Overall, all commodities exports (ACE) witnessed a stupendous growth of 30% in August. The exports of textile and apparel grew 18% in August 2018 to stood at Rs 21,895 crore as compared to Rs 18,533 crore in August 2017. The exports of textile and apparel grew 18% in August 2018 to stood at Rs 21,895 crore as compared to Rs 18,533 crore in August 2017. Similarly, the cumulative figures (April-August 2018) grew 6% at Rs 1,01,727 crore as compared to Rs 95,888 crore during April-August 2017. Overall, all commodities exports (ACE) witnessed a stupendous growth of 30% in August 2018 while for cumulative, it witnessed a growth of 22%, said the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). Quoting union ministry of commerce & industry, DGCI&S’ quick estimates for August 2018, Sanjay K Jain, chairman, CITI, said that the export of textile yarn fabric, made-ups for August 2018 grew 32% to R1,196 crore as compared to R907 crore and for the five month period of the current fiscal, the growth was 11% to Rs 5,347 crore as compared to Rs 4,799 crore in the April-August 2017 period. The positive trend in exports for the entire textile value chain has been the result of CITI’s continuous persuasion with the government and pragmatic approach shown by the union finance minister, union commerce & industry minister and union textiles minister on the issues of T&C industry especially post GST implementation. The timely policy support and intervention to boost the industry which was reeling under severe stress especially after the implementation of GST should be highly appreciated, he added. According to him, the exports of cotton yarn fabrics, made-ups, handloom products in August 2018 grew 39% to Rs 7,456 crore as compared to Rs 5,380 crore in August 2017. Similarly, the exports of man-made yarn fabrics, made-ups grew 24% to Rs 3,196 crore in August 2018.
Source Financial Express
Washington, Sep 18: Compared to December 2017, the real effective depreciation of Indian rupee is between six and seven per cent, says an IMF estimate. Broadly since the beginning of the year, Indian rupee "has lost about 11 per cent of its value in nominal terms vis a vis the US dollar", said IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice, responding to a question on the fall of the Indian currency in the last few months. He, however, said the currencies of many of India's trading partners, including those in the emerging markets, too have depreciated against the dollar. "As a result, so far this year the real effective depreciation of the Indian rupee compared to December 2017 is, by our estimates, between six and seven per cent," Rice said. Observing that India is a relatively closed economy, he said the contribution of the net exports to growth in the April to June quarter was again stronger than expected and the real depreciation of the rupee can be expected to reinforce this trend. "On the other hand, the depreciation will obviously raise the prices of imported goods such as oil and petroleum products, potentially putting an upward pressure on inflation," he said. The Reserve Bank of India has taken the rising oil import prices into the account when it raised the policy rates in its last two meetings, he noted. Referring to a recent report of the IMF on India, Rice said the Indian economy is recovering strongly from the two transitory disruptions in recent years - the Goods and Services Tax or GST and demonetisation process. "Growth has been gradually accelerating in recent quarters, with strength in both consumption and investment, which have helped the economy," he said. Noting that the first quarter growth figures were somewhat stronger than the IMF had anticipated, Rice said the world body will be reviewing its forecast for India, taking account of it and the recent global developments. Rice said the IMF continues to assess the impact of demonetisation on an ongoing basis. As with most things, there have been pluses and there have been minuses of demonetisation, he said. "The demonetisation did hinder the money supply, creating cash shortages, which also somewhat dampened consumer and business sentiment," he said, adding, it resulted in relative slowdown in growth. "On the other hand, its positive effects, I think, included enhanced digitalisation and higher formalisation of economy, which would help raise, amongst other things, the revenue and tax compliance," he said. According to the IMF spokesperson, there are already some signs of its positive effects. "The growth in the number of new taxpayers, as documented by the Ministry of Finance, has been substantial in recent years," he said, adding it is being monitored on an ongoing basis.
