Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited the state governments for the “successful” implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, which completes one year on July 1. In his customary radio address Mann Ki Baat, Modi said on Sunday that ‘One Nation, One Tax’ was the dream of the people of this country and that has become a reality. “If I’ve to give credit to anyone for successful implementation of the ‘One Nation One Tax reform’, then I credit the states. GST is a great example of Cooperative federalism, where all the states decided to take a unanimous decision in the interest of the nation, and then such a huge tax reform was implemented in the country. So far, there have been 27 meetings of the GST Council and we can all feel proud that people from different political ideologies have been involved in these meetings,” he said. He said the meetings of the council involved representatives of different states; states which have different priorities, and all the decisions made so far have been taken with absolute consensus. “Before the onset of the GST scheme, there were 17 different types of taxes prevailing in the country, but now only one tax is applicable in the entire country. GST is not only the victory of integrity but it is also a celebration of honesty. Earlier, in the case of taxation and allied affairs, there were rampant complaints of Inspector Raj,” the Prime Minister said. He said in the GST scheme, information technology has replaced the inspector. "Everything from return to refund is done through online information technology. The check post has become extinct after the arrival of the GST scheme and the movement of goods has become faster, which not only saves time but also accrues benefits in the area of logistics," he said. Modi said the GST is probably the biggest tax reform in the world. “The implementation of such a huge tax reform in India was successful only because the people of the country and through the power of the masses. It is generally believed that such a big tax reform, in a huge country like ours with such a large population takes five to seven years for effective adoption. However, within a year, the enthusiasm of the honest people of this nation, the celebration of integrity in the country and the participation of people resulted in this new tax system managing to create a space for itself, has achieved stability and according to the need, it will bring reform through its inbuilt arrangement," he claimed.
Source: Business Line
The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is one of the oldest trade preference programmes in the world, and was designed to provide zero duties or preferential access for developing countries t o advanced markets. The U.S. GSP programme was established by the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, and promotes economic development by eliminating duties on thousands of products when imported from one of the 129 designated beneficiary countries and territories. In April 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it would review the GSP eligibility of India, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan. The proposed review for India was initiated in response to market access petitions filed by the U.S. dairy and medical device industries due to recent policy decisions in India, which were perceived as trade barriers.
Big impact
For over 40 years, GSP has fulfilled its purpose of promoting economic growth in a large number of developing countries by allowing increased exports of eligible products. This tremendous benefit to the global economy is a small aspect of the U.S. trade balance; for example, of the total $2.4 trillion U.S. imports in 2017, only $21.2 billion arrived via GSP, amounting to less than 1% of total U.S. imports. Despite GSP’s low significance in the U.S. trade balance, its benefits ultimately help U.S. consumers and exporters by contributing to lower pricing of final products. Most of the 3,500 Indian products imported by the U.S. under the GSP are raw materials or important intermediaries of value chains. In many cases,Indian exports are less-expensive, high-quality alternatives that reduce the costs of final products, thereby creating value that is subsequently exported the world over by U.S. companies or directly conveyed to the U.S. consumer. Indeed, this enables the U.S. economy to be more globally competitive. In 2017, the top 10 GSP products exported by India to the U.S. were motor vehicle parts, ferro alloys, precious metal jewellery, monumental or building stone, rubber tyres, travel goods, certain sweetened or flavored waters, polyacetals/polyethers/polyesters, electric motors and generators, and insulated cables and wires. With the exceptions of precious metal jewelry and sweetened water, all of these products are intermediate goods, many of whichare not competitively produced in the U.S. given their lower role in manufacturing value chains. Thus, the benefits accruing toU.S. companies and consumers offset the relatively small concessions of the GSP programme.
GSP should be continued
Despite continued economic growth over the last two decades or so, India is a lower middle-income country. GSP allows Indian exporters a certain competitive edge and furthers the development of the country’s export base. It also allows India to integrate with global value chains (GVC) and hence, with global markets. These advantages provide opportunities for small enterprises and help in the overall livelihood creation endeavour in India. Further, it is important to note that Indian exports to the U.S. under the GSP programme are mostly intermediaries, and are not in direct competition with U.S. producers — ultimately, these goods benefit the U.S. economy. India’s continued eligibility for GSP makes good economic sense given the low value, high-quality, and nature of its imports. In addition to the economic perspective, the U.S. should consider continuing India’s GSP eligibility as a gesture of goodwill that reaffirms its commitment to the mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries. The India-U.S. relationship has continued to grow stronger as India liberalises along a positive and steady trajectory. India has made systematic efforts to reduce trade imbalance with the U.S. and has enhanced purchases of shale gas and civilian aircraft. Adhering to the rules-based international trading system, India is in the process of examining its export subsidies. As per a CII survey, the U.S. remains a favoured destination for Indian companies which have invested $18 billion in the U.S. and support as many as 1.13 lakh jobs. Today, our two countries engage in countless areas of mutual cooperation, and a supportive stance in recognition of our greater goals and shared values would promise significant progress in the future. If viewed through a transactional prism,the broader strategic dimensions of the partnership could get blurred. India and the U.S. will continue to intensify their economic relationship and interdependencies, and it is, therefore, critical to maintain the vision of the potential this partnership offers. The GSP remains a central aspect of the overall trade engagement and must remain available for Indian exporters keen to address the U.S. markets.
