The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Monday launched 'e-Office'in over 500 GST and customs offices that will help improve governance by automating the internal processes of handling files. The launch of the application marks afundamental change in internal office procedures that are so far based on manual handling of files and paper movement. "The CBIC expects e-Office would complement its many other (information technology) ITled reforms that are directly aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business for the trade and industry," an official statement said. The eOffice application, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), enables online file-related work, starting from receiving and marking dak, operating a file, preparing a draft letter, its approval and signature and dispatch of the signed letter. CBIC Chairman M Ajit Kumar launched the e-Office application in over 500 central GST and Customs offices pan-India. "Over 50,000 officers and staff will use this application, making CBIC one of the largest government departments to automate its internal office procedures," the statement added. The launch of e-Office is one more measure taken by the CBIC in leveraging technology for providing a faceless, contactless and paperless indirect tax administration. E-Office aims to improve governance by automating the internal processes of handling files and taking decisions within the government. It would lead to speedier decision making, transparency, accountability, and positive impact on the environment by cutting down the use of paper and printing, the statement added. The e-Office would help avoid contact with physical files, thereby preventing possible transmission of coronavirus. It would ensure enhanced security as no file or document can be altered or destroyed or backdated. An in-built monitoring mechanism would identify where the files are held up enabling quick disposal and faster decision making, the statement added.
Source : Economic Times
Govt likely to issue clarification to add more borrowers under ECLGS Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday held a review meeting with private banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to seek feedback to improve the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic package to deal with the impact of Covid-19.The private lenders asked the government to revisit some provisions in the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), under which 100 per cent guarantee coverage is provided to all lenders to enable additional funding to the tune of Rs 3 trillion to smaller business enterprises, to make the scheme more attractive. The scheme is valid for existing customers of banks. The finance ministry said in a statement that the meeting was attended by Financial Services Secretary Debashish Panda, 20 chief executives of private banks and NBFCs, along with executives of Small Industries Development Bank of India, and discussed ways for “effective implementation of the ECLGS for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “The request from the NBFCs side was that there is a need to include individuals who own vehicles that are put to commercial use, small traders and businessmen who borrow on individual names in this scheme as they are a part of the MSME network. We have made a request that individuals should also be allowed to take working capital loans so that whole MSME ecosystem can be kick-started,” said Ramesh Iyer, vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Finance. He said the ministry agreed to review their suggestions. A ministry official said the government was looking to issue clarification to include some of these classes of borrowers under the scheme in the next few days. The banks also wanted the ministry to increase the scope of the scheme to make it in consonance with the new definition of the MSMEs, which was recently accepted by the Centre. For instance, any company with an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore would be eligible for funding under the scheme. The government recently revised the definitionof ‘medium enterprises’, which will now be firms with an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore, as against Rs 5 crore previously. “We are examining the request to broaden the scope of the scheme,” the ministry official said. Another demand by lenders was to allow companies with outstanding credit of up to Rs 100 crore as of February 29, 2020, to be a part of the scheme, as against Rs 25 crore at present. Under the scheme, the government will provide guarantee for any losses suffered by banks due to non-payment by the borrowers for all loans sanctioned till October 31, 2020, or till the time the limit of Rs 3 trillion is reached, whichever is earlier. The cap on interest rate for banks is at 9.25 per cent, whereas for NBFCs, it is 14 per cent per annum. The participation from NBFCs and banks to ECLGS was slow in the initial days and the government has now told them to expedite sanctioning of loans under the scheme. So far, 18 private sector banks and 12-13 NBFCs have become a part of the scheme.The ministry official said state-owned banks had sanctioned Rs 30,000 crore to over 800,000 firms under the scheme, of which Rs 16,000 crore had been disbursed so far.
