NEW DELHI: India has the potential to become a one-stop sourcing destination for brands and retailers from Asean, said textile minister Smriti Irani at an event on Tuesday. Opportunities exist for textile manufacturers from the 10-nation bloc to invest in India and cater to the domestic market as well as exports, the minister added. Irani, who was addressing a seminar on 'India-Asean weaving textile relations', said India has strengths in production and exports of almost all kinds of textiles and apparel including all handloom and handicraft products that demonstrate the unique skills of the country's weavers and artisans. "In the year 2016, India exported textiles and apparel worth $1,203 million to Asean and imported textiles and apparel worth $546 million from Asean," Irani said, adding that this was just a testimonial to the way forward. "With ability to produce a diverse range of products, India has the potential to become the one-stop sourcing destination for brands and retailers of Asean nations," the minister said.
LATEST COMMENT
india''s fabric maufacturers have very old equipment they need to invest in modern equiipmment for high efficiency to compete "I am hopeful that this is just one of the many areas where we can participate and leverage our strengths," Irani observed. Earlier during his address, textiles secretary Anant Kumar Singh said India was strong and competitive across the entire value chain starting from raw materials to finished products. He added, "Though India has the unique advantage of having the presence of the entire textile value chain, its most exported items to Asean consisting of cotton fibre, cotton yarn and fabrics have not grown to the desired extent. This makes it evident that we have not been able to explore and leverage the strengths of our textiles industry to the fullest."
Source: The Times of India
The textile and apparel sector of India is at an inflection point where the businesses are expecting good revenues in the coming months, says a recent survey. There is an overall positive sentiment as the economy has started to recover from twin shocks of demonetisation and goods and services tax (GST). The industry is optimistic about the future. The economy and industry are getting accustomed to recent policy changes, says Business Confidence Index by Wazir Advisors authored by Varun Vaid and Manjulika Poddar. The index is an indicator of what businesses think is going to happen in the near future. The first of its kind biannual survey was carried out on 108 respondents in December 2017. "More than half the respondents say that the industry’s current performance has been worse compared to the last six months. However, almost two-third of the respondents feel that conditions will be better in next six. The industry is expecting increased demand in the backdrop of an easing liquidity crunch," the survey stated. In general, there is a wait-and-watch sentiment in the industry. Though businesses are expecting good revenues in the coming months given the positive present and expected status of the order books, there is hesitation among businesses when it comes to investment, according to the survey. Roughly 67 per cent of the respondents view increasing wages as the major constraint to business growth. This is followed by policy issues as 60 per cent view it as a major constraint. Polled equally, competition from cheap imports, low demand, rupee appreciation and rising raw material costs are cited by 47 per cent of the respondents as a key constraint. Unavailability of skilled labour is cited as a major challenge by 40 per cent of the respondents. "However, both the central and state governments are working towards providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to boost growth in the industry. Many state governments are coming up with policies that not only provide direct fiscal benefits to businesses but also indirect support through infrastructure development and availability of plug-and-play systems among others. Even the central government is taking measures to boost investment and trade such as revision of GST rates on manmade fibres, rebate of state levies, duty drawback and merchandise exports from India scheme," the survey pointed out.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Surat: Commercial tax commissioner, Gujarat, P D Vaghela has assured the stakeholders in the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) sector in the city of strongly representing the issues and demands related to Goods and Service Tax (GST) before the central government and the GST Council. Vaghela was on a day's visit to the Diamond City on Tuesday. Vaghela visited powerloom units, knitting units, handwork and embroidery units and textile shops in Pandesara, Bamroli, Sachin, Limbayat and Ring Road. Addressing a meeting of the textile industry stakeholders at Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), Vaghela said, "I have heard the problems and issues faced by power loom weavers, traders, embroidery unit owners and women doing embroidery handwork. The issues are genuine and the state government will seriously take up the issues with the central government and the GST Council." "Most of the issues related to GST come under the purview of the GST Council. However, the issues like inter-state e-way bill provision etc will be sorted out by the state government," Vaghela added. Last week, social media was abuzz when CMO tweeted in favour of Surat's diamond industry after the GST Council reduced the GST rate on polished diamonds from 3 per cent to 0.25 per cent. The chief minister had to face criticism on social media when the textile industry people raised questions whether the government did not consider Surat as the textile city. Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) chairman Bharat Gandhi said, "The industry is getting assurances since the day GST was rolled out. I think the visit of Vaghela in the textile and embroidery units indicates that the state government is serious in taking a stand at the GST Council to see that the issues related to the textile sector are addressed amicably." Gandhi said we have put forth three demands, including refund of input tax credit, credit on opening stock and implementation of central government notification on increasing basic customs duty (BCD) on imported fabrics from China. Leader of power loom weaving sector Ashish Gujarati said, "A single demand of input tax credit will solve 10 other issues pertaining to GST. Vaghela was of the opinion that the state government will have to give a stiff fight at the GST Council to press for the refund demand of the textile sector."