Source: PTI, One India
India’s macroeconomic framework is based on an antiquated belief that the economy is closed. The crux of the problem is that India’s macroeconomic framework is based on an antiquated belief that the economy is closed when in reality it is far more open. I understand that the optics of an 8.2 per cent GDP growth rate followed by a 6 per cent depreciation of the rupee against the dollar is not pretty, but from an economist’s point of view, I do not understand the brouhaha surrounding it. After languishing for two years, economic growth has begun a recovery of sorts in the last two quarters on the back of a straggling pickup in investment. However, with the government deficit (Centre and states combined) running at over 7 per cent of GDP and likely to widen, the rise in investment is largely being financed abroad. This has raised India’s current account deficit (the part of investment that isn’t funded by domestic savings) from 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2017-18 towards 3 per cent this year. When fiscal and current account deficits widen, the economy adjusts through higher interest rates and exchange rate depreciation. That is exactly what has happened to bond yields and the rupee. With tighter global financial conditions since April and a reassessment of emerging market risk since August, it should not even be surprising that the rise in bond yields and the rupee depreciation has had to be large. With no support from fiscal policy and only modest monetary tightening, all the adjustment has been borne by the exchange rate. When only one variable has to do all the heavy lifting, the adjustment is usually outsized. And that’s what had driven the slide in the rupee. None of this is out of the ordinary. It is exactly what any Economics 101 textbook would say. Therefore, the ongoing soul searching among analysts and policymakers whether the government and the RBI should or should not stop the slide in the rupee is largely misplaced. It is not about whether one should or should not react to the rupee, but about whether one should or should not react to changes in economic fundamentals that are driving the rupee. In my view, we are asking this question for the umpteenth time in the last 10 years because India’s macroeconomic policy framework has long been overrun by economic reality. There is an entrenched and widespread belief among the same analysts and policymakers that India is a closed economy protected by its much vaunted regulatory and capital controls. Nothing can be further from the truth. Every time the world sneezes, India catches a cold. It happened in 2008 when Lehman collapsed; in 2011 during the European sovereign debt crisis; in 2013 when hit by the Taper Tantrum; and it is happening now. Consider what happened in the Lehman crisis. On Friday, September 12, 2008, the call money rate in India closed at 6.15 per cent and banks borrowed about Rs 45 billion from the RBI that day. Over that weekend, Lehman collapsed. By the next Wednesday, the call rate had jumped to over 13 per cent and bank borrowing from the RBI had risen to nearly Rs 600 billion! In neighbouring Indonesia, with a significantly more open capital account, the inter-bank rate barely inched in the first week of the crisis. The crux of the problem is that India’s macroeconomic framework is based on an antiquated belief that the economy is closed when in reality it is far more open. For example, the RBI has rarely linked its policy decisions to changes in global interest rates even after shifting to an inflation-targeting framework. It is the same with fiscal policy. Every budget document begins with a perfunctory paragraph on “global developments” but neither taxes nor expenditure has been changed in response to what has happened outside of India except when forced by crises. The overall fiscal deficit has remained virtually unchanged around 7 per cent of GDP since 2013-14, the year of the Taper Tantrum, despite the global economy, financial conditions, and oil prices undergoing large cyclical changes. Let me make this more concrete by using monetary policy as an example. The policy statements and the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings suggest that the policy interest rate has been set based on the committee’s view on the 6-12 month ahead inflation and its drivers including inflationary expectations, the slack in the economy, government policies etc. This is the right framework only if the economy is closed. In an open economy, apart from the drivers of inflation, interest rate separately and explicitly responds to changes in global financial conditions too. Many inflation-targeting central banks with open economies, in both developed and emerging markets, routinely publish not only their assessment of how global financial conditions might evolve but also the extent to which their policy actions are determined by the changes in these conditions. That does not mean that these central banks insentiently react to every twist and turn in global financial conditions. They react just as they do to inflation dynamics: Assess the drivers of the changes, determine whether they are transient or permanent, and decide if a response is needed. While the binary description of being either open or closed does not work for India, it is palpably obvious that in the last 10-15 years, the country has de facto become more open despite extant de jure capital controls. However, India’s fiscal and monetary policy frameworks have not been adapted to the higher and rising degree of external openness. Consequently, when faced with a global financial shock, neither fiscal nor monetary policy has, as matter of course, adjusted to safeguard the economy. Instead, we have scurried around for ad-hoc solutions, as is gaining currency now with suggestions for more NRI deposits or external bond issuance. I am sure we will come up with another clever scheme and then pat ourselves on the back on how that staved off a crisis. However, we will face the same challenge again the next time global conditions change. The solution is to recognise that India has become more open, that capital controls do not provide adequate protection, and therefore both fiscal and monetary policies need to be adapted to the increased openness. It is not a question of whether one should respond to the rupee slide; it is a question of whether India can continue not to respond to changes in global conditions.
Source: The Indian Express
Indenting agents of foreign companies in textiles, handicrafts and home furnishing industry would join their counterparts in metal industry to approach courts against 18 per cent Integrated GST (IGST) imposed on them under the place of supply rules. Indenting agents are the agents of foreign companies, who sell their products in India and overseas by charging a commission. Indenting agents in the metal industry have already approached Gujarat high court against IGST. Now, those in textiles, handicrafts and home furnishing industry are planning to approach Chandigarh and Delhi high courts, said Abhishek Rastogi, counsel for indenting agents in the Gujarat High Court and partner at Khaitan & Co. He said the agents provide service to foreign players and are hence engaged in export of services, and hence IGST should not be levied on them. IGST is levied on these agents under Section 13(8)(b) of the IGST Act, which deems the place of supply for intermediary services in India. Rastogi has already challenged the constitutional validity of this section in the Gujarat High Court.
