New Delhi: Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday said early data indicate that exports have registered a "good performance" in June despite volatility in global markets. The official export numbers for the month of June will be released on July 15. "Despite huge volatility in global markets, when large exporting countries are facing challenges in exports, our exports for month of June again have registered good performance as per early compilation," Prabhu said in a series of tweets. The country's merchandise exports recorded 20.18 per cent growth in May. The minister said that to promote overseas shipments, they are also involving state governments. "We are working on a holistic, comprehensive strategy to boost exports," he added. In the last fiscal, the country's total merchandise exports grew by about 10 per cent to USD 303 billion. Higher growth in outbound shipments helps create employment opportunities, earn foreign exchange and boost economic activities. Further commenting on the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), he said: "Many steps initiated by us to increase manufacturing at all levels. Happy to see manufacturing PMI improved to 53.1 in June from 51.2 in May, led by robust domestic and external demand".The country's manufacturing sector activity in June grew at the strongest pace this year, supported by rise in domestic and export orders, says a monthly survey.
Source: Deccan Chronicle
India's manufacturing conditions improved in June at the strongest pace since December 2017, supported by the sharpest gains in output and new orders in 2018 so far. Reflecting greater production requirements, firms were encouraged to engage in purchasing activity and raise their staffing levels. On the price front, input cost inflation was the sharpest since July 2014, whilst output charges rose at a stronger pace. Business confidence eased to the weakest since last October. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 51.2 in May to 53.1 in June. This was consistent with the fastest improvement in the health of India's manufacturing economy in 2018 so far. Manufacturing production rose in June, thereby extending the period of expansion to 11 months. Moreover, the rate of growth was sharp and the most pronounced since last December. Panellists linked greater output to favourable demand conditions. Output growth was reported across all market groups. In tandem with the expansion in output, new business placed at manufacturers in June rose to the sharpest degree in 2018 so far. There were reports that strong underlying demand supported new client wins. New orders from overseas rose for the eighth consecutive month. Moreover, the rate of expansion was solid and accelerated to the fastest since February. Anecdotal evidence pointed to stronger demand from key international markets. Amid stronger demand conditions, firms raised their staffing levels in June. Although modest, job creation accelerated to the strongest in 2018 so far. Jobs growth was evident across consumption, intermediate and investment goods. Following a fractional decline in May, firms raised their purchasing activity at the end of the quarter. Although modest, the pace of expansion quickened to the fastest since January. Panellists commented on improvements in market demand. As a result, post-production inventories held by manufacturing companies rose further in June, but only fractionally. Input costs faced by Indian manufacturing companies rose in June, thereby stretching the period of inflation to 33 months. Moreover, the latest rise was the sharpest since July 2014. Panellists reported that steel and fuel were among the key items that increased in price. Subsequently, firms raised their output charges at the fastest pace since February. Despite strengthening demand conditions, business sentiment was at the weakest level seen since last October. Optimistic projections for output reflected expectations that demand conditions will improve over the next 12 months, according to anecdotal evidence. Aashna Dodhia, Economist at IHS Markit and author of the report, said, ''India's manufacturing economy closed the quarter on a solid footing against a backdrop of robust demand conditions, highlighted by the sharpest gains in output and new orders since last December. Meanwhile, orders from international markets rose at the strongest pace since February. On the jobs front, the latest survey data pointed to a healthy labour market, with job creation accelerating to the sharpest since December 2017. The RBI recently raised interest rates for the first time in four years to contain inflation and stabilise the rupee. However, input cost inflation quickened to the strongest since July 2014 in June, suggesting that the central bank could remain under pressure to tighten monetary policy. Looking ahead, there was a note of caution, as business sentiment eased to the weakest since last October during June. The dip in optimism partly reflected concerns of a potential market slowdown in the year ahead. Indeed, some of the key challenges to the 12-month outlook include tighter domestic monetary policy and persistently high inflation.''
Source: IRIS
THE STATE government is set to allow higher construction rights to developers of prime mill plots in south and central Mumbai that are being developed under integrated development scheme for textile mills. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led urban development (UD) department has proposed an modification in Mumbai’s new Development Plan (DP) that will allow all such mill lands to be developed with a floor space index (FSI) of 4. FSI is a development tool that defines the extent of construction permissible on a plot. It is the ratio of built-up area of the plot to the total plot area. Basically, an FSI of 4 would allow developers to build up to four times the mill’s size. Eyebrows are now being raised over the department’s move to introduce a fresh modification to the DP after the completion of the deadline issued for public suggestions and modifications to other major modifications the government has proposed in the new DP. While this deadline ended on June 22, the fresh amendment was issued as part of a corrigendum issued on June 29 by the department. The proposed modification basically allows such developers to purchase additional FSI from the municipality by paying a premium or even buy additional transferable development rights from the open market to build up to an FSI of 4. Integrated development schemes of textile mills are those where multi-mill aggregation of the built-up areas of more than one mill under common ownership is submitted. The auctioned mills of the Centre-run National Textile Corporation (NTC) located in south and central Mumbai are the biggest such cluster. While four other private mill owners too have submitted plans under the integrated scheme, sources said that mill lands being developed by private parties under the NTC’s scheme will benefit the most from the move. At present, such mill land developers can avail a basic FSI of 1.33 times the plot size or an area equivalent to the built-up areas of the mill, whichever is higher. Further, they have the option of raising this up to 1.9 depending on the road width of the abutting road by purchasing (transfer of development rights) TDR from the open market. But for more construction rights, such developers earlier only had the option of utilising the FSI provided to the landowner (say NTC in this case) as compensation for surrendering a share of land for public open space and mill worker housing as mandatory. But the proposed modification allows such developers to utilise the premium FSI or additional TDR alongwith such compensation FSI to take the total permissible buildable area up to 4. “The total permissible FSI in such cases will be restricted to a maximum of 4 FSI. Provided further that in such cases the total permissible FSI may be allowed to utilised by way of NTC FSI, TDR or additional FSI by payment of premium in various combinations, at the option of the developer,” states the UD department notification issued in this regard. According to sources, the NTC has already sold about 2 lakh square feet of FSI it had obtained against such land surrenders. Sources added that the some influential developers revamping mills under the NTC schemes were wary that the balance FSI remaining with the NTC won’t be enough to allow them all to build up to four times the plot size. Further, the NTC has the option of selling the TDR to other construction projects. The modification, if approved, would ensure that such builders can avail up to 4 FSI, regardless of whether the NTC FSI was utilised on their plots or not. A top builder, who also has interests in the hospitality sector, and a construction firm building a mill plot in south Mumbai, are believed to have pushed the most for the modification. Questions are also being raised over another rider issued as part of the same modification, which mention that the provisions of the new DP won’t be applicable to “any future amendments proposed in the layouts of existing integrated development schemes for textile mills”. Sources said that the rider would allow the south Mumbai builder to protect extra areas build before the government introduced the fungible FSI policy in 2012.
