Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday held a review meeting with senior officials of the ministry and discussed measures to increase exports, reduce import reliance and boost domestic manufacturing. He also discussed the future course of action in the post-coronavirus era to make India an industrial powerhouse with the officials of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). "Held a review meeting with officials from the Department of Commerce... discussed measures to increase and diversify exports, reduce import reliance and boost domestic manufacturing," the minister said in a tweet. The performance of the country''s exports is expected to be better in May and June as compared to the steep fall recorded in April, when the shipments contracted to an all-time high of 60.28 per cent, Goyal has said earlier. Contracting for the second straight month, India''s exports shrank by a record 60.28 per cent in April to USD 10.36 billion, mainly on account of the coronavirus lockdown. Imports also plunged by 58.65 per cent to USD 17.12 billion in April, leaving a trade deficit of USD 6.76 billion as against USD 15.33 billion in April 2019. The ministry has identified 12 sectors, including auto components, textiles, industrial machinery and furniture, where focus would be given with a view to make India a self-reliant country and
a global supplier. The sectors include food processing, organic farming, iron, aluminium and copper, agro chemicals, electronics, industrial machinery, furniture, leather and shoes, auto parts, textiles, and coveralls, masks, sanitisers and ventilators.
Source: Outlook India
The country’s exports are "drastically" improving with the outbound shipments contracting 36 per cent in May as compared to 60 per cent in April, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. "I am happy to share with you that in May, things have drastically improved and from theposition of 60 per cent down in April, the May data shows that our overall exports havebeen down 36 per cent," he said in a webinar. The minister added that the country''s non-oil exports, excluding POL (petroleum oil and lubricant) exports, were down only 30 per cent. He said these figures provide confidence that the country is poised for a turnaround. Goyal said the contraction rate is coming down despite the fact that the country was under lockdown during large part of May. Further talking about June exports, he said the situation gets even more exciting as "our export in the first week of June, is at par with what it was in June 1-7, 2019".Exports during June 1-7 this year dipped by only about 0.76 per cent to USD USD 4.94 billion from USD 5.03 billion in the same period last year, the minister said. He added that some stress could be there on certain discretionary spending sectors, and segments like textiles may take a little longer to recover. "I hope that by the time we close March 2021, we would have recovered the lost ground of April and May. It will be a loss of close to USD 30 billion in two months I have the confidence that our exporters and logistics companies together will make that happen," he said. Contracting for the second straight month, India''s exports shrunk by a record 60.28 percent in April to USD 10.36 billion, mainly on account of the coronavirus lockdown. Imports also plunged by 58.65 per cent to USD 17.12 billion in April, leaving a trade deficit of USD 6.76 billion as against USD 15.33 billion in April 2019.The webinar was organised by digital freight forwarding start up Freight Walla.
Source: Outlook India
Speaking at the 95th Plenary session of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Modi stressed that the Covid-19 situation needs to be turned into an opportunity and the country needs to become self-reliant Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that it was time for tough decisions and bold investments even as India fights multiple crises ranging from the Covid-19 outbreak to cyclones, earthquake, fire, and locust attacks. He said, in a videoconference, it was time to shun a conservative approach and move toplug-and-play mode from one of command and control. Speaking at the 95th plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Modi said: “This is not the time for command and control but plug and play; this is not the time to be conservative but time for bold decisions and approach.” This is the second time the prime minister reached out to industrialists this month and this comes at a time when global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has affirmed its rating on India’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit at the lowest investment grade with a stable outlook. It said the country’s economy remained “a long-term outperformer versus peers at a similar level of income”. The ratings agency projected the economy would contract 5 percent in the current financial year, but would grow 8.5 per cent in 2021-22. Modi stressed the global Covid-19 situation needed to be turned into an opportunity and the country required to become self-reliant and opt for aggressive judicious import substitution. “We need to make it a turning point and form a self-reliant India. The country needs to stand on its own feet and we need to reduce dependence on imports. Eventually, we need to be on the lookout for exporting the items we have been able to substitute for imports,” he said. Modi said manufacturing in West Bengal needed to be revived and Kolkata could become the leader of the east. With less than a year to go before the West Bengal Assembly elections, Modi, while addressing the members of the Kolkata-headquartered chamber,invoked the name of Swami Vivekananda, who urged Indians to use their own produce and find markets in other countries, and Rabindranath Tagore’s “Nuton Juger Bhore” (In the dawn of a new age) to inspire self-reliance. He said the aspiration for self-reliance in manufacturing medical equipment, defence, minerals, edible oils, fertiliser, electronics including chip manufacturing, solar panels, batteries and aviation had always been there and asked industrialists to seizeopportunities in developing sectors in the country. “We have now made the coal and minerals sector competitive and industrialists need to come forward,” he said. Last month, as part of the Rs 20-trillion financial package, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ended the government’s monopoly in coal by allowing commercial mining on a revenue-sharing basis. The move, according to the Centre, would introduce competition and transparency in an opaque sector.
