NATIONAL
Export and import prices for the textile industry grow 1.1% in June
Govt to develop Muzaffarpur as textile cluster: Minister
New DPIIT, textile secretaries take charge
RCEP meet: India, China refuse to budge on tariffs, services trade
India may say no to RCEP pact if its demands on services, goods are not met
INTERNATIONAL
Photovoltaic power from textiles
MMI Textiles, Inc. Acquires Competition Textiles Of Indianapolis, IN
EVFTA brings benefits, challenges to apparel sector
Donal Trump’s China tariffs will hurt consumers
New Trump tariff hits Asian exporters dependent on US consumers
Export and Import Price Indices for Industrial Products (Iprix) results state that manufacture of garments and footwear also slowed down in June, with light rises of 1.8% and 1.1% respectively.
Textile industry slows speed. Export and Import Price Indices for Industrial Products (Iprix) for textiles increased last June 1.1% compared to the same month last year.
Sales for international markets in the sector also increased moderately, 1.7% in May and 1.9% in April. With the rise in prices registered in June, the Iprix for the sector sums twenty consecutive months in the rise.
Iprix for manufacture of garments, on the other hand, also moderated the range of prices during the last couple of months, with an interannual growth of 1.8%, the weakest advance since last November. In May, export and import prices for manufacture of garments rised 2.1%
For footwear export and import prices registered a rise of 1.1% in June, being the lowest rise this year. In May, footwear lowered 1.5% in international markets.
Lastly, Export and Import Price Indices for Industrial Products (Iprix) for textile industry, leather and footwear industry reduced their speed. For textile, the rise was 0.9%, in manufacture of garments, 0.4% and in leather and footwear industry, 0.3%.
Source: The MDS
State industries minister Shyam Rajak said on Friday that Muzaffarpur will be developed as a textile cluster to foster industrial development in Tirhut region.
Rajak, who is the minister in charge of Muzaffarpur, met representatives of North Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries to assess the execution of industrial development plans in north Bihar. “We are serious to boost the state economy and it can be achieved with industrial development. Tirhut region has lots of potential for agriculture-based industries, along with leather and textile industries. So, we have decided to develop the Bela industrial area as textile cluster. It will not only give employment to the youths, but
The minister assured the traders and industrialists that the government plans and policies will help them in setting up industrial units in the region. “The government’s intention is very clear to ease the policies to facilitate the setting up of more industrial units. Soon, a single window policy would be devised and implemented,” said Rajak. also boost government revenues,” he told this newspaper on Friday.
When the representatives of Bela Industrial Area drew his attention towards their problems, the minister assured them that Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) is all set to revamp all the industrial areas in the state, including Bela.
“Soon, the infrastructural facilities, including uninterrupted power supply system, will be provided in the industrial areas. We are going to set up closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the entire industrial area to fortify surveillance system. Better lighting, boundary walls and water drainage will also be provided very soon,” he said.
Source: The Times of India
Source: Economic Times
Positions on tariff reduction, services trade and investment facilitation have hardened during the latest negotiation round on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal in Beijing, as the deadline gets nearer, said sources.
The ministerial part of the talks that is seeing trade ministers from member nations trying to reach a consensus on contentious issues began on Friday.
“However, 13 of the 25 topics of discussion within the RCEP remained unfinished after the technical negotiations were over by Thursday,” said persons in the know.
These include the crucial trade in services, movement of professionals across borders, investments, dispute resolution and rules of origin. As a result, the ministers are expected to have significantly less material to go forward on, at a time when the third RCEP summit is planned for early-November, they added.
RCEP is India’s most ambitious trade pact, currently under negotiation. Based on India’s existing free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation Asean bloc, the RCEP will include all the nations with which the Asean has trade deals — New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea.
So far, 26 rounds of talks have concluded, apart from six minister-level meets. The latest meet has seen a significant push by Asean nations, desperate to sign the deal soon, to get both India and China on the same page when it comes to tariff reduction.
