The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 09 APRIL, 2019

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

India's GDP expected to expand 7.5% in 2019-20: World Bank

Data for the first three quarters suggest that growth has been broad-based. Industrial growth accelerated to 7.9 per cent, making up for a deceleration in services. N: India's GDP growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5 per cent in Fiscal Year 19-20, driven by continued investment strengthening, particularly private improved export performance and resilient consumption, the World Bank has said. The real GDP growth is estimated at 7.2 per cent in FY18/19, the World Bank said in its latest report on South Asia on Sunday ahead of the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Data for the first three quarters suggest that growth has been broad-based. Industrial growth accelerated to 7.9 per cent, making up for a deceleration in services. Meanwhile, agriculture growth was robust at four per cent. On the demand side, domestic consumption remained the primary growth driver, but gross fixed capital formation and exports both made growing contributions. Over the last quarter, growth is expected to remain balanced across sectors, the report said. Inflation dynamics have been subdued over most of FY18/19, the report said. The World Bank said India's GDP growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5 per cent in FY19/20, driven by continued investment strengthening-particularly privateimproved export performance, and resilient consumption. With robust growth, and food prices poised to recover, inflation is expected to converge toward four per cent, it said, adding that both the current account and the fiscal deficit are expected to narrow. "On the external front, improvements in India's export performance and low oil prices should bring about a reduction in the current account deficit to 1.9 per cent of GDP," it said. "On the internal front, the consolidated fiscal deficit is projected to decline, albeit slowly (to 6.2 and 6.0 per cent of GDP in FY19/20 and FY20/21 respectively). As the center's deficit is budgeted to remain unchanged at 3.4 per cent of GDP in FY19/20, the burden of adjustment will rest on the states,” the World Bank said. A sustained decline in food prices since July 2018, subsequently complemented by the softening of oil prices and concomitant appreciation of the rupee, has led to a steady decline in inflation, it noted. Observing that headline inflation stood at 2.6 per cent in February 2019, and the average for FY18/19 so far at 3.5 per cent, well below the RBI's target-midpoint of four percent, the report said that as a result, the RBI reduced the policy rate by 25 basis points (to 6.25 percent) in February 2019. However, the report said that the current account deficit widened in FY18-19. India's external position worsened significantly in the first half of FY18-19, as large portfolio outflows were triggered by US monetary policy and fears of contagion from stress in some emerging market economies. The nominal exchange rate depreciated, and foreign reserves declined by over eight percent over January to October 2018. However, since then, the decline in oil prices and the United States Fed signaling a slower pace of normalisation than initially anticipated led to a partial reversal. Portfolio outflows have reversed, and the rupee has appreciated by about four percent visa-vis the USD since October 2018.

Source: Economic Times

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India charging US over 100% tariffs on many products: Donald Trump

His statement came days after he criticised India, saying it is one of the world's "highest taxing nations”. India charges America over 100 per cent tariffs on a large number of products while the US imposes nothing on the similar or same items, President Donald Trump has said, urging his administration to work on the "stupid trade". His statement came days after he criticised India, saying it is one of the world's "highest taxing nations". The US President has repeatedly claimed that India is a "tariff king" and imposes "tremendously high" tariffs on American products. Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump said: "We have a case where a certain country, India, is charging us... what great country, great friend, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi -- charging us over 100 per cent for many things". The United States, he said, is charging India "nothing for similar or same" products. In his speech, Trump indicated that he is receiving resistance from Senators for imposing reciprocal tariff on India. He cited India as a country other than China which imposes high tariffs on American products. India, he alleged, continues to wage "stupid trade" and unfair trade practices, and called out Prime Minister Modi for the trade imbalance with the US. "I have Senators who say, you can't do that. It's not free trade. When did they come from? Where did they come from? It's not free trade," he said, ramping up his rhetoric against India's trade and tariff policies. He asked his senior administration officials to work on this. "Will you please work on them? It's the craziest thing. It's stupid trade. We have so much stupid trade " Trump said.  He said that as a result of such trades, the US has lost for many years now -- USD 800 billion a year on trade. "Who the hell makes these deals? Those are not good negotiators. Actually, Democrats made a lot of them though. But Republicans met a lot of up too, that's the amazing thing. They made USD 800 billion. But we're getting it back. We'll get to give back. We're going to be getting a lot of it. "I have to be a little bit politically correct by saying it's ok if we lose USD 20 billion with a country because we want to be nice. We want to be nice with everyone," Trump said, asserting that his administration is cracking down on countries that cheat. Early this year at a White House event to announce his support for reciprocal tax, Trump said he was satisfied with the Indian decision to reduce the import tariff on high-end Harley-Davidson motorcycles from 100 per cent to 50 per cent. Trump has said that his administration is fixing broken trade deals to protect the American workers.

Source: Economic Times

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How GST Stands Today

Much has changed, particularly for the textiles and apparel industry, since the goods and services tax (GST) regime was rolled out in July 2017. Arun Kumar Singh looks at the state of things. The textiles-apparel industry is one of the oldest and largest contributors to India's economy. As the second largest industry after agriculture, the sector employs both skilled and unskilled people. The industry contributes more than 14 per cent of the total annual exports, which is likely to increase under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. This sector was doing well in the pre-GST era as well. With the rolling out of GST-which is no doubt a daring step by the government to strengthen the economy-this sector, particularly apparel exports, has suffered a jolt. Rate of GST on textile goods: Knitted apparel and clothing falls under Chapter 61 of the harmonised system of nomenclature (HSN) code under articles of apparel and clothing accessories. Apparel and clothing that are not knitted fall under Chapter 62 of the HSN code. Other textile products like curtains, bedsheets and used clothes are listed under Chapter 63 of that code under other made-up textile articles, sets, worn clothing and worn textile articles. Under all categories, any piece of apparel or clothing is taxed 5 per cent GST if the taxable value of the goods does not exceed ₹1,000 per piece. All types of apparel and clothing with value exceeding ₹1,000 per piece would be taxed at 12 per cent GST. classified under the first schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, based on their constituent materials and attract a uniform GST rate of 5 per cent. Garments and made-up articles of textiles under Chapters 61, 62 and 63 attract GST at the rate of 5 per cent, when their value is up to ₹1,000 per piece, and 12 per cent, when the value exceeds ₹1,000 per piece. The amount of ₹1,000 is the sale value, i.e. value at which such pieces are sold by the supplier. It is possible that a piece when sold by a manufacturer to a retailer may have a sale price of less than ₹1,000 and attract lower tax rate and may be sold at the sale price of more than ₹1,000 from the retailer shop and may attract a higher tax rate. Classification of fabrics: An October 2017 circular clarified that mere packing of fabrics into pieces of different lengths will not change the nature of these goods and such fabric pieces would continue to be classified under the respective heading as the fabric and attract 5 per cent GST rate. This clarification would equally apply to three pieces of fabrics sold in a pack as ladies salwar suit. Any embroidery on a fabric piece or certain embellishment thereon does not change the basic nature of it being a fabric. Wet baby wipes, wet face wipes, PVC mats and reusable baby cotton nappies are classified differently. Treatment of exports: As per the provisions contained under Integrated GST (IGST) Law, export of goods or services or both are to be regarded as 'zero-rated supplies' and a registered taxable person exporting such goods or services or both is allowed to claim GST refund paid under one of the following two options:

