The heads of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council and Southern India Mills Association held a joint press meet on 24.9.2019 to talk about the various issues in Textile Industry and required policy interventions. While appealing for the status quo on Energy Policies in Tamil Nadu, it was said that there are more than 1500 MSME Textile mills operating in TN and they are sourcing open access power either under group captive or through their own wind mills. The tri bodies appealed to kindly continue to extend the open access facility for industrial units of less than 1 MW. The TN electricity regulation commission provides banking facility for erecting windmills upto March 2020 and TANGEDCO as per the commission’s order is charging 14% of the wind energy as banking charges. The tex-bodies have asked to continue the banking facility given. They added that erecting new- wind mills will involve huge capital which the industry finds unable to do so at the present. It also placed on request to remove the 1% agricultural Market committee fee levied on cotton waste in the interest of the spinning, handloom and powerloom sectors as it mentioned that there is no logic in levying that fee on the by-product of cotton i.e., cotton waste. The tri tex-bodies stated that their industry is currently facing severe liquidity crisis mainly due to huge accumulation of govt dues. It requested to release those dues on war footing to enable the industry to ease its liquidity crunch. They made pleas to extend the MSMEs Debt Restructuring Package for the entire textile industry as it could save many companies from turning into NPAs. Keeping in mind of the coming season, the bodies said that it is essential to come out with a cotton policy that enables CCI to see its Minimum Support Price procured cotton on a regular basis at 5 cents lower than the International Price during the peak season to avoid accumulation of stocks with exception to the actual users and also make cotton available at international price during off-season. They have also asked for provision of adequate funding by the Govt at NABARD Finance rate or under priority lending rate to reduce the carrying cost and minimize the losses incurred by the CCI to create a win-win strategy for all the stakeholders. It was advocated that including fabrics fabrics under RoSL benefit is essential to encourage fabric nomination business of global brands and boost powerloom/handloom fabric exports, including cotton yarn in RoTDEP export benefit scheme to benefit millions of cotton farmers and enable the spinning sector to constantly modernize and meet the growing demands of the downstream sectors and sustain its growth.
Source: Covai Post Mail
Bilateral Talks Part II Commerce minister Piyush Goyal will meet US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit later this weekIndia’s bilateral trade talks with the US will continue when commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal meets US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit later this week. Goyal will also have a call with his American trade counterparts in the next few days. “The US is positive and only small issues are left. The talks are on,” said an official. During his visit to the US last week, Goyal met heads of key medical devices companies, and the two sides seem to have reached a mutually satisfactory resolution on pricing of medical devices. He met US senator for New Jersey, Robert Menendez, and US ambassador Kenneth Juster to “deliberate over strengthening of trade relations between the two countries,” the minister’s office tweeted on Monday. However, sources said India will not go against its farmers concerns and also ruled out the possibility of India announcing its two mega trade deals—with the US and the 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)—together. According to persons familiar with Indo-US trade matters it should be an "early harvest" agreement so as to make it compatible with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. In the past, India had an "early harvest" agreement with Thailand and it worked well. Further, efforts are on to link trade with investment—both outward (as in the case of Petronet's investment in Texas) and inward—so as to take advantage of the lowering of corporate taxes. This will help Indian companies penetrate value chains. Market access to American agricultural and dairy commodities, restoration of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), price controls on medical devices, duty cuts on Harley Davidson bikes and information and communication technology (ICT) products are the key areas of negotiations among a host of trade issues that the two sides have been trying to resolve. “Out of the 28 products from the US on which India imposed higher tariffs after the withdrawal of the GSP, we should focus on lowering tariffs on those products which are originating from the swing states in America,” said Bipul Chatterjee, executive director at The CUTS International, a global public policy research and advocacy group with presence in capital cities like Washington DC. “We should also see how much more concession that we can give to other products originating from those swing states... Future Indo-US trade and investment relations should be balanced and aligned with the objectives of the ‘Make in India’ programme,” said Chatterjee. The US wants India to do away with price controls on medical devices such as coronary stents and knee implants with innovative features and keep them separate from mass products. It had asked India to scrap the 20% tariff on ICT goods for which New Delhi had considered fixing a threshold price, beyond which it can levy customs duty on mobile phones, smart watches and telecom network equipment. To accommodate the US’ demand on market access for its dairy products, New Delhi wants Washington to ensure that such imports would not violate religious beliefs with veterinary officials certifying that the source animal was not raised on feed made of bovine extracts.