Source: Indian Express
It has spoken up in favour of a liberal trade regime, but its exports sector needs a structural transformation to take advantage of one. The tariffs and counter-tariffs levied by the US and its allies and rivals alike are mounting. Global trade growth surged last year and continues to do so. From a post-crisis average of 3%, it hit 4.7% last year and is expected to achieve 4.4% in 2019. But that, the World Trade Organization has warned, is contingent on escalating trade tensions not acting as a spoiler. New Delhi is ostensibly playing on the side of the angels. It has spoken repeatedly about the benefits of a liberal trade regime at international forums in the recent past. But as its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) dilemma shows, rhetoric and reality don’t always match up. The question is: Is India positioned well enough to benefit from lowered trade barriers and tariffs? As of 2016-17, India’s share of world merchandise exports stood at 1.65% while its share of world service exports was twice that at 3.35%. But the political sensitivity of the factors affecting services trade—cross-border movement of professionals and the behind-the-border nature of regulation among them—makes it difficult to make headway. This has been the case at the RCEP where India’s efforts to fold services trade liberalization into the pact have come a cropper. Goods trade, on the other hand, is an area of relative consensus. However, recent warnings from several quarters about the possible negative consequences for India of the RCEP—and in some instances, bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs)—are not without merit. Indian goods exports are currently dominated by petroleum products, chemical products, textiles and garments, and engineering goods. This is a problem. In a seminal 2007 paper (What You Export Matters, Journal Of Economic Growth) Ricardo Hausmann, Jason Hwang and Dani Rodrik argued that quality matters more than quantity. Exports with higher productivity and sophistication will contribute more to economic growth. This connects with another phenomenon. As countries change and diversify their export baskets, they naturally tend to go in for goods that are relatively closely related to goods they are already producing. But all such goods clusters are not equal. Countries that focus on denser clusters have an easier time developing a comparative advantage in those products when it comes to international trade. Unsurprisingly, denser clusters occur more frequently around more sophisticated goods. In the nearly three decades since liberalization, India’s goods exports have moved up the value chain. That said, the basket continues to be dominated by goods of relatively low sophistication. In a 2015 International Monetary Fund working paper (Make In India: Which Exports Can Drive The Next Wave Of Growth?), Rahul Anand, Kalpana Kochhar and Saurabh Mishra have calculated that India’s goods export basket skews substantially more towards low-tech manufacturing than the median of peer emerging economies. This hamstrings India on two fronts. It limits the domestic productivity and income-boosting effects of exports and it makes it harder for India to gain the comparative advantage needed to take full advantage of bilateral and regional free trade pacts. Little wonder India’s trade deficit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan and Korea—it signed FTAs with them in 2010 and 2011—grew from $15 billion in FY11 to $24 billion in FY17. The current poor performance of Indian exports undoubtedly has something to do with the demonetization shock, the goods and services tax (GST) snafu when it comes to refund payments for exporters and the twin balance sheet problem. But the long-run problems go deeper. A depreciating rupee may help to an extent, but it is no panacea. Indian exports are more sensitive to demand than price. That leaves the third factor that drives India’s exports—domestic supply-side constraints. These are not new. The Economic Survey 2017-18 had pointed out that “Improved logistics have huge implications on increasing exports, as a 10% decrease in indirect logistics cost can contribute to around 5-8% of extra exports.” India has logistics costs around double of those in developed economies. Power shortages and poor reliability also affect export growth significantly. India’s continuing discom woes—not to mention the need for a workable long-term balance between renewable energy and thermal power—are crucial here. Then there are the multiple factors, ranging from onerous labour laws to regulatory costs, that keep companies small. Such companies have neither the capital and scale to move to more sophisticated goods, nor the worker skills to be part of such value chains. Poor innovation capital—there is a buffet of reasons, from the lack of quality higher education to low public and private expenditure on research and development and a lacking legislative framework—doesn’t help. Free trade, for all the distributional issues that have rightly come into sharp focus over the past few years, is a net good. New Delhi is right to champion it. But its RCEP dilemma shows the gap between theory and practice. That gap won’t be bridged without a structural transformation in Indian exports.
Source: Live Mint
LUCKNOW: The state government plans to distribute 400 solar-powered charkhas to registered yarn spinners to improve their efficiency and double their income. UP will also become the first state to recognize cloth woven on solar charkhas as khadi. Solar charkhas are used in other states also, but cloth so produced is not considered khadi and therefore weavers don’t get government benefits under khadi promotion. Minister for khadi, Satyadev Pachauri, said that the scheme may be rolled out from October 2. “There are 300 committees registered with Khadi and Village Industries Board. We will provide charkhas to them for spinners registered with them. If they are earning Rs 3,000 right now, they will start earning Rs 8,000,” he said. “At some point, when we are able to supply solar charkhas to everyone, we will also ensure that only those with solar charkhas will be eligible for concessions and subsidies,” said an official.
Source: Times News Network
The proposed changes to disbursement norms for working capital credit would hit the liquidity profile of vulnerable companies, ratings agency ICRA has said. For borrowers having aggregate fund-based working capital limits of Rs 150 crore and above from the banking system, a minimum level of ‘loan component’ of 40% should be made effective from October 1, 2018, which will increase to 60% with effect from April 1, 2019, according to Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) recently issued draft guidelines. This means that a borrower who is currently able to fully utilise the sanctioned revolving bank facilities such as cash credit and overdraft, without having to bear the burden of principal repayment — given the absence of a pre-defined repayment schedule for such facilities — would now have to adjust to the new paradigm whereby at least 40%/60% of the working capital borrowings would have a defined repayment schedule. Banks will have the discretion to stipulate repayment of the ‘loan component’ in instalments or by way of a bullet repayment, subject to the tenor not being less than seven days and likely within one year. “The repayments, as opposed to a rollover, would exert pressure on the liquidity profile of borrowers, specifically those that have a high dependence on cash credit or overdraft facilities while lacking alternative sources of liquidity,” ICRA said. As per ICRA’s analysis, the adverse impact might be more pronounced on entities in sectors including cut and polished diamonds, gems and jewellery (retail), media broadcasting, metals, thermal power, sugar, and textiles (cotton spinning). “These are the sectors where not only the average sanctioned working capital debt per entity in ICRA’s rated portfolio is estimated to be upwards of Rs 150 crore, but also the gross cash conversion cycle is high—ranging between 120 days to 220 days,” the agency stated. “It may be noted that sectors where the utilisation of working capital limits is seasonal, such as textile spinning and sugar, adapting to the new system might be less burdensome as the working capital required ebbs as the inventory gets converted into sales,” it said. “However, for sectors where the working capital required remains elevated throughout the year, the credit implications of the new system are likely to be more onerous,” ICRA said. As per ICRA’s estimates, if an entity typically utilises 40% of its limits and its repayments for the loan component are structured such that the pay-out is bullet in nature, then it would still have a cover of 1.5 times between the unutilised limits and the bullet pay-out amount — a comfortable situation. However, if the entity typically utilises 90% of its limits and its repayments for the loan component are structured as per a quarterly frequency, the said cushion would be 0.7 times — an uncomfortable situation concerning liquidity, the agency said.