Source: The Times of India
The South India Garment Association (SIGA) has voiced its concern over the impact of the implementation of 2 slabs of GST on apparel. In a letter to Krishna Byre Gowda, a minister in the Karnataka cabinet and member of the GST Council, SIGA said that the implementation of two slabs of GST on apparel based on transaction value has been adversely affecting the industry. The chairman (taxation) at SIGA, Anurag Singhla wrote that garments being made in Bengaluru are now costing more as those fall under the Rs 1,000-plus plus transaction value under 12 per cent GST to end customers. The result is that sales have reduced at retail stores for Bengaluru-made garments. Moreover, under-utilisation of actual production capacity has been leading to unemployment, and cheaper garments made in other parts of country are taking over the market. Pointing out that Bengaluru is the largest manufacturing hub for men’s garment manufacturing which generates employment for the poor, especially women, Singhla wrote, "Such scenario of unemployment especially in the outskirts is not a good sign for the growth of Bengaluru." Urging the minister to look into the negative impact on the apparel industry, the SIGA official called for a single slab GST which would remove the 'discrimination' based on transaction values. "We suggest that only one slab i.e. 5 per cent be fixed for the garment industry." Singhla also said that the introduction of the e-way bill was discriminatory, and that this would cause a hindrance in the free movement of goods. He pointed out that under the e-way bill system, a consignment up to Rs 50,000 in value and local movement within 10km have been exempted from the e-way bill system, whereas while small businesses have been given some relaxation in their GSTR filings. "This may lead to great confusion," he said.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
NEW DELHI: Exporters have asked the government to expedite major infrastructure projects like Sagarmala, Bharatmala and the eastern and western dedicated rail-freight corridors to help improve India's logistics facilities. Citing inefficient freight movement, time taken for movement of trucks and road transportation being the preferred mode of transportation as the root causes of high logistics costs in India, they said high indirect costs of trade caused by undependable transportation and delays contribute to 38-47% of total transportation and logistics costs. India's logistics and transportation costs are pegged at 14.4% of the GDP as against 8% of GDP in China. For exporters, unreliable lead times do not necessarily increase inventory for themselves, according to Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "But it does increase inventory for their customers or distributors abroad, making them less attractive as a sourcing partner and also their product less competitive," the two industry bodies said in a study on export logistics in India. India's cost to export stood at a $1,332 per container compared with $572 in Indonesia or $525 in Malaysia, as per the study. The commerce department had commissioned the study in April last year to study the status of logistics in India, the constraints it faces and the strategy to address these. The results of the study have come at a time when the newly-set up logistics division in the commerce department has kicked off an ambitious national logistics plan to allow seamless movement of inputs and finished goods across the country. The study, which focuses on four sectors—auto, textiles, pharma and machinery—said complex customs regulations and non-uniformity in toll charges as regulatory bottlenecks. Due to the high importance of textiles in India's exports and the foreign markets it services, the industry wants establishment of multi-modal infrastructure near textile manufacturing hubs. "Changing fuel price, correlated with freight charges, adds to the volatility in costs for textile industry, which is already subject to wide fluctuations in raw material and labour costs," the study noted.
Source: The Economic Times
Surat: The detailed project report (DPR) for the construction of a skywalk in the textile market area of the city was approved by the authorities concerned recently. The work for first phase of the project costing Rs57 crore would begin within next two months. The skywalk would be built at a height of 7 metre and is expected to cover 50 textile markets within a 2.83km radius. The skywalk would be 5.5 metre in width and 2,230 metre (2.23km) in length and is proposed to be built in three phases. Phase one, costing Rs14 crore, will cover rear portion of the textile market up to Salasar Hanuman Temple. After the first phase is over, a portion parallel to Ring Road would be constructed in the second phase and Millennium Market Road in the third phase. "Tenders would be floated for the first phase of the project covering nearly 1km area in the coming week. The work should start within two months' time," smart city project special commissioner M Nagrajan said. The DPR was approved by the project management committee which was headed by standing committee chairman Rajesh Desai, who is also chief of the Smart City Development Ltd (SCDL). SMC has said the work for phase III of the skywalk will be taken up only after consultations with stakeholders like Fostta, tempo association, traffic police, among others. The skywalk will be built at the level of a second floor and every textile market will have access to it through an escalator. It will have access point at every 200 metre and connection with multi-level parking, BRTS bus stops, high mobility corridor and upper floors of the textile markets. It is estimated that nearly 2.5 lakh people move across the textile market area daily. Besides, some 1.5 lakh vehicles too pass through either the flyover or the road below it.
