Around a year and a half since launch, the Rs 6,000-crore package for the labour-intensive garments sector, which included freedom to mills to have fixed-term employees, has accomplished much less than envisaged. Around a year and a half since launch, the Rs 6,000-crore package for the labour-intensive garments sector, which included freedom to mills to have fixed-term employees, has accomplished much less than envisaged. Despite a crucial component of the package that the government will bear the entire 12% employer’s contribution to the employees provident fund for the first three years (against 8.33% earlier under a scheme), just 655 units have availed themselves of the benefit so far and the number of beneficiaries stood at 1,55,564, according to labour ministry data. And not all are new employment. Through the package, the government had targeted to create one crore additional jobs and investments of Rs 74,000 crore and extra exports of $30 billion (over and above the textile and garment exports of $40 billion in 2015-16) over a three-year-period. A senior textile ministry official said a comprehensive study on the impact of the package is yet to conducted, but according to an assessment done by it on the basis of investments under Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), 3,26,471 direct and 4,24,412 indirect jobs were created in the textile and garment sector in the last fiscal, mostly after the announcement of the package. The actual job creation, said the official, will be much higher, after factoring in the investments made by the companies outside A-TUFS. Still, the targets prove to be elusive. An assessment by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and announcements by some companies, around six months after the declaration of the package, indicated investments of only Rs 1,000 crore pledged by various exporters. Garments exporters said the package, especially the scheme under which state levies paid by exporters were refunded to them from the centre’s funds, did help them reverse an earlier slowdown until the incentives were substantially cut under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. The fixed-term employment made it easier for the industry to hire more in times of need to cater for the seasonal nature of order flows, but this remission of state levies (RoSL) scheme, along with a duty drawback scheme, were fiscally most important for exporters. The RoSL alone was estimated to cost the exchequer around Rs 5,500 crore in three years (of the Rs 6,000-crore package). Garment exports went up almost 9% to $13.47 billion between July 2016 and March 2017 (after the package was announced), exceeding the overall textile and apparel export growth of 3.5% during the period. Garment exports continued to rise up to May this year before dropping almost consistently since June, ahead of the introduction of the GST, barring the blip in September. This, exporters claim, was the adverse fall-out of the fears of a cut in incentives under duty drawback and RoSL scheme in the GST regime, and an actual cut later, which negated the positive impact of the package. “The package helped us a lot and the government made some landmark announcements. But before the full benefits were reaped and businesses scled up, incentives under the RoSL and the duty drawback schemes were cut under the GST regime. This hit us hard. As such, we have been handicapped by the duty disadvantage against our competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam in biggest markets — the EU and the US,” said AEPC chairman Ashok G Rajani said. Rajani said exporters are now getting less than 4% under both duty drawback and RoSL schemes, which need to be raised to around 11% (of freight on board value of exports) to offset various levies, even excluding the taxes that are subsumed by GST. AEPC and other garment exporters have sent representations to the ministries of textile and finance, NITI Aayog and even the Prime Minister’s Office to raise these incentives. The government had said since the GST subsumed a number of state levies, including sales tax and VAT, the incentives were reduced. According to Sudhir Dhingra, chairman of one of the country’s largest garment companies, Orient Craft, if the proposed free trade agreement with the EU and another one with Britain are clinched, all these targets will be easily realised. Indian exporters are paying around 10% duties for supplies to the EU, while key competitor Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia have zero duty access to it. The EU makes up for 37% of India’s garment exports and Britain alone used to account for roughly one-third of the EU demand. Orient has committed to add 4,000 people to its existing workforce of 32,000 over the next three years. Virender Uppal, chairman of another large exporter, Richa Global, said he will add 3,000 people within a year to its existing employee base of 11,000 people. Narendra Kumar Goenka of Texport Industries said his company is looking to hire 4,500 people over the next three years, recording a sharp increase over the current workforce of 1,000 people. Despite enthusiasm shown by exporters for the package, analysts say the targets set by the government are too ambitious to be achieved in a span of three years, given stressed balance sheets of most companies, subdued demand and dented cost competitiveness of Indian exporters vis-a-vis Bangladesh’s or Vietnam’s.
Source: Financial Express
The Centre, state governments and industry representatives will meet on January 8 to discuss ways to boost the country’s exports, a commerce ministry official said. The third meeting of the ‘Council for Trade Development and Promotion’ will be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu. The council was constituted to promote India’s overseas shipments. In its previous meeting in January last year, issues deliberated upon included improving export competitiveness and creating an environment conducive for promoting exports. They had also discussed about quality and standards of products. The council acts as a platform to develop partnership with states with an aim to boost international trade. The members of the council are trade/commerce ministers of states and Union Territories, besides 14 secretaries of the central government including commerce, revenue, shipping, civil aviation, agriculture, food processing and economic affairs, among others. The council also provides a platform to state governments and UTs for articulating their perspective on trade policy to help them develop and pursue export strategies in line with national foreign trade policy. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said they would raise the issues of GST refund and enhancing export-related infrastructure in states. “Small and medium exporters are facing several issues related to Goods and Services Tax (GST), that needs to be resolved. We would also seek greater support to improve infrastructure to increase competitiveness of our products in global markets,” Gupta said. Another exporter Sharad Kumar Saraf, Chairman, Technocraft India, too stated that more support needs to be extended to boost outbound shipments. On December 5 last year, the government extended incentives to sectors such as leather and agriculture with an aim to boost outward shipments that were disrupted by implementation of GST. Reversing the decline seen in October last year, the country’s total merchandise exports grew 30.55 per cent to USD 26.19 billion in November 2017. Cumulatively, the exports during April-November 2017-18 increased 12.01 per cent to USD 196.48 billion.