Source: Business Standard
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a video conference with 20 major private banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) on Monday to ensure the smooth roll out of the emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS). The meeting also included secretary of financial services, Debasish Panda and representatives of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), according to a tweet by the department of financial services (DFS).It highlighted the government’s commitment to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by ensuring uninterrupted supply of liquidity during these difficult times, the finance ministry tweeted. “For effective implementation of ECLGS for MSMEs, Hon. FM @nsitharaman ji along with Secy, DFS meets 20 Pvt Sector Banks & NBFCs along with SIDBI. Committed to help MSMEs make #AatmaNirbharBhara,” the DFS said via Twitter. According to a Twitter update from the finance minister’s office, public sector banks had sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 29, 490.81 crore by June 11 under the ECLGS, of which Rs 14,690.84 crore had already been disbursed.
Source: Economic Times
Amid the chorus for GST compensation from states, the Centre has conveyed that there is a need to factor in the “abnormal situation” due to the coronavirus pandemic, which it described as an “act of God”, indicating that there was no insurance for 14% growth in GST collections during these times. Three years ago, while introducing GST, the Centre had promised to compensate states for “revenue loss”, if collection growth was under 14% in a year. “Compensation is a larger issue. The Centre is not going back on its promise, but should it not enforce the force majeure clause since this is an event triggered by things beyond anyone’s control? It is an ‘act of God’,” an official told TOI. Data presented at the GST Council meeting on Friday showed that GST collections had shot up to over Rs 62,000 crore in May — almost twice the level seen in April — but 38% lower than a year ago. A large part of the sequential jump was attributed to payments for April spilling over into May given the extended deadline. In any case, the actual numbers will only be known after a few months as the Centre is not enforcing the payment and filing deadline. “While collections during April and May have been around 45% of monthly average (of a shade over Rs 1 lakh crore), is it fair for the states to demand 114%?” said a source. “Haven’t their VAT, excise and property tax collections suffered,” added another source. The Centre has, however, agreed to look into the issue of compensating states after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman suggested in March that the Council could look at the option of market borrowings. On Friday, her party colleague and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi is learnt to have pointed this out. A state finance secretary told TOI that “invoking the force majeure clause” was not provided for in the statutes, although the Centre has made it clear that the GST Council needs to arrange for the compensation. “Technically, they (Centre) are right. They are in no position to pay, given that there was a shortfall last year too,” the official said. A state finance minister conceded that it may not be possible for the Centre to compensate if a state fails to achieve 14% annual growth in GST collections. “Pre-lockdown too, there was a massive gap because 14% growth was assured. The gap will rise given the economic situation,” the minister said. In fact, during the GST Council meeting in Goa too, the issue had been flagged since the average GDP growth had slowed down from the earlier highs. “To achieve 14% GST growth, with GDP growth of 6% is tougher than at 8-9%,” a state revenue secretary added.
Source: Economic Times
They argue that while Centre recently released Rs 36,400 crore in pending IGST dues in lieu of compensation for December, Jan and Feb, more remained to be given to them With revenues being hit hard by the lockdown, the states have asked the Centre to expeditiously disburse the remaining Rs 20,000 crore of unsettled integrated goods and services tax (IGST) dues from 2017-18. The matter was deliberated during the 40th GST Council meeting on Friday and was referred to the group of ministers (GoM) led by Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. The states argued that while the Centre recently released Rs 36,400 crore worth of pending IGST dues in lieu of compensation for December, January and February, more remained to be given to them. Generally, compensation is paid from the compensation cess but the cess collection has fallen due to the economic slow down. The matter pertains to the year of GST introduction- 2017-18, when the unsettled amount of Rs 1.76 trillion left in the IGST was transferred to the Consolidated Fund of India by the Centre instead of distributing the same to the states as an ad hoc settlement. Therefore, states only got 42 per cent of that as devolution according to the 14th Finance Commission formula, instead of 50 per cent share. Besides, states have raised the issue that they are also entitled to 42 per cent of the Centre’s share in the kitty, taking the total unsettled dues at over Rs 55,000 crore. Of that, while Rs 36400 crore was paid in lieu of compensation money earlier this month to states, Rs 20,000 crore of dues still remain unsettled. “In 2017-18, instead of distributing IGST to states on an ad hoc basis, it was put in the consolidated fund of India. So states only got 42 per cent of that as devolution, whereas we were entitled to 50 per cent of IGST and another 42 per cent out of Centre’s half. Now they have released around Rs 36400 crore," Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac told Business Standard. The Comptroller and Auditor General had earlier pointed out in its report that that the procedure for devolution of IGST from consolidated fund of India was against the provisions of Constitution of India. IGST is levied on inter-state movement of goods as well as imports. There should ideally be ‘nil' balance in the IGST pool since the amount should be used for payment of CGST and SGST. As some businesses are ineligible to claim the benefits of input-tax credit (ITC), the IGST account always has some un-utilised amount in it. