Domestic spinners are likely to witness a gradual recovery from the fourth quarter of after facing multiple difficulties over past several quarters affecting their profitability, says a report. Improvement in performance of spinners is likely to be aided by a downward bias in cotton prices amid healthy cotton crop and higher yarn prices due to returning demand," Icra said in a report today. While there has been a growth in cotton prices in the recent weeks, Icra believes that the same to be an aberration following slower-than-usual arrivals in Gujarat owing to elections and concerns emanating from reports of pest attacks, the report said. The agency believes that the crop quantity and quality is unlikely to be impacted considerably because of the aforesaid concerns and the arrivals are likely to pick up in the last quarter. Accordingly, domestic prices are likely to remain 10- 12 per cent lower than average cotton price during the 12 month period ending September 2017, it said. "The scenario on demand front is also likely to be more favourable mainly supported by improved clarity on export incentives for textile goods during recent weeks, which in- turn may support India's overall textile exports from fourth quarter of FY18," it said. With improved demand the yarn realisations are likely to witness some upward bias, however, it will be limited due to low cotton price, the report added.
Source: Economics Times
KOLKATA: Domestic spinners are likely to witness a gradual recovery in performance from Q4 FY2018 onwards, after facing multiple headwinds over past several quarters which resulted in their profitability touching six-year lows in the second and third quarters of current fiscal. This has been observed by ICRABSE 1.35 % in a report issued on Friday. Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA, said: "The improvement in performance of domestic spinners is likely to be aided by a downward bias in cotton prices amid healthy cotton crop and an upward bias in yarn realisations due to demand restoration. While there has been an uptick in cotton prices in the recent weeks, ICRA believes the same to be an aberration in light of slower-than-usual arrivals in the leading cotton producing Gujarat owing to elections and concerns emanating from reports of pest attacks." ICRA believes that the crop quantity and quality is unlikely to be impacted considerably because of the aforesaid concerns and the arrivals are likely to pick up in Q4 FY2018. Accordingly, domestic prices are likely to remain 10 to 12% lower than average cotton price during the twelve month period ending September 2017, close to the price floor of Rs. 105/Kg which factors in increased minimum support price as well as bonus declared in the state of Gujarat. "The scenario on demand front is also likely to be more conducive, supported by improved clarity on export incentives for textile goods during recent weeks, which in-turn is likely to support India's overall textile exports from Q4 FY2018 onwards. With improved demand scenario, the yarn realisations are likely to witness some upward bias, though the increase will be limited due to low cotton price," Mr Roy added. The clarity on export incentives, which had been revised downwards post-GST implementation creating a transitory impact, augurs well for cotton yarn demand from export-oriented textile players in the downstream segments and hence is likely to support demand restoration to an extent. In addition, the cotton yarn demand is also expected to gather strength from restoration of domestic demand following the temporary disruption caused by the transition to the GST regime, and higher exports to one of India's key export markets - China, before re-launch of its cotton auctions in March 2018. Similar to past few years, India's yarn exports remained under pressure during much of the current fiscal as well, with the exception of recent months and another brief window between December 2016 and February 2017 due to sizeable liquidation of cotton in Chinese auctions, which has been facilitating an improvement in mill usage there. Domestic spinners have been witnessing challenges on multiple fronts over the past few quarters. Besides tepid production volumes and subdued realisations in light of sustained demand-side pressures, cotton prices had remained firm keeping the domestic spinners on the edge over the past one year. As a result, Q2 FY2018 turned out to be the weakest quarter for domestic spinners in the past six years. The demand-side pressures sustained during Q3 FY2018 as well, which resulted in a sharper decline in cotton-yarn realizations vis-a-vis cotton prices post commencement of this year's harvest season. As a result, contribution margins of domestic spinners shrunk to Rs. 71/kg in Q3 FY2018 from Rs. 75/ kg in H1 FY2018 and FY2017. ICRA, therefore, expects Q3 FY2018 to turn out to be another weak quarter for domestic spinners in terms of profitability. Nonetheless, credit profiles of spinners remain stable despite the weak performance in recent quarters in the backdrop of secular amortization of term debt and lower borrowing costs.
