Union textile minister Smriti Irani and Union finance minister Piyush Goyal recently called a meeting with the heads of Export Promotion Councils (EPCH) to formulate the strategies for enhancing export in each sector which comes under the ministry of textiles and to resolve the problems and challenges commonly faced by the handicrafts sector. O P Prahladka, chairman, EPCH gave an overview of the sector at the meeting and informed the ministers about the strategies being adopted by the EPCH for export growth. The major suggestions placed by the chairman included enhancement of list of essential embellishment, trimmings, tools and consumables to be imported duty free and exemption from payment of IGST on import of such items. The chairman also suggested including ‘merchant exporters’ in the list of exporters eligible for benefit of ‘interest equalisation scheme’ (previously known as ‘interest subvention scheme’) and issuance of eBRC in case of exports of handicrafts to Iran. He also called for banks to pay penalty in case of a delay in the issuance. He asked for a scheme of ‘Rebate of State Levies’ (ROSL) on handicraft exports and ease of engagement of foreign designers in the handicrafts sector as well as a reduction in the cap for them. Prahladka also suggested the ministers to enhance allocation of funds under Market Access Initiative (MAI) and relaxation in operational guidelines for funding under the MAI Scheme to include markets of US, Canada, EU, Japan, China and other developed markets for extending invitation to buyers to RBSM’s organised in India. Blocking of working capital – refund of ITC/ GST was another one of his suggestions, according to a press release by EPCH. Prahladka informed that both the Union ministers gave a patient hearing to the issues raised by him and assured all possible cooperation towards resolution of all the issues, which are hampering the exports of handicrafts from the country. The handicrafts exports during the year 2017-18 was ₹22.916.03 crores registering a decline of 6.05 per cent in comparison to last year. (KD)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
AHMEDABAD: On her tour promoting the achievements of four years of the Union government, textiles minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, Smriti Irani, claimed that Gujarat gained a lot from central schemes like Mudra and various irrigation schemes, but evaded questions about the rising prices of petrol and diesel. She said fuel prices are under the purview of the Union petroleum and finance ministers and the state governments concerned. On the emerging unity of the opposition, she said, “They are struggling for survival. The coming together of several parties against the BJP is a backhanded compliment to Narendra Modi, which shows that they cannot win on their own.” About the quickly rising prices of petrol and diesel and the government of India’s plans to cut excise duty and fuels, she said that it was up to Gujarat’s revenue (finance) department minister to take a decision on whether duty should be reduced or not.” When asked specifically about the Centre’s view on reducing petrol and diesel prices, Irani said, “I am neither the petroleum minister nor the finance minister. If I say something, it would be an irresponsible comment. All I can say is that the government will take a decision that will benefit the common man.” She claimed, “During UPA rule, prices were hiked on average by Rs 4 per year, while in the last four years due to effective control during BJP-led NDA, rule its only Re 1 per year.’’ About the Centre’s performance in the last four years for the development of Gujarat, she avoided a specific example of development work by the Centre in Gujarat. “When we speak of Mudra scheme, irrigation schemes, Gujarat is also getting the benefits of all these central schemes. In undeveloped districts also we are working to providing last mile connectivity. Two such districts, namely Narmada and Dahod, are from Gujarat. These issues are related to Gujarat. In the textile sector the funds received by Gujarat in the last four years is far more than what Gujarat got during Congress rule. Gujarat is also part of the country’s development journey and I can not single out Gujarat like this way which may be a disservice. When we talk of about Ayushman Bharat, Mudra, Jan Dhan Yojana... all these schemes are designed for the country but Gujarat has benefited substantially from all of these schemes.” About the 2019 elections, Irani said, “BJP will return with a clear majority. We are fully ready to fight elections along with Shiv Sena. However, only the party president Amitbhai Shah is authorised to speak on the party’s strategy. A BJP-led NDA government with a full majority will return in 2019.”
Source: Times of India
The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has won a trademark case against Chennai-based textile firm, Vedhapuri Textiles. In 2001, the firm had applied for registration of a trademark logo depicting two uplifted hands with diya in the centre and words Double Hands‖ for its ‗lungies‘. The trademark was advertised in the Trademark Journal in 2012. The LIC did not oppose the mark and the textile firm‘s logo was registered in 2013. Later, LIC, which is using the trademark logo since 1956, moved the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) for rectification. It said the trademark logo of the textile firm would amount to infringement of its legal rights as there is a deceptive similarity and an infringement of the registered proprietors statutory and common law rights. The IPAB said the proprietor of the textile firm must be aware about the trademark and the logo of LIC and there is no reason to adopt an identical logo for ‗lungies‘.It also said the textile firm registered the logo without sufficient cause and the same is accordingly cancelled/removed. The IPAB ruled that the textile firm has played a fraud and fined it ₹50,000 to be deposited with the Prime Minister‘s Relief Fund within two months.