Source: Times News Network
The UBS forex team expects a weaker USD despite US fiscal impulse and higher yields and retains its forecasts of USD/INR at 66 by end of this fiscal and 66.5 by end of the financial year 2019-20. The Indian rupee is expected to remain in the 68-72 range against the US dollar in the short-term on rising external risks but the Reserve Bank may intervene to control the volatility, says a UBS report. According to the global financial services major, if external stress continues to rise and/or the US dollar strengthens, policymakers could consider raising American currency deposits as a last resort to stabilise the rupee. However, towards year-end, "even as we believe there is depreciation pressure on the INR, it should be more than offset by a weak USD," the report by Tanvee Gupta Jain (Economist) and Rohit Arora (Strategist), UBS Securities India, said. The UBS forex team expects a weaker USD despite US fiscal impulse and higher yields and retains its forecasts of USD/INR at 66 by end of this fiscal and 66.5 by end of the financial year 2019-20. The tightening in global financial conditions and dollar strength has resulted in the rupee being amongst the worst-performing currencies against the US currency compared with peers and it has hit an all-time low recently. Moreover, a slowdown in capital flows with FII (equity and debt) registering an outflow of $9 billion in the June 2018 quarter and tightening in domestic financial conditions will also impact the rupee, the report noted. "We believe India is not immune, and if global financial conditions remain tight and/or global risk aversion rises from here, it will bear the brunt in the form of an adverse impact on growth and financial stability," the report said. The rupee (USD/INR) has depreciated by 8 per cent so far this year, making it one of the worst-performing currencies against the US dollar amongst its peers. Considering the huge outflows seen in FII flows, UBS believes India remains vulnerable in its external position. The rupee had breached the lifetime low and crossed the Rs 69 to a dollar level last week. However, it has gained in the last few trading sessions and opened at 68.96 on Tuesday.
Source: Business Standard
Surat: The 65,000 textile shops in the city’s different textile markets use approximately eight tonne of plastic daily. Traders say their parcels get wet or torn if not wrapped up in plastic. Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials recently seized more than 100kg of prohibited plastic in two raids carried out on business establishments. Jaylal, a trader in one of the textile markets, said, “There is no substitute for plastic at present. We need to wrap up our parcels while loading and unloading. Plastic also is a good waterproof material.” Some textile traders have got their own cloth bags made up. SMC officials are determined to get seven stars from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. “To achieve this status for a smart city, a complete ban on use of plastic products is a must. Plastic is a nondegradable material and therefore all types of plastic should be banned,” said an officer of SMC’s health department.
Source: Times News Network
The Centre has lauded the Haryana government for developing clusters to promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and directed other states to study the model. This is the second scheme of the Industries Department which would be implemented in other states, a Haryana government spokesman said here today. Additional Development Commissioner, Union Ministry of MSMEs, Piyush Srivastava has issued a letter giving directions to all other states and UTs to follow and implement the policies of Haryana in this regard, the spokesman said. During the last eight months, clusters have been set up at 25 places in the state. Earlier, the Central government had appreciated the Apprenticeship Policy of Haryana. Rajasthan and other state governments have written to Haryana for providing guidance in this direction, the spokesman said. Industries and Commerce Minister Vipul Goel said efforts are being made to provide better environment and facilities to MSMEs and in this direction, the cluster scheme has proven to be effective. The clusters set up for automobile, food, textile and engineering are proving to be a boon for MSMEs, he said today. The state government has increased its share from 10 per cent to 20 per cent for setting up clusters up to Rs 15 crore. The Centre bears 70 per cent expenditure of total cost, 20 per cent is contributed by the state government and 10 per cent by the industry concerned. Not only this, the state government bears expenditure up to 50 per cent in clusters up to Rs 20 crore, Goel said. In order to encourage MSMEs, the state government has also reduced the power tariff.
