Some of the announcements in the Union Budget on Thursday are expected to benefit the textile and clothing industry. However, the allocation for schemes such as Remission of State Levies (ROSL) might not meet the industry requirements, according to the textile associations. P. Nataraj, chairman of the southern India Mills’ Association, has said the government allocated Rs. 2,164 crore towards ROSL as against Rs. 1855 crore for 2017-18 for the garment and made up exports. The amount is inadequate as there is a huge backlog to be cleared even for the current financial year. The timely disbursement of dues is essential to ensure working capacity for the industry. He welcomed the announcement of a scheme for MSMEs to address issues related to NPA and stressed assets. According to Sanjay Jain, chairman of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, the allocation to Cotton Corporation of India has gone up from Rs. 303 crore to Rs. 924 crore for MSP operations. This will not help the industry and this year, the market prices are higher than the MSP. The hike in basic customs duty on silk fabric from 20 % to 10 % will save the industry from dumping from China. The minimum support price (MSP) on cotton will be 1.5 times the production cost. This will benefit the farmers. However, it will result in higher inflation for consumers as cotton-based textiles are 70 % of the consumption in the country. Chairman of Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council , Ujwal Lahoti, hoped the ammount allocated for ROSL will cover fabrics too. It is at present only for garments and made ups. The Clothing Manufacturers’ Association of India president Rahul Mehta has said that the focus on rural economy will push the demand for apparel in the domestic market. The reduction in contribution towards provident fund by women employees to 8 % for the first three years will benefit the apparel sector which employs women in large numbers. According to the Indian Texpreneurs Federation, the Corporate Tax reduction for SMEs with less than Rs. 250 crore turnover will benefit the small and medium-scale units in the textile sector. The units can now plan expenditure on solar investments. investments. The focus on agro sector is the need of the hour and the budget has done it, said Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of the federation.
Source: The Hindu
Psychiatrist and politico-social analyst B. Kesavalu has said that the Central government meted out a great injustice to the textile industry by cutting down allocations to it in its recent budget. Ever since Modi has come to power, the budgetary allocations to the textile industry have been gradually cut down. In 2015-16 budget ₹702 crore was alloted, while in 2016-17 it was ₹604 crore, and in the latest budget ₹386 crore was allotted, he said. The government failed to recognise that the textile industry was the second largest employer only after the agriculture. The former had collapsed in the wake of the note ban and GST, he said, and felt that if it was not supported, its existence would be a big question mark.
Source: The Hindu
This is one Budget which was greatly anticipated by the apparel and textiles industry — and in particular, the apparel export industry. For the last four months, starting October 2017, the apparel export industry has faced continued stress. The cause was the unintended but sharp reduction in input tax reimbursement after GST introduction — a reduction of about 5% of sales value. The cause was the unintended but sharp reduction in input tax reimbursement after GST introduction — a reduction of about 5% of sales value. This is one Budget which was greatly anticipated by the apparel and textiles industry — and in particular, the apparel export industry. For the last four months, starting October 2017, the apparel export industry has faced continued stress. The cause was the unintended but sharp reduction in input tax reimbursement after GST introduction — a reduction of about 5% of sales value. Indian exporters have a difficult time competing with the duty free status of competing countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam — the added double whammy of the Indian rupee strengthening against the dollar combined with the reduction in input tax has put the industry in huge turmoil. There is broad agreement that the apparel industry in particular needs a special focus. Its potential for job creation was wonderfully illustrated by Dr Arvind Panagriya in a recent comparision between