Source: The Hindu
Sick public sector undertakings (PSUs) that are striving hard to wade through their accumulated loss are now looking forward for capital infusion from the government for a thorough course correction and revival. A majority of the 40 companies under the Department of Industries and Commerce that were facing the threat of extinction for want of professional management, scrutiny, audit and other lapses over the years were brought on track and 14 units have turned around too. Still the 26 ailing units call for an urgent intervention. The posts of chief executive officers and a number of significant middle-level positions continue to remain vacant in some PSUs. The Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board has identified the posts and sought to expedite recruitment. It has also informed the government that paucity of workmen in some companies has lead to overtime assignments resulting a surge in wage bills. Some units were still unable to make the statutory EPF, ESI, gratuity and pension contributions due to low revenue generation. Occasional grant of working capital through Plan fund is used to meet such commitments. A one-shot capital infusion is imperative for reviving the textile sector. All textile mills are incurring loss and the Kerala State Textile Corporation tops the list. The corporation‘s turnover increased from ₹9.73 crore in 2016-17 to ₹32.13 crore the past year, but the loss also grew from ₹29.36 crore to ₹31.60 crore. Sitaram Textiles and other units too share the same plight. An expert committee headed by P. Nandakumar had mooted a one-time fund infusion of ₹494.81 crore, ₹317.89 crore for capital investment, and ₹176.93 crore as working capital for putting the 17 mills in the State back-on-track. The recommendation for one-time investment assumes significance as ₹521.09 crore granted in fits and starts during the past one decade had not done any good to the industry. The 17 mills, in the public and cooperative sectors, offer direct employment to 5,000 and indirect employment to 15,000. The government had approved the report, but the uncertainty in releasing funds has halted the revival process. Bureaucratic wrangles needed to be cleared for implementing the proposals for which administrative sanction and Plan allocation have been accorded, sources said.
Source: The Hindu
New Delhi: India is expected to take up the issues of import duty hike on certain steel and aluminium items, visa restrictions and energy co-operation with the US during the five-day visit of commerce minister Suresh Prabhu to Washington from June 20. Prabhu in his meetings with the US Trade Representative (USTR) and American commerce secretary Wilbur Ross will put forward India's views on contentious issues, including the duties on metals. US President Donald Trump has imposed steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, sparking fears of a global trade war. Trump signed two proclamations that levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries. While India has been making efforts to persuade the US to exempt the country from the duty on steel and aluminium or view New Delhi's export subsidies in a proper context, they have not yet yielded results.Officials are hopeful that there could be some breakthrough during Prabhu's visit as the talks at the highest level could help the two countries understand each others' concerns. Both the sides have dragged each other to the WTO in recent months. The US has lodged complaints against India's export and farm subsidies, while New Delhi has raised objections to duties on Indian steel and aluminium and massive illegal subsidies in the renewable energy and agriculture sectors. Rising US crude oil production and its availability for exports have already benefited a few Indian refiners. In the coming years, sourcing of oil and natural gas from the US is a possibility as steps are being taken to reduce India's over-dependence on West Asia for oil and gas imports. India has repeatedly raised its concerns over tightening visa restrictions by the US on IT professionals. The proposed overhaul of the popular H-1B visa regime by the US President has raised concerns among Indian IT firms as any changes in the visa regime may result in higher operational costs and shortage of skilled workers for the $110-billion Indian outsourcing industry. During the talks, Prabhu will also take up the issue of speedy renewal of the generalised system of preferences scheme (GSP) - the preferential import tax scheme that allows market access at nil or low duties to about 3,500 Indian products, including chemicals and textiles.
Source: The Telegraph
Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates could rise by 1% to finance a Farmer Welfare Fund, according to a proposal under consideration of a Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the GST Council. The hike is seen as an alternative to a sugar cess that had been proposed by the government to alleviate distress among sugar cane farmers. The ministerial group, tasked with considering the sugar cess and a reduction in the GST rates on ethanol, held its second meeting in Mumbai on Sunday.