Source: Business Standard
NEW DELHI: The one year of the GST regime, India’s biggest tax reform since Independence may have seen rapid transformation in many areas of trade and commerce, but the shift of market share from unorganised to organised sector has been slower than anticipated. During GST rollout, this shift was touted to be a big investment theme for equity investors. But the numbers for the sectors believed to be major beneficiaries of GST do not suggest the same. Analysts say the government is closing the loopholes with the introduction of e-way bill and other anti- tax evasion measures, and this long-term theme may eventually play out in the days ahead. “While the government initiatives have been in the right direction, we continue believing that the shift will be prompt for some sectors, gradual for others and might remain challenging for a few,” said Motilal Securities. The biggest disappointment from GST has been for the building material sectors, such as ceramics, tiles, plywood and plastic products, where there has been an increase in unorganised trade post GST due to free movement of goods and lack of surveillance. In case of tiles, tax evasion by the Morbi cluster has increased, as unorganised firms are able to create an entire value chain in cash after the discontinuation of inter-state check posts, Elara Capital said. "Even after the implementation of e-Way bill, there has been no major impact on prices, as the same e-Way invoices are used by multiple trucks to dispatch different consignments. While the industry has made representations to the tax authority for creation of check posts at Morbi, where e-Way bill data could be captured, unorganised firms can underinvoice to reduce tax incidence,” the brokerage said. Building products such as tiles, cables, plywood and laminates have been affected most due to lax surveillance, said Deepak Jasani, Head - retail research at HDFC Securities. About 50 per cent of tiles and ceramic market is unorganised. The percentage stays as high as 70 per cent for plywood, and 55 per cent for laminates. Analysts said the GST rate on finished ceramic tiles products stood at 18 per cent and input tax credit for the industry is in the 4-8 per cent range. Unorganised firms may have to take a price hike of 10-14 per cent, if there is 100 per cent compliance, they said. Among tile and ceramic stocks, shares of Somany Ceramics NSE -0.09 % are down 34 per cent in last one year, while those of Kajaria Ceramics NSE -0.52 % , Cera Sanitaryware, HSIL, Asian Granito have dropped up to 30 per cent during this period. Plywood stocks Century Ply and Green Ply have dropped 16 per cent each in last one year. These companies saw low volume growth in FY18 due to issues of GST transition, delay in e-way bill implementation and higher taxes under GST at 28 per cent, later cut to 18 per cent in November 2017. Among textile stocks, Arvind (up 9 per cent), Kewal Kiran (down 1 per cent), Nandan Denim (down 39 per cent) have underperformed Sensex's 13 per cent return in last one year. Shares of Lux Industries and Page Industries have surged 62 per cent during this period, but innerwear stock Rupa is down 17 per cent in the same period. In the textile sector, a large part of which is unorganised, the benefits of GST are not visible due to inverted tax rates. The exporter community and fertiliser industry are facing severe working capital strains due to delay in grant of refund,” said Amit Sarkar, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax, BDO India. In case of electrical equipment and appliances, such as lighting (40 per cent unorganised segment), fans (25 per cent), pumps (30 per cent) and switchgears (not known), unorganised trade has became more active than earlier and there have been no major gains due to GST, experts said. Appliance makers Symphony NSE -1.08 % , Havells India, Crompton Greaves NSE -1.86 % , VGuard have underperformed the Sensex in last one year. But that’s not the case with the jewellery sector where, a significant shift towards the organised sector is already visible and Titan NSE -0.77 % has been a major beneficiary. Analysts have gone bullish on the counter even as it surged 65 per cent in last one year. Plastic stocks such as Nilkamal, Wim Plast and Supreme Industries NSE -1.46 % (Cello brand) have fallen up to 40 per cent in last one year. The unorganised market accounts for 40 per cent of this sector An effective implementation of GST and e-way bill can plug loopholes like bill-to-ship-to, geography-based exemptions and unrecorded purchases in the near term, said Motilal Oswal Securities. That said, Equirus Capital believes industries such as retail, FMCG and textile & garments may witness biggest drop, mainly because of structural shift in supply chain design and economies of scale across the logistics space, but it may take some years to materialise. Due to realignment of supply-chain designs and logistics expenses, shares of most FMCG and white goods players may decline 15 to 20 per cent over next 2-3 years, it said. Brokerage IIFL believes in the theme on business shift to the organised sector. “Following GST implementation, the unorganised sector has come under the tax net, which has reduced tax evasion. We expect the gross tax revenue-to-GDP ratio to rise by 100 bps YoY to 12 per cent this year. On the business side, one is seeing a lower gap between organised and unorganised sectors,” he told ETMarkets.com.
Source: Economic Times
AHMEDABAD: As the landmark tax reform — Goods and Services Tax (GST) — completes one year on June 30, the journey remained a rather challenging for both the industry and the governments. Although the new tax regime has stabilized after initial transitional pains, certain issues are yet to be resolved. The creation of a unified market through GSTwould certainly help improve the ease of doing business. Delays in the processing of refunds of integrated GST (IGST) and input tax credit (ITC) hit working capital and payment cycles of several businesses, until recently resolved by the government authorities. The teething troubles may have been addressed but a lot more needs to be done. Here’s an overview: Pharmaceuticals The pharma industry has registered monthly double-digit growth, which had tanked to negative 2.6% in July when the new tax regime came into force. Fresh investments have started flowing into Gujarat. “Before GST implementation, the tax regime was skewed due to which manufacturing industries ended up setting up a facility in tax haven states. However, GST has played an equalizer with several companies making investments in Gujarat after July 1,” said Viranchi Shah, president, Gujarat chapter of Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA). The industry players, however, say certain procedures have not been laid out to enable manufacturers to claim input tax credit on capital goods. Textiles Being a highly labour-intensive industry comprising large number of small and medium units, textile industry continues to reel under the new tax regime. “Smaller units faced issues with compliance, many of which still continue. Exports are flat and not showing signs of improvement as export incentives were cut pending refunds for IGST and ITC. Production and regular business cycle remain adversely impacted, especially for smaller units, who still grapple with issues like unemployment and revenue loss. Manufacturers are unable to take advantage of the good demand,” said Sanjay Jain, chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI). The country’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) industry in Surat, where a political uproar was created over GST ahead of state assembly elections last year, has seen 40,000 people losing their jobs and production of grey fabrics reduced from 4 crore metres to 2 crore metres a day as weavers don’t get the benefit of ITC, said industry players.
Real Estate
Real estate sector in Gujarat has more or less remained stagnated for over five years now. While GST did cause an effective increase of 4%-5% in the total cost of a property to the consumer, it has not impacted demand. “In fact, it is good for consumers, as developers will now get the benefit of input tax credit for any increase in raw material prices. Hence, these additional input costs will not be passed on to the consumers,” said Ashish Patel, president, GIHED-CREDAI. Although GST rates to 8% for affordable housing and 12% for other segments of housing, these different rates have robbed the industry players of a level playing field. The industry body, NAREDCO, has suggested that there could be 6% applicable rate to all categories of housing. The 12% GST on under construction homes should be re-visited as zero GST on ready possession homes has created disadvantageous scenario for under-construction homes.
Source: Times News Network
“I used to run 36 looms on rent, but my business tanked after GST came into effect. After incurring a loss of over Rs 2 lakh, I am out of the business and have resorted to selling tea,” said an exasperated Nikul Patel, who runs a tea stall right next to the industrial estate where he ran his loom unit in Pandesara area in Surat, Gujarat. Nikul is one of many unit owners in Surat who’ve been forced to shut shop within a year of the introduction of the 5-18% Goods and Services Tax (GST). Often called the ‘Manchester of India’, Surat is the textile hub of India and houses small and large zari, embroidery, cloth and textile industries. The Quint travelled to Surat to understand the impact of a major tax overhaul in India’s once-booming textile sector.
