|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1195.12 |
USD/Ton |
-0.14% |
3/9/2015 |
|
VSF |
1843.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
ASF |
2432.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Polyester POY |
1216.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2951.31 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
40D Spandex |
6891.80 |
USD/Ton |
-0.70% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Nylon DTY |
3259.42 |
USD/Ton |
0.50% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
5711.28 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1491.87 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Nylon POY |
2708.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2578.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1427.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2562.13 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1897.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2870.23 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2027.00 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2481.05 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2691.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2594.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.58 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.99 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.35 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.72 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.78 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/9/2015 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.16216 USD dtd. 09/03/2015)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Incentives in the new foreign trade policy (FTP), to be unveiled by month-end or first week of April, should focus on only three nations for boosting exports, traders body FIEO said today. As the global economy is in a weak state, announcing incentives for a lot many countries may not help Indian exports, FIEO reasoned, adding that a sharp focus on a smaller number of markets will be more useful. "Instead of announcing incentives for several countries, the commerce ministry should focus only on three countries - China and two oil/mineral rich African nations. Announce a big incentive package to focus only on these countries in the FTP," Federation of Indian Export Organisations President Rafeeq Ahmed told PTI.
He said that in the current scenario when India's exports are registering negative growth and are hovering at around $ 300 billion for the last three years, there is a need to focus on only these countries with "full force and aggression". "Huge opportunities exists in China for textiles, leather and handicrafts. In these three countries, exporters and government should use all the energy in terms of organising roadshows, exhibitions and fairs," Ahmed said. He added that a Rs 250 crore fund should be set up in the new FTP for the purpose to making made in India brand famous in these countries.
"Announcing incentives for many countries would not help us. Economic situation worldwide in not healthy. Europe, Japan and several other markets are in recession. Focusing completely on the three destinations for at least 3-4 years would help in boosting exports," Ahmed added. India's exports in 2013-14 fell short of the $ 325 billion target and managed to reach $ 312.35 billion. The country's exports stood at $ 300.4 billion in 2012-13 and $ 307 billion in 2011-12. In the current fiscal too, the outbound shipments may reach $ 320-$ 325 billion, Ahmed said, adding that "the figures are not at all satisfactory given the size and opportunities in our country".
The FIEO President also suggested exporters to "aggressively pursue" trade with China and compete with their products. "The government should consider a free trade agreement with China. We shouldn't afraid from China," he added. India has a trade deficit of $ 37 billion with China. FTP, which is already delayed by about an year, provides guidelines for enhancing exports with the overall objective of pushing economic growth and generating employment. Under the policy, the government gives fiscal incentives to exporters under different promotion schemes such as the Market Access Initiative, Marketing Development Assistance, Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana, Focus Market Scheme, Focus Product Scheme and Market Linked Focus Products Scrip.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The government is planning to form a committee to tackle issues related to exporters as well as boosting outward shipments, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. "We are planning to form a committee which will meet every six months to tackle the issues relating to exporters. "Apart from others, this committee will have members from the exporting community too and will ensure how problems being faced by exporters can be addressed effectively," Sitharaman said at the Dun & Bradstreet awards here last evening.
The proposed committee will ensure that there is ease of doing business for exporters and will also act as a problem-solving and redressal suggestion team for the government, she said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' programme will not be effective unless exports also catch up, she said, pointing out that ramping up exports requires a lot of work. With traditional export markets like Europe and the US showing uneven recovery, the government is betting on emerging geographies in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa to fuel exports growth, the Minister said.
The Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with various countries will also give a fillip to exports, she added. "We are working on FTAs, which till now have not been leveraged by exporters much to their advantage," she told PTI. However, Sitharaman declined to give a targeted number for exports in FY16 and also declined to comment on progress on the FY15 target of $ 340 billion. Complementing exporters for quality improvement over the years, she said our exporters are facing problems not because of poor quality products, but because access to markets is restricted.