Source: Economic Times
The government has also notified changes in Apprenticeship Rules (1992) with an aim to increase skilled manpower in the country, and raise monetary compensation of apprentices. The Centre on Monday announced a commitment of Rs 560 crore to state governments to promote demand-driven, industry-linked skill development at the ground level. The government has also notified changes in Apprenticeship Rules (1992) with an aim to increase skilled manpower in the country, and raise monetary compensation of apprentices. Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey made the announcement at the Annual National Conference of State Ministers on Monday. “Skill development is a demand-driven subject and thus it is important that we give more power to the states to ensure quality and market relevant outcome. It is important that we map and strike a balance between the traditional and new age skills, right at the district level and also target a shift from unorganised to the organised market through our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program,” Pandey said.
Source: The Indian Express
The govt had fixed a thickness criterion of 50 microns when the use of plastic carry bags was banned a couple of years ago.With the government all set to ban single-use plastics on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, plastic manufacturers are looking to produce alternative materials at an affordable price.Since glass or any other material may work out to be costly, the industry is looking to produce packaging materials made of polymer with high viscosity to make them recyclable. For milk packaging, the industry is mulling to manufacture pouches and bags made from polyester filament yarn (PFY) which could be used 45-50 times and are also recyclable. Consumers would be able to send these pouches back to milk suppliers, resulting in savings in the cost of packaging.“Switching to alternative packaging materials, such as glass and tetra pack, would add to the cost of packaging, handling, and transportation (as glass is heavier than plastic). Neither is it user-friendly nor cost-effective. Thus, until the industry comes out with an alternative solution of packaging, the ban should be pushed by at least three months. Also, the ban should be implemented in a phased manner,” said a senior industry official.Meanwhile, the industry is awaiting a definition for “single-use” plastic, even as the proposed date of the ban is fast approaching. Currently, the single-use plastic is defined as the one made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene like carry bags, which are not recyclable and biodegradable.The government had fixed a thickness criterion of 50 microns when the use of plastic carry bags was banned a couple of years ago.“Bags or pouches made of PFY should be encouraged with an exemption from the goods and services tax (GST),” said the official.Meanwhile, R S Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), India’s largest milk-producing co-operative that produces Amul brand dairy products, said: “Milk packaging does not fall in the category of ‘single-use’ plastic as milk pouches are recyclable. Our milk pouches are 100 per cent virgin LDPE (low-density polyethylene) monolayer ones.By recycling milk pouches, the industry manufactures pipes and tarpaulin. You will never see even a single milk pouch is thrown into the dustbin. In fact, we have made an arrangement to recycle 100 per cent plastic pouches.”But, the industry has urged the government to give at least for three months for switching to alternative means of packaging, especially essential commodities. Some alternatives are suggested as tetra packs and hotfill polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles with removable lids.In the United States, hotfill milk and juices are packed in 100 per cent PET bottles, which can be recycled to make polyester fibre and other items, including bottles.“We have to adopt packaging materials being used in the US and other developed countries to avoid single-use plastics. For milk packaging in PET bottles, higher viscosity can be fixed for multi-recycling capacity. This is also least expensive material after the ban on single-use plastics,” said an industry expert.Unfortunately, another alternative i.e. tetra pack is not environment-friendly. For manufacturing tetra pack bottles, trees need to be cut.“Thousands of small and medium enterprise (SME) plants currently manufacturing ‘single-use’ plastics will be shut down and would render thousands of people jobless. While India’s plastic exports would not be impacted, domestic industry would certainly be hit temporarily,” said Sribash Dasmohapatra, executive director, Plastic Export Promotion Council (Plexconcil).