To ease farm distress
The proposal to hike GST rates entails sharing of the additional revenue between the Centre and States to finance a farmer welfare fund to benefit all farmers not just sugar cane farmers. However, a decision was deferred as the GoM is awaiting a legal opinion from the Attorney General on the original proposal to levy a sugar cess. On Sunday, the five-member GoM, led by Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, also explored a reduction in the GST on ethanol to 5% from the existing 18% levy and increasing the government subsidy for export of sugar. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told The Hindu that the possibility of a uniform 1% hike in GST across all slabs was discussed. Out of it, 0.5% can be kept with the Centre and rest with the State. That money can be used to fulfil the needs of all farmers, not only sugar cane, by respective States in the form of welfare fund and even the Centre can chip in when necessary. But imposing a cess would mean betraying the very principle of GST,‖ Mr. Issac said. At present, the GST rate slabs are pegged at 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, while certain goods are zero-rated. The fund would be to extend financial aid to farmers in case of situation that has arisen for sugarcane farmers and the States will have control over their share for disbursal .
Sugar cess opposed
Kerala had already expressed dissent to the move to impose a sugar cess at the GST Council‘s meeting on May 4. Apart from Mr. Sarma and Mr. Isaac, the GoM includes Ministers from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the GoM has decided to submit its report to the Council within a month, and is awaiting the Attorney General‘s opinion on whether cess on GST can be imposed for welfare purposes, since it can only be imposed for compensation purposes. The Council will take a final call on the GoM’s report.
Source: The Hindu
New Delhi ; Weaving environmental concerns and fashion into fabrics of sustainability, young designers are looking beyond profit margins to tailor a new sensibility with collections that reduce the carbon footprint of textiles and reduce waste. Like budding designer Ashita Singhal, who describes her journey in design as an "awakening"."The clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world, second only to oil. It becomes a nasty business when the manufacturers are only concerned with the profit margin and not the environment," the Delhi-based Singhal told PTI. As another World Environment Day comes around on June 5, the numbers tell the textile pollution story. Surveys show that nearly five per cent of all landfill spaces consist of textile waste. Besides, 20 per cent of all freshwater pollution is caused by textile treatment and dyeing. Over 80 billion garments are produced annually, worldwide, and it is estimated that 13.1 million tonnes of textile scrap go to the waste stream. Once in landfills, natural fibres can take hundreds of years to decompose. They release methane and CO2 gases into the atmosphere. Additionally, synthetic textiles are designed not to decompose. In the landfill, they release toxic substances into groundwater and surrounding soil, states Charlie Ross in his book, "The Swatch Book".India is the global host of this year's World Environment Day and the theme is 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. It was the sight of a huge 'waste mountain' on a roadside in South Delhi's Okhla which changed Singhal's view of fashion, instilling in her a sense of responsibility. She said she was fascinated by 'fast fashion', the term used to describe the movement of designs from the catwalk to becoming fashion trends, and glamour and joined a fashion design course. "Soon, I got acquainted with the ugly truths and reality of fast fashion," said the 23-year-old who recently completed her PG in Fashion Design from Pearl Academy. For her final project "Blue Poetry", she reclaimed textile waste through handloom weaving and reinvented fashion by using sustainable design techniques, up-cycling and zero waste. The collection was showcased at the Amazon India Fashion Week 2018. Singhal used eight years of left out pieces of hand-woven and block printed fabric from a design house and craftspersons. The textile waste was sorted and coordinated according to the colour and fabric quality. It was then cut into strips and hand-woven into fabric. "I have interpreted lost culture through recycling, up-cycling and zero waste pattern ensuring that efforts of the artisans doesn't go to landfills," said Singhal. "Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. As a design student I wanted to exploit this opportunity to create garments which could help reduce the waste, which otherwise ends up in landfills," she added. Stressing that she wanted to raise awareness on eco-friendly means of living, she said she was concerned about carbon footprint while designing. "Even in my classroom projects, I used to be disturbed with the textile waste generated just within three hours of a class." Sharing Singhal's concern about the role of designers in minimizing the carbon footprint of the textiles is Smriti Jain from Bhopal. Jain, who is also 23 and graduated in textile design recently, has developed a collection of contemporary hand-woven saris from Chanderi, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, using traditional techniques. She chose to experiment with more sustainable techniques such as hand block printing, shibori, a traditional craft from Japan, and hand embroidery. The collection features hand embroidery on the hand woven fabric. "Chanderi silk has been used as a base in the collection. The fabric represents sensitivity and art, hand-woven by the weavers," Jain said. "My collection of saris takes its inspiration from India's sustainable past. From handloom to block printing, the country's idea of fashion was never about producing for the masses but encouraging the masses to be self-sufficient by using limited resources," she said. Being a textile designer, she said she wanted to relive those sensibilities of sustainability through her project. "The project is a hope for a sustainable tomorrow," she added. Keeping up the eco friendly fabric theme, Alcis Sports, a performance wear brand, has decided to discard polyester completely and use recyclable polyester instead across its entire polyester-based range. "Alcis, which has been making t-shirts from waste plastic bottles since the past two years, has decided to go entirely plastic free and use recyclable polyester wherever it uses polyester," a statement by the company said. Generally, t-shirts are made of polyester - a man-made fibre, production of which involves huge quantities of water, chemicals and use of fossil fuels. The raw material and by-products are toxic and it pollutes water and air, causing several health hazards.