Source: The Hindu
The government has allowed central registration for transporters registered in multiple states/Union Territories (UTs) for the purpose of generating e-way bills under the goods and services tax (GST). The government has allowed central registration for transporters registered in multiple states/Union Territories (UTs) for the purpose of generating e-way bills under the goods and services tax (GST). However, transporters would not be eligible to use any of the GST identification numbers (GSTINs) once a unique enrollment number is generated by the system. To avail of the facility, transporters need to have a single permanent account number (PAN) for multiple GSTINs. The application process would involve submitting details in form GST ENR-02 using any one of the GSTINs. Once validated, this common enrollment would entitle the transporter to generate e-way bills for all registrations on a single handle. “Although its a revolutionary concept, the benefits would be restricted to generation of e-way bills. Ideally, the government should agree to the need of single registration for all taxpayers,” Rajat Mohar, partner, AMRG & Associates, said. Under the GST, a taxpayer operating in more than one state/UT is mandated to separately register on the GST Network for each jurisdiction.
Source: Financial Express
India and Australia will discuss ways to re-start the long pending proposed bilateral free trade pact and iron out obstacles in the on-going negotiations for the ambitious Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Canberra next week. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, who will co-chair the meeting with his Australian counterpart Steven Ciobo on June 25, will also meet some Australian super funds interested in investing in India, according to a government official. “The long-pending Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Australia, which got stuck over some issues such as market access for dairy items and financial products, will be a major area of focus for both Ministers,” the official said. The RCEP negotiations, involving 16 members including India, Australia, China and the 10-member ASEA, will also be discussed as India is trying to sort out sensitive areas of the negotiations with certain members bilaterally.
High returns
The Minister will also try to assure Australian superannuation funds interested in investing in India because of high returns and safety of their investments, the official added. The JMC will focus on strengthening of relations in the fields of commercial, economic, scientific and technological cooperation, the official said. Prabhu is also scheduled to deliver a speech at the Asia Society, in Sydney on ‘India's growth Story: Opportunities for Australia’ and meet the Premier of the New South Wales Government.
Source: The Hindu
Mumbai : Buoyed by the success of the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme introduced at seaports, the Government proposes to implement a similar concept at inland container depots (ICDs) or dry ports to cut time and costs for cargo imported in containers. Under DPD, import containers are delivered directly to pre-approved clients at the port instead of waiting at a container freight station (CFS) located outside for clearance, which reduces cargo dwell time and costs for shippers. DPD was first implemented in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s biggest container gateway, and later extended to all the gateway ports, including Chennai Port and privately-run Mundra port. “Going by the success of DPD at JNPT and encouraging figures at other gateway ports, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), intends to implement a similar concept at ICDs under the name ‘Direct Inland Delivery’ or DID,” Pranab Kumar Das, special secretary and member, CBIC, wrote in a June 18 communication to Chief Commissioners of Customs. BusinessLine has reviewed a copy of the communication. The procedure, Das wrote, would be applicable for the ICD-bound containers only after entry inwards have been granted at the gateway port. From a slow start about two years ago, the share of DPD in the overall imports has crossed 40 per cent, from about 5 per cent. The government has since decided not to grant permission for fresh proposals to set up CFSs in the vicinity of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Chennai Port Trust. The ban has now been extended to Visakhapatnam Port Trust and Mundra Port also, a Shipping Ministry official said. A CFS is an off-dock facility licensed by the customs department to help decongest a port by shifting containerised cargo and for carrying out customs-related activities outside the port area. An ICD also provides similar services, the only difference is that it is located in the hinterland (cargo generating and distributing areas) far away from the ports.
Duty payment
Under the direct inland delivery scheme being worked out by the CBIC, importers would have to file the import declaration before the arrival of the goods from the gateway ports at the ICD. The importer would pay the duties accordingly or on deferred payment basis. Currently, custodians at ICDs offer free period to importers before they clear containers carrying imported goods. “There is a need to take up this aspect with the respective custodians so as to devise a tariff structure (which acts as a financial incentive) where under the importers voluntarily opt for DID clearance for pre-identified containers rather than avail the free period at ICD as non-DID container,” Das told Chief Commissioners. “The tariff structure could provide that if the DID container is not picked up within 24 hours of the out of charge (granted) by the Customs, the custodian may impose an additional graded fee depending upon the number of days the DID container overstays,” Das added.
