|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1187.61 |
USD/Ton |
1.10% |
3/2/2015 |
|
VSF |
1834.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
ASF |
2588.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Polyester POY |
1198.95 |
USD/Ton |
0.34% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2948.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
40D Spandex |
7452.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5703.10 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1466.28 |
USD/Ton |
1.12% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2673.33 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Nylon POY |
2738.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1409.57 |
USD/Ton |
0.58% |
3/2/2015 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3208.00 |
USD/Ton |
0.51% |
3/2/2015 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2527.51 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1863.23 |
USD/Ton |
0.44% |
3/2/2015 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2867.75 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2689.53 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2592.32 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2009.05 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2478.91 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.58 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.99 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.34 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.72 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.78 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/2/2015 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.16202 USD dtd. 03/02/2015)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The Union Budget 2015-16 has nothing for the Indian textile industry as it failed to consider the demands put forth by the industry. The industry has expressed disappointment over the budget announcements as the major demands have not been met.
The industry’s wish list submitted prior to the Budget announcement included:
While none of the demands were considered by the finance ministry, the budget expects the economic growth in 2015-16 between 8 to 8.5 per cent with an aiming of touching double-digit rate very soon. According to the Central Statistical Office the GDP growth for 2014-15 is estimated at 7.4 per cent as per the new series for GDP. This higher growth will indirectly boost demand for textile products and consequently support the industry.
Prem Malik, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry pointed out that the allocation for the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme had been cut to Rs 1,520 crore for 2015-16 from Rs 1,864 crore allocated for 2014-15. He further observed that payments under the scheme were pending for the last three quarters and the provision should have been doubled to disburse the arrears. The cut will also not encourage investment in the sector.
Meanwhile, T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Southern India Mills’ Association reportedly that the government had extended the optional Cenvat route for cotton textiles this year too, but did not consider some of the major demands of the textiles and clothing sector. This included removal of import duty and reduction in Central Excise on man-made fibres and allocation of adequate funds for the ongoing and pending projects under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. He also wanted the six per cent excise duty on shuttleless looms to be removed.
Although India is self sufficient in textile industry, its share in the world market is only 4 per cent as against 35 per cent of China. In order to gain more market share, the need is to focus on scaling up operations through investments in mega textile parks which can be single point manufacturing and disbursing centres for export demand, say industry experts.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
With greater mandatory (untied) transfers from the Centre, states will now be part of a “mutual accountability mechanism” anchored by the NITI Aayog, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry Arvind Subramanian said. Speaking at the Indian Express Group’s Idea Exchange programme on Monday, he said an emergent “different political set-up” would usher in not just cooperative federalism but also competitive federalism.
Lauding states for observing fiscal prudence, even giving the Centre competition on this front lateley, Subramanian said if not hard budgetary regulations, “some sort of softer constraints or disciplining mechanisms”could co-exist with the incipient competitive federalism. “Mutual accountability and some collective self-monitoring have to be there,” he said, adding that this indeed did not mean “harsh conditionalities”. “The days of the Centre dictating the states are gone,” he said, but said some “soft obligations” might be needed on the states when it came to spending the funds devolved.
On the issue of whether a weak or a strong rupee was needed to give a boost to exports, Subramanian said that while it was difficult to say what the exact value of the rupee should be — it depended on what period was being looked at — there was no doubt few countries with uncompetitive exchange rates had grown their exports in the post-war world. On the $750 billion forex reserves the Economic Survey 2014-15 had suggested, he said this would have to be done over several years. He said that, apart from the size of its economy, some part of China’s heft had to do with the size of its forex reserves.
The economist, who propounded incrementalism coalescing into ‘big-bang’ reforms in the survey, argued for a reduction in priority sector lending (PSL) targets that burden Indian banks. Observing that lenders were “afflicted by double financial repression” — low returns on advances due to high inflation and stringency of obligations like PSL and the statutory liquidity ratio — he said: “One option is to do it the aggressive way and reduce the PSL. The other is to bring more and more areas into PSL until at the end, practically everything in the economy is a priority.” Banks, as per PSL guidelines, have to ensure that 40% of their aggregate lending is to exports, agriculture, micro-credit as well as other economically weaker segments.
Highlighting the Rs 70,000-crore (0.3% of GDP) additional spending on infrastructure sectors in the recent Budget, he said this coupled with larger capital spending likely by states would impart the much-needed push to the economy form public investment. Unlike the last 10 years, when the axe invariably fell on capital expenditure, there was now a “very strong belief shared at all levels that public investment will happen”, he said. “There is a conviction that public investment has to be the way forward in the short term, because private investment is still weak.”