But New Delhi has apparently made it clear that significant tariff concessions have already been made and further talks would be based only after an equal push by China.
Issues galore
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal skipped the ministerial meet. While extension of the current parliamentary session till August 7 had been given as the reason for his absence, sources hinted that it may have been a message to China. Goyal had earlier emphasised that India believes in the high ambition on goods’ tariff reduction. But he had warned that it will fall through only after the sensitives in bilateral pairings like India–China had been addressed through temporary and permanent deviations and exclusions.
New Delhi resisted calls by most nations, which argued that India should slash existing tariffs on up to 90 per cent of all goods. There were demands by developed economies such as Japan and Australia that India open up the market to specific products such as dairy and engineering goods.
The government has also been under pressure to review existing FTAs with South Korea and Japan, that haven’t been able to reduce India’s trade deficit with these nations.
New Delhi has consistently focused on services trade norms, such as those allowing the free movement of trained professionals across national boundaries.
This would allow Indian professionals — such as chartered accountants, teachers and nurses — to work in other RCEP nations without the need for bilateral mutual recognition agreements.
China concerns
The domestic industry, across a broad range of sectors, has called for caution on India joining the deal. Fear of Chinese goods flowing into the country unhindered, if the deal goes through, has intensified among various industries at a time when major export sectors continue to struggle under falling global demand.
Source: Business Standard
India may say no to a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact it is negotiating with 15 others including the 10-country ASEAN and China if it doesn’t get what it is seeking, especially in the area of services where offers have been “disappointing”, a government official has said.
The country’s negotiating team is at present holding a string of bilaterals with partner countries of the RCEP, including China, New Zealand and Australia at the on-going Ministerial meet in Beijing to negotiate on the items it will continue to protect against tariff cuts under the pact. It is also trying to convince members to improve offers in services.
“So far, we have received ambitious demands from RCEP members for tariff elimination in goods which has made our industry very uncomfortable. The government has now decided that it would agree to the RCEP pact only if all its demands are met including in services particularly in the area of work visas,” the official told BusinessLine.
Most countries in the 16-member grouping, which comprises 10 ASEAN countries, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, are hoping to make official the tentative November-end deadline for concluding the trade and investment deal. But New Delhi, till now, has held the position that it does not want to be hurried into a bad deal.
“The bilaterals are important for India as it would try to individually convince countries on the protection it still needs to extend to certain sectors which may be different for different countries. While India may be in a position to be more generous towards the ASEAN, South Korea and Japan, with which it already has trade pacts, the same doesn’t hold true for Australia, New Zealand and most importantly China,” an official told BusinessLine. India will also drive home the message that it needs substantial offers in services, including in the area of easing of movement of workers, for the pact to succeed. “Till now offers in services, especially in Mode 4 involving movement of natural persons, has been disappointing. This is unacceptable,” the official said.
Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan, who is representing the country at the meet on August 2-3 in place of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, has meetings scheduled with representatives from China, Thailand, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Japan and the 10 ASEAN ministers as a group.
Concern over tariff
A large number of Indian industry including iron and steel, dairy, marine products, electronic products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and textiles have expressed concerns that proposed tariff elimination under RCEP would render them uncompetitive.
Indian industry is also fearful that China will dump its goods into India once the pact is signed.
A lot of work still remains to be done before the ambitious pact, covering goods, services, investments, IPR, e-commerce and government procurement, is concluded. “Till now just seven out of the total 20 chapters have been concluded. Of the pending 13 chapters, the ones on competition and dispute settlement are almost done. However, in the rest of the chapters, a considerable amount of work still needs to be done,” the official added.
The RCEP, once implemented, could be the largest free trade zone in the world as member countries account for 40 per cent of global GDP, 30 per cent of global trade, 26 per cent of global foreign direct investment flows and 45 per cent of the total population.