 · Export of goods or services or both under bond or letter of undertaking (LUT) without paying any integrated tax; can claim refund of unutilised input credit.

· Export of goods and service or both on the payment of integrated tax; the exporter can claim GST refund.

Job work activity: The Central GST Act, 2017, defines 'job work' as any treatment or process undertaken by a person on goods belonging to another registered person and the word 'job worker' is construed accordingly. The tax rate on job work activity related to textile and textile products is 5 per cent. The responsibility of keeping proper accounts of the inputs sent for job work lies with the principal. Moreover, if the timeframe of one year for bringing back or further supplying the inputs is not adhered to, the activity of sending the goods for job work is deemed to be a supply by the principal on the day when the said inputs were sent out by him. It is the principal's responsibility to send the goods for job work and bring those back or supply. Duty liability under RCM: On a little activity of supply of goods or services or both, the tax liability on taxable supplies to any other person other than the supplier is with the recipient. The list of supply of services under reverse charge system is as follows: The list of supply of goods under reverse charge system is as follows:

E-way bill: The e-way bill is an electronic way bill for movement of goods to be generated on the e-way bill portal. For a person with GST registration, if the value of goods is worth more than ₹50,000 (single invoice/bill/delivery challan) and is made to or from a registered person, then the registered person or the transporter must generate an e-way bill. It should be generated when there is inter-state and intra-state movement of goods in relation to supply, reasons other than supply and inward supply from an unregistered person. An e-way bill is required even if goods are transferred from one vehicle to the other. A consolidated e-way bill is required for multiple consignments.

Input tax credit under GST: The CGST Act provides that a person with GST registration is entitled to take credit of input taxes charged on any supply of goods or services or both to him, which are used or intended to be used in the course or furtherance of his business. The said amount shall be credited to his electronic credit ledger. The provisions provide for the following:

(i) Only a person with GST registration is entitled to take input tax credit (ITC).

(ii) Input tax is available on all supply of goods and services equivalent to the amount of tax charged.

(iii) The aforesaid goods or services or both must be used or intended to be used either in course of business or in furtherance of business.

There are, however, certain restrictions to ITC under GST.

Refund of ITC: Refund is a very important aspect in the apparel sector. Most textile assessees export goods. The tax paid on input is more than the output tax liability or the same is accumulated due to zero-rated supply under letter of undertaking or bond. The assessee is entitled to the refund in case of zero-rated supply of goods or services made without payment of tax and refund is also given if credit has accumulated due to higher amount of tax on input and lower amount of tax on output supply. Duty drawback: Duty drawback is a refund in payments that were initially collected upon import of foreign-made goods; these payments could be for customs duties or other fees. The department of customs issues these refunds only when the imported merchandise is either exported or destroyed. Pre-GST duty drawback on the textile sector was on the higher side but after implementation of GST, the rate of duty drawback has been reduced. Rebate of state levies: The ministry of textiles announced post-GST rates for rebate of state levies (RoSL) on export of garments and made-ups under AA-AIR combination and made-up textile articles. These rates were effective from October 1, 2017. Arun Kumar Singh is a GST advocate at Rajesh Kumar & Associates.

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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USTR slams India's e-commerce policy, says can throttle digital trade

Draft policy calls for regulating cross-border data flow, banning sharing of data of Indian users stored abroad with other business, and mandating all e-commerce firms to have data storage in India. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has slammed India's restrictions on cross-border data flows and data localization requirements. It has termed India’s move as a barrier to digital trade in its factsheet for National Trade Estimate (NTE), 2019. “In 2018, India published a number of measures that would restrict the cross-border flow of data and create onerous data localization requirements. In October, one such measure was implemented, requiring payment service suppliers to store all information related to electronic payments by Indian citizens within India”, said USTR. The agency has expressed its concern on the draft Personal Data Protection law and draft e-Commerce Policy. “Much broader restrictions included in India’s draft Personal Data Protection law and draft e-Commerce Policy threaten to undermine the digital economy as a major source of growth for India”, USTR added. The US agency has joined the bandwagon of industries and trade bodies who have voiced their resistance to the draft e-commerce policy. The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT) proposed draft e-commerce policy has already drawn flak from industry as well as civil society. The draft policy has proposed regulating cross-border data flow, banning sharing of data of Indian users stored abroad with other business and third-party entities, and mandating that all e-commerce companies have data storage in India. The industry associations have vehemently opposed the proposal to give the government access to the source code and algorithms of e-commerce companies. “Barriers to digital trade threaten the ability of all firms – including small businesses – to benefit from the advantages of the digital economy. When governments impose unnecessary barriers to cross-border data flows or discriminate against foreign digital services, local firms are often hurt the most, as they cannot take advantage of cross-border digital services that facilitate global competitiveness”, USTR pointed out. The US agency has also listed China’s restrictions on cross-border data flows and data localization requirements and cloud computing restrictions, European Union and its member states’ digital services taxes, Indonesia’s data localization requirements, barriers to internet services and tariffs on digital products, among others , as barriers to digital trade in the NTE, 2019 factsheet.