Source: Financial Express
A mini-ministerial meeting of WTO members from both rich and developing nations to be called by India will seek to “revitalise” the multi-lateral trade body, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said. A mini-ministerial meeting of trade ministers of some developed and developing countries is proposed to be hosted by India in February. “The objective of the meeting is to discuss ways to revitalise the WTO, which, we believe, is the best available multilateral institution to ensure predictable and transparent system of rule-making in the area of international trade,” Prabhu told PTI. About 40 WTO member countries are expected to participate in the meeting, which is taking place after collapse of the ministerial talks held in Buenos Aires in early December. The meeting would be in the the backdrop of rich nations forming groupings to prepare ground for pushing new issues such as investment facilitation, preparing rules for e- commerce, promoting gender equality and reducing subsidy on fisheries. India has been keenly pushing agriculture issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It has also been raising its voice against bringing new issues, especially those which are not directly linked to trade, on the negotiating table. The talks at the WTO’s 11th ministerial conference collapsed after the US went back on its commitment to find a permanent solution to the public food stockholding issue, a key matter for India. The four-day conference in Argentina, which ended without a ministerial declaration or any substantive outcome, did manage to make some feeble progress on fisheries and e- commerce by agreeing to work programmes. A dejected WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo expressed disappointment over the way the negotiations progressed and called for soul-searching among the member countries. In multilateral negotiations.
Source: Financial Express
NEW DELHI — The 70th year since Independence will go down in Indian history since the country switched over to the Goods and Services Tax regime, realizing, thereby, the vision of a unified market in a federal system that guided the nationalist bourgeoisie in joining Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle to liberate India from the British. Of course, the structural reform came accompanied with pain for trade and industry caught off-guard by the rigors of new compliance procedures. Queried by corporate leaders at industry chamber FICCI's 90th AGM here earlier this month on how GST was impacting through lower tax collections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley put the onus on them. "It is you from industry, who have been calling for so long to bring GST… and no sooner do these initial problems in implementing a reform of such scale appear, then you want to go back to the system we've had for 70 years," he said. The earlier system was a myriad of central and state taxes where the movement of goods was slowed down by products being taxed multiple times and at different rates. State level taxes replaced by the pan-India GST include state cesses and surcharges, luxury tax, state VAT, purchase tax, central sales tax, taxes on advertisements, entertainment tax, various forms of entry tax, and taxes on lotteries and betting. Central taxes replaced by the GST are service tax, special additional customs duties, additional excise duties on goods of special importance, central excise, additional customs duties, excise on medicinal and toilet preparations, additional excise duties on textiles and textile products, and cesses and surcharges. The new indirect tax regime unifying the Indian market has four tax slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent. It has a novel feature whereby goods and services providers get the benefit of input tax credit for the goods used, effectively making the real incidence of taxation lower than the headline taxation rate. The second half of the year saw a radical reworking of the items within the four-slab tax structure by the supremely federal institution of the GST Council, whereby all but 50 of over 1,200 items remained in the highest 28 percent bracket. Those retained included luxury and sin items, the cess on which goes to fund the compensation to states for the loss of revenue arising from implementing GST. With the Council's decisions last month, GST has been cut on a host of consumer items such as chocolates, chewing gum, shampoos, deodorants, shoe polish, detergents, nutrition drinks, marble and cosmetics. Luxury goods such as washing machines and air conditioners have been retained at 28 percent. Eating out has become cheaper as all restaurants outside high-end hotels charging over Rs. 7,500 per room will uniformly levy GST of five percent. The facility of input tax credit for restaurants has, however, been withdrawn as they had not passed on this benefit to consumers. Petroleum, including oil and gas, is a strategic sector that is still not under GST, while the industry has been pushing for its inclusion so as not to be deprived of the benefits of input credit. Including real estate is another matter pending before the GST Council. On the functioning of the Council, Jaitley who is its head, had this remarkable insight about the way in which it had effected such large-scale rationalization of the item rates in a short span of "3-4 months." "Everything has been achieved by consensus in the best spirit of cooperative federalism. There has been no politics, even from states which are controlled by opposition parties," he told a gathering of industry leaders here. The other side of GST was revealed through what the International Monetary Fund described as "short-term disruptions." With businesses going into a "de-stocking" mode on inventories in anticipation of the GST rollout from July and sluggish manufacturing growth, among other factors, pulled down growth in the Indian economy during the first quarter of this fiscal to 5.7 percent, clocking the lowest under the Narendra Modi dispensation. Breaking a five-quarter slump, a rise in manufacturing sector output, however, pushed the growth rate higher to 6.3 percent during the second quarter (July-September) of 2017-18. Besides, technical glitches appearing on the GST network portal, often unable to take the load of last-minute rush to file returns, marred the filing of returns by traders, forcing the government to postpone filing deadlines several times. The glitches also led to export refunds piling up, resulting in a grave situation of cash crunch for exporters, whose working capital was getting blocked. In the final analysis, the GST balance sheet is provided by Gita Gopinath, professor of International Studies and Economies at Harvard University, who is also the economic adviser to the Kerala chief minister. "GST is a real reform. It is a way of formalizing the economy. It is a very effective way of ensuring tax compliance, making it harder to earn black money. I mean, nothing ever goes away completely, but it just makes it harder to make it happen," Gopinath said in Mumbai earlier this month. The icing on the cake came with the World Bank announcing earlier this year that India had jumped 30 places in its Ease of Doing Business rankings to get among the top 100 countries on the list. Though reforms in India's direct tax regime figured among the parameters considered in evaluation, GST had not been taken into account by the multilateral agency since their cut-off date was June 30.
Source: India West
Beyond the cyclical recovery, the challenge for the Indian textile exporters is to hold on to the customers by building relevant products, brands and being competitive. As clients in the US and the companies adapt to new procurement cycles, industry participants expect growth to re-emerge in FY19. Graphic: Naveen Kumar Saini/MintHome textile exporters had a tough 2017. Shares of several companies languished for most of the year as structural readjustments in the US retail industry—the largest market—hurt revenue growth and profitability. To this was added the impact of the adverse currency movement and rise in raw material costs. But as clients in the US and the companies adapt to new procurement cycles, industry participants expect growth to re-emerge in FY19. “Usually clients keep inventories on the lower side at the year end. However this time the inventory reduction was more than usual. Expect this process to reach normalcy by Q4 and growth to return in Q1 (of next fiscal),” says Pawan Jain, director, corporate affairs, Trident Ltd. According to a Credit Suisse note on Welspun India Ltd, destocking at US retailers may not continue beyond one more quarter as the stock in the retail channel cannot fall more than a certain level. So a recovery should be reflected in the second half of the fiscal year. But the reduction in the government’s duty drawback and rebate of state levies schemes (offsets input tax) can optically lower revenue growth in the second half of the current fiscal year, Credit Suisse said in a note on Welspun India. Even then if the new purchase cycles were to take off, earnings of the home textile exporters can see a notable recovery in FY19, partly aided by a favourable base. Further, as Icra Ltd points out, the credit profile of domestic textile companies is stable, indicating financial health. According to the ratings agency, the aggregate debt of the domestic textile industry is declining as the industry reduced debt-funded expansion. Barring Himatsingka Seide Ltd, which is vertically integrating, none of the companies are in major expansion mode now. In fact Trident and Welspun India says they have enough capacity to deliver double-digit growth for the next two fiscal years. Indo Count Industries Ltd has just completed its first phase of capacity augmentation. Of course, the quantum and the quality of the business recovery is a big if. Also a strengthening of the Indian rupee and cotton prices remain risks to profitability. But as industry data show, US imports of cotton textiles continues to rise with India’s share expanding. That said, beyond the cyclical recovery, the challenge for the Indian companies is to hold on to the customers by building relevant products, brands and being competitive. “I think the requirements for corporates to grow in this segment will be more than just capacities, companies will have to have promising IP (intellectual property) portfolios relevant for our global clientele and that adds value to their offering,” Shrikant Himatsingka, managing director and chief executive officer of Himatsingka Seide, said in a post-September quarter results conference call.