No Input Tax Credit Refund for Looms
Kalpesh Patel is a loom owner and somehow manages to keep his head above water but claims that his turnover has dropped from Rs 50 lakh per month to a paltry Rs 2-3 lakh per month – a whopping 96 percent drop. “The problem is with power looms being denied input tax credit refund. We pay 12 percent GST on raw material (yarn) and get a 5 percent GST refund when we sell them the‘grey state’ (un-dyed fabric). But we still need refund on the remaining 7 percent else our capital to stay in business gets wiped off. Especially because the cost of raw material has spiked, again due to GST. GST has had a compounding effect on our businesses. Problem is I have loans to pay off, so I cannot shut my mill. I have to pay the supplier, the bank and the labourer, but my take-home earnings are next to nothing.”
Kalpesh Patel, Loom Owner
As per the GST law, power looms have been barred from seeking any input tax credit refund. Last year’s protests stalled all work for a period of 20 days leading to a loss of over Rs 100 crore across the market. The Modi government at the time was undeterred but announced a cut in GST rates just days ahead of the Gujarat elections in December. However, the blow did not soften. Power loom units in Surat’s Pandesara area are either partially operational or running below capacity. Others are being sold in scrap. “A loom unit like the one behind me with 70 machines can manufacture over one lakh meter of cloth. But many unit owners have sold their loom machines as scrap”, says Kalpesh Patel. “Machines that cost lakhs are going for Rs 20-30,000. Can you imagine state of affairs in Surat where there are well over 75,000 units crammed into industrial estates like the one where we are standing? Even if someone tries now, the situation will be difficult.”
Zari Crushed by GST And Taxation on ‘Job Work’
Zari, which goes into making expensive Benaras and Kanchipuram sarees has also been burdened by GST. The industry which is indigenous to Surat, was taxed 12 percent and the rate was kept uniform for both genuine and imitation zari. After several sittings, the GST council reduced the 12 percent tax to 5 percent GST on genuine gold and silver zari. But, the manufacturer still has to pay Rs 2000 as GST on every 1 kg of zari which costs roughly Rs 40,000. “Earlier,we used to pay only a 2 percent sales tax. But now, the high tax rate impacts the producer and the consumer. As a result, demand is reduced and consequently, we’ve had to let workers go. Over 70 percent of our employees are women who are from very poor backgrounds. Women who were once supplementing their household incomes are now unemployed because we simply cannot afford to keep them all.”
Shantilal Jariwala, President of the All India Jari Federation
Another set of people who’ve been badly hit are people who were working from home. There are two types of workers in the textile business – those who work in individual units and earn daily or monthly wages, and workers who are given raw materials to process from home. In the industry parlance, this work-from-home system is referred to as ‘job-work’.
And the GST did not spare them either.
With GST on job-work, labourers and workers who never created a receipt in their lives now have to calculate and pay GST according to the goods he produces. Since these labourers don’t even have a GST number and their turnover is nowhere near Rs 20 lakh a year, we bear the tax burden and pay less to the labourer who does job-work. Now they are phasing out of the business because of poor returns.
Bipin Jariwala, Secretary of the All India Zari Federation
“The government should either phase us out of GST, since we already pay close to 18 percent GST on raw material such as copper or keep it as low as 3 percent, else our businesses are doomed,” Bipin Jariwala added.
Seven Lakh Embroidery Workers Out of Jobs
The dingy alleys on AK Road, behind Surat railway station are now quieter with the shutting down of thousands of embroidery units. Just like the power loom sector, unit owners here are selling their machinery for scrap as they are not able to manage the GST burden. As a result, an industry that paid wages to a million labourers, today employs only around three lakh workers.
Rajni Patel, treasurer of Embroidery Association said, “Today our employees are sitting at home in their villages, and unit owners are opening shop twice a week. Those who cannot keep their businesses running are selling their machines for cheap. Machines costing Rs 10 lakh are being sold for Rs 2-3 lakh. That is a 70 percent capital loss.”
“Worse, now we cannot bring cash into play, as all payments are made through cheques. Here in this industry we must pay the labourer every day. There is no guarantee on cheques and when they did bounce earlier, the trader paid us cash, now we have to wait for the cheques to be cleared.”
Rajni Patel, Treasurer of Embroidery Association
Bhola Singh hails from Bihar and works in Surat at an embroidery unit. He tells his friends not to return to Surat as there are no jobs for them here.
“We get paid once in 2-3 months. There is no guarantee when we will get paid. What we earn we must spend frugally and manage our expenses and our homes back in our village. In a month we work for 7-8 days, that’s about two days in one week and then the unit shuts for 5-6 days. That’s how a month goes by here. Where else can we go? We don’t know any other work. I’m an embroidery worker, it’s the only thing I know. How do I even go about getting another job?”
Bhola Singh, 31, Embroidery Worker
No Respite for Traders
There was a time when the Surat Ring Road near the railway station had to deal with choc-a-bloc traffic on a daily basis as reams of cloth and other finished products entered the massive markets from godowns across the state and the country. Now traffic outside the market flows smoothly while the businesses inside stand stifled. Pawan K Chaudhury is a textile trader from Surat Textile Market and had entered the business only five years ago. “Around 200-350 shops have shut down. All we can think of is saving every penny and completing the paper work, which in itself is a herculean task. I was employed elsewhere earlier, but then I decided to start my own business. It was challenging, but fun till about two years ago. But everything changed with demonetisation and GST,” he says. Under the current regime we must make bill-to-bill payments. Earlier, if the buyer made payment within 20 days we gave them a discount and charged them in full if they paid back in 90 days. Now with GST that system has been scrapped as all payments have to be made bill-to-bill. We used to have a strong turnover of over Rs 4 crore. These days it has gone down by more than half. We traders keep saying, as long as PM Modi ji rules India, our vikas is impossible.”
Source: Bloomberg
The State government, which has been aiming to produce cheaper Mysore Silk saris to cater to the demands of the lower middle class category customers, is contemplating rejuvenating the historical spun silk mill of Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) at Channapatna in Ramanagaram district. S.R. Mahesh, Minister for Tourism and Sericulture, inspected the mill on Monday and held a discussion with the officials concerned, sericulturists and silk reelers. The Minister underlined the urgency/importance of rejuvenating the mill to enhance the productivity of the KSIC besides improving the livelihood of sericulture-dependant families of the region.
Rs. 8 crore allocation
Initialy, the government would re-open a unit of the mill. Measures will be initiated for the complete rejuvenation of the mill, going further. A sum of Rs. 8 crore will be released for the purpose, Mr. Mahesh said.
Sophisticated showroom
Keeping in view the sale of fake/substandard silk saris, the KSIC is planning to establish a sophisticated showroom at Channapatna to sell authentic and pure silk saris. It would offer varieties of uniquely designed and smooth-textured silk saris to the buyers.