Source: India Today
MSP is a flawed policy and make sense only in case there is a backward link via government procurement as is the case with rice and wheat that are key to PDS and buffer stock operations. The idea of making MSP (Minimum Support Price) work by forcing private players to buy the crop at this price is a bad one. There have been signals recently that the cotton MSP may become the price at which mills will have to buy the crop. Hence, instead of the government bearing the cost—as happens with public procurement of rice and wheat—the burden could be transferred to yarn/textile mills. The logic can then be extended to pulses where mills can be made to buy pulses at the MSP in case market prices come down due to surplus production. The same can also hold for oilseeds where the edible oil manufacturers will be forced to buy oilseeds at MSP. Therefore, we need to have some debate on the issue and reach a consensus. Today, sugar is probably the most controversial crop, and for historical reasons. Farmers grow indiscriminate volumes of cane that is deleterious for the soil as it is a water-guzzler; this has resulted in the water table getting depleted in cane-growing regions. Mills have to then pay a predetermined price for the crop. In fact, farmers have to sell to mills in the prescribed region, given there are restrictions on the distance between two mills. There was a time when there was a statutory minimum price (SMP) that has been since replaced by a Union-government-determined fair and remunerative price (FRP). States have their own State Advisory Prices (SAP); forcing mills to procure at SAP, which tends to be higher than the FRP as every government tries to score brownie points with the farmers, has become the norm. This is a legacy issue that should have become irrelevant in a market-driven world. Now, curiously, the price of sugar is determined by the market, and the high production of cane leads to fall in prices. But, farmers have to be paid the SAP or FRP, and mills cannot honour this commitment unless they are able to sell the sugar in the market at price that offsets the SAP/FRP. This is the core problem facing the sugar industry where such mismatch has led to the build-up of large arrears that are due to farmers; mills also have had to borrow to honour these contracts when they are unable to sell sugar at remunerative prices. Needless to say, cane arrears/pricing has become a political issue. By only setting the rules and coming in the way of the market forces, successive governments have distorted the dynamics of the sugar industry over the years. Besides, there are always rules on what can be exported or imported keeping in mind the price and supply dynamics. In short, there are perennial problems for the industry, in case of both under- and over-production. Now, if similar administered pricing is to be applied for cotton, the yarn/textiles industry that is already besieged with a different set of challenges would find itself on a sticky wicket. It will no longer be able to fine-tune costs side if MSP becomes mandatory. Textiles and related products account for around 12% of exports, and artificially higher cotton prices could make them less competitive. Further, to ensure that the MSP is paid, the government will have to necessarily tweak trade policy because the MSP regime will not be effective in case companies import cotton at a lower cost. This will affect the competitiveness of industry, considering that the entire textile chain in an important component of our exports. MSP is a flawed policy and make sense only in case there is a backward link via government procurement as is the case with rice and wheat that are key to PDS and buffer stock operations. Imposition of MSP beyond these is market distorting as it severs the link between prices and demand-supply. This can, at times, be inflationary, and out of sync with the physical market dynamics. If inflation is high, then it affects monetary policy even though it is admitted that interest rates cannot bring down the prices of farm products. RBI has highlighted the announcement of higher MSPs as being one of the major risk factors this year for inflation. This is significant as the government has spoken of providing a mark-up of 50% on cost for all products when deciding on the MSPs for FY19. Ideally, any such support should be through the DBT system and not through price interventions. A thought here is that the government is actually intervening in the agri-markets to protect the interest of farmers. This is a step back towards the immediate years after Independence when farming was vulnerable. A better way out is to actually make use of hedging offered via commodity exchanges. To begin with, farmers must be allowed to have the entire array of commodities available on futures trading platforms. At present, farmers look at the prices earned in the previous cropping season and base the current year‘s sowing decisions on this. This is backward-looking, with static expectations. If pulses yielded high prices in 2015, they grew more tur and urad in the subsequent years. This led to overproduction, and prices fell sharply in 2016 and 2017. Had the option of futures trading been available, they could have chosen their crop based on futures prices and escaped the price-crash. In fact, crop switching is possible where the soil is amenable to growing different crops in case the price advantage is known and the crop sold before sowing. Companies dealing with commodities also