Source: Business Line
The overhaul of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) policy being planned by the government may see sops for the zones being linked to employment generation against the current fiscal-based incentives. “The group of eminent persons constituted by the Centre to study the SEZ policy and suggest changes, in its first meeting on Friday, stressed on the need to ensure that the zones led to generation of employment, which is one of the biggest challenge for the economy,” a government official told BusinessLine. Bharat Forge’s Baba Kalyani, who chairs the group on SEZs, suggested a shift from fiscal incentives to employment-based incentives, re-framing of the boundaries and introducing grandfathering clauses for existing provisions, the official added. “The idea is that while incentives for SEZs would be linked to generation of employment so that more labour-intensive zones come up, the present investments would not be hurt as existing provisions would be grand-fathered and new provisions would apply only on future investments,” the official said. The details of the employment-based incentives have not been fleshed out yet by the committee, and more clarity is to emerge by the next meeting in July, the official added. Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, who also attended the meeting, asked the panel, comprising industrialists, State-government representatives and Commerce Ministry officials, to come up with its report by the end of August. The Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs, which represents the interest of SEZ developers and units, earlier expressed its disappointment for not being included despite representing the actual stakeholders. At present, SEZ units get 100 per cent income tax exemption on export income for first 5 years, 50 per cent for next five years and thereafter 50 per cent of the ploughed back export profit for next 5 years. However, the exemption comes with a sunset clause to be effective from April 1, 2020. SEZ developers, on the other hand, get income tax exemption for a block of 10 years in a period of 15. The sunset clause for developers is already effective from last year. SEZs also get exemption from import duties and local taxes.
MAT, dividend tax issues
Although, initially, the SEZs were exempt from the Minimum Alternate Tax and Dividend Distribution Tax, they were introduced in 2012 and 2011 respectively, leading to protests from the SEZ community. Many SEZ developers have given up their investment plans over the past years stating that the introduction of MAT and DDT had brought in instability and made returns unattractive. “Although the Commerce Ministry has been trying to persuade the Finance Ministry to remove MAT and DDT from SEZs, the issue continues to be unresolved,” the official said. Prabhu has asked the panel to review the entire eco-system of SEZs and suggest changes to make the policy simple and transparent with a view to remove regulation in industry to revive the spirit in SEZs without compromising on environmental concerns. While some of the employment-based incentives, to be considered by the panel, may continue to be fiscal in nature, the government could also consider sharing a part of expenditure on employees undertaken by the SEZ units, the official explained. The other industrialist members of the panel include Ravindra Sannareddy, MD, Sricity SEZ; Neel Raheja, Group President, K Raheja Group; Anita Arjundas, Managing Director, Mahindra Life Space Developer; Ajay Pandey, MD and Group CEO, Gift City SEZ Ltd; Srikanth Badiga, Director, Hyderabad Phoenix Developer; and Anil Misra, MD Tata Steel SEZ Ltd. Principal Secretaries of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and the Additional Secretary and Director in charge of SEZ in the Department of Commerce are also members of the group. There are a total of 223 operational SEZs in the country as of March 2018 with 5,146 approved units. Total investments of ₹4,74,917 crore have flown into the SEZs so far creating jobs for 19,77,216 persons.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Sales of khadi products may witness a quantum jump in the current financial year ending March 2019 on the back of initiatives taken by the government. (PTI) The government is eyeing massive international exposure for khadi by positioning it as an "Indian brand" which only the KVIC is entitled to promote or claim as its own, along with a bigger footprint in foreign missions and exhibitions, a senior official has said. The government is eyeing massive international exposure for khadi by positioning it as an “Indian brand” which only the KVIC is entitled to promote or claim as its own, alongwith a bigger footprint in foreign missions and exhibitions, a senior official has said. The move may throw a spanner in the works of companies, especially foreign firms that are trying to register khadi as a trademark. A German company, named Khadi Natureprodukte GbR, had registered ‘khadi’ as a trademark with the European agency, OHIM (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market). Spain-based OHIM is the nodal agency looking after trademarks and design registration in the European Union. A meeting chaired by Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu with top officials from several government departments was held last week to chalk out the strategy for promoting khadi as an exclusively Indian brand using an institutional mechanism, and measures to boost exports of products made using the indigenous hand-spun fabric. “We need to have a proper branding, we are now discussing that with the commerce ministry. Once you start branding khadi as an Indian product, as something only the KVIC is entitled to promote or claim as its own, then the other people would not really do that,” MSME Secretary Arun Kumar Panda told PTI in an interview. “The commerce ministry also has an institutional mechanism about branding and they said they are going to also help us in getting the khadi brand promoted internationally,” the MSME secretary said, adding that secretaries from other government departments including commerce, DIPP, textiles and chemicals were also present in the meeting coordinated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. India Brand Equity Foundation (IBRF) is a trust established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. IBEF’s primary objective is to promote and create international awareness of the ‘Made in India’ label in markets overseas and to facilitate dissemination of knowledge of Indian products and services. “(For) khadi, we are trying to have more international exposure, more export, bigger footprint in international exhibitions and in missions abroad,” Panda said, adding the MSME ministry was also thinking that a detailed road map in this regard should be formulated with the help of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The MSME Ministry which exercises administrative control over the KVIC is also working towards positioning of niche khadi products within the country like ‘premium and super premium’, in an endeavour to further boost sales of products made using the hand-woven fabric by ushering in a change in the mindset of millennials or young adults, Panda said, adding “khadi can be a top notch absolutely fashionable product.” According to him, sales of khadi products may witness a quantum jump in the current financial year ending March 2019 on the back of initiatives taken by the government. “We are expecting quite a considerable jump (in sales of khadi products), minimum 40 to 50 per cent jump on a broader base,” the MSME secretary said. The MSME secretary said efforts were being made for opening khadi outlets abroad based on a franchisee-based revenue sharing model, under which the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) may enter into agreements with big stores, as one of the strategies involved in branding the products as ‘Indian’.