Park construction
The Minister said he has instructed the officials concerned to demolish the dilapidated building on the premises of the mill and construct a park.
Cocoon market
Mr. Mahesh also visited the Government Cocoon Market at Channapatna where sericulture growers raised their concern over fall in prices of silk cocoons. Import of silk cocoons is affecting sericulture growers and remedial measures would be taken to improve their livelihood, he said. Established in 1932, the mill at Channapatna had produced several lakh silk saris, without compromising on the quality, for several decades. There was a great demand for Channapatna mill’s products even in foreign countries. Nevertheless, the mill had to stop production in 2002. Ramanagaram is one of the major sericulture producing districts in the country. The Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagaram town is considered as the second largest cocoon market in Asia.
Source: The Hindu
TIRUPUR: The TirupurExporters’ Association has hailed chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for writing a letter to Union minister of commerce Suresh Prabhu regarding the negative growth witnessed in Tirupur knitwear cluster. In the letter dated June 28, the CM highlighted the advantages, including generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) plus by European Union and duty free access to the United States, enjoyed by other countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Similarly, custom duty levied in India for importing yarn is not imposed in those countries. He also mentioned about the central government slashed rates of rebate on state levies (RoSL) and duty drawback given to the textile exporters. “All such factors have resulted in a ‘price competitive disadvantage of around 10% for Indian apparel exports compared to our competing nations,” he added. The CM had written a similar letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 22.
Source: Times News Network
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
Bottle Grade Chip |
1081.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
PSF |
1309.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
VSF |
2227.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
ASF |
3079.10 |
USD/Ton |
0.99% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1375.83 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3499.66 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
5257.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
3582.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
5670.05 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1625.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
3139.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
3184.24 |
USD/Ton |
0.95% |
7/3/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1607.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2966.45 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2114.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2943.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2253.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2508.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3131.67 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2643.52 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.41 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.87 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.21 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.71 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/3/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15020 USD dtd. 3/7/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Egypt’s garment exports rose by 12 per cent during January-May to reach $645 million against $575 million during the same period last year, the Readymade Garments Export Council (RMGEC) said in its monthly report. Exports to the United States also rose by 12 per cent in the same period, recording $310 million, against $276 million in the corresponding period in 2017. The country’s garments exports to Europe during the period was $219 million against $189 million in 2017 — an increase of 16 per cent. For African countries, it was $1.253 million against $855,000 during the same period last year, according to a report in an Egyptian daily. Garment exports to Arab countries in that period dropped by 16 per cent to $30 million, compared to $35 million last year. The top countries interested in Egyptian garment exports are the United States, Turkey, Spain, Britain, North Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and the Netherlands. (DS)
Source:Fibre2Fashion
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, a leading developer of spider silk based fibres, is collaborating with a local cooperative in Quang Nam province, Vietnam to expand mulberry production. This effort is a major element of the company’s production expansion plans and marks a significant increase in capacity. The company plans to add nearly 2,500 acres of mulberry. News of this collaboration was published in a leading Vietnamese digital media outlet, which highlights the efforts to focus on high technology agriculture and re-energise the Vietnamese share of the multi-billion dollar sericulture industry. Expanding mulberry production in Quang Nam, by nearly 2,500 acres, is a powerful step to increasing total silk production and a key component of the company’s plan to bring its spider silk technology to market. “Collaboration with local farmers and workers, leveraging their expertise and knowledge, is core to our production scale up efforts,” said Jon Rice COO. “This effort highlights the complementary efforts that we are taking, in combination with the leadership in Quang Nam, to restore their traditional sericulture industry, by blending in new high technology agriculture. This continued collaboration will play a key part in the exciting growth potential we’re seeing with our expansion in Vietnam and the market for affordable spider silk materials.” (SV)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The US Senate recently passed the 2018 Senate Farm Bill which includes a measure to legalise industrial production of hemp, a crop that is already cultivated for research purposes in Virginia, thanks to the 2014 Farm Bill, but which the agriculture industry cannot grow for commercial use. Hemp is distinct from marijuana and has no narcotic capability. “This bipartisan bill would finally end an outdated ban that has held farmers back from participating in the industrial hemp market, allow states to decide the best way to regulate this emerging industry, and give farmers access to critical federal support to protect their investment. Legalizing industrial hemp production will bring new businesses to Virginia and create jobs,” senators Timothy Michael Kaine and Mark Robert Warner from Virginia said in a press release on the former’s official website. “In addition, this legislation includes measures to continue successful Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts, expand farm conservation, and preserve some of our most cherished public lands,” they said. Hemp is used in more than 25,000 products spanning agriculture, textiles, recycling, automotive, furniture, food, nutrition, beverages, paper, construction materials and personal care. The bill also includes measures to protect the US cotton industry, making cotton once again eligible to participate in federal crop insurance programs, which are used by farmers to protect themselves against either the loss of their crops due to natural disasters, or the loss of revenue due to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities. The bill has now moved to the House of Representatives for consideration
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Bangladesh is looking for new markets to boost its exports, according to commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, who is hopeful of developed countries continuing their cooperation in that regard as the country graduates from the least developed countries (LDC) group. Ahmed was speaking at a workshop on garment and footwear products of Bangladesh in Brussels recently. The European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development jointly organized the workshop, Bangladesh news media reported citing an official press release. Ahmed went to Brussels on June 24 to join the 4th review meeting of Sustainability Compact for the readymade garments (RMG) sector. The Sustainability Compact is an agreement with the European Union, the United States, Canada and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Ahmed said Bangladesh has ensured labour rights, fire safety of buildings along with the health services of workers, but the third pillar of the agreement — fair price of garment products — is not getting importance.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Chinese investments flow into the textile industry of Uzbekistan has registered an increase. This was noted during the meeting of the leadership of the Uztekstilprom association with Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jiang Yan, Uzbek media outlets reported. The amount of Chinese investments in the country’s textile industry exceeds $ 200 million, the press service of the association said. The Chinese side was provided with information on successfully implemented and currently implemented projects with the participation of Chinese companies such as Jinsheng group, Nanyang Mulanhua, Marjan Investment Group, and others. During the meeting, issues of development of cooperation between Uzbek and Chinese textile associations, large textile companies, expansion of investment activities of Chinese companies in Uzbekistan, increase in trade turnover between the countries, in particular, consideration of the issue of optimization of rates of customs duties on the import of Uzbek textiles to China were discussed. Particular emphasis was placed on the development of the Chinese Government's technical assistance program aimed at training and upgrading the skills of young specialists for the textile, clothing and knitting industries. During the period January-June 2018, within the framework of this program, 15 specialists of the industry in the different regions of China were trained. Also, the Chinese side invited representatives of the textile industry of Uzbekistan to participate in the upcoming International Exhibition “Expo China 2018” set to be held in November. In its turn, the Association invited Chinese companies to take part in the International Exhibition of Textile and Fashion Industry “UzTextile Expo 2018” and the international conference “Uzbekistan Textile Conference,” which will be held in Tashkent on September 4-7 this year. In the period 2010-2014, the textile industry of Uzbekistan received and spent foreign investments worth $785 million while 147 new textile enterprises with participation of investors from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Turkey and other countries were commissioned. Export potential of these enterprises amounted to $670 millions.
