The Centre on Wednesday launched the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE-Atal New India Challenges programme to support MSMEs and start-ups for making India innovative, resilient, tech-driven, and research and development (R&D)-oriented. The Niti Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), in collaboration with ISRO and four ministries, will focus on challenges in 15 sectors through the programme. "This support for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and start-ups in product development would make India innovative, resilient, tech-driven and R&D-oriented," Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said at the launch of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE-Atal New India Challenges programme. He added that the programme provides a great opportunity for the government to become the first buyer of indigenous Made in India technology solutions. Kant also expressed hope that the Atal Innovation Mission, through the ARISE-Atal New India Challenges, will help in breaking new ground and this will be a path-breaking approach for driving India in the field of innovation. Also, speaking at the event, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said this is a red-letter day for the country, as the Atal Innovation Mission's ARISE-Atal New India Challenges brings together some of the brightest scientific minds of India to work together for the prosperity of the country's MSME sector. Besides ISRO and Niti Aayog, representatives from ministries of defence, health and family welfare, housing and urban affairs, and food processing industries also participated at the event. A grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for 9-12 months have been earmarked for start-ups to develop a minimum usable prototype. The AIM is a flagship initiative of the Niti Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, based on detailed study and deliberations on innovation and entrepreneurial needs of India in the years ahead. Speaking at the event, MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari urged the Niti Aayog to formulate a digitised system where the decision making process related to the programme can be completed in 15-20 days. "We need to remove speed breaker in government programmes. We have to stop corrupt people in the system and encourage good people in the system," Gadkari said. He also noted that government officials are not willing to adopt new technologies because they fear if something goes wrong, they will be held accountable and punished. "If you do something new, you are bound to commit mistakes. Therefore, the Niti Aayog should formulate a system where those who commit bonafide mistakes are pardoned and only those making malafide mistakes are held accountable," the minister said. ISRO Chairman K Sivan said the flagship programme will promote innovations and entrepreneurship across the length and breath of our country.
Source : Business Standard
The Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme will help enhance competitiveness of apparel exporters and boost the outbound shipments, industry body AEPC said on Wednesday. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel welcomed the release of funds for paying the dues under the scheme for fiscal 2020-21. "This scheme has been the backbone of policy support for the industry and will surely restore not just the competitiveness of the industry, but also positive sentiments for achieving higher export targets. "This has been the request of our members in the apparel export industry for a long time and who would definitely benefit from this measure," he said. He added that the sector, which has been hit hard by the lockdowns, global depression in demand, increasing defaults due to bankruptcies and huge increase in logistics and transactional costs, needed this support for regaining its position in the global markets. Although the year so far has seen double digit declines in exports during April (-91.04 per cent), May (-66.19 per cent), June (-34.84 per cent) and July (-22.09 per cent), this scheme will be an important milestone in changing the export trends, Sakthivel said. The RoSCTL scheme provides rebate on all embedded taxes on exports.