"Traffic and people movement coupled with goods coming in and going out of the shops in the textile markets create traffic chaos. Once the skywalk is built, it will help ease traffic congestion here," an SMC officer said.
Source: The Times of India
India’s imports of yarn, fabrics and made-up articles during December last year rose by 20 per cent over the figure in the same month in 2016, according to the ministry of commerce and industry. Apparel exports, however, dropped 0.3 per cent in April-December 2017 and 8 per cent in December, which is being attributed by some to duty drawback rates revision. However, total export of textile and apparel rose by 2 per cent between April and December 2017 over the first nine months of 2016-17, a leading south Indian English-language daily reported. The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) sees this as a matter of concern as export data of Bangladesh showed India imported garments worth $111.3 million during July-December 2017 from Bangladesh, which was 66 per cent higher as against the same period of the previous year. Imports of knitted apparel from Bangladesh were worth $20.6 million in July-December 2016 and rose to $36.5 million between July-December last year. Cotton prices and yarn prices are going up in the domestic market and the government has reduced the duty drawback rates. After the implementation of the goods and services tax, exporters do not know yet what refund will they get on duties paid on exports. CITI feels there was a need to impose safeguards such as rules of origin, yarn forward and fabric forward rules on nations like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that had free trade agreements with India and China. “Garment manufacturers in India have to pay duty on imported fabrics, while Bangladesh can import fabric from China duty-free, convert it into garments, and sell to India duty-free,” CITI chairman Sanjay Jain said in a statement. (DS)
Source : Fibre2fashion
CREATING AVENUES FOR CRAFTSPERSONS: Narendra Kumar
Ahead of the NIFT’s international conference, seasoned fashion commentator Narendra Kumar talks about how fashion is becoming our cultural ambassador on the global stage. Even as we see a sustained shift in focus of fashion designers towards a more responsible attitude towards the fashion environment in the country, a lot needs to be done to stitch concepts like sustainability and value of indigenous crafts in the mindset of emerging designers. Keeping this in mind, National Institute of Fashion Technology is holding a three-day international conference in New Delhi on ‘Rediscovering Culture: Transforming Fashion’ where seasoned designer and fashion commentator Narendra Kumar will share his vision on how technology is playing a vital role in identifying craftspersons from across the country. An alumnus of NIFT, Kumar, who is the creative director of Amazon India, says, “This is a first big step in identifying a way to address the changing climate of fashion by creating an inclusive and self sustainable environment.”
Excerpts:
On rediscovering culture through fashion
Every state of fashion goes through a cycle. In late 1990s, the government run textile emporiums were there but the onslaught of brands took away that novelty. Everybody wanted a global feel as they felt wearing international clothes would make them global citizens. But things are changing slowly as India is becoming a larger, stable economy. There is a growing sense of confidence within the country about Indianness, which marries the contemporary global aspirations and what India means. It is not about rediscovering; it is a journey which every culture goes through.
On the idea of sustainability in fashion
It has lot of implications. The good thing is that there are a number of local textiles which are suddenly getting lot of visibility. It is also creating sustainability for Indian crafts and Indian craftspersons; there is a large sector in India that does this. Even international brands Zara are also looking at creating sustainable stuff. If you see trends in fashion over the past few years, lot of younger Indian designers are emerging and they are working with indigenous textiles and are showcasing their work abroad. And they are being recognised for that. All this is significant as designers are reorienting themselves and not looking at everything being driven by Western brands.
On the impact of Make in India campaign
Make in India has played a big role in giving us bigger visibility. It has created consciousness about our textiles. There is also a sociological dimension. We are now proud of our heritage. It is part of our evolution that we are confident about carrying our roots to the global stage. Earlier, it was carried through the medium of dance. Today our heritage is being conveyed through fashion. Fashion is a big conveyor of sensibilities across the globe.
