The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 08 OCT, 2018

 

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Smriti offers to revive textile mill in Odisha

Union textile minister Smriti Irani on Sunday said that the Centre would support Odisha if the latter took the initiative to reopen the iconic Odisha Textile Mills (OTM) at Choudwar. The mill, set up in 1950 by Biju Patnaik, has been lying closed since 2001. Irani, who was in Bhubaneswar to take part in the BJP’s state executive meeting, criticised chief minister Naveen Patnaik for “not doing enough to revive the unit”. She said the Centre would extend a helping hand if the Odisha government did its bit to put the mill back on track. Responding to Irani’s offer, Odisha industries minister Ananta Das said the state government would definitely make an effort to revive OTM. “There should be a discussion between the Centre and the state about what needs to be done in this regard,” he added. At one stage the state government had even proposed to set up an integrated park and textile and apparel industry in the OTM complex spread over 522 acres. But there has been no concrete development on this front so far. Irani also attacked Naveen for “failing to protect the dignity of women and not providing them with adequate nutrition”. She said the Naveen Patnaik government had itself admitted in the Assembly that 60 per cent women were victims of anaemia. She accused Naveen of not joining the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme for political reasons and alleged that the Odisha government had also not done its bit to reduce the price of petrol and diesel in the state. However, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra hit back saying that instead of pointing fingers at the Odisha chief minister, Irani should talk about how BJP leaders were being arrested for misbehaving with women in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik echoed Patra. “How can they talk about Odisha when they have failed to protect women in the states ruled by the BJP,” he said. In another development, the BJP has decided to build up state-wide movements on corruption in various sectors in the state. The party plans to take up issues — such as the chit fund scam, mining scam, Omfed scam and cooperative and sapling scams — besides sensitising people on controversies related to the state’s Ama Gaon, Ama Vikash and Biju Yuva Vahini schemes. It will also generate public awareness on Naveen’s alleged refusal to cooperate with the Centre on the Ayushman Bharat scheme. “Naveen is neck deep in corruption. We will expose this government,” said state BJP vice-president Pratap Sarangi. BJD spokesperson, Amar Satpathy, however, dismissed BJP’s charges as politically motivated and said that the BJP leaders won’t cut ice with the voters.

Source: The Telegraph

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Govt set to drop direct port delivery scheme   throws a lifeline to CFS

Mumbai : Beleaguered container freight station (CFS) operators are set to get a fresh lease of life with the government working on an alternative cargo evacuation model to replace the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme. The new system will restore the role of these intermediaries in the supply chain backed by an e-marketplace for truck trailers, a top Shipping Ministry official said on Friday. The DPD had triggered an “existential crisis” for CFS operators — some of them listed. The companies had invested thousands of crores over the years and employed thousands But the DPD reduced their earnings from handling, storage and inspection charges. “We are now trying to remodel our cargo evacuation system with the CFS as the fulcrum,” Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna said at the annual day of the Container Freight Stations Association of India. “We are going back to the thinking that was prevalent in the late 1980s when this concept started that the CFS should take the burden of being the first repository of the boxes and thereafter cargo will move,” he stated.

Best way forward

The plan now is that within 24 hours of landing, a container will move out of the port to a CFS with minimal processing. The regulatory paperwork and bundling, unbundling and repositioning of cargo would happen where it was originally meant to be done, at the CFS. “There is unanimity among stakeholders that this seems to be the best possible way forward if we have to control the dwell-time for exports and imports but largely for the latter,” he said. Gopal Krishna said that the planned model raised the challenge of congestion which could be addressed by limiting the number of truck trailers at the port. Here, there is a possibility of utilising technology by creating a truck-trailer marketplace. Currently, trailers coming from factories with export containers go back empty. But if the same trailer were to carry a box to the CFS, truck movement can be reduced in the port area. This will improve the capacity utilisation of the terminals, he said. The issue the government is grappling with is liability. “We have trucks coming in with export boxes. If we ask the same transporter to carry an import box to a CFS, the issue of liability comes in. So, that’s the single point of challenge we are now starting to address. We’ll be able to tackle that in the next week or so,” he said. “If this plan meets the regulatory requirements of the system, then I think we would have probably reached an ideal situation in which cargo gets evacuated from ports within a very short time,” he said adding that this would remove the uncertainty surrounding the CFS business.