Source: Business Standard
India’s government has failed to pay states the compensation it promised for supporting a nationwide tax reform, setting the stage for a showdown between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration and the provinces. The dispute is over 3 trillion rupees ($41 billion) that Modi’s government owes states this year, because the account from which the funds are disbursed is short by about 2.35 trillion rupees. For now, the federal administration is encouraging states to borrow the shortfall amount, promising to resume payments as tax revenue improves when the economy fully reopens from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Some states ruled by opposition parties have rejected this offer and have threatened action including urging the courts to intervene. “The law says that if there’s a dispute in the council a dispute resolution mechanism will have to be put in place,” said Manpreet Singh Badal, finance minister of the northern Indian state of Punjab and a member of the Goods and Services Tax Council that administers the indirect tax rates. “If need be, we would go to Supreme Court. But we will exhaust this option of approaching the Parliament first.” The dispute comes at a critical time for India’s economy, which posted the biggest contraction among major economies last quarter, and can crimp public expenditure -- further delaying a recovery. India’s 29 states rely on fund transfers from the federal government to pay salaries, subsidies, and infrastructure creation after they gave up the bulk of their tax-making powers to allow the introduction of GST in 2017. Badal said Punjab has already deferred capital expenditure because of the delays -- which was described as “act of sovereign default” by Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand state. Thomas Isaac, the finance minister of the southern Indian state of Kerala, said the federal government should borrow to compensate the states. Embed this tweet (FMs of Punjab, Delhi, W Bengal, Chhattisgarh,Telengana and Kerala agreed to reject the Centre’s options on GST compensation .Our option: Central Govt to borrow entire compensation due regardless of acts of gods, humans or nature , to be paid back by extending the period of Cess: Thomas Isaac, August 31) The GST law requires the federal government to compensate states for five years through March 2022 for any revenue loss on account of the new tax. India’s constitution requires states to deliver health care. In the middle of a coronavirus epidemic that this week became the second largest in the world with more than 4.3 million infections, the states need all the funds they can get to ramp up the country’s rundown health system. While federal Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month said that tax collections were strained due to “an act of god,” one of her secretaries later said the administration isn’t relinquishing its responsibility because of this “act of force majeure.” “We are due to pay the whole amount, but the attorney general has also confirmed that we are only due to pay when the cess is available,” Expenditure Secretary T. V. Somanathan said in an interview to BloombergQuint.
Source: Business Standard
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that educating the common man about the benefits of circular economy can help develop the culture of zero waste in the country. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that educating the common man about the benefits of circular economy can help develop the culture of zero waste in the country. Circular economy implies reusing waste back into the production cycle to make new products and uses instead of wasting such materials with embedded resources. The minister said that the circular economy is a profit economy and it is not a burden. "Till we educate a common man, we will not be able to get the best benefit out of the circular economy. I think this communication of the benefits of the circular economy, often with very simple day-to-day examples, can play a very important role in developing within the country this culture of zero waste and this consciousness that we have to contribute to protect the environment," he said. He was speaking at CII's sustainability summit. Niti Aayog had estimated that a circular economy in India can create 1.4 crore work opportunities for people in the next 5-7 years and this target can be met, the minister said. "Let us all work collectively to transform our systems to adopt the circular economy and its benefits at a faster pace," the minister said..
Source: Development Discourse
As on March 31, 2020, state discoms had owed Rs 91,860 crore to power generating companies; the dues increased to Rs 1.17 lakh crore as on July 31. In response to the news report ‘Forget the stimulus, just clear your dues’, written by Prasanta Sahu which appeared in the edition dated September 8, the finance ministry has responded with the following: 169 arbitration cases involving claims of contractors of Rs 74,227 crore as on Dec 2019 Comments: Out of Rs 74,227 crore, majority of the claims (Rs 52,945 crore) pertain to 4 contractors, who are not participating now in the highways sector. The claims are highly exaggerated. A majority of claims are usually settled at 20-25% of claimed amounts. NHAI has launched a drive of conciliations through Conciliation Committees of Independent Experts (CCIEs). A total of 47 cases involving claims of Rs 14,248 crore have been settled for Rs 4,018 crore. NHAI has been following up with all contractors to come for conciliations for expeditious settlement of their claims and get their payments released immediately. NHAI-owed concessionaires, as on February 2020, around Rs 25,900 crore – Rs 5,400 crore for annuity obligations, Rs 19,300 crore of grant for hybrid annuity model projects and Rs 1,200 crore of grant/viability grant funding towards BOT (Toll) projects. Comments: No other payments are overdue other than the disputed arbitration amounts. The annuities under the Hybrid Annuity Models (HAM) and BOT Viability gap Funding (VGF) are paid in time. (Source: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways) As on March 31 this year, the Centre also owed about Rs 27,000 crore to fuel retailers towards expenditure on kerosene and cooking gas subsidy. Comments: The government has provided in the current Budget the entire pending dues as projected by MoPNG. An amount of Rs 40,914 crore has been provided for fuel subsidy. Out of BE amount of Rs 40,914 crore, approx 50% (Rs 19,659 crore) has already been released in first half of the year. (MoPNG). As on March 31, 2020, state discoms had owed Rs 91,860 crore to power generating companies; the dues increased to Rs 1.17 lakh crore as on July 31. Similarly, discoms haven’t paid Rs 6,145 crore to PowerGrid Corporation, the transmission utility. Comments: State distribution utilities dues to CPSE generation companies/ Transmission companies, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) or Renewable Energy (RE) generator as on March 31 were about Rs 94,000 crore, including about Rs 22,000 crore of IPPs and Rs 12,000 crore of RE generators. The power ministry proactively conceptualised Rs 90,000 cr worth of liquidity infusion scheme to ease the liquidity position of the above - mentioned generators in two equal tranches. Under the scheme, discoms have been released loan of about Rs 24,000 crore. Some states required relaxation of the UDAY limit to avail the loan, which was recently approved by the Union Cabinet. With this, the target of release of loans of the first tranche of Rs 45,000 crore shall be met within a fortnight.
