KOLKATA - Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has urged the jute mill owners to reduce dependence on government orders and go for enhanced diversification of jute products. Presently the government’s Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory use in Packing Commodities) Act 1987 (JPM Act) allows mandatory packaging of 90 per cent of foodgrains and 20 per cent of sugar in jute bags. “Jute producers should go for enhanced diversified products rather than depend on government orders ” Irani said at an event at the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry here. She said it was necessary to reduce dependence on the JPM Act. “West Bengal should become the largest exporter of diversified jute products” she added. Jute also holds great potential for finding application in the technical textiles sector which includes automotive applications and geotextiles. Geotextiles are permeable fabrics that are used in civil construction like building roads. Regarding the Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) scheme of the ministry she said that at the recent inter-ministerial panel meet where industry representatives were present pending issues were taken up and 90 per cent of funds sought under the scheme had been disbursed. Irani said that till 2022 the government had sanctioned Rs 17 822 crore under the TUF scheme. She said that the finance ministry had been approached to seek a balance between the domestic and export markets in the textiles sector.
Source: Tecoya Trend
Surat: The Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) has demanded that the Gujarat government follow other states in implementing district-level e-way bills for goods in transit for textiles and other sectors. Pramod Bhagat, president of CAIT’s Gujarat chapter, wrote to state GST commissioner, P D Vaghela, stating that the Madhya Pradesh government has accepted the demand and implemented district-level e-way bills. However, Gujarat government is still continuing with city-limit e-way bills, which is proving to be a transport bottleneck for various sectors, but mainly the textile industry. CAIT also demanded that e-way bill limits be increased from Rs 50,000 worth of goods to Rs 1 lakh. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have implemented the Rs 1 lakh limit for e-way bills. This means that only traders dispatching goods worth more than Rs 1 lakh need to generate e-way bills. Pramod Bhagat told TOI, “Gujarat is the hub of the textile sector in India. Tamil Nadu has exempted textile products like yarn, job work services, fabrics etc. from generating e-way bills. We want the Gujarat government to implement the same for the textile sector.”
Source: Times News Network
German safety and quality expert TV SD has set up its textile testing laboratory in neighbouring Tiruppur. With this expansion, the laboratory known for its physical testing and technical solutions, will offer chemical testing services for all kinds of textile businesses in Tiruppur as well as neighbouring regions including Karur, Salem and Erode. The holistic capabilities of the laboratory will cater to manufacturers and exporters carving a niche for Indian knitwear products in global and domestic markets, TV SD CEO of South and South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa Region, Niranjan Nadkarni said in release here. The facility is fully equipped to provide comprehensive textile, apparel and home furnishing testing services, it said. Manufacturers can avail complete guidance on Restricted Substance List (RSL) and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) and other similar safety regulations, Nadkarni said adding new chemical testing laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation. With its wide network of labs and experts across key markets including south Asia, European Union, ASEAN, the US and the UK, TV SD has in-depth familiarity with compliance in exporting and importing nations, Nadkarni said.
Source: Business Standard
NEW DELHI: The CBIC has allowed clearance of GST refunds based on PAN of exporters if such refunds are held up due to mismatch in GSTIN mentioned in shipping bill and return forms. As much as Rs 14,000 crore worth of refunds due to exporters are stuck because of various reasons and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is organising a special refund fortnight from May 31 to June 14 to fast-track clearance of dues.In a circular to the field officers, the CBIC has said the refund should be cleared if the Permanent Account Number (PAN) mentioned in shipping bill and returns form GSTR-3B/GSTR-1 is same. Mismatch in GST identification number (GSTIN) happens when the entity filing shipping bills is a registered office and the entity which has paid the Integrated GST (IGST) is a manufacturing unit.The CBIC said that the entity claiming refund would have to give an undertaking that it will "not claim any refund or any benefit of the amount of IGST so paid". It said the DG Systems have developed correction tool for sanction of refund in cases where PAN provided in the shipping bill is the same as in the return forms under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said the board has come out with a methodology whereby taxpayer would be sanctioned a refund even in case where a different registered taxpayer files shipping bill than from a registered taxpayer who has undertaken such export supply, provided both the entities are functioning under the same PAN. "Tax department agrees that pending refunds are a liability which needs to be paid off and thereby administration is putting in best efforts to resolve incongruities in handing out such refunds," Mohan said.The CBIC has also extended the facility for manual interface to correct the mismatch in invoice details in shipping bills and GST returns. Exporters can opt for manual correction for shipping bills filed till April 30, 2018. "Keeping in view the difficulties faced by the exporters in respect of SB005 errors (mismatch in invoice details in shipping bill and returns), Board has decided to extend the facility of officer interface to shipping bills filed up to April 30.