"Our access to overseas markets is restricted not because our exporters are found lacking in quality or product diversification, but because of the protectionist measures of those countries which want to keep our exporters at a distance so as to help their own exporters or protect their smaller and upcoming industries," the Minister said. The government is making every effort to remove these obstacles to make it easier for people to do exports, she added.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Telangana to support its textile industry is working to set up an exclusive market for grey and dyes clothes in Warangal, where the government proposed to set up a mega textile park. The idea behind setting up exclusive market is to have all the elements of the textile supply chain at one place. The proposed market will come up in about 30 acre for which the land has been identified, said Jayesh Ranjan, managing director of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the nodal agency for land allotments for industrial projects.
Ranjan further added that they are looking at increasing the spinning capacity in Telangana with private participation. The state is one of the largest producers of cotton but less than 20 percent is spun in the state, the rest taken to other states. With the creating the full ecosystem, it will increase the employment potential in the state. The government had called the industry representative for a meeting to seek feedback on ways to improve the textile and allied industries. The suggestions received are improvement in areas of ginning, weaving, spinning and other facilities. The industry's recommendations would be presented to the chief minister for approval shortly. Among others, it is planning to decentralize setting up of low end looms. In this case, about 300 looms would be set up at one location with some common facilities. For high end looms, it would be an integrated facility.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
India's much-hyped tax-free export zones seem to have lost a key benefit without gaining any relief from the minimum alternate tax in the budget. Tucked away in the fine print of the budget and having the potential to deal yet another blow to special economic zones (SEZs) is a provision that withdraws rebate on factory tax on supplies to these conclaves. Budget 2015-16 seeks to specifically redefine the term 'export' in the excise law provision that governs rebate on the levy to mean taking goods out of India to a place outside India. With the insertion of this specific definition, the benefit of rebate on excise duty appears to have been restricted to exports out of the country.
Excise duty is levied at the time of clearance of manufactured goods from the factory premises of the manufacturer. Manufactured goods, when exported out of India, can be cleared against bond without payment of excise duty. Alternatively, on clearance of manufactured goods for export, excise duty paid on clearance can be claimed as rebate subject to conditions. Since SEZs are considered deemed foreign territory, supplies made to SEZs are considered as exports as well. Therefore, the facility of rebate was extended to supplies made to SEZs as well.
The new definition places a restriction that runs contrary to the intention of the SEZ Rules as supplies to SEZ are also considered as export. The domestic supplies to SEZs enjoy the export benefits in terms of Foreign Trade Policy as well as duty drawback. The commerce ministry had sought a re-look at the taxation regime for SEZs, especially minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax, to turn around the scheme that has seen investments languish after imposition of these taxes. So far, 491 proposals for SEZs have been formally approved by the government, but only 199 zones are operational, accounting for about 25% of India's total exports. Exports from these zones increased from Rs 22,840 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 4.94 lakh crore in 2013-14.
The move runs contrary to the recent move by the government that allowed dual use of SEZ infrastructure as it aimed to revive these zones. Tax experts say the move deals a big blow to SEZs and manufacturing as a whole. "Restricting the facility of rebate to physical exports is not envisaged under the provisions of SEZ Rules and places the suppliers effecting such supplies at a disadvantage specially when other export incentives and duty drawback benefits are available on such supplies," said Pratik Jain, partner, KPMG. Further, rebate benefits on SEZ supplies was a way to deal with inverted duty structure for some companies and its apparent withdrawal doesn't help the 'Make in India' campaign, Jain said, and sought a suitable clarification in the definition of export to include supplies to SEZ.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The rupee weakened further by 25 paise to trade at a fresh two-month low of Rs 62.80 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to rise in the greenback's value against other currencies overseas. Dealers attributed the fall in rupee to dollar's gains against other currencies overseas and a lower opening in the domestic equity market.