Source: Business Standard

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Raymond Launches Ecovera In Collaboration With Reliance Industries

Raymond Group, fashion and textile manufacturer and retailer, has unveiled the eco-friendly Ecovera – a range of fabrics manufactured by using R|Elan™, the latest technology from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The Ecovera range will soon hit 1500 stores across 700 cities. It is made from R|Elan™ GreenGold, the greenest fibre in the world. R|Elan™ GreenGold is made by recycling post- consumer waste PET bottles, using bio-fuels and energy-efficient processes. Raymond’s Ecovera, powered by RIL’s R|Elan™, will redeem almost 1 million PET bottles from landfills. It’s a testimony to both RIL and Raymond’s commitment to saving the Earth. Speaking on the joint development of the sustainable range, Mr Sudhanshu Pokhriyal, President, Textiles, Raymond Ltd. said, “We as an organisation are known for innovations in manufacturing top quality fabrics using both natural and man-made fibres. In our endeavour to create eco-friendly, sustainable fabrics, R|Elan™ GreenGold is a perfect choice to produce fabrics that have multiple qualities with superior handle and lustre. The use of R|Elan™ GreenGold is also a step towards achieving our goal of making our organisation sustainable and environment-friendly.” Raymond is one of the largest vertically and horizontally integrated manufacturers of worsted suiting fabrics in the world. It commands a dominant market share of over 60 per cent in the worsted suiting fabrics space in India. Throughout its history, Raymond’s motto has been: ‘Dressing the modern man right’. Drawing from Reliance’s extensive R&D and vast expertise in fibres, R | Elan™ is a portfolio of innovative fabrics that does more. R Elan™ GreenGold is a new-age technology from RIL with globally supreme eco-credentials and specially engineered to fulfil consumer requirement for sustainable fashion. GreenGold is one of the eco-friendliest raw materials for the fashion industry and is supporting major brands achieve their environmental commitments. According to Mr Gunjan Sharma, CMO – Polyester Business, RIL, “We are proud to be associated with Raymond. It provides us with an opportunity to do our bit for the environment. R|Elan™ GreenGold enables and equips Raymond to create an innovative and fashionable fabric with an added dose of sustainability.” RIL’s petrochemicals business is committed to adhering to the concept of circular economy, recycling and waste reduction. Its aim is to make Indian textile and fashion industry a leader in practising these concepts. Thus, R|Elan™ products will provide consumers next generation fabrics that are in line with the latest fashion trends while also fulfilling their lifestyle needs. RIL’s efforts will give consumers the assurance that if there is R|Elan™ on the outside, there is something special on the inside.

Source: Textile World

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EU discussing investment protection pact with India

Investments from European Union (EU) to India fell in the last fiscal and the lack of protection of investments may be a reason, EU ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski told a conference on India-Europe economic ties organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Delhi recently. EU is discussing with India a possible investment protection agreement. Such an agreement would replace the bilateral investment treaties between India and EU member states, which were terminated a few years ago, a press release from EU quoted the envoy as saying. The EU-India partnerships on water, on resource efficiency, on clean and renewable energy and climate change, and on sustainable urbanisation, will bring opportunities for businesses on both sides, he added. (DS)

Source: Fibre2fashion

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Rupee slips 8 paise to 69.73 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated by 8 paise to 69.73 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday on increased demand for the U.S. currency from importers. Besides, strength in dollar against major rival currencies on stronger U.S. payroll data and rising crude prices also kept pressure on the Indian rupee, dealers said. However, a higher opening in domestic equities helped in restricting the slide in the Indian unit to some extent, they added. The rupee opened at 69.65 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 69.73, down 8 paise over its last close. The local currency however pared the initial loss and was trading at 69.66 at 09:47 hrs. The rupee had declined by 44 paise to close at 69.67 against the US dollar on Monday. Meanwhile, foreign investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in ₹329.60 crore on a net basis on Monday, as per provisional data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.13 % to USD 71.19 per barrel. Meanwhile, domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on Tuesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 96.38 points down at 38,796.91 and Nifty up 13.50 points at 11,618.00.

Source: Financial Express

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Replicating the IT success in manufacturing

As with the IT sector, the government must build the infrastructure needed to boost competitiveness and not leave the task to private players. One of the widely-held myths about the extraordinary growth achieved by the information technology sector in India has been that this was possible as the sector remained below the radar the government and, therefore, left alone. The truth, however, is the exact opposite. Information technology (IT) succeeded because the government, at the outset, did the necessary things, needed for success. Drawing lessons from this experience is essential when trying for comparable success in manufacturing. What did the government do right then? The government spent public money in creating high-speed internet connectivity of global standards with the US for the IT software parks. This was done years ahead of telecom modernisation in India. Creating islands of high-speed connectivity for a nascent industry independent of the telecom system was a bold move. This enabled seamless integration of the Indian IT industry into the US market. For the IT value chain, Indian firms could as well have been located in the US. The government then brought trade in services into the regulatory framework of imports and exports. It allowed the IT industry to import duty-free both hardware and software and also gave it all the incentives that were being provided to exporters of goods. This enabled the nascent IT industry to get integrated in the dynamic US market without any disadvantage, especially in terms of hardware and software costs. In addition, the IT industry was able to function under the Shops and Establishment Act. It was, therefore, not subject to the over 40 laws relating to labour and the onerous regulatory burden these impose. Further, the IT sector had the benefit of low-cost high-value human capital created by the investments made a generation earlier in higher scientific and technical education. Without all these, the IT success story would not have occurred. The key lesson is that the state can take steps to nurture competitive advantage. The false ideological divide of ‘state’ verses the ‘market’ and growing faith in the latter has been coming in the way of India replicating this for manufacturing. China created world class infrastructure, including housing for workers, in its Special Zones along the coast. It supported them in getting foreign and domestic investment in manufacturing. Within a few years, China started becoming the factory of the world. It is now becoming an economic superpower.