Source: Business Line

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Rupee continues to weaken against US dollar  again inching closer to 74-mark

Indian rupee continues to be weak against US dollar and is again inching closer to 74-mark. On Monday, the rupee registered an intraday high of 73.77 against USD and intra-day low of 73.97 against the US dollar, after opening at 73.96 against USD, a decline of 20 paise from the previous close, the Bloomberg data showed. On Friday, the domestic currently crossed the 74-mark for the first time ever in intra-day trade, after the RBI held its policy rate unchanged. The rupee has lost nearly 14% so far this year. However, RBI governor Urjit Patel said that fall in rupee is moderate as compared to emerging markets peers. “Indian currency opened weak at 73.96/dollar against Friday’s close of 73.77/dollar. RBI’s status quo was the main trigger for accelerated fall in Rupee on Friday where it touched 74.44/dollar in future before RBI intervening and closing below 74/dollar,” Bhavik Patel, senior technical analyst, Tradebulls Securities, told FE Online. “Dollar on Friday softened in the evening session after soft US Non-Farm payroll data came. The Indian currency is trading flat in the morning session and we may see more of RBI intervention as and when Rupee comes near 75/dollar. Trades should be wary of going long without hedging as USDINR is in overbought zone and is prime for some pullback,” he added. US dollar remained firm against its global peers. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil prices fell by over 1% on Monday after the US government said it may grant waivers to sanctions against Iran’s oil exports next month, the Reuters reported. The rupee has slumped in recent months amid a global rise in oil prices and a sell-off in emerging markets. It has fallen more than 13 percent since January, making it the worst performing major Asian emerging market currency, Reuters reported.

Source Finacial Express

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Commerce Minister releases Study on India-China Trade  

NEW DELHI — Union Minister of  Commerce & Industry and Civil  Aviation  Suresh Prabhu  released a study by the  Department of Commerce on  India-China Trade. The report  tries to analyzethe magnitude  extent and plausible reasons of  India’s rising trade deficit with  China.The Commerce Minister  said that India’s trade  relationship with China is  unique and no other bilateral  trading relationship evokes as  much interest in India as the  India-China trade relationship.  From being a small trading  partner of India in 2001  within  a span of fifteen years  China has  rapidly become India’s biggest  trading partner. Trade between  the two countries has been  expanding but India’s trade  deficit with China has been  growing.  While releasing the study  the Minister said that most  industry associations want the  Government to pursue a  defensive approach to Free Trade  Agreements (FTAs) and raise  tariffs on the doctrine of domestic  markets for domestic producers.  Protectionist policies are on the  rise globally. The global use of  protectionist measures in 2018  was unprecedented with the  trade wars looming between two  of the largest economies of the  world.  Hence  a comparative  analysis of the concessions ceded  by China on 200 products in its  Free Trade Agreements to India’s  competing countries like Peru  Pakistan  Australia  South Korea  and ASEAN has been carried out  by the Department of Commerce.  Also the imports of China from  these countries as well as China’s  Most Favored Nation (MFN)  rates have been studied. This analysis helps in studying  whether an FTA or tariff  concessions by China to India  (like China has yielded to India’s  competing countries in FTA) can  be beneficial in increasing  India’s exports to China. The  idea behind this exercise has  been to identify whether tariff  concessions by China to other  countries impede raising the  share of India’s exports in the  Chinese market. These lines can  be taken up by India for  negotiations with China under  agreements like Asia Pacific Free  Trade Agreement (APTA) in  which both India and China are  involved during the review  exercise.  The study is divided into  eight sections beginning with an  introduction into the historical  aspects of trade relations between  India and China and the trends  of bilateral trade between the  two. It also looks into the trends  of trade deficit  and analyses  India’s exports and imports to  and from China at the HS 6-digit  level. It alsoanalyses at HS 6-  digit level  China’s share in  India’s import basket (extent of  dependency on China as a  source) and India’s share in  China’s export basket.

Source: Tecoya Trend

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Global Textile Raw Material Price 07-10-2018

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

1545.95

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

VSF

2201.02

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

ASF

3027.86

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Polyester POY

1596.90

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Nylon FDY

3508.24

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

40D Spandex

4978.49

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Nylon POY

5502.55

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Acrylic Top 3D

1819.63

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Polyester FDY

3253.49

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Nylon DTY

3202.54

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Viscose Long Filament

1790.51

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

Polyester DTY

3668.36

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

30S Spun Rayon Yarn

2882.29

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

32S Polyester Yarn

2176.27

USD/Ton

-0.33%

10/7/2018

45S T/C Yarn

2998.74

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

40S Rayon Yarn

3187.98

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

T/R Yarn 65/35 32S

2722.16

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

45S Polyester Yarn

2358.23

USD/Ton

-0.61%

10/7/2018

T/C Yarn 65/35 32S

2562.03

USD/Ton

0%

10/7/2018

10S Denim Fabric

1.36

USD/Meter

0%

10/7/2018

32S Twill Fabric

0.84

USD/Meter

0%

10/7/2018

40S Combed Poplin

1.17

USD/Meter

0%

10/7/2018

30S Rayon Fabric

0.67

USD/Meter

0%

10/7/2018

45S T/C Fabric

0.70

USD/Meter

0%

10/7/2018

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14557 USD dtd. 07/10/2018). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com.  SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.