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the Council meeting that understanding the need of states to have money in their hands, Centre corrected one end of the anomaly, wherein the Centre could release money and give to the states without states having to do any adjustment. She said the matter will be further taken up by the GoM led by Sushil Modi. The Constitution was amended in August 2018 to allow for distribution of any balance IGST equally between Centre and states. The un-utilised IGST is distributed between the Centre and all states in a 50:50 ratio. M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India said, "In the present situation where tax collections of both the Centre and the States have been under stress , while expenditure has been mounting on account of increased healthcare costs , it would be preferable to have a monthly settlement of the state’s dues. “The compensation mechanism will be discussed in a separate GST Council meeting in July.
Source: Business Standard
Trade deficit at only $3.15 Billion as crude, gold imports continue to drop.
Exports contracted 36.47 per cent in May after a historic fall in April, even as the lockdown eased and ports cleared cargo. While the government says this offers hopes of recovery, exporters remain doubtful. Exports have now fallen for the third straight month. Except for iron ore, pharmaceuticals, spices, and rice, all other commodities have printed negative growth in May, the commerce department said on Monday. Also, crucial petrochemical exports continued to shrink, falling 68.4 per cent, up from 66 per cent in April. However, policymakers are less worried about the knock-on effects of the current series of major contraction on outbound trade in 2020-21 (FY21). The March-June period is crucial in the export cycle for many sectors, such as apparel and engineering goods, but export numbers are encouraging, they say. Last week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said exports in the first week of June were on a par with what they were in June 1-7, 2019. “Exports during June 1-7 dipped by only 0.76 per cent to $4.94 billion, from $5.03 billion in the same period last year,” said Goyal. Earlier, Goyal had said he expects contraction to narrow to 8-10 per cent in June. But in May, 27 of the 30 major product groups showed higher double-digit negative growth. “We need immediate roll-out of additional 2 per cent export incentives across the board, rising to 4 per cent for labour-intensive sectors. Allowing rollover of forward cover without interest and penalty, and automatic enhancement of limit by 25 per cent to address liquidity challenges,” said Sharad Kumar Saraf, president, Federation of Indian Export organisations. Engineering Export Promotion Council of India Chairman Ravi Sehgal said: “Even within engineering exports, we need to rework our strategy. Sub-sectors, like medical devices, will be doing well, while core infra industries may take time to recover.” With several nations continuing to order major quantities of drugs from India, exports rose 17.32 per cent in May after a marginal 0.25-per cent rise in April. In April, only $10.36 billion worth of goods had been exported. The rate of fall in outbound trade was the most since April 1, 1995, even as manufacturing units remained shut for the first 20 days owing to nationwide curbs and faced major logistics and supply-side hurdles later on. The country’s exports had declined 34.57 per cent in March. Imports also continued to contract, albeit at a smaller margin than April’s 58.65 per cent. In the latest month, imports fell 51 per cent to $22 billion, even as crude oil imports were drastically cut, and gold inflows almost wiped out. As a result, the monthly trade deficit reduced to just $3.15 billion. “The merchandise trade deficit slipped to the lowest level since March 2016, led by compression in oil, gold, and other imports. The relatively contained pick-up in imports suggests domestic demand remained muted during the lockdown,” said Aditi Nayar, principal economist, ICRA. As a result, the largest component of the import bill — crude oil — saw the cost of inbound shipments fall 71.98 per cent, up from 59 per cent to $3.48 billion. Gold, the second-largest item in the import bill, witnessed incoming shipments get almost obliterated for the second month. Imports fell 98.4 per cent, slightly less than the 99-per cent drop seen in the month before. Non-oil and non-gold imports — an indicator of domestic industrial demand — fell for the 19th month, contracting 33.74 per cent. ICRA expects current account surplus of $12-15 billion in FY21. However, if domestic demand recovers quicker than global demand, the size of India’s current account surplus may be limited below $10 billion.
