties on textile products in this region.
ITF feels the region holds tremendous potential for India’s textile exports and the existing PTA does not include any textile item. The duty on most textile products in this region is very high — between 24 and 35 per cent — and the market share of Indian textile products there at present is negligible, ITF said in a recent press release.
Citing an example, ITF said though Brazil imported textile and apparel products worth $6 billion In fiscal 2015-16, India’s contribution to that was a mere $83 million.
As China is gradually losing its competitive edge in textile trade, if India can capture 15 per cent of China’s textile exports, it can double the country’s textile exports. Therefore, there is a need to focus more on free trade agreements (FTAs)and market diversification for textile products, according to ITF.
A PTA is a limited FTA where partner countries reduce import duties on a few identified products for the other. India’s exports to the MERCOSUR bloc in 2015-16 were $3.4 billion, while imports were $6.6 billion. This was just a fraction of the country’s bilateral trade with the United States valued at $68.6 billion and the European Union at $115 billion in the same fiscal. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Indonesia’s textile-related exports are projected to reach $15 billion by 2019 and will employ 3.11 million people, industry minister Airlangga Hartanto has said. The sector’s annual production capacity will rise to 1,638 tonnes by then, he told the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) Conference held in Nusa Dua, Bali, recently.
The industry ministry predicted that textile and textile products exports will grow around 11 per cent annually. The sector is estimated to contribute $12.09 billion to the economy in 2017 and $13.5 billion in 2018. By 2017 end, this sector can absorb up to 2.73 million workers, and increase that to 2.95 million in 2018.
Hartanto urged industry players to utilize digital technology, such as 3D printing and automation, to turn competitive and efficient, according to Indonesian media reports.
The Indonesian textile industry has the potential to accelerate the stable growth observed in the last few years with a better and more investor-friendly business climate, said ITMF general director Christian Schindler.
Indonesia is ranked the ninth best country for value-added manufacturing in the world, surpassing Russia, Australia and other ASEAN countries, according to statistics from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
KARACHI: Textile exports increased 5.9 percent to $2.18 billion in the first two months of the current fiscal year of 2017/18 as the sector geared up efforts to meet government's exports increment target to qualify for incentives.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data on Wednesday showed that textile industry fetched $2.06 billion in revenue in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
Textile sector accounted for more than 60 percent of exports revenue of $3.49 billion earned during the period under review. Total exports were up 11.8 percent over the same period a year earlier.
Value-added textile industry showed resilience during the two-month period. The highest revenue spinner in the group was knitwear that earned the country $439.26 million in July-August, up 7.6 percent over the corresponding period a year ago. Exports of readymade garments rose 15.7 percent to $418.63 million during the period under review. Likewise, bedwear export increased 8.1 percent to $384.32 million. Cotton cloth export, however, decreased 7.9 percent to $349.3 million.
In January, the government unveiled a Rs180 billion worth of incentive package for both textile and non-textile sectors. The scheme comprises of concessions on and exemption from sales tax and customs duty on import of cotton and textile machinery. But the incentives are linked with an increase of exports revenue by at least three billion dollars till end of the current fiscal year.
PBS data showed that food exports climbed 30.1 percent to $512.32 million in the July-August period. Almost half of the food export revenue stemmed from rice export that rose 40.4 percent to $223.94 million during the period under review.
Leather sector, which continued to face decline in exports for quite sometimes, also witnessed a rise of 5.8 percent in exports at $89.17 million during the two months.
In August, textile exports rose 8.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) and 16.5 percent month-on-month (MoM) to $1.18 billion. Knitwear export increased 21.1 percent YoY and 26.7 percent MoM. Exports of bedwear surged 14.9 percent YoY and 25.5 percent MoM. Readymade garments export rose 11.1 percent YoY, but it fell 3 percent MoM.
In July-August, total imports surged 24.9 percent to $9.79 billion, according to PBS.
Key import groups, during the two months, included petroleum products, followed by machinery, agricultural products and implements and foods.
Oil imports soared 34.4 percent to $2.03 billion in July-August. Imports of machinery, mainly power generation plants, electrical appliances and telecom equipment, rose 6.3 percent to $1.98 billion. Agricultural products’ import amounted to $1.42 billion, depicting an 18.3 percent jump YoY.
Food import bill climbed 27.2 percent to $1.12 billion in the period under review. In food group, the major import was of palm oil that shot up 47.6 percent to $359.62 million. In August, imports increased 15.1 percent YoY and inched up 2.4 percent MoM to $4.95 billion.
Petroleum group’s imports amounted to $1.08 billion, up 47.9 percent YoY and 14.5 percent MoM during the last month. Though machinery import declined 15.8 percent YoY and 6.4 percent MoM to $951.67 million, it was the second biggest import group in August.