Reliance Industries Limited and Shahi Exports, India’s larger manufacturer exporter of apparel. For every $2.2 m in assets, RIL employs 5 workers while Shahi employs a staggering 1,260 workers. And Shahi employs mainly women with minimal educational qualifications – precisely the kind of jobs which India needs. The recent Economic Survey stressed the same point and recommended that the GST Council conduct a comprehensive review of embedded taxes arising from products left out of GST, as well as the taxes that get blocked because of tax inversion. Timing is critical – China is vacating market share in apparel owing to its own compulsions and on paper, India is best poised to clothe the world after China. Unfortunately, most of the market share being vacated is being captured by Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia — with India just not being able to compete. This is the most important policy change we expected from the Budget and it is here that our expectations have been belied. The Budget has made perfunctory allocations towards previously announced schemes; interest equalisation (`2,500 cr), Textiles Upgradation Fund (`2,300 cr), Refund of State Levies (`2,164 cr). The extension of Sec 80 JJA to other labour intensive industries like leather/footwear is a good step — and the rationalisation of the 150 day rule is welcome; the reduction of corporate tax to 25% where company turnover is less than `250 crores is also welcomed by the apparel industry, where over 90% are in the MSME sector and below this turnover level. We appreciate the finance minister’s incentive to encourage participation of women in formal sector employment by reducing their PF contribution to 8% — again of special importance to our industry which employs a high percentage of women. What is especially noteworthy is the National Health Protection scheme of upto Rs 5 lakhs per family offered to 10 crore poor households in India. This is the most significant feature of this Budget and will improve the quality of life amongst the less privileged. The allocation towards skill development, affordable housing and TIES.
Source: The Financial Express
The Budget promises to boost jobs in the labour-intensive textile sector with an allocation of Rs 7,148 crore, up from Rs 6,000 crore in 2017-18, even as industry insiders say the proposal to raise MSP to 1.5 times the cost of production is a major concern for the industry. "Cotton prices may go up by an estimated 22% if the MSP increases. This will cause a major increase in textile and apparel prices and, in turn, burn a hole in consumers' pockets," said Sanjay Jain, chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industries.
Source: The Times of India
Surat: Textile traders in the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) wholesale market in the city received a temporary relief after the central government deferred the implementation of the requirement to carry e-permits for inter-state transportation of goods owing to technical glitches. The traders want the government to postpone the implementation of e-way bill for six months in order to allow them to get accustomed to the new rule and also because they were still facing problems filing returns on Goods and Service Tax portal. Meanwhile, Federation Of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) has decided to convene a meeting of industry stakeholders to decide future course of action regarding the pending issues related to GST on Monday. FIASWI chairman Bharat Gandhi told TOI, "It is a temporary relief for the textile industry as government has deferred the e-way bill's implementation due to technical glitches. However, we are demanding that the e-way bill be postponed for six months. The textile industry stakeholders are meeting on February 5 to discuss the future course of action. The government is yet to accept our demands." Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) president Manoj Agarwal said, "We expected the Union Budget to bring relief to the textile sector, but it has failed our expectations. It's good that the e-way bill has been deferred, but the government will launch once the technical glitches are removed. We want the e-way bill to be extended for another six months. Pandesara Weavers Association president Ashish Gujarati said, "The key demands of power loom weaving sector, including refund on input tax credit and credit on opening stock, are not addressed by this government. The power loom weaving sector is operating on losses."