Feeble effort

In India, development of industrial areas has been the responsibility of the States. Given the political need to spread scarce resources equitably across regions, the creation and maintenance of globally competitive infrastructure for manufacturing remains a challenge. The Central government did recognise this problem. But its efforts to address it have been feeble and constrained by an excessive faith in the potential of private investment. First, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were conceived and promoted from the year 2000. These had a zero import duty regime along with no taxes on profits. While the government provided a favourable regulatory regime, it assumed that the private sector would develop these zones successfully. But other than the IT SEZs, few manufacturing ones with scale took off. The private sector succeeded in the IT sector as the land and investment needed were modest. But the Indian private sector just did not have the scale to create globally competitive physical and social infrastructure, including workers’ housing, for manufacturing to be competitive. If the Centre in partnership with the States had taken taken the lead in assembling land and investing adequately and had got the private sector to come in only where it could, the outcome could have been quite different. In 2005 came the ambitious Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Here again, the initial decision was to get the private sector to invest and develop industrial areas along the Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated High Speed Freight Corridor. It then took some years to find out that private investment on the scale needed would not be forthcoming and to accept the need for Central government financing for the trunk infrastructure. Even in the most advanced project under the Corridor, it would still be a while before the first industrial unit would get going. In addition, Kolkata-Amritsar and Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Corridors were also announced. More recently, the idea of developing large economic zones with world-class infrastructure around sea ports was mooted by the former Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog.

Still in the works

A successful IT park equivalent for manufacturing, where the physical and social infrastructure are comparable to the best in the world and one that helps connect to the global markets seamlessly, is still by and large work-in-progress. Workers’ housing, the key to productivity, is yet to become an integral part of industrial area development, whereas software SEZs have housing and workplaces within walking distance. In addition, such an industrial area needs to be large enough to have the critical mass for generating positive externalities and the increasing returns to scale that follow. This has been the key to China’s success, where such economies of scalehave resulted in unbeatable prices for a wide range of manufactured products. India needs to build new and large world-class manufacturing areas speedily, especially in the industrial corridors and along the ports. These are critical for the competitiveness needed for being part of global manufacturing supply chain. India can and must find the resources for this. The economic returns and job creation from such investment will be tremendous.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

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Angel investors get further relief

There may be relief from notices for angel investors with the government mandating disclosure of holdings in unlisted companies in tax returns. This data will be matched with filings of startups, which have been asked to disclose the list of investors along with some of their details. The moves initiated through the tax return forms come after the revenue department got down to clearing the clutter on the issue that had been bothering several investors in startups. With investors getting notices from tax authorities for acquiring shares at a hefty premium in companies, the finance ministry as well as the department for promotion of industry and internal trade allowed more investors to invest in startups without being subjected to questioning in future.  “This is the next step in making life simpler for startups. With the two sets of data in their possession, tax authorities need not approach investors with notices,” explained a senior officer in the tax department. Tax officials earlier dashed off the notices as they could not easily spot the difference between startups and shell companies, which issue shares at a heavy premium without any significant business. The government also expects that the new filing system will help put curbs on investment in shell companies, which are vehicles used to launder money. In recent months, there has been a clampdown on these companies through the Companies Act as well as by the tax department. “People may not be willing to disclose their holdings in these companies and these companies too will be monitored for the shareholders that they have,” an official said. Sources said that the new filing mechanism for startups was part of the government’s strategy to ensure faceless assessment while trying to ensure that there was not undue scrutiny of honest taxpayers. Similarly, the government has also asked some of the businessmen to disclose the details of the outward supplies made under GST against the GST numbers that they have. An individual can use one PAN to generate multiple GST numbers for registration of several businesses or even register entities across many states, especially the services sector. “The move will only impact larger businesses as entities with turnover up to Rs 40 lakh are exempted from GST,” an official said.

Source: Economic Times

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Global craft village

The 5th edition of London Craft Week will showcase 10 rare crafts and diverse skills from five different states of India The craft sector has gone through many phases of transformation over the years, and many believe that there is an emergence of a new culture which at the same time retains tradition. With the success of India Craft Week held for the first time in India last year, the Craft Village has been invited for an exclusive preview to showcase 10 rare crafts from India at the forthcoming fifth edition of London Craft Week. “The preview has a montage of 5,000 years of rich heritage of Indian crafts in wood, textiles, metal, narrative art, weaving and much more in form of exhibition, workshops, demonstrations, talks. One can experience the finesse, beauty and style of timeless treasures,” says Iti Tyagi, founder of Craft Village. The preview also brings on board the diverse skills from five different states, acquired over thousands of years in Pashmina weaving, Rogan textile art, Chamba Rumaal — double-side embroidery, Kagzi pottery, Bidri — metal carving and inlay and Phad — Narrative folk art. the best part for the visitors is that they can learn these skills from the master craftsmen. Iti says, “Most of these rare crafting skills have either been lost or forgotten as very few masters practise them today. It is an opportunity for all the visitors to explore and learn these rare and authentic techniques from award winning masters, using a range of traditional material, media and processes. Interestingly, most of the techniques are tactile in nature and help one concentrate thus giving people a break from the digital world in order to do something which is more humane, sensory and experiential.” All demonstrations are hands on and authentic material would be provided by the master craftsperson for each of them. This helps each participant to explore their modern creative and imaginative ideas using authentic traditional techniques. The demonstration will have six craft forms:

Bidri — Metal ware from Karnataka

Master Rashid Qadri is a dynasty craftsperson who has been instrumental in reviving Bidri silver crafts. He has innovated new methods of carving, inlaying and finishing of metal inlay in zinc and copper alloy with silver.

Pashmina — Weaving from Kashmir

Master Majid Mir, one of youngest Kashmiri weaver comes from the family whose forefathers had evolved and innovated calligraphy weaving in Pashmina centuries back. Being a National award-winner and having developed finest weaving techniques in Urdu calligraphy, most of his shawls talk about heaven on earth.

Chamba Rumaal — Embroidery from Himachal Pradesh

Gold medal winner, master Lalita Vakil has been one of finest craftswomen to practice this embroidered form in region of Chamba valley, inspired from pahari miniature paintings. It is only form of textile which has no wrong side.

Rogan — Textile art from Gujarat

Master Gafoor Bhai Khatri is the last generation to practice this intricate textile craft. He was recently conferred with a Padmashri, the fourth highest civilian award of India for protecting and reviving this craft in 2007. The Rogan craft practiced by the master (looks like 3-D printed textiles) is done in natural oil colours using a stick.

Kagzi — Pottery from Rajasthan

Master Om Prakash Galav comes from a community called Prajapati, who has been engaged in Ramgarh clay and pottery for many centuries. Besides being a National award-winner, he has many international records to his credit for making the world’s smallest pottery to the largest hukkah.