On the conference’s focus on craftspersons
We are creating so much due to a multitude of crafts available across the country. They suit our body types. A special online store on handicrafts has been created which will work with designers to create new age products. So it is not just talk; you can actually see it happen. Technology will help take innovations to remote regions. Our skilled artisans are not technologically savvy so we need interventions. Technology will enable them to take their crafts to new markets. NIFT students are working with those working in handicrafts.
On the role of NIFT
It has evolved in many ways and has contributed to the industry. Every brand has NIFT students working at different levels. At one point, the government was thinking of shutting it down as it had become elitist but today it has become a place which contributes to such a large extent towards the Indian economy. Like the craze for the IITs, IIMs in 1990s, today NIFT is the go to place because lifestyle sector has become much more important than it was 20 years ago. However, it needs to create more entrepreneurs. This is a challenge for the future. It needs to make necessary changes in its curriculum. Where it stands out is that it is not running for profit but providing a platform for students to excel but I think they need deeper integration.
New dimension
Harmeet Bajaj, former professor and founder of fashion communication course at NIFT, who was in conversation with NIFT faculty, at a curtain raiser to NIFT's upcoming International Conference, says the mega event will be one of its kind. would be one of its kind. On the relevance of upcoming international conference, Harmeet says: “With the change in government policies over time, today we have access to all leading fashion brands in the world. Everything is available almost at our doorstep. A lot of brands are manufactured in India, exported, branded and brought back for consumption here.” Bajaj says for years we have been a manufacturing nation. “But now with trained designers we are in the process of creating brands. It is essential we go back to our culture and establish an identity which is unique. The process has started with designers like Manish Arora, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Rahul Mishra. Their creations compete in the international market but have an Indian accent, reflective of our culture.” On the metamorphosis of NIFT and fresh challenges it faces, she says: “Fashion industry has grown exponentially over the last 30 years. This has necessitated training of people for the diverse job requirements in the industry. Today NIFT is the leader in offering courses that cater to the fast changing industry. Design across various genres, merchandising, marketing, communication and technology are blended to create the wholesome professional for the industry. The challenge lies in catering to some of the centres where availability of good faculty is difficult.” On fashion students being encouraged to make use of traditional embroideries and craft techniques, Harmeet says it needs to be done as an essential prerequisite. “Embroideries and craft techniques is our history, our culture that defined luxury. almost 5000 years ago. Even today it inspires leading designers all over the world. It should be an integral part of any design course. Its application should be not only at couture level but also at the fast fashion level. That’s what international brands come to us for.” On the yardstick of selecting an institute which provides a platform for budding designers to get a foothold in fashion, she says: “We need to look at the following alumni and their profile in the industry, infrastructure- physical and faculty, industry relations and opportunities for experiential learning for students and collaborations.” On the monopoly of designers in India over every fashion week, Harmeet says: “Yes presently the councils and associations managing fashion weeks are biased towards the senior designers. There is limited opportunity for young designers. However organisations like Woolmark are offering international platforms. Design competitions could offer opportunities to the younger designers.”
Source: The Hindu
The engineering exporters from the northern region hope that the Union Budget will entail decisive fiscal steps to boost the exports that have been hit after the demonetisation and GST. The engineering exports from the region are dominated by the SMEs. Across the country, 40% of engineering exports come from the MSME sector. The engineering industry comprises hand tools, agriculture equipment, auto parts, casting and forgings, cycle parts and textile equipment etc. The total turnover of engineering exports from the region is around Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 crore. The industry, which is already grappling with high steel prices, has the following demands:
Faster GST refund
“The exporters need special attention, especially after the implementation of GST. A significant portion of the exporters’ working capital is waiting for refund from the Centre. This is one of the factors which are affecting the competitive edge of exports. So, the government should evolve a mechanism so that the exporters’ refunds can be expedited,” said SC Ralhan, a hand tool exporter from Ludhiana.