need to look actively at these markets. In the case of sugar, if all the mills hedged part of their output on, say, NCDEX where there are active contracts, then the risk of falling prices would have been mitigated. For this to be effective, there is the requirement of long-term contracts in all these products. At present, futures trading tends to be vibrant in the near month and probably in the month after, followed by the far month. Longer term contracts, of 6-12 months duration, would also factor in any global signals picked up on other international markets—global sugar price trends affect domestic prices and could thus get imbibed. The government should ideally look for market-based solutions to the problem of prices in the agri-commodities market. Intervening through price guidance not only distorts the market but is very myopic in nature. Creating a solid structure where farmers and companies deal on commodity futures platforms to hedge the price risk is the perfect solution and the effort must be on deepening these markets. This will be a win-win solution and the constant concerns that keep governments worried about whether the farmer is realising remunerative prices and whether the consumer is paying a comfortable price is answered by the markets.
Source: Financial Express
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is scripting innovative plans for the Tamil Nadu market with the belief that the State has potential in three key areas bee keeping industry, brass metal carving and extracting banana fibre. Tamil Nadu is the hub for textiles as well as banana. We want to extract fibre from the banana plant and use it in the textile industry,‖ said G. Chandramouli, chairman, south zone, KVIC, an organisation of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). KVIC has entered into an agreement with SITRA (South Indian Textile Research Association), Coimbatore, to develop banana fabric and different blendings with silk and cotton. Relative higher tensile strength, 15.2% moisture regain (cotton has 8.5% moisture regain), thermal resistance, UV resistance and sound proof property of banana fibres in the form of fibres as well as nano-fibrillated cellulose films makes it promising products,‖ Mr. Chandramouli said. In the bee keeping space, KVIC is proposing to start an exclusive honey processing centre‖ with the help of the State government at Ooty to process the wild honey available at The Nilgiris. Mr. Chandramouli said that awareness camps were being organised for the Kurumba community people who were professional raw honey hunters. We have requested certain State governments to use honey in the midday meal schemes as honey can address malnutrition,‖ he said. In Tamil Nadu, hill stations such as Ooty, Kodaikanal, Marthandam, Satyamangalam forest area and Madhumalai forest areas are some of the places where natural and wild honey is available. Thanjavur brass metal carving art is another focus area for KVIC. We have been doing this for several years now and have even implemented a cluster for development of brass craving,‖ said Mr. Chandramouli. He said that Tamil Nadu was the only market for brass metal carving art and the export opportunity was vast in this space.
Fibre skin
KVIC had tied up with Chennai-based Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI). CLRI has developed a framework to use skin from chicken legs. We are exploring possibilities of how this can be used. We are studying models to tie up with shoe makers and leather makers for this venture,‖ Mr. Chandramouli said. At present, KVIC has 451 sales outlets under Chennai Division and 250 outlets in the Madurai division and intends to scale this up in the coming years. We are looking at a franchisee model. Any entrepreneur who wants to start a business can approach us,‖ Mr. Chandramouli said.
Source: The Hindu
In the face of inflation of wages, energy and food and commodities, automation and investment in technology has become the biggest opportunity and need of the apparel industry considering how labour-intense the industry is, said Sanjay Mahtani, owner, Must Garment Corporation. The firm has benefitted by investing in RFID production technology and nanotech. “We have invested heavily in RFID production technology and nanotech and foam dyeing for our wet processing. Some of these efforts have brought about as much as 98 per cent savings in water and huge savings in energy and chemicals that are used in the production of our garments, said Mahtani in an exclusive interview with Fibre2Fashion. Talking about the impact of Donald Trump’s election as the president of the US, Mahtani said, “We manufacture goods in Bangladesh and the Middle East. The new US policies were helpful in some ways, but not in others. In the Middle East, there are no likely TPL extensions possible; hence, the duty-free status will go away in a lot of the countries that have impacted us in Bahrain and Oman, and now we are moving to Jordan which has a more stable FTA. On the other hand, pulling out of TPP perhaps put the brakes on the possible duty-free status in Vietnam, which might assist us in the long term.” Mahtani believes that even post Brexit, the UK will continue to have the same GSP rules that exist in EU. Must, a manufacturer and supplier of high-quality garments, supplies products to some of the top brands like JC Penney, Walmart, Macy's, Target, Ann Taylor and Amazon. It has manufacturing units in Bangladesh, Jordan and Oman that manufacture over 60 million pieces per year.