Source: Financial Express
Hada Textile Industries Limited and Shaktigarh Textile and Industries Limited have to pay Rs.16.82 lakh and a 12% interest on ₹10.50 lakh calculated from November 1980 when the suit was filed. CCI had entered into a contract with the two companies for import of cotton. In the contract, CCI acted as canalising agent (who facilitates flow of goods). A city civil court has settled a 41-year-old legal battle between the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and two companies by directing the latter to pay compensation for breach of contract. Hada Textile Industries Limited and Shaktigarh Textile and Industries Limited have to pay Rs.16.82 lakh and a 12% interest on Rs. 10.50 lakh calculated from November 1980 when the suit was filed. The contract between CCI, and Hada and Shaktigarh dates back to March 18, 1977. CCI had entered into a contract with the two companies for import of cotton. In the contract, CCI acted as canalising agent (who facilitates flow of goods). All importers have to place orders with the canalising agency for supply of goods. According to the suit, 890 bales of cotton were to be imported for the two companies. As many as 822 bales of cotton arrived from various countries at a port in Calcutta. Of them, 467 bales were allotted to Hada and 355 bales to Shaktigarh in September 1977. However, the two companies refused to accept the delivery. It was alleged the corporation failed to import the consignment on due dates, leading to the two companies to cancel the agreement in July 1977. They claimed that the cotton bales were supposed to arrive between May and July 1977. After Hada and Shaktigarh’s refusal, CCI said it was forced to sell cotton to other companies at a discounted rate. It said that the total bales were worth ₹16.82 lakh. The corporation claimed that after the resale, it suffered a loss of ₹10.50 lakh owing to a glut in the market. The companies refused to accept CCI’s contention and filed a suit before the Bombay city civil court in November 1980. In the court, CCI argued that both companies are part of Hada Group of Industries and liable to pay for the loss. The companies claimed that they were not part of the Hada Group, and the person who signed the contract was not authorised to do so. They also argued that were not liable to pay for CCI’s loss as it resold the goods. The court debunked the argument by Hada and Shaktigarh, saying they had agreed to import cotton bales through CCI.
Source: Hindustan Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1326.60 |
USD/Ton |
-0.23% |
6/24/2018 |
|
VSF |
2279.67 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
ASF |
3120.52 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1378.10 |
USD/Ton |
-0.11% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3581.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5380.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
1629.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
3666.22 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5802.93 |
USD/Ton |
0.13% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1648.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
3197.38 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3228.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
3043.66 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2175.14 |
USD/Ton |
-0.21% |
6/24/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
3028.28 |
USD/Ton |
-0.51% |
6/24/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2305.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2582.50 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3212.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2705.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.44 |
USD/Meter |
-0.11% |
6/24/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.89 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.24 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.73 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
6/24/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15372 USD dtd. 24/6/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The sixth annual Source Africa Textile and Apparel Show opened at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, showcasing the continent’s creativity, fashion sense, and business opportunities. The June 20 – 21 event features 140 exhibitions by textile, shoe and clothing producers, suppliers and service providers from across Africa. The purpose of the show is to promote African-made products to national and international buyers and manufacturers and encourage intra-regional trade between African countries. Source Africa is owned by the global exhibition firm Messe Frankfurt. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub supported the development and launch of Source Africa in 2013 and continues to encourage buyers and producers to take advantage of business opportunities available through the U.S. African Growth and Opportunities Act, known as AGOA. The trade preference program offers duty-free access to the U.S. market for some 6,500 African product lines. USAID Southern Africa Mission Director John Groarke opened the 2018 event, saying that Source Africa offers a model for private sector-led economic development in Africa, where untapped sourcing and export opportunities abound. “I look around through this hall today, and I see what Africa can be, and what private sector development can do for this continent. I hope that you have a great show over the next two days, and I hope that you learn more about the USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub, I hope that you learn more about the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and I hope to see more African and expatriate businesses get together because there is so much potential here in Southern African and throughout the continent,” Groarke said. Source Africa brings together industry leaders and decision-makers from across Africa, Europe and the United States, providing opportunities for buyers, manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to network and find new business opportunities. The USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub advances enterprise-driven solutions to unlock Africa’s growing markets. Through innovative public-private sector partnerships, the Hub promotes trade and investment to drive international commercial expansion and encourages resilient economic growth.
