As per decision of the GST Council, e-Way Bill system became mandatory from yesterday i.e. 01st April, 2018 for all inter-State movement of goods. The implementation of the nationwide e-Way Bill mechanism under GST regime is being done by GSTN in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and is being run on portal namely https://ewaybillgst.gov.in. Heralding a paradigm shift in movement of goods from one State to another, trial run for e-way bills under the current GST regime was started on 16th January 2018 for the entire country. A total of 10,96,905 taxpayers have registered on e-Way Bill Portal till date. Further 19,796 transporters, who are not registered under GST, have enrolled themselves on the e-Way Bill Portal. 1,71,503 e-waybills have been successfully generated on the portal from 00:00 hours till 17:00 hrs of 1st April, 2018. To answer queries of taxpayers and transporters, the Central helpdesk of GST has made special arrangements with 100 agents exclusively dedicated to answer queries related to e-way bills. E-way Bill can be generated through various modes like Web (Online), Android App, SMS, using Bulk Upload Tool and API based site to site integration etc. Consolidated e-way Bill can be generated by transporters for vehicle carrying multiple consignments. Transporters can create multiple Sub-Users and allocate roles to them. This way large transporters can declare their various offices as sub-users. There is a provision for cancellation of e-way Bill within 24 hours by the person who has generated the e-way Bill. The recipient can also reject the e-way Bill within validity period of e-way bill or 72 hours of generation of the e-way bill by the consignor whichever is earlier.
Source: PIB
New Delhi : In fact, shipments from the textile and clothing sector have consistently missed annual targets set by the government in at least the previous three financial years, since 2014-15. : Textile and garment exports are likely to miss the USD 45 billion target for 2017-18, as the industry reels under the impact of GST roll out and tariff advantages enjoyed by competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam, according to textile industry body CITI. "At best, we will come close to USD 40 billion," CITI (Confederation of Indian Textile Industry) President Sanjay Jain told PTI, terming it a "disappointing year". Analysis of data put out by the DGCIS (Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics) under the commerce ministry, reveals the true picture of shipments from the sector. During the April-February 2017-18, exports of readymade garments of all textiles stood at Rs 97,983.99 crore, registering a 6.25 per cent decline over the same period last year. In February alone, shipments witnessed a steep 13.86 per cent fall. In dollar terms, the country's textile and apparel exports stood at USD 37.25 billion in the calendar year 2017. According to Jain, the domestic textiles and apparel industry faces a big threat from rising imports due to the removal of countervailing duty and special additional duty in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. "Although these duties have been replaced by IGST, the fact that an importer can adjust them as per his tax liability has led to a 15-16 per cent downfall in the import protection enjoyed by the domestic industry earlier," the CITI chief points out. He noted that the steep up-trend in imports will only worsen the situation going forward, observing that a worrying factor is the backdoor entry of Chinese fabrics into the Indian market via Bangladesh. Textile industry experts feel another negative factor is that the effective duty drawback, whether it is the remission of state levies (RoSL) or the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) which allows duty credit scrips as rewards, has come down for the sector post implementation of GST, thereby hitting export margins. "Although the RoSL and MEIS rates were tweaked late last year, however, a 2 per cent gap still exists, which is crucial in a single digit margin industry," Jain noted. Moreover, he says, the refunds are getting delayed or blocked whereas the rebate under RoSL has only come through till May-June last year, and the financial crunch is taking a toll on the capital intensive industry. Signing free trade pacts with major markets like the European Union, US, Canada and Britain can equalise market access positions with key competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam. Bangladesh has zero duty access to EU, whereas Vietnam is on its way to acquire duty free access under a trade agreement, jain noted. The sector expects the government to at least partially compensate the industry in the interim period. China, which is the largest market for cotton yarn, has imposed around 3.5 per cent import duty on yarn from India under Asia pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), while duty free access is given to Vietnam. This has led to large capacity expansion in yarn manufacturing in Vietnam, which has surpassed India to become the largest supplier of cotton yarn to China. As a result, India's cotton yarn exports to China have decreased by 49 per cent during 2013-14 and 2016-17, while Vietnam's exports of cotton yarn to China have increased by 88 per cent during the same period. The CITI chief also highlighted the need to have a comprehensive national and state coordination committee to streamline the policies of the Centre and states, and bridge any gaps in communication.