On the recurrent, huge slippages from revenue targets set in recent years, he said that in the light of the experience, the tax buoyancy estimate (0.85) that underlie the FY16 Budget was much more conservative. As far as capital receipts are concerned, he said the failure to meet the disinvestment target in the current fiscal was partly due many companies selected belonging to the commodity sector, witnessing a plunge in prices. Disinvestment next year, he said, would be executed in an “opportunistic” manner, without a pre-approved list of companies. With strategic disinvestment budgeted, the possibilities, he said, were “large.”
The Centre has budgeted to transfer total resources of Rs 8.76 lakh crore to states (excluding Union territories) in FY16, up from Rs 7.29 lakh crore (revised estimate) likely for FY15. These resources include, apart from net resources transferred to states, the investment in state securities from the National Small Savings Fund. Thanks to the 14th Finance Commission award, about 63% of the resources to be given to states in FY16 will be in the form of devolution of their share of taxes and duties, and 37% as other grants, while the corresponding figures for FY15 were 49% and 51%. However, the increase in states’ share of central taxes includes various kinds of central Plan transfers and the aggregate transfers to states as a percentage of the divisible pool will go up only marginally to 62.75% in FY16 as against the Budget estimate of 61.88% for FY15.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
In order to give a fillip to skill development in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced opening of three Skill Centres of Excellence for medical and paramedical in government medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot. Six Multi-Skill Development Centres would also come up at Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Ropar.
The decision was taken by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the first meeting of the Governing Council of the Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) held here, an official spokesman said. Envisaging this step as a move towards evolving Punjab as a pool of skilled manpower, Badal announced a sum of Rs 15 crore for the three Skill Centres of Excellence and asked the PSDM to grant Rs 5 crore each to the six upcoming Multi-Skill Development Centres in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
Badal also gave a nod to prepare a comprehensive plan to open Skill Development Centre for construction workers in the Majha, Doaba and Malwa zone. Badal asked the Principal Secretary Labour to work out modalities after consultation with the leading construction and infrastructure companies on the basis of their requirements.
A hi-tech Transport Skill Centre would be opened at Jalandhar by the Transport department on the lines of the such existing institutes at Mahuana in Muktsar district, he said. Emphasizing the need to provide boarding and lodging facilities to the youth who are keen to join these centres, the Chief Minister said each Skill Development Centre would be provided with hostel accommodation to facilitate the training in a hassle-free and result-oriented manner.
Taking part in the deliberations, the Chief Minister underscored the need to focus the modules/courses of skill development training related to the nature and requirement of local industry and suggested opening of garment, textile and hosiery Skill development centre at Ludhiana and leather centre at Jalandhar.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Growth in India's manufacturing activities fell to a five-month low in February, mainly because of subdued output and new orders, showed the widely tracked HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Some manufacturing companies expected to be drivers in job creation reduced their workforce during the month, albeit marginally. Manufacturing PMI, at 52.9 the previous month, in February declined to 51.2 points — the lowest since September last year. This means factory production rose but at the slowest pace in five months. A reading above 50 denotes expansion, while one below that implies contraction.
The slowdown is broad-based by sector, with softer increases recorded in the consumer, intermediate and investment goods sub-sectors, a commentary associated with the PMI survey said. Despite it being a 16th straight month of expansion, February saw new orders growing at the slowest pace since September. Growth of new work intakes was stymied by softer domestic demand, Markit Economics, which compiles the PMI data, said.
Pollyanna De Lima, an economist at Markit, said: “Manufacturing growth in India lost momentum in February, with output and new orders expanding at rates softer than those seen in the past four months.” dditionally, the moderation in growth was evident across the three monitored market groups, Lima said. New export business, meanwhile, increased at a solid and stronger rate. If this is also corroborated by official data, there might be a reversal in declining exports in February.
With total new order growth easing further, manufacturers reduced their payroll numbers in the month. Nonetheless, the overall rate of job cuts was small, with a vast majority of those surveyed indicating no change in employment levels since January. Sector data indicated employee headcounts were reduced across the three broad areas of the manufacturing sector.