Source: CNBC Africa
After a warm autumn and a cold spring, the collections get stuck and the sector is forced to the discounts and to face an increasingly changing climate Last June 8th, maximum temperature in Madrid, at Retiro station, was 18.3 degrees. In Seville, it did not pass from 20.6. In both cities it rained. It is just a sample of an atypical spring, unusually cold and rainy in many areas of Spain, which has been a tough setback for Spanish textile sector. The heat has come just to brink of July sales, which many textile companies have had to advance — official date is July 1 — to give way to summer collections. Even some have invented summer Black Friday and or discounts on T-shirts and Bermuda shorts. "We have not started selling and we are starting to give away," laments Montserrat Gallego, president of Fashion Triangle, an association of manufacturers and Wholesalers of Madrid. The season has been disastrous, summer collections are intact in stores," summarizes Pedro Campo, vice president of Spanish Confederation of Commerce, patron saint of small shops. He adds to his opinion Eduardo Zamácola's, president of Association of Textile Trade, complements and Lear (Acotex). "The campaign has been tremendously hard," he says. The barometer produced by Acotex throws a fatal balance: May was fifth consecutive month of annual sales fall, with an average decrease of 4.4% compared to last year. Last fall, situation was opposite. The heat left in windows until end of year winter clos, most important campaign for sector, for greatest value of garments, as explained by Luis Lara, professor of ISEM Fashion Business School, University of Navarra, which talks about "seasons Liquid, you don't know when y start or end. " The Swedish H M, exemplifies it: in its first quarter (December-March), it presented very mediocre results: in autumn it did not sell garments of winter by heat and was obliged to promote m; In winter, by cold, he did not sell spring. More discounts. "Imbalance in assortment," y called it. Consequently, margins plummeted (operating, from 6.7% to 2.6%) and benefits. And stocks fattened by 7%.To a greater or lesser extent, situation is similar in many Spanish brands. "We have spent two years with climate invested. We do not sell in a campaign and n we have to do it on sales, with less margin, "summarizes Carmen Torres, general secretary of Spanish Federation of clothing Companies (Fedecon). "We are not adapting supply to demand," says Zamácola's. Meanwhile, abrupt wear changes tend to be more frequent. How to react? The key is agility. In sudden changes, re is no or choice but to pull stock, provided that a sufficiently large collection has been designed. "A survival stock," he calls it a field. Lara puts accent on flexibility: "Companies with more flexible models, such as Inditex [which restores stores every week], react better." The key to this is to be able to supply fast and that is achieved by producing closer, in Spain or its environment (Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Europe) and less in Souast Asia. The sources consulted coincide that this is an upward trend in Spain. The basic garments are manufactured far away, which will be maintained throughout season, in large orders, while most fashionable, trendy garments are manufactured nearby, in smaller chucks. If garment works, y are in charge more and are in store in a short time; If not, you don't lose too much. "The unit comes out more expensive, it is true, but it is more expensive to eat an order of 2,000 garments," says president of Acotex. Do you notice that relocation in Spain? An indicator is production index of textile (textiles) and clothing industry (garments). The first one is in ascending line since 2012, with five years in a row of growth, although 2017 recorded most modest data ( 1.8% in corrected series of seasonal effects). Still, production is roughly half that in 2000. The one of confection shows more clearly relocation: of two years to here, has grown a 16.8%. Well it is true that today is only a third of what was in late 90. The business figures of both follow similar trajectories. and also those of employment. The approach strategy is complemented by data. "Now we are all in big data, in knowledge of client's behavior," says Zamácola's. He and Lara set an example to Inditex, which collects information from its stores almost to minute. So you can react faster to, for example, order more units (or move m) from a working garment. There are already, even, companies that introduce in ir stock management systems meteorological forecasts. In addition, companies adopt or strategies. "We try to sell transition", argues Gallego, garments of halftime of all life. "that of collections of spring-summer and autumn-winter fades, are now transacionales," highlights Elena Carao, director of ecommerce at Mango. "It makes No sense to make two collections a year and sector is realizing," Zamácola's ditch, which bets for a greater turnover. "If not every 15 days, as big ones do, maybe every two or three months." "Capsules with fewer garments to keep traffic to store" and give a more stable workload to clothing industries, bet Towers, Fedecon. Thus, re will not be as much need to make continuous promotions, that " little ones crush us", sighs Galician.