Source: Business Standard
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday that the government will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent of gross domestic product for the year, without cutting capital expenditure. This statement of intent aimed at markets and investors, is being considered bold by policy watchers and analysts, especially given the various challenges on revenue and spending front. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a review of the 2018-19, Union Budget and the work done by various departments of the finance ministry this year, Jaitley said that the Centre will end the year without any capex cut and will collect direct taxes in excess of budgeted targets. Jaitley did not make the same claim for goods and services tax (GST), though government officials say that any shortfall in GST will be made up by other sources of revenue. The finance minister also said that the disinvestment target for Rs 800 billion for the year will possibly be exceeded. After the April-July fiscal deficit data was released on August 31, several analysts hinted that the government may need to go for cuts in capital expenditure to meet the fiscal deficit target. That assessment has now been put on hold after Jaitley’s latest statement, with economists saying that a clearer picture of the Centre’s fiscal health will emerge around December. However, there are certain pressures that experts point to (see box). “With crude threatening to break $80 a barrel, the pressure on the external sector looks more palpable. In this context, the government’s decision to not go for excise duty cuts will cheer the markets. We believe that GST collections will pick up pace in the second half of the year. However, the Centre needs to keep a close eye on disinvestment receipts and non-tax revenue,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist, State Bank of India. The Centre’s total net tax revenue target for the year is Rs 14.81 trillion, after refunds and devolution to states. The target for personal income tax is Rs 5.2 trillion, while for corporate taxes it is Rs 6.2 trillion, both after refunds but before devolution to states. So far this year, the buoyancy for both has been much lower than expected, though collections are expected to jump in the second half of the year. The combined central GST, state GST and integrated GST target that the government is aiming for is Rs 1 trillion per month. The monthly collection plummeted to the lowest in the current fiscal year in August and stayed well below the government’s target of Rs 1 trillion for the fourth consecutive month of the current fiscal. It is expected to slide further in September and there needs to be a substantial pick-up in the second half for the Centre to not breach is deficit targets. As of date, proceeds from disinvestment have been Rs 92 billion. Over the coming months, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management is planning to ramp up initial public offerings for sale for a number of companies. “The government may want to explore options to shore up its revenues in order to prepare for any exigency. It may be more feasible to raise revenues through accelerated divestment, higher GST rate on certain products such as gold, which will also help contain CAD and higher import tariffs on certain products and components (for consumer items)…,” said Kotak Institutional Equities in a note to clients on Tuesday. On the expenditure front, analysts don’t expect any room for curbs in revenue expenditure since this is an election year and the funding for the Centre’s flagship projects needs to be sustained.
Pressure Points:
• GST well below Rs 1 trillion monthly target so far
Revenue
• Dividends from PSUs, spectrum revenues under threat of not meeting targets
• Disinvestment needs to pick up steam to meet Rs 800 bn target
• Uncertainty on final
Expenditure
MSP outlay
• Ayushman Bharat scheme outlay could breach estimates
• As govt heads into election, spending needs to be maintained
• Oil prices could affect subsidy outgo
Source: Business Standard
The government and RBI are keeping their powder dry and the measures announced over the weekend are merely a first salvo. Over the weekend, the government finally signalled its intent to defend the rupee. It announced several steps to prop up capital inflows and to curb “non-essential” imports. It emphasized that it will stick to its fiscal deficit targets. At the same time, it said the Indian economy was on a sound footing and there was no reason to panic. Almost everybody acknowledges that India’s external vulnerabilities are now lower than what they were during the taper tantrum in 2013. We may, however, be missing the markedly different external environment. In 2013, the nervousness in the currency markets was because the US Federal Reserve had said it would start to wind down its quantitative easing programme. At that time, liquidity was still being created, all that was proposed was to taper it. This time around, the Fed is doing “quantitative tightening” by allowing a steadily increasing amount of its bond holdings to mature each month without being reinvested, shrinking its balance sheet in the process. This has coincided with the US treasury mopping up dollar liquidity by issuing bonds to finance the expanding US fiscal deficit. In fact, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel had warned presciently in June this year that this would create a dollar funding crisis and was a “double whammy” for emerging markets. Interest rates, too, have moved up in the US and are likely to continue their upward climb. That’s not all. The external environment is far worse now than in 2013, with trade wars rampant, a reworking of trade treaties, heightened geopolitical tensions and an uncertain future for the WTO. It would be best, therefore, not to underestimate the possibility of a rapid deterioration of the external environment, which could make it a challenge to fund the current account deficit. To be sure, the silver lining is that Brent crude prices were above $100 a barrel in 2013, much higher than where they are today. On the other hand, as Chart 1 shows, India’s non-oil trade deficit has gone up by leaps and bounds. It is this deficit the government hopes to reduce by targeting “non-essential imports”. What is the scope for reducing non-essential imports? For the June quarter, oil imports were 28% of total imports, engineering goods 18%, chemicals and related products 10%, gold and silver 7.6%, ores and minerals 6.8%.The much-maligned electronic goods imports were 11.5%, with telecom instruments at 4%. While clamping down on imports will yield gains at the margin, such an exercise has to be done carefully, making sure that lobbies do not capture the process. As HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua points out, India’s tariffs are still comparatively higher than those of its trading partners and the government has to tread carefully to avoid sending out protectionist signals. A. Prasanna, an economist with ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd, warns there is a risk that trading partners could also retaliate. Why is targeting the current account so essential? Here’s what the IMF said in its recent assessment of the Indian economy: “Based on India’s historical cash flows and restrictions on capital inflows, global financial markets cannot be counted on to reliably finance a CA (current account) deficit above 3% of GDP.” A Kotak Economic Research report by Suvodeep Rakshit and Upasna Bhardwaj estimated the current account deficit at 2.8% of GDP in 2018-19 with oil at $72.5 per barrel and at 3.2% with oil at $80. It’s no wonder then that the rupee has been hammered. Why the need to compress imports? While RBI has allowed the rupee to fall to address overvaluation, any impact of exports is likely to happen only in the long run. Also, while foreign exchange reserves amounted to 7.5 months of prospective imports of goods and services at the end of 2017-18, compared to 6.7 months in 2013-14, reserves have started to fall. What’s more, if investment demand picks up, that will increase the current account deficit. As Chart 2 shows, the IMF predicts that India’s forex reserves, in terms of months of imports, will be lower at the end of 2019-20 than in 2013-14. The other measures announced last Friday are aimed at bolstering the capital account by luring inflows. Analysts have pointed out that some of these measures are unlikely to be effective in the short-run, as they assume foreign investors are waiting to increase their exposure to rupee assets, which is unlikely as long as the current nervousness in the markets persists. What’s more, some of the announced policies, such as a review of mandatory hedging rules for infrastructure loans, are fraught with risk. As Barua says, “…most of the measures aim at increasing short-term external debt or in effect worsen the risk profile of companies (by increasing un-hedged exposure)… Increase in short-term ECBs or FII exposure could lead to further worsening of vulnerability ratios and the global investors might actually take this negatively.” That said, it’s worth remembering that the current fall in the rupee is the result of a global meltdown of emerging market currencies. It is likely that dollar strengthening could have reached a peak for the time being and calm will therefore return to emerging markets. On the other hand, as IndusInd Bank chief economist Gaurav Kapur says, India still has plenty of weapons in its arsenal if push comes to shove, such as issuing NRI bonds, or restoring buyers’ credit and raising interest rates. For the moment, the government and RBI are keeping their powder dry and the measures announced over the weekend are merely a first salvo. If they don’t do the job, more heavy duty fire power will be employed. The more important question is: how do we address the vulnerabilities in the Indian economy to enable it to grow strongly without leading to a balance of payments crisis?