Ready for a change
Source: Business Standard
“Businesspersons from all over the world will take part in the world’s largest wholesale textile market in south India through ‘Weaves,’ a premier textile fair to be held in Erode between November 27 and 30. Madurai’s weavers will have a great platform to connect with a global audience,” said C. Devarajan, vice-chairman of Texvalley, an integrated textile shopping mall located in Erode. He told a press conference here on Monday that the event would focus on promoting powerloom and handlooms. Over 250 exhibitors would showcase their distinct products from different parts of Tamil Nadu, he added. The second edition of ‘Weaves,’ which would highlight processed and finished fabrics, home textiles, textile machinery as well as ethnic, handloom and khadi material, would be of great use to the 90 weaving clusters in the State, Mr. Devarajan added.Nagaraj Krishnan, chairman, CII Madurai, said the event would be a big opportunity for Madurai’s textile industry to showcase its valuable assets.
Source: The Hindu
The Northern India Textile Mills’ Association (NITMA) recently urged the government to raise the basic customs duty on polyester yarns from 5 per cent to 10 per cent and modify the free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam and Indonesia to exclude this item from the list of items being cleared at zero duty in India or include raw materials for the yarn in this list. These steps will help domestic textile mills get a level playing ground. Textile mills in North India are in huge trouble now due to the two FTAs, feels NITMA, which has noted an ‘astronomical’ rise in the quantity of polyester yarn imported from these two countries. “Efforts of the present government have resulted in the first ever review of the FTAs with the ASEAN countries and has given us hope that you [the government] can protect the domestic mills from this extremely unjust trade imbalance, which is also resulting in huge loss to the exchequer by giving an advantage to the importers rather than the domestic manufacturers,” NITMA president Sanjay Garg said in a statement. The raw material for polyester yarn, polyester staple fibre (PSF), is not included in this list and, hence, cleared at full duty rate of 5 per cent. Because of this and the fact that PSF production is controlled in India largely by Reliance Industries, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of total production, the domestic prices of PSF are calculated taking into account the landed rate of PSF from Indonesia. Besides, Reliance Industries Ltd has successfully made the case for imposition of anti-dumping duties on the raw material of PSF, i.e., purified terephthalic acid (PTA). As Reliance itself is the largest producer of PTA in India, it benefits immensely from this and is able to pass on the effect of this anti-dumping duty in the domestic price of PTA, which in turn makes the price of PSF even higher, said NITMA. Before the goods and services tax (GST) was implemented, there used to be some protection against the influx of imports under these FTAs as imported yarns were subject to central value-added tax (CENVAT) at 12 per cent and a special additional duty (SAD) of 4 per cent, whereas domestic yarn was exempt from CENVAT. Only PSF was subject to CENVAT. This was enough to protect against the zero duty under FTAs. However, post-GST, with the removal of CENVAT and SAD, polyester yarn is being cleared at ZERO duty, NITMA added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Fears of a slowdown loom large over India’s economy. For the spinning mills of South India, the issues are manifold – low domestic consumption, drop in exports and high price of raw materials. South Indian Mills Association (SIMA) Chairman Ashwin Chandran delves into various issues that the economy in general and the industry in particular face. Over the last few months, there have been indications of low growth rate coupled with dip in domestic consumption that do not augur well for the economy. Some steps were being initiated and things could improve in the long run, Aswhin Chandran told The Covai Post. However, there is a need to prop up domestic consumption which can make a huge difference, he said and was hopeful of steps in this direction being taken. Even as these issues remain, the textile sector has had to shoulder the burden of a few additional issues like drop in exports of yarn and fabric, high raw material price, etc., which have hampered it. Yarn and fabric exports have been on a southern sojourn since April. Till July yarn exports had fallen by around 35-40 per cent and fabric by 20-25 per cent. Domestic consumption too has dropped, leaving too much supply in the market. Besides, prices of raw materials – cotton, polyester and viscose – have been ruling higher than the overseas markets. In the case of cotton, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is higher than the price ruling globally, he pointed out. Meanwhile, the domestic cotton season has ended and the new one is set to start in October-November. In the case of polyester and viscose, it is higher owing to a series of protection duties, including the anti-dumping ones. This results in prices here ruling at least Rs 20-25 a kg higher than in the international market, putting the local industry at a disadvantage. There has to be a slew of initiatives from the Government to make the industry competitive in the international market, says Ashwin. There were a number of policies like duty drawbacks and export incentives that were, over the years, phased out as they were not WTO-compatible. On