Source: Business Standard
The Odisha government on Thursday organized an investors' meet in Hyderabad to attract investments in Odisha. An Odisha delegation led by Industries Department Secretary Sanjeev Chopra met officials of 24 Hyderabad-based companies for potential investments and highlighted the strategic advantages Odisha held, such as low cost of doing business, incentives for investors, dedicated sector-specific clusters, availability of over 1.21 lakh acres of land bank for industrial development. A government spokesman said encouraging response was received from the 24 leading companies. Odisha's focus sectors are food processing and seafood, ancillary and downstream industries in metals sector, textiles, chemicals, plastics, and petrochemicals. "We are pleased to receive an encouraging response from the business community of Hyderabad. Odisha's investor-friendly policies and development of world-class infrastructure have received very positive feedback from investors across the country as we have been able to create an ideal business ecosystem for various sectors to flourish in the state," said Chopra. "We are positive about attracting significant investments from Hyderabad-based companies in the near future," said the official. The delegation also participated in a roadshow organised jointly with Indian Oil Corporation Limited in Hyderabad on Wednesday where strategic advantages and opportunities for manufacturing plastics at Paradip Plastics Park were showcased. The roadshow was attended by more than 50 entrepreneurs and potential investors.The Odisha delegation invited companies from Hyderabad to participate in the second edition of the biennial 'Make in Odisha Conclave 2018' scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar from November 11-15.
Source: Business Standard
In a recent interview, Minister of state for Power R K Singh said that the achievements of 48 months of the current government compared to 48 years of achievements of other governments as an “eye-opener”. At a press conference on the completion of 4 years of the current government, he said that the present government has added 24,000 MW power generation capacity per year compared to 4800 MW of earlier governments. He also said that the government intended to provide power supply for 4 crore families by December 2019 under Saubhagya Scheme. When one looks at the performance of the current government compared with the performance of previous governments, one realises that the current government has invested a lot of resources in transforming the sector.
Generation:
Thermal:
India’s thermal sector contributes about two-thirds of the power generation. The Coal-based power plants produce about 88 percent of the thermal power produced, while the remaining comes from Gas and Diesel based plants. The total thermal power generation has increased from 131,603 MW in 2012 to 222,906 MW in the last 6 years with an average growth of 10 percent per year.
Renewable Energy:
India is one the largest producers of power from the renewable energy with almost 69 GW of energy, excluding large Hydropower generation. The Large Hydropower sector accounts for another 45G W of energy, both combining to form about 33 percent of India’s power generated. The government has set an ambitious target of producing 175 GW of energy from renewable sources – nearly 100 GW through solar power, 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW of biomass power and 5 GW of small hydropower by 2022.
Other Sources: The production of power from other sources like Biomass, Waste to power generation, Geothermal and Tidal have seen little growth in terms of other sectors. The cumulative production from these sources is about 9000 MW of which 8700 MW is produced by biomass sources. In addition to that, the government has created enabling policies and have de-regulated most of these sectors for private participation.
Transmission and Distribution:
One of the achievements of the present government is revamping the power transmission and distribution (T&D) sectors. The T&D sector is mainly in the hands of state sectors, while the transmission is mainly done by Power Grid Corporation of India, a PSU under the Ministry of Power.
The present government has launched a scheme called Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana, where state governments will take over the debt of these discoms and even discoms can issue bonds to finance their debts. This will ease up the debt-ridden companies to correct the course and bring efficiency in the distribution sector. The scheme has resulted in both the financial outcome and operational efficiency of reduction in AT&C losses have improved at an aggregate level. This is estimated to have freed up Rs 22,000 crore capital of the banking sector.
Rural Electrification:
The present government, which had inherited dis-functioning electricity sector under UPA regime and has transformed it as a capacity surplus sector. The Modi led government should be credited for making India a power surplus country today. It also invested a lot of time and money on bringing a revolution in clean energy in the country. Along with this, it has eased the regulatory framework for more private sector involvement. The strong power sector is a sine qua non for any country’s economic growth. The government needs to do more, but one can be assured of positive changes in the future if the data holds up and the present government continue this work with the same intensity.