Source: The Times of India
New Delhi : Responding to the proposals made in the budget for the textile sector comprising of a fair share of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Apparel Export Promotion Council has raised that the budget only partially addresses the concerns of the industry. Talking to KNN, Animesh Saxena, an MSME garment exporter said that the sector was eyeing at the budget for big announcements but not much has been addressed by the government. Explaining the concern further, Saxena said that due to the problems arising because of the GST and the overall slowed demand, apparel sector in the country has shown negative growth as compared to the growth from the previous years. “For December alone, there was a negative growth figure of 10-12 per cent, with such situation existing for the textile MSMEs, we expected the government to come up with boosters”, Saxena said. H K L Magu, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council welcomed the reduction in corporate tax for SMEs with turnover up to Rs. 250 Cr. “The industry is happy for the increase in the budget allocations for the apparel package to Rs. 7148 Cr. We hope that this will improve RoSL reimbursement, which has dried up since June, 2017”, AEPC said in a release. The apparel industry is a women oriented industry - the reduction in the women's contribution to EPF to 8% from the present 12% will encourage women participation in this sector further, the release further added. Explaining the concerns of the sector further, AEPC said that the apparel industry was one of the worst hit after demonetisation and GST roll out, as a huge part of the supply chain was outside the tax regime before GST. The industry is presently grappling with severe financial crunch due to the non-receipt of GST refunds and RoSL refunds besides other procedural issues towards transition to GST. The industry was hoping for some financial support for mitigating the financial crunch, especially because the sector also saw severe reduction in the drawback and RoSL benefits. The industry is looking forward to increased interest subvention from the existing 3% to 6%, to help industry be competitive, as several other countries have much lower interest rates, the release added. Presenting the Union Budget in Parliament, Jaitley informed that an outlay of Rs.7148 crore has been provided for the textile Sector.
Source: Knn India
Budget 2018: Agricultural exports have always been recognised by successive governments as one with considerable “potential”. Budget 2018: Agricultural exports have always been recognised by successive governments as one with considerable “potential”. Budget 2018: India’s trade scenario remains uncertain, especially because its export growth has been far lower than expected. In the past, the sluggish global economy had proved to be a major drag, but with most regions registering decent growth rates in 2017, there was a sense of optimism that India’s exports would also measure up. Backed by some decent growth figure in November 2017, hopes had rekindled that India’s exports would double in the near future. The slowing of export growth in December 2017 has once again raised questions about its sustainability. At the same time, it raises a much larger issue about the GDP growth since attaining the 7% mark in 2018 is predicated, as the finance minister has informed us in his Budget speech, on an export growth of 15%.One of the key aspirations of the government has been to improve the ease of doing business. While there are some indications that there are improvements on this front, the situation for the export business has worsened after the teething troubles of the GST had hit them. These bottlenecks have to be removed urgently. The FM could have responded to the demands of the exporters to address this issue in his Budget speech, for this could have eased the uncertainties that they are facing. Providing support to the exporters has become imperative also because the trade deficit (in terms of dollars) has been rising over the past few months. In April-December 2017, it was almost 50% higher than that a year ago. This situation could worsen further in the closing months of the current fiscal if the oil prices maintain their upward movement. Agricultural exports have always been recognised by successive governments as one with considerable “potential”. The FM has informed us today that while agricultural exports from India have a “potential” to go beyond $ 100 billion, less than a third is being actually exported. He proposed two welcome steps to bridge the gap between actual and potential exports. The first is liberalisation of exports of agri-commodities, and the second, setting up of state-of-the-art testing facilities in all the existing 42 Mega Food Parks. After Budget 2018 will your income tax go up or down? Find out with this Income Tax calculator. The implications of complete liberalisation of exports would have to be examined carefully as the government has been forced to restrict exports of agricultural products only when the domestic supply shortages have arisen, leading to rise in prices. The second proposal of setting up of state-of-the-art testing facilities was a long felt need. India’s agricultural exporters have suffered tremendously in major markets as they have failed to meet the stringent food safety requirements. However, this needs to be combined with initiatives to train farmers for using the best practices in the use of chemicals and pesticides. These measures can take agri-exports beyond the potential that the FM has indicated.