the new unified duty drawback scheme announced by the Finance Ministry recently, giving refund of duties for export products from 2020, he welcomed it as the government has said it is WTO-compliant. “We request the Government that it cover the entire supply chain from yarn to fabric. No one sector should be left out at the cost of another,” he said. Differences in competitive prices are affecting exports. So the next step should be providing a level-playing field. He pointed to the case of cotton where the MSP is to protect the interests of the farmer. “This should be done. Most often farmers do not get the intended benefit. It is taken away by middlemen or traders. There should be a system in place where the benefit directly goes to the farmer though it would be no easy task. The Cotton Corporation of India, the body presently entrusted with the job, should buy from the farmer at the prevailing MSP and compulsorily sell it to the industry at the prevailing market price from month to month. Otherwise, the corporation will continue to be burdened with a huge stock of more than five lakh bales accumulated over the past. And without regular market operations, its cash flow will also be affected,” he said. In the case of polyester and viscose, there are very few domestic players and duties have been imposed to protect their interests, which, Ashwin felt, was fair. But the same duties and levies are most often unfair to the industry. What is needed is their rationalisation to bring fibre prices closer to the international one, at least in the Asian region. The world over, man-made fibre accounts for about two-thirds of textile consumption. Here it is 30 per cent and the rest is cotton. On the export of man-made fibre products, the country is not competitive and steps should be taken to change this trend, he felt. On the other steps being taken by the Government now as part of its stimulus, he said that it would help in the long run. But initiatives to boost domestic consumption should run parallel to them.
Source: Covai Post
SECUNDERABAD: When Dewan Bahadur Ramgopal decided to set up DBR mills in 1922 it was Secunderabad he chose. Ditto for FD Khan, one of oldest retailers of uniforms in the twin cities, that began its journey in 1925 with a trading company and a uniform stitching unit for the Nizam’s army and police force at Secunderabad. The area housed the British army barracks and various trading establishments sprang up to cater to the needs of its officers and soldiers, leading to the birth of the oldest textile trading hub in unified Andhra Pradesh. Today, DBR Mills is defunct and FD Khan shifted to Abids after independence, but Secunderabad continues to reign as the state’s largest textile wholesale hub. Hence it was no surprise that a recent survey conducted by TOI in association with Varenia CIMS, saw 26% residents stating that the textile industry holds the greatest potential in their city. This was expected, says the textile industry, given Secunderabad’s envious textile history. “Secunderabad has been home to the biggest and oldest textile wholesale hub in unified AP since the preindependence era. We have had a rich textile legacy,” says Prakash Ammanabolu, president, Telangana State Federation of Textile Associations. Prakash, also president of the Secunderabad Cloth Merchants Association, points out that today Secunderabad houses nearly 2,000-2,500 small, medium and large wholesale as well as retail outlets that together clock a turnover of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 crore per annum. The MG Road area alone is chock-a-block with an estimated 500 wholesale outlets selling suitings, shirtings, sarees, dress materials, as well as furnishings. Some also attribute the spike in the number of shops in Malkajgiri, AS Rao Nagar, ECIL and Sainikpiri to the expansion of the city itself. “You can find answers to all your fabric needs in Secunderabad but the space and traffic constraints have encouraged the establishment of shops in different parts of the city,” he adds. The potential of Secunderabad to further grow as a textile hub is propelled not only by the city’s textile legacy but also the economics attached to the area. “Compared to areas like Hi-Tec City, Banjara Hills, the establishment costs, rent, maintenance and labour charges are lower in Secunderabad, which is an added advantage,” explains Deepa Gullipalli, who owns a clothes store and stitching centre in Nirmal Nagar. Gayathri Reddy, the owner of a boutique in Defence Colony, used to spend a lot of time travelling long distances to get her hands on a fancy piece of fabric and decided to ‘stitch’ her own destiny by setting up her own store. “I had to travel 30 km to get to boutiques in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, which was a big hassle. My peers advised me to open a store in Secunderabad and ever since there has been no looking back,” she says. Like Gayathri, most textile traders in Secunderabad are laughing their way to the bank, notwithstanding the recent slump. Farhan Mithani, whose family owns IK Textiles in General Bazaar, says, “Business is booming in various parts of Secunderabad. There is tremendous untapped potential in areas like Bowenpally and Malkajgiri for textile traders to up their game.” And it’s not just textile traders. National Institute of Fashion Technology, too, is gung-ho about this growth. NIFT-Hyderabad joint director GHS Prasad says the growing interest in textile and fashion retail is a healthy sign. “Despite the economic slowdown, interest in the textile industry is a positive development,” he says.