Besides, increased demand for the American currency from importers too weighed on the rupee, they said. The Indian rupee had lost 39 paise to close at a two-month low of 62.55 against the American currency yesterday after better-than-expected jobs data spurred expectations of an early hike in US interest rates. Meanwhile, The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 34.84 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 28,809.94 in early trade today.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India has wonderful treasures that go hundreds of years back, but artisans do not receive their true value, which makes them economically weak. GoCoop, an online platform for handicrafts, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian government to support local craftsmen of particular tribes and regions. GoCoop by making their products available online will be reducing the producer-consumer gap.
GoCoop.com includes a directory service, a trade inquiry listing, and e-commerce services with branded e-stores as well as a generic marketplace. The portal allows the customer to browse to handmade textiles from four states in India, namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. With the latest MoU being signed with National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation (NSFDC), NBCFDC, NSKFDC under Ministry of Social Justice Empowerment, Government of India, GoCoop will now move into six other states, and will also look to expand its customer base into the Asia-Pacific region with its large Indian diaspora.
GoCoop, established in 2012 to create an online marketplace for handwoven and handcrafted products, has nearly doubled its sales every quarter, and stands at around a quarter million page views a month right now. Their customer base currently includes UK, United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Singapore, besides India. Siva Devireddy, the founder and MD of GoCoop.com said that they are aiming to be the Amazon or Flipkart for handloom and handicrafts. There is a large need for marketing intervention for rural producers. An individual weaver in India cannot sustain. With the Indian handloom market, estimated at Rs 24,000 crore (4 billion USD), is sustained by around 600,000 weaver cooperatives. GoCoop aims to reach out to 100 clusters over the next three years, eventually supporting 1 million artisans on the platform.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
India’s economic growth prospects are brightening and the euro zone is increasingly aiding a recovery in global growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Monday. The OECD, a grouping of close to three dozen countries, said its composite leading indicators (CLIs), designed to guage changes in economic prospects, revealed “positive change in growth momentum in the euro area and stable growth momentum in most other major economies and the OECD area as a whole.”
India’s CLI inched up for the sixth straight month to 99.5 in January, compared with 99.3 in the previous month. “In India, the CLI continues to indicate firming growth, while in Russia the CLI still points to a loss in growth momentum,” the grouping said in a statement. The indicator rose to 100.7 for the euro zone as a whole from 100.6 in December, and also rose for the OECD group to 100.4 in January from 100.3 in the previous month.
CLI-index
The reading for the US was stable at 100.2 and for Japan it stayed at 99.8. In large non-OECD economies, the index rose to 99.1 in January in China from 99.0 a month before. According to the new series for computing national income, the Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.4% this fiscal, making it the fastest growing large economy in the world. The latest economic survey has pegged the growth rate for the next fiscal at 8-8.5% and forecast double-digit expansion later.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Global remittance provider UAE Exchange has tied up with YES Bank, India’s 4th largest Private Sector Bank, for real time money transfers to any bank in India. The tie up will integrate UAE Exchange FLASHremit, an instant account credit facility, with IMPS (Immediate Payment Service). IMPS is a network of banks in India, launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
‘FLASHremit’ service started by the bank enables customers to conveniently send money instantly to their beneficiaries in India in Indian Rupees. “UAE Exchange has always explored the possibilities of bringing the best to its customers faster. We have a special tie up with YES Bank to integrate FLASHremit our instant bank account credit service with IMPS, said Promoth Manghat, Dy. CEO, UAE Exchange.
Additionally, an instant SMS confirmation is sent to the sender and receiver informing about the credit, thus eliminating any follow up. “The service will provide convenience to customers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which is an important focus region for YES bank, and provide instant credit confirmation to them for deposits into their recipients accounts,” said Arun Agrawal, President, YES bank. This initiative based on the IMPS platform reinforces YES bank’s commitment to emerge as a meaningful player in the Innovation & Digital Banking space, he said. GCC member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. UAE Exchange currently it has over 750 branches across 32 countries, and is the world’s largest networked remittance brand. Its strong correspondent banking relationship, with close to 150 global banks, adds to the might.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The key reduction in customs duty in many items proposed in Union Budget is expected to provide significant benefit to neighbouring country Bhutan by reducing outflow from its Rupee reserve. The change in customs duty has been proposed to crease out various duty anomalies those kept import of certain goods economical than producing in India. According to Indian finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley, reduction of the duty proposed on total 22 inputs materials, raw materials intermediates and components will encourage local production of many finished goods using these items. The proposed policy will also give duty advantage in the tune of 11.5% and 10.5% to mobile phones and tablets if manufactured in India. In turn, "This is expected to bring down the export cost of these finished goods from India. And there lies benefit of Bhutan," said Mr. A. Jain, veteran trader from Bhutan.