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China’s September FX reserves drop more than expected to $3 trillion

The value of China’s gold reserves fell to .327 billion at the end of September, from .228 billion at the end of August.  China’s foreign exchange reserves fell more than expected in September to a 14-month low as the yuan currency weakened further against the dollar amid mounting trade tension with the United States. Reserves fell $22.69 billion in September to $3.087 trillion, the biggest drop since February, compared with a decline of $8.23 billion in August, central bank data showed on Sunday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected reserves to drop by $5 billion to $3.105 trillion. The yuan fell for the sixth straight month in September as the dollar remained buoyant, suggesting Beijing may be in no rush to intervene because a weaker currency would support its exporters amid the escalating Sino-U.S. trade war. The United States and China imposed fresh tariffs on each other’s goods last month. Foreign exchange rate fluctuations and asset price changes contributed to the decline in reserves, China’s foreign exchange regulator said in a statement. “Although we face relatively large external uncertainties, the Chinese economy has the ability to accommodate and fend off external risks,” the statement said. The scale of China’s foreign exchange reserve was expected to maintain stable despite fluctuations, it said. A continuous fall in reserves would test Chinese authorities’ resolve to defend the currency. China’s central bank shrugged off an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve last month, piling even more pressure on the yuan. The yuan fell about 0.56 percent against the dollar in September. When raising rates for a third time this year on Sept. 26, the Fed forecast another rate hike in December, three more next year and one in 2020. Despite the yuan’s steady depreciation in recent months, there have been few signs so far of a spike in capital outflows like those seen a few years ago after a surprise devaluation by the PBOC. Beijing has put tight capital controls in place to prevent capital flights. The value of China’s gold reserves fell to $70.327 billion at the end of September, from $71.228 billion at the end of August.

Source: Financial Express

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China pumps USD 109 billion into economy as trade war bites on growth

China’s central bank said on Sunday that it was cutting the reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) by one per cent from October 15 which will inject a net USD 109.2 billion in cash into the banking system, amid a deepening trade war with the US that has increased pressure on growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The reserve cut, the fourth by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) this year, came after Beijing pledged to speed up plans to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects as the economy shows signs of cooling further. The PBOC said on Sunday it will cut the RRR for RMB deposits by one percentage point starting from October 15. The cut will enable banks in China to release 1.2 trillion-yuan cash for additional lending. Some of the liquidity unleashed will be used to pay back the 450 billion yuan (USD 65 billion) of the medium-term lending facility that will mature on October 15, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. In addition, the liquidity of another 750 billion yuan (USD 110 billion) will be injected into the market for lending, according to the PBOC statement. The announcement of the relaxing the RRR requirement for the banks, which are also saddled with the huge local government debt of USD 2.58 trillion comes amid deepening trade war with US and raising of the interest rates by US Federal Reserve, intensifying the pressure on capital outflows. The huge case outflow from the banks was expected to help the private businesses to access more credit as their products faced an uncertain prospect in the US, which is China’s second largest market after the European Union. US President Donald Trump kicked off the trade war in June by slapping additional tariffs on billions of dollars Chinese exports, piling up pressure on China to reduce over USD 335 billion trade deficit in the USD 710.4 billion bilateral trade. The US Federal Reserve move to increase the interest rates also sparked fears of more capital outflows from China. The injection of cash into the economy will also boost hopes that the negative impact of higher US tariffs on Chinese exports can be eased. The PBOC’s announcement comes at the end of weeklong national day holidays which ends on Sunday. It also comes ahead of Monday’s visit here by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the second of talks with Chinese leaders on trade and security issues. The RRR cut will fill in the liquidity gap of banks and put no downward pressure on the yuan as the country’s monetary policy is not eased, the PBOC statement. There are sufficient conditions for the RMB exchange rate to remain basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level, it said. “The PBOC will continue to take necessary measures to stabilize market expectations and keep the foreign exchange market running smoothly,” it said. The RRR cut will cover the yuan deposits of large commercial banks, share-holding commercial banks, city commercial banks, non-county rural commercial banks and foreign banks.