Source: Business Standard
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for a change in economic thinking —from command and control to plug-andplay — while urging the private sector to participate in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and turn the Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity. “It is time for bold decisions and bold investments, and not for conservative approaches. This also is the time to move from command and control economy to plugand-play and to build a competitive global supply chain,” the PM said in his address to members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The government has launched a campaign for self-reliance and is pushing import substitution and domestic production in several crucial sectors, such as electronics and pharmaceuticals, and has called upon Indian industry to be part of the global supply chain. The strategy drawn by the government also seeks to get global investors looking to reshore out of China to invest in India. “India is fighting multiple challenges along withCovid-19, including floods, locust attack, earthquakes... We have to turn crises into opportunity for creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat and take steps to ensure that products which we import from elsewhere are manufactured in India," Modi said, adding that it was time to make each village and district of the country self-reliant. He called upon industry leaders to work towards making India an exporter of all products which it is currently forced to import and suggested mass-scale production, pointing to the experience with LED bulb manufacturing, which helped cut costs. “Government schemes are focused on people, planet and profit,” he said, arguing that the three could co-exist. Citing the campaign to free the country from single use plastic, Modi said it will benefit West Bengal by giving a fresh impetus to the jute industry. He said the time had come to revive Bengal's historical pre-eminence in manufacturing. Modi said banking services had now reached the "have nots". Initiatives such as Jan Dhan accounts and Aadhaar have made it possible to reach necessary support to millions of people without leakage, he added. Referring to the efforts to develop the north-east as a hub of organic farming, Modi said the government's cluster-based approach to local produce would provide opportunity for all. Along with this, clusters would also be created for bamboo and organic products. Like Sikkim, the entire north- east could become a huge hub of organic farming, he said. Organic farming could become a huge movement in the north-east and dominate the global market, he added.
Source: Times of India
In a move to provide relief to industry, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said input tax credit accumulated on imports can now be availed through refunds. The clarification was issued after trade flagged that input tax credit claims were being rejected by tax authorities since invoice details of the unused credit in several cases were not getting reflected in the return form – GSTR 2A – which has details of all inward supplies. As per law, credits not reflecting in GSTR 2A cannot be claimed. CBIC had issued acircular on March 31, stating that refunds related to missing invoices will be restricted, and will be processed in cases where invoices are available. “The circular does not in any way impact the refund of input tax credit availed on the invoices/documents relating to imports, ISD invoices, and the inward supplies liable to Reverse Charge (RCM supplies),” the Board said. Tax experts said the move would greatly help India's foreign exchange earners who were facing serious on ground challenges on refunds claims of unutilized input tax credit. “The issue of rejection by lower level officers was significantly prevalent in certainjurisdictions where officers had taken a literal interpretation of the earlier circular without giving credence to the practical applicability of the same in certain scenarios,” said Abhishek Jain, tax partner at EY.
Source: Economic Times
Niti Aayog member VK Saraswat on Wednesday favoured imposing a border adjustment tax (BAT) on imports to provide a level-playing field to domestic industries. Also, he stressed on the need to identify reforms that can be immediately undertaken. "US-Chinatrade tensions are currently at historic high levels. In the post COVID world, it is expected to rise further... so first we have to do a border adjustment tax to provide the domestic industry a level-playing field vis-a-vis imports," he said at a virtual event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce. BAT is a duty that is proposed to be imposed on imported goods in addition to the customs levy that gets charged at the port of entry. Saraswat said various taxes like electricity duty mandi tax, clean energy cess, royalty etc lead to escalation of price. "Such taxes which are imposed on domestic goods, give them (imported goods) a price advantage in India," he pointed out. The Indian industry has been complaining to the government about domestic taxes like electricity duty, duties on fuel, clean energy cess, mandi tax, royalties, biodiversity fees that get charged on domestically produced goods as these duties get embedded into the product. But many imported goods do not get loaded with such levies in their respective country of origin and this gives such products price advantage in the Indian market. Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, Saraswat saidadvocating self-reliance should not imply that India will embrace isolationist policies. "Ithink many people think that we are going back to the old era. They are wrong. We haveto be global but we have to have a supply chain which is more local," he noted. Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said India is over dependent on everything including ventilators. "We have to invest in infrastructure... We must minimise our dependence on others for raw material and semifinished goods," he stressed. Saraswat emphasised on the need to look beyond banks for infrastructure funding.