Source: Times of India
With most of them not covered by a robust social security system, this reserve army of labour will penetrate into the margins of society and pose a serious demographic challenge. India is staring at a gargantuan unemployment crisis. Technically speaking, the crisis has not unravelled into its real form yet, but analysts, journalists and even policymakers seem to have got the pulse right about the impending spectre of joblessness. Scan news, you get the drift. Food giant Parle Products recently said around 10,000 workers might be laid off if the current conditions persist. Maruti Suzuki says over 3,000 temporary employees have lost their jobs. The company has stopped renewing contracts of such employees due to the continuing slowdown. Nissan may lay off over 1,700 employees in India. The auto sector crisis has cost 2.30 lakh jobs as the industry faces its worst fall in sales in 20 years. The Indian Railways is reportedly planning to lay off around three lakh workers. IT major Cognizant is likely to fire a few hundred more employees to cut costs. Cisco, another IT major, has just laid off employees in India. The Northern India Textile Mills Association (NITMA), an association of textile mills in north India, has said three crore jobs in the sector are under threat. In banking, HSBC India has laid off about 200 of its employees. That number looks smaller, but the sector is facing a crisis of confidence and trust and more jobs are at stake. Even OYO Hotels and Homes plans to lay off 150-200 people from sales teams across the country. In the gadget sector, handset maker Honor is scaling down its India operations and asking employees to resign across functions in a phased manner. Even among startups layoffs are on the rise: ShopClues, Rivigo and other startups cut workforce in 2019. Reports say at least five Indian startups have trimmed their workforce drastically this year. In July 2019, ShopClues laid off some 200 employees. Logistics ‘soonicorn’ (soon to be unicorn) Rivigo has let go of nearly 100 employees this year.
Bleak picture
Painting an even bleaker picture, just last week the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reported that some 1.1 crore Indians lost jobs in the last quarter of 2018. Most of them were in villages; over 91 lakh. CMIE says job loss was highest among the uneducated, mainly women (65 lakh) in rural areas. Another estimate shows a whopping 77 per cent of workers in India face uncertainty of employment by 2019, while the overall unemployment rate was 3.4-3.5 per cent during 2017-19. This begs a big question: What will happen to all these workers, most of whom are blue-collar, once they are out of jobs? In many other geographies, especially in advanced countries such as the US, such crises won’t morph into a larger social crisis immediately because most workers still enjoy robust social security protection. More than 90 per cent American workers enjoy social security cover. In India, that share is below 8 per cent in the formal sector and no authentic data is available for informal workers. More than 90 per cent of India’s working population is in the informal sector, which is being hit hard by the ongoing economic slowdown and the general crisis in employment. Policymakers must look into this immediately. Central policies such as PM Kisan Yojana mostly target farmers. And programmes such as MGNREGS, Right to Food, etc., are generally piecemeal in nature. So, in all likelihood, this reserve army of labour will penetrate into the margins of society and will pose a serious demographic challenge, especially considering that the NITI Aayog last month said the government is planning to scrap many social security programmes (it said obsolete ones, still we can imagine how that will play out) and the Centre is planning more cuts on social sector spending.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Indonesia recently notified the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Committee on Safeguards that it initiated on September 18 three safeguard investigations—the first on fabrics; the second on yarn (other than sewing thread) of synthetic and artificial staple fibres; and the third on curtains (including drapes), interior blinds, bed valances and other furnishing items. “Those having substantial interest and wishing to be considered as interested parties in this investigation should submit written request within a period of 15 days in Indonesia from the date of initiation to the Investigating Authority," WTO said on its website. A safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or is threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry. During a safeguard investigation, importers, exporters and other interested parties may present evidence and views and respond to the presentations of other parties. A WTO member may take a safeguard action, i.e. restrict imports of a product temporarily, only if the increased imports of the product are found to be causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Inside Composites talks to Peter George, senior consultant for the Future Materials Group (FMG). What are the key attractions of the composites industry for manufacturers of technical textiles? Peter George: The global composites market is a relatively young and dynamic industry with strong growth rates and attractive margins and offers a range of opportunities and benefits for companies in adjacent markets looking to diversify. The overall market is divided into an estimated US$ 30 billion industry for raw materials (fibres and resin) which is converted into composite parts worth about three times as much, creating a market estimated at US$ 95 billion with a growth rate of approximately 8% per annum. With good value propositions and sustainable margins, it is clear to see why diversification into composites, especially by those skilled in the processing of fibres, can be seen as such an attractive strategic option. Several combining factors make this new market appealing:
Ultimately, the composites industry is happy to encourage such diversification as long as the cost-saving and efficiency gains allow it to expand from the original pioneering markets such as Aerospace and Sport into new markets where existing processes are currently out of the required price range.