Source: Financial Express
“The way RBI has crafted the boundary conditions, it’s very difficult to misuse it,” said Kamath, who headed the panel formed by the central bank to frame rules for loan restructuring. The panel has selected 26 sectors which will require restructuring based on its analyses of financial parameters hit due to the economic crash caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Reserve Bank of India’s loan restructuring plan would be a success this time as it comes with a specific time frame and there is very little scope for misuse by either corporates or banks, said KV Kamath. “The way RBI has crafted the boundary conditions, it’s very difficult to misuse it,” said Kamath, who headed the panel formed by the central bank to frame rules for loan restructuring, in an interview to ET Tuesday evening. “It is in everybody’s interest — whether it’s the lending institution or the borrower — to get back to health. So, if that objective is kept in mind, I don’t think there will be any misuse.” The ve-member Expert Committee on Resolution Framework for Covid-19 Related Stress went back to the roots of banking and evolved rules that it believes should be watertight as it identied 26 sectors that have been under stress. “I told my committee that we will have to go back 30 years when we were hands-on,” said Kamath. “We were doing appraisal, working out the protability of a company. That’s the mindset we needed to have on this task.” Three Ratios “This time banks have to recast the cash flows. Basically redo how the loan amortises over its lifetime and for that what are the three critical ratios we need to look at,” he added. “We have narrowed down on three ratios — solvency, liquidity and coverage. We backtested this by talking to the rating agencies. They also came up with the same set of ratios. So we had clarity that these metrics were correct.” The RBI, after announcing a one-time loan restructuring plan to help companies cope with Covid-19 related stress, appointed Kamath, who retired as chairman of ICICI Bank in 2015 and went on to become the first president of the Shanghai-based New Development Bank the same year. The other members of the committee were former bankers Diwakar Gupta, TN Manoharan and Sunil Mehta, and consultant Ashwin Parekh. There are fears that the loan rejig programme could be misused and may harm banks as in the case of past corporate debt restructuring schemes, when banks without proper assessment of cash flows and viability restructured loans only to see nearly two-thirds become defaulters in a few years. Kamath said this time the outcome of loan restructuring could be different. “In the past, a lot of problems — particularly of restructuring going bad — was because it took an endless amount of time and by the time it was put into action, the scenario had changed and you were still midway through the process,” said Kamath. “…which is why it was doomed for failure. This time around the timeline is virtually less than a year to see the process through; to my mind it is as tight as it gets.” As per rating agency Crisil, the RBI move on one-time loan restructuring will help soften the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the asset quality of banks. Without this, gross non-performing assets could have touched a two-decade high of 11.5% by the end of this financial year. A separate assessment by India Ratings indicates at least 2.1 lakh crore (1.9% of banking credit) of retail loans, which could turn into nonperforming assets, may undergo restructuring. On an overall basis, about 8.4 lakh crore of total bank credit could be restructured, it said.
Source: Economic Times
Amid discord over goods and services tax (GST) compensation, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said disbursal should begin for states that have opted for either of the two borrowing options proposed by the Centre. He also proposed that consultation with dissenting states could be carried out separately. This comes a day after Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac pitched for voting in the GST Council if the Centre sticks to the two options it has proposed. With at least seven Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states having officially opted for either of the two .