Source:Fibre2Fashion
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
Cotton 329 |
3567.59 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Cotton Linter |
729.10 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Bottle Grade Chip |
1121.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
PSF |
1375.63 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
VSF |
2266.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
ASF |
3069.06 |
USD/Ton |
1.55% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1355.37 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3520.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5530.55 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
1643.58 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
3661.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5888.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1666.95 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
3193.70 |
USD/Ton |
0.49% |
6/3/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3193.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2991.17 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2246.49 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
3053.48 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2336.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2586.11 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3146.96 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2664.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.46 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.90 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.25 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.71 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/3/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15579 USD dtd. 6/3/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
BEIJING: All commitments made so far in talks with the US over trade will be withdrawn if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to impose tariffs, China said Sunday. While both sides reported some progress in discussions this weekend about how to reduce China’s US$375bil goods-trade surplus with the US, Trump’s revival last week of a plan to slap tariffs on US$50bil of Chinese imports has cast the talks into turmoil. “If the US rolls out trade measures including tariffs, all the agreements reached in the negotiations won’t take effect,” state-run Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing a statement from the Chinese team that met with a US delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The Xinhua report came after Ross met Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He yesterday for talks that Ross called “friendly and frank, and covered some useful topics about specific export items”. At the same time as negotiators focus on technical steps to reduce the US deficit, Trump’s swerve has rattled Beijing as it raises the possibility that any agreement made could be simply torn up by the president. “China is concerned over the US’s unpredictability, especially after Trump turned an about-face on tariffs,” said Gai Xinzhe, an analyst at Bank of China’s finance institute in Beijing. “Trump needs to give out more goodwill in exchange for really productive negotiations. Bluff, threat, and willful moves might work in business bargaining, but they could backfire in talks among nations.” A commentary by state-run China Radio International said that the government’s stance on cancelling any agreements reached in the talks if Trump’s tariffs go into effect was a “red line”. — Bloomberg
Source: Financial Express
Dhaka, June 3 (UNB) - A day-long familiarization event on ‗German-Bangladesh Higher Education Network for Sustainable Textiles (HEST) was held aiming to reduce the skill gap of mid-level managers in textile and Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sectors in the country at University Grants Commission (UGC) office in the city on Sunday. The programme was jointly organised by University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to share information about HEST project objectives among its stakeholders. Ministry of Education, UGC and GIZ were jointly implementing the project, said a press release of UGC. The project was successfully developed three university partnerships with four German and eight Bangladeshi universities including- Hof University of Applied Sciences, Chemnitz University of Technology, Dresden University of Technology, University of Stuttgart from German side and Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Asian University for Women, Bangladesh University of Textiles, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, North South University, Notre Dame University Bangladesh and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. Prof Abdul Mannan, Chairman of UGC highlighted the importance and advantages of HEST project and also emphasized on boosting applied research in cooperation with the industry. Christian von Mitzlaff, Programme Coordinator of GIZ, said that HEST project can play a vital role to reduce the skill gap of the textile industry and address the sustainability challenges of higher education. Md Abdullah Al Hasan Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of MoE and Dr. Md Khaled, Secretary of UGC also spoke on the occasion. Representatives from Ministry of Education, UGC, World Bank, HEST project‘s partner universities, industry associations, brands and factories, among others, were also present at the event.