Source: Livemint
Over the past few years, the government has been supportive of infusing new technology into the apparel manufacturing sector. Appropriate technological access and a suitable scale of production are important for any garment manufacturer to achieve and maintain a competitive edge in global businesses. Use of updated and internationally benchmarked technology assures world class production quality, which is now imperative to be able to stay in the export business. There are amazing advancements being made in apparel manufacturing tech and many of these can have very positive benefits for your business. With Apparel 4.0 around the corner, modern tools like 3 D printing, laser cutting of garments and robots are increasingly making their way into the production shop floors. The most obvious advantages of investing in technology include speed, quality, innovation and efficiency, which in turn lead to an edge over competition and promote expansion. With speed to market, product diversification, safety and sustainability being the buying mantras of apparel brands these days, exploiting these advantages is certainly the best way forward. It may benefit all export houses, whether big or small, to earmark an annual fund for technology up-gradation in their yearly budget. New technology does not come cheap. The costs involved can be huge, not only in monetary terms, but, also in terms of the cannibalising effect they can have on some legacy operations. While you may be forced to reconsider your existing business model or your employees may have to be shaken out of their comfort zones to relearn and reorient their approach towards work, the effort will be well worth it. Over the past few years, the government has been supportive of infusing new technology into the apparel manufacturing sector. Schemes have been made and improved continuously to assist all manufacturers, especially the medium and small scale enterprises in making technology investments. Amended Technology Upgradation Scheme (ATUFS) was envisaged, as early as 2009, by the Ministry of Textiles as a vehicle for growth and modern development of the textile and garment industry. ATUFS provides one time capital subsidy on investment in labour intensive segments and garment manufacturing and design studios fall into this category. A subsidy of upto Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore can be availed under this scheme by enterprises. ATUFS is implemented across two broad categories, wherein, the garment manufacturing sector has been given a clear preferential advantage. For apparel/ garment and technical textiles subsectors, a subsidy of upto 15 per cent is provided on capital investment, subject to a ceiling of Rs 30 crore over five years, whereas, for other subsectors, the subsidy is upto 10 per cent with a ceiling of Rs. 20 crore. The scheme has been modified several times to improve its ease of adoption by businesses. The most recent amendment, as recent as in August 2018, is available here. It is important for a manufacturer to refer to the latest scheme, in its complete detail to avail the benefits seamlessly. While the scheme has been improving continually, the last amendment has improved the ease of application and reimbursement of funds drastically. There are many easy to adopt factors of the scheme, which include the following:
Source: The Economic Times
One of the main areas where India is likely to benefit will be agricultural trade. Indian farmers and U.S. manufacturers of medical devices could be among the main winners in a trade package under negotiation, as Washington and New Delhi look to remove long-standing irritants to ties, sources familiar with the talks said. Having skirmished for months over tit-for-tat tariffs on steel and some agricultural products, the two sides began talks in June that also cover India’s concerns over U.S. steel tariffs and U.S. problems with Indian tariffs on imported IT equipment. “We are closely negotiating a discrete package of trade issues. It will amount to a pretty substantive agreement,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations. Neither the office of the Ministry of Commerce or the United States Trade Representative responded to a request for comment. The source said the two sides expected to close the deal in the next few weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump, who dislikes multilateral trade agreements, said earlier this month that India had approached the United States to “start doing a trade deal,” without giving any details. The current discussions, however, are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction, and are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement, sources from both sides said. Having already waded into bigger fights with China and the European Union, Mr. Trump has previously called out India for unfair trade practices. At an estimated $126 billion, U.S. goods and services trade with India last year was less than a fifth of its trade with China. Unlike some other countries India failed to be given a waiver after the Trump administration imposed new import tariffs on steel and aluminium importsin March. New Delhi retaliated by raising tariffs on a number of U.S. products but has held back from implementing them while it negotiates a package to soothe ties. The tariffs were to go into effect from Monday midnight but the government issued an order saying these had been deferred until Nov. 2. “Our relationship with the U.S. unlike many other nations has not deteriorated,” said an Indian government official involved in the talks. “But if you think relations have become very friendly with a lot of bonhomie, I don’t think that has happened either.”