Source : Financial Express
The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), the apex association of the apparel industry of the country, has welcomed the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1st February 2018 as positive and growth oriented for the apparel industry. Rahul Mehta, President CMAI, said that in addition to certain specific provisions for this industry, the general focus of the Budget on rural economy, including significant fund allocations, would help in pushing up demand for apparel in the domestic market. In a statement, Rahul Mehta, President CMAI, said that in addition to certain specific provisions for this industry, the general focus of the Budget on rural economy, including significant fund allocations, would help in pushing up demand for apparel in the domestic market. He also welcomed the added emphasis on infrastructure development and stated that apparel manufacturing involved significant domestic transportation of raw materials as well as finished goods and infrastructural bottlenecks have been hindering this industry. Mehta thanked the Finance Minister for enhancing the allocation for the Special Scheme for the apparel sector from Rs 6,000 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 7,148 crore for 2018-19. While extending government contribution of 12 percent towards EPF of new employees, which was an element in the special package, to all sectors, its applicability has also been extended to the next three years. This will provide an additional momentum to hiring of workers by the apparel industry, he said. Referring to the reduction of women employees’ contribution towards EPF to 8 percent for the first three years, Mehta pointed out that workers in apparel industry will be among the primary beneficiaries of this provision, since the sector extensively employed women. He also thanked the Finance Minister for enhancing the turn over limit from Rs 50 crore to Rs 250 crore for eligibility to the reduced corporate tax rate of 25 percent and stated that a large number of units in the apparel sector would benefit from this. He added that the enhanced economic growth envisaged in the Budget will help in improving demand for apparel, which is one of the primary needs of the masses. Mehta concluded that the positive impact of the Budget on the apparel industry will also be reflected in job creation, since this is the most labour intensive industry in the country.
Source: India Retailing
Hyderabad: In yet another attempt to boost textile sector in the State, the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) has proposed establishment of small and medium scale textile parks or clusters spread over 50-100 acre each. These textile parks or clusters are aimed to encourage textile industry managements from textile hubs such as Bhiwandi, Surat and Sholapur to establish their units in the State as part of efforts to promote reverse migration of weavers to their home State. In a meeting with the textile industry managements of Sholapur, Bhiwandi and Surat at TSIIC office here on Friday, the Corporation Chairman Gyadari Balamallu said besides providing land, the State government was ready to provide incentives and subsidies for textile industries being set up in these textile parks. “Just like weavers, many people from Telangana migrated to Surat, Sholapur, Bhiwandi and other places to establish their textile business. We want them to return to their home State and establish their units here,” he added. Balamallu recalled that textile sector in Telangana region was pushed to the back seat in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and said the Telangana government was establishing. Kakatiya Mega Textile Park in about 1,200 acres to revive past glory of weavers in the State. The mega textile park would be expanded based on the demand from textile industries, he added. Besides allocation of 100 acres in the megal textile park, the TSIIC Chairman also stated that a proposal for setting up a small scale textile park was consideration in Pendyala village of Janagaon district. The textile industrialists were also assured for allotment of land to develop weavers residential colonies closer to the textile parks or clusters. They were asked to work as ambassadors of Telangana textile industry and encourage investments in the sector in Telangana. They were also suggested to manufacture bedsheets and home linen on the lines of Sholapur. TSIIC Managing Director, E Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Joint Director of textiles Srinivas Reddy, NIMZ-Zaheerabad chief executive officer Madhusudhan and others participated in the meeting.
Source: TelanganaToday
NEW DELHI: The government is considering compensating farmers under the price deficiency payment mechanism for any loss if market price of a crop falls below minimum support price (MSP), much on the lines of Madhya Pradesh's Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana. The move is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for doubling farmers' income by 2022. Niti Aayog, which mooted price deficiency payment in its three-year draft action plan, has been asked to put in place a foolproof mechanism. Farmers are proposed to be compensated the difference between government-announced MSPs for select crops and actual market prices to ensure they get fair price for their produce. In Madhya Pradesh, this amount is credited directly into the farmers' account. A senior Aayog official said there can theoretically be various ways of doing this, including adopting the Madhya Pradesh scheme for the entire country, procuring at MSP or roping in private traders to procure crops. The government is of the view that the mechanism will reduce the need for the government to actually procure food crops, transport, store and then dispose of them under the Public Distribution System. Besides, it will also keep India's bill on food subsidies under check. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech, said the government will fix MSPs at 50% over costs, ceding to a major demand of farmer organisations. Besides, MSP will now be honoured on all 23 crops and not just wheat, rice and cotton, as has been prevalent so far. Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs Subhash Chandra Garg said the scheme would not be a big fiscal burden. "Niti Aayog has been tasked with this job. There are experiments going on with 'Bhavantar' in Madhya Pradesh, the market assurance scheme and minimum import price earlier," he said, adding that a consolidated view will be taken after consulting all stakeholders. Overall, budgetary allocation for agriculture ministry went up about 15%, from Rs 50,264 crore in 2017-18 (revised estimates) to Rs 57,600 crore in 2018-19 (budget estimates). Among major schemes, outlay on crop insurance was raised from Rs 10,698 crore (2017-18 RE) to Rs 13,000 crore (2018-19 BE), while that on micro-irrigation was raised from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore.