Source: UNB News
Swedish furniture giant IKEA and American music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs' clothing were among companies sourcing from Bangladesh that had failed to sign a new accord for the safety of millions of factory workers as it took effect on Friday. The new pact is a three-year extension of the Bangladesh Accord, a legally-binding agreement between global brands and trade unions drawn up after the Rana Plaza collapse, one of the worst industrial accidents in modern history. It established a fire and safety programme for the country's $28bn (€24bn) a year textile industry, which employs about four million people. So far 175 of the 220 companies in the original accord have signed, but high-profile brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Combs' Sean John apparel and Britain's Edinburgh Woollen Mill have not, the Clean Clothes Campaign said. "(They) are doing themselves and their customers a disservice and are knowingly putting the lives of the workers producing for them at risk," said Christie Miedema, of the campaign, which lobbies to improve workers' conditions. More than 1,100 people were killed when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in 2013. Since then Western brands that manufacture in Bangladesh have been under pressure to do more to ensure worker safety. Sean John did not respond to requests for comment and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill was not reachable. Abercrombie said it was reviewing the 2018 accord, while IKEA said it had chosen to focus on its own safety audit programme IWAY rather than signing up. Unlike the original accord, which expired on Thursday, the new one is open to non-garment companies like IKEA that produce home fabrics and textiles. Campaigners have urged them to sign up, arguing that other schemes such as IWAY lack transparency because they do not make inspection findings and reports public. "We operate in a highly competitive market, and for competitive reasons we don't hand out a list of our suppliers in Bangladesh or any other country," IKEA said. Bangladesh, which ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to Western countries, relies on the garment industry for more than 80pc of its exports.
Source: The Independent
Believe it or not, a motion to the European parliament recommends that autonomous robots be deemed electronic persons‖. The motion for resolution suggests that self-learning robots, those that make independent decisions and interact freely, be held to have an electronic personality. The proposals in the 2017 motion aren‘t as bizarre as it might seem because companies are ‗legal persons‘. Such a status means businesses can be held responsible for damages and can insure against such costs. Giving the same status to robots before they become ubiquitous in the workplace and elsewhere would allow likewise. Even so, about 150 experts in science, law, ethics and other fields slammed the recommendations as inappropriate‖, ideological‖ and non sensical‖ in a petition to the European Commission. A core complaint was that deeming robots as ‗persons‘ would absolve from liability the humans behind a malfunctioning robot. The legal status accorded to robots is one of countless political issues policymakers must resolve ahead of an expected leap in automation driven by gains in artificial intelligence and robotics. The biggest political challenge would be if the automation likely during the ‗fourth industrial revolution‘ were to cause massive unemployment – and a huge number of jobs are thought to be at risk. A just-released OECD study says that 46% of jobs in 32 developed countries are likely to be significantly affected‖ by automation over the next 20 years. Other (but not all) studies offer similar forecasts. Economically, automation will make sense, especially in ageing societies where shrinking workforces put upward pressure on wages. Boston Consulting Group, for instance, says that automation, once installed, cuts manufacturing costs by up to 20%. Robots and algorithms will thus boost productivity and, hence, long-term living standards. At a political and social level, however, the ramifications of automation could be fraught. Robots and algorithms are poised to destroy countless low- and semi-skilled jobs. While they will create jobs, these jobs are likely to be of the type (higher- and lower-paying ones) that hollow out the middle class. The social safety nets in place to limit any populist backlash against automation appear inadequate to cope with any lasting increase in unemployment and inequality. The pressure is on policymakers to find better solutions than those offered so far to stop political disgruntlement nullifying automation‘s economic benefits. It could be this era‘s defining political challenge. Some caveats. A lasting rise in joblessness due to automation is just speculation – it may never happen. Warnings about automation are perennial – John Maynard Keynes, for instance, warned in 1930 of technological unemployment‖ (only to see a collapse in demand eradicate jobs). The mistake the pessimists usually make is to underestimate the number of jobs that advances create and that could happen again. Moravec‘s paradox‘ the insight from Hans Moravec (and others) in the 1980s that low-level manual skills are harder to robotise than high-level thinking skills – will limit robotic advances and deployment to some extent. (The paradox essentially says it‘s easier to design a robot to play chess rather than kick a ball.) Many service jobs are immune, even if robots might help these occupations. The challenge for policymakers, though, is that the upcoming automation threatens to be unprecedented in terms of scale and speed. While the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence herald a more prosperous longer term, fewer opportunities and reduced financial security for voters could jolt politics in unpredicted ways in the nearer term. Policymakers can see the dangers of the ‗gig‘ economy. They have time to find solutions.
Another ‘Engels’s pause’?