Source: Opiindia
After hastily withdrawing their new messaging app amid glaring security flaws, an Indian billionaire and his penurious yoga guru partner are about to have another go at it. Acharya Balkrishna, who collaborated with celebrity yogi Baba Ramdev to build an Indian consumer goods empire, plans a formal release of the Kimbho messenger app within weeks as he tries to create a challenger to Facebook Inc’s dominant WhatsApp. But first he has to fix it. “We pledge not to launch the app until a team of expert hackers and security specialists plug all the security and privacy loopholes,” Balkrishna said in a phone interview as he promised more advanced features than his rival. The hurried withdrawal of the app, whose name translates as “what’s up” in Sanskrit, a day after its release in May was a rare setback for Balkrishna and Ramdev. The pair built Patanjali Ayurved into a business with $1.6 billion of annual revenue by selling soap, skin cream and instant noodles that embrace the swadeshi, or home-grown, all-natural-and-wholesome creed. Still, in the short time it was available the app racked up 300,000 downloads, the billionaire said. Ramdev rose to fame in India from appearances on TV, where he demonstrated the cobra, the downward dog and hundreds of other yoga poses. He used his prominence to make Patanjali Ayurved a household name, giving global players such as Nestle SA and Unilever NV a run for their money when it comes to Indian consumer spending. Balkrishna owns most of the stock, while Ramdev holds a minuscule share, in keeping with his adopted life as a ‘sanyasi’ ascetic free of material possessions. The home-grown character that helped its consumer products succeed is a core proposition behind the messaging app. WhatsApp already dominates India, amassing more than 230 million users and pushing into electronic payments, a rapidly expanding sector in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. “We respect WhatsApp,” Balkrishna, a user of WhatsApp, said by phone from his base in the ancient city of Haridwar in the foothills of the Himalayas. “But when we have 1.3 billion people, many of them talented software developers, why can’t we build our own messenger with superior features, one that people can trust and which keeps user’s data within India?” While the initial release proved popular in terms of downloads, the company’s first foray into technology was quickly criticized online by experts as a “joke” and “security disaster.” It was swiftly pulled from stores to be re-tooled. “The technology could be a work in progress right now, but Patanjali and Baba Ramdev have a strong brand appeal and consumer connection that’ll help drive users to the app,” said Neha Dharia, the Bangalore-based founder and chief executive of technology consultancy Warp Speed Reads Pvt. “Sustainable growth will be their challenge and that’ll depend on the technology they put into the app and the partnerships they drive.” Kimbho was released on app stores so that a limited number of users could test features such as text messaging, stickers and video calling, said Balkrishna. Fueled by the brand appeal of its high profile backers - Ramdev has more than 10 million followers across social networks - the app proved so popular that Balkrishna said its cloud servers crashed. “We never dreamed it could catch fire and have 300,000 downloads within hours,” Balkrishna said. With the upcoming formal release, the initial focus will be on messaging even as WhatsApp prepares to roll out digital payments across the country after an earlier trial run with 1 million users. Despite the competition, India is a massive market and the nation’s internet user base is expected to reach 500 million this summer, most of them doing so via smartphones. Kimbho adds to an ever-expanding array of products from Patanjali, including its own branded SIM cards in partnership with a local carrier. Ramdev has talked of getting into ready-made apparel and recently spoke about building a swadeshi food chain to compete with McDonald’s. After revenue stagnated in the year ended March amid new taxes and disruptions caused by India’s demonetization, Balkrishna expects the company to resume growth. For the moment, his focus is on getting Kimbho back up. “People need an alternative," he said, predicting it would be used by “all types and levels of Indians.”