Source: PTI
New Delhi, Apr 1 () The government has sanctioned GST refunds worth about Rs 12,700 crore or 80 per cent of the eligible claims of exporters, an official said today. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had organised refund facilitation camps in field offices between March 15-31 to assist exporters in filling up refund claim forms and correct errors. "IGST refund claims worth Rs 8,600 crore till January 31 were lying with the CBEC. Of this, Rs 7,700 crore worth claims have been sanctioned so far," a senior official told . With regard to those exporters who claimed refund of their input tax, the CBEC has sanctioned about Rs 5,000 crore, out of Rs 6,900 crore due till February end, the official added. "The CBEC has sanctioned Rs 12,700 crore IGST and Rs 5,000 crore Input tax credit (ITC) refunds. Together, this accounts for 80 per cent of the eligible claims lying with CBEC," the official added. About Rs 2,800 crore worth eligible refunds are pending which will also be cleared soon, he said. Besides, states have issued refunds to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore to exporters who paid State GST (SGST), the official said. The CBEC had late last year started refunds for exporters of goods who paid Integrated GST (IGST) and have claimed refund based on shipping bill by filling up Table 6A. While for those businesses making zero rated supplies or those wanting to claim input credit, have to fill Form RFD-01A. Ever since the roll out of GST, exporters have been complaining that delay in GST refunds has blocked their working capital. The revenue department, on the other hand, has argued that there are discrepancies in forms submitted by exporters with the customs department and those with the GST Network (GSTN). Last month, the Prime Minister's Office stepped in and held meeting with finance and commerce ministry officials to discuss ways to fast track clearance. An analysis of GSTN data shows that in a large number of cases, the refund claimed by an exporter is higher than the GST paid by him and consequently, the claims filed by exporters were not forwarded to Customs by GSTN. “The refund facilitation camp has helped in exporters in revising their claim forms," the official added. JD SBT
Source: Financial Express
COIMBATORE: Exporters in Tirupur and Karur, who until recently were proud of their achievements in export trade, now aver that they are at a disadvantage because of the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) norms stipulated of the State government. “There is no such stipulation anywhere else in India. This has put us in a dicey situation,” said an industry insider. Prabhu Damodharan, secretary, Indian Texpreneurs’ Federation, said that if the ZLD norms are imposed in clusters like Tirupur, which has no perennial river, or Karur, where the Cauvery is practically dry, then it should be imposed across all textile clusters/zones in the country. “In other countries, there is only such a thing as “treated discharge,” he said. Participants at a panel discussion on “Is India’s cotton textiles losing its competitiveness?” pointed out that ZLD was introduced in Tamil Nadu in 2005. “In 2010, because of Green Peace, China was forced to say that they would not discharge harmful chemicals by 2020. Their target is way off from where we are, for even in 2020, China would continue to discharge, but ensure that it is not harmful,” said S Dhananjayan, senior auditor and advisor to Tirupur Exporters’ Association. Industry sources say that this has pushed the cost for the units located in Tirupur and Karur by 15 per cent, compared with the costs in China. “Buyers do not recognise our effort or offer one per cent premium for this.” “While strict environmental stipulations, ZLD and social compliance is forced on clusters like Tirupur, none of these are thrust on Bangladesh. This has resulted in price disparity of not less than 15 per cent vis-a-vis garments manufactured in Vietnam or Bangladesh,” Dhaananjayan said. Tirupur cluster consumes not less than 10 crore litres of water a day. Of this, 9 crore litres is recycled and re-used. Such strict stipulations hurt the domestic industry, say sources.