Source: Economic Times
Attempts to woo it back to negotiating table fail, as the country struggles to fight pandemic India is not ready to respond any time soon to the offer made by the 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to rejoin the free trade negotiations on much easier terms than before, especially as its industry and farmers are struggling to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, according to officials.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Ajit Lakra, MD of Superfine Knitters Ltd that is engaged in manufacturing of knitted fabric and garments, says the Covid-19 impacted their business badly. “Our business is a seasonal business. When the lockdown started in March, we had huge quantities of summer-ready goods lying with us to be dispatched to our customers before March 31 or latest by April 15,” he says. “Unfortunately, all the customers cancelled or put on hold all summer goods,” Lakra added. Lakra is also the Textile Division Head of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO). How is the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector doing in Unlock 1.0? It is slightly different in different segments. Like bicycle and bicycle parts are doing comparatively better but our textile sector is not doing well. How is the problem of labour shortage being tackled? There is an acute shortage of labour in Ludhiana which is being felt by those segments that have some business in hand. In textile, we have about 25 per cent orders and about same percentage of labour availability. Labour is likely to return after June. 'Needy' industries are calling their labour and requesting the government to bring them back like they sent them. What are the major problems as of now? A major problem is the drastic drop in demand in the market. If the retail sales do not pick up anytime soon, the manufacturing sector cannot pick up to optimum and viable levels. Some fixed expenses and bank interest etc will not 'stop', thereby plunging manyunits into serious financial stress despite six-month deferment up to August 2020. How do you visualise business in these times? The business is limping back. The textile and auto parts industries are hardest hit and are in worse condition. Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet and there is an economic slump. Garment purchase is not a priority for the citizens, especially for one year till the pandemic ends. After about two years when the agreement of duty-free import of MMF garments from Bangladesh ends and some positive effect and opportunities arising out of anti-China sentiment the world over and with some major import policy changes in India, there can be ushered in a big boom in the textile industry of India. Although both the state government and the Centre have done some policy changes, still a lot more needs to be done.
Source: The Tribune
Once the pact comes into force, likely in July, Vietnam will get duty-free access to the EU market in garments (apart from dozens of other products), while such supplies from India will continue to be taxed at 9.6%. Indian garment exporters, already battered by the Covid-19 outbreak, are in for further trouble, as major competitor Vietnam has forged a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU. Once the pact comes into force, likely in July, Vietnam will get duty-free access to the EU market in garments (apart from dozens of other products), while such supplies from India will continue to be taxed at 9.6%. This will further harden the challenge for India to even hold on to its market share in garment exports, let alone grab the space being gradually vacated by China. The EU typically accounts for about 30% of India’s garment exports. Of course, with the UK out of the EU now, the bloc’s share in India’s supplies will drop. India’s garment exports dropped 4% year-on-year in FY20 to $15.5 billion. Importantly, all of India’s key competitors – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Pakistan – currently ship out apparel to the EU at zero duty, as they continue to get preferential treatment. Supplies of certain types of apparel from Cambodia, of course, may be taxed from August, as the EU has reportedly withdrawn preferential tariff treatment to products making up for one-fifth of its imports from that country. Still, exporters say Cambodia will continue to gain due to the investments made in the country by the Chinese. While the EU slaps a 12% import duty on Chinese garments, slightly higher than that on India, Beijing undoubtedly remains far more competitive than New Delhi and offers an impressive range of apparels. According to the European Commission data, between 2016 and 2019, Vietnam’s garment exports to the EU went up from 2.61 billion euros to 3.29 billion euros, while India’s continued to decline from 4.47 billion euros to 4.31 billion euros. In fact, India was the only country among five key exporters (the others being Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan) whose garments supplies to the EU dropped in the past four years. While China’s apparel exports to the EU dropped marginally from 25.21 billion euros to 25.03 billion euros, India’s fall was sharper. This suggests that while China has been seeking to gradually