Source: Economic Times
NEW DELHI: 2018 may turn out to be a challenging year for India's textile and garment industry, with exporters still reeling under the impact of GST and outward shipments likely to miss the USD 45 billion target for 2017-18. Garment exporters have been demanding that the duty reimbursement to them be retained at the pre-GST (Goods and Services Tax) drawback rate of 7.5 per cent, amid declining outbound shipments. India's apparel exports declined 39 per cent in value terms in October. However, India's cotton production could touch 37.7 million bales in the year that began on October 1, up from 34.5 million bales produced in 2016/17. The production of import substitute bivoltine silk in the country is expected to reach around 6,200 million tonnes (MT) in 2017-18 as compared to 5,266 MT a year ago, registering an increase of 19 per cent, according to the Textile Ministry. Meanwhile, 2017 turned out to be a mixed bag for the textiles sector. While initiatives were unveiled for power loom units and weavers, the much-awaited new National Textiles Policy is yet to see the light of the day. Towards the end of the year, a Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector to boost skill development and job creation was launched with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore. 10 lakh people are expected to be skilled and certified in various segments of Textile Sector through the scheme, out of which 1 lakh will be in traditional sectors. The year also witnessed the first mega international trade event for the textile sector, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on 30 June. The event recorded participation from more than 100 countries and a total of 65 MoUs with an estimated value of over Rs 11,000 crore were signed during the exhibition. India Handmade Bazaar, an online portal to provide direct market access facility to artisans and weavers, was launched in January. In November, the Textiles Ministry notified post-GST rates under the scheme for Remission of State Levies (RoSL) on exports of readymade garments & made-ups. For garments, the rates range between 1.25 per cent and 1.70 per cent and for Made-ups, they range between 1.40 per cent and 2.20 per cent, with the rates effective from October. The government also enhanced the rates under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) on readymade garments and made-ups from 2 per cent to 4 per cent. The rates will be applicable between November 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. A comprehensive national policy covering all segments of the textiles sector is the need of the hour, to give a push to exports from the sector, which have remained stagnant for the past four fiscal years, mainly because of less demand in major markets such as the US, EU and China, and stiff competition from countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh which enjoy an edge over India.
Source: The economic Times
New Delhi : The Indian economy slowed down in 2016-17, with the GDP declining drastically from 8% in 2015-16 to 7.1%, the government said today. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the slower economic growth reflected lower growth in the industry and the services sectors, due to a number of factors, including structural, external, fiscal and monetary factors. He said in the Lok Sabha that the lower rate of global economic growth in 2016, along with a reduction in gross fixed investment to GDP ratio, stressed balance sheets of the corporate sector, lower credit growth in industry sector were some of the reasons for the low growth rate in 2016-17. “Slower growth in 2016-17 reflects lower growth in industry and services sector. Economic growth of a country depends on a number of factors, including structural, external, fiscal and monetary factors,” he said during question hour. As per the latest estimates from Central Statistics Office, the growth rate of GDP at constant prices was 7.5%, 8% and 7.1%, respectively in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. The growth in GDP at constant market prices was 5.7% and 6.3% in Quarter 1 (Q1) and Quarter 2 (Q2) of 2017-18, respectively. Jaitley claimed that despite the slowdown, as per the IMF, India was the fastest growing major economy in 2016 and second fastest growing major economy in 2017 in the world. He said the government has taken various initiatives to boost the growth of the economy, including a giving a fillip to manufacturing, concrete measures for transport and power sectors as well as other urban and rural infrastructure, comprehensive reforms in the foreign direct investment policy and special package for textile industry. The minister said the government had also announced various measures in the 2017-18 Budget to promote growth which included a push to infrastructure development by giving infrastructure status to affordable housing, higher allocation to highway construction and focus on coastal connectivity. Jaitley said the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was enacted to achieve insolvency resolution in a time-bound manner. He said the other growth promotion measures included lower income tax for companies with annual turnover up to Rs 50 crore, further measures to improve the ease of doing business, and a major push to the digital economy.