Source: Business Line
MUMBAI: Maharashtra has 130 cooperative spinning mills that receive financial assistance from the government. By March 2017, they owed Rs 335 crore to the state in terms of share capital meant to be redeemed, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report for 2017 has revealed. The state had extended a share capital worth Rs 1,806 crore to the mills, of which Rs 375 crore was due to be credited to the state by 2017. Only Rs 40 crore was credited though, the report said. Cooperative spinning mills are meant to promote self-reliance among cotton growers. Their members are mainly cotton farmers and the mills are meant to give their own members priority when it comes to purchasing cotton. A test-check of 10 functional cooperative spinning mills by CAG, though, found that they had purchased 1,724 lakh kg of cotton during 2012-17 from within and outside the state “without giving priority to their own cotton grower members”. One of the mills had bought viscose from private parties outside Maharashtra and stopped procuring cotton, the CAG report found. In its response, the state’s cooperative and textiles department said these cooperative spinning mills did not have ginning facilities and could not procure cotton from their own members. The state has 280 cooperative spinning mills, of which 130 receive financial assistance from the government. Of these, only 66 are functioning, and merely seven had made profits in the past five years. The CAG report also found that a large number of cooperative mills are located in non-cotton-producing areas in violation of rules. According to the state’s rules, 70% of cooperative spinning mills were to be set up in cotton-producing areas. Solapur accounted for 40% of the 130 mills which receive state assistance, although it accounts for less than 1% of the area under cotton. While the Nagpur and Aurangabad regions account for 77% of the area under cotton in the state, the regions had only 45% of the mills, said the CAG report. The report also found that the state recovered barely any dues from the mills that have been closed or liquidated. As many as 42 of the 130 cooperative spinning mills with a liability of Rs 295 crore were closed, deregistered or had gone under liquidation, the report said.
Source: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: India has begun sensitising exporters of the threat arising out of the US challenge to the export promotion schemes at the World Trade Organization. Washington has argued that these schemes are actually export subsidies not allowed under the WTO rules. In a meeting with industry and academicians on Tuesday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade reviewed existing export promotion schemes and the likely alternative programmes as the government prepares to address US’ concerns through consultation. “The department has sensitised industry and academics that all schemes will be reviewed and it is looking at alternative schemes as well,” said a person who was present in the meeting. The US has challenged practically almost the entire of India’s export programmes at the WTO, claiming they harm American workers. Pegging the quantum of subsidies at $7 billion, the US has dragged India to WTO for violating commitments under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) in five of its most used export promotion schemes—the export-oriented units scheme and sector-specific schemes including electronics hardware technology parks scheme, merchandise exports from India scheme, export promotion capital goods scheme, special economic zones and duty-free import authorisation scheme. The agreement envisages the eventual phasing out of export subsidies and provides eight years for graduating countries (least developed and developing), which cross the $1,000 mark at 1990 exchange rate to phase out export subsidies. India had crossed this threshold in 2015 and it became known when the WTO Secretariat produced its calculations in 2017. Government data shows that in 2016-17, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) had the highest number of scrips issued among the other export promotion schemes, which is 66.5%, followed by EPCG with 9.6% and Advance Authorisation Scheme with 9.5%. Scrips are incentives that can be used to pay duties. “The agreement was discussed and a clear agenda will be made,” said another person who attended the meeting. Among the alternatives, production subsidies could be a way out. Though export subsidies are prohibited in the WTO, production subsidies that do not depend on exports but on the number of units that are produced are permitted. However, such production subsidies require far larger budgetary commitments.
Source: The Economic Times
Last year the Nobel Prize was given for behavioural economics. Behavioural constraints in policy making are under-explored, and can help to understand and perhaps mitigate the over-reaction we are seeing in many areas of policy.