The land locked Himalayan country is highly dependent on its largest external trade partner India. According to Finance Ministry officials in Bhutan, its annual import from India worth $ 293million is around 57% of its total import. In this total value, 6.8% contribution is from import of cars and 2.1% from Phones. Television and other electronic goods are other major import items. All these items are likely beneficiaries of proposed duty cut.
Eventually, even at a small rate of price reduction of these items, Bhutan can save good amount of outflow from its Indian Rupee reserve. Healthy INR reserve of Bhutan is too important for Bhutan as its currency Ngultrum is pegged at par with INR and it cannot be exchanged independently with any currencies other than INR. Thus its entire external trade depends on INR reserve. Though Bhutanese currency is not accepted in India. INR is an official tender in Bhutan.
The fast depleting INR reserve had put the country in high pressure two years back forcing it to impost several restriction on withdraw and conversion of INR by individuals. In addition, several import restrictions were also imposed despite their known negative effect. "Through all possible ways, we want to remain off from repetition of that tight situation. This budget provision in India will help us in that," said Mr. P. Dorje, a senior Bhutanese importer.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
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$ 57.40 per barrel (bbl) on 09.03.2015. This was lower than the price of US$ 58.73 per bbl on previous publishing day of 06.03.2015.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs 3594.39 per bbl on 09.03.2015 as compared to Rs 3653.01 per bbl on 06.03.2015. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 62.62 per US$ on 09.03.2015 as against Rs 62.20 per US$ on 06.03.2015.
The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on March 09, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 06.03.2015) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.03.2015 (Feb 12 to Feb 25, 2015) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
57.40 (58.73) |
57.84 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3594.39 (3653.01) |
3598.80 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
62.62 (62.20) |
62.22 |
RC/Rk/Daily Crude oil price- 10.03.2015
SOURCE: PIB
Oil prices will reverse their recent gains asglobal crude inventories begin to increase again, with U.S. crude likely to drop as far as $40 a barrel in the near-term, Goldman Sachs said. Oil prices rose by almost a third between January and February on the back of Middle East supply disruptions, strong winter demand and high refinery margins. That followed a rout that had seen price falls of around 60 percent between June 2014 and January this year.
But Goldman said that "the activity pull is sequentially weakening" and that global crude inventories would therefore rise, pushing West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude to $40 a barrel, levels last seen at the peak of the global financial crisis in late 2008, early 2009. It stood at around $49.40 on Monday. "While we continue to forecast a strong demand recovery in 2015, we believe that sequentially weaker activity, the end of winter and the end of potential restocking demand, will lead to a sequential deceleration in demand-growth as we enter the spring," the bank said.
Renewed pressure
Goldman said that Brent prices would also come under renewed pressure. "As a result and absent further unexpected OPEC disruptions, we expect Brent oil prices and timespreads to reverse their recent strength, although the lack of a meaningful build in the past few months leaves risk to our forecast for (WTI) oil prices remaining at $40/barrel for two quarters skewed to the upside," the bank said in a note dated March 8.
The bank said that it expected "OECD Asia demand to decline in 2015 as stronger industrial production is offset by the continued switch to LNG (liquefied natural gas) for power generation and the impending start-up of the two Sendai nuclear reactors in Japan". A two-thirds drop in Asian LNG prices is making the fuel cost competitive against oil in the industrial power sector.