Prices paid for inputs by goods producers in India decreased for the first time since March 2009, with declines recorded in the intermediate and investment goods sectors. The rate of decrease was, however, only marginal. The factory gate charges, however, were raised further. The overall rate of inflation was fractional and the weakest in five months, amid reports of discounting in order to secure new business.Low inflation and higher exports brightened the prospects for a rebound in output and employment in coming months, Lima said.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Monday ruled out a rating upgrade for India within a year while Fitch said the government’s fiscal consolidation strategy spelt out in Budget is “less aspiring” than in the past. After the Budget, Moody’s, CRISIL and CARE Ratings had red-flagged the country’s delayed fiscal consolidation road map. S&P’s Senior Director (Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings) Kim Eng Tan said: “In terms of the structural effects of the Budget, we see the improvement has been not as great as it could have been... We don’t see the rating going up in the next year or so.”
Fitch Ratings said while the Budget shows the government’s continued orientation on implementation of structural reforms, it could have been more ambitious on the fiscal front, especially given India’s high public debt burden. “The medium-term fiscal consolidation strategy is less aspiring than in the past, which is negative from a sovereign rating perspective,” Fitch said. Rolling out a new fiscal consolidation road map, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in the Budget that fiscal deficit would be brought down to 3.9 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015-16, and then further to 3.6 per cent and finally to three per cent by 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.
The finance minister had said the government would achieve the three per cent fiscal deficit target by 2017-18 as against 2016-17 as it intended to increase public investment to boost growth. Moody’s said the Budget had prioritised growth over fiscal consolidation but it may not have any impact on the country’s sovereign rating. "The dilution of an already modest deficit reduction plan underscores its view that India's structural constraints, such as a low tax revenue base and rigidity in expenditures, make fiscal consolidation difficult...," Moody's said. The Budget prioritises growth over fiscal consolidation, Moody's said, adding that it was "unlikely to materially change" a rating constrained by "weak fiscal metrics".
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Two days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revised the fiscal deficit estimate, the latest data showed that it was at over 107 per cent of the Budget estimate during the first 10 months (April-January) of the current fiscal year. Jaitley had revised the deficit estimate to Rs. 5.13 lakh crore from Rs. 5.31 lakh crore during his Budget presentation. However, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this remains at 4.1 per cent due to the change in absolute numbers in national accounts.
The latest data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed that the fiscal deficit had reached over Rs. 5.68 lakh crore in 10 months. This means, the Centre expects higher tax and non-tax receipts in the last two months to bring the fiscal deficit down to the revised estimate of Rs. 5.13 lakh crore. The deficit is higher because of lower tax collections and higher expenditure. Tax collection in the 10-month period was around 61 per cent of the Budget estimate.
Commenting on the latest number, Aditi Nayar, Senior Economist at ICRA, said the revenue and fiscal deficits for the first 10 months of this fiscal compare unfavourably to the revised estimates for 2014-15 published last week. “The lagging growth of tax revenues remains a key concern, although advance tax collections and higher excise on petrol and diesel would boost revenues in the remainder of this fiscal. Year-end adjustments in the monthly devolution to States would also subdue the impact of the weak tax growth on the Government of India’s fiscal balances,” she said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Protest is brewing in the port sector against the budgetary proposal to corporatise major ports, as workers fear that the move will affect them adversely. Concerned over the decision, they have pointed out that corporatisation would ultimately lead to privatisation of major ports and enable cartelisation by private players.By corporatising major ports, successor companies will have the right to do away with existing wage agreements and provide low wages. This would result in increase in contractual workers and decline of regular jobs in various departments, PM Mohammed Haneef, General Secretary of the All India Port and Dock Workers Federation said.
The major reasons projected by the Shipping Ministry for privatisation of major ports are for improving productivity/efficiency and for prudential investments. However the productivity depends on three factors like technological efficiency, management efficiency and labour efficiency. According to Haneef, the technological efficiency can be easily improved by replacing old equipment with new ones with advanced technology. The management efficiency can be enhanced by appointing professionals. It has been propagated that privatisation will pave way for competition and will reduce port charges.
However, in reality, private terminal operators are charging more than major ports for cargo handling. Given the situation, the unions feel that corporatisation/privatisation of major ports is not a necessity for modernisation of the port sector, he said. “We are of the firm opinion that instead of handing over major ports to private monopoly, the government should extend autonomy to major ports by reducing undue interference in the working of ports”, he added.