shift from labour-intensive industries like garments to capital-intensive and high-tech ones, India clearly hasn’t gained from this; rather, it has ceded its share in exports to its peers in recent years. Even Cambodia’s exports to the EU rose from 2.71 billion euros in 2016 to 3.30 billion euros in 2019, Bangladesh’s rose from 12.62 billion euros to 15 billion euros and Pakistan’s increased from 2.23 billion euros to 2.70 billion euros. “The clear tariff differential in the EU market will add to our already-stark disadvatages in other areas (logistics costs, etc) and further erode our competitiveness vis-à-vis Vietnam,” said Gautam Nair, managing director at Matrix Clothing, one of the country’s largest apparel exporters. “Vietnam’s FTA with the EU will be another blow to the Indian garment exporters. What we need is no quick-fixes but a long-term vision. Promoting garment clusters, initiating structural reforms and tailoring policy interventions accordingly will be a way forward,” said Raja M Shanmugham, president of the Tirupur Exporters’ Association. Tirupur is thecountry’s largest garment export hub, having recorded outbound shipments of around Rs 25,000 crore in FY20. Flagging the threat to export competitiveness, the Debroy panel had earlier said India’slogistics costs alone accounted for as much as 15-16% of the consignment value. Also, as pointed out in an earlier report by HSBC, India’s domestic bottlenecks explain 50% of the recent slowdown in overall exports (remaining the biggest threat to its outbound shipments), followed by world growth (33%) and the exchange rate (just 17%).Meanwhile, after 16 rounds of talks between 2007 and 2013, negotiations for an IndiaEU FTA have been stuck due to differences over the bloc’s demand for a sharp cut in tariffs on auto parts and wine by New Delhi, among others. Both the sides, however, were trying to revive the trade talks earlier this year when the Covid-19 hit, forcing authorities to shift focus to tackling the pandemic.
Source: Financial Express
The government has for the third time extended the validity of e-way bills generated on or before March 24 till June 30. "Provided that where an e-way bill has been generated under rule 138 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 on or before the 24th day of March, 2020 and whose validity has expired on or after the 20th March, 2020, the validity period of such e-way bill shall be deemed to have been extended till the 30th day of June, 2020," the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) said in a notification. CBIC had in April extended the validity of e-way bills generated on or before March 24 and having expiry between March 20 and April 15 till April 30. Last month, it was further extended till May 31. In another notification, the CBIC has granted time till June 30 for rejecting refunds where the time limit for issuance of order falls between March 20 and June 29, 2020. "...In view of the spread of pandemic COVID19...the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies that in cases where a notice has been issued for rejection of refund claim, and where the time limit for issuance of order...falls during the period from the 20th day of March, 2020 to the 29th day of June, 2020, in such cases the time limit for issuance of the said order shall be extended to 15 days after the receipt of reply to the notice from the registered person or the 30th day of June, 2020, whichever is later," the CBIC said. AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said "this will give ample time to tax officers for passing quality orders and grant suitable opportunity of being heard to the taxpayers".
Source: Economic Times
Arvind Ltd., a textile-to-retail conglomerate, has entered into technical collaboration with Swiss textile innovator HeiQ Materials AG and Taiwanese speciality major Jintex Corporation to introduce anti-viral Viroblock textile technology for the first time in India under its brand Intellifabrix. Using this technology, Arvind will offer shirting and suiting fabrics, readymade garments and face masks in India. “In a very short period of time we will introduce fabrics that will provide best-in-class viral protection and are fashionable at the same time,” Kulin Lalbhai, executive director, Arvind Ltd., told The Hindu. The products will be available in about 1,000 outlets in India. A shirt made using this technology would cost about ₹2,500, while the fabrics will be priced between ₹600 and ₹1,000 per metre, he said. “HeiQ Viroblock is one of the most advanced global antiviral products created by HeiQ. It significantly enhances the antiviral log reduction and reduces viral infectivity by 99.99%. It is one of the first textile technologies in the world to claim such efficacy on SARS-CoV-2,” Mr. Lalbhai said. It has been designed to stay active on treated garments for 30 gentle domestic washes. “HeiQ Viroblock is a special combination of our advanced silver and vesicle technology that has proven effective against the human coronavirus 229E and SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19, with 99.99% reduction of virus in 30 minutes,” Carlo Centonze, CEO, HeiQ Group, said in a statement “It is a safe, hypoallergenic and patent-pending technology,” he added.