Freight subsidy
The exporters have to spend a significant amount on transportation of goods — first to import the raw material and then to export the finished goods. Being a land-locked state, they have to bear huge transportation charges which are being absorbed in the export pricing, leading to losing out business as compared to their competitors. “The Centre should consider providing transport/freight subsidy and enable the exporters from the hinterland to compete with their counterparts in the coastal states and other countries,” said Ashwani Kohli, senior vice-president, Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters. Curb rising steel prices. Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking, said the daily increase in the prices of steel is hitting the MSME units manufacturing auto parts, bicycles and its parts, sewing machines, electrical machinery, textile machinery, fasteners, hand tools and other products. Industries are cutting down their production due to uncertainty in steel prices. He said the steel prices have seen an increase of 35% during the past one year. The chamber is planning to take a delegation to meet Union Finance Minister, Steel Minister and Secretary, Steels, for intervention into the matter. The industry demands that since the export of prime steel doesn’t add additional value, it should be discouraged and banned. The chamber apprehends that this will keep the prices in control. Impetus to marketing According to the Federation of Indian Exporters, the government should give impetus to marketing through tax deductions. Many countries have become extremely aggressive to push their exports. “Unfortunately, we have very meagre allocation for Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme which supports export marketing,” said a senior official in the FIEO. The FIEO has proposed the creation of an Export Development Fund to the tune of at least 0.5% of total exports to support export marketing. Alternatively, the government may provide 100% tax deduction on the expenditure incurred by the exporters for overseas marketing. Such a move will help showcasing the Indian products overseas.
Source: The Tribune
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1432.49 |
USD/Ton |
-0.27% |
1/23/2018 |
|
VSF |
2271.69 |
USD/Ton |
0.34% |
1/23/2018 |
|
ASF |
2498.08 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1382.53 |
USD/Ton |
0.06% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3419.25 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5776.81 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1694.01 |
USD/Ton |
-0.46% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
3653.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
5901.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1631.56 |
USD/Ton |
-0.48% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
3231.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2732.28 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2950.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2178.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2982.08 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2326.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2513.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3106.99 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2591.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.46 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.89 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.25 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0.45% |
1/23/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/23/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15613 USD dtd. 23/1/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) delegation led by its chairman Shaiq Jawed met Dr Miftah Ismail, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance here on Tuesday and discussed matters related to growth of textile exports.The delegation requested for processing of tax refund, drawback cases on priority basis to resolve liquidity issues faced by exporters/manufacturers. The capital thus made available could be utilised by them towards expanding their businesses to increase country’s export earnings, a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance said. The delegation also discussed matters regarding smooth supply of energy and electricity to textile industry on uniform and economical rates for optimal production. Adviser Miftah Ismail said the textile industry was backbone of the economy and a major foreign exchange earner. He said the government had taken important measures for enhancing exports and would extend all possible support to the textile industry along with other sectors of the economy and provide an environment, conducive to fostering business activities. Mitfah said the export growth in the recent months was heartening and the exporters should put in greater efforts to make sure that the rising trend was maintained in the future. He said the issues raised by the delegation would be given due consideration and necessary measures would be taken to address them accordingly.
Source : Business Recorder
The Egyptian Textile Export Council announced that Egyptian textile and spinning exports increased by 6% in 2017, to record $832m compared to $783m in 2016. This keeps pace with the announcement of Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil in January 2018, during the visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Sadat City, that Egypt The Egyptian Textile Export Council announced that Egyptian textile and spinning exports increased by 6% in 2017, to record $832m compared to $783m in 2016. This keeps pace with the announcement of Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil in January 2018, during the visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Sadat City, that Egypt will establish the largest textile and garment city in Egypt on an area of 3.1m sqm in that city. The city will include 568 factories with a total paid-up capital of $2bn, which will be pumped over a period of seven years, 87% of which comes from foreign investments and 13% from local investments. Furthermore, Kabil said that the textile and garment city will provide up to 160,000 direct job opportunities, with a total production value of $9bn per year. Moreover, “this new city will include schools for training with the latest technology in the spinning and textile industry,” Kabil assured. The textile industry is one of the most important and oldest Egyptian industries and plays a vital role in the Egyptian economy. In this context, “Egypt is home to the only fully integrated textiles industry in the Middle East, where the entire production process is carried out in Egypt, starting from the cultivation of cotton and ending with the production of yarns, fabrics, and ready-made garments, carried out domestically,” the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones previously said.
Source: Daily News
During trading session at leading stations of lint market in Punjab and Sindh, buying remained firm with demand for better grades of cotton which fetched a premium price. Buyers purchased better grades of cotton above Rs 7,675 per maund and deals for second grade of lint changed hands above Rs 7,475 per maund. Mills bought better grades of cotton at around Rs 7,525 per maund while spinners purchased better stocks at around Rs 7,525 per maund. The ginning units produced better grades of lint on demand while 3,600 bales changed hands during trading. Arrival of cottonseed would remain normal during next coming session. The secondary buyers made deals for all grades of cotton at around Rs 6,500 per maund and Rs 6,650 per maund. Sindh and Punjab buyers made month-delivery forward deals for all grades of cotton at around Rs 6,600 per maund to Rs 6,650 per maund in anticipation of further increase in prices during next trading sessions. Physical prices would remain firm on demand for all grades of cotton that would keep sellers in driving seat while bottom line prices likely to stand firm. Private sector commercial exporters made deals at Rs 6,500 per maund to Rs 6,550 per maund. Raw grades of lint changed hands at Rs 5,975 per maund depending on trash level during trading session. Ex-gin price per maund remained firm at Rs 7,500 per maund. In Kerb market trading took place in a range of Rs 6,625 per maund to Rs 6,700 per maund.