Macroeconomic policy
After the global financial crisis (GFC) excess macroeconomic stimulus led to overheating of the economy. As a result, we bound ourselves tightly in monetary-fiscal rules. There was a welcome strengthening of institutions bringing in a long-run perspective. However, there was over-reaction in “too strict implementation” and neglect of demand. The flexibilities and space available within the rules were not utilised. Since 2011, only structural reform took place, despite the necessity of increasing domestic demand to counter a collapse in export demand. The best became the enemy of the possible. The aim to resolve all structural issues before stimulating growth is quixotic, since new problems will arise. Under overall structural reforms, in a situation where industry is producing below capacity, all available space for stimulating demand should be used. The experience of over-heating made policy-makers extra cautious. Macroeconomic stimulus got a bad name after too much of it. The post-GFC fiscal stimulus was very large. The deficit rose by 4 per cent of the GDP with the increase largely going to rural construction at a time when food inflation was high. That stimulated a rise in wages and led to further inflation. But government spending on social or physical infrastructure that reduces bottlenecks and costs in the economy would reduce inflation, not increase it. The Pay Commission awards, increasing demand for consumer goods where industry had excess capacity, were not inflationary. This year’s 0.3 percentage point slippage was consistent with fiscal rules, since there were major tax reforms, but led to negative market commentary partly because of the over-emphasis on fiscal consolidation in policy communication. Inflation targeting was applied without adequate adjustment to the Indian context — where fiscal supply-side policies affect inflation more and monetary policy has a larger and more immediate effect on output. In such a context, monetary policy should compensate for demand shocks, as long as adequate supply-side reforms restrain inflation. The inflation targeting India adopted was flexible, but it was implemented too strictly. Rules perform a valuable function in constraining discretion, but some discretion is important — it allows transparent adaptation to the context. Since foreign outflows can be a very public and concentrated event there is a fear of such outflows, and a bias towards conservative policies that satisfy foreign capital despite the high unemployment costs they may impose internally. There is excess weight on foreign reputation and external risks even though India’s less-than-complete capital account convertibility insulates it somewhat. Debt inflows have risen in absolute amounts but are still capped at 5 per cent of the domestic market. Even international investors say too high Indian interest rates in the post Euro debt crisis period gave excess returns to debt flows. In the longer-run even such investors value higher growth, which reduces country risk premium.
Stressed assets
Here again, in an over-reaction to the perceived ever-greening and credit boom, policy chose to apply the strictest possible criteria to both corporate borrowers and lending largely by public sector banks — never mind that, as a result, both credit and investment collapsed over 2011-2017. Helping industrialists for a hidden payment was the earlier political mantra. There is a welcome shift to helping industry as a whole, through reducing business obstacles. There are signs that society is willing to shift away from a norm where corruption and gaming the system was acceptable. For the first time, serious action has been taken against industrialists accused of wrong-doing. The earlier infrastructure cycle involved largely debt finance from public sector banks, with very little own equity. Thanks to delays in project implementation, a slow down and high interest rate regime, the loans of PSU banks became non-performing. Taxpayer bailouts used to be the norm in the absence of a resolution regime, but now under the Bankruptcy Code (IBC) industrialists stand to lose their assets. This is inducing major changes in behaviour. Borrowers are becoming more serious about repaying loans since they stand to lose their assets; bankers are making faster decisions on haircuts required for resolution, because if the asset goes into liquidation they are not likely to get much. But there were also external and systemic shocks responsible for the worsening asset quality. The climate of suspicion and allegations of corruption has been overdone. This started with the telecom scam of 2008 where the Minister was accused of selling bandwidth cheaply with kickbacks. But a special court acquitted all the accused in December 2017. Excessive witch-hunting can also become an obstacle to business. Improvements in corporate governance and regulation are the way to progress. There are valuable systemic shifts towards a risk-based culture of lending. Forward-looking regulations improve incentives for compliance. Reviews must be timely. Reports today tend to cover a two-year earlier period. Digitalisation makes real-time evaluation possible. But regulatory tightening must also be sensitive to the cycle. International research recommends easing in a downturn. But Indian over-reaction is doing the opposite. Suddenly closing all ongoing resolution schemes; refusing historical flexibilities in marking-to-market capital losses on bonds; insisting on early implementation of international accounting norms are all hitting already weak bank balance sheets. Refusal to intervene in bond markets that then became thin and volatile raised the cost of government borrowing. The best response to excessive flexibility is not zero flexibility; to ever greening of loans is not turning off the credit tap; to misuse of credit instruments is not banning them. Narrow vision or thinking in silos is another psychological problem afflicting financial regulation. This leads to a lack of coordination between macroeconomic and prudential policy. Regulators are missing the larger picture and getting bogged down by sectoral details. The Financial Stability and Development Council could perhaps take up this issue.