Phad — Narrative art

Master Kalyan Joshi hails from Bhilwara, Rajasthan. The Joshi comes from “Jyotshi” meaning astrologers and he is one of the seven authentic phad artists practising this art form in the world. He has been conferred the National award and many other prestigious accolades. He has also helped in creating wall narratives using this art in various villages across India on conserving water, sanitation and planting trees.

Source: Daily Pioneer

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Vayana offers Indian MSMEs curated mix of lender options

Vayana Network offers a well-curated mix of public sector, private sector and multinational lenders as well as some leading non-banking finance companies to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India as it believes different lending partners are needed to address the needs of different industries, according to Vinod Parmar, global head, sales and marketing. Vayana handles all documentation, creation and structuring of these programmes and therefore, MSMEs have pretty much a single window for all their financing needs, he told Fibre2Fashion in an interview. The entire exercise of getting the documentation in order, working with the lenders, getting the sanctions in place and starting the short-term financing programme is a service that the company offers MSMEs on a platter, Parmar said. The company also cuts down the challenge MSMEs face in dealing with local bank branches because it runs these programmes on a centralised basis, he added. Vayana Network was started with a vision to democratise access to trade finance to the smallest of enterprises. It has offices in Pune, Bengalutu, Gurugram, Mumbai and in the United States and Singapore.

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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Global Textile Raw Material Price 08-04-2019

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

1311.02

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

VSF

1845.24

USD/Ton

0.81%

4/8/2019

ASF

2495.54

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

Polyester POY

1372.77

USD/Ton

2.67%

4/8/2019

Nylon FDY

2886.91

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

40D Spandex

4747.04

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

Nylon POY

2708.34

USD/Ton

0.55%

4/8/2019

Acrylic Top 3D

2678.58

USD/Ton

2.86%

4/8/2019

Polyester FDY

1532.74

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

Nylon DTY

3154.77

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

Viscose Long Filament

5625.02

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

Polyester DTY

1572.92

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

30S Spun Rayon Yarn

2537.21

USD/Ton

-0.29%

4/8/2019

32S Polyester Yarn

2023.82

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

45S T/C Yarn

2886.91

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

40S Rayon Yarn

2886.91

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

T/R Yarn 65/35 32S

2425.60

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

45S Polyester Yarn

2172.63

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

T/C Yarn 65/35 32S

2574.41

USD/Ton

0%

4/8/2019

10S Denim Fabric

1.37

USD/Meter

0%

4/8/2019

32S Twill Fabric

0.83

USD/Meter

0%

4/8/2019

40S Combed Poplin

1.11

USD/Meter

0%

4/8/2019

30S Rayon Fabric

0.63

USD/Meter

0%

4/8/2019

45S T/C Fabric

0.71

USD/Meter

0%

4/8/2019

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14881 USD dtd. 08/04/2019). 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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Second phase of Sino-Pakistan FTA to be signed in next month

The second phase of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and China is likely to be signed in next month, a senior official of Commerce and Textile Ministry said on Monday. Negotiation on 11th round of Pak-China FTA were held here today, where both side have consensus to conclude the agreement in coming month. The China has agreed to give unilateral market access and concession of 313 tariff lines to Pakistan for enhancing the Pakistan’s export, the official said while talking to APP here. He said that Pakistan wanted market access in China like Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) to get more benefits from the FTA for enhancing the country’s trade. He said that Pakistan’s exports with China ranged from worth $140 to $170 million a month, which needed to be improved by $200 million after signing the FTA between the two nations. Besides, the ministry of commerce had also set target for export of $300 million per month in coming three years, he said. Replying to a question, he said that besides the FTA between the two countries, China also agreed to give market access worth $ 1 billion to Pakistan. He said that Pakistan’s export to China stood at $1.5 billion per year which could go up to $2.10 billion and then to $3.2 billion after exploiting these term with China. The official said that China’s total imports stood at $2 trillion but Pakistani entrepreneurs lacked the ability to get a reasonable share from China’s total imports. He said that in the first phase, Pakistan gave concessions on 5,686 tariff lines to China; while China gave concessions on 6,418 tariff lines.

Source: Business Recorder

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Reducing trade deficit crucial for strengthening external finances

A two-pronged strategy of reducing imports and increasing exports are vital for decreasing the large trade deficit, achieving a balance of payments surplus and strengthening external finances. Nevertheless, the immediate reduction of imports is critical for containing the trade deficit this year. While increasing exports significantly is the medium-to-long-term strategy, containing imports is the short term solution. However, the character and the composition of the country’s import dependency make this a difficult and challenging task.

Import composition

Although the country’s import and export structure has undergone significant changes, especially after liberalisation of the economy in 1977, the country remains highly import dependent. It is owing to this that the country has had persistent trade deficits in most years. Reducing imports is difficult as they are mostly essential consumer items or intermediate inputs for production.

Trade dependency

Sri Lanka’s economy has been an export-import dependent economy for more than 150 years. Although there have been significant changes in the composition of imports and exports in the last four decades, the economy remains a highly import-dependent one. From the 1950s till the 1970s, the country’s exports were mainly agricultural crops: tea, rubber and coconut. This changed significantly after the liberalisation of the economy and the setting up of export manufacturing industries.

Trade pattern

While, in 1977, agricultural exports constituted 79.3 percent of exports and manufactured exports accounted for only 14.2 percent of total exports, by the turn of the century, manufactured exports increased to around 60 percent and agricultural exports declined to about 40 percent. Garments, ceramics and rubber goods exports expanded significantly. Garments exports replaced tea as the country’s main export. In 2018, industrial goods accounted for 70 percent of exports and agricultural products for 30 percent. In spite of this drastic reversal, the country’s high import dependency persists, though of a different nature.

Change in import composition

Even though the import composition changed significantly, import dependency is high. Food imports declined with increased production of rice and other food crops, but several basic food items such as wheat, sugar, milk and dhal continue to be imported. Food imports amounted to about 10 percent of total imports in recent years. On the other hand, imports of fuel and intermediate goods increased.

Imports in 2018

In 2018, consumer items accounted for 22.4 percent of total imports, with food imports constituting 10.3 percent. The most significant change was the import of higher amount of intermediate goods. With industrialization, the imports of raw material such as textiles and chemicals increased. The fuel import bill also increased owing to higher needs of fuel for thermal generation of electricity and increased needs for transport and industrial uses. Consequently, fuel constituted 18.6 percent of total imports in 2018.