In Japan, the regulator has given approval for several reactors to be restarted this year. All its 48 reactors were taken offline after the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. In the United States, Goldman said that "the build in U.S. inventories has surprised to the upside, especially in Cushing". The bank said that its WTI price prices forecast of $65 a barrel for 2016 was "skewed to the downside" as currently idled assets could quickly be redeployed, especially as operating costs were falling.
SOURCE: CNBC
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has urged the government to convince the Turkish government to waive off 42.2 percent safeguard measures duty on Pakistan's apparel imports. The government is involved in trade negotiations with Turkey under a proposed free trade agreement these days.
PRGMEA Central Chairman Ijaz Khokhar is worried over the reduction in apparel exports to Turkey on account of imposition of safeguard measures duty on textile imports since August 2011. "Textile export to Turkey has dropped by 50 percent," he added. He said, "Exports have decreased from US 906.58 million dollars in 2010-11 to US 455.83 million dollars during current fiscal year."
Turkish textile industry has no threat from Pakistan but still it has placed extra Customs duty on apparel imports from Pakistan. Garment industry chief said original Customs duty on garment products, including denim, martial arts uniforms and home textiles in Turkey was 9.2 percent, which has been increased to 52 percent. This increase in duty by Turkey has blocked apparel industry exports to Turkey, he mentioned.
Khokhar said his association has also taken up the matter with the Textile Ministry in a meeting held at the association's office here on Saturday. Members of the executive committee of association were also present. The participants pointed out that bilateral trade with Turkey had grown to one billion dollar mark in 2010-11 but having reversed after the imposition of safeguard measures duty since August 2011.
SOURCE: Global Textiles
Turkey, the second largest exporter of Pakistani handmade carpets, after striking Safeguard Measures Duty of 42.2 percent on Pakistan's apparel imports in 2011, has now imposed another 50 percent custom duty on 130 Pakistani products including hand knotted carpets, leading to further decline in the already squeezed carpet export of about $128 million. The Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association, in a letter written to Federal Minister of Commerce, has criticized the decision of Turkish Ministry of Economy dated 17th February 2015, stating the move will cause complete collapse of handmade carpet industry.
As per industry sources, after the announcement of this additional customs duty, the foreign buyers have stopped purchasing orders from Pakistani importers. As a result, all shipments at Karachi, waiting for custom clearance, are being sent back to Punjab, which contributes almost 80% of carpet manufacturing presently. A number of carpet manufacturers from Karachi as well as Lahore have complained that their orders have been cancelled by the foreign importers after the announcement of additional custom duty by Turkish government.
The exporters blasted the unfriendly decision of Turkish government, which we here in Pakistan consider our friend, started the unfriendly move of enhancing tax at a time when Turkish Prime Minister was on visit to Pakistan. Their move will totally destroy our carpet industry, they added. Statistics show that carpet exports have registered another decline of more than 10% during first half of the current fiscal year of 2014-15 despite free market access to the EU countries under GSP Plus status with the country already suffering decline of over 50% during the last seven years to 128 million dollar from 300 million dollars.
The Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association chairman Usman Ghani demanded that government should immediately take up this issue with the Turkish government to get the duty withdrawn. The FTA should be signed with Turkey and hand-knotted carpets must be a part of FTA for duty-free access to Turkish market. The government should take immediate steps as quite a lot of orders shipments are getting ready and also stopped at Karachi port. PCMEA vice chairman Qamar Zia observed that the government needs to incorporate hand knotted carpets in FTAs with other countries, as the handmade carpets have never been included in any Pakistan’s Free Trade Agreement.
The PCMEA vice chairman observed that almost 100% of carpets produced in Pakistan are exported, providing around 600% value addition to our products. He said that the sector of handmade carpets is labour-intensive and the majority of women employed in it work from their homes. According to Qamar Zia, the exports of hand knotted carpets are based upon the most scattered and unorganized manufacturing sector in the country, which constitutes the largest cottage industry in Pakistan. This 100% exportable product creates at least 600% value addition and provides livelihood to more than one million people in remote areas.