Unions’ involvement
The Shipping Ministry, of late, has not taken into consideration the labour and their representative federations while proposing amendments to the Major Port Trusts Act. To allow the ports to function efficiently on commercial lines, he suggested the government should start constructive interactions with labour federations. The Union was also of the view that some ports may excel in performance due to natural and geographical advantages, effortless cargo base etc., in the process of corporatisation. This could cause severe damage to other major ports in nearby locations, he said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Ahead of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan on tommorow, industry body Assocham today pitched for easing of visa restrictions and greater market access to facilitate bilateral trade. In order to enhance bilateral trade, India and Pakistan last year agreed on a non-discriminatory market access (NDMA) programme in place of the MFN regime, besides opening up Wagah-Attari border round the clock.
"Pakistan should consider NDMA status for India, open additional border posts, improve inadequate land transport connectivity. There is need to prune the list of sensitive items, speed up the process of tariff reduction, easing of non tariff barriers, mutual recognition of standards," Assocham said. The industry body also stressed on easing the visa restrictions by both the nations.
Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan on March 3. "If there is to be a thaw in Pakistan-India relations, trade is the best place to start. Stronger trade ties would pave the way for the resolution of other issues as well," Assocham said. India had granted most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in 1996 but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated in the same manner. Instead of granting MFN status, Pakistan gradually increased the number of items permissible for trade with India and now maintains a 'negative list' of 1,209 items which may not be legally imported from India into Pakistan.
"Pakistan has to abolish the negative list of 1,209 tradeable items. Abolishing the list of items that cannot be imported from India would be a big step towards the grant of NDMA (Non-Discriminatory Market Access) status to India," Assocham said. The current annual trade volume between Pakistan and India is around USD 3 billion, which could increase manifold in the long run under an open trade regime. Major sectors included in the negative list of Pakistan are auto, steel, paper & boards, plastics, textiles, electrical machinery and pharmaceuticals.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Though the Union Budget has attractive features and measures to stimulate investment, it has failed to abide by the government’s earlier fiscal deficit target, said C Rangarajan, Chairman of Madras School of Economics, and the former Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.
Addressing the audience on the impact of the Union Budget 2015 at an event organised here by Madras Management Association on Monday , he said, “Stronger action is required on the fiscal consolidation side.” In the last Budget, the government committed to containing fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP for the next financial year. However, the budget for 2015-16 puts it at 3.9 per cent.
While the Finance Minister has reiterated the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation, the smaller reduction in fiscal deficit is disappointing, he said. Besides, he added, even the budgeted level of fiscal deficit seems a little difficult. In the current year, there is a significant shortfall in tax revenues from the Budget Estimates. Again, the Budget for 2015-16 projects a tax revenue growth of 15.8 per cent.
‘Difficult task’
Rangarajan added that with nominal income growing at around a little over 11 per cent, this is going to be a difficult task. The required tax buoyancy is 1.37 per cent. If the growth rate falls below 8 per cent, the task will be rendered more difficult. He said the 5 percentage point reduction in corporate tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent is a welcome move, provided the number of exemptions too come down. He also termed the proposal to increase service tax as appropriate, as it gives an idea of tax levels once the Goods and Services Tax is introduced.
According to him, the gold monetisation scheme may not take off well. He said generally only high net worth individuals buy gold to hedge inflation, but all of them may not come forward to deposit as there may be other complications. “It would have been enough if the government ensured reasonable returns on other investments as that will bring down the demand for gold.”
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 59.95 per barrel (bbl) on 02.03.2015. This was higher than the price of US$ 59.85 per bbl on previous publishing day of 27.02.2015. In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 3706.11 per bbl on 02.03.2015 as compared to Rs 3698.13 per bbl on 27.02.2015. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 61.82 per US$ on 02.03.2015 as against Rs 61.79 per US$ on 27.02.2015.
The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on March 02, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 27.02.2015) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.03.2015 (Feb 12 to Feb 25, 2015) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
59.95 (59.85) |
57.84 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3706.11 (3698.13) |
3598.80 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
61.82 (61.79) |
62.22 |
SOURCE: PIB
South Korea's imports of textiles and clothing hit an all-time high in 2014, raising worries that the country could fall into a trade deficit soon in an industry that used to be a major growth engine for its economy, according to data released Tuesday. South Korea imported US$14.66 billion worth of textiles and clothing last year, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the figures provided by the Korea International Trade Association. The amount represented the largest ever.
Exports inched down 0.1 percent on-year to $15.94 billion, narrowing the industry's surplus to a record low of $1.28 billion, about half the amount from a year earlier. South Korea's trade surplus in textiles and clothing peaked at $14.04 billion in 1998, but it has been on the decline ever since. Experts worry that if this trend continues, the country could soon post a deficit in the sector. Exports of textiles and clothing are shrinking as many factories beset by high production costs are moving to China and Vietnam. Imports are growing, mostly driven by cheaper products from China.