Source : Business Standard
Not paying the full GST compensations by the Centre is among the factors which may result in up to Rs 3 trillion cut in capital expenditure by the states in FY21, a report said on Wednesday. The borrowing alternative offered by the Centre to make up for the shortfall in the promised compensation will lead to the states' fiscal deficits widening to 4.25 - 5.52 per cent, rating agency Icra has said in the report. In the current fiscal, the compensation requirement of states has been estimated at Rs 3 trillion, of which Rs 65,000 crore would be funded from the revenues garnered by the levy of cess. This leaves a shortfall of Rs 2.35 trillion. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last month said the economy is facing an extraordinary 'Act of God' situation, which may result in economic contraction. In the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting held on August 27, the government pegged the gap between the GST compensation requirement of the state governments for FY21 and the expected GST cess collections at Rs 2.35 trillion, Icra said. The Centre had offered two options to the state governments for bridging this gap of Rs 2.35 trillion, which vary in terms of the amount that can be borrowed, the source of borrowing, rate of interest on borrowings, payment of interest, charge on cess collected after the five-year GST transition period ends in July 2022. "We caution that the states may be forced to curtail their aggregate capital spending by as much as Rs 1-3.4 trillion in FY21, on account of the anticipated shortfalls in GST compensation and Central tax devolution (CTD), despite the options for additional borrowings put forth by the GoI," the agency said. It can be noted that capital expenditure is considered as the most productive of any government's expenses because of its ability to lead to what is called trickle-down benefits. The agency estimated the Centre's shareable taxes at Rs 13.4 trillion in FY21, 30 per cent lower than the budgeted amount of Rs 19.1 trillion. Given that it is expected to devolve 41 per cent of shareable taxes to the state governments in FY21, the CTD to the state governments will come at Rs 5.5 trillion. It also estimates that Rs 48,400 crore of excess CTD was devolved to the states in FY20, which would need to be adjusted from the CTD for FY21. "This would further reduce the estimated CTD in the current fiscal to Rs 5.0 trillion, a substantial Rs 2.8 trillion lower than the Rs 7.8 trillion budgeted by the GoI," it said.
Source: Business Standard
The codes – to be moved in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament – will allow states to introduce significant changes to their labour laws framework, such as rules for retrenchment, through notications. The Union cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments to the labour codes on social security, industrialrelations, and occupational safety and health (OSH), which could include pension and medical benets to gig workers, government oicials said. The codes – to be moved in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament – will allow states to introduce signicant changes to their labour laws framework, such as rules for retrenchment, through notifications. “Codes have been approved," a government official privy to the development said. The codes are likely to clearly dene areas and conditions in which xed-term employment will be allowed. The proposed amendments include a clear definition of the 'appropriate authority' on occupational safety and removal of distinction between term employees and workers in the Industrial Relations Code, officials said. The proposed IR Code has suggested special provisions for layo and retrenchment in establishments employing 100 or more workers or such number as notified by the appropriate government while strengthening the health facilities for workers at factory premises, they said. These changes will help states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh push through labour law reforms they introduced recently, including allowing businesses to extend shift hours to 12 hours from eight. The central government has been working to concise 44 central labour laws into four broad codes on wages, industrial relations, OSH and social security. The codes were introduced in Lok Sabha last year and then sent for scrutiny of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. PGCIL Asset Monetisation Approved The Cabinet on Tuesday also approved monetisation of ve transmission lines of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), which is estimated to fetch the power transmission provider around Rs 7,164 crore. Monetisation of the rst block will be done through infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) in the ongoing nancial year and its proceeds would be utilised for fresh investment in the transmission network expansion and other capital schemes. “In the rst block, PGCIL would be able to monetise ve TBCB (tari-based competitive bidding) assets of gross block of Rs 7,164 crore (as on September 2019),” the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs said in a statement.