Capping margins, not prices
U.S. companies are hungrily watching an Indian economy that is growing at more than 8%, as they seek presence in a market that has potential for massive growth. One of the most prominent trade issues to erupt during Mr. Trump’s presidency has involved India’s treatment of medical devices imported from the United States. Last year, U.S. exports of medical devices and equipment to India totalled $863 million. India last year equated high profit margins of medical device makers with “illegal profiteering”, capping prices for some heart stents — small wire-mesh structures used to treat blocked arteries — and knee implants, to help poor patients. That measure provoked a storm of criticism from U.S. companies, such as Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Boston Scientific, which said such controls hurt innovation and future investment plans. In June, federal think tank Niti Aayog invited industry views on a new policy which would cap trade margins, and not prices, to help patients while allowing the industry “reasonable profits”. Two government sources said the think tank had recommended allowing a maximum 65% trade margin — the difference between the price at which a company sells to its stockists, after recovering its operational expenses, and the price paid by patients. The recommendation has still to be accepted by PM Modi’s office, another source said. The new policy proposal, which is favoured by both J&J and Boston Scientific according to company letters seen by Reuters, would help manufacturers who have argued that outright price caps were at times below their import costs and led to losses. One of the main areas where India is likely to benefit will be agricultural trade, with Washington expected to grant concessions making it easier for exporters of products like rice, mangoes, table grapes and lychees the sources said. Currently, the United States imports just a small fraction of the $5.5 billion of rice shipped annually from India, the world’s top rice exporter. New Delhi wants to sell basmati rice but U.S. agencies have in the past flagged concerns over the presence of chemical residues in the rice. New Delhi is also discussing how to meet stringent U.S. standards to sell bovine meat. India is the world’s biggest buffalo meat exporter but has failed to make much headway in the U.S. market because of Washington’s insistence that a country be free from foot-and-mouth disease. The two sides are exploring ways to open the U.S. market for certain grades of bovine meat from India, according to the Indian government negotiator and the other sources familiar with the talks. For its part, the United States wants to sell more almonds to India, the world’s top buyer, cherries and eventually dairy products. The United States has also been urging India to lower the input costs of components for IT that would allow U.S. companies to manufacture in India as part of Mr. Modi’s Make-in-India campaign. These affect firms such as Apple Inc and Qualcomm Inc who have plans to set up operations in the country. The United States has complained that India’s tariffs are among the highest in the world, and cover a range of IT equipment, including circuit boards, screens and memory chips. “In this kind of a package, everything is interlinked even though our mutual concerns are on different issues,” one of the sources said. “But we need to reach an agreement on everything that’s on the table.”
Source: The Hindu
NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu has called for collective action to revitalise the World Trade Organisation (WTO) without undermining its core principles of consensus building, inclusiveness and transparency, an official statement said Tuesday. Prabhu stated this at the G-20 Trade Ministers Meeting held at Mar del Plata, Argentina last week. He also emphasised that the global trade and economic situation currently was at a critical stage due to the ongoing trade tensions, driven by protectionist and unilateral measures by some countries. The minister make a case for working together for enhancing confidence in international trade through dialogue and collaborations. He has underlined that as developing and least developed countries suffer consequential collateral damage due to trade conflicts, resolution of differences through dialogue between the parties should be promoted. Prabhu urged the G-20 members to change the narrative on trade by focusing on the potential of services. "Prabhu called for collective action for revitalising WTO without undermining its core principles of special and differential treatment, consensus building, inclusiveness and transparency," the commerce ministry's statement said. Further, the Indian minister stated that there is the need to reduce non-tariff barriers that are more trade distorting than customs duties. "He urged G-20 to support transfer of technology, research, promote agri services and responsible investment in agri businesses with an aim to encouraging greater value addition for MSMEs," it said. Prabhu also urged to work towards closing gaps in the digital divide within and across nations through capacity building measures, technology adaptation and meaningful investments. The deliberations of trade ministers of G-20 will feed into the G-20 Leaders Declaration which will be adopted at the G-20 Summit on 30 November – 1 December in Buenos Aires in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate, it added. The G20 members include India, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Gemany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, UK and the US.
Source: Business Line
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1641.25 |
USD/Ton |
-0.70% |
9/18/2018 |
|
VSF |
2199.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
ASF |
3029.10 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Polyester POY |
1711.15 |
USD/Ton |
-0.84% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3509.68 |
USD/Ton |
0.42% |
9/18/2018 |
|
40D Spandex |
4980.55 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Nylon POY |
3203.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1893.19 |
USD/Ton |
-0.76% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3655.31 |
USD/Ton |
0.40% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5504.81 |
USD/Ton |
0.05% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1893.19 |
USD/Ton |
-0.76% |
9/18/2018 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3225.70 |
USD/Ton |
0.45% |
9/18/2018 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2898.04 |
USD/Ton |
-0.50% |
9/18/2018 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2337.36 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
3014.54 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2504.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2563.09 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
3203.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2723.28 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.36 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.84 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.17 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
9/18/2018 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14563 USD dtd. 18/9/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Beijing: China Tuesday hit back at the US with tariffs on USD 60 billion worth of American goods, in a tit-for-tat move that came hours after President Donald Trump slapped duties on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese imports. President Trump on Tuesday slapped 10 per cent tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese imports and the duties will rise to whopping 25 per cent at the end of the year, escalating the trade war with the world’s second largest economy. He alleged that China had been unwilling to change its unfair trade practices and the new additional tariff structure would give fair and reciprocal treatment to American firms. “If the United States insists on raising tariffs even more, China will respond accordingly,” China’s finance ministry said in a statement. “In order to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests and the global free trade order, China will have to take countermeasures,” the country’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, adding that “We deeply regret this“.The Chinese government said it will hit back with tariffs of up to 10 per cent on an additional USD 60 billion in American goods following Trump’s escalation by slapping higher border taxes on nearly all US exports to China, a media report said. Earlier, China threatened to retaliate with “synchronised counter measures” against Trump’s third round of tariffs, saying the US’ move will add “new uncertainties” for future talks between the world’s top two economies. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would be forced to take “synchronised counter measures” against the new tariffs. In a statement, the ministry also said that the tariffs announced by Trump had “added new uncertainties” to trade talks between the two sides. Trump also warned China against any retaliation, saying if Beijing retaliated this time, the US would impose further tariffs on another USD 267 billion worth of products virtually covering almost all Chinese exports to the US totalling about USD 522.9 billion. According to official figures, US goods and services trade with China totalled an estimated USD 710.4 billion in 2017 of which US exports were USD 187.5 billion and imports were USD 522.9 billion.