What are the barriers to entry?
PG: Understanding the differences between the composites and technical textiles markets represents the biggest challenge for those looking to enter.
For instance, manufacturing processes can vary immensely with fabric performance differing by process needs for, say, drape, resin flow or fibre wear and damage during handling. Structural design is also more challenging with design techniques like sandwich structures preferred over simpler monolithic parts. End products might need to be consistently lighter or stronger than current processes can deliver, forcing additional process developments to meet the new precise requirements. Additional reinforcement fabric properties such as surface adhesion, fibre tensile and compressive strengths etc. become critical once the fabric is cured in the solid matrix resin. It is also not sufficient to just have a good value proposition to enter the market. The change the new entrant brings has to benefit all other players affected up and down the value chain or they will block the move, especially if they have investment in the existing process route that is to be replaced. Entry into a value chain may then involve finding alternative routes and working with new players to reach the end user. These players might see the new offering as risky and demand higher margins to compensate for the higher risk of failure, which then leads to this ‘risk premium’ overshadowing the original benefit of the new fibre, composite or process. As challenging as they are, none of these barriers are insurmountable, they just require consideration, expertise and advanced thought. Let’s consider opportunities for textiles in the composite industry by the major end-use sectors, starting with wind energy. This I understand involves mainly glass fibre-based materials – what are the requirements for fabric reinforcements? PG: Glass fibre is the most common reinforcement in wind energy applications and is used in various textile formats in blade roots, spars, shear webs and shells, as well as in additional components like nacelles. Glass fibre weighs more than the second most common reinforcement, carbon fibre, and is not as stiff, but it is more impact-resistant and has a greater elongation-to-break. Depending upon the glass type, filament diameter, coating chemistry and fibre form, a wide range of properties and performance levels can be achieved. Wind turbine size and efficiency grows with increased blade length. Blades must at all times remain stiff enough not to hit their own support tower and this is achieved by design (e.g. thicker blades) and materials such as carbon rather than glass and material morphologies such as multi-axial rather than woven fabrics. Each development, particularly the use of expensive carbon, has to be cost effective since, unlike sports equipment the ultimate aim is lower cost performance. As blades grow longer within the wind energy sector, the idea of converting structural areas of the blade from E-glass to significantly stiffer and lighter carbon fibre begins to make sense. Lighter blades require less robust turbine and tower components, so the cascading cost savings can partly offset the additional cost of carbon. Much more carbon fibre is employed in aerospace so which fabrics are generally employed here? PG: The stringent requirements of the aerospace industry demand high strength-to-weight ratios for all materials used. Depending on the anisotropic (directional) strength needs, unidirectional or multiaxial fabrics with straight uncrimped fibres are used to maximise effectiveness of expensive fibres such as carbon and aramid. Fabrics are engineered to meet and exceed the crucial requirements for core strength, durability, fire and fatigue resistance. A financially significant benefit of composites in aerospace beyond strength to weight is the reduced need for expensive maintenance versus traditional materials due to higher overall durability. How much of an opportunity do you believe there is for carbon composites in the automotive sector? What’s the growth potential? PG: There is potential as the industry continues to adopt composites for light weighting vehicles, driven by fuel economy and emissions regulations. The market for carbon fibre in automotive applications in 2019 was estimated at more than 19kt. This encompasses a wide range of products from the highly aesthetic carbon fibre fabric-based components used in luxury automotive to the more cost-efficient carbon fibre sheet moulding compound as adopted by Toyota for its Toyota Prius PHV. Traditionally, carbon fibre was initially used for top performance sports cars where cost was less of an