Source: The Hindu
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
850.35 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
VSF |
1259.26 |
USD/Ton |
-1.11% |
12-06-2020 |
|
ASF |
1642.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
816.40 |
USD/Ton |
-0.09% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2051.61 |
USD/Ton |
1.40% |
12-06-2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
4004.17 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
5206.83 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1032.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1931.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1782.77 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1004.58 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2334.59 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
1740.33 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1414.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2186.02 |
USD/Ton |
0.32% |
12-06-2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1910.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1683.73 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1598.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2023.31 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.12 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.93 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.48 |
USD/Meter |
-0.29% |
12-06-2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
12-06-2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14149 USD dtd. 12/06/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
US firm Looptworks is transforming textile production waste into reusable facemasks. The business based in Portland, Oregon re-purposes and upcycles abandoned, pre-consumer and post-consumer materials into ‘limited edition products’. Using off cuts, the masks feature two layers of cotton and one of polyester, which makes them suitable for everyday use as a barrier. ‘They are made with 100% pre-consumer excess materials, which helps conserve our planet’s valuable resources,’ according to Gary Peck and Scott Hamlin, who founded the company in 2009. They point out that clothing factories in the US throw away 27.5 tonnes of perfectly usable, pre-consumer textiles in an average week. The coronavirus pandemic is proving a trigger for many leading organisations to explore circular solutions, Hamlin says. ‘We recently had the honour of partnering with United Airlines to create 7 500reusable facemasks from 5.5 tonnes of excess retired uniforms. These masks have been delivered to the airline’s operations workers at San Francisco International Airport, the entrepreneur adds. ‘A great way of reducing waste while keeping people safe.’bHamlin and Peck are hoping to inspire citizens to ‘be heroes from home’, as they put it. ‘We are connecting with crafty folks both in Portland and nationwide to help assemble our DIY facemask kits to get personal protection equipment to first responders, essential workers, and vulnerable communities ASAP,’ they say. Looptworks is also accepting cash donations to offset material and shipping costs of their ambitious project.
Source: Recycling International
The latest estimate is a sharp revision from the lender's previous forecast for 160 countries this year. Almost 90 per cent of the world, or about 170 countries, will be “worse off” with lower percapita income by the end of this year, despite an injection of about $9 trillion (Dh33tn) by governments and central banks to stabilise the pandemic-battered global economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. The latest forecast is a sharp divergence from the Washington-based lender’s January projection of economic growth for 160 countries and positive per capita income this year. “Never in our history have we seen such a tremendous reversal of fortunes for so many,” Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said in a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. “We have never had such a truly global crisis as the one we face now.” The coronavirus outbreak has claimed more than 411,000 lives and infected more than 7.2 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the outbreak. The pandemic had forced governments to close borders and shut all but essential businesses to stem the spread of the virus. Major economies around the world are now opening up gradually, four months after the World Health Organisation declared Covid19 a pandemic. The infection rate however, is rising in some emerging markets, and the WHO on Tuesday warned that the coronavirus outbreak is far from over. Governments and central banks across the globe have pumped about $9tn into the world economy to revive output, stem job losses, support small businesses and stabilise financial markets. On Wednesday the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Global said global output is forecast to contract 7.6 per cent in 2020 in the absence of a Covid-19 vaccine, and unemployment in some of the world’s largest economies could more than double to about 11 per cent. The World Bank has projected global output shrinking 5.2, while the IMF forecasts a 3 per cent contraction this year. Various fiscal and economic stimulus packages, have provided “a lifeline to many businesses, and we believe these measures to be well-targeted and well-thought through”, Ms Georgieva said. “They are temporary and — as such — they are a bridge to the recovery, but not a risk to the recovery as it arrives.” The world economy, she said, will emerge from “the great lockdown” with more debt, higher deficits and, in all likelihood, higher structural unemployment. However, since 75 per cent of the economies are reopening, it is time to focus on risks and what shape the recovery should take. In March, emerging markets recorded outflows of around $100 billion, three times more than during the 2008-9 global financial crisis. However, in April and May funds started flowing back in on the back of a massive injection of liquidity in advanced economies. “Unfortunately, for [emerging] countries in debt distress, affected by fragility and conflict or with bad underlying conditions, the crisis is terrible,” Ms Georgieva said. “The same way people with weaker immune systems are more at risk from the coronavirus, so weaker economies are at more at risk from the economic shock.”