Trump has been pressuring China to reduce the trade deficit with the US, totalling to USD 335.4 billion in 2017. Last month, both sides resumed trade talks but at a lower level. Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen held talks in Washington but without much results. Trump, who has been demanding that China should reduce trade deficit immediately by USD 100 billion, recently called for talks to resolve the issue. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Tuesday gave no inkling about how China’s plans to retaliate Trump’s new round of tariffs and said it brought more uncertainties to future round of talks. “I want to say that China has to respond to uphold our legitimate rights and interests, the order of free trade,” Geng told reporters. “This measure by US side added more uncertainties to the talks between the two sides,” he said. Asked how the two sides plan to end the trade war, Geng said “We have been stressing that talks need to happen on the basis of equality and good faith so as to resolve the issues between the two sides. What the US has done shows no sincerity, no good faith at all,” he said. To another question on whether China viewed escalation of tariff war by the US as an attempt to contain Beijing’s rise, Geng said, “regarding containment, I have never heard of that from any US official. “We have been repeating that sound and steady development of China-US ties serves the fundamental interest of the two sides and what the international community wishes to see“. Geng said China would like to work with the US to achieve that, adding that “however the protectionist and unilateral measures taken by US were not acceptable to us”. He also declined to go into specific measures on whether Beijing would contemplate non-trade measures like containing visas to US citizens. “In the light of the latest round of tariffs, China has to counter act but what kind of counter measures would the Chinese side take will be released in time. You made assumption (about not granting visas), I have no comment on that,” Geng said. Hong Kong-based ‘South China Morning Post’ reported on Tuesday that China is likely to cancel its tentative plans to send President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser Liu He to Washington after Trump’s new tariff announcement. According to the source, who declined to be identified , as the plans have not been made public, China is reviewing its earlier plans to send a delegation, headed by vice-premier Liu He to Washington next week, the report said. One precondition for the talks was that the Americans would show sufficient goodwill but Trump’s latest decision to escalate the trade war by slapping new tariffs on almost half of all Chinese exports may have scuppered the talks, it quoted the sources as saying. “If the vice-premier does go to the US, we can reasonably suspect he has a reasonable offer, but at this point, I would think the likelihood is low,” the representative said. China had earlier retaliated twice by imposing additional tariffs on imported products from the US.
Source: Business Line
Shaoxing city in China's Zhejiang province will host the first World Textile Merchandising Conference (2018 WTMC) during September 20-21 to explore new patterns of globalisation and transformation of the textile industry. Firms, fashion institutions, industry associations and design institutes from more than 20 countries will participate in the event. The conference will discuss the status quo and future of the world's textile industry and promote the cooperation in the textile industry chain under the Chinese Government’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, according to a press release from China Economic Information Service, which is affiliated to a state-run news agency. China's textile industry has to strengthen international cooperation; actively promote cross-border flows of resources such as products, production capacity, technology, capital, and talents; strengthen product innovation; and advance industrial intelligence and service transformation, according to Sun Ruizhe, president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC). Shaoxing in Keqiao district has a full textile industry chain, including raw materials, textile machinery, fabrics, home textiles, garments and a large textile distribution centre called China Textile City. There are around 500 enterprises in Keqiao with investments in 65 countries and regions. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
A meeting involving Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT), government, employers and worker representatives took place at Sedona Hotel in Yangon on September 17 to discuss ongoing problems in garment industry. "ACT is an organisation working on coordination in solving problems and disputes in garment industry. As the garment sector is most developed in Myanmar, this organisation can provide us job opportunities and contribute to economic development. Particularly, the sector can provide jobs for women. So we will discuss how to solve ongoing problems in this sector in cooperation with ACT," said Myo Aung, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. During the meeting, government, employer and worker representatives discussed disputes happening in the garment industry, salary, employment contracts between employers and employees and other related problems. "What problems are there in the garment sector? Are they salary and wages, overtime, regular attendance bonus or dismissal? Based on the labour law, it (ACT) will coordinate and seek solutions to those problems by applying experiences from the international community. Here are employer and employee representatives. Discussion will be made with them, said Myo Aung. ACT will be working to help with the efforts for profitability, garment industry development, global market penetration, marketability, emergence of skilled workers, sound working environment and raising dignity in the sector with good salaries through cooperation among government, entrepreneurs and worker unions.