Source: Business Standard
India’s exports of footwear, garments, marine products and furniture to the European Union stand to be the worst-hit once the 27-member bloc starts dismantling its tariffs for Vietnam under the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) to be operational soon. New Delhi is keen to expedite its own bilateral free trade negotiations with the bloc, which could level the playing field for its exporters, but will not be rushed into a deal, say experts and officials. There are still wide gaps between the two in areas such as intellectual property, government procurement, investment protection, labour, environment and market access for sensitive products that need to be bridged, they say. The EU-Vietnam free trade agreement is an ambitious pact eliminating almost 99 per cent of customs duties between the EU and Vietnam.
Exporters worried
“Indian exporters are apprehensive about losing their markets in the EU to Vietnam for key products where its competitor will soon have the advantage of duty-free access because of its FTA with the bloc. India can nullify this advantage by concluding its own FTA but it needs to move carefully as a hurried deal may result in the industry losing more than it gains. “We are ready to talk with the EU whenever it shows interest,” a government official told BusinessLine. In the EU market for apparels and marine products, where the two countries have almost equal share of $7 billion and $1 billion each respectively, Vietnam will benefit when its import duties reduce to zero under the FTA while India continues to pay 9 per cent duty on apparels and 6 per cent on marine, said Ajay Sahai from the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). “In footwear, where Vietnam exports $7.5 billion worth of items compared to India’s $1.6 billion, the advantage will be enhanced once EU reduced tariffs for Vietnam to zero from 8 per cent. Similarly, in furniture, where India had started making inroads into the EU with imports of over $900 million, Vietnam’s share of $1.5 billion is likely to increase several-fold when the import duty of 6 per cent is eliminated, Sahai said.
‘Speed up talks’
FIEO has recently asked the Commerce Ministry to expedite negotiations on the broad-based trade and investment agreement (BTIA), launched way back in 2007, but stalled since 2013 due to disagreements over key areas. Although India expressed its willingness to get back into the talks late last year, the EU had made it conditional that issues such as government procurement, labour standards and sustainability have to be included which India finds difficult to accept. “Trying to undercut the EVFTA by doing our own FTA will have its own problems. We can’t ignore the fact that there are market access issues on the EU side as well with the bloc insistent on opening up of sensitive sectors such as automobiles and wine & spirits,” pointed out Biswajit Dhar, Professor, JNU. The EVFTA will also make Vietnam a more advantageous location for investments moving out of China due to the China-US trade war, Dhar added. Vietnam, which had lagged much behind India in the EU market some years back, has almost caught up with the country. Vietnam’s exports to the bloc in 2019 were $53 billion compared to India’s exports of $58 billion, Sahai said.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
From a sectoral perspective, it said consumer discretionary, construction, and export-linked ones will bear the brunt, while small real-estate contractors into EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) projects, and ceramics and textiles makers have been significantly impacted so their credit profiles are the most vulnerable. A 5 per cent contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) during 2020-21 may lead to a 15 per cent fall in corporate India’s revenues and poses an “existential threat” for small businesses, a report said on Monday. However, policy interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the finance ministry offer little hope because they cannot revive demand, which is crucial for the small businesses, the report said. The micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector will have to face a sharper decline in revenues of up to 21 per cent, while operating profit margins will narrow to 4-5 per cent, said the research wing of domestic ratings agency Crisil. The agency expects a 5 per cent contraction in the economy because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to nearly three months of lockdown across the country with little steps at opening up lately. The government and the RBI have already announced actions like collateral-free loans of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to the segment since the onset of the crisis. “MSMEs face existential crisis, revenue to fall a fifth…a sharp decline at the operating level will also impact creditworthiness, aggravating the liquidity stretch these units have been grappling with, particularly on the working capital front,” the agency said. It said there are gains to be made out of the lower commodity prices but the weak demand in the economy will ensure that the small business segment is unable to capitalise on those, it said. The average interest service coverage ratio could slide to 1-1.5 times from 2.4 times seen between the financial years 2016-17 and 2019-20, even after factoring in the benefit of moratorium on interest payments announced by the RBI, it said adding that without the moratorium, the ratio would have gone below one. The hardest hit will be the micro enterprise segment, which accounts for 32 per cent of the overall MSME debt, and are