Source: Economic Times
India Ratings said out of 35 states and Union territories, workplace mobility improved only in 16 states/UTs between end-May and end-August. India’s real GDP will likely shrink by as much as 11.8%, year-on-year, in FY21, India Ratings said on Tuesday, revising down its earlier forecast of a 5.3% contraction. However, the economy could witness a 9.9% expansion in the next fiscal, largely on account of a favourable base effect, but a meaningful recovery in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic will likely be a “long-drawn” process, the agency said. All indicators, be it mobility or consumption, are pointing towards a much weaker economic recovery, India Ratings chief economist DK Pant and principal economist Sunil Sinha said in a webinar. The economic loss in FY21 is estimated to be Rs 18.44 lakh crore. India’s real GDP contracted by as much as 23.9% in the June quarter, much higher than the level witnessed by any other major economy. India Ratings said out of 35 states and Union territories, workplace mobility improved only in 16 states/UTs between end-May and end-August. As the number of Covid-19 infections picked up significantly across India in July, leading to local or regional lockdowns, mobility in many states/UTs reduced by end-August from end-June. As human mobility is closely linked with economic activity, even gross state domestic product weighted workplace mobility depicts a similar trend as the workplace mobility, the agency said. “After a pickup in June to 70% of baseline, it declined to 68.5% in July. However, the August (70.3%) data again shows a pickup. Ind-Ra believes the work place mobility would remain low even in the next few months and would not return to normal till a vaccine is found,” it said. With this, India Ratings has joined a number of established agencies in forecasting a somewhat difficult path to a sustained recovery for the Indian economy. Of course, any such projection is closely tied to the country’s progress in hadling the Covid19 pandemic, its economists reckon. The agency now expects the agriculture and allied sector to grow at 3.5% in FY21. However, industry and services will witness a contraction of 24.2% and 9.9%, respectively, this fiscal, it added.
Source: Financial Express
Lenders will likely put loan-restructuring requests from companies in the traditionally capital-intensive and Covid-battered sectors, such as power, property, hotels, tourism and aviation, through greater scrutiny after the KV Kamath committee set sti future nancial milestones for the aected businesses being given the facility. So, bankers are likely to assess the ability of their borrowers to meet the future capital-structure milestones while taking a call on restructuring requests. Theoretically, the scrutiny will be rather intensive for overleveraged rms. But bankers and brokerages believe that the prescribed limits are largely reasonable. Simultaneously, the safeguards should help prevent ever-greening of loans. “The committee has also asked banks to split restructured loans into mild, moderate, and severe stress — we believe that this split will also be useful to investors to assess the nature of restructuring... Our estimates on credit costs should be able to absorb this surge,” Jeeries said in a report. Among the financial ratios to be monitored are total debt-to-Ebitda and total outside liability to adjusted tangible net worth (TOL/ATNW). Hotels, restaurants and tourismlinked companies have to improve their current ratio and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) at or above 1% by FY22. Current ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities. DSCR, which measures the cash ow available to meet current debt obligations, is arrived at by dividing the net operating income by current debt. “Some of these sectors like aviation, hotels and tourism linked sectors have had very little cash ows for the last many months. More importantly, there is no visibility on when things could come back to normal, or whether it will come to normal at all,” said a senior public sector bank executive. “These sectors may take up to a year just to get back their business; so, for them to come back to a positive current ratio within one year looks like a challenge.” The committee has also recommended that banks keep in mind ve major ratios while doing the recast — TOL/ATNW, debt/Ebitda, current ratio, DSCR and average DSCR. Sectorspecic thresholds for such ratios have also been recommended.