Increasing imports

Total imports increased by 6 percent from US$ 21 billion in 2017 to US$ 22.2 billion in 2018. This significant increase of imports has been the main cause of the widening trade deficit from US$ 7 billion in 2016 to US$ 9.6 billion in 2017 and US$ 10.3 billion in 2018. This increase in the trade deficit to US$ 10.3 billion last year is far too high and must be reduced this year.

Import dependency

Import dependency is inevitable for a small country with a narrow resource base. Most exports have a high import content. Even tyre manufacture has a large import content, as canvas, steel, chemicals and synthetic rubber are needed. It is more so with respect of the country’s main manufactured export-garments. Textiles, thread, machines and even buttons are imported. This is clear by the fact that while garments exports amounted to US$ 3 billion in 2018, textile imports were US$ 2.8 billion. For this reason, much of the intermediate imports of US$ 4 billion are for manufactured exports and some of the intermediate imports like fertilizer, fuel and chemicals that are for agricultural and industrial production.

Non-essential imports

In this import composition, are there non-essential imports that could be curtailed?

In recent years, there have been significant imports of vehicles and gold. In 2018, vehicle imports cost US$ 1.6 billion, while gold imports amounted to US$ 0.6 billion in 2017 and 0.4 billion in 2018. These two items amounted to about 10 percent of total imports in 2018. Can the nation fritter away its scarce foreign exchange on these imports?

The Central Bank points out that these imports have declined in December 2018. This is a case of shutting the stable doors after the horses have bolted.

Policies

One of the serious deficiencies in policy making is that decisions are taken without due consideration to their impact on the trade balance and external finances. For instance, import tariffs are often based on considerations of enhancing revenue without considering their impact on increased import expenditure. Again, decisions are taken to reduce tariffs to gain popularity. This has happened in the case of car imports where tariffs have been reduced as a popular measure without considering its consequence of an increase in import expenditure. Furthermore in determining monetary policy, the Government should consider their impact on increasing the aggregate demand that leaks and increases imports. Without a comprehensive strategy that is conscious of the need to contain import demand, the trade balance will have a large deficit that is detrimental for the external finances of the country.

Trade deficit

The larger the trade deficit, the lesser the likelihood of a significant balance of payments surplus. In 2018, the trade deficit of US$ 10.3 billion was offset by workers remittances of US$ 6.7 billion and tourist earnings of US$ 4.1 billion – a total of US$ 10.8 billion. This, together with other income, resulted in only a small BOP surplus of US$ 1.4 billion. Had the trade deficit been around US$ 8.5 billion, then the BOP surplus on the current account would have been about US$ 3 billion. This underscores the importance of reducing the trade deficit. A lower trade deficit is imperative to achieve a balance of payments surplus to reduce the country’s external financial vulnerability as further foreign borrowing at high cost for foreign debt servicing would weakens the external finances and drive the country into a foreign debt trap.

Conclusion

If the trade deficit is not contained to achieve a significant balance of payments surplus, foreign borrowing is needed to meet foreign debt obligations and finance development expenditure. Further foreign borrowing would increase the currently large foreign debt and enhance the country’s external financial vulnerability. The reduction of the trade deficit is imperative to reduce the country’s external vulnerability.

Source: The Sunday Times

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China lowers tariffs on computers, textiles

The move is part of Beijing’s response to major trade partners that are challenging its trade practices. Under pressure from its trade partners, the Chinese State Council announced it will lower tariffs on some consumer goods ranging from computers to textile products. The tariffs under category one will be lowered to 13% from 15% and those under category two will be lowered to 20% from 25%, according to an official statement. The adjustment will take effect on April 9. Category one includes consumer products like books, magazines, computers, video camera, food, beverage, furniture, qualified drugs, among others. The items under category two are sporting goods (exclude golf balls and equipments), fishing products, textile products and bikes. The move is recognized as part of Beijing’s efforts in response to major trade partners that are challenging its trade practises. China and the US have slapped tariffs on more than US$360 billion in two-way trade, while the European Union may be ready to take China to task for alleged unfair trade policies.

Source: Asia Times

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Bangladesh's growth outlook strong, stable: World Bank

Bangladesh’s economy continues to grow at an impressive rate driven by industry and it is among the five fastest growing economies, despite insufficient private sector investment, according to a new report by the World Bank (WB), which said its growth outlook remains strong and stable. On the demand side, growth is led by private consumption and exports. Sound macroeconomic policies and resilient domestic demand have led to growth in manufacturing and construction on the supply side, the World Bank said in its report titled ‘The Bangladesh Development Update 2019: Towards Regulatory Predictability. After a modest performance last year, export earnings and remittances have bounced back helping the rural economy grow faster. In addition, the country has substantially improved its electricity generation and a bumper agricultural harvest has further stimulated growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) remains low at less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Net FDI inflow amounted to $910 million in the first half of fiscal 2018-19, compared with $823 million in the first half of the previous fiscal, according to the report. The share of machinery in total imports for leading industries like textiles, garments, pharmaceuticals, packing and leather has also declined, reaching 31.8 per cent in July-November 2018 from 55.6 per cent in 2009. For Bangladesh to be an attractive destination for industries, it is critical to make resources such as land, electricity and gas available, the report suggests. Businesses face regulatory uncertainty on various fronts that constrain investment. Inconsistencies in policy implementation can adversely affect employment growth. Based on a survey of 72 businesses operating in Bangladesh, some of the issues that the report said needs to be addressed include regulatory assessment, review and overhaul of existing laws, rules and statutory regulatory orders, a website for publishing all new laws and regulatory orders, and introduction of online feedback mechanism and business-to-government feedback loops on regulatory service quality. Sustained reform efforts are needed in banking, tax structure, public finance management, infrastructure financing strategy and ease of conducting business, the report added.