Source: YNFX.
Multilateral agency says economic momentum to moderate gradually China's year-on-year GDP growth is projected to reach 6.6 percent this year, 0.1 percentage point higher than its previous forecast, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest report released on Monday. Analysts said export growth will continue to be a main contributor to China's growth as investment growth is expected to weaken this year. "Growth is expected to moderate gradually in China (although with a slight upward revision to the forecast for 2018 and 2019 relative to the fall forecasts, reflecting stronger external demand)," the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook update released in Davos, Switzerland on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. In its October forecast, China's growth for this year was 6.5 percent. The World Bank said last week that it expected China's GDP growth this year to be 6.4 percent. The IMF said the global economy is now expected to grow by 3.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent in its October projection. "The revision reflects increased global growth momentum and the expected impact of the recently approved US tax policy changes," the IMF said. Such a gain in growth momentum of the global economy is favorable for China's exports, which in turn will help shore up the world's second-largest economy this year, analysts said. "The global economic growth hopefully will strengthen moderately this year and China's export growth momentum will be maintained," said analysts of Golden Credit Rating International Co Ltd in a report. Among the three major contributors to growth, retail sales growth may remain stable and largely unchanged this year, but fixed-asset investment growth may weaken thanks to the cool-off of the real estate sector, the ratings agency's report said. It predicted that fixed-asset investment growth will slow to 7 percent year-on-year this year, compared with 7.2 percent in 2017. As the possibility is low for China to loosen its property price control measures, the real estate sector will see its investment and sales ease this year, the report said. Although the expected local government reshuffle this year may lead to brisker investment activities, its effect will weaken as China has made it clear that it will pursue high-quality development, and, as a result, the reshuffle will not provide a significant boost to investment growth, the report said. While growth may dip, China will also face the challenge of handling financial risks posed by such factors as increasing debt, high leverage levels, and shadow banking this year, analysts said. "It has become unprecedentedly important for China to safeguard the bottom line of forestalling systemic financial risks," said Liu Dongliang, an analyst of China Merchants Bank. "On the whole, strengthening (financial) regulation will become China's policy choice in the coming years." Although it may affect short-term growth, strengthened financial regulation will contribute to China's medium-term growth, economists said. "Sustaining rapid growth over the medium term is very possible," John Litwack, World Bank lead economist for China, told China Daily in an interview last week. "Successful deleveraging and containing financial risks will be important for achieving this goal in the medium term."
Source: China Daily
LAHORE/KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday withdrew sales tax and customs duty on cotton imports in line with the government’s order, a move that was resented by the growers. Textile sector will avail the benefits on imports of raw and ginned cotton retrospectively, a FBR’s notification said. Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), in a meeting early this month, approved withdrawal of 5 percent sales tax and 4 percent customs duty on cotton imports from January 8. The withdrawal would take effect from the same date. Delayed notification seemed to be an outcome of protest by farmers and ginners against the withdrawal of taxes on cotton import. An industry source, however, said the textile millers were planning to launch protest campaign from Tuesday against the belated notification. Pakistan has been importing long and extra-long staple cotton since 2001 as country mainly produces short to medium staple length cotton. Pakistan, despite being the world’s fourth largest cotton producer, relies on import of cotton to meet local demand, which is estimated at 15 to 16 million tons/year. Cotton production is expected to be around 11.1 million bales of 170kg each during the current crop year of 2017/18 against the revised production target of 12.6 million bales. In January last year, government pulled out four percent customs duty and five percent sales tax on cotton import to promote value addition, but the levies were restored after six months on prospect of increase in cotton production. Ginners and farmers oppose duty-free cotton import as they said this would hurt their interest through bringing down prices in the local market. Trading in cotton market came to standstill with the beginning of the current month owing to tug of war between textile bodies and ginners. Textile mill owners were not willing to buy what they deem costly local cotton, while ginners did not want to sell commodity on low price. A delegation of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association met the Prime Minister a few days back to press demand of customs duty and sales tax on cotton import. Ihsanul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginner Forum said government should have continued with the restricted regime for cotton import in a bid to encourage local production of silver fiber.