Source: Economic Times
Prices of N95 masks have risen six times since March, when it was sold to the government for Rs 17, to the current Rs 42 while retail price is Rs 150. It is expected to rise again. Prices of N95 masks used by medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to rise as inventory of raw materials required to make the item dwindles, manufacturers said. The Centre at present pays Rs 42 per mask, while retail price is Rs 150; and could rise by Rs 10-20 apiece. This comes even as state health department officials raid masks factories as manufacturers “refused to cooperate” on fixed prices. There is low supply of raw material required to manufacture N95 masks and current stocks are fast declining, India’s biggest mask manufacturers Taloja-based Magnum Health and Safety and Palghar-based Venus Safety told the Mumbai Mirror. Imported technical textiles is the key raw material for N95 masks, but supplies from Germany and the United States has fallen, leaving them reliant on a single-source alternative – Japan, which will “likely be more expensive,” Mahesh Kudav, director, Venus Safety said, adding that existing stocks will last only 10 days, making the price rise “inevitable.” He, however, pointed out that supplies and stocks of FFP2 masks – an effective alternative to N95 masks are ample and can be used instead. Raw materials for FFP2 masks are made in India and these are thus cheaper at around Rs 18 apiece, Kudav said. Statements on the prices came as authorities raided Venus’ and Magnum’s factories after the two refused to share details or cost of manufacturing the equipment with the government. An official told the paper that prices of N95 masks have risen six times since March, when it was sold to the government for Rs 17, to the current Rs 42. They added that manufacturers’ refusal to cooperate has delayed fixing of a price ceiling. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report. “Since the companies refused to share any details with us, we began surveying the factories on Thursday (September 3). We also asked the sales tax department to help us. Both the public health department and sales tax officials are part of the verification drive,” the official said. The official added that the state had asked the Centre to keep regulating prices of masks and sanitisers but the items were removed from the list in June after which the Maharashtra public health department formed a committee in August.
Source: Money Control
Banks need to invoke the resolution plan by December, and an inter-creditor pact needs to be signed for all accounts, where there is more than one lender. Even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted lenders to classify Covid-affected borrowers into three categories — mild, moderate and severe — for restructuring, banks are not in favour of a uniform process for all the categories. State Bank of India (SBI) MD CS Setty said the process of restructuring for the three categories of borrowers preferably should be different. “If someone needs mild restructuring, like extension of moratorium for another six months, it may be exempted from detailed viability study, rating agency approval etc.,” he said, adding that it would help expediting the resolution process. Banks also are concerned about hurdles in the signing of inter-creditor agreements (ICAs) for resolution of accounts. A senior bank official told FE that it would be a challenge to build consensus among lenders in a short span. Banks need to invoke the resolution plan by December, and an inter-creditor pact needs to be signed for all accounts, where there is more than one lender. Any lender who does not sign ICA will have to make 20% extra capital provisioning. Soumitro Majumdar, partner, J Sagar Associates, said regulatory clarity on ICA execution being mandatory, would nip a lot of inter–creditor disputes in the bud, and compel focused efforts towards timely resolution plan implementation. RBI on Monday had specified five key ratios across 26 sectors, which lenders must follow while restructuring of accounts impacted by Covid-19. The recommendations given by the KV Kamath Committee has specified five metrics that need to be taken into account while deciding on a recast plan. These include total outstanding liabilities /adjusted tangible net worth, total debt/ebitda, current ratio, debt service coverage ratio, and average debt service coverage ratio. Some experts, however, believe that sector-wise differentiation may cause more harm than good. Sonam Chandwani, managing partner, KSK Legal said, “A differentiated graded approach may lead to implementation woes for financial institutions and deprive the residual sectors, hit by the pandemic, from availing a liquidity shot thereby putting their survival at stake.” The circular will be difficult to implement on paper and may even leave scope for manipulation, she added.
Source: Financial Express
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
809.45 |
USD/Ton |
-0.18% |
10-09-2020 |
|
VSF |
1285.77 |
USD/Ton |
1.15% |
10-09-2020 |
|
ASF |
1725.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
740.05 |
USD/Ton |
-0.88% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
1972.49 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
4105.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
5259.96 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
949.72 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1862.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1899.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
913.19 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2235.48 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
1746.01 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1388.05 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2206.26 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1914.04 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1702.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1548.77 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2074.76 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.15 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.94 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.48 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.66 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10-09-2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14611 USD dtd. 10/09/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
· Current Rs. 100 import tax could be increased to $ 1
· Five