Source: Business Line
BARA: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is set to embark on an official visit to southern neighbor on Friday, said that the Nepal-India relations are moving ahead in new grounds for mutual benefits. The PM and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has asserted that the country has entered into the new era. He said so while laying a foundation stone of Garment Processing Centre in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Sauraha in Jeetpur Simara Sub Metropolitan-4 in Bara district on Sunday. The processing centre would be built in 140 bighas of land out of 843 bighas separated for SEZ, one of the national pride projects in Bara district. “It’s a first step for import oriented economy like Nepal towards entering into the new phase of economic prosperity. No one can halt the path Nepal has set for prosperity,” Oli lauded. “Poverty, diseases, hunger and backwardness would be eliminated from Nepal,” Oli stressed. Oli said constitution can be amended at any times as per the requirement of people and country but geography. “People’s mandate is supreme. It cannot be changed. If necessary other things can be amended,” Oli explained. Oli said neighboring countries India, China and other nations are supporting Nepal’s path towards development and economic prosperity. “I will embark on state visit to India on Friday. Southern neighbor is ready to assist in Nepal’s development,” Oli shared. PM Oli said peace, security, good governance, corruption eradication and social harmony are government’s top priority and government will not comprise on these matters.
Source: The Himalayan Times
NEW DELHI— India may extend the anti-dumping duty to jute sacking clothes from Bangladesh as the commerce ministry has found imports of the product to avoid duties on jute bags from the neighbouring country. The commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has initiated a probe into circumvention of anti-dumping duties on jute sacking bags from the neighbouring country. The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) has filed an application before the authority alleging that the duty on jute sacking bags is being circumvented by imports of jute sacking cloth which is an unfinished and penultimate form of the bags from Bangladesh. The DGAD in a notification has said that it has found “sufficient prima facie evidence” of circumvention of the antidumping duties leviable on jute bags by the country. It “hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged circumvention of the anti-dumping duties...to determine the existence degree and effect of the alleged circumvention and to examine the need to extend the existing anti-dumping duty to the circumventing product ” the DGAD said. The finance ministry in January 2017 imposed the antidumping duty on jute sacking bags to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports. The petitioners have sought extension of the existing anti-dumping duty to jute sacking clothes as well. The product under investigation is jute sacking cloth alleged to be circumventing the anti-dumping duty the DGAD said adding the circumventing product goes into use of jute sacking bags. The period of investigation is from October 2016 to December 2017 (15 months). Companies involved in jute goods manufacturing in the country includes Gloster Ltd and Ludlow Jute & Specialities.
Source: Tecoya Trend
For the first time in Telangana, the women handloom weavers are given an opportunity to involve in direct market sale while avoiding the role of the middlemen. Creative Bee, which is into natural-hand woven textile &fashion, has introduced women weavers hailing from Pochampalli and Koyalagudem to the entrepreneurial world and has given training on techniques to sell their work directly to the customers, under Disha, a project held in collaboration with the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and supported by IKEA Foundation. It is a key to change, to empower women and eventually improve their livelihood. Many women are expecting more such chances to gain exposure of the real market that helps them to draw better profits. “I have been into weaving sarees form the past 10 years. We feel this is a great opportunity for women like us that helps us to earn the full amount of sale instead of receiving mere amounts after the middlemen and the retailer makes huge profits,” says Saraswati, Koyalagudem. Another weaver, Lavanya, shares, “We are always neglected and do not receive money immediately after the sale to the retailers or the middlemen. They usually pay us after a week or, so, which hinders us to meet our daily needs.” Speaking to The Hans India, Bina Rao, director, Creative Bee, says, “It is a pilot project that involves nearly 2000 women undergoing training on how to go about with the direct sale of products. The initiation has attracted many designers showing interest to give orders to them and many companies are approaching us to support these women weavers under Corporate social responsibility activity. And I think any positive response is a great fillip to do better.”