Haq said farmers might lose interest in cultivation of cotton next season. “Even, cotton arrival for the current season could be affected.” Ibrahim Mughal, chairman of Agri Forum Pakistan also criticised the government’s decision. “Cotton production has been on the lower side for the last several years,” Mughal said. “Farmers were expecting reasonable price of cotton this year, but the government deprived them of this opportunity, which would demoralise them.” Asif Inaam, zonal chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, however, said the tax concession would provide immediate relief as huge quantity of cotton is stuck at ports for clearance since the ECC’s decision.
Source: The News International
The US Federal Trade Commission has eliminated an obsolete provision under the Textile. Fibre Products Identification Act (Textile Rules) that requires house word trademark owners to furnish the agency with a copy of the mark’s US Patent and Trademark Office registration before using it on labels. In June 2017, it had sought comments on proposed amendments. The Textile Rules require marketers to place a label on certain textile products to disclose some information, such as the name under which the manufacturer or other responsible company does business, according to an FTC press release. The commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers.
Source: fibre2Fashion
KARACHI: The cotton import by the textile and spinning sector of the country will likely touch more than $1.20 billion in 2018 on import of 4.3 million bales on the back of around 3.6 million bales shortfall in production and lifting of Customs Duty on cotton imports. It is expected that importers would mature deals with India, USA and Brazil to meet the mills’ shortfall to more than 3 million bales, textile and spinning sector people have opined. The country received around 11.1 million bales of cotton in dying stage of crop season 2017-18 as only three production month were left for crop season. It is expected that country would achieve about 12.1 million bales of cotton by the end of April 2018 with a shortfall to textile sector to 3.1 million bales. Pakistan’s imports from India on average stands at $822 million a year as the country imports around 2.6 million bales from India. USA and Brazil are other destinations where textile sector fulfills its end product needs. Federal Board of Revenue imposed one percent additional Customs Duty on import of cotton from July 15, 2017. The total duty stood at 4 percent. On the repeated appeals by the textile sector, the Textile Ministry after consultation with Federal Board of revenue has slashed 4 percent import duty from raw cotton as 4.5m bales will be required to meet local demand. The country has also lost its fourth position in the world in terms of the production of raw cotton. Representatives of Pakistan Yarn Merchant Association, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association and apparel sector of the country expressing sigh of relief over the slash on Duty have said that one percent increase in import duty (from 2% to 3%) was increased to total duty to 4 percent because there was already 1 percent additional duty in place. Ghulam Rabbani of yarn sector, Jaweed Bilwani of apparel sector, SM Tanveer of textile industry and others have said that increase in import duty on raw cotton has been affecting textile industry besides production of cotton declined almost 35 percent this crop season, which was hurting overall Gross Domestic Product. The textile and spinning sector has already been suffering due to high cost of doing business and shortage of energy. The textile sector, which contributes more than 60 percent of the country’s total exports of $20 billion, had been demanding abolition of 4 percent Customs Duty and 5 percent sales tax since long.
Source: Daily Times
Apparel retail appears to be in recovery in light of same-store sales improvements over the holidays, but "pressures remain," according to a report from Moody's Investors Service. Gains at department stores like Kohl's, Macy's and J.C. Penney bode well for brands like Under Armour and Fossil, according to the report, which was emailed to Retail Dive. Department stores have a few new strengths, according to another Moody's report also emailed to Retail Dive. Department stores began the season with lean inventories, colder weather was more conducive to seasonal sales than last year, and the U.S. economy boosted consumer confidence, Moody's analysts noted. Big-box retailers mostly held their own, though it's still too early to call the fate of bankrupt Toys R Us, according to Moody's. Best Buy and Walmart were winners, along with Target, which, by virtue of healthy holiday sales passed "an early litmus test" of its many investments announced last year.