Source: Business Standard
Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Thursday predicted that a robust growth outlook of the Indian economy will support the credit quality of the country's non-financial corporate sector. Moody's Indian affiliate ICRA said India's power sector will continue to remain stable despite mixed success of its distribution utilities (DISCOMS). It said that improved domestic coal availability is primarily responsible for ensuring a stable power sector and that India is taking steps to align its power generation mix with nationally determined contribution commitments under the December 2015 Paris Accord. As regards the oil and energy sector, it said, "credit quality of state-owned oil and gas companies will remain positive but could change depending upon the government's responses to increasing oil prices." It warned that there was need for having a balance between high dividends and earnings to ensure against a credit negative slip. It also said that credit ratings of state-owned upstream companies would remain well positioned so long as their net realized prices do not fall below the USD 50 per barrel mark. "India's focus on greening its energy mix would imply strong growth for renewable energy over the next many years," said Moody's Vice President Abhishek Tyagi Vikas Halan, Senior Vice President of the ratings agency said, "As disruptions from GST implementation fades, economic activity will recover in India. GDP growth of 7.3 percent for 2018 in India, will result in higher domestic sales volumes, which along with new production capacity and supportive commodity prices, will EBITDA, growth for corporate over the next 12 to 18 months." Moody's, however, cautioned that Indian non-financial firms will continue to face protectionism and tighter monetary controls in the United States because of the depreciating US-Rupee exchange rate (Currently pegged at six percent). It also said that ongoing volatility in international bond markets could make refinancing challenging, particularly for high yield corporate. It also said predicted a further weakening of domestic bank funding because of fresh asset quality and governance issues. As far as the telecom sector is concerned, Moody's pained a gloomy picture, saying it would remain under pressure because of intense competition between stakeholders. "Capital spending will remain high for telecom operators as they expand and upgrade their (respective) network to service the exponential increase in high speed wireless data consumption in India," it said. Biddings for solar projects, it said, have seen a drop, given concerns over long-term tariff-related viability It said that other sectors such as automobiles, consumer staples, durables and hospitality have witnessed a revival and marginal expansion because of rising consumer demand. It was all praise for the highways sector, saying that government support for existing PPP procurement models has been a crucial factor in attracting private sector investment. Going forward, it said that the corporate sector could be impacted by growing formalization and a tightening of regulatory norms. It cited the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) as an example of sectoral consolidation as also stricter emission norms in the automobile sector for this premise. It said that rural demand would be critically dependent on having a normal monsoon, hike in minimum support price and emphasis on agri-economic policies in the run-up to next year's general elections
Source: Business Standard
The rupee on Friday witnesses a sharp decline to open 34 paise down at 67.46 against the US dollar on account of buying of American currency by banks and importers. The local currency on Thursday slipped 20 paise to 67.12 against the greenback as revival in global crude prices renewed India's concerns on the fiscal front. According to Choice Broking, demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting next Wednesday. Meanwhile, domestic equity markets opened in the red following global cues. The BSE Sensex opened 56.61 points, or 0.16 per cent, down at 35,406.47, whereas NSE Nifty index opened 31.95 points, or 0.30 per cent, down at 10,736.40. India's 10-year benchmark bond yield surpassed 8 per cent -- its highest in over three years -- on Friday after the Reserve Bank upped the benchmark rate by 25 basis points. The bond yield was last seen at the same level in May 2015. For a net oil importer like India, a sustained rise in crude oil price leads to adverse macroeconomic implications. Besides, concerns of higher US yields and foreign fund outflows from stock and bond markets also added pressure on the rupee front even as corporate demand for the greenback remained strong.
Source: Business Line
NEW DELHI: India will soon begin talks with Iran on a trade accord just as the US has turned hostile toward the Persian Gulf nation, threatening it with renewed sanctions after walking out of a nuclear accord with the country. The first round of formal negotiations on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) will be held between India and Iran by August, said people with knowledge of the matter. Such an accord will see the two giving duty concessions to each other’s goods, enabling greater market access for India’s pharmaceutical, rice and auto component exports. “We are making our wish lists,” said one of the officials. “The first round of text-based negotiations will take place in a month or two.”“We are making our wish lists,” said one of the officials. “The first round of text-based negotiations will take place in a month or two.” Talks on a PTA began two years ago, then slowed because Iran had concerns about India’s indirect tax structure. “Most of Iran’s exports to us are intermediates,” the official said. “Initially, they had problems with countervailing duty and its adjustment in the pre-GST (goods and services tax) regime but now it is confident of the new tax structure.” Iran has sought details on India’s tax structure before and after the imposition of GST on around 100 products including urea, various dry fruits and chemicals.
India implemented GST on July 1 last year.