Source: The Business Line
Imagine a truck tarp that can harvest the energy of sunlight! With the help of new textile-based solar cells developed by Fraunhofer researchers, semitrailers could soon be producing the electricity needed to power cooling systems or other onboard equipment. In short, textile-based solar cells could soon be adding a whole new dimension to photovoltaics, complementing the use of conventional silicon-based solar cells. Solar panels on building roofs are a common enough sight today – as are large-scale solar parks. In the future, we may well see other surfaces being exploited for photovoltaic generation. Truck tarps, for example, could be used to produce the electricity consumed by the driver when underway or parked up for the night, or to power electronic systems used to locate trailers in shipping terminals. Similarly, conventional building facades could be covered with photovoltaic textiles in place of concrete render. Or the blinds used to provide shade in buildings with glass facades could be used to create hundreds of square meters of additional surface for producing power.
Glass-fiber fabric as a solar-cell substrate
At the heart of such visions are pliable, textile-based solar cells developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut e.V. and industrial partners erfal GmbH & Co. KG, PONGS Technical Textiles GmbH, Paul Rauschert GmbH & Co. KG and GILLES PLANEN GmbH. "There are a number of processes that enable solar cells to be incorporated in coatings applied to textiles," explains Dr. Lars Rebenklau, group manager for system integration and electronic packaging at Fraunhofer IKTS. In other words, the substrate for the solar cells is a woven fabric rather than the glass or silicon conventionally used. "That might sound easy, but the machines in the textile industry are designed to handle huge rolls of fabric – five or six meters wide and up to 1000 meters in length," explains Dr. Jonas Sundqvist, group manager for thin-film technology at Fraunhofer IKTS. "And www.citiindia.com
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during the coating process, the textiles have to withstand temperatures of around 200 °Celsius. Other factors play a key role too: the fabric must meet fire regulations, have a high tensile strength and be cheap to produce. "The consortium therefore opted for a glass-fiber fabric, which fulfills all of these specifications," Rebenklau says.
An emphasis on standard processes
Researchers also faced the challenge of how to apply the wafer-thin layers that make up a solar cell – the bottom electrode, the photovoltaic layer and the top electrode – to the fabric. These layers are between one and ten microns in thickness. By comparison, the surface of the fabric is like a mountain range. The solution was first to apply a layer that levels out the peaks and troughs on the surface of the fabric. For this purpose, researchers opted for a standard process from the textile industry: transfer printing, which is also used to rubberize fabrics. All the other processes have been adapted in such a way that they can be easily incorporated in standard production methods used in the textile industry. For example, the two electrodes – which are made of electrically conductive polyester – and the photovoltaic layer are applied by means of the common roll-to-roll method. The solar cells are also laminated with an additional protective layer in order to make them more robust.
Fabric-based solar cells ready for market launch in around five years
The research team has already produced an initial prototype. "This has demonstrated the basic functionality of our textile-based solar cells," Rebenklau says. "Right now, they have an efficiency of between 0.1 and 0.3 percent." In a follow-up project, he and the team are seeking to push this over the five percent mark, at which point the textile-based solar cells would prove commercially viable. Silicon-based solar cells are significantly more efficient, at between ten and 20 percent. However, this new form of solar cell is not intended to replace the conventional type, merely offer a alternative for specific applications. In the coming months, the team will be investigating ways of enhancing the service life of the fabric-based solar cells. If all goes according to plan, the first textile-based solar cells could be ready for commercialization in around five years. This would fulfill the original goal of the PhotoTex project: to provide new stimulus for Germany's textile industry and improve its competitiveness.
Source: Katrin Schwarz, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Techxplore
WESTLAKE, OH — July 26, 2019 — MMI Textiles, Inc., a diversified supplier of fabrics, trims, hardware and other notions has acquired the assets of Competition Textiles. Mike Wire, the former owner of Competition Textiles, has been in the textile industry for 40 years, and started Competition Textiles in 1996 after 17 years with Top Value Fabrics. Competition Textiles is a synergistic acquisition for MMI as they are also a woven fabric converter, as well as an importer of fabrics, that will enhance the existing stock line for MMI Textiles to offer their large, domestic and international customer base. “This has been Mike’s baby for the past 23 years, and we look forward to making him proud to choose MMI Textiles and give his customers the MMI Textiles experience to help grow his great company” – Amy Bircher, Founder and President, MMI Textiles.