The hand knotted carpet sector represents small Industry locating in the remotest and most poverty stricken areas of Pakistan. “We provide direct labor to the most under-privileged and uneducated bottom of 5% strata of our society and around 70% of work force of this sector comprises young women who make carpets at home. The carpet sector is doing a great service to the nation by providing employment to around 1 million people at their door step. This also helps the country in stopping migration from villages to cities.
SOURCE: Global Textiles
Pakistan has shown improvement in its trade profile in the first year of the GSP Plus in the European Union. But definitely not significant enough both in terms of diversification of markets and commodities, considering the potential the facility offers. Exports to the EU are still concentrated in a few markets and restricted to a few commodities. About 60pc of the merchandise went to just five nations, with seven items contributing almost 75pc of the total exports. However, a positive development is that value-added goods saw a noticeable and a sizable increase in exports to less developed member-states.
There is no identifiable marker to measure the progress or lack thereof of the preferential trade package. The common yardstick to measure success is merely the overall increase in volume of export proceeds, or changes in the share of different products in the overall exports. However, a few markers can be used to assess Pakistan’s performance. Pakistan’s traditional sectors, mainly textile and leather, benefited from the facility. The major beneficiary was the textile garments segment, which went up by over 28pc, followed by a 29pc increase in home textiles.
A minor growth of around 5pc was witnessed in the non-value added textile goods segment. Exports of footwear and some plastic product covers also benefited. It appears that exporters have just diverted their products from other markets to Europe to avail the zero-duty facility. Overall growth in textile and clothing exports remained negative, with the exception of minor rises in a few months, suggesting that the facility might not have helped Pakistan to move up the value chain. And no notable investments were made in the textile and clothing sectors.
Pakistan has been able to enhance its presence in the EU, as its exports surged by 21pc to $7.310bn this year from $6.023bn a year ago. However, it is still way behind its regional competitors. At the end, the GSP Plus is all about sustainable development and good governance. In the first year, exports to Spain increased 44pc to $814.828m from $564.402m in the previous year. This is the highest-ever increase in Pakistan’s exports to Spain.
Exports to Austria grew 93pc, followed by a 46pc growth to Poland and 14pc to Sweden. The cumulative share in Pakistan’s total exports to these four countries increased 17pc to $1.202bn this year, from $839.601m a year earlier. Cheaper imports owing to duty waivers and competitive unit prices of Pakistani goods benefited the consumers of these countries. For instance, persistently high unemployment, low wages and a fall in purchasing power in Spain boosted the demand for cheaper Pakistani goods there.
Moreover, the EU package helped Pakistan find new markets in Eastern Europe to some extent. Export proceeds to the six-nation Eastern bloc were far less than $100m. However, the growth of exports, in percentage terms, to some of these countries was in double digits. Exports to Bulgaria went up 44pc; Czech Republic 27pc; and Hungary 43pc. However, exports to Romania and Slovakia grew by only 8pc and 9pc, respectively. There is much potential to increase exports to these countries. Meanwhile, exports to Estonia dropped by 11pc, Croatia 37pc, Ireland 3pc and Luxembourg 12pc from a year ago. Interestingly, the export values to these countries were much higher in calendar years 2012 and 2013 when compared with 2014 — the year Pakistan was granted the GSP Plus facility. Pakistan’s exports are still concentrated in four markets — Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Netherlands — which constitute 60.53pc ($4.425bn) of the total exports in the first year of the package, against 61.18pc ($3.685bn) in the previous year.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
China’s exports picked up in the first two months of 2015, propelled by February’s exceptionally strong performance that was inflated by the timing of Lunar New Year, while a slide in imports pointed to persistent weakness in the economy. Data released by the General Administration of Customs on Sunday showed that China posted a record trade surplus of $60.6 billion last month.
Exports rose 15 per cent during the January-February period from a year earlier, quickening from a 6.1 per cent annual rise in the whole of 2014 as demand from major markets improved. February exports jumped 48.3 per cent from a year earlier, the strongest rise since May 2010 and comfortably beat market expectations of 14.2 per cent, but customs office cautioned about reading too much into the figure given seasonal distortions.