On the issue of PTA talks gaining momentum when the US was becoming belligerent on sanctions, another commerce department official said the two were mutually exclusive of each other. “PTA is a permanent thing while sanctions are temporary. Moreover, there is already an existing solution — the rupee payment mechanism — which is working,” the second official said. Banks haven’t objected to India going ahead with the pact despite the threat of sanctions, the official said. “In fact, with In fact, with a PTA, banks will have to process less payments due to reduction of duties,” he added. Iran’s major exports to India are oil, fertilisers and chemicals while imports include cereals, tea, coffee, spices and organic chemicals. “India can benefit on products such as pharmaceuticals, manmade staple fibre, iron and steel, tea, coffee, spices and chemicals”, said Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation of Indian Export Organisations. The two sides agreed to undertake text-based negotiations on PTA as well as the conclusion of a bilateral investment treaty in a fixed time frame during Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s visit to India in February. “India never stopped trading with Iran even when there were US and EU sanctions on that country. Going ahead with a PTA now is a strong signal of our trade partnership,” said an expert on trade issues. India’s exports to Iran were $2.6 billion in FY18 while import were $11.1billion. The US withdrew from the nuclear accord in May alleging that Iran had violated the terms of the deal aimed at curbing the country’s bid to develop nuclear weapons, raising the prospect of renewed sanctions.
Source: The Economic Times
KOLKATA: Indian teas are fetching 5 per cent higher prices in Iran than they did a year ago, but traders said that complications in adhering to the intra-state e-way bill system rolled out on April 1 for payment of goods and services tax has taken the cheer away. Under the new system, tea merchants are required to issue way bill for every collection of tea and moving it from the seller’s warehouse to their own warehouse which may be located less than 10 km away so long as the value is above Rs 1 lakh.“Wherever there are tea auction centres, traders are facing similar problems,” said tea exporter Anshuman Kanoria, chairman of Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA).“We are getting better prices for our orthodox teas in Iran. The US sanctions have created some uncertainty in the market but not affected exports till date. The rupeeriyal trade is going on. What is disturbing us is the intra-state GST issue.” Kanoria said the association had already held a round of meeting with West Bengal’s GST authority on the intra-state issue. “We will shortly be writing to the GST Council to sort out the problem,” he said. There are six tea auction centres in Kolkata, Guwahati, Siliguri, Cochin, Coonoor and Coimbatore. There are thousands of tea lots sold in tea auctions every week. Each broker issues one tax invoice per category of tea (Darjeeling, orthodox, CTC, dust) to each buyer in his or her catalogue. This tax invoice may comprise, say, 40 lots stored over, say, 10-40 warehouses. The buyer would need to generate one way bill for the tax invoice which would be valid for a day and tea needs to be collected.
Source: The Economic Times
Slowly, but surely, Siddipet district has been transforming into an industrial hub. Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao’s personal attention has helped put the district on the map, yielding good results. Recently, Malaysian agro-based DXN Industries signed an agreement with the State government to establish an industry at an estimated cost of ₹175 crore. This would come up near Mandapally on the outskirts of district headquarters, in about 50 acres of area which. It is expected to offer employment to about 1,500 people. The announcement was made by Mr. Harish Rao along with DXN founder Dr. Lim Siow Jin. A Japanese firm has also expressed interest in establishing an industry in the Siddipet area. After the formation of the district, as many as 113 applications were received by the administration for the establishment of industries with a total investment of about ₹1,365 crore. Once established, these industries are expected to provide employment to about 7,000 people. The Honour Infra Estates Limited Toguta mega-industry would be set up with an investment of ₹500 crore. As many as 61 industries have gone into production, while the remaining are in the process of establishment.
Clusters
A plastic cluster spreading across 200 acres is also being mulled. It would be located between two State highways - Rajivrahadari road and Bhuvanagiri-Hyderabad road - starting from Pragnapur to Peerlapally in Jagadevpur mandal. Similarly, an agro and food processing cluster at Siddipet, Gajwel and Jagadevpur have been proposed. About 420 acres of land was identified for the food industry and the proposed DXN agro-industry will come up near Mandapally village limits. In Siddipet area, the land allotted is 270 acres and is 50 acres at Gajwel and 100 acres at Jagadevpur. Rice mill industries are expected to be established at Husnabad in 100 acres and at Siddiept in 270 acres, apart from a ready-made garment industry (hosiery) cluster, which would come up at Konapaka (41 acres) and Kotyala (50 acres). “Under TS-iPASS, permissions are being accorded within 21 days. Thrust will be given to food processing industry as the area is agro-based. Textile industries will also be encouraged,” B. Naveen Kumar, GM, District Industries told The Hindu.