Source: Turkey Telegraph
The Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and TAL Group have decided to introduce the application of HIGG index in the textile and garment industry. The decision was taken at a meeting held in Ha Noi on Thursday. The aim of introducing the index is to build a sustainable brand for Vietnamese textiles. HIGG is an online self-assessment tool that standardises measures for environmental and social impacts in the textile, footwear and fashion industries. It also serves as a standard sustainable report tool used by more than 8,000 manufacturers and 150 brands globally. A preliminary survey of more than 200 enterprises in Viet Nam reveals that nearly 70 per cent of the businesses are familiar with the HIGG index, but only 20.8 per cent of them have tried its application. The percentage of Vietnamese enterprises investing their money in HIGG is still low due to its high cost. At the meeting with textile companies, SAC CEO Jason Kibbey talked about the application of the HIGG index in practice to gain the trust of customers, from developing orders and increasing profits to fulfilling social responsibility. Kibbey said SAC had made sustainable production with a supply chain of more than 100 members, accounting for more than one-third of the global textile industry. He added that HIGG was a necessary benchmark as enterprises buying raw materials for production and selling products to the United States and EU countries needed the index.
Source: The Vietnam News
Việt Nam witnessed a growth in textile and garment exports to most of the major markets in the first five months of 2018, reported the General Department of Việt Nam Customs. Exports of textiles and garments to the markets of the member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) accounted for 17.1 per cent of the country’s total garment export turnover, reaching US$1.87 billion. Of this, the exports to Japan saw the highest increase at 22.6 per cent, reaching $1.39 million. The exports to Singapore rose by 22 per cent to $39.16 million, to Canada by 17.4 per cent, reaching $230.29 million and to Australia by 16 per cent, touching $79.41 million. CPTPP will come into effect in early 2019 and is expected to open a great opportunity for the Vietnamese textile and garment industry, pushing its export value up by 3 to 6 per cent per year. According to the General Department of Việt Nam Customs, the January-May period saw the national textile and garment export growth reach 16.2 per cent year-on-year to $10.91 billion, accounting for 11.2 per cent of the total export value of Việt Nam. It said the value to almost all the major markets increased against the same period last year. The United States was the largest export market for Việt Nam’ textile and garment products, with a growth of 12.4 per cent in value, reaching $5.15 billion. It was followed by the European Union with a growth of 12.1 per cent to $1.43 billion; Japan, up by 22.6 per cent to reach $1.39 billion; and South Korea, up by 22 per cent to touch the $1.09 billion mark. Meanwhile, the exports to Turkey jumped sharply by 96.8 per cent, reaching $19.23 million; Poland, 69.3 per cent, reaching $23.43 million; Myanmar, 65.9 per cent, reaching $9.19 million; Egypt, 65.2 per cent, touching $2.33 million; Hungary, 60.4 per cent, reaching $1.84 million. The garment and textile exports of foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 60.6 per cent of the total garment export value, reaching $6.62 billion, up by 16.8 per cent over the same period last year.
Source: Vietnam News
ISLAMABAD - New elected government would face a financial burden of around Rs250 billion despite the fact that partial payments were made under Rs180 billion Prime Minister Incentive Package for textile exports and around Rs150 billion recent extension.The outgoing government in its last days approved additional three year package of around Rs50 billion for providing cash support and slashing down electricity tariff for boosting the country's exports during next three years, in addition to Rs180 billion Prime Minister Incentive Package for export sector. Out of Rs180 billion Rs20 billion were for non-textile, while Rs40 billion were allocated for revenue loss, and remaining Rs120 billion were for two and half years. Since January 2017 to 30 June 2017, claims of Rs37billion and Rs27billion have been paid. In phase two there are two parts, each comprising of Rs40 billion amount. First part is without condition while second part is associated with 10 percent growth. The unconditional claims are expected to be filed in next six months while remaining, if applicable, may be filed during next one and half year. For unconditional part, around Rs12 billion claims have been received and Rs3 billion have been paid, while remaining is pending. Due to lengthy procedure of exports, the exporters may take time to apply for tax refunds. If the exporters achieve 10 percent growth criteria, around Rs70-80 billion claims are expected out of the previous package", said a highly placed source. Under the previous package, the duty drawback rates for textile garments were 7percent; textile made-ups 6 percent; processed fabric 5 percent; yarn and grey fabric 4 percent; while sports goods, leather and footwear were reduced to 7percent tax. In new incentive certain lines have been revised. In addition to previous package, the new government would have to pay for the new package, which includes cash incentive of Rs41 billion, Rs10billion electricity support for industry, Rs12 billion for zero-rating packaging material and Rs2billion import duty waiver, on 255 tariff lines of raw material. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has been demanding government to implement Rs180 billion in letter and spirit to bail out the domestic textile industry and to enhance the country's declining exports.