The first industrial revolution was pivotal in western history because innovations such as the textile loom and the steam engine transformed Europe from a rural and agrarian society into a manufacturing and urban civilisation. Living standards soared over the long term. The trouble was the struggles of workers and a rise in inequality in the shorter term. In 2007, Robert Allen of Oxford University described the growth of profits as wages stagnated from 1800 to 1840 as the Engels‘ pause‖. Engels refers to Friedrich Engels who, with Karl Marx, authored The Communist Manifesto in 1848, three years after Engels wrote The condition of the working class in England. The pair documented the capacity of capitalists (the bourgeoisie) to upheave the social order and gave birth to a political philosophy that triggered incalculable consequences. While not expecting the revival of such an extreme ideology, many people warn that automation could usher in more inequality to further radicalise politics – and profits are around a record share of GDP even before robots and algorithms upheave labour markets. The most high-profile pessimist might be Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor. In April, Carney warned of rekindled interest in Marx and Engels‘s critique of capitalism. If you substitute platforms for textile mills, machine learning for steam engines, Twitter for the telegraph, you have exactly the same dynamics as existed 150 years ago when Karl Marx was scribbling The Communist Manifesto, he cautions. Many politicians are already airing socialist solutions to counter widening inequalities that work against economic efficiency. Jeremy Corbyn, the UK Labour Party and opposition leader, pledges to (re)nationalise utilities and boost taxes on the wealthy. Bernie Sanders, the US senator and a former Democrat presidential candidate, proposes higher taxes on the wealthy, protectionist trade policies, restrictions on the Federal Reserve‘s ability to set monetary policy, and guaranteed employment for all, policies favoured by many other Democrats. Such pro-labour proposals have audiences because forecasts about a massive wave of automation are common. The International Federation of Robotics predicts another 1.7 million industrial robots will be installed by 2020 to add to the 1.8 million in place in 2016 with corresponding increases in robot density per worker. McKinsey Global Institute said last year that by 2030 about 30% of hours worked globally could be automated and up to 800 million people might be displaced. Poorer-paying jobs that require only basic education, especially clerical ones, are often said to be most at risk. A White House report in 2016 estimated that 83% of US jobs paying less than US$20 an hour could be automated compared with only 4% of jobs paying more than US$40 an hour.
Wider truth
A poll in the US by Pew Research Center in 2017 found that 72% of respondents worried about an unequal future where robots and algorithms replace workers, while only 33% welcome such developments. Solutions have flowed to salve such concerns that studies show tend to foment populism. A just-released analysis, for instance, by economists at Italy‘s Bocconi University of automation‘s influence in 15 European democracies from 1993 to 2016 found robot shock increases support for nationalist and radical‖ parties. The most uncontroversial response to automation is retraining. Over the 20th century, the US flourished because it educated its workforce to seize opportunities created by electricity, automobiles and other innovation. From 1910 to 1940, the number of 14- to 17-year-olds attending high school rose from 18% to 73% while those completing high school soared from 9% to 51%. Governments everywhere need to be just as active in coming years because no country is genuinely ready‖ for automation, Swiss tech company ABB said in April when compiling an ‗automation readiness index‘. Today‘s concerns are brewing when economies are at full employment – the US jobless rate, for instance, fell to an 18-year low of 3.9% in April. Policymakers especially fret about a future where automation coincides with an economic slump because retraining efforts would fall short. They worry that radical solutions would be needed to avert a political crisis. One proposal from Bill Gates, among others, is a tax on robots that replace humans. In theory, such a tax would slow automation by boosting its cost while raising money to retrain the displaced. But a robot tax discourages innovation, which means it would slow productivity gains, and doesn‘t directly help those superseded by robots. The European Commission, for one, rejects the idea. Another controversial solution is ‗universal basic income‘, a proposal pushed by Silicon Valley household names and left-leaning or populist parties such as the Australian Greens and Italy‘s anti-establishment Five Star Movement. Under the scheme, the government pays everyone a ‗living‘ wage. Even as governments in Europe test the concept, critics cite its cost, question why the rich would merit a payment, warn of the disincentive to work, and worry about the social cost of turning much of society into a welfare community.
In the US, another proposal pushed by prominent Democrats including Sanders is a ‗federal jobs guarantee‘. The self-explanatory proposal resurrects the original legislation that was watered down to become the Full employment and balanced growth act of 1978 (Humphrey-Hawkins). Challenges with jobs for all include the policy‘s cost, its failure to halt rising inequality, the ‗crowding out‘ of private sector employment, the question of what workers employed by the government would do and its enforceability. The enforceability angle includes that even Humphrey-Hawkins was at cross-purposes with the Fed‘s drive in the 1980s to prioritise fighting inflation over reducing unemployment. Jobs for all would put the Fed in the same bind. Amid the debates around automation and even before it causes massive job losses, wider insights about politics becomes apparent. Algorithms and robots – whether or not the European parliament deems them persons – point to greater government interference with market forces. Thus they would be another blow to neoliberalism and apply pressure on policymakers to install a replacement economic model.
Source: The Bull