Consequently, the trade deficit with China in the sector has been worsening. Last year, South Korea exported $2.52 billion worth of textiles and clothing to China, while its imports from the country came to $6.59 billion, about 45 percent of the total imports for the sector, the data showed.
SOURCE: The Yonhap News Agency
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman SM Tanveer has said that there is an urgent need of a direct shipping line between Karachi and Chittagong, Bangladesh in order to enhance bilateral trade even further. In a meeting with Bangladesh High Commissioner Sohrab Hussain on Monday, the Aptma chief highlighted the association’s importance for the Pakistan economy, according to a press release.
He said that Pakistan’s total exports to Bangladesh stood at $710 million in 2013-14, out of which $709 million were textile exports. “Export of raw material from Bangladesh plays a vital role in the garment industry, requiring more cooperation through better trade relations,” said Tanveer. “The level of bilateral trade can be improved through better knowledge-sharing, exchange of institutional-level information and adopting measures to enhance technical knowledge to take comparative advantage.”
SOURCE: The Express Tribune
A seminar on “Prospects of Pak-Russia Bilateral Relations” organised in collaboration with Muslim Institute has called for strengthening of bilateral relations and development of mutual confidence between the two countries. Attended by people from different walks of life including representatives of international organizations, diplomatic missions, think tanks, media, parliamentarians, scholars and academicians from various disciplines, panellists recommended that Pak-Russia bilateral relations should not be at the cost of relations with other countries.
Russian offers of investment in energy sector of Pakistan like conversion of Muzaffargarh power house to the coal fired station, work at Jamshoro Thermal Power plant, Thar Coal project and oil exploration should be availed and steps should be taken for their implementation. For energy flow from energy surplus Central Asia to energy deficit South Asia, Pakistan should play a vital role and in this regard strong Pak-Russia cooperation can bring economic uplift in the entire region.
Russian cooperation for expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills, precious minerals and metal exploration, their subsequent mining, extraction, processing and refinement, as well as assistance in defence, metallurgical and telecommunication fields, supply of civil, aeronautical and helicopter engineering capacity to Pakistan and for other such projects should be sought. Pakistani should focus on increasing exports of products like raw materials, agricultural produce, finished and unfinished textile, leather products as well as cheap skilled, unskilled and technical manpower to Russia.
Continuous exchange of delegations from official and private sector of both countries, responsible for preparation and implementation of relationship enhancement strategies should be ensured. Cultural exchange programmes as well as exchange programs of students, academicians, professionals, experts and parliamentarians should be encouraged to increase people to people contact. Pakistan-Russia inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, Pakistan-Russia Business Forum and other like platforms should be encouraged to play effective role for practical effectiveness of bilateral ties. Pakistan should adopt network diplomacy and deal with countries issue to issue in order to enlarge areas of cooperation and limit the areas of friction. Regional cooperation should be enhanced in the areas of common interest.
Russia supports full membership of Pakistan in SCO, this organization should be used effectively to deal the common issues of the region like extremism, drug trafficking, money laundering, cross border organized crimes, security threats etc. Pakistan and Russia should play constructive role in facilitating the peaceful and democratic settlement of Afghanistan situation which should be Afghan led and Afghan owned. Media of both the countries should play constructive role for improvement in bilateral ties between Russia and Pakistan.
Former Secretary General Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan Akram Zaki, First Secretary Embassy of Russian Federation in Islamabad Anton Chernov, defence analyst Air Marshal (Retd) Masood Akhtar, Chairman Muslim Institute Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Ali, former ambassador of Pakistan to Russia Khalid Khattak and head of international relations department National Defence University (NDU) Dr Muhammad Khan, Ambassador (Retd) Aslam Rizvi, Principal & Dean NIPCONS, National University of Science & Technology Islamabad Major Gen (Retd) Shahid Ahmed Hashmat and Deputy Director Research ISSRA, NDU Dr Saifur Rehman also addressed the seminar.
SOURCE: The Nation
The leading trade fair Texprocess will provide a showcase of current sustainable processing technologies when it opens its doors from 4-7 May 2015. Under the label Blue Competence of VDMA (Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering), some exhibitors will present special resource-saving product families. According to a recent study of VDMA, thanks to an enormous technological progress, machines produced by German manufacturers allow to save 28% of energy and 33% of water in a comparison between the years 2014 and 2004 within the spinning, knitting and finishing processes. Roland Berger Strategy Consulting, a worldwide acting business consultancy company has awarded top marks to the German textile technology.