Import of agricultural and other chemicals rose 11.3 percent YoY and fell 5 percent MoM to $691.78 million in August. Food imports increased 15.5 percent YoY and 10.1 percent MoM to $588.49 million during the past month.
Source: The NEWS
The Pakistani Government wants to forge more joint ventures (JVs) with China and turn a business hub for the Middle East, Central and South Asia, the country’s commerce and textile minister Pervaiz Malik has said. The aim is to boost exports through value addition, he said at the three-day 18th Textile Asia International Exhibition in Lahore recently.
Stating that China is the only country that wants to transfer its technology to Pakistan, Malik said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor offers a lot of opportunities for industrial cooperation between the two countries, according to media reports in Pakistan.
Around 275 exhibitors from 31 countries displayed more than 339 brands at the expo held during September 16-18. Participating countries included Austria, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Many Chinese firms have shown interest in relocating their textile, garment and accessories production units to Punjab with an investment of at least $25 million per unit, according to Ijaz Khokhar, central chairman of the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), which organised the fair along with Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, a leading trade fair organiser.
PRGMEA recently signed an agreement with Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan to attract foreign investment worth $375 million in the textile sector.
PRGMEA vice chairman Jawwad Chaudhry said Pakistani manufacturers found the machinery and equipment displayed at the exhibition to be highly useful for value addition and increasing exports volume.
Textile was the only sector that contributed $12,452.53 million to exports in fiscal 2016-17 and $12,447.69 million in 2015-16 — around 60 per cent of the total export figure in both the fiscals, said Chaudhry. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Monforts, a global leader among the manufacturers and exporters of textile machines from Germany, is set to display its latest denim finishing technologies at ShanghaiTex, the 18th international exhibition on textile industry, to be held at the Shanghai new international expo centre, in China, from November 27 to 30, 2017, in hall W5, booth A11.
Monforts will also show the innovative ThermoStretch skewing unit avoiding the expensive need for steam-operated cylinder dryers. The new ThermoStretch skewing unit from Monforts offers new and improved features for eco-friendly denim finishing avoiding the excessive use of ‘expensive to generate’ steam that was previously necessary for the cylinder dryers; thereby replacing the need for steam-operated cylinder dryers. It also provides a much gentler treatment of the denim fabric during stretching than was previously achievable together with an optimised fabric hand.
The ThermoStretch unit also continues to be available as a ‘long stretch’ unit but without heating properties for the fabric. Monforts has in-depth ‘knowhow’ in high speed processing ranges for denim finishing with the ‘double rubber’ twin compressive shrinking unit working in tandem for working speeds even above 80 metres/minute.
The larger fabric content of the ThermoStretch unit in combination with the ‘double rubber’ twin compressive shrinking unit ensures minimum residual shrinkage values and highest production speeds which could not be achieved before. In the denim industry, this concept is making a significant contribution to higher productivity and lower energy consumption and the company has references in Vietnam and Mexico.
Denim technologists will be at the exhibition to offer detailed advice to visitors on the latest denim finishing processes.
Monforts will also highlight its texCoat coating processes and finishing of technical textiles, especially airbag materials at the show. Monforts is the only manufacturer that can offer completely integrated coating lines from a single source with the coating machine tailored to the subsequent Monforts drying technology.
The Monforts system has the shortest fabric path from the coating unit into the stenter and offers all variations of coating application systems, such as knife over air, knife over roller, magnetic knife or printing head. All of these options are also available in wider widths, with the engineering from a single source.
Special equipment for heat recovery and innovative exhaust air cleaning will also be on display. (GK)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
A delegation from the Hi-Tech Group, a state-run Chinese company dealing in textile and energy generation machinery, has expressed a keen interest to start joint ventures (JVs) to modernise and upgrade Pakistan's spinning mills and make them cost efficient and competitive. The six-member delegation is on a five-day visit to Pakistan from September 17.
Led by the company’s executive director Shaohul Zhang, the delegation met members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) recently in Karachi and discussed possible ways to modernise the textile sector, according to Pakistani media reports.
In Pakistan, most spinning mills have only a few hundred spindles. The Chinese group, however, wants to start by installing a million spindles at one spinning mill, which is the lowest benchmark for a spinning mill in China. It would also help set up power plants to meet the mill’s power consumption demand at a very reasonable price.
Eighty percent of the yarn and other textile products from the modernised mills will be exported to China for value-addition so that finished products could be sold at better prices in the international market, the delegation informed Pakistani businessmen.
Zhang said China wants to relocate its textile units to Pakistan to gain from Pakistan's experienced labour at lower cost. Under the proposed programme, most of the small Pakistani spinning units would have to shut down as those were not cost efficient and led to wastage of good quality cotton stock, media reports quoted him as saying.
The Hi-Tech Group has supplied machinery to Pakistan's textile sector for the last 25 years. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