Source: The Economic Times
Every year, at the seasonal editions of Lakme Fashion Week, dignitaries of the Indian fashion industry come together to present a five-day gala, and introduce us to global developments in the world of fashion. While the ongoing edition of this much-celebrated event, Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018, is as magnificent as its previous editions, there's something different this year. We're talking about the emphasis being laid on sustainable fashion, which means developing fashion technologies that do not harm the environment, while fulfilling social responsibilities. While the term sustainable fashion is still catching up in the country, many budding designers and labels have adopted the mantra of eco fashion. Apart from young designers taking up this progressive form of fashion, celebrities like Dia Mirza and ace designers like Rajesh Pratap Singh are rigorously promoting it. On the second day of the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018, the runway saw the best of sustainable fashion, with labels like Lenzing presenting the best of eco-friendly attires. What's more, is Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles and Information & Broadcasting Smriti Irani's message on sustainable fashion in North-East India, in collaboration with United Nations India. Talking about the dire need for sustainable fashion in the country, Smriti Irani said, " I am extremely elated that the Lakme Fashion Week, in conjunction with the UN (United Nations) India, is celebrating the potential of the North-East, and especially focusing on sustainable fashion. I think given the clarion call across the world, where more and more conscientious consumers want to enjoy luxury, want to enjoy the magic of every weave, but not at the cost of environment, ensuring that the women, especially who are working in this sector get due justice for their hard work. This is a very, very important conversation, and especially to take place at the Lakme Fashion Week, where the world comes to see the power, the magic of Indian fashion. So here's wishing the team, at Lakme Fashion Week and UN in India my best, so that these conversations get fructified for pointed actions in the future."
Source: India Today
The big boost to agriculture and allied sector in the Union Budget-2018 presented on Thursday banking on low-cost farming and higher minimum support price is likely to result in a fillip to cotton cultivation in the cotton-rich erstwhile composite Adilabad district. The assurance of minimum support price to agriculture produce at 1.5 times the investment of respective crops and enhancement of allocation to agriculture credit sector will have farmers going in for cotton in a big way, according to observers. Retired Agriculture Officer in Adilabad district said these measures will take care of many variables which impact crops, especially cotton. “The rate of MSP fixation will have farmers less anxious,” he observed. “Thanks to the MSP, we are able to sell our redgram at a remunerative price,” he added.
Source: The Hindu
The Indian Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has recommended to halt an antidumping investigation into polyester staple fiber imports from numerous countries, including Indonesia. “This creates an opportunity for the Indonesian yarn industry to export more to India,” Trade Ministry International Trade Director General Oke Nurwan said in a written statement on Friday. Polyester staple fiber is a synthetic material used in the textile, automotive and furniture industries because of its elasticity and strength. The antidumping investigation began on Feb. 2, 2017, but recently the Indian government found that polyester staple fiber imports from Indonesia only accounted for 7 percent of supply in the Indian market and did not harm domestic industries. In 2013, Indonesian polyester staple fiber exports to India amounted to just US$26,500. They reached a peak of $10.1 million in 2015 but then declined to only $6.1 million in 2016. Meanwhile, from January-November 2017, the polyester staple fiber exports increased by 38.4 percent to $7.8 million from $5.6 million in the same period of 2016.