Source: The Nation news
Turkey has given the green light to annul the anti-circumvention duty on import of Nepali yarn, which the European Country had initiated to impose on the Nepali product alleging that Nepali traders were exporting foreign yarn to the country under domestic brand names. Earlier, Turkey had been providing duty free access to Nepali yarn. Since last year, the European country had initiated to impose 17 percent duty under the anti-dumping category. Following the hassles on export of one of the country’s main exportable items, a government team visited Turkey to clarify Nepal’s position on the production of yarn in March. Rajendra Singh, deputy director at Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), said the new development has come up after a team of Turkish government made onsite visits to Nepali production plants two weeks ago. “However, we are yet to receive official letter from the Turkish government over the issue,” Singh said. Nepal exports polyester and viscose blend yarn worth around Rs4 billion to Turkey annually. India, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and a number of Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam are the other major importers of Nepali yarn. According to TEPC, traders are attracted to export the domestic product to Turkey as they fetch higher price for the product there compared to other export destinations. With over 20 yarn manufacturers operating in the country, three of them including Triveni Spinning Mills, Jagadamba Spinning Mills and Reliance Spinning Mills export their products to Turkey. Singh said that during their visit in Nepal, the Turkish delegates were persuaded that Nepali companies manufacture yarn with more than 50 percent of value addition. The companies that import raw material from countries such as India, Thailand, China and Indonesia use labour intensive method to prepare the finished product. According to Singh, Turkey could have initiated to restrict Nepali products to safeguard their domestic yarn manufacturers. He added that the Turkish authorities had bad experience with Nepali products as traders had failed to submit Generalised System of Preference. Citing the hassles that exporters face, the government has recently come up with a new provision to ensure GSP facility. “Under the revised platform, traders can now submit electronic copy on the ‘Statement of Origin’ to the importing countries that offer GSP to claim the facility,” Singh said. Yarn is one of the major exportable items of Nepal, which comprises of almost 10 percent of the country’s total export earnings. In the last fiscal year, the product’s export soared by 29.4 percent to Rs6.93 billion.
Source: Kathmandu Post
Garment shipments from Bangladesh to its major Asian markets—India, China and Japan—are rising by the day thanks to competitive prices the country offers and spiralling production cost in China. Bangladesh's strength in formal garment production and higher economic growth in populous Asian countries have also helped such shipments to increase, which could hardly reach a few million dollars only five years ago, experts said. Garment export to these three markets grew 17.79 percent year-on-year to $1.39 billion in July-May period of the current fiscal year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Japan, with a retail garment market worth nearly $50 billion, is the largest export destination for Bangladesh among the Asian nations. In July-May period, Bangladesh sent $787.13 million worth of garment items to Japan, which is a 13.04 percent year-on-year rise. The overall export to Japan has already crossed $1.05 billion mark in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year from $945.47 million last year. Garment export to Japan will cross $1 billion soon as major Japanese retailers are increasing their footprint in Bangladesh for formal garments like woven shirts and t-shirts, said Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Japan is the only nation where Bangladesh exported goods worth more than $1 billion apart from its traditional markets -- the EU, the US and Canada. “Among the Asian destinations, garment export to Japan from our group is on the rise,” said Shahidullah Chowdhury, CEO of Noman Group, which exports over $1 billion worth of apparel items a year. “Especially, export of formal woven shirts and bed sheets to Japan is higher than other products.” Another promising market in Asia is India, which is also a destination of more than $50 billion worth of garment items. Garment shipments to India from Bangladesh more than doubled year-on-year in the first 11 months of the fiscal year. Between July last year and May this year, apparel items worth $253.07 million were shipped to the neighbouring country, in contrast to $117.21 million a year earlier, according to the EPB data. The reason for the exponential rise is bulk purchase by Western brands with operations in India and Indian clothing chains, which are finding Bangladesh's garment items to be more competitively priced for India's bulging middle-class demographic. Bangladeshi garment exporters face a 12.5 percent countervailing duty on shipments to India, although India announced duty-free facility on all Bangladeshi products except some alcoholic and beverage items in 2012. Overall exports to India increased 24.67 percent year-on-year to $792.88 million in the July-May period. The demand for formal wear in India is high due to growing middle-income office-going population, Parvez said. Moreover, the government's 3 percent stimulus package for the emerging markets also acted positively for higher growth to India and other new destinations, he said. China itself is becoming a major garment export destination for Bangladesh because of higher cost of production, enactment of stringent laws on garment production in China aimed at protecting the environment and shifting of manufacturing bases in China to machinery and electronic gadgets, Parvez said. Moreover, China is a densely populated country in Asia. Two thirds of the global population reside in Asian countries, of which China alone has more than one billion people. So, for having a larger consumer base, China is turning into a major garment export market for Bangladesh, he said. Garment exports to China in the July-May period fell 2.82 percent year-on-year to $347.08 million, the EPB data said. Overall export to China also declined by 28.91 percent year-on-year to $626.75 million during the period. “The export to any country might be lower on a particular year for some reasons, but this is not any permanent problem,” Parvez said. Garment export to China may rebound soon as Bangladesh enjoys duty benefit for export of nearly 5,000 goods to the Chinese market, exporters said.