Source: The Hindu
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1388.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
VSF |
2298.93 |
USD/Ton |
0.34% |
6/7/2018 |
|
ASF |
3080.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1390.31 |
USD/Ton |
-0.06% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3596.97 |
USD/Ton |
0.88% |
6/7/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5473.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
5911.54 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1673.37 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3237.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
3206.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1649.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3722.08 |
USD/Ton |
0.85% |
6/7/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
3033.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2252.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
3096.52 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
3206.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2705.55 |
USD/Ton |
1.17% |
6/7/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2345.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2627.35 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.46 |
USD/Meter |
0.11% |
6/7/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.90 |
USD/Meter |
0.35% |
6/7/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.26 |
USD/Meter |
0.12% |
6/7/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.71 |
USD/Meter |
0.22% |
6/7/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.74 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/7/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15639 USD dtd. 7/6/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Emerging Asian currencies have bounced back over the past two weeks as oil prices have fallen. Their recovery will face a crucial test when the world’s major crude producers meet in Vienna later this month. Energy exporters gather in the Austrian capital on June 22 to decide whether to maintain output curbs that propelled oil to a three-year high last month, or follow a proposal for reviving production discussed by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Indonesia’s rupiah and India’s rupee have both rallied about 2 percent since the day before the Saudi-Russian talks on May 25. “Since the oil market is pricing in a boost in production, any disappointment in output which pushes oil prices higher should be negative for emerging Asian currencies,” said Maximillian Lin, an emerging markets Asia strategist at NatWest Markets in Singapore. Emerging Asian currencies have bounced back over the past two weeks as oil prices have fallen. Their recovery will face a crucial test when the world’s major crude producers meet in Vienna later this month. Energy exporters gather in the Austrian capital on June 22 to decide whether to maintain output curbs that propelled oil to a three-year high last month, or follow a proposal for reviving production discussed by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Indonesia’s rupiah and India’s rupee have both rallied about 2 percent since the day before the Saudi-Russian talks on May 25. “Since the oil market is pricing in a boost in production, any disappointment in output which pushes oil prices higher should be negative for emerging Asian currencies,” said Maximillian Lin, an emerging markets Asia strategist at NatWest Markets in Singapore. Brent crude has dropped to $75.75 per barrel from as high as $80.50 in May amid speculation an increase in supply will curtail a rally that started in early 2016. Energy-importing nations such as India and Indonesia are particularly vulnerable to rising oil prices as they push up inflation and put pressure on their trade balances. The Bloomberg JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks 10 Asian currencies against the greenback, has rallied 0.8 percent from this year’s low on May 29. No consensus has so far emerged among the 24 oil-exporting nations that will gather in Vienna. The outcome is sensitive because Russia and Saudi are proposing raising production to make up for losses from other members. Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told Reuters a production increase isn’t on the table as the market is stable and prices are good, highlighting the division among producers. While the rupee, rupiah and Philippine peso stand to lose the most from costlier crude, the ringgit is seen benefiting as Malaysia is the region’s only major net energy exporter.