facing material stress in terms of revenue growth, operating profit margins and working capital stretch, it said. Drawing from precedents, it said previous downturns have shown that micro and small enterprises are unable to manage transient working capital challenges as easily as their large and medium peers. The policy interventions from the RBI and the finance ministry will help them tide over tapered cash flows, it said adding that the biggest concern is demand that needs to be revived for the betterment of this crucial sector. However, the report was not so optimistic on the policy interventions’ ability to drive demand in the economy. “The current facilitations may not have the heft to crank up demand in the near term because fiscal stimulus is limited and only to vulnerable households,” its Chief Operating Officer Amish Mehta said. “It is critical that the demand curve is yanked steeply northwards, especially in discretionary products and services,” he added. He said a three-pronged strategy is essential now, which should include improvement in the sentiment around job security for formal and informal workers to boost consumption, hastening implementation of the Aatmanirbhar scheme to ensure flow of liquidity to MSMEs continues, and lenders going beyond traditional credit processes because they have to play a seminal role in recovery. From a sectoral perspective, it said consumer discretionary, construction, and export-linked ones will bear the brunt, while small real-estate contractors into EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) projects, and ceramics and textiles makers have been significantly impacted so their credit profiles are the most vulnerable. Revenue growth of MSMEs in the real estate EPC segment could almost halve with demand sliding even as rising costs, supply chain disruptions and labour issues exert severe pressure on margins, it added. Lower utilisation and partial absorption of BS-VI price hike could erode margins of auto-component MSMEs this financial year despite lower raw material prices, it said. The bigger companies are not expected to be impacted as much by the challenges, and the overall revenue growth will decline 15 per cent only while the operating profit margins will be down by a fourth, it said.
Source: Financial Express
It can be produced in rural areas; it creates jobs; it needs low investment; it can be a Made in India by Hand brand India has an estimated 16 million craftspeople, living mainly in rural India, who are actively involved in some of the most complex textile processes that the world has ever seen. This is not an insignificant number. These craftspeople constitute a highly-skilled workforce, with huge knowledge of specialised processes, learnt from master craftsmen, who ran guilds over centuries, of complex designs. It was in the 1960s that I discovered the art of gold embroidery in a rural setting, in small villages in West Bengal, where the craft was being practised. It is said that the origin of the craft was Iran, and it came to India during the Sultanate. The embroideries from these villages were once patronised by the Nawabs of Bengal. India is replete with village workshops like these, which cannot survive without financing and infrastructure. After the coronavirus pandemic, the reality is that the handloom and handcraft sector in India needs a way to survive. There is no relevance today in government-run emporiums. Our philosophy is completely wrong. A superior handloom product, aesthetically appealing as well as ecologically-friendly, cannot be sold out of compassion but needs the modern technology of marketing and retailing, and needs to be projected as the best in the world. This is the only way to survive in a competitive market. A fact not commonly known is that the textile sector is the second largest employer in rural India, after agriculture. India was the world’s largest supplier of textiles 200 years ago. By 1947, this was converted into a nation using copies of its own textiles, in bulk from England’s industrial areas. This bankrupted India’s rich craft economies is causing destitution in India’s rural markets. It is a miracle that post-Independence, due to the government’s efforts to revive heritage crafts, India has been able to recreate many of its forgotten textile crafts. This was forward-thinking at its best and was not easily achieved. It took a sustained and progressive, revival movement to save India’s handmade legacy. This was successfully launched with a series of the “Viswakarma” exhibitions, which displayed the sophisticated creations of this revival in prestigious museums. The programme generated a great degree of excitement, and the affluent middle-class became the biggest patron of these textiles. This was unlike in many other countries where priceless textiles were relegated to dusty museums. In India, these creations, and not fashion from the international ramps, became aspirational garments for urban consumers, especially women. In an effort to create interest in Indian crafts internationally, the “Vishwakarma” exhibitions were exhibited through the Festivals of India in the most-prestigious museums around the world capitals. This highlighted the richest traditions of handcrafts left in the world. This again caught the attention of the fashion fraternity abroad. India was once again on the world fashion map. Over the last two decades, the Indian fashion industry has made strides. And unlike the rest of the world, it boasts of an indigenous team of designers. These do not necessarily mean only those who show on the ramps, but also those present in the rural fields. They are weavers, embroiderers