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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'Substantial progress' to end trade war, Xi conveys Trump

 ‘New substantial progress’ has been made on the China-US economic agreement, generating optimism to end to the trade war between the two nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently said. Xi's remarks were part of a message conveyed to US President Donald Trump at the White House by Chinese vice premier Liu He, Beijing's lead negotiator on the trade war. Liu met President Trump last week and conveyed Xi's message, according to global newswires. The Chinese President said that new substantial progress has been made on the text of the China-US economic and trade agreement in the past more than one month. Xi encouraged the two sides to keep up with the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and resolve issues of mutual concern so as to conclude the negotiations on the agreement text as soon as possible. Under the current situation, a healthy and stable development of China-US relations concerns the interests of both Chinese and American people, as well as the interests of people of other countries around the world, and it needs, in particular, their strategic leadership, Xi reportedly conveyed Trump. Top US and Chinese trade officials have been holding a series of talks to end the trade war. Trump is demanding China to reduce the $375 billion trade deficit and protection of intellectual property rights, technology transfer and more access for US goods to Chinese markets. After meeting Trump, Liu said the teams have conducted fruitful consultations over the past two days and reached new consensus on important issues like the text of the economic and trade agreement. (DS)

Source: Fibre2fashion

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Texprocess Forum to cover sustainability in textile sector

The Texprocess Forum programme has been released and it will mainly discuss digitalisation and sustainability in the textile sector. Accordingly, Messe Frankfurt is bringing part of its Fashionsustain conference from Berlin to Frankfurt for the first time. Texprocess, the show for processing textile and flexible materials, will be held from May 14-17, 2019. Within the framework of the Texprocess Forum, Messe Frankfurt is bringing an offshoot of its Fashionsustain conference to Frankfurt on May 14, 2019. Fashionsustain is part of Neonyt, an event hub specialising in sustainable fashion during the Berliner Fashion Week. The innovative conference format adds pioneering, sustainable textile innovations to the dialogue and uses synergistic effects in the sector to revolutionise processes and production flows. The superordinate question ‘Is Sustainability the Key to Textile Innovations?’ will be discussed in round table sessions with key players, such as Lenzing, Perpetual Global, and Procalçado S.A. A keynote lecture by Micke Magnusson, founder of the Swedish ‘We are Spindye’ start-up, will address the economic need for sustainable business models and give action impulses, according to a press release on the show. Subsequently, fibre manufacturer Lenzing, embroidery-machine manufacturer Santoni, and shoe-component manufacturer Procalçado S.A. will present an innovation roadshow entitled ‘The Future of Eco-Conscious Footwear Manufacturing’. The roadshow is supported by the Texpertise Network of Messe Frankfurt. It illustrates sustainable shoe manufacturing and shows how a sustainability revolution in the fashion and textile industry can become reality today. The panel discussion will be chained by Marte Hentschel, founder of Sourcebook, the B2B network for the fashion industry. Additional contributions about sustainability at Texprocess Forum will be given by Global Sustainable Management on the recycling economy and its integration in the product-development process, textile manufacturer Vossen will talk on vegan textiles, and investment company Triple Tree will discuss sustainable CSR management and audit solutions for complete transparency. Which changes triggered by Industry 4.0 are already part of the value chain, this is the main question of the thematic block organised by the VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies association, on May 14, and it will be discussed in two round-table sessions by Andreas Faath from VDMA Forum Industry 4.0; Yves-Simon Gloy from Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut, and Klaus Hecker from VDMA Organic and Printed Electronics Association. The subjects selected by DTB, Dialogue Textile Apparel, for the Texprocess Forum on May 15 and 16, 2019, spotlight those parts of the textile process chain most affected by digitalisation. With Holger Knapp, CEO of the Deutscher Fachverlag publishing company in the chair, Hans-Peter Hiemer of B4B Solutions will open proceedings with a keynote address on the digital transformation of the fashion business. This will be followed by a panel discussion entitled ‘Old hands, reckless young people – how to get the best from your team with 3D!’ with Michael Ernst from Germany’s Niederrhein University, Andreas Seidl of Human Solutions, and other experts. Thereafter, digital solutions for the fashion trade like digital showrooms and sales tools, will be the focal point of contributions by MobiMedia and Assyst. Lectra will discuss ways to fashion on demand, Sys-Pro will look at omni-channel solutions, and Avalution will look at avatars in the digital development of apparel. In its contribution, the Hohenstein Testing Institute will consider whether virtual prototypes are also suitable for resale products while WKS Textilveredlungs will ask how quality assurance can go together with shorter lead times. In the panel discussion organised by the World Textile Information Network (WTiN) on May 17, Coloreel will introduce its revolutionary thread colouring technology; the German institute for textile and fibre research, Denkendorf, will speak about micro-factories in the textile industry; KSL will discuss sewing robots; and WTiN will look at the influence of Amazon on investment, patents, and the future. (GK)

Source : Fibre2fashion

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Lenzing works with organisations promoting sustainability

Austria-based Lenzing Group works closely with global organisations that promote awareness for sustainable, renewable and environment-friendly fibres, according to its chief commercial officer Robert van de Kerkhof. The firm is now working with the Make Fashion Circular initiative—part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation—which focuses on circular economy. Apparel brand Levi Strauss has provided funds to the company for garment suppliers in developing nations to increase their environmental standards, Kerkhof told Fibre2Fashion in an interview. “Our partners are increasingly moving toward the goal of producing 100 per cent sustainable clothing, which will lessen the burden of the global fashion industry towards the environment,” he added. (DS)

Source: Fibre2fashon

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High-tech wovens for innovation in the construction industry

Modern construction work is increasingly impacted by light, flexible materials, such as those produced in advance on automated textile machines: membranes, textile reinforcement, and woven materials that protect from flames, noise or dust. Techtextil, the leading international trade fair, which takes place from 14-17 May, in Frankfurt, will be providing a range of stimulating ideas for experts in the construction industry. Technical textiles, a sector involved in intensive research and development and an area in which Germany leads the world, is increasingly targeting architects and the construction industry. Since the Federal President of Germany presented the 2016 German Future Award to three professors at the Technical University of Dresden for the invention of carbon concrete, one thing has become clear: new, fibre-based developments in the field covered by Buildtech have the potential to provide far-reaching innovations in both lightweight construction work and more traditional concrete, as well as in civil engineering projects for earthworks, water infrastructure and road building – including membrane structures. The attention is drawn to at least ten aspects, which range from materials and construction techniques, urban infill projects, heat management, actuation technology and acoustic engineering, to bionic engineering and temporary structures. “Representing one of the twelve major areas of application for technical textiles, Buildtech is amongst the most innovative new developments. It enables us, for example, to build decorative, airy, lightweight structures. One of the reasons why the proportion of trade visitors from the building industry and architectural practices continues to grow from one show to the next,” commented Michael Jänecke, Director, Brand Management, Technical Textiles & Textile Processing.