Statistics at a glance
Source : Business Line
The Indian textiles ministry, which had allocated a sum of Rs 126.76 crore for the Power Tex India scheme for 2017-18, is planning to seek an additional Rs 33.27 crore in the form of supplementary demand for grants, textiles minister Smriti Irani recently informed the upper house of parliament. Rs 83.08 crore has already been spent from the allocation. There is no plan to enhance the capital subsidy for powerlooms from the present 10 per cent to 30 per cent, she said responding to a question. Forty eight yarn bank proposals and 118 group work shed proposals have been approved In fiscal 2017-18, she said, according to a report in a top Indian daily. The ministry of textiles announced the yarn bank scheme under Power Tex India to provide interest-free corpus fund to special purpose vehicles or consortiums, enabling them to purchase yarn at wholesale rates and offer at a reasonable price to small weavers. (DS)
Source : Fibre2fashion
New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has extended by 10 days the due date for filing sales returns for the July-September quarter for small businesses and monthly returns up to October by larger entities. As per a notification issued by CBEC on Friday, based on a decision of the Council, small businesses with turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, which were to file the first quarterly GST return relating to supplies in the GSTR-1 form by 31 December, can now file it by 10 January. Also, entities with turnover above Rs 1.5 crore, which were to file monthly returns on supplies for the July-October period by 31 December, can do so by 10 January. These businesses also have to file their returns for sales in the month of November by 10 January, the original deadline for the month, which remains unchanged. For subsequent months, the filing date will be the 10th of the succeeding month. The extension is expected to enable more tax payers to comply with the statutory filing requirement. Abhishek Jain, tax partner at EY, said the move will bring “quite a relief to businesses who have been struggling with system and data issues and file returns.” Due to tax rate cuts and lenient implementation, GST revenue collection has declined in December to Rs 80,808 crore, a 14% drop from the collections in August, the first month of tax collection and return filing under the new indirect tax system that kicked in on 1 July.
Source: Financial Express
In a digital initiative to promote high quality Indian engineering products across the globe, an e-catalogue of Indian companies adhering to internationally accepted quality and standards was released by engineering export promotion body EEPC India on Friday. “There must be a sanitisation process to ensure integrity of quality of data and information so that our buyers across the world can treat the e-catalogue as a benchmark to identify quality producers,” said Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia at the launch of the e-catalogue. The move is part of the ‘Brand India’ initiative for the engineering goods sector started five years ago.
Four major sectors
The e-catalogue covers four major sectors including medical devices, textile machinery and accessories, electrical machinery equipment and pumps and valves. It would be compatible on different devices such as laptops, tabs and mobile phones. Potential buyers globally will be able to use features such as advanced search with city, end use sector, certificates and product categories. At present, there are 150 companies listed in the e-catalogue and EEPC India has plans of promoting it at all forums including international exhibitions. Teaotia said the e-catalogue could be a model for other export promotion councils for taking similar initiatives. More categories will be added soon, she said. EEPC India Chairman Ravi P Sehgal said textile engineering was one of the sectors to be promoted through the Brand India digital drive. “It has the potential to be the largest manufacturing hubs for the world, second to China,” he said. Engineering goods are one of the top export items from the country after petroleum and gems and jewellery, and is also among the fastest growing. Major export markets for Indian electrical equipment are the US, Germany, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, the UK, Nigeria, China, Kenya and Brazil.
Source: Business Line
Bengaluru, December 29: Based on the healthy market arrival trend of cotton so far, the Cotton Association of India has maintained the crop size for the 2017-18 season at 375 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) in its latest estimates. This is despite the fact that reports of pest infestation mainly the pink bollworm affecting the crop in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka among others. However, CAI expects a decline in targeted exports of the fibre crop at around 55 lakh bales, down from earlier projection of 63 lakh bales on the recent firming trend in cotton prices. “Since cotton rates have gone up in India by 10 per cent in the last one month, the earlier set target of cotton export of 63 lakh bales looks difficult now, hence cotton export figures have been reduced and revised from the earlier 63 lakh bales to 55 lakh bales,” Atul S Ganatra, President, CAI, said.
Higher prices
Further, as the cotton prices have moved up in the country, the parity to import the fibre crop has increased. As a result, the trade body sees an increase in imports and has revised the import figures from 17 lakh bales to 20 lakh bales this season. Market arrivals of cotton in the first three months of the 2017-18 marketing season starting October are higher by around 43 per cent over corresponding last year.
Arrivals rise
Arrivals would have crossed 148 lakh bales by December 31 this year as against 108 lakh bales, based on the data gathered from each State. The higher arrivals are despite the fact that major growing States including Maharashtra and Telangana reporting pink bollworm infestation. CAI has announced cotton crop size of 375 lakh bales which looks achievable given the pace of arrivals this season, Ganatra said. CAI’s estimate is marginally lower than the Cotton Advisory Board’s recent estimate of 377 lakh bales for the 2017-18 season.