and creators of embellishments, which no one in the world can create. Most of Indian couture and its glamorisation can be attributed to the handmade crafts. In India, the garments from maharajahs and royal pageants serve as a theme to Big and Small Indian Weddings. Their imitations have flooded malls, boutiques, village haats and bazaars across smaller markets. Each has its own version, creating a theatrical, Indian ethnic fashion. With the recessionary trend that the pandemic is causing, it is time for the government to step in, as they did in the 1950s, to save India’s handicrafts. The drop in the retail of high-end merchandise will temper the scale of celebrations. Most high-end production will move from hand-made to mechanised alternatives.The world today produces textiles using sophisticated machinery. India’s vast repertoire of designs may end up being used only as an inspiration, as is the case with China, which produces copies of the woven Benares saris, among a host of other textile merchandise, and sells these at a fraction of the price to India. This has destroyed the handloom market in Varanasi. After the pandemic, we have a real problem of livelihood on our hands here, as well as one of the intellectual property of textiles which is facing a real threat. The government has to think outside the box, step in and support start-ups. This is a lucrative market. It can be run and marketed by a professionally-run organisation, with cutting-edge pricing, which also offers retail spaces on the internet. The only way to do this is to become a conduit to the customer to buy directly from the craftsman which would involve minimal overheads. It can easily be achieved. Let us look at the USP of this sector. Handicrafts can be best generated in agrarian set-ups. They do not necessitate a move from the rural to the urban scenario, hence avoiding the ghettoisation of its inheritors. It requires little investment in production infrastructure or skill development. It will be the only Made in India by Hand brand in the world.
Source: Hindustan Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
833.90 |
USD/Ton |
-1.58% |
16-06-2020 |
|
VSF |
1240.62 |
USD/Ton |
-0.56% |
16-06-2020 |
|
ASF |
1636.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
794.42 |
USD/Ton |
-1.57% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2044.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
3989.73 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
1776.35 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
993.91 |
USD/Ton |
-0.70% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2326.17 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5188.06 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1022.11 |
USD/Ton |
-0.68% |
16-06-2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1924.38 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
1729.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1409.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2178.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1663.56 |
USD/Ton |
-0.84% |
16-06-2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1593.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2016.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
1903.23 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.11 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.63 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.93 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.48 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
16-06-2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14098 USD dtd. 16/06/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Egypt will soon sign a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom following the latter’s exit from the European Union, according to minister of trade and industry Nevine Gamea, who recently announced the development during a virtual conference on the government’s role in supporting the private sector organised by the British Egyptian Business Association. As the United Kingdom considers Egypt to be the main gateway to Africa, her ministry was looking at obtaining additional advantages, especially concerning the export of crops, Gamea said. The volume of trade exchanged between the two countries reached $2.5 billion during the first 10 months of 2019, compared to $2.4 billion during the same period in 2018. During the conference, Gamea spoke about intensifying local industrialisation, which is a long-standing issue that has been discussed for years, but whose implementation is not easy, according to Egyptian media reports. Gamea noted her ministry and the finance ministry have held several meetings with industrialists from sectors like engineering, textiles and readymade clothing to understand the needs of domestic manufacturers. Customs distortions were the biggest obstacle facing the ministry’s plans to deep local industrialisation, she said. The government will review the new export subsidy programme, launched last November, in which overdue arrears are being paid. The programme has met with opposition from several companies, which necessitated the review, she added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The Government has decided to suspend the import of handloom and batik textiles. The decision was taken following a directive issued by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The President had taken the decision in order to boost the local industry, the President's Office said. A discussion in this regard was held at the Presidential Secretariat today. The President had noted that suspension will also help the local economy.