Textile production
Unused potentials exist in the field of energy cost-saving, according to SESEC (Sustainable Energy Saving for the European Clothing Industry). The company’s final report says that the lack of information and focusing on possible energy-saving in the clothing production processes is evident. Matters can be rectified by the information campaign Energy Made-to-Measure of the umbrella organization Euratex in Brussels. Up to 2016 about 300 clothing manufacturing companies, in particular small and medium sized ones shall profit from this campaign.
Manufacturing systems engineering
Fifteen years ago, the suppliers of sewing machines were surpassing each other regarding the maximum number of stitches per minute. The limits of human dexterity had long ago been exceeded and the costs of the necessary automation of the joining process increased tremendously up to an unrealistic level in view of the quick product changes and decreasing number of items.Ironing machines, type 1105 VC eMotion, produced by Veit Brisay, offer economical and ecological benefits and improved working environment. © Veit
Apart from that textiles are slack and flexible products and can hardly be processed by robots as can be done when processing metal sheets. The keyword flexible production was borne soon: short set-up time, reproducible process parameters and the introduction of intuitively operable design programmes were now in the focus of development and marketing. Since all these requirements have now been met, the view is focused on the use of resources.
New electric motors for sewing technology
Sewing is a central manufacturing step within the clothing manufacturing process. In the big production lines often hundreds of sewing machines are installed, which are driven by high-performance servomotors. By using noble earths magnetic rotors and latest processor technology, the design engineering team of Efka Frankl & Kirchner, Schwetzingen (Germany) succeeded in achieving an energy saving totalling 60% by means of quick sewing machines.
Veit's retrofit kits are said to optimize the energy consumption of Veit's ironing machines and of other manufacturers. © Veit. According to Michael Faulhaber, Chief Technical and Marketing Officer of Frankl & Kirchner, additional benefits can be gained from complete packages allowing easy replacement of driving components of existing machinery and from the insensitiveness of the new CompactServo 600 driving units to current fluctuations, which is a frequent problem in many regions where clothing production companies exist.
Steam engines for fashion
For technical reasons fusing presses, ironing machines and appliances are provided with two steam circuits, a heating circuit and a steam spraying system. The experts of Veit (Germany) have investigated the so far open-loop heating circuit and came to the result that a remarkable energy-saving potential exists. Apart from a better isolation of the heat conducting components, which leads to an improved working environment in the ironing section (3° C lower room temperature), up to 40% of heating steam can be saved. Veit has developed for its eMotion system a retrofit programme for existing machinery.
SOURCE: The Innovation in Textiles
The RITE Group will return to its roots at the University of Leeds with a re-energised and refocused approach through a new conference on 24th June 2015 billed as: ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ – a sustainable future for fashion and textiles. The group, founded in 2007, previously had great success in providing factual, independent information about sustainability to the fashion industry, retailers, brands, media and government up until its most recent conference held at Central Hall Westminster, London in October 2012.
Now, the conference returns to its northern roots with growing recognition among the fashion and textiles industry that a step-change is now urgently required in our approach to sustainability. To date, sustainable innovation has tended to concentrate on eco-efficiency: reducing, rather than truly addressing, environmental and social impacts. Mark Sumner, formerly of Marks & Spencer and now a lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Leeds noted: “This conference intends to reveal the truth about the current state of the fashion industry and ask fundamental questions – which have, to now, largely gone unspoken – relating to consumption and growth. Moving beyond prevailing assumptions, we will encourage delegates to imagine alternative textile futures, where sustainability is intrinsically applied to all aspects of fashion and textiles.”
The intention of the RITE event is to host an open discussion between stakeholders from a range of spheres: industry and academia, engineering and the arts, micro enterprises and industrial giants. The multifaceted challenge of sustainability requires a collaborative approach, and the conference will highlight the role of design in connecting technological and social research and innovation. “Taking a strategically inclusive perspective, we will embrace both incremental initiatives and experimental approaches and encourage a frank debate about the scale and pace of change,” concluded Sumner. The Emperor’s New Clothes – a sustainable future for fashion and textiles @RITE Leeds conference will be held on Wednesday 24 June 2015, University of Leeds, UK.
SOURCE: The Ecotextile