Relief for spinners
Meanwhile, ICRA in a recent report said that domestic spinners were likely to witness a gradual recovery in performance from Q4 FY2018 onwards, after facing multiple headwinds over past several quarters which resulted in their profitability touching six-year lows in the second and third quarters of current fiscal. “The improvement in performance of domestic spinners is likely to be aided by a downward bias in cotton prices amid healthy cotton crop and an upward bias in yarn realisations due to demand restoration. While there has been an uptick in cotton prices in the recent weeks, ICRA believes the same to be an aberration in light of slower-than-usual arrivals in the leading cotton producing state of Gujarat owing to elections and concerns emanating from reports of pest attacks,” said Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA. ICRA believes that the crop quantity and quality is unlikely to be impacted considerably because of the aforesaid concerns and the arrivals are likely to pick up in Q4 FY2018.
Source: Business Line
Coimbatore, December 29: Coimbatore-headquartered Sharadha Terry Products has unveiled a new brand identity and logo for the ‘Micro Cotton’ brand of home textile products and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen its presence in India. Its Director, D Vikram Krishna, told BusinessLinethat the company was one of the first from India to launch a brand in the home textiles product range as early as the late 1990s. “We launched Micro Cotton in New York first. Our products are now sold across 30 countries worldwide. This re-branding reaffirms the evolution of the brand and our vision for the future, in the luxury home textiles product range.” Studies reveal that the Indian luxury market is worth over $18 billion, and growing at over 30 per cent year-on-year. “Indian consumers have lots of exposure to international brands today. They have started to appreciate and endorse quality brands. We, therefore, feel it is the perfect time to carve a niche for our products here,” he added. The company has chalked out a roadmap to strengthen its presence in India. It is looking to sell the Micro Cotton product range in 20,000 retail outlets by 2020, a 10-fold increase from its present network of 2,000, through retail partners and modern trade outlets. “We expect our sales revenue to touch Rs. 200 crore by 2020,” Krishna said. Sharadha Terry products range include bath, hair and wash towels, sports towel and all types of bed-linen, including bed sheets, comforters and blankets, among others. Krishna said the company had roped in Bengaluru-based Happy McGarry Bowen to do the creative work and invested close to Rs. 90 lakh, so far, in developing its brand identity and logo. “We have to start work on brand promotion,” he added. The company’s production facility at Mettupalayam was upgraded recently. This unit, along with another facility at Annur, is engaged in making towels, while sheeting is made at Sharadha Terry’s sister concern in Perundurai. To a query on its growth in 2017, Krishna said, “It has been a year of moderate growth for us. We have grown at 5-8 per cent compared to the previous year. We are quite upbeat about the prospects for the coming year.”
Source: Business Line
Vijayawada: Lepakshi Cotton and Silk Mela, organised by the Andhra Pradesh Handicraft Development Society, began at the Mari Stella indoor stadium, Pantakaluva road here on Friday. ZP Chairperson Gadde Anuradha inaugurated the handicraft and handloom textiles products exhibition. Speaking on the occasion, she said that the exhibition was organised to benefit the handicraft and handloom manufacturers and create awareness about the products. She further stressed on the need to encourage handicraft and handloom products. The government had granted Rs 12 crore for the construction of the handicraft bhavan at Amaravati. “The government has undertaken various development programmes by organising training classes on the latest designs to encourage handicrafts,” she said. Apart from all the Lepakshi showrooms in the state, the handicraft and handloom products would be displayed at all programmes organised by the tourism department. Lepakshi manager Venkataramana said that the Lepakshi handicraft and handloom exhibition will be open till January 7. “Kondapalli toys Etikoppaka toys and wood carving, artificial jewellery , metal casting, kalamkari paintings, jute bags, crockery, tanjore paintings, venkatagiri, gadwall and narayanpet and chirala garments are on display at the exhibition besides kalamkari bath printings, Bengali cotton, kashmiri silk, Madurai and lucknow chikankari dress material,” he added.