Source: The Jakarta Post
Sri Lanka’s 2017 apparel performance has matched the recent forecast made by the Minister of industry and Commerce. “We expect that the final total apparel exports for entire 2017 would clearly exceed the exports of 2016, and expect it to be in the range of $ 4.7 billion” forecasted the Minister of industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 16 January. Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the launch event of an Apparel Industry Suppliers Exhibition in Colombo on 16 January. Apparel export revenue data issued by both Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) and Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) confirmed Minister Bathiudeen’s forecast. According to these latest data, the total Sri Lankan apparel exports for the year 2017 was US $ 4.818 billion, an increase of 3.06 percent from 2016’s US$ 4.67 billion. This is the highest annual export revenue to be recorded for Lankan apparels. Only for the month of December 2017, the exports were at US$ 452 million, a 21 percent increase in comparison to 2016 December’s US$ 374 million. Interestingly, December 2017 monthly exports too were the highest ever exports for any December. Forty five percent of apparel exports in 2017 (at US$ 2.163 billion) went to US while 42 percent headed to the EU. Year-on-year (YoY) exports to the US showed a 2 percent increase in 2017 from 2016’s US$ 2.121 billion. Still, YoY exports to EU surged by a larger 4.13 percent to US$ 2.02 billion in 2017, from 2016’s US$1.944 billion.
Source: Daily Mirror
HANOI, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam imported 140,000 tons of cotton worth 244 million U.S. dollars in January, up 49.7 percent in volume and 51.1 percent in value against January 2017, according to its Ministry of Industry and Trade on Friday. Vietnam, whose yarn industry heavily depends on imported cotton, has imported increasingly bigger volumes of the material in recent years to feed its growing textile and garment production and export, local economists said, noting that its biggest cotton import market is the United States, tailed by India, Australia, Brazil and Cote d'Ivoire. Vietnam's cotton import surged from 150,000 tons in 2005 to nearly 1.3 million tons in 2017. Last year, the country spent over 2.3 billion U.S. dollars importing cotton, posting a year-on-year rise of 41.2 percent. Vietnam reaped 2.3 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles in January, up 7.6 percent on-year, mainly to the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The country's garment and textile export turnovers were over 25.9 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 8.8 percent, said the ministry.
Source: Xinhua
Uzbek textile workers signed a contract for the supply of yarn worth $5 million to Bangladesh. The agreement was reached during the visit of the Uzbek delegation to this country. The purpose of the trip, which took place on January 24-27, was to study the experience of Bangladesh in the development of textile and clothing-knitting industry and visit the Yarn and Fabrics Fair 2018. The Uzbek delegation included representatives of textile enterprises of the Uztekstilprom association. The delegation held meetings with representatives of the textile industry of the Republic of Bangladesh. The sides discussed in detail the issues of trade and economic cooperation, demonstrated the economic and investment potential of the two countries, and outlined areas for cooperation at a new stage. The Minister of Textiles and Jute of Bangladesh, Emaz Uddin Pramanik, noted that the volume of exports of textile products to his country in 2017 amounted to $28.1 billion. At the same time, its share in total exports reached 81 percent or 12.4 percent of GDP. Within the framework of the visit, the Uzbek delegation visited the company Turag Knit Composite Ltd, which is included in the top 20 enterprises of Bangladesh, specializing in the production of ready-made garments and knitwear. The choice of this enterprise to study its experience was not accidental. First of all, the production made here is for European markets. In addition, Turag Knit Composite Ltd complex is located in the Export Processing Zones, which gives it the opportunity to enjoy tax and customs benefits. Textile industry of Uzbekistan is considered to be one of the most dynamic and socially important sectors and ranks high among export-oriented industries of the country’s economy. The Uzbek textile industry is mainly focused on cotton, silk and wool. One of the policy priorities of Uzbekistan, the world’s fifth-largest cotton exporter, is further development of its textile industry. Annually, the country grows about 3.5 million tons of raw cotton, produces 1.1 million tons of cotton fiber. Uzbekistan takes consistent steps to increase the volume of cotton fiber processing. In particular, it is planned to create 112 modern, high-tech industrial factories, expand, modernize and technologically upgrade 20 operating capacities. All this will increase the export potential of the industry up to $2.5 billion a year and create more than 25,000 jobs. In the period 2010-2014, the textile industry of Uzbekistan received and spent foreign investments worth $785 million while 147 new textile enterprises with participation of investors from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Turkey and other countries were commissioned. Export potential of these enterprises amounted to $670 millions. Currently, Uzbekistan continues to attract foreign investments for construction of textile enterprises in the country.