Textile concrete: a first street bridge, a first building

With a comparatively low weight to surface-area ratio and high tensile strength, textiles are already challenging the traditional, tried-and-tested steel reinforcement as a building material in isolated instances: the first bridge structure, facing elements and even buildings made from this material are becoming a Mecca for planners, city architects and engineers. In Saxony, the site of the Carbon Concrete Composite-Cluster C³, which is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and promotes numerous different aspects of new building methods using textiles, the preparations for two milestone projects are currently underway. These have widespread implications in both Europe and the wider world. After a few initial trial footbridges, including for instance, those in Ronneburg and Albstadt, there is now talk of building the first road bridge over the S111 country road near Bautzen, together with the first carbon-concrete building of all time, called the CUBE, not far from Dresden’s main railway station. Following in the footsteps of the 246-metre-high Thyssenkrupp Test Tower in Rottweil that was given an outer skin of PTFE woven fibre glass mat, these will be further ‘beacons’ for textile-based buildings Made in Germany.

High-performance filament yarns protect against impact stresses

Research in textiles has recently turned its attention to the impact resistance of buildings. The aim is to make the strengthening elements in concrete structures more robust and more resistant to the consequences of any impact by means of textile reinforcement. So, how can the impact of a vehicle against a wall or the corner of a house be ‘absorbed’ by the material used, whilst, at the same time, the resultant stresses are deflected, so as to avoid sudden cracks appearing in the concrete? One answer to this is given by a project of the ITM Institute (Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology) in the Technical University of Dresden. The project, which is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, will be represented at Techtextil, covering many different topics relevant to the building industry. “Textile reinforcements made from high-performance filament yarns are precisely what is needed for this kind of multifunctional strengthening material,” said the project leaders. There now exist examples of textile reinforcement panels, which can be used preventatively to raise the level of security in constructions that are subject to impact hazards: a good example of the way in which technical textiles can be integrated into applications to meet some extremely demanding expectations. In the case of numerous other new innovations, science again provides input – often from several disciplines at a time – for companies’ own developments. Examples of this are the Fall Bag (a protective vest with integrated airbag for falls from ladder height), which won the 2018 DEKRA Award, and the modular textile wall component system that protects against building noise and building dust, devised by the InoEmTex network for textile development in the Vogtland region of Germany. And the recently available hybrid-rope detector, which has just come onto the market, for measuring the moisture content of brickwork from the joints, also belongs to this list.

Focus on façades

A brief look at this year’s Buildtech exhibitors in Frankfurt shows that, for example, façades and external surfaces have any amount of potential for development. So, the world’s first double-curvature concrete façade with textile reinforcement called CurveTex will be presented at the show. Its production technology has been developed by three partners from North Rhine-Westphalia: Penn Textile Solutions and pre-fabricated concrete component manufacturers, Stanecker Betonfertigteilwerk (both from Paderborn), together with the Institute for Textile Technology at the RWTH University in Aachen. The new lightweight designer surfacing material, which is just 3 cm thick and, therefore, weighs only 80 kg instead of a more usual 270 kg, increases the designer’s freedom and saves up to 80 % in the amount of concrete and cement used. The new façade has, at its core, a reinforcing textile that is capable of being ‘draped’ to the required shape, thus permitting a greater variety in the design. One demonstration exterior from Stanecker consists of 12 delicate, decorative concrete panels in textile concrete with overall dimensions of 4.83 x 2.42 x 0.03 metres. Ettlin Smart Materials from Ettlingen are introducing, in Frankfurt, an architectural woven sheet that is both lightweight and can be used, amongst other things, to create shade. Nobody has ever managed to combine its four main properties in a single material in this way before: water-resistance, permeability to air, UV-fastness and transparency. The material that will provide both shade and protection from the elements goes by the name of TransProof. It has been developed in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and recommends itself as see-through protection from both rain and sun and is equally suitable for tents and canopies. According to R&D Director Richard Müller, the specific challenge lay in devising the coating of the climate-controlling fabric, which this expert also favours for use in membrane structures. How a fabric building envelope can reduce nitrogen oxide pollution (NO and NO2) in densely populated areas is addressed by the developmental approach taken in Aachen. For their green.fACade, the research scientists at ITA have introduced a titanium dioxide coating to the textile layer in the façade. Titanium dioxide acts as a photocatalyst and facilitates the oxidation of the nitrogen oxides to create a soluble nitrate (NO3) that can be washed off. As the external surface is also covered in greenery, it contributes to the conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygen through photosynthesis. Doctoral candidate and architect (MSc) Jan Serode indicates the potential that façades with textile external skins have. For the interdisciplinary research consortium at RWTH, it is the development of new kinds of textiles that can be installed on the outside of a building like a T-shirt, that is at the centre of attention. At the same time, people are hardly aware of the micro-membrane structures of the textile building envelopes at all from inside, whilst, from outside, the impact of buildings with a textile façade is ‘very sculptural’. This effect changes with the reversal of the lighting situation in the evening.

Source: Innovation in Textiles

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FG, IDB sign N185m funding pact for textile industry, others

The Federal Government has sealed a $523,823 (N185.95m) technical assistance financing pact with the Islamic Development Bank for Nigeria’s textile industry and the funding of the National Hajj Commission. The agreement was confirmed on Monday in a statement issued by the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Paul Ella. Ella said the Finance Minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while the President of ISDB, Dr Bandar Hajjar, signed on behalf of the bank. The minister said part of the fund which was in form of a grant would be used to address capacity building, acquisition of equipment and logistics upgrade in the Hajj Commission. She said the grant would also be used for the improvement of cotton, textile and garment value chain in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Specifically, she said while the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, would get $243,823 from the grant, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment would be given the balance of $280,000. She said, “The Technical Assistant Agreement Grant of $243,823 to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria is for capacity building, equipment and logistics upgrade. “TA grant of $280,000 to the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment is for the improvement of cotton, textile and garment value chain.”

Source: The Punch

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