Source: The Hans India
Turkish textile company Ormo has opened a yarn production facility in Lebane, in Jablanica district of southern Serbia. The Ormo Group, which is the largest exporter of wool in the world, invested €500,000 in the spinning mill, and it plans to invest additional €500,000 in 2018. The new mill will be operated by Ormo’s Serbian subsidiary LebanTeks. The new production facility has been set up in eight months in the premises of insolvent state-owned company Eksportekst. The Serbian government invested 200 million dinars ($2 million/€1.7 million) in renovation, the Serbian economy ministry said. Currently, LebanTeks has employed 300 people at the facility, and it plans to increase the number of employees to 650 in the next two years, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said while inaugurating the yarn manufacturing unit. Vucic said the new facility will export around €11 million worth of goods to Turkey, Russia and western Europe in 2018. The LebanTeks unit is the first factory opened in Lebane in the last 30 years, according to Serbian economy ministry.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Cairo, Egypt – With 2017 home textiles exports up, 40 companies from Egypt will head to the Heimtextil international trade show next month. Egypt’s Home Textile Export Council (HTEC) recently reported that home textiles exports for rose 4.8% to $664 million in the period from January to November 2017. Turkey was the largest importer of Egyptian textiles, followed by Italy, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Germany and Portugal. The organization said in a posting to its Facebook site that it is lobbying the Central Bank of Egypt to give home textiles manufacturers access to an $11.2 billion fund set up in 2016 to support small and medium-sized enterprises. In October, Egypt’s Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, Tarek Kabil, accounced the government would launch a national strategy to develop the handicrafts and cultural industry from 2018 through 2020. Heimtextil 2018 will take place Jan. 9-12. HTEC will be located in Hall 8, booth H05.
Source: Home Textiles News
FAISALABAD: Textile exports have been going up steadily since the start of the current fiscal year in a positive sign that raises expectations that full-year proceeds will touch $13 billion after a hiatus of two years. Textile shipments jumped 7.66% year-on-year to $5.51 billion in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year, driven primarily by a surge in value-added textile exports. In a review of the industry’s performance in the outgoing year 2017, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Chairman Shaiq Jawed said in a statement that textile shipments had been on an upsurge since the start of 2017-18 in July following a continued fall in the previous fiscal year.
Pakistan announces $1.5b hydropower project in AJK
After hitting the peak at $13.73 billion in 2013-14, textile exports dropped to $13.47 billion in 2014-15 and $12.44 billion in 2015-16. Afterwards, they inched up 0.04% at $12.45 billion in 2016-17, but were still lower by more than a billion dollars than the peak. Propped up by cash incentives under the prime minister’s trade package, textile exports took off, but challenges were still there that should be addressed to further ramp up growth, Jawed said. Pointing to the industry’s lack of competitiveness both in domestic and international arenas, he called the high cost of energy a serious concern as the textile sector heavily banked on energy supplies to run its operations smoothly. In Pakistan, he said, the industrial gas tariff was almost 100% higher and electricity price was about 50% higher compared to regional competitors. Punjab-based industries are compelled to consume high-priced regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in winter, which puts them at a disadvantage compared to industrial units in other provinces. “The liquidity stuck in the tax refund system is another stumbling block; exporters are waiting for the release of billions of rupees blocked in sales tax, income tax and customs duty rebate claims, which has sparked severe liquidity crunch,” Jawed said.
Pakistan has to repay $6b foreign debt in six months
“If these payments are released, the exporters can spend the money on trade expansion.” Technological advancement is another area where Pakistan has trailed its competitors. “Not enough investment has been made in technology because of which productive capacity of the sector has remained stagnant,” he said.