Source: Livemint
The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) says that advance authorisation can be used for procurement from an Export Oriented Unit (EOU). It also says that EOUs must surrender the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on inputs and charge GST on clearances into Domestic Tariff Area (DTA). There is no provision under GST laws to clear from EOU to DTA without GST payment against advance authorisation. Also, what happens when EOU materials are used by DTA in the manufacture of export goods? The BCD surrendered becomes part of the price and not charged as duty by the EOU. So, it cannot become part of drawback claim. How to get that part back? Para 4.20 (a) of the FTP says that the holder of an advance authorisation/duty free import authorisation can procure inputs from indigenous supplier/State Trading Enterprise /EOU/ EHTP / BTP /STP in lieu of direct import. Such procurement can be against Advance Release Order (ARO), or Invalidation Letter. Supplies to advance authorisation holder are treated as deemed exports under the GST laws. So, you can claim refund of the GST paid in accordance with Central Tax (Rate) notifications 48/2017 and 49/2017, both dated October 18, 2017. On the issue of drawback or exemption of BCD surrendered by EOU, there is no provision to compensate the exporter. This matter may be raised before the DGFT. On an advance authorisation taken by us in 2015, we made imports during the pre-GST period but there is shortfall in fulfilment of export obligation. We want to regularise by payment of customs duty on unutilised material. Now, we are required to pay the BCD and additional duty of customs (CVD and SAD) as well as cess. Can we get Input Tax Credit (ITC) of CVD and SAD paid for regularisation of default? There is no provision to take ITC of CVD and SAD in the current GST laws. I suggest you write to DGFT, who can take up this matter with the Ministry of Finance. In the Central Tax (Rate) Notification no. 40/2017 dt. October 23, 2017, issued for Merchant Exporters for Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate @ 0.05 per cent, under Para VI (b), they have used the word “Registered Warehouse”. Is some registration required from the customs or GST office, for this? CBEC Circular no. 43/2017-Cus dated November 7, 2017 clarifies that for the purpose of above notification concerning supply to registered recipient at concessional GST, registered principal place of business or registered additional place of business shall be deemed to be a “registered warehouse”. We have made a deemed export supply to EPCG authorisation holder against invalidation letter. The supply is within the State and so, we have paid CGST and SGST. How to report this in GSTR-1, when Table 6 has only a facility to report IGST? Secondly, what is the procedure to claim refund of GST? There is no solution under the present dispensation for these problems. These matters may be raised before the DGFT for taking up with the Ministry of Finance.
Source: Business Standard
India's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five years in December, a private sector survey showed on Tuesday, buoyed by a rise in output and new orders, which allowed firms to raise prices. Tuesday's data firms up views that business in Asia's third-largest economy continues to recover but also highlights risks that rising price pressures will keep the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from slashing interest rates further. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, rose to 54.7 in December from November's 52.6, marking its fifth straight month above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. "India's goods-producing economy advanced on its recovery path, with operating conditions improving at the strongest pace since December 2012," said Aashna Dodhia, an economist at IHS Markit. "Strong business performance was underpinned by the fastest expansions in output and new orders since December 2012 and October 2016, respectively. Anecdotal evidence pointed to stronger market demand from home and international markets." The country's manufacturing sector witnessed higher payroll figures in December while the rate of job creation rose to its highest since August 2012. The latest survey showed the new orders sub-index, a proxy for domestic demand, also rose to 56.8 in December, the highest since October 2016. Foreign demand also expanded at its quickest pace since June. "Challenges remain as the economy adjusts to recent shocks, but the overall upturn was robust compared to the trend observed for the survey history. This outlook was shared by the manufacturing community as sentiment picked-up to the strongest in three months amid expected improvements in market conditions over the next 12 months," Dodhia added. At the same time, stronger demand allowed firms to raise prices at the fastest pace in 10 months to make up for rising input costs, suggesting overall inflation could remain above the central bank's medium-term target of 4.0 percent in the coming month. India's retail inflation in November breached the central bank's medium-term target of 4 percent, which could put pressure on it to raise policy rates in the coming months. Minutes from the RBI's December meeting show bank members are becoming increasingly concerned about inflation.
Source : Business Standard
Continuing the upward trend, the eight core industries grew by 6.8 per cent in November 2017, compared to the production during November 2016. According to data shared by the Ministry of Commerce, this has been the highest year-on-year growth registered in the current financial year. The 6.8 per cent growth in November 2017 out-paces the previous high of 5-per-cent growth reported during the sequential month (October 2017). The growth in November was driven by a 16.6 per cent increase in steel production over November 2016. Cement production too increased by 17.3 per cent in November 2017 over same month in 2016. Core sector growth during November 2016 was hit by demonetisation and had plunged to 3.2 per cent. According to Aditi Nayar, Vice-President and Principal Economist, at ICRA, the favourable base effect-led spike in the expansion of cement and steel contributed to the uptick in growth of the core industries to a 13-month high of 6.8 per cent in November 2017. This was despite four of the eight industries (coal, natural gas, fertilisers and electricity) recording a sequential dip in growth. Coal was the only index that showed a year-on-year decline during November 2017. Coal production declined by 0.2 per cent during the month under consideration compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year. Compared to November 2016, crude oil production was up by 0.2 per cent, natural gas production increased by 2.4 per cent, petroleum refinery output grew by 8.2 per cent during November 2017. Fertiliser production increased by 0.3 per cent and electricity generation was up by 1.9 per cent during the same period. “We expect the growth of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to rebound to a healthy 5-6 per cent in November 2017. “The favourable base effect related to the temporary slowdown in activity after demonetisation, is likely to boost volume growth in a variety of sectors in the remainder of financial year 2017-18,” Nayar added.