Source: AzerNews
Bangladesh’s jute ministry is working on a policy to set up a Tk-10,000 crore fund to offer low-cost loans to farmers, traders, industrialists, goods producers and exporters for developing the jute sector. A panel headed by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) chairman Mohammad Mahmudul Hassan has prepared the draft for the Jute Sector Development Fund. The government should form a 20-year revolving fund based on the budgetary allocation to provide the loans, which should be disbursed at 5 per cent interest and half of the interest payments should come from the state coffer as subsidy, according to the panel’s recommendations. Bangladesh Bank would manage the fund, to which other banks would also enjoy access under refinancing arrangement, the committee suggested. Except for farmers, none without licence for jute and jute goods business will be eligible for getting loans from the fund, according to Bangladesh newspaper report. Around 2 lakh people work in 176 mills, which process two thirds of Bangladesh’s annual jute production of 14 lakh tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association. Out of that, 8.36 lakh tonnes are exported and the rest consumed locally.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers Union (Nulaw) have rejected a wage offer from their employers, Southern African Footwear and Leather Industries, citing a “living wage in the footwear manufacturing sector”. Wage talks had deadlocked between employers and the unions after Sactwu demanded a 9.5% wage increase for 2018, while Saflia offered a 6.25% increase. The unions have now threatened to down tools. Sactwu said it had more than 10000 workers in the industry. Sactwu general secretary Andre Kriel said the union would consult its members through a strike ballot. “We have now written to Saflia and all other footwear employers to inform them that we will commence with a strike ballot of our members during the course of this week. “The purpose of the strike ballot is to seek a mandate from our members to strike in pursuit of our demand for a living wage in the footwear manufacturing sector,” he said. The dispute came after Saflia and the two unions - Sactwu and National Union of Leather and Allied Workers Union (Nulaw) - could not reach a settlement after two rounds of negotiations and a conciliation meeting held on June 28. Sactwu national collective bargaining officer Vilina Membinkosi said a strike would be national if members voted in favour of the ballot. “Currently we have taken up our balloting processes and intend to finish, possibly, this coming Thursday. “We’ll start the counting process immediately after that. “We are inviting the employers’ association to be part of the balloting and counting processes. “We hope we’ll finish the counting process by Monday, after which we’ll announce the outcome of the ballot.” The union is obliged, in terms of the Labour Relations Act, to give a 48 hours notice to employers of their intentions if workers proposed to strike, he added. Saflia’s executive director Jirka Vymetal said: “In response to our offer of 6.25%, our industry is under immense strain. “In the last 10 years we have not worked so much short-time as we are doing now. It’s very evident the pressure we are under, and in our humble opinion and considering the economic trading climate, we feel that it’s a fair offer, and we sincerely hope that common sense prevails.”
Source: Times News
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently hosted a forum to create a networking platform for Kyrgyz garment firms and foreign brands and buyers. The forum brought together over 20 European and Russian brands and fashion retailers, international apparel equipment manufacturers, and software developers with Kyrgyz apparel firms. An exhibition of the latest garment technologies and business-to-business meetings for buyers, investors, and Kyrgyzstani apparel manufacturers took place during the ‘Technologies, Investments and Opportunities for the Textile and Garment Industry of Kyrgyzstan’ forum, according to a press release from the US Embassy in Bishkek. The forum featured presentations on advanced technologies in apparel production and how those technologies can create opportunities for Kyrgyzstani factories, understanding buyers’ expectations when placing orders in Kyrgyzstan, and methods for increasing productivity in factories to meet the requirements of retailers. The forum served as a close-out event for USAID Business Growth Initiative (BGI) Project, a $20 million project that has built and strengthened the competitiveness of Kyrgyzstan’s economic sectors including tourism, construction, and apparel manufacturing for the past four years. During this period, USAID BGI promoted Kyrgyzstani manufacturers to new buyers resulting in eight firms signing export contracts worth $3 million with several fashion retailers. USAID BGI also generated requests from retailers for more than 1,000 sample garments and price quotations, which are critical precursors to obtaining actual sales contracts. The Project undertook sales missions to eleven fashion retailers in Europe and hosted buying missions from eight fashion retailers, each with over 300 stores, the release said. USAID recently provided a grant for equipment to the Salkyn textile company, which opened a new apparel production facility on June 22. USAID renovated a Salkyn factory building and equipped it with 98 advanced high-speed industrial sewing machines that will increase productivity by 70 per cent and create 200 jobs, the release added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
MIT-developed process could offer nontoxic alternative to environmentally harmful chemicals. Fabrics that resist water are essential for everything from rainwear to military tents, but conventional water-repellent coatings have been shown to persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies, and so are likely to be phased out for safety reasons. That leaves a big gap to be filled if researchers can find safe substitutes. Now, a team at MIT has come up with a promising solution: a coating that not only adds water-repellency to natural fabrics such as cotton and silk, but is also more effective than the existing coatings. The new findings are described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, in a paper by MIT professors Kripa Varanasi and Karen Gleason, former MIT postdoc Dan Soto, and two others. “The challenge has been driven by the environmental regulators” because of the phaseout of the existing waterproofing chemicals, Varanasi explains. But it turns out his team’s alternative actually outperforms the conventional materials. “Most fabrics that say ‘water-repellent’ are actually water-resistant,” says Varanasi, who is an associate professor of mechanical engineering. “If you’re standing out in the rain, eventually water will get through.” Ultimately, “the goal is to be repellent — to have the drops just bounce back.” The new coating comes closer to that goal, he says. Comparison of droplets on a coated surface (left) and an untreated one (right). (Varanasi and Gleason research groups) Because of the way they accumulate in the environment and in body tissue, the EPA is in the process of revising regulations on the long-chain polymers that have been the industry standard for decades. “They’re everywhere, and they don’t degrade easily,” Varanasi says. The coatings currently used to make fabrics water repellent generally consist of long polymers with perfluorinated side-chains. The trouble is, shorter-chain polymers that have been studied do not have as much of a water-repelling (or hydrophobic) effect as the longer-chain versions. Another problem with existing coatings is that