Source: Tribunal
Light industry enterprises of Uzbekistan exported products for $1.1 billion in 2017, according to preliminary data. Domestic production was supplied to more than 50 countries of the world, and the share of goods with high added value exceeded 40 percent, podrobno.uz reported. If in early 2017 there were 293 exporting enterprises, then by the end of the year their number had reached 350. In addition, the growth of export indicators was facilitated by the activity of 64 trading houses which were opened in foreign countries. “One of the effective forms of further development of the textile industry will be the creation of clusters. This model implies the organization of a single production cycle, which includes the cultivation of raw cotton, primary processing and its further processing at ginneries with the release of final products,” Uztekstilprom’s representative said. Experts have already created a draft Concept of development for the medium-term perspective of cotton-textile clusters, taking into account the experience of such facilities in Navoi region. As many as 34 investment projects on modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of existing and creation of new enterprises with a total export potential of $151.7 million were realized this year in the light industry. At the same time, their total value exceeded $356 million. To date, about 7,000 enterprises of the industry are operating in the republic. Capacity for production of cotton fiber in the amount of 1.4 million tons has been created, of which about 60 percent is used to meet the needs of domestic textile enterprises. Textile industry of Uzbekistan is considered to be one of the most dynamic and socially important sectors and ranks high among export-oriented industries of the country’s economy. The Uzbek textile industry is mainly focused on cotton, silk and wool. One of the policy priorities of Uzbekistan, the world’s fifth-largest cotton exporter, is further development of its textile industry. Annually, the country grows about 3.5 million tons of raw cotton, produces 1.1 million tons of cotton fiber. Uzbekistan takes consistent steps to increase the volume of cotton fiber processing. In particular, it is planned to create 112 modern, high-tech industrial factories, expand, modernize and technologically upgrade 20 operating capacities. All this will increase the export potential of the industry up to $2.5 billion a year and create more than 25,000 jobs. In the period 2010-2014, the textile industry of Uzbekistan received and spent foreign investments worth $785 million while 147 new textile enterprises with participation of investors from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Turkey and other countries were commissioned. Export potential of these enterprises amounted to $670 millions. Currently, Uzbekistan continues to attract foreign investments for construction of textile enterprises in the country.
Source: Azer News
Decisions to amend relevant laws, restart 13 closed mills, cover garment manufacturing-exporting units under the labour ministry’s welfare fund, adopt standard operating procedures of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), map all garment factories and act on workplace safety and compliance marked the year in Bangladesh’s textile and garments sector. Dipesh Satapathy sums up the developments. In November, Bangladesh decided to amend its labour law and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority Law to comply with the European Union (EU) recommendations. The EU had earlier called on Bangladesh to show tangible progress on labour rights to avoid temporarily losing the generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefit that allows the country duty-free export to the former. In the same month, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) wrote a letter urging the labour ministry to form a minimum wage board to review the existing wages of the readymade garment (RMG) workers. Industry insiders, however, say, the move followed international pressure and is aimed at averting a likely labour unrest. The BGMEA urged the government early this year to establish two new industrial zones near Dhaka and Chittagong. In June, the association requested that tax at source for the RMG sector, which was increased from 0.7 per cent to 1 per cent, should be withdrawn for the next two fiscals and corporate tax be reduced to 10 per cent from the proposed rate of 15 per cent for the next five years. The cabinet committee on economic affairs in December approved a proposal from the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC) to restart 13 textiles mills, shut down 25 years ago due to losses, and run them under a public-private partnership initiative. BDT 15,200 crore will be allocated to purchase new machinery to replace the existing ones and run these mills. Digital RMG Factory Mapping in Bangladesh (DRFM-B), a major first-of-its-kind initiative to map all apparel factories and disclose location and data on garment factories, was launched in August. The project is being implemented by Dhaka-based BRAC University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), coordinated by BRAC USA, with the BGMEA as a strategic partner, along with lead funding from C&A Foundation. Between May and July, the government adopted standard operating procedures (SOPs) relating to unfair labour practices and trade union registrations. Trade union representatives are now better aware of how these SOPs have to be implemented, according to the ILO office in Dhaka. ILO feels this will help facilitate freedom of association in the country and offer greater clarity and transparency in the process. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced in August that RMG manufacturing and exporting units will be covered under the labour ministry’s central fund from which a worker or his children can get BDT 3 lakhs in case of grave injuries or death at workplace. If the injury or death is outside the workplace, the compensation will be BDT 2 lakhs. The labour ministry welfare fund, created with 0.03% of the export volume of the industries under BGMEA and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), is solely aimed at providing financial support to the workers’ families. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American retailers that sets timeframes and accountability for safety inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes, decided in August not to extend its tenure in the country after its expiry in mid-2018. This was in contrast to a June decision taken by another platform of European retailers, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, to extend its tenure in Bangladesh for three more years until 2021. Accord’s tenure will also expire in July 2018. In October, the Bangladesh high court halted Accord’s second term due to its tenure being extended without government approval. According to Alliance’s latest findings, 85 per cent of all required factory repairs have been completed, 80 per cent of high-priority repairs done, while overall remediation has made 80 per cent progress at RMG factories under Accord inspection. In September, garment makers in Bangladesh proposed forming a factory inspection and remediation agency, similar to Accord and Alliance, to operate under an ombudsman chosen by the prime minister's office. To be called 'Shonman ' (respect), the platform will have a steering committee comprising representatives from the BGMEA, the BKMEA, the ILO, the commerce and labour ministries, various brands, and trade unions. Neither the government nor the BGMEA will have veto power. It has been reportedly agreed that the Accord will be granted an extension to operate beyond its expiry date, if the proposed national regulatory body is not ready to take over its work. There is a need for the Bangladesh apparel industry to continue to nurture the Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry (CEBAI), launched in 2014 to address the skills gap in the sector, to support the industry move up the value chain and gain further share in the world market, CEBAI president Mohammad Atiqul Islam said in December. CEBAI is run by the BGMEA and was supported by the ILO, Sweden and leading international fashion retailer H&M until November 2017. The ILO concluded a comprehensive labour inspection training programme in June, training 239 inspectors in boosting working conditions and worker safety. The EU announced in May that the Sustainability Compact, a joint initiative of the Bangladesh Government, the EU, the United States, Canada, and the ILO that promotes improvements in factory safety and labour rights in Bangladesh's RMG manufacturing industry, has made fantastic progress. HSBC Bangladesh in August arranged $46 million in low-cost foreign currency for apparel exporter Viyellatex for the purchase of goods, equipment and technology from suppliers in Switzerland, Japan, India, Germany and the United Kingdom for a new spinning mill. Deshbandhu Textile Mills announced in July that it will set up a garment factory in Uttara Export Processing Zone in Nilphamari by investing $53.77 million. The country’s first-ever garment factory to facilitate income of prisoners was inaugurated in December at the Narayanganj district jail. The BKMEA trained around 400 prisoners to run the factory in two shifts. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The Kazakh consortium of light industry enterprises Zhasampaz have worked fruitfully with representatives of business communities of Uzbekistan and Belarus this year, in its plan to supply fabrics to these states. They have plans to prepare cloths for the power structures of Uzbekistan and plans to supply the sow - a rough fabric - to Belarus, without decorative finishing. They bought it in recent years in Uzbekistan and China. And they have an enterprise in South Kazakhstan that can produce a similar material from Kazakh cotton which they can successfully supply it to Uzbekistan and Belarus, said chairman of the executive committee of Zhasampaz consortium Gulmira Uakhitova at the round table on the results of the light industry in 2017. There are a lot of directions in their country where Kazakhstan producers could be useful for making this or that product. They would like to master the supply of uniforms for subsoil users, uniforms for large national companies, she noted. Also, Zhasampaz consortium intends to pay more attention to manufacturing products for the civilian population. In addition, there are many directions for soft inventory. Thanks to such system orders, their enterprises will have the opportunity to develop the sphere of manufacturing products for the civilian population. They have many trends in the fashion industry, they want to go for export. Taking into account only the companies that have just joined the consortium, the association includes 44 enterprises. They develop production at the expense of their own investments and increase the share of local content in goods and services. These organizations joined their efforts in fulfillment of the instructions of the Head of the State in the Message to the People of Kazakhstan 'The Third Modernization of Kazakhstan: Global Competitiveness.
Source: YarnsandFibers
Although the Algerian textiles and fashion market is fairly reliant on imports, the government is encouraging domestic manufacturing and will be hosting the second edition of the International Textile and Fashion Fair - Textyle-Expo in April 2018 in Oran, Algeria. Concurrently with the expo, a conference will take place in the Wahran Room of the Le Méridien Hotel. It will feature discussions on fashion, technology and markets with local and international industry specialists. Panels will cover subjects including Algeria’s new investments law, the revitalization of the country’s textile industry, the European consumer market and exports from the European Union, and the competitiveness of leather items. Fashion shows will take place, the same as in the first edition, with designers showcasing their collections. The Textyle-Expo website states that only 6% of clothing needs in Algeria are met by the domestic industry, with imports making up the remainder. The country is working on developing its output. The second edition of Textyle-Expo will run from April 25 to 28, 2018 at the Mohamed Bem Ahmed Convention Center in Oran, Algeria. The industry show’s first edition, in 2017, featured some 110 exhibitors and welcomed over 6,000 local and international visitors from countries including Tunisia, China, India, Taiwan, Turkey, the United States and Europe.
Source: Yarns and Fibers