Source: Menafn
The European Union imposed tariffs on Chinese producers of glass fibre fabric in China and Egypt after finding they had benefited from unfair subsidies that allowed them to sell at excessively low prices in Europe. The European Commission, which oversees trade policy in the 27 EU countries, said in a report published on Monday that the companies had received preferential lending, artificially cheap land and electricity and various grants and tax breaks. The companies include two Egyptian subsidiaries of state-owned China National Building Materials Group Corp (CNBM), marking the EU’s first look into whether Chinese aid is unfairly helping Chinese companies based abroad. It normally only considers subsidies from the host government. Combined with related anti-dumping duties, the EU will apply tariffs of 30.0% to 99.7%, the higher rates applying to China-based companies and the lower rates to the operations in Egypt, the EU official journal said. The tariffs are backdated to Jan. 22. The commission found the market share of the producers in China and Egypt rose to 31% in 2018 from 23% in 2015, while their average sales price fell by 14%. Glass fibre fabrics have a wide range of applications, such as in wind turbine blades, boats, trucks and sports equipment. EU producers include Belgium’s European Owens CorningFiberglas, France’s Chomarat Textiles Industries, Germany’sSaertex and Finland’s Ahlstrom-Munkzjo Glassfibre. The commission is also looking into alleged unfair subsidies received by CNBM subsidiary Jushi in Egypt regarding glass fibre reinforcements. It set provisional duties of 8.7% in that case. Final findings are due in July.
Source: Reuters
In 2019-20, non-oil exports amounted to $41.3 billion and exceeded the country's oil exports for the first time in Iran’s modern history. Earlier this month, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, the official responsible for planning Iran’s state budgets, told parliament he planned “to sideline oil in the economy and run the country’s programs without oil.” He didn’t have much choice: Iran, Nobakht said, had earned just $8.9 billion from the sale of oil and related products in 2019-20, down from a peak of $119 billion less than a decade ago. Like their counterparts in other hydrocarbon-dependent states, Iranian officials have long talked about the importance of reducing reliance on oil revenues. But the need for transition to a non-oil economy has become critical, following the Trump administration’s reimposition of secondary sanctions in November 2018, which has left China as the only major purchaser of Iranian crude. The transition is well under way in the private sector, with a boom in manufacturing. For the past decade, companies have been looking beyond Iran’s large domestic market to export an increasingly diverse range of goods to a wider range of markets, turning the devaluation of the rial to their advantage. In 2019-20, non-oil exports, totaling $41.3 billion, exceeded oil exports for the first time in Iran’s modern history. Around half of Iran’s non-oil exports were in manufactured goods, meaning that Iran’s factories earned more than double what the country’s oil rigs earned in export revenue last year. Sanctions pressure contributed to a 7% decline in total non-oil exports, but the total remains near historic highs. Iranian consumer goods and industrial products—ranging from cookies to stainless steel—are exported widely within the Middle East as well as further afield to China, Russia and Europe. Manufacturing is also a major contributor to employment. Between March 2018 and December 2019, the manufacturing sector added 472,000 jobs, exceeding the 315,000 jobs lost in the quarter following the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. New employment helped soften the blow of sanctions, keeping Iran’s chronic high joblessness from getting worse. The pivotal role of the manufacturing sector in supporting the economy is also clear in data for GDP growth. While the oil sector contracted 35% in 2019-20, the manufacturing sector only contracted by 1.8%. The sector in fact grew 2.4% in the final quarter, between January and March of this year. Despite the rebound, Iran’s largest industrial enterprises continued to languish. The automotive and steel sectors, dominated by inefficient state-owned companies, have been hit hard by the sanctions, which have increased the price and reduced the availability of raw materials. They have also felt the impact of inflation, which has depressed domestic consumption. The private sector—including small and medium enterprises which produce food products, home goods, and apparel, among other consumer products—has compensated for the struggles of the state firms. The coronavirus pandemic has introduced a new challenge for the manufacturing sector. The virus hit Iran hard, leading to more than 180,000 confirmed cases and nearly 9,000 deaths. The country’s economic recovery was derailed as a national lockdown brought factories to a halt and regional borders were closed, interrupting trade. Iranian authorities eased the lockdown in mid-April, and that decision appears to have paid-off in the short term. Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data published by the Iran Chamber of Commerce, show that private-sector manufacturers returned to expansion in the first month following the relaxation of the lockdown. As the pandemic continues to depress oil prices, the non-oil exports will be even more important for the country’s economy this year. But new threats loom. Given the pivotal role of Iran’s manufacturing sector in the country’s economic resilience, the U.S. may seek to tighten the sanctions noose. In January, the White House issued a new executive order targeting the “construction, mining, manufacturing, or textiles sectors of the Iranian economy.” The administration is in effect targeting the private sector and the millions of blue-collar workers in the country’s factories, contrary to its stated intention of using sanctions to restrict the financial resources of government authorities. If the Trump administration follows through on this order the impact will undermine any post-pandemic rebound.
Source: The Print
WRAP is making its £1.5 million textiles grant fund more accessible and has streamlined the application process so that funds can be allocated more quickly. The deadline for applications, published on Thursday 18 June, no longer applies. Applications will now be assessed on a rolling basis until WRAP closes the scheme or all funds are allocated. The grants are intended to support projects that provide innovative ways for textile waste to be recycled or re-used, keeping it out of landfill or incineration so that it remains a valuable resource. The money is part of the UK based Defra’s £18m Resource Action Fund, set up to support key priority policy areas. Under the scheme, amounts between £20,000 and £170,000 (the maximum state aid threshold) are available to organisations of any size, both commercial and not-for-profit. The money is for capital expenditure only; either for equipment or technologies that enable recycling or re-use of clothing or linen waste textiles. Successful projects need to demonstrate ‘innovation beyond normal practice’ and will be assessed against a number of criteria.
Changes under the re-launched scheme are:
Increased textiles collection and reprocessing is required in the UK to help deliver the Resource and Waste Strategy (R&WS) and the Circular Economy Package (CEP) objectives. Existing markets for recycled textiles are small scale and traditional, with limited innovation or growth potential. To meet the requirement for separate collections of textiles by 2025, new processes and markets need to be found, to avoid separately collected items simply being discarded. In addition, the textiles recycling sector believes that export markets may diminish over time as other countries increase their exports of used textiles. The aim of this grant fund is to address the need for increased capacity, sorting, handling, and reprocessing of textiles from municipal sources. Peter Maddox, Director of WRAP UK, comments: “We have responded swiftly to feedback from the textile sector that businesses are struggling due to the negative impact of COVID-19. There has been an excellent response since this fund was launched in March. Now that there is no absolute deadline and no match funding required, I am confident that many more organisations will come forward with imaginative projects to combat barriers to textile recycling and re-use – and I urge them to apply soon, to make sure they get their share of the funds available.” Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “I know coronavirus has placed extra pressures on the textiles sector, so I’m very pleased that this fund is helping more organisations to explore innovative solutions for the industry. Fast fashion is having a real impact on our environment. With more than 300,000 tonnes of clothing being sent to landfill or incineration every year, it’s important that we find ways to make the clothing sector more sustainable and environmentally-friendly.” Interested applicants can find more information and download an application from: https://wrap.org.uk/content/textiles-recycling-and-re-use-small-scale-grantWRAP is a not for profit organisation founded in 2000 which works with governments, businesses and citizens to create a world in which we source and use resources sustainably. Its impact spans the entire lifecycle of the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the products we buy, from production to consumption and beyond.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