they are liquid-based, so the fabric has to be immersed in the liquid and then dried out. This tends to clog all the pores in the fabric, Varanasi says, so the fabrics no longer can breathe as they otherwise would. That requires a second manufacturing step in which air is blown through the fabric to reopen those pores, adding to the manufacturing cost and undoing some of the water protection. Research has shown that polymers with fewer than eight perfluorinated carbon groups do not persist and bioaccumulate nearly as much as those with eight or more — the ones most in use. What this MIT team did, Varanasi explains, is to combine two things: a shorter-chain polymer that, by itself, confers some hydrophobic properties and has been enhanced with some extra chemical processing; and a different coating process, called initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), which was developed in recent years by co-author Karen Gleason and her co-workers. Gleason is the Alexander and I. Michael Kasser Professor of Chemical Engineering and associate provost at MIT. Credit for coming up with the best short-chain polymer and making it possible to deposit the polymer with iCVD, Varanasi says, goes primarily to Soto, who is the paper’s lead author. Using the iCVD coating process, which does not involve any liquids and can be done at low temperature, produces a very thin, uniform coating that follows the contours of the fibers and does not lead to any clogging of the pores, thus eliminating the need for the second processing stage to reopen the pores. Then, an additional step, a kind of sandblasting of the surface, can be added as an optional process to increase the water repellency even more. “The biggest challenge was finding the sweet spot where performance, durability, and iCVD compatibility could work together and deliver the best performance,” says Soto. The process works on many different kinds of fabrics, Varanasi says, including cotton, nylon, and linen, and even on nonfabric materials such as paper, opening up a variety of potential applications. The system has been tested on different types of fabric, as well as on different weave patterns of those fabrics. “Many fabrics can benefit from this technology,” he says. “There’s a lot of potential here.” The coated fabrics have been subjected to a barrage of tests in the lab, including a standard rain test used by industry. The materials have been bombarded not only with water but with various other liquids including coffee, ketchup, sodium hydroxide, and various acids and bases — and have repelled all of them well. The coated materials have been subjected to repeated washings with no degradation of the coatings, and also have passed severe abrasion tests, with no damage to the coatings after 10,000 repetitions. Eventually, under severe abrasion, “the fiber will be damaged, but the coating won’t,” he says. The team, which also includes former postdoc Asli Ugur and Taylor Farnham ’14, SM ’16, plans to continue working on optimizing the chemical formula for the best possible water-repellency, and hopes to license the patent-pending technology to existing fabric and clothing companies. The work was supported by MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation.
Source: MIT News Office
HANOI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam imported 840,000 tons of cotton worth nearly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, posting respective year-on-year increases of 23.7 percent and 25.8 percent, according to its Ministry of Industry and Trade on Monday. In the six-month period, Vietnam also imported 505,000 tons of yarn totaling roughly 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 17.9 percent in volume and up 34.7 percent in value. Meanwhile, the country spent 6.4 billion U.S. dollars importing cloth, up 17.1 percent, and spent 2.9 billion U.S. dollars importing materials and accessories for production of garments, textiles and footwear, up 6.6 percent. Vietnam, whose yarn industry heavily depends on imported cotton, has imported increasingly bigger volumes of the material in recent years to feed its growing textile and garment production and export, local economists said, noting that its biggest cotton import market is the United States. Vietnam's imported cotton volume surged to nearly 1.3 million tons in 2017 from 150,000 tons in 2005. Last year, the country spent over 2.3 billion U.S. dollars importing cotton, up 41.2 percent. Vietnam reaped 13.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles in the first six months of this year, seeing a year-on-year rise of 13.8 percent, mainly to the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The country's garment and textile export turnovers were over 25.9 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 8.8 percent, said the ministry.
Source: Xinhua
The Export Expansion Grant (EEG), Lekki Model Textile and Garment Industrial Park and eight other key projects of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment are among projects affected by the recent cut in the 2018 budget passed by the National Assembly. The National Assembly cut a total of N14.49 billion from 10 key projects of the trade ministry for 2018. The ministry initially proposed a total of N62.43bn for the 10 capital projects but the legislature cut the value down to N47.94bn. The projects affected include the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), completion of Lekki Model Textile and Garment Industrial Park, completion of upgrade of Calabar Free Trade Zone, feasibility studies for Agri-Industrial Processing Zones and Clusters in the six geo-political zones and completion of Kano Free Trade Zone. Others included additional Federal Government investment in Funtua Cotton Cluster, additional Federal Government investment in Enyimba Industrial Park, additional Federal Government investment in Ibom Deep Sea Port and City, additional capital for Nigeria Sez Investment Company Limited and provision of infrastructure at Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone. Daily Trust’s analysis shows that the Federal Government proposed N19.28bn for EEG implementation in 2018 but the lawmakers approved N13.28bn - a N6bn cut. Similarly, N11.49bn was proposed for the completion of Lekki Model Textile and Garment Industrial Park but N7.44bn was approved, being a reduction of N4.05bn, while N3.70bn was proposed for the completion of upgrade of Calabar Free Trade Zone but the lawmakers cut the proposal by N640 million to N3.06bn. The lawmakers also cut N1.6bn from the amount proposed for the feasibility studies for Agri-Industrial Processing Zones and Clusters in the six geo-political zones from N3.6bn to N2bn. The amount needed for the completion of Kano Free Trade Zone was also cut by N300m - from N4.37bn to N4.07bn. About N2.5bn funding proposed for Funtua Cotton Cluster, Enyimba Industrial Park and Ibom Deep Sea Port and City respectively was slashed down by N300m each to N2.2bn per project. The N10bn additional capital for Nigeria Sez Investment Company Limited was reduced to N9.3bn, being N700m cut while the N2.5bn needed for the provision of infrastructure at Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone was slashed to N2.2bn, following a N300m cut. While speaking on the budget, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed dismay over the cuts in critical projects to be executed this year. He however said he had to sign it in order not to hurt the economy the more as the delay in passing the budget had already started manifesting in it. The president said he would send a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to remedy effects of the cuts on some of the critical projects.
Source: The Daily Trust Nigeria