Source: The Hans India
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1401.05 |
USD/Ton |
-0.28% |
4/1/2018 |
|
VSF |
2356.31 |
USD/Ton |
1.02% |
4/1/2018 |
|
ASF |
2786.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1409.80 |
USD/Ton |
0.06% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3693.67 |
USD/Ton |
0.43% |
4/1/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
6049.98 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
2993.15 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1695.59 |
USD/Ton |
0.47% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3868.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
6018.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1655.78 |
USD/Ton |
0.19% |
4/1/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3423.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
3072.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2174.81 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
3040.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2738.41 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2340.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2563.28 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
3216.04 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.48 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.91 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.27 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.71 |
USD/Meter |
-0.22% |
4/1/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.75 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/1/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15921 USD dtd. 1/4/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
PRODUCE more wool was the clear message Andrew Rintoul, Dongiemon and Tilba Tilba Merino studs, Williams, returned with after a recent tour of China. At 44, Mr Rintoul was one of the older members of a tour organised by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) to give young woolgrowers some global perspective of their industry, so he was possibly more aware of the historical context behind processors’ and garment manufacturers’ requests for more wool. While demand from China and good wool prices in the past two seasons appears to have halted a year-on-year trend of declining shorn wool production in Australia – down from more than a billion kilograms greasy in 1990-91 to an estimated 345 million kilograms for the current season on AWI figures – it has highlighted China’s awareness of the industry’s vulnerability. “Their (Chinese wool processors’ and garment manufacturers’) major concern is supply going forward,” Mr Rintoul said. “They are not so concerned about price, with the massive investment they have put into processing wool they want to know that their supply (of raw material) into the future is secure. “They just want us to produce more wool. “(In China) I was asked if I thought some of the farmers who had got out of sheep to concentrate on cropping, might come back into the industry now that the prices for wool made it much more worthwhile. “I had to tell them that I didn’t think so. “Much of their (sheep and wool) infrastructure has gone - or in disrepair – and they’ve invested their capital into cropping,” he said. Mr Rintoul said while the scale of the industry and ongoing investment in new technology for wool in China reinforced his own belief in the future of wool, the obvious demand had caused a rethink. “I always thought it was supply that drove (wool) prices up, but its (record and near-record prices in the past five months) been driven by demand,” he said. “And from what we saw and were told, I don’t think the prices are going to fall away dramatically anytime soon into the future. They’ll come down a bit possibly, but they will still be at very good levels compared to what they were prior to the past two to three years. “People also have to remember that back in the late 1980s when wool prices were even higher than what they are now, it was only for fleece wools. “Oddments were worth nothing compared to today. “Advances in technology and processing means they have developed ways of using all the oddments, so the whole clip now has a value which is better for the woolgrowers’ bottom line. “I’ve got no doubt at all there’s a massive long-term future for wool.” Mr Rintoul spent a day at the AWI headquarters, Sydney, learning about the latest advances in wool processing and its marketing before the group of 12 – he was the only WA woolgrower on the tour – flew out to China. The group also visited the AWI Shanghai office and The Woolmark Wool Resource Centre in Hong Kong on the way back to Australia. In China participants visited Red Sun, an early-stage processing operation where wool is scoured and carded through an automated operation. Then they visited a spinning processing plant, To Xinao, where the AWI/Woolmark-Xinao development centre is located to encourage innovation in knitwear. They also visited the Mengdi Group’s circular knitting mill and Nanshan’s massive vertically-integrated fabric processing operation. “In some of the places we were told to put our cameras away because they don’t want other processors knowing what they are doing,” Mr Rintoul said. “Everyone is trying to find their special niche, something that will give them a market edge. “I must say, I was very encouraged by the AWI work done in research and development of these new wool products, they’ve done a great job in expanding the market for wool, with some of this demand only just starting. “They’ve worked with these wool processors helping develop