Here are comments from portfolio managers on what costlier crude means for Asia: Adam McCabe, head of Asian fixed income at Aberdeen Standard Investments in Singapore:
Tuan Huynh, chief investment officer for Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in Singapore:
Manu George, fixed-income director at Schroder Investment Management Ltd. in Singapore:
Source: Bloomberg
Sri Lanka is reportedly hopeful of convincing India to remove the quota system for its apparel industry and instead wants a $500-million trade deal. The two sides are at present discussing, under the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), the existing system that is limited to sale of eight million garment pieces annually worth $30 million. Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) chairman Felix Fernando told a top newspaper in Colombo that exhaustion of this year’s quota is the reason why Sri Lanka has requested changes to the system. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Kenya and Tanzania could finally bury the hatchet after a protracted trade spat that has soured diplomatic ties between the two countries in recent months. Trade and Investment Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo on Thursday said the two neighbouring countries would hold bilateral talks on July 4, in Dar es Salaam, in a fresh bid to resolve the trade row that has seen either side impose counter-bans on selected goods. Late last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzania counterpart John Magufuli had to step in to end the trade row after which Dar re-opened its borders to Kenyan products, including unprocessed foods, milk products and cigarettes. Kenya, on her part, agreed to allow Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) from Tanzania back into the country after a month-long ban citing safety and security risks. The standoff saw exporters from both countries suffer huge financial losses. Despite the two leaders’ intervention, the trade row has continued to simmer, with Tanzania recently imposing taxes on sweets and other confectionaries, lubricants, textiles, cement and tobacco from Kenya, reigniting tension between Dar and Nairobi. Mr Kiptoo, however, yesterday said there could be light at the end of the tunnel. Avoid becoming a victim of Fake News. Subscribe to the Standard Group SMS service by texting 'NEWS' to 22840. “Our private sector is really suffering because of this push and shove with Tanzania. Tanzania is a big market that we really need. I have talked to our Tanzanian counterparts in the trade department and we have agreed to meet and end this needless fight,” he said in an interview. The PS said Tanzania had invited major Kenyan companies, among them Bidco, Pwani Ltd, Tru Foods, and Kevian Ltd to participate in a trade exhibition in Dar between June 28 and July 13, as a show of endorsement for Kenyan brands. Last month, Tanzania slapped a 25 per cent import duty on Kenyan firms in the confectionery business, citing use of imported zero-rated industrial sugar in the goods. The decision angered the Kenyan Government, which gave Dar up to the end of this month to remove the tax or block Tanzanian goods from entering Kenya. Tanzania has also protested duty imposed on textile imports produced under Kenya’s Export Processing Zones as well as petroleum products. Last year, Kenya’s exports to Tanzania stood at Sh28.5 billion, down from Sh34.2 billion in 2016.
Source: Standard Digital
The proposed rise in corporate tax will hurt the flow of fresh investment into the garment sector as entrepreneurs will feel discouraged to inject fresh funds, said the top leader of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday. “We are passing through a tough time. So, any rise in any tax will only increase the cost of production,” said Siddiqur Rahman, president of BGMEA. “If new investment is not made, jobs will not be created,”he said, adding that the association will sit with the finance minister to demand a tax cut. Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed rising the corporate tax rate for the garment sector by 3 percentage points. As per Muhith's plan, the corporate tax for non-listed garment makers will be 15 percent in the next fiscal year from 12 percent now. He also raised the rate for green garment factories to 12 percent from 10 percent. The minister, for the first time, imposed 12.5 percent corporate tax on the listed garment companies. “We did not know about the increase in tax. Although, the overall budget is investment-friendly, our expectation has not been fulfilled,” Rahman said. There are about 5,500 garment factories in Bangladesh, but only a handful of them are listed on the stockmarket. In his budget speech, Muhith hinted at giving VAT exemption to the textile and export sectors. However, he did not elaborate. He provided 100 percent duty exemption for export-oriented textile raw materials and extended the same benefit to the imports of textile raw materials such as flax fibre.
Source: The Daily Star
Artisans from Southeast Alaska and British Columbia displayed blankets, aprons and other items Wednesday at a weaving presentation. Weavers and weaving historians were among the about 50 people who attended the event in the Shuka Hit clan house in the Walter Soboleff Building. One presenter, Della Cheney, stressed the importance of learning those traditions. “There’s those things that I enjoy about our ways of life that are so rich and so dynamic because it’s life,” Cheney, who is Haida and Tlingit, said. “It’s our way of life that creates these things that are with us today.” This was Cheney’s second year presenting at Celebration. Cheney hopes communities invest more in cultural education. “We have to find ways to teach our families and continue our way of life and help our self be economically present in our own communities with the things we make and the way we live so… we can celebrate our way and be who we are, Tlingit, Haidas and Tsimshian people,” Cheney said. Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida weaver Meghann O’Brien of Alert Bay, British Columbia, first started weaving in 2007, making baskets to collect berries. Dorica Jackson talks about a robe she spent almost 15 years working on during a weavers’ presentation Wednesday, June 6, 2018, at the Shuka Hit clan house in the Walter Soboleff Building in downtown Juneau. (Photo by Tripp J Crouse/KTOO) “I really consider spending time on the land harvesting food to be the main source of where it came from for me,” O’Brien said. “I think that’s where it came from for our people, too, is just for a really practical purpose.” O’Brien later had several mentors who helped teach her different styles, including her Ravenstail teacher William White. “When he opened the door for that and began teaching me the techniques, I felt really honored and privileged and that the knowledge was so sacred,” O’Brien said. “My personal thing that I’m more drawn to is much more utilitarian. I just really like the plain work baskets more than anything. I just think being able to use things is really important.”