It said local exporters usually make concentrated shipments ahead of the long Lunar New Year holiday. The new year fell on Feb. 19 this year, whereas in 2014 it occurred on Jan. 31. January exports fell 3.3 per cent from a year earlier. Analysts tend to look at the combined trade data for the two months to help smooth out distortions caused by the holiday. ‘We don’t expect the sharp rise in February exports to be sustained as global demand could only recover steadily,’ said Nie Wen, an economist at Hwabao Trust in Shanghai. In February, exports to the United States – China’s largest export market – jumped 48.5 per cent from a year earlier but fell slightly from January, according to customs data. Exports to the Europe Union, the second largest market rose 44.1 per cent year-on-year, but also down month-on-month.
SOURCE: Global Textiles
Japan's economy grew less than initially thought in the final quarter of 2014, revised government data showed Monday, revealing an even weaker emergence from recession than previously believed. The poor data could put the Bank of Japan under pressure to launch more stimulus, economists said, as the world's third largest economy struggles to rid itself of two decades of lassitude. The Cabinet Office said the economy expanded just 0.4 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter, down from an initial estimate of 0.6 percent growth, with corporate capital investment shrinking.
Despite the downgrade, the data still confirmed the Japanese economy had crawled out of recession at the end of 2014, after two consecutive quarters in which gross domestic product (GDP) contracted. "The result showed that Japan's economy bottomed out from a 'technical recession' following the April VAT hike in October-December quarter, while the pace of recovery was still limited," Credit Suisse economists said in a note. Japan's economy stuttered last year after an April sales tax rise cut off the flow of consumer spending, which had shown healthy growth until then.
Monday's figures, if annualised, show GDP growth revised down to 1.5 percent from the previous figure of 2.2 percent. That places Japan well behind the United States, where revised data showed the economy growing an annualised 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter. Over the full calendar year the Japanese economy logged zero growth, a significant slowdown from an expansion of 1.6 percent in 2013. Capital Economics said the revised GDP data support the case for more easy cash from the central bank.
"We still think that the Bank of Japan will announce more stimulus next month" to achieve its inflation target of 2.0 percent, said Marcel Thieliant, Japan economist at Capital Economics. Sustained inflation is a key measure of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pro-spending growth blueprint, dubbed Abenomics, which was set in motion in late 2012, sending the yen plunging and boosting stock prices.
The central bank expanded its already massive asset-purchasing programme in October. But Japan's inflation rate has now dropped to its lowest level since just after Abenomics was unleashed. Core inflation in January came in at 2.2 percent, but once the effect of the tax hike is stripped out, prices were seen squeaking up just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the worst reading since a zero percent rate in May 2013. While they've not helped the inflation cause, lower oil prices have combined with a fall in the value of the yen to bolster Japan's current account balance -- the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world, including trade in goods and services as well as tourism and returns on foreign investment.
SOURCE: Global Textiles
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has handed a proposal to the ministry of commerce (MoC) to constitute the Cotton Security Council, which is supposed to control prices of domestic cotton yarn. The apex body of apparel makers has also demanded inclusion of the provision of council into the new export policy of 2015-18. But the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association has opposed the idea and sent a letter to the ministry, calling the proposal 'unreasonable', 'unrealistic' and 'inconsistent.'
The country's spinning mills are providing some 80 percent and 40 percent cotton yarns to the domestic knit and woven garments units at competitive prices, acting as backward linkage. The domestic spinning mills are often competing with the imported cotton yarn. Prices of the country's yarn depend mainly on three factors: prices of imported cotton yarn, prices of Indian cotton yarn and domestic demand of apparel makers. The prices of the yarns depend on the size and productivity of the domestic mills as well.
According to textiles lobbyists, they have no hand; rather the market determines the yarn price as Bangladesh follows free market economy. The prices of Indian cotton yarn and orders of local garment exporters are low, forcing domestic spinning mills to keep prices in consistent with Indian yarns. Expansion and competitive situation of the country's spinning mills will be hampered if the proposal to form the council is accepted. So, there is no need to formulate the council in the country.