new innovative products. “They told us they didn’t want to disturb the traditional wool market – suiting, jumpers and socks – but wanted to attack new markets for wool, like leisure wear, sports wear and even waterproof. “We were told in 2019 there will be more wool, it will be in things like a wool-denim mix. “We saw the circular knitting which is used for the next-to-the-skin knitwear and there’s a greater awareness that with the soft-touch fine wool knitwear, wool could actually start to challenge cashmere in that market.” One of the processors, Mr Rintoul said, had specifically pointed out to him the potential for soft-touch fine wool to move into the prestigious market area dominated by cashmere. Considering the price for cashmere was $100/kg and fine wool was $18/kg, there appeared to be a lot of potential in that market segment, he said. They also saw a new product called sculptured Merino which was a fabric featuring a three-dimensional effect on its surface, Mr Rintoul said. “We saw some completed trial garments made out of that. “They’re using a mix of Merino wool from about 17.5 micron through to about 22.5 micron to produce it. “They’ve found that the different micron fibres react differently to their processing.” Given that clips from his family’s commercial and stud ewe flocks – 1700 sheep producing 17 micron superfine wool and about 7500 sheep producing 19 micron medium wool, fall within this range, the new development was of particular interest, he said. Mr Rintoul said the group also saw new investment in wool processing like a new dyeing facility designed to give the processor “more flexibility”. While processors obviously wanted to keep mills “running 24/seven”, he said, they indicated they were not prepared to buy wool unless they had a specific order they needed it for and there were no large stockpiles. They also liked the economies of scale that came with large orders, much preferring them to small runs, but there was still potential for “small tonnages” of specialist wools that suited particular marketers’ requirements. Mr Rintoul said processors had tightened up on specification and were concerned about volume. “They were almost optimistic,” he said. “Their biggest issue is supply going forward. “They don’t necessarily want us to change what we’re doing, they just want us to produce as much wool as we can.”
Source: Farm Weekly
A Dubai-based textiles company, United Aryan (EPZ), plans to build a factory that could employ up to 10,000 workers at Olkaria geothermal fields in Naivasha to take advantage of lower electricity costs. The factory, expected to be constructed in the next two years, will manufacture apparel such as trousers, knit tops, fleeces, shirts, robes and pajamas. United Aryan currently operates at Baba Dogo’s Balaji Export Processing Zone in Ruaraka, where it manufactures apparels for export. The company’s founder and Chairman Pankaj Bedi said the factory will produce products for sale not only in Kenya, but across other markets in the world such as US and Europe. “We have identified an ideal place at Olkaria geothermal fields in Naivasha where we intend to establish a Sh11.5 billion factory for the production of quality garments. We expect to start construction in the next two years and thereafter start operations as soon as the factory will be complete,” Mr Bedi said in an interview. The factory, which will sit on a 20-acre land will provide employment opportunities to an estimated 10,000 locals directly and 40,000 other Kenyans indirectly. It will have six units made up of 84 lines with the capacity to produce and wash more than 100,000 pieces of attire on a daily basis. The firm’s expansion is in line with Kenya’s goal of expanding its manufacturing base, which contributes about 10 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The sector’s share to GDP fell to 9.2 per cent in 2016, the lowest growth compared to other sectors of the economy. The lackluster performance of the sector has been cited as the reason Kenya has failed to achieve the targeted sustainable annual 10 per cent growth in GDP from 2010 as envisioned in Vision 2030. The best performance of the overall economy was in 2010 when GDP expanded 8.4 per cent. Since then, it has grown below six per cent dashing hopes of an upper middle-income economy in the next 12 years. This has pushed Kenyan goods off the shelves in favour of cheap imports from international and regional markets, denying local industries revenues.
Source: Business Daily
LAHORE - Agriculture Department is striving hard to achieve target of cotton sowing on an area of six million acre, says its spokesperson here Sunday. The spokesperson advised growers to sow cotton seed of approved varieties. The department already announced approved cotton varieties, he added. The spokesperson disclosed that government would ensure the availability of required quantity of certified cotton seed in the market for commercial cultivation. "There is no deficiency of quality seed at all," he said. Growers are advised to use six to eight kg seed per acre which having 75 per cent of growing intensity. It is highly recommended to cultivate 10 per cent area of the total non-BT varieties and this practice will discourage to build up immunity of harmful pests and insects of cotton crop, he said. "For cotton cultivation, growers should choose such land which is porous and mange to filter air properly and this kind of soil is extremely essential for cotton growth as having capacity for the growth of roots of cotton to fully expand internally," the spokesman said.
Source: The Nation