Source: Eleven Myanmar
Naomi Kaempfer, creative director, art fashion design at Stratasys shares new developments in 3D printing technologies and how they are changing the world of fashion.
Q: How has the use of 3D printing within fashion evolved over the past few years? Are we seeing the technology being used more commonly within textiles?
Kaempfer: The role of 3D printing in fashion is continually evolving, and we are seeing a notable increase in awareness and interest in the technology from designers. This growth in curiosity is coming from across the fashion spectrum — from high-end fashion to the low end and in various fashion applications. We believe fashion education is playing a key role in this. Many academies are now integrating 3D printing within their education program. High fashion has previously had a traditional methodology, so the fact that fashion education is now embracing these innovative technologies is an encouraging step forward. Educating a new generation of designers, and introducing 3D printing technologies and software to all the parties involved in fashion creation, is naturally a gradual and ongoing process. This might explain why the shift in the industry is perhaps not immediately apparent widespread in mainstream fashion, but is likely to emerge in the not so distant future.
Q: What are the key benefits of 3D printing for textiles and fashion? What opportunities does it offer for designers over traditional techniques?
Kaempfer: 3D printing allows fashion designers to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of design, allowing them to turn some of the most challenging design concepts into reality. We are seeing an evolution from traditional textile production methods, such as pattern-cutting and sewing textiles together, and moving towards a textile being totally three-dimensionally grown. Digitally created materials are offering up vast possibilities as every element of a garment or textile can now have its own individual digitally manipulated physical properties. For example, you can create a specific textile that is waterproof, opaque, flexible or rigid and then combine these elements together meaning that these properties can all be present in a single garment. Without the need for a specific mold, we are free to create intricate geometries and structures, which are not only aesthetically pleasing, but can also add smart functionality. For example, when we create a garment that needs to be fastened, instead of using traditional buttons we can integrate a locking functionality directly into the textile itself, by making certain areas adhesive. We’re still in the early stages of developing our geometrical understanding and working out what is feasible but the possibilities are vast. The immense opportunities for customization that 3D printing offers is another important benefit for the industry. Apparel can now be created to perfectly fit the size and curvature of each part of the body, allowing for true personalization. As this is a new domain, we believe we still need to really challenge ourselves to envision the next steps and embrace this new design freedom in order to open up its true frontiers.
Q: How important are material developments to accelerating the adoption of the technology within fashion design?
Kaempfer: Material developments are certainly a key element and there is a great deal of interest from the design community with regards to this. 3D printing companies are working closely with leading fashion designers to address various design challenges, supporting them to explore uncharted grounds in contemporary fashion that can be realized with 3D printing. The reality is that more advanced possibilities in terms of materials, aesthetics and colors are continually being discovered and therefore the diversity of fashion design applications is constantly evolving. There have certainly been some important milestones in this area, such as the introduction of PolyJet full color, multi-material 3D printing. We’ve seen some wonderful creations from leading designers such as Neri Oxman, threeASFOUR, Iris Van Herpen, Julia Korner and Noa Raviv, who have leveraged this technology to create complex geometrical designs, not achievable with traditional fabrication. That said, we are still only at the very beginning of discovering what possibilities can be realized with 3D printing. Material developments will be the driving force in accelerating this journey.
Q: What material characteristics are most important for textile designers and how can 3D printing support this?
Kaempfer: This year, we’ve seen the development of a new technique: PolyJet 3D printing directly onto textiles. The aspiration being to uncover how 3D printing can actually work in harmony with textiles and to discover how, in the future, it will be able to replace the textile itself in some cases. By combining traditional textile materials with digitally-created 3D printing materials, we’re bridging the gap and enabling a faster integration of the technology in textile design. An inspiring example of this can be seen in Iris Van Herpen’s latest haute couture collection “Ludi Nature.” The foliage dress incorporates traditional textiles with 3D printed plastic elements utilizing PolyJet 3D printing technology. Three variations of the 3D printed material were altered on a droplet level, achieving the unique color and transparency on the dress which allows it to seamlessly fuse with the fabric material.
Q: What are the barriers you see today that are prohibiting the widespread adoption of 3D printing for textiles and what is needed in order to overcome these barriers?
Kaempfer: One of the challenges that can arise with certain 3D printed garments is the level of practicality and comfort for the wearer. This is one of the benefits of integrating 3D printing and textiles together. The interface that touches the skin of the wearer can be the soft fabric, while the complex 3D printed design elements can be enjoyed on the outer part of the garment — enhancing the comfort for the wearer.
Q: What role are 3D printing companies playing in driving the implementation of these cutting-edge techniques in fashion?
Kaempfer: Alongside collaborative projects with some of the most well-known innovative designers in fashion, we’re committed to supporting the education of the next generation of designers, with particular involvement seen in graduation projects. Educating students on the benefits of 3D printing technologies and encouraging them to explore new design solutions will no doubt be key to driving implementation. Through cutting-edge design from collaborators, 3D printing R&D teams are put to the test to find solutions that otherwise might not have surfaced. Not only can these solutions be implemented within the fashion and arts industries, but it might be that they are also applicable to other industries which utilize 3D printing. In a world of constant technological advancements, fashion can also be considered as a key vehicle for demonstrating the vast capabilities of 3D printing for design in other sectors — whether it be consumer goods, automotive, aerospace or many others. Not everybody can connect with technology when it derives from a very particular niche market. However, fashion opens up a new way of relating to technology and allows greater engagement with it.