Source : Azernews
Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., a provider of molecular technologies, has announced that in response to an order from an international cotton gin, the company will be installing its patent-pending SigNature T DNATransfer System at an off-shore gin. Recently, thecompany has been fielding inquiries for DNA tagging of cotton from multiple foreign countries. For strategic reasons, the company has decided not to reveal the customer and the location at this time. The SigNature T tagging system will be installed at the international gin this quarter in advance of orders for the company’s molecular taggants. The benefit of the SigNature T DNA Transfer System is that it can be installed within the gin’s normal processes. The system provides over 60 data points per minute to the company’s CertainT IT platform to monitor, record and audit the quantity of tagged bales and the quality of tagged bales associated with each USDA (or other) bale identification number. The partners in the network use the data to manage tagged bale inventory, bale shipments, and lab test results for samples. Evidence obtained from quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) tests to date indicate that essentially every fibre that passes through the gin while the DNA Transfer System is operating is exposed to SigNature T DNA. Quantitative PCR, used for the company’s SigNature T, and our fiberTyping, and GeoTyping platforms allow the forensic detection of dilution of the original fibres at any point in the supply chain. The company’s SigNify qPCR system enables testing on-site by trained, certified personnel. The SigNature T system and supply chain protocols are designed to assure the purity and integrity of any cotton whose global source of origin leads to unique performance or claims. It preserves the integrity and purity of cotton fibre from source to shelf by enabling end-to-end traceability with forensic evidence. Over 100 million data points are being captured per season from the gins into the CertainT Textile Portal and over 3,000 SigNature T tests have been conducted since 2015. Testing will increase consequent to the establishment of our lab in India. The gin data and reports are shared with the company’s partners and customers, via the CertainT systems platform, configurable for third-party systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning or blockchain networks.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Schematic of two layers of coated nanoporous polyethylene sandwiched together face-to-face to create the 'dual-mode' textile. A novel textile based on nanoporous polyethylene (nanoPE) can keep the body warm or cool without the need for any energy input, according to researchers from Stanford University [Hsu et al., Science Advances 3 (2017) e1700895]. Maintaining a constant body temperature is a basic requirement of life and wellbeing. Clothing provides thermal insulation over a limited temperature range and can only follow fluctuating conditions.By contrast, actively managing heat emitted by the body using materials with different emissivity, transmissivity, and reflectivity offers a means of achieving personal thermal management. Now researchers have taken this concept of radiative thermal management a step further by creating a ‘dual-mode’ textile that can provide both warming and cooling. The textile consists of two emitter layers, one dark, highly porous 9-micron-thick layer of carbon and a smooth, shiny 150 nm thick copper layer, embedded in an infrared-transparent nanoPE film. Each emitter layer is fabricated separately and then sandwiched together face-to-face. If the high-emissivity carbon layer is facing outwards, the textile facilitates radiative heat transfer producing a cooling effect. If the temperature drops, simply reversing the textile so that the carbon layer is next to the body and the low-emissivity copper layer is facing outwards switches the textile into warming mode. The researchers demonstrate that the reversible textile can produce a 6.5 degree difference in the temperature of artificial skin. “This means that a wearer could expand their thermal comfort zone by 6.5 degrees and adapt to a wider ambient temperature fluctuation,” explains Yi Cui, who led the research. From numerical fitting of the data, the researchers predict that using materials with a more pronounced difference in emissivity