Dive Insight:
In all, holiday shopping season reports point to a pretty happy season — at least compared to the past few. Holiday sales increased a record 4.9% this year, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse report. Kohl's had a banner year, with same-store sales up 6.9% in November and December, Target same-store sales rose 3.4% in the period, posting gains across all of its core merchandise categories, and specialty retailer American Eagle beat expectations, to name a few. But it's not clear that stronger holiday sales will translate into higher margins, Moody's analysts warn. "Promotional activity started very early this season, so it is possible that some of the top-line growth that is obvious thus far may be driven by margin-busting promotions," Charlie O'Shea, Moody's lead retail analyst and co-author of the report, said in a statement. While increases in online spending helped boost sales, the higher costs of fulfillment could extract some of the joy. Plus, O'Shea questioned the size of the increase, and noted that a portion of retail growth expectations is baked in. "Online spending continues to help fuel the top line, but it's too soon to say whether online holiday sales will approach the high-teens year-over-year growth threshold, which given increased spend and emphasis by brick-and-mortar retailers, seems reachable," he said. "Some initial media reports have suggested growth closer to 14%, which we would view as unimpressive given the increased focus. Embedded in our online growth expectations is explosive growth via mobile applications, which is logical given the increasing proliferation and 'quality' of smartphones, as well as increased spending by retailers on this popular application." Among the best news in Moody's reports is the notion that the holiday cheer will keep on giving. "[D]ue to the heavy spend in the consumer electronics sub-segment surrounding the Super Bowl, we do not consider the holiday season to be over yet," O'Shea said, adding that there are still "important days ahead" for Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco Wholesale, among others. Another date to remember in coming weeks is the first day in February. Like the second day, when a ground hog's behavior is expected to portend the length of the wait until spring, Amazon's Feb. 1 earnings report will serve as a signal to observers about how retailers really fared this year. "If its margins are low, this could be bad news for other retailers that may have tried to compete on price," O'Shea said. "If margins are reasonable, this could indicate that Amazon scaled back promotions to actually make money from its retail business — potentially good news for others as well." Meanwhile, store closures this year will, unsurprisingly, remain concentrated among the weaker players like Sears and Bon-Ton, according to the report. Sears in the new year already announced yet another 100 store closures, on top of some 400 last year. And while Bon-Ton last year said it would shutter some 40 stores, and is now reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy.
Source: Retail Dive
French conglomerate Kering has been named the world’s most sustainable textile, apparel and luxury goods corporation, according to the Corporate Knights’ Global 100 index unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos today. This marks the third consecutive year that Kering has been included in the annual ranking, taking 47th spot overall, up from 80 last year, and named first within its own industry within the 2018 Global 100 index. “A criterion in all business decisions, traversing all departments and areas of our supply chain, we consider sustainability to be the Kering seal of savoir-faire. Inclusion in Corporate Knights’ 2018 Global 100, as the most sustainable corporation in the textile, apparel and luxury sector, is thus truly an honour for Kering, and a source of motivation to continue our pursuit of a more sustainable luxury.” said Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs of Kering. The Corporate Knights’ Global 100 is recognised as the joint best index in the world, according to the Branding Institute, for its relevance, insight, trustworthiness and convincing methodology. The index is devised from a starting universe of 7,425 listed companies who represented a market capitalisation greater than 2 billion dollars on October 1, 2017. Each company is then evaluated across 17 quantitative key performance indicators, such as emerging productivity, chief executive-average worker pay ratio, women on board sustainability paylink and waste productivity. The corporations selected for inclusion in the Global 100 represent the top 2 percent in the world on sustainability performance, and Kering was given an overall score of 66.80 percent. The most sustainable company in the world was names as software company Dassault Systemes, which received a score of 86.13 percent. The other fashion based company to make it onto the top 100 list was Swedish fashion giant H&M, at number 57 with a score of 65.08 percent, down from number 54 last year.
Source; Fashion United
ISLAMABAD-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday reiterated commitment of the government to undertake all possible measures aimed at creating an enabling environment for the businesses to grow and making these globally competitive. Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, which called on him here at the PM Office, the Prime Minister said Pakistan offered unlimited export opportunities. He said Pakistan had indigenous cotton production coupled with investment in value addition, and a well-trained labour force. PTEA chairman Shafiq Jawed and members of the delegation lauded the concerted efforts of the present government towards successfully overcoming the energy crisis in the country. The delegation also appreciated the export package announced by the government for the textile exporters. They expressed the resolve to boost Pakistan’s textile exports beyond $40 billion in the next five years due to the support being given by the government and also presented proposals for further boosting the country’s textile exports. The Prime Minister assured that the proposals of the PTEA would be considered and steps would be taken to facilitate the textile exporters in consultation with all the stakeholders for export oriented growth in the country. Minister of State for Power Ch Abid Sher Ali was also present during the meeting.
Source: PTEA