Source: The Daily Star
Microsoft Corporation and British retailer, M&S (Marks and Spencer Group), have announced the signing of a strategic partnership focused on testing the integration of Microsoft AI technologies into M&S’ customer experience, stores, and wider operations. Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. The partnership will see the two organisations work together to explore how technologies such as artificial intelligence can be utilised within the retail environment to improve customer experience and optimise operations. A team of world-class AI engineers and product personnel from Microsoft will partner with the M&S retail labs team to accelerate M&S’ digital transformation. The announcement forms part of M&S’ drive to become a truly digital first business that brings real value to its business and customers under its business-wide transformation programme. The partnership with Microsoft builds on M&S’s new technology approach which was announced earlier this year. Steve Rowe, M&S CEO said, “M&S is transforming into a digital first retailer, at a time when the sector is undergoing a customer-led revolution. We want to be at the forefront of driving value into the customer experience using the power of technology. Working together with Microsoft to understand the full potential of how technology and artificial intelligence can improve the in-store experience for our customers and the efficiencies of our wider operations could be a game changer for M&S – and for retail.” Cindy Rose, CEO, Microsoft UK said, “We firmly believe that AI has the power to amplify human ingenuity. The retail sector is one of the most challenging landscapes in the UK right now and we are thrilled to be working with M&S to explore how AI can help such an iconic brand transform the customer experience and improve wider operations.”
Source: Fibre2Fashion
NEW YORK — New York City residents are throwing away less than they did 12 years ago, according to the Department of Sanitation’s Waste Characterization Survey released in April. The average household pitched less than 1,990 pounds of waste in 2017. That’s down from about 2,280 pounds in 2005. But less than a quarter of what residents set out on the curb each week belongs in a landfill. Recyclable materials such as paper, plastic, metal and glass make about 68 percent of the 3.1 million tons of waste that is thrown out. Other materials such as textiles makes up another 9 percent. This means that about 23 percent of the city’s waste is actual trash that should end up in landfill. “The study is a reflection of what we buy and choose to get rid of. It shows how consumer activity has changed through the years and hopefully makes us think about the impact of our purchasing decisions,” NYC Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said. “The study also shows us that we have incredible opportunities to develop and grow programs to achieve even more.” GrowNYC is a nonprofit that aims to improve the city’s quality of life through the different environmental programs they operate. One of their initiatives is trying to get more residents to donate their old or used textiles, such as clothing, towels and shoes, rather than throwing them away. Since 2007, GrowNYC has collected over 5 million pounds of clothing. “We hear from a lot people all the time who didn’t know about us or this resource,” Christina Salvi, the Assistant Director of Zero Waste Programs at GrowNYC, said. The Department of Sanitation estimated the average household threw away about 125.2 pounds of textiles last year. This is up from the average reported in 2005 which was 110.3 pounds. Through GrowNYC, people can drop off clothing, lines and other textiles weekly at any of the 26 greenmarkets the organization operates. “People will just clean out their closet or apartments and give us what they don’t want, use or wear anymore.” Salvi said. “We’ll take just about anything. We’ll sort through the donated material and will find a use for it all.” The textiles are gathered by Wearable Collections, a NYC based company that sorts through the donations to recover any usable clothing to distribute to second-hand markets. Material that is deemed unsuitable for reuse will go to recycling markets where items may be used as other things, such as rags. The Department of Sanitation also provides a number of resources that offer textile donations. RefashionNYC is one of them, and up to 10 collection bins can be placed throughout an apartment building per request. The items collected go to the nonprofit Housing Works that sells or recycles the textiles. “While we’re seeing New Yorkers generate less trash overall, they are still throwing out lots of clothing and other material that could be donated or recycled,” Garcia said. “We’re continually trying to think about what we could do to bring those numbers up.”
Source: Spartan Newsroom
New Delhi : India and Australia will discuss ways to re-start the long pending proposed bilateral free trade pact and iron out obstacles in the on-going negotiations for the ambitious Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Canberra next week. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, who will co-chair the meeting with his Australian counterpart Steven Ciobo on June 25, will also meet some Australian super funds interested in investing in India, according to a government official. “The long-pending Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Australia, which got stuck over some issues such as market access for dairy items and financial products, will be a major area of focus for both Ministers,” the official said. The RCEP negotiations, involving 16 members including India, Australia, China and the 10-member ASEA, will also be discussed as India is trying to sort out sensitive areas of the negotiations with certain members bilaterally.
High returns
The Minister will also try to assure Australian superannuation funds interested in investing in India because of high returns and safety of their investments, the official added. The JMC will focus on strengthening of relations in the fields of commercial, economic, scientific and technological cooperation, the official said. Prabhu is also scheduled to deliver a speech at the Asia Society, in Sydney on ‘India's growth Story: Opportunities for Australia’ and meet the Premier of the New South Wales Government.
Source: Business Line