Mike will stay on as a consultant for MMI to help with the transition of the business and we look forward to adding him to our growing team. “I’m looking forward to helping Amy and her staff grow MMI Textiles and continue with their success. Selling Competition Textiles was a difficult decision, but after meeting with the people at MMI Textiles, I know I made the right decision and can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life.” – Mike Wire, Competition Textiles.
Source: Textile World
The garment-textile sector will gain significant benefits but, at the same time, face several challenges brought about by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) once it takes effect, experts said at an online conference on August 2.
Luong Hoang Thai, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, highlighted the potential advantage.
He said that all tariff imposed on garment-textile products will gradually go down to zero percent, with 77 percent of the goods seeing their tariff immediately eliminated right after the pact comes into force.
The EU is the top apparel importer in the world and the second biggest import market of Vietnam’s garment-textile products, he added.
Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Integration
Centre at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said the sector’s shipments to EU reeled in 5.6 billion USD in revenue.
She said the figure was high but accounted for only 2.02 percent of the bloc’s total value of garment and textile imports, adding that this means room for growth remains extensive. Chairman of the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) Vu Duc Giang pointed to a shortage of supplies, as the sector needs to meet the agreement’s requirements for product origin.
Source: Vietnam News Association
American households haven’t yet felt the impact of the US-China tensions. Following Trump’s promise to add a 10% levy on the remaining goods trade between the two countries, that is about to change.
Americans reading gloomy headlines about the trade war with China could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. Bloomberg’s consumer comfort index, a weekly phone survey conducted since 1985, is running at its highest levels since 2000. Similar gauges of the household sector, such as the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index and the Conference Board’s various consumer confidence surveys, are posting the best results since the eve of the early 2000s recession.
That’s a stark contrast to what’s happening in industry. The ISM Manufacturing Index eased to its lowest level since President Donald Trump’s election, and the Markit Manufacturing PMI is flirting with outright contraction with its weakest reading since September 2009 in July. Measures of industrial production are barely growing and the Conference Board’s leading index in June fell at the fastest pace since early 2016.
One explanation for what’s happening is that households haven’t yet felt the impact of US-China tensions. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been careful to spare them by exempting most retail products from the 25% tariffs he’s imposed on $250 billion of goods so far. With Trump’s promise Thursday to add a 10% levy on the remaining goods trade between the two countries from September 1, that is about to change.
There’s a range of popular consumer products for which America is still deeply dependent on Chinese imports. As my colleague Shira Ovide notes, Apple Inc could be one of the biggest victims: Telephones (mostly mobile handsets like the iPhone) and computers are the two biggest categories of US imports from China.
Other goods where China accounts for more than half of the US imports include toys and games; computer accessories; shoes; televisions; drapery and linen; and leather goods and luggage. That large share of the total is important, because one of the best ways of minimising the risk of higher prices for consumers is for imports to diversify to other countries such as Mexico and Vietnam. When China makes up more than 50% of the import market, rejigging supply chains becomes extraordinarily challenging.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell could take some of the edge off the pain by further cutting interest rates, after lowering them this week for the first time in a decade. Three-month overnight interest swaps are trading at 2.05%, indicating that traders expect a further quarter-point cut before Thanksgiving.
Still, it would be a mistake to think the impact of such a move would be straightforward. Powell’s initial shift away from raising rates helped spark a fall in the Chinese yuan against the dollar of about 3.9% between mid-April and mid-May as currency traders bet on a relative strengthening of the US economy. The renminbi is now just a fraction above its weakest levels in a decade. But that’s still not enough to offset a 10% tariff, and most of the effects of exchange-rate movements aren’t passed through to consumer goods anyway.