There is a need for a balanced council on cotton yarn so that interests of both sides are protected, said the former president of BGMEA Abdus Salam Murshedy. The council will take decision without bias when the situation demands. While, according to Jahangir Alamin, a former president of BTMA, domestic spinning millers depend entirely on imported cotton. Besides, prices of cotton yarns are fixed according to the New York futures market. No organization can control the prices of cotton yarn in the international context. It will be against the free market economy if any move is taken to control the prices of domestic cotton yarn. Presently, there are 407 spinning under the BTMA in the country. The Garment makers and textiles producers are locked in a row over the formation of a panel intended to regulate local cotton yarn prices.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain to visit Azerbaijan for talks on bilateral ties and economic cooperation. The President will lead a delegation of businessmen from Pakistan’s textile, energy, pharmaceutical, sports, infrastructure, construction material, surgical instruments, food products and leather goods. He will be in Azerbaijan from March 11-14 and will be meeting Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Four agreements will be signed and a Trade and Investment Seminar will be held during the visit. The two presidents will hold tete-a-tete that would be followed by delegation-level talks, the Foreign Ministry said. The meeting will focus on bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, a statement said.
President Hussain will also confer Pakistan's highest civil award of "Hilal-e-Pakistan" upon the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Madam Mehriban Aliyeva, in recognition of her services to the people of Pakistan and humanitarian work by her "Hyder Aliyev Foundation" in Pakistan over the past decade. President Mamnoon Hussain visit will provide an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Techtextile and Texprocess the leading international fairs for technical textiles, nonwovens and the processing of textile and flexible materials to offer solutions for the entire manufacturing process of textile and clothing. Techtextil and Texprocess fairs will focus on today’s and tomorrow’s textile value added chain, exploring the future development possibilities for textile and clothing industry. In the past, the processes in the textile sector resembled a staircase. The products were delivered gradually to the following step as the processing depth increased. At the end of the process, there was the finished product, waiting to be directed towards the end consumer or user. A feedback to the foot of the staircase in general only occurred with the aim of ordering fresh supply or stopping the process.
Opportunities for intervention in the process were possible only to a limited extent. Mistakes and delays accrued from one stage to the next, because the processes followed on chronologically from one another. Nowadays, the industry is speaking of a value added chain. A closed cycle interlocks the single processing steps. Thanks to modern information technology systems, which are available worldwide and provide for automatic feedback, all links of the processing chain, are communicating among each other. By this way, all segments of the value added chain starting with the fibre and ending with the finished product take benefit from the accelerated processes. Therefore, the development phase and last but not least the time-to-market time span can be reduced. The former one-way street has now become a closed process cycle – interdisciplinary collaboration has triumphed.
Such development had an effect on the manufacturers and processors of technical textiles and nonwovens. All steps of the textile production chain have joined to an IT-supported communicative whole unit. By this way, all chain links have a multitude of processing options, which would not be possible by unilateral approach. The Techtextil fair will offer a wide range of innovative materials, which can be used in an open-ended manner by taking into account all processing options. The already existing large number of processors at the Textextil fair has been increased and will be further increased at the Texprocess fair. In addition, the Texprocess fair will present ancillary products, like special yarns and threads and the appropriate needles. The quality requirements can be ensured by means of CAD/CAM controlled equipment.
In addition, documentation for safety-critical products will be provided. Fixing, lining and laminating equipment is there to join and secure ready-cut items of textile and non-textile materials. IT systems in the apparel industry already handle highly complex data sets. By this way, technical product cycles can be managed at a reasonable cost starting with the design and ending with marketing. The Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs will present by their complete spectrum of exhibits, including all fields of the textile value added chain from preliminary processing of textile materials to processing technologies. This year, Techtextil and Texprocess will offer exhibitors and visitors more information about the individual product ranges on display. With a focus on functional clothing, emphasis is given to an area which overlaps both fairs, thus linking high-end textile products with innovative processing.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