Q: What developments do you envisage happening in fashion with regards to 3D printing over the next 3-5 years? Do you see 3D printing being used as a commonplace production technique within fashion design?
Kaempfer: We believe there will be further growth in garments that incorporate sophisticated physical properties embedded in specifically defined areas of the traditional textile. We believe the customization element will also see 3D printing branch into other areas of fashion, such as leisure and sportswear, and potentially in cases of medical care. People sometimes mention the notion of 3D printing reaching the mass market and we know that caution must be taken when considering the implications of mass market solutions. Ultimately, we hope that the fashion world returns to a more sustainable model, which involves more localized production, allowing smaller design and production houses to compete in the market. Nevertheless, it will be fascinating to witness the evolving impact of 3D printing on the fashion domain and see how it continues to challenge and transform our perception of fashion. We are very curious as to what impact future technological developments will have on the fashion domain and we remain very open to applications that might have a future contribution to the industry. Naomi Kaempfer joined Stratasys corporate marketing team in 2014 as Creative Director, Art, Fashion and Design. Naomi is responsible for the build-up of the fashion, design and art marketing collaborations at Stratasys. Stratasys explores the possibilities of 3D printing cross border in the creative disciplines and with their experience enable and promote designers and artists to stretch the creative envelope. Naomi forms relationships and collaboration with museums, art and design institutions, the creative sector and art collectors. Naomi studied Law and Philosophy, she owns a Bachelors in product engineering, MSc in Design Management. Naomi is specialized in bridging business strategies with international design and creative markets. After managing the ONL Non-standard architecture show for the Pompidou, she was asked to establish the renowned MGX and design art Platform at Materialise in 2003, which she directed for 7 years. Naomi has set up numerous prestigious collections in collaboration with top artists and designers at leading museums such as MoMA, V&A, Pompidou, Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt, and many more. Naomi led the technology department at the Design Academy as Chair professor of LAB between 2008-2011. Between 2010-2013, she drove the strategic design development of Delhaize Group as the Design Strategy Expert and worked as an independent consultant for 3D printing companies and emerging design platforms.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
True Fit, the retail industry’s data-driven personalisation platform for apparel and footwear, has introduced two new products - True Insight and True 360 - powered by its Fashion Genome. Both increase retailers’ comprehensive intelligence from across the True Fit network in the form of individual reports, aggregated dashboards, and consumer intelligence. Fashion Genome is the largest connected data set for apparel and footwear. For the first time, retailers have access to a new type of data, allowing them to make more informed decisions when it comes to improving the shopper journey. Furthermore, True Insight and True 360 can be used cross-functionally by different departments within a retail organisation - from merchandising, to marketing, to product design. True Insight allows retailers to better understand their target audience, consumer purchasing patterns, the styles that are most commonly returned, and how products fit compared to a comprehensive index of products across the industry in the same category. True Insight – which leverages the Fashion Genome’s robust set of data from millions of consumers and styles from nearly seventeen thousand brands – was developed in partnership with True Fit’s vast network of retailers and brand partners. As a dashboard comprising analytics and reporting, True Insight collects a single retailer’s data across both their brand site and reseller, into one aggregated view. Any member of the retailer’s team can visualise all shopper data through a collection of five core dashboards: demographics, purchase history, fit consistency, returns performance, and purchase attributes. True 360 offers better consumer-specific data to enhance the entire retail service provider ecosystem. With this solution, retailers now have at their fingertips detailed data that can be applied to personalise their shoppers’ experiences across all touchpoints, enhance homegrown recommendation models and analytics, and improve other third party software services that make up its personalisation stack. Powered by True Discovery and True Confidence, True 360 enables retailers to see shopper profile data and associated intelligence, including demographic data like height, weight, age, body type, favourite brands and sizes, high affinity brands and personalised style, fit, and size recommendations. No personally identifiable information (PII) is shared. The data provides a 360-degree view of each shopper, and can be used in the CRM or CDP to enhance personalisation across a variety of partner services, including email marketing, product recommendations, retargeting, search, category browsing, in-store clienteling, call centres, and more. “We created True Insight and True 360 in partnership with our network of retail and brand partners as part of our continued mission to help retailers personalise every touchpoint in the customer journey. That means taking the power of our Fashion Genome outside the walls of our own software, and opening up the data and intelligence to help all the companies that serve our retail network. We’re committed to providing access to better intelligence to make every customer interaction truly personal and relevant,” said Romney Evans, co-founder of True Fit. “These two new products help close the loop in a virtuous circle of personalisation that is benefiting retailers, brands, and consumers alike.” “True Insight helps us visualise the powerful data in our platform so that we can make smarter product design and customer marketing decisions,” said Sean Condon, senior director Global Digital Commerce at ASICS. “We’ve already seen the power of the True Personalisation Platform when our customers engage with True Fit’s recommendations on our site. Now we’re excited to expand that benefit to every customer interaction and experience by using True 360 data directly in CRM, and have it available to our other partners and software providers to make every interaction with Kenneth Cole products more personal, more relevant,” said TJ Papp, vice president Digital and Ecommerce at Kenneth Cole Productions. (SV)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