Source: Business Line
As against a 40 mn metres per day of production in the Rs 500 bn synthetic textile hub of Surat, the current production is down to 2.5 mn metres per day. While it may have played a crucial role in helping the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the recently concluded Assembly elections in Gujarat, the Surat-based textile industry is still reeling under the goods and services tax (GST) impact. According to industry sources, especially in weaving and trading, capacity utilisation at most of the power looms and trading units is still down by 50 per cent or lesser. While spinning units are finding takers in the knitting industry — which is currently doing better due to the winter season — the other verticals in the textile chain, such as weaving and trading, are still finding business unsustainable, especially among smaller players. Against 40 million metres per day of production in the Rs 500-billion synthetic textile hub of Surat, the current production is down to 2.5 million metres per day. Similarly in the weaving sector, against a Rs 600-million daily turnover in the pre-GST era, the same is still down by 50 per cent, said Ashish Gujarati, president of Pandesara Weavers’ Association. Moreover, power looms continue to shut shops, with roughly 250-300 looms being discarded as scrap daily, albeit at a slower pace than in October. Further, there are still several traders and weavers who are yet to register and come under the tax net. “Smaller traders are still hit. The matter is not just about the 5 per cent GST the traders have to pay, it is about the additional costs of hiring accountants and investing in technology that is hitting the smaller traders’ pockets. This has led to a 50 per cent decline in business,” said Hitesh Sanklecha, one of the traders leading the demands on changes in GST in the Surat textile trading industry. In normal circumstances, there are 650,000 power looms, 150-200 wholesale textile markets, 20,000 manufacturers — including 10,000 weavers, 75,000 traders, 450 processing units — and 50,000-60,000 embroidery machines in the Rs 500-billion synthetic textile hub of Surat. According to Sanklecha, at least three different industry associations, including silk weavers and textile processors, have made representations to the Centre for relief from the impact of the GST on businesses. The decline in business, as an impact of the GST, accentuated in the months of September and October when the industry apparently receives peak festive season orders. The peak Diwali season dispatch this year was only 15 per cent of normal in October. Against a typical Rs 100-120 billion worth of business during Diwali through dispatch of 1,500 trucks daily for a fortnight, the same was down to mere 15-20 per cent. “This was the first time we saw such a Diwali. In the last fortnight or so, which sees peak of Diwali dispatches, business was down by 15-20 per cent of a typical season,” Tarachand Kasat of the Surat-based GST Sangharsh Samiti and a leading textile trader told Business Standard.
Source: Business Standard
Crude oil futures traded higher by 0.76 per cent at Rs. 3,858 per barrel at the futures trade as speculators widened their bets, taking positive cues from global market. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in January rose Rs. 29 or 0.76 per cent to Rs. 3,858 per barrel in a business turnover of 4,526 lots. Likewise, the oil for delivery in far-month February was trading higher by Rs. 27 or 0.7 per cent at Rs. 3,867 per barrel in 132 lots. Analysts said speculators widened their positions on the back of a firm trend overseas, where crude prices jumped to mid-2015 highs amid large anti-government rallies in Iran and ongoing supply cuts led by OPEC and Russia. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate gained 0.97 per cent to $60.42 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.07 per cent to $66.87.
Source: Fibre2fashion
The rupee strengthened to 63.63 against the US dollar on the first trading day of 2018 on the back of increased selling of the American currency by banks and exporters. The domestic unit opened a tad strong at 63.85 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today. It hovered in a range of 63.87 and 63.63 before quoting at 63.68, up 19 paise at 4.40 pm local time. The rupee had appreciated 21 paise to end at a fresh four-month high of 63.87 against the greenback on Friday. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex today dropped by 244 points, its biggest single-day fall in the past one month, to close below the key 34,000-mark on the first trading day of 2018 after a late sell-off in auto, banking and IT stocks.
Source: Business Line
With CCI having already procured around 5 lakh bales, the target is to procure another 5 lakh bales, officials said. CCI already has some buyers on its list with whom it has reached agreements to sell cotton. Cotton Corporation to focus on commercial operations this season. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has procured around 5 lakh bales this season of which 4 lakh bales have been procured at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the remaining 1 lakh bales as part of its commercial operations, senior officials at the CCI said. With cotton prices firming up to around Rs 5,300 per quintal, farmers are finding it more lucrative to sell cotton in the open market. Officials at CCI therefore feel that the intervention of the corporation may not be required for a better part of the season unless arrivals increase and prices fall below MSP. CCI, however, is likely to continue with its commercial operations during the ongoing season for some of its existing buyers. With CCI having already procured around 5 lakh bales, the target is to procure another 5 lakh bales, officials said. CCI already has some buyers on its list with whom it has reached agreements to sell cotton. Cotton prices have firmed up on lesser availability of the commodity owing to the pink bollworm attack. According to Cotton Association of India (CAI), the crop arrivals in the country up to December 31 have crossed 147.75 lakh bales in this season. By the same time last year, arrivals were about 108 lakh bales. Since cotton rates have gone up in the country by 10% 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, said CAI president Atul Ganatra. Since cotton price has increased in India, parity to import of cotton has increased so CAI has revised import figures from 17 lakh bales to 20 lakh bales this season. CAI has estimated the total consumption of cotton during October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018 of around 320 lakh bales. Due to reduction in export and increase in import, CAI’s carry forward has increased from 39 lakh bales to 50 lakh bales on September 30, 2018, which is a very comfortable position for Indian spinning mills, he said. Officials at CCI said some one-third of the arrivals have been completed and another two-thirds remain. Farmers are holding on to their crop in anticipation of a better price. Mills are also stocking up on cotton in anticipation of shortage, industry people said. The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) has estimated the fibre’s output to increase by 9% to 377 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) despite lower production in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The output in the northern region is expected to increase 28% to 59 lakh bales from 46 lakh bales earlier on the back of a bumper crop in Rajasthan and Punjab, which is pegged at 22 lakh bales from 16 lakh bales previously and 12 lakh bales from 9 lakh bales earlier. On the demand side, mill consumption is estimated to be higher at 288 lakh bales from 263 lakh bales earlier — consumption by the small-scale and non-textile industry may increase to 27 lakh bales from 26 lakh bales previously and 19 lakh bales from 17 lakh bales earlier. Exports are slated to increase to 67 lakh (58 lb) as Pakistan is expected to import from India, Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta had said. Maharashtra suffered the worst pest attack of Pink Bollworm, especially in Yavatmal and Jalgaon. Other States that were hit are Karnataka, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh During the current cotton season, CCI has opened 348 procurement centres to ensure remunerative prices to farmers.