issue. However, introduction to volume automotive markets places a great burden on process cost reduction and also opens the door to non-carbon fibres where cost effective. A further challenge beyond fuel consumption and weight reduction i.e. the need to accommodate heavy batteries in electric vehicles, is recyclability. This is now a major driver in many countries. For instance, in the EU, the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive now requires 95% of the vehicle weight to be reused or recovered at the end of life. This is providing challenges when substituting recyclable ferrous components with composites, to use thermoplastic matrices that can be re-melted, and to use recyclable synthetics or sustainably sourced natural fibres in components. All of these dynamics open up opportunities for new approaches. With observers conflicted by the large opportunity and challenges encountered, predicted growth rates for the wider adoption of composites in automotive vary widely from 5% p.a. for the most conservative to 25% p.a. for those who expect a quick adoption of composites in the mid and mass automotive markets. At FMG, we think that the prospects for the luxury car sector are still good and expect the top tier of the market to continue growing regularly at an estimated 10% p.a. The mid and mass market will grow stepwise as even the adoption of a single carbon fibre part in a mid-market model of 400,000 vehicles pa. represents a potential carbon fibre demand of 100-1000t, a significant increase in terms of global carbon fibre supply. What other composite sectors are growing? PG: As we briefly mentioned earlier, the global composites market growth is being pushed by a rising demand for lightweight materials from automotive and aerospace industries specifically in North America, Europe and Asia. In other sectors, the beneficial properties of composites are replacing many existing materials, leading to a growth in composites markets such as civil engineering (4% CAGR), oil and gas (10% CAGR) and industrial (8% CAGR). Some of these areas can be fast growing but fragmented since many applications within these sectors have adopted direct manufacturing processes such as pultrusion and filament winding to keep prices down. On the other hand, niche applications such as machine parts or bridge structures require more complex fabrics or braids. The more mature sport and leisure market is still growing (4%) but is not driven purely by cost and continuously requires the re-design and engineering of complex structures for its high performance, competitive products (racing boats and cars, bikes etc). In addition to glass and carbon, what other fibres are employed in composites? PG: The composite markets are still dominated by glass (E-glass, C-glass, S2-glass), carbon and aramid fibres. While more niche applications use other fibres such as quartz, basalt, boron, ceramic and PBO. The growing range of natural fibres such as jute, flax, bamboo, coconut etc. are gaining popularity for bio-composites in sport, automotive, aerospace, construction and electrical sectors, and are expected to exceed US$ 5 billion by 2020. The automotive biocomposites market alone has been growing at 20% pa to address legislation on end-of-life disposal in Europe. How big an opportunity is there in the recycling of carbon composites? PG: Carbon fibre composite recycling is a relatively undeveloped market with the majority of players still developing their technologies and working with customers to define applications for recycled carbon fibre products. The opportunity is there due to strong drivers:
Many investors have seen the opportunity in composite recycling, but most remain prudent as commercially viable technology solutions are yet to emerge clearly. The most prominent deals so far was the acquisition of 25% of ELG Carbon Fibre, a leading carbon fibre recycling company, by Mitsubishi Corporation at the end of 2018, and the 50% acquisition of Carbon Conversions by Hexcel in late 2016. What assistance can FMG provide textiles manufacturers looking to enter the composites market? PG: Looking back to the barriers to entry that companies face, whilst none of these challenges are insurmountable, they require consideration and expertise and some advance thought. Positioning in the appropriate place in the industry landscape requires extensive analysis of the competitive forces and indirect effects on a new arrival that may slow or prevent entry, and this is where we assist. Our job at FMG is to help these businesses understand the market, identify their target position and then, whether acting alone, or via merger or acquisition, develop their pathway into composites.