Source: Financial Express

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This year’s HABI fair includes ASEAN weavers and indigenous fabrics

SOME of the finest examples of Philippine-made textile products take center stage at this year’s HABI trade fair. The three-day trade event pays tribute to the country’s traditional weavers who hail from communities supported by HABI. Their unique skills were given tremendous exposure during the previous fairs and this expertise has since become a viable source of income for them. “Woven Voyages: 8th Likhang Habi Textile Fair 2018” will take place at the Activity Area of the Glorietta Mall in Ayala Center, Makati City on Oct. 12 to 14. It is open to the public. Organized by the nonprofit organization HABI The Philippine Textile Council, the fair is designed to showcase the artistry of the country’s indigenous weavers. More than 80 exhibitors will take part this year, making it HABI’s biggest trade fair to date. And for the first time, the show will include textile exhibitors from the ASEAN region, namely, the weaving communities of Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam. HABI is placing special emphasis on products made of natural fabrics and will include merchandise of established brands that use the fabrics made by the weavers. There will be fashionable bags adorned with the cloth made by the Yakans of Basilan  hand-woven blankets, covers, and napkins from the Ilocos region  and toys and novelty items made by local craftsmen. Among the exhibitors are established brands and manufacturers such as Rurungan sa Tukod Foundation, Interweave, Yakang Yaka, Manila Collectible, Casa Mercedes, Filip+Inna, Gifts & Graces Foundation, Good Luck, Humans, La Herminia Piña, Liwayway Handicraft, Creative Definitions, Kalinga Weaving, Ayala Foundation, Inc., and items by noted Filipina designer Ditta Sandico. The fair is held each year to provide a major venue for the local weavers to present their wares. It offers them the opportunity to tap Metro Manila’s consumer market by giving them free space in the show. It also allows them to deal directly with wholesale buyers, foreign buyers, and stores. “This way, the middlemen, who had been buying the products from them at lower rates and selling them at much higher prices, are eliminated,” said Maribel Ongpin, HABI’s founder. “We also want to attract more fashion designers,” says Adelaida Lim, the Baguio-based businesswoman and a member of HABI. “We want them to discover how these fabrics can be used for contemporary fashion, and not just for traditional costumes.” The participation of the weavers from the ASEAN communities may also open new doors for their local counterparts, said Ms. Ongpin. “The weavers from each country can learn from each other and they may have the opportunity to tap each other’s markets,” she said. The fair includes a fashion show highlighting the woven fabrics in designs by Patis Tesoro, Len Cabili of Filip+Inna, LARA Samar, Jor-el Espina, Boy Guino-o of Alfonso Davao, Twinkle Ferraren, Malaysian designer Edric Ong, and Laura Fontan of Vietnam fashion house Chula. There will also be an exhibit featuring the textile art of Filipina-French artist Olivia d’Aboville, and the works of the winners of the Lourdes Montinola Weaving Competition. There will also be workshops and lectures on sustainability, and a tribal food lounge.

Source: Business World

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Global buyers, investors urge Dhaka for Transition Accord

Global buyers and investors have urged Dhaka to allow a ‘Transition Accord’ for the readymade garment (RMG) sector until a national body to take over the factory safety responsibility becomes fully prepared. Bangladesh Investor Initiative (BII), a group of institutional investors from 12 countries, is concerned over the imminent termination of the Accord in November. The decision for a transition monitoring committee was adopted in a meeting of various stakeholders in Dhaka in October last year.The stakeholders included Accord representatives, global trade union federations, factory owners and the International Labour Organisation. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, popularly called Accord, was signed on 15 May 2013 by retailers and importers from over 20 countries. The meeting decided that once the committee considers the Remediation Coordination Cell to be ready based on the objective criteria agreed upon, Accord will hand over its tasks to that national regulatory body, according to Bangladesh media reports. BII feels the imminent termination of Accord would be too costly for workers’ health and safety and to brands and their investors. It has written letters on the issue to the labour ministry and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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CRCL to host seminar on azo dyes in textiles

The Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) to host four-day training programme on 'Quantitative analysis of banned azo dyes in textiles and other consumer goods' in New Delhi from October 8. Azo dyes are restricted due to carcinogenic nature. Azo dyes should be tested in textiles and consumer goods as a ban has been imposed on its use.  Dr Mahesh Dalal, in-charge, chemistry division, at the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) will deliver a talk on 'Rules and regulations on handling Azo dyes: A review'.   The talk will review the rules and regulation across developed countries on handling azo dyes. Detection methods to find weather banned azo dyes are used in textile or consumer goods will be discussed. ATIRA as a prestigious third party testing facility was involved in framing this test method as member of representative committee and testing a large no. of samples.

Source: Fibre2fashion

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