Source: Financial Express
Bengaluru: Beating the blues of demonetisation, lingerie retailers are raking in the moolah and clocking double/triple-digit growth, with innovative products that cater to specific needs among women. Omni-channel lingerie retailers such as MAS Brands India (Amante), PrettySecrets and Clovia are setting their cash registers ringing by tapping the yawning gaps in the fragmented, under-served Rs.20,000-crore lingerie market, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent, with innovatively designed products that are fulfilling three long pending needs of women — size, fit and style. And going by their growth rates that have long overtaken the rate of industry growth, women around the country, including those in tier II cities such as Imphal, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Coimbatore, are lapping up their wares with much relief and happiness. PrettySecrets, a fashion lingerie brand, which is present in 350 mom and pop outlets and large retail stores such as Globus, Central and Brand Factory, is expecting to close FY2018 at 125 per cent growth and 100 per cent growth thereafter, for the next three years.
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Explaining why, founder and CEO Karan Behal said: “While most lingerie stores start with size S (small) for panties, we introduced XS (extra small) and go upto XXL (double extra large). We also offer 22 sizes of bras, while mom and pop stores offer just 6-8 sizes, and cross sell them to women of all sizes.” Apart from the white, black and nude colours that are the norm, the firm has an in-house design team that dishes out lingerie with polka dots, geometric prints, animal prints, paisleys, etc, in 40 colours, added Behal. The company does not offer white lingerie. Instead, three shades of nude lingerie will be launched in February, that are suited to different skin tones across the country, followed by six nude shades, thereafter. MAS Brands India, a subsidiary of MAS Holdings, South Asia’s largest supplier of niche intimate wear, introduced Ultimo, a designer lingerie brand for full-figured Indian women, earlier in December, after an extensive market research that identified a gap which can serve 20 per cent of the market. In less than a month, Ultimo contributes 18-20 per cent of the company’s sales. “Prior to the launch, when we fitted full-figured women in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata with Ultimo products that have been tweaked for Indian figures, all of them wanted to keep our samples, because many suffered back aches as a consequence of wearing ill-fitting lingerie,” said Smita Murarka, Head - Marketing and E-commerce, MAS Brands India. Ultimo caters to sizes, starting from 34C up to 42DD, with side slings, minimisers, special fabrics and elastic with cushion straps, supportive wings that provide comfort to minimise pinched skin, inbuilt cushioning in the hook and eye area, etc. MAS Brands’ international lingerie brand Amante, launched in India a decade ago, is already a Rs. 100-crore brand that is growing 40 per cent year-on-year.
Everyday basics
Clovia is on track to register 80 per cent growth this fiscal at Rs. 100 crore in annualised gross merchandise value (GMV), largely because of its focus on everyday basics, the largest lingerie category. “We addressed product gaps in the market by providing basic lingerie for multiple body types in colours for multiple skin tones,” said Neha Kant, founder and Director, Clovia. “Ninety per cent of our 2,500 products are for everyday use and the rest are for special occasions. As a result, we have seen our average basket size increase from seven to 12 pieces per annum, over the last three years.”
Source: Business Line
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Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1364.41 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
VSF |
2197.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
ASF |
2320.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1337.52 |
USD/Ton |
0.23% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3364.94 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5761.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3203.60 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
2550.59 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1621.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3626.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5807.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1567.23 |
USD/Ton |
0.25% |
1/1/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2880.94 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2058.91 |
USD/Ton |
0.68% |
1/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2919.35 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
3026.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2535.23 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2197.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2458.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.43 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.88 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.23 |
USD/Meter |
-0.13% |
1/1/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.73 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15365 USD dtd. 1/1/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) and Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT), representing the textiles and clothing industries in both EU and Brazil, have welcomed the negotiations for an important EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA). “The textiles and clothing industry is a vivid and global sector in which we believe Europe and Mercosur countries have a key role to play. Our focus is on high quality products manufactured in a sustainable manner under high standards, be it from an environmental, labour and social point of view,” the associations reported. “Euratex and ABIT maintain strong cooperation links since many years and we have always been supportive of the conclusion of an FTA.” Over the last months, the two associations have intensified their talks and have jointly worked on a wide range of topics related to textiles and clothing trade, namely regulatory cooperation, customs procedures, technical barriers to trade, sustainability requirements, etc. Tariffs dismantling and rules of origin have also been very much at the centre of the talks. Euratex and ABIT together made efforts to build balanced rules of origin considering the structure of the textiles and clothing industries, so that the EU-Mercosur FTA benefit both parties and increase trade and investments for both sides. “Therefore, we are happy to share a suggestion from the private sector to both governments with our common views on the Product Specific Rules and Tariff Dismantling to be enshrined in the EU-Mercosur FTA,” they say. “We strongly hope that the EU-Mercosur Agreement will be concluded as soon as possible, and we call on the negotiators to pay due attention to our recommendations.”
Source: Innovation in Textiles.
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: YNFX.
Vietnam's total export-import turnover since the beginning of the year has reached $400 billion, recording the highest trade surplus ever, with $3.17 billion. Vietnam's export and import turnover punched through $400-billion milestone, vietnam economy, business news, vn news, vietnamnet bridge, english news, Vietnam news, news Vietnam, vietnamnet news, vn news, Vietnam net news, Vietnam latest news, Vietnam Milestones of Vietnam’s export and import turnover. Vietnam Customs has just announced the export and import situation of the first 11 months on December 19, 2017. Total export and import turnover hit $385.77 billion in the first 11 months, up 21.4 per cent, which is the highest on-year increase ever, adding $200 billion compared to 2011. Specifically, total export turnover hit $194.47 billion, up 21.5 per cent or $34.44 billion against the same period last year while total import turnover hit $191.3 billion, up 21.2 per cent.
Breaking the record
According to Vietnam Customs, in 2001, total export and import turnover was only at a modest $30 million. It was $100 billion in 2007, after Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Four years later (2011), the export-import turnover doubled to $200 billion, and to $300 billion four years later (2015). Only two years later, by mid-December 2017, the total export-import turnover hit the $400-billion mark. As a result, ten years after joining the WTO, the country's total export and import turnover increased four-fold and the ranking of Vietnam (according to the assessment of WTO) rose significantly. Vietnam’s export ranking raised to the 26th in 2016 from the 50th in 2007, while its import ranking raised to the 25th from the 41st. Vietnam Customs predicted that these ranking will once again rise this year.
Historical record in trade surplus
Vietnam's export and import turnover punched through $400-billion milestone, vietnam economy, business news, vn news, vietnamnet bridge, english news, Vietnam news, news Vietnam, vietnamnet news, vn news, Vietnam net news, Vietnam latest news, Vietnam. Vietnam has recorded its highest trade surplus ever, with $3.17 billion. In the 2006-2010 period, trade balance was in a deficit of around $12.5 billion per year. In 2011-2015, it reduced sharply to about $2 billion per year. In 2016, the trade balance turned sharply into a $1.78 billion surplus and reached $3.17 billion in the first 11 months of this year. The trade surplus mainly comes from foreign invested enterprises. In the first 11 months, the trade surplus of this sector was $23.85 billion, while the trade deficit of the domestic sector was $20.67 billion. China and Korea are the two biggest markets where Vietnam has a trade deficit. In the other hand, Vietnam has a trade surplus with the US, the EU, and Hong Kong. However, there have been significant changes in the first 11 months of this year, as trade deficit from China declined by 15.3 per cent on-year and increased by 55.8 per cent towards Korea. Thus, Korea has become the market where Vietnam has the highest trade deficit, with approximately $29 billion, while it was $21.6 billion for China. Vietnam's detailed trade balance towards its main trade partners in the first 11 months of the year
Continental breakdown
Vietnam has over 200 trade partners over the world, including 29 export markets and 23 import markets reaching a turnover upwards of $1 billion in the first 11 months. Of these, there are four export markets and five import markets that reached a turnover higher than $10 billion. Total export and import value between Vietnam and Asia in the period hit $257.4 billion, up 25.7 per cent on-year. Asia is followed by the Americas with a total $62.16 billion, up 10.8 per cent. The total turnover between Vietnam and Europe hit $52.89 billion, up 13.8 per cent, while Oceania reached $7.07 billion, up 24.5 per cent. Turnover towards Africa gained $6.25 billion, up 27.6 per cent.
Source: VIR.
China's foreign trade volume is expected to exceed $4 trillion in 2017 if there are no special circumstances based on figures accumulated in the first 11 months, the Ministry of Commerce predicted on Thursday. Gao Feng, the ministry's spokesman, said China has been resolutely pushing forward supply-side structural reform in foreign trade. The labor, capital and resource utilization efficiency, as well as environmental protection awareness of domestic manufacturers have been effectively improved. The country's foreign trade volume totaled 25.14 trillion yuan ($3.7 trillion) between January and November, up 15.6 percent year-on-year, official data show. "The variety, quality and grade of Chinese products are being upgraded to higher-end and intelligent development by players at home to compete with their rivals in global markets," he said. "China's foreign trade has remained a driving force of the national economy." China will push forward a new pattern of all-round opening-up to pursue mutual benefit with the rest of the world, according to a statement released after the Central Economic Work Conference which concluded last week. The nation will raise its overall level of imports and reduce import tariffs on some products to promote more balanced trade, it said. Regarding the outlook for China's foreign trade in 2018, Gao said all parties including various governments bodies and businesses are generally optimistic about global economic growth next year. According to a forecast by the International Monetary Fund, the global economy is expected to grow by 3.7 percent next year, around 0.1 percentage points faster than the global economic growth expected for 2018. International trade in goods and services will also grow at a rate of 4 percent in 2018, higher than the average annual growth rate of 3.4 percent from 2013 to 2017, exceeding the rate of global economic growth. "From the domestic point of view, we will continue to encourage companies to enhance their innovation-driven growth ability, increase the contribution of scientific research and development to foreign trade, and raise production efficiency in a sustainable manner," said Gao. To achieve the long-term target, the Ministry of Commerce plans to further enhance China's role as a major global trading partner before 2020 and deploy more resources to maintain a steady growth in international trade, make efficient use of foreign investment and ensure Chinese companies invest overseas in an orderly way in 2018, according to official documents released earlier this week. "China's foreign trade is shifting from a phase of rapid growth to a phase of high-quality development," said Ma Yu, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Source: China Daily
Their employment in the RMG sector has not only changed their lives, but also made difference to the lives of their children. Their financial capacity helps them to secure better life for their children, especially girls. Difference is certainly conspicuous when you compare the present state of Bangladesh with that of in 1971 when the country was born with a promise of prosperity for her citizens. Since her independence, Bangladesh has come a long way and is now a lower-middle income country with an expanding economy where poverty rate has been dropping while life expectancy, literacy, and per capita food intake are on the rise. Bangladesh has been praised in the world as a model of development through its socio-economic progress and achievement of MDGs. The ready-made garment (RMG) industry has significant contribution to the socio-economic development of Bangladesh through generating employment, empowering women, reducing poverty, and achieving the targeted GDP growth. The sector accounts for around 81% of the total export earnings of Bangladesh and contributes to around 13% of the country’s GDP.