Source: The National
The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has issued its latest analysis of the global textile machinery market. International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics, Vol. 42/2019 provides a breakdown for the spinning, texturing, circular and flat knitting machinery, finishing machinery segments, which in the main, saw decreases in volumes for 2019. In 2019, global shipments of spinning, texturing, weaving, knitting, and finishing machines decreased on average compared to 2018. Deliveries of new short-staple spindles, open-end rotors, and long-staple spindles dropped by 20%, 20%, and 66%, respectively. The number of shipped draw-texturing spindles declined by 4.5% and deliveries of shuttle-less looms shrunk by 0.5%. Shipments of large circular machines contracted by 1.2%, while shipped flat knitting machines fell by 40%. The sum of deliveries in the finishing segment also dropped by 2% on average. These are the main results of the 42th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS) just released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF). The report covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw texturing, weaving, large diameter circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. A summary of the findings for each category is presented below. The 2019 survey has been compiled in cooperation with more than 200 textile machinery manufacturers representing a comprehensive measure of world production.
Spinning Machinery
The total number of shipped short-staple spindles decreased by about 1.7 million units in2019 to a level of 6.96 million. Most of the new short-staple spindles (92%) were shipped to Asia & Oceania, where delivery decreased by 20%. While levels stayed relatively small, Africa and South America saw shipments increasing by 150% and 120%, respectively. The six largest investors in the short-staple segment were China, India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
563,600 open-end rotors were shipped worldwide in 2019. This represents a 147,500-units drop compared to 2018. 90% of global shipments went to Asia & Oceania where deliveries decreased by 21% to 517,000 rotors. Indonesia and Pakistan, the world’s 5th and 6th largest investors in open-end rotors, increased their investments by 120% and 15%, respectively. China, Vietnam, India, and Uzbekistan, the world’s 1st to 4th largest investors in 2019 decreased investment by 48% on average. Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles decreased from 120,000 in 2018 to nearly 40,000 in 2019 (66%). This effect was mainly driven by a fall in deliveries to Europe (72%) and South America (80%). 80% of total deliveries where shipped to China and India.
Texturing Machinery
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyamide filaments) increased by 12% from nearly 22,800 in 2018 to 25,500 in 2019. With a share of 88%, Asia & Oceania was the strongest destination for single heater draw- texturing spindles. China and Chinese Taipei were the main investors in this segment with a share of 64% and 12% of global deliveries, respectively. In the category of double heater draw-texturing spindles (mainly used for polyester filaments) global shipments decreased by 5% to a level of 464,000 spindles. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments decreased to 90%. Thereby, China remained the largest investor accounting for 77% of global shipments.
Circular & Flat Knitting Machinery
Global shipments of large diameter circular knitting machines fell by 1.2% to 26,400 units in 2019. The region Asia & Oceania was the world’s leading investor in this category with 86% of worldwide shipments. With 61% of all deliveries (i.e. 13,143 units), China was the favoured destination. India and Vietnam ranked second and third with 2,670 and 2,210 units, respectively. In 2019, the segment of electronic flat knitting machines decreased by 40% to around 96,000 machines. Asia & Oceania was the main destination for these machines with a share of 92% of world shipments. China remained the world’s largest investor with an 80% share despite a 44%-decrease in investments from 122,550 units to 68,760 units.
Weaving Machinery
In 2019, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms decreased by 0.6% to 133,250 units. Thereby, shipments in the categories of ‘air-jet’ and ‘rapier and projectile’ fell by 7.7% to 30,200 and 22% to 25,000, respectively. Deliveries of water-jet looms increased by +12% to 78’000. The main destination for shuttle-less looms in 2019 was Asia & Oceania with 95% of all worldwide deliveries. 98%, 93%, 86% of all water-jet, air-jet, and rapier/projectile looms went to that region. The main investors were China and India in all three sub-categories. Deliveries of weaving machines to these two countries reached 89% of total deliveries. Bangladesh further played an important role in the rapier/projectile segment with 20% of global shipments.