After the trade-related shocks of the past year, the ebullient state of the American consumer is potent testimony to the resilience of the US economy. But even that has limits. A one-tenth hike in the price of regularly purchased items like clothing, toys and consumer electronics risks exhausting households’ patience, especially as the decade-long fall in unemployment rates starts to bottom out.
There’s likely to be feedback effects, too. To the extent that industrial conditions are still mildly positive at the moment, that probably owes a great deal to the fact that consumers are in an extremely good mood. By threatening to bring the trade turmoil to US households, Trump risks upsetting that delicate balance.
Equity markets are still in a bullish state, but beneath the surface the American economy has been disappointing expectations for the past six months. Further imposts on the consumer aren’t going to help it turn that corner.
Source: The Economic Times
Thai electronics industry faces drop in trade, but food and textiles to benefit
U.S. President Donald Trump's latest trade war salvo shook stock markets across Asia as businesses weighed the potential costs and opportunities resulting from a new American tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese exports.
As markets tumbled, business across the region were contending with the latest escalation of trade tensions. Set to take effect on Sept. 1, the new 10% U.S. tariff will fall on a range of Chinese-made consumer goods including mobile phones, laptop computers, clothing, shoes and toys.
Jasen Wang, CEO of Shenzhen-based robotics company Makeblock, worries that the higher tariffs would hamper his company's growth in the U.S., one of its most important markets for its educational toys.
"There will be impacts on our sales, particularly to American families and smaller retailers," Wang said, without elaborating. "We are still evaluating the situation," he said.
Shares in Apple Air Pods supplier Goertek fell about 6% in Chinese trading, while major laptop maker Lenovo Group dropped nearly 5%.
The force of the tariffs will spread through Asian supply chains. Thailand, a major supplier of components and materials to Chinese manufacturers, will feel the impact.
"The falls in Chinese electronics exports to the U.S. mean a drop in Thai exports, too," said Pimchanok Vonkorporn, director general of the Thai Commerce Ministry's trade policy and
Quickly finding alternate suppliers will prove a challenge, and American importers may have little choice but to keep procuring from China even if it means paying the extra tariffs
The Development Research Center, a think tank under China's State Council, has compiled an index of the difficulty of finding alternate sources for products. The lower the figure, the greater the obstacle.
Goods affected by the first, second and third rounds of U.S. tariffs averaged 0.54 on the index, while products in the latest round averaged 0.31.
Relocating production to avoid the new duties is not an option for many manufacturers after the latest tariff, said one supply chain executive. "It is a very tricky number, as it is not too high, but it is not low," he said. "The logistics and other additional costs could easily be higher than the 10%."
But Singapore-based YCH Group, one of the region's bigger players in supply chain management, said it was preparing for a fundamental shift in the flow of parts and materials. Meanwhile, "we are anticipating the continuous growth of the China-ASEAN trade even amid global growth slowdown and uncertainties," a company spokesperson also said.
Changes in trade flows have produced bright spots for some economies caught in the tariff crossfire.
The Southeast Asian bloc ranked as China's second-largest trading partner in the first half of 2019, the spokesperson said, overtaking the U.S. for the first time since 1997.
In Indonesia, the textile industry is hoping for some benefit from the U.S.-China standoff. Ade Sudrajat, chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association, said the sector could see a rise in textile and garment exports to the U.S. after a recent agreement to increase cotton imports into Indonesia.
In Taiwan, some suppliers have brought mainland Chinese production back home under pressure from U.S. customers concerned about security. The output of servers-related products in Taiwan surged 400% in the first six months of this year, government data shows. Thai food exports to the U.S. are expected to rise significantly under the new 10% tariff, replacing Chinese-made products that face upward pressure on prices, Thai trade official Pimchanok said.
The electronics industry is wary of further trade pressures, especially with the tensions now spreading to Japan and South Korea. Japan this week excluded South Korea from its so-called white list of preferred trading partners, prompting Seoul to say it would respond in kind. "We dare not to be too optimistic about the outlook for the remaining www.citiindia.com
Source: NIKKEI Asian Review