An-almost-three decade success story
The emergence of apparel industry in Bangladesh, in the early 1980s, appeared as a ray of light for the country struggling to recover from a devastation caused by the nine-month long Liberation War. Before independence, no major industries were developed in erstwhile East Pakistan as major share of development budget went to West Pakistan due to discriminatory policy and rule by the then Pakistani government. External markets for the major export item, jute, had started losing due to the instability of supply and the increasing popularity of synthetic substitutes. Despite having a large workforce, workers were largely illiterate, unskilled, and underemployed. The RMG industry came as a good solution to the problem as this labour-intensive sector started generating employment for a large number of people and, on the other hand, fetching foreign currency for the country through garment exports. Beginning the venture with exports worth only $12,000, the apparel sector is now the flagship industry of Bangladesh with export earnings of around $29 billion. The RMG industry has created direct employment for around 4.4 million people; of them 70% are women. Besides, the expansion of the RMG industry has led to the development of other sectors, including backward linkage industries, creating jobs for a huge number of people. The RMG industry has been playing a significant role in poverty reduction in Bangladesh, because most of the people working in the garment sector are from poor rural areas. With their employment in the apparel sector, they have been able to come out of poverty and give their family members access to better life.
It’s all about the women
A formal job and income are essential ingredients of women’s empowerment, and the RMG industry has provided that to around 3 million women, mostly from poor families. Majority of the female RMG workers, who mainly come from rural areas, have little or no education at all. Creating job opportunity for this huge number of women in other sectors would generally require skills and education, and that would have been difficult. Now they are no longer treated as a burden on their families, rather have earned dignity and freedom to take decisions in their families. Their employment in the RMG sector has not only changed their lives, but also made difference to the lives of their children. Their financial capacity helps them to secure better life for their children, especially girls. Poor parents generally consider education for girls unnecessary and tend to get their daughters married off at an early age. Thus, the industry has contribution to enrolling more young girls in school than ever before. After the liberation of Bangladesh, the female literacy rate was only 11% which is now around 56%. A study by Rachel Heath of the University of Washington and Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale University’s School of Management, has also found the garment industry’s contribution to female education. According to the study, 27% more young girls were going to school than before the emergence of garment industry in Bangladesh. Moreover, women engagement in the RMG industry has led to a drop in child marriage rate because these working women feel discouraged to get married at an early age. This contributes to lowering child and maternal mortality rates. According to World Bank data, the infant mortality rate decreased from 92 in 1991 to 29 per 1,000 live births in 2015; while maternal mortality rate came down to 170 in 2013 from 472 per 100,000 live births in 1991. It is observed that between this period the apparel industry grew considerably creating job opportunity for more women in the country. Since the apparel industry has been acting as a catalyst for socio-economic development in Bangladesh, we need to pay more attention to this sector to unlock its untapped potentials. More development of the RMG industry means more people getting jobs — more women being empowered, more children going school, more foreign currency — which will ultimately bring more prosperity for the country. Faruque Hassan is the managing director of Giant Group and senior vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
Source: Dhaka Tribune
KARACHI - Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA), while drawing attention of Dr Miftah Ismail, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue & Economic Affairs, has again demanded to remove regulatory duty imposed on import of yarn. Central chairman PYMA , Khurshid A Shaikh, zonal chairman Muhammad Aslam Moten & zonal vice-chairman Muhammad Khalid Gader have expressed their pleasure & satisfaction over appointment of Dr Miftah Ismail and said that the new Advisor for Finance possess an in-depth understanding of issues faced by Trade & Industry. Therefore, with a background of remarkable achievement, he must implement his decisions for enhancement of commercial & industrial activities. PYMA office-bearers, while expressing their deep concern over hurdles in imports of yarn & continuous increase in production cost in the textile industry, said that by removing regulatory duty, government may play a vital role in supply of cheap raw material to textile industry. PYMA office bearers have requested Dr Miftah Ismail to bring all stakeholders on board for improvement of economical & financial policies in order to prepare effective policies for removal of issues & problems faced by related industry. They stressed upon government that by broadening tax net & reduction in corruption, economical stability & business enhancement may be achieved & national economy will be saved from collapse.
Source: The Nation
Luis Quijano can mirror leather with the fabric bacterial cellulose (Photography by Andrew Snyder, Liberty University). As a fashion design major at Liberty University, Luis Quijano doesn’t just design clothes, he grows the fabric. To do so, he ferments a mixture of water, sugar, green tea and kombucha, which creates a material that resembles leather called bacterial cellulose. The textile can then be sewn together and used as fabric for clothing, though Quijano is only in the early stages of producing garments with his work. While he began fermenting the material in his dorm room, Quijano is now partnered with Liberty’s Department of Biology and Chemistry and uses the Center for Natural Sciences’ incubators to grow larger batches of bacterial cellulose. By creating a natural, cruelty-free fabric that mirrors leather, Quijano plans to restructure the fashion industry by initiating a sustainable and equitable field of business. He plans to continue his research and design after he graduates in the spring, but before then, he plans to develop a few articles of clothing using the bacterial cellulose for Liberty’s 12th Annual Fashion Show. Until then, Quijano will continue tweaking his textile recipe to make it as affordable and attractive as he can.