Finishing Machinery
In the ‘fabrics continuous’ segment, shipments of stenters and washing (stand-alone) grew by 34% and 0.6%. The growth in stenter deliveries is mainly explained by the addition of ITMF’s estimate for the number of stenters. The total number of shipped stenters of 1,700 units thus represents an estimate of the total market for this category. In the ‘fabrics discontinuous’ segment, the number of jigger dyeing / beam dyeing machines shipped rose by 35% to 561 units. Deliveries in all other machine categories in both finishing sub-segments (i.e. continuous and discontinuous) decreased in 2019.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
While the government is all set to announce the budget for 2020-21 today (Friday), All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) in a letter to Adviser to PM on Commerce and Textile Abdul Razak Dawood on Thursday asked for the continuation of energy package for export industry to ensure provision of electricity at 7.5 cents per unit and RLNG at $6.5 per mmbtu in next budgetary year. In the outgoing year, the energy package has directly resulted in a volumetric increase of 32 percent of textiles over the last 18 months. This significant increase in volumes has come in a highly competitive international market where unit prices of products have fallen by as much as 26 percent. The APTMA said: “As a result of COVID-19 a lot of the major retail chains in the US and EU are filing for bankruptcy; those that remaining are forcing up to 30 percent discounts and delayed shipping on orders already placed and in some cases shipped. By all accounts demand for textiles has crashed and is unlikely to attain the previous levels for the foreseeable future. Competition for the remaining market where price levels will be substantially low is likely to be intense.” Under the emerging circumstances, the letter said, continued provision of regionally competitive energy is absolutely essential if Pakistan is to continue to rely on reasonable export earnings to support its Balance of Payments. Textile industry through the APTMA letter said that Pakistan has a continuing balance of payments crisis and is being financed by local and international borrowing. More debt piling or borrowing is not a feasible solution. The letter said that this challenge can be overcome only by increasing exports. It mentions that the government has clearly stated its intention to promote exports. The government specifically took action to overcome some disadvantages faced by Pakistani exporters such as provision of regionally competitive energy prices, which were otherwise higher than those of regional, and competitor countries. In the 18-month period when competitive energy prices were implemented, Pakistan’s textile exports increased in real (US$ terms), even though prices per unit values of exports were lower. So even though the external environment was not favourable, textile exporters were able to compete in international markets and achieved increased exports which would otherwise have fallen by over $3 billion per year necessitating increased borrowing.
Source: The News
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Thursday said that the value of international trade in goods declined around 5% in the first quarter of 2020 and is expected to decline further by 27% in the ongoing quarter with trade in many developing countries projected to nosedive due to the “unprecedented effects of the pandemic”. In April, developing countries in South Asia and the Middle East suffered the steepest decline in exports while those in East Asia and the Pacific experienced the least reduction in exports, it said in its global trade update, adding that no region has been spared from the decline in international trade. UNCTAD’s estimates are in line with those of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which expects global merchandise trade to decline 13-32% in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisation said that world trade was already slowing down prior to the Covid-19 pandemic but the economic and social disruptions brought by its global outbreak are resulting in a dramatic decline in trade. “Although preliminary, data for April suggest a sharp downturn in all other regions with declines of up to 40% for countries in South Asia and Middle East regions,” UNCTAD said.
Medical goods
Sectorally, trade in medical goods such as ventilators, monitors, thermometers, hand sanitizers, protective masks and garments contracted at the onset of the pandemic but then increased in February and March and almost doubled in April 2020. For instance, the first two months of 2020 saw an increase in Chinese domestic de and for medical products resulting in a strong increase in imports from Europe and the US which were not yet significantly hit by Covid-19. “Noteworthy is also that Chinese exports of such equipment declined by 15% in the first two months of 2020 as Chinese supply reoriented towards domestic demand,” UNCTAD said. Data for March shows that imports of medical equipment continued to increase in China (41% increase) but also in the European Union (21 % increase). April saw a massive increase in Chinese exports of medical equipment (338% increase). This surge was largely driven by exports of protective equipment. Finally, April data for the US reflect the increasing concern for the pandemic as import of medical products increased by almost 60% while export declined by approximately 20%.
Other sectors
As per the report, preliminary data for April indicates declines in most sectors and a very sharp contraction in trade of energy and automotive products, about 40% and 50%, respectively. In the first quarter of 2020, textiles and apparel declined almost 12%, while office machinery and automotive sectors fell around 8%. On the other hand, the value of international trade in the agri-food sector increased 2%. Significant declines are also observed in chemicals, machineries and precision instruments with drops above 10%. Conversely, office machinery appears to have rebounded in April, largely because of the positive export performance of China. Trade in agri-food products has been so far the least volatile.
Source: Economic Times