O’Brien was attending her first Celebration. “Even just at this gathering with the few presenters who are here, the different teachings we’ve received, the similarities and differences between those, there’s a lot of similarities obviously,” O’Brien said. “It feels very close to this place. It just feels very close to that handing of knowledge that occurred with Jennie Thlunaut. And it’s really powerful and really special.” Thlunaut mentored Clarissa Rizal, a Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver who died in December 2016.
Source: KTOO- Juneau
Over the last two weeks, Gerber participated in two global industry events, FESPA in Berlin and Texprocess Americas in Atlanta. At the shows, the company demonstrated on-demand manufacturing applications that included its Digital Solutions, integrating data from design to finished product leveraging YuniquePLM and the AccuMark Platform, digital printing technologies from three industry leaders, Gerber’s Z1 single-ply cutter with ContourVision automated scan-to-cut system and both robotic and lean loop sewing operations. Increasingly in an on-demand world, consumers expect personalisation and immediate delivery when they see what they want. To remain competitive, brands and manufacturers are being compelled to re-examine their processes and find ways to become more agile and remain relevant in a time of ever-changing consumer trends. “We have been investing in and developing technology to help our customers transform and connect their workflows to meet the needs of an on-demand world, enabling a seamless digital print and automated cutting workflow to work with leaders in digital textile printing,” said Scott Schinlever, President and COO Automation Solutions at Gerber Technology. “Recently we showcased Gerber’s textile workflow and automated cutting in a variety of micro factories with Kornit, EFI Reggiani and Mimaki. The strong growth trend in digital textile printing can be accelerated by Gerber’s integrated eco-system of software and automated cutting systems, delivering value through connectivity and achieving Industry 4.0 expectations from concept to finished product.”
Adoption of Industry 4.0
Digitalisation and the adoption of Industry 4.0 principles are empowering purchase activated, on-demand manufacturing. Brands and manufacturers are able to respond to demand versus producing to supply. The approach eliminates costly inventory and re-defines just-in-time manufacturing, so production adjusts as demands fluctuate – allowing products to be produced more efficiently and sold at full retail price without heavy discounting. Gerber says its team is passionate about supporting our customers and their needs as the industry changes. “We are empowering our customers to turn their data into speed, helping them be more agile and get their products to market. We back it up with best in class aftermarket support to ensure maximum productivity and lowest total cost of ownership in the industry,” said Mr Schinlever. “We look forward to continuing to partner with key players in the industry to help our customers compete and win.”
Gerber’s Digital Solutions
Gerber’s Digital Solutions include the newest releases of YuniquePLM product lifecycle management software, as well as AccuMark, the industry-leading pattern design, grading, marker making and production planning software, AccuMark 3D and AccuPlan. The Digital Solutions architecture incorporates the tenets of Industry 4.0 and uses common file structures. Data can be passed to the cut room where smart machines, like the GERBERspreader XLs Series and the Gerber Paragonline of multi-ply GERBERcutters, can process the order with a simple barcode scan. Closed-loop, end-to-end Digital Solutions like Gerber’s integrates software and smart machines, allows companies to automate their entire process and streamline data and workflow necessary to provide insight, maximise throughput, minimise errors and reduce labour costs to be competitive in mass production environments.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
The duration of ITM 2020 exhibition has been extended to five days on the basis of intense demand from exhibitors and visitors and will be held from June 2 to 6, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey. ITM is the largest textile technology show with a wide display of textile technologies, textile equipment and products, and textile related software and solutions. Being the address for world launches, the ITM 2020 exhibition will host exhibitors and visitors from around the world. The ITM 2018 expo, held from April 14 to 17, 2018 was the meeting point of the textile sector leaders thanks to the foreign visitors from 94 countries, the number of domestic visitors increasing according to the past years. In addition, the ITM 2018 exhibition saw an increase in the number of machines exhibited and a rise in the dimensions of the exhibitor booths. The ITM 2018 international textile machinery exhibition has achieved great global success and attracted a lot of requests in the questionnaires from the participants and visitors that the exhibition duration of four days was not sufficient for such a huge organisation. Hence, the 2020 edition has been extended to five days.
Source:Fibre2Fashion