could produce an even larger thermal comfort zone of 14.7 degrees. “The dual-mode textile is also soft, washable, breathable, and water-wickable, just like normal textiles,” points out Cui. The researchers believe that their dual-mode radiative textile represents a major breakthrough. Other dual-mode textiles based on solar absorption or wind barriers exist, but Cui believes their report is the first one of a radiative dual-mode textile. “Wearing this textile could make our lives much easier and more comfortable,” he says. “We will no longer need to carry loads of clothes for traveling or ever-changing weather.” More seriously, such advanced textiles could protect against the effects of sudden and extreme temperature variation, which can lead to respiratory infections and cardiac arrest, and reduce the energy burden required to maintain constant indoor temperatures. The team is now working on nanoPE fibers that can be woven into textiles that are more similar to cotton and polyester. Other materials such as silica and aluminum are also being explored. “We envision that more functions can be added to the textile to make it more versatile,” says Cui. “Right now we have thermal regulation, but we could add active electronic devices and sensors to the fibers and textiles to create next-generation smart cloth.” Zijian Zheng of Hong Kong Polytechnic University believes that the work provides a new option in thermal management technology. “Previously, there have been reports on how to use thermal radiative fabrics for cooling or heating purposes. This work shows that, by using asymmetrically modified NanoPE films, one can obtain both functions and can select between them by flipping over the fabric,” he comments. However, from a practical point of view, there are challenges in applying this technology, he cautions. The comfort of the wearer will be key, he says, and how the technology is applied with other clothes. “The thermal model will be different and could be very complicated, but I think it will be really worthy of study,” he concludes.
Source: Materials Today
ITM 2018, a famous textile, yarn, knitting, weaving, dyeing, printing, hosiery machineries, sub-industries, and chemicals exhibition, organised by Tuyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organisation Inc. & Teknik Fairs Inc., to be held at Tuyap fair convention and congress centre, Istanbul – Turkey, from April 14 to 17, 2018, will host new product launches this year. With the participation of hundreds of manufacturers, each developing leading technologies in their respective fields, and the visits of the worldwide industry investors and trade delegations, the event will turn into a textile show. ITM 2018 will become a textile technology feast with the participation of the leaders of the textile world, those serve in all the subsectors of the industry, from cotton to yarn, weaving to knitting and digital printing to dyeing and finishing. ITM 2018, which will host the worldwide product launches of many domestic and international companies, is also drawing attention with the growing stand areas and machinery trails of the producers compared to the predecessor ITM’s. The event will concurrently host Hightex 2018, the Istanbul yarn fair, and the ETT2018 conference at the same time. Within Hightex 2018, the presentations of nonwovens, technical textiles, smart textiles and the cutting-edge textile technologies will be done, which are the rising values of today’s world, while the leading yarn manufacturers in the globe will showcase their latest trends and newest products to the visitors during Istanbul yarn fair. The ETT 2018 conference, which will be realised with the participation of textile experts, academicians, researchers, administrators, machine manufacturers, and the other guests with business experience, will provide the visitors a unique symposium opportunity. Some of the leading names of the academic textile world whose will take part at the conference as spokesperson include Thomas Gries; head of textile engineering department at RWTH Aachen University Germany, Yusuf Menceloglu; dean of faculty of engineering and natural sciences at Sabanci University Turkey, Ph.D., Melissa Pasquinelli; associate department head and director of graduate programs at NC State University US, and Yusuf Ulcay; chancellor of Uludag University Turkey. (GK)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