Source: Inside Composites
Textile millers are ready to annually invest one billion dollars if the government would ensure ease of doing business to double exports in the next five years, an industry’s representative said on Monday. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Central Chairman Amanullah Kassim Machiyara said industrialists are all set to invest one billion dollars annually in case the government ensures a congenial environment to double the exports in next five years. “The government is expected to restore the confidence level of the textile millers by announcing the textile package sooner,” Machiyara said, delivering a speech through a video link to all zonal members. The meeting was held on the occasion of 61st annual general meeting of Aptma. The newly-elected office bearers, including Senior Vice Chairman Rehman Naseem, vice chairmen Naveed Ahmed and Syed Taimoor Shah and newly-elected members of the central executive committee were attended the meeting. “We will not leave any stone unturned for taking forward the agenda of growth and sustainability of the textile industry, while ensuring regional competitiveness,” Aptma’s newly-elected chief said. “Aptma members are suffering from major issues.” Machiyara said textile industry, which is the mainstay of economy, is currently passing through unprecedented period of crisis. “Consequently, the capacity to produce over $4 billion worth of exports was already closed.” The government realised the negative fallout of losing competitiveness on the country’s exports last fiscal year. Exports fell one percent to $22.979 billion during the last fiscal year as “strong negative price effect dominated the positive quantity effect,” the finance ministry said in a statement last month. Exports, however, recovered 2.79 percent to $3.753 billion in the July-August period of FY2020. Textile exports, which constitute more than 60 percent share of total exports, increased 2.3 percent year-on-year in value over during the first two months of the current fiscal year. Value-added exports of textile items like knitwear, which comprises 14.4 percent of total exports, increased both in quantity and value by 10.7 and 12.8 percent, respectively. Readymade garments, constituting share of 12.5 percent in exports, increased both in quantity and value by 34.6 and 7.5 percent, respectively. “Value-added exports increased due to growing demand and improvement in export competitiveness after exchange rate adjustment,” the ministry said. Bedwear with a share of 10.7 percent in exports, increased both in quantity and in value by 20.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. Aptma has been demanding of the government to remove levies on cotton imports to help the industry in increasing textile exports.
Source: The News
Drapers’ Guide to Growth programme is produced in partnership with Clipper. The UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) is the leading UK body offering support both for young manufacturing businesses, and young brands and designers seeking to work with UK-based suppliers. Alongside general business support, seminars, workshops and guidance on areas such as international exports, the UKFT runs programmes specifically for early stage and small businesses. Alice Burkitt, consultant at UKFT, says: “We are a business support organisation and welcome manufacturing members into our network where we can help them with all parts of their enterprise. We offer advice on how to access skills and training to grow the team. “We match-make business through our peer-mentoring programmes. We host a range of seminars each season on topics covering all parts of the business of fashion and textiles. We facilitate networking events throughout the year to bring like businesses together and for those businesses who provide services to others, we help them to promote themselves and find new clients.” One example of this support is the UKFT Rise project – a networking event for early stage fashion and textile businesses to connect, share their experiences and access business support. UKFT website letsmakeithere.org is also a valuable tool for those looking for a manufacturer. Set to relaunch this summer the database of UK suppliers and manufacturers can help connect brands and designers to producers. Make It British is another organisation worth investigating. Founded by Kate Hills, it has a database of manufacturers on its website where brands who want to produce in the UK can find contacts. It also runs networking events for British-made brands and UK manufacturers.
Source: Drapers
Border trade between Myanmar and India reached $194.6 million as of September 13 in this fiscal ending September—an increase of $57 million over the figure during the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the former’s commerce ministry. Myanmar’s exports to India were worth $171.3 million and its imports were worth $23.3 million. The two countries engage in border trade primarily through Tamu, Reed and Thantlang trade camps, while a major part of bilateral trade are delivered through ships. Myanmar mainly exports fruits and vegetable, fishery and forestry products to India, while importing medicines, electronic products, motorbikes, cotton yarn, non-alloy steel and other construction materials. Myanmar's border trade with its four neighbours—China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh—totalled $9.6 billion—$6.7 billion in exports and $2.9 million in imports, a news wire reported.
Source: Fibre2fashion