Leslie Currie: What inspired you to pursue a career in fashion? Luis Quijano: My first year I was actually a political science/pre-law major, and I switched to fashion design. Ironically, I felt like I could make more of an impact in the world through the fashion industry. I also liked how it was always changing; there are always new, innovative things to look at. The people in the political science route weren’t people I could see myself being around for four years. There’s just a lot of corruption, and I didn’t want to be around that for my entire college career. I felt that there was more opportunity for me to make a difference in the fashion industry. It’s an international industry—it’s very big—so there’s more that I can do there. Quijano plans to create pieces of clothing for his university’s fashion show (Photography by Andrew Snyder, Liberty University) LC: Did any specific fashion designers inspire you to switch to the fashion industry? LQ: To be honest, I didn’t know that much about fashion when I switched my major. At the time, I didn’t even know how to sew anything until I started. It was a sort of new deal for me. I mean, people complimented my style growing up, but I didn’t really know much other than the fact that fashion is always changing. After seeing some of the classes at Liberty, I was really interested and wanted to learn more. So that, in a way, guided me toward this major. LC: You mentioned that you want to make an impact with fashion. How do you plan on doing that? LQ: I’ve come across a statistic a lot, which is that the fashion industry is the second dirtiest industry in the world, behind only oil. According to the World Bank, textile dying alone accounts for 17-20 percent of all global industrial water pollution. So, a lot of people don’t realize that the clothing that everyone wears actually has a significant environmental impact. That’s where I want to make a change: How can I make clothing affordable but also sustainable and more ecologically friendly? There’s always been the buzzword “sustainability,” even though people don’t always take into account why it’s a buzzword. Why is sustainability even necessary? What practices are industries using that make sustainability necessary? It seems like no one is actually going to make a change in these dirty business sectors. So, I want to raise awareness, for instance, of the chemicals that are used by the fashion industry and the underpaid and abused textile workers that aren’t always heard. There have to be alternatives to these practices, which is one of the reasons why I really like this leather-like material I’ve been working on, bacterial cellulose. It presents an alternative to the pollution and chemicals. That’s one reason why I decided to research it. He researched ways to make a sustainable fabric for the fashion industry (Photography by Andrew Snyder, Liberty University) LC: You first heard of bacterial cellulose while watching a Ted Talk. How did you decide to try making the material? LQ: I’m on the forensic speech team at my school and I needed a topic to speak about. Then I remembered a Ted Talk I had seen a while back. So, I found it—it was the Suzanne Lee Ted Talk, “How to Grow Your Own Clothes,” which I highly recommend watching. The topic is pretty abstract, but her Ted Talk addresses everything clearly. It was my sophomore year that I chose bacterial cellulose as my topic to speak about for a few of my speeches. Then, during my junior year, I had to start doing semester projects for my fashion design major. I decided that for one of my projects, in my textile class that fall semester, I would try growing my own clothes. After doing speeches about the issue, it piqued my curiosity. I figured if I wasn’t able to physically grow the material, then I would write a paper about why I failed. It was a win-win, because either way I had a project. And then I ended up actually growing it! From there, it’s just been onward. LC: How many tries did it take you to actually produce the textile? LQ: Honestly, there isn’t much research online that tells you how to grow your own bacterial cellulose. Even then, I wasn’t sure what tea to use or anything specific. I had to really do my own research. I searched online and learned what I could by talking to other people who had heard of it. It took me that whole semester to figure out how to grow the fabric. Toward the end of the semester I finally started growing it successfully. So, I know how to grow it on my own now, but every single time you grow it the textile can end up looking completely different from the last batch. There isn’t one pattern or marking that always occurs, which can be a cool thing. It’s like leather in the sense that every hide is different in some way. Each has its own distinct look. No two pieces of bacterial cellulose look the same (Photography by Andrew Snyder, Liberty University) LC: What kinds of garments can you use it for? LQ: Well, I haven’t created anything yet. I’ve only just started growing it. But in April, Liberty hosts its annual fashion show, and I plan on making at least three garments just using this product. So, I’m starting to prepare for that event. Each batch takes about three weeks to a month to grow, and I need enough fabric to make everything. I guess it’s a little crazy because it’s not a small project in the slightest. My first design project with this material is going to be a very huge one—we’ll see how it goes! LC: So you have the annual fashion show in the spring, and you graduate as well, right? What are your plans after graduation? LQ: Yeah, commencement will be in the spring, which is pretty crazy. But I actually just applied for the Fulbright Student Program, which is a grant program that would allow me to travel abroad and work with foreign schools to cultivate my studies on this project. So if I get that, I’ll start my doctorate right after I graduate; I would bypass my master’s. I just plan on developing—whether I study in the United States or abroad—this material through graduate school. For instance, bacterial cellulose is not waterproof. It doesn’t retain moisture well because of the fact that it isn’t waterproof when it’s dry. So, I want to try to find ways to solve that issue. I also want to find ways to make this textile a commercial practicality, where clothing companies could use the fabric affordably. Those are my next steps, I hope. Quijano hopes to continue studying his project abroad while pursuing his doctorate degree. LC: Is the textile expensive to make? LQ: Well, anyone can grow it on their own at home if they have water, sugar, green tea and kombucha tea. They would just need some sort of breathable fabric to cover the container while it ferments for three weeks to a month. I will say, though, that I think the most expensive part of creating bacterial cellulose on a large scale is having the space to store all of the materials, which comes down to the bin itself. I’m also trying to find the cheapest sugar that is still effective in the fermentation process, but finding a bin that fits everything that’s needed is the most costly part. The fabric grows to the size of the container. So, if you have a really big container, say nine feet by nine feet, the fabric will be nine feet by nine feet in size. Something that would increase efficiency would be designing something where multiple layers of the fabric could grow on top of each other, or finding ways to stack the containers so that space is used more effectively. I know it’s a little abstract. But, for example, with a woven fabric like cotton, the fibers are converted into yarn, which is then converted into the fabric. That cloth is then dyed the preferred color and cut into the correct shapes and sizes. Once cut, the material is sewn into garment, which requires some finishing touches, as well. With this material—bacterial cellulose—the fabric is grown. It develops from the first four ingredients all the way into the finished product, almost. It just needs to be cut and sewn. In the future, we might be able to make containers that are already formed as specific pattern pieces, such as an arm sleeve, so that the extra step of cutting the material is circumvented. It would streamline the entire process from fermentation to sewing so that certain steps would be sidestepped. LC: Can you dye the fabric? Does it work essentially like any other textile? LQ: Yes! Bacterial cellulose is actually very color receptive. Most of the clothing that shows up if you search the material online is some shade of brown, but for the fashion show, I really want to dye everything. I want to focus on the color potential of this fabric because it definitely has that capacity. I’m starting to plan what I want to design for the show in April. Because the fabric is a bit more rigid than a lot of other materials, it doesn’t drape well, so I won’t make flowy clothing. My designs are going to be more simplistic with sharp edges. I want the fabric to speak for itself rather than doing too much and overpowering it. I also want to the color of the dye to pop because the fabric dyes so beautifully. It’s unlike any other textile I’ve worked with. I’m pretty excited to see how it’s going to turn out.
Source: Study Breaks
Exports of home textiles from Egypt increased 4.8 per cent year-on-year in January-November 2017. Exports during the eleven-month period were valued at $664 million, as against $443 million registered in the same period last year, according to the Egyptian Home Textiles Export Council (HTEC), under the ministry of foreign trade and industry. Around 40 companies, under the aegis of HTEC, are going to participate in the Heimtextil International Trade Fair for home textiles, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany from January 9-12, 2018, Egyptian media reports said. Some Egyptian companies are also going to participate in the Carpet Domotex International exhibition, scheduled for January 13-17, 2018, in another German town of Hanover. Meanwhile, exports by Egypt’s Textile Export Council increased by 3 per cent between January and October this year, standing at $673 million compared to $651 million during the same period a year before, according to official statistics. (RKS)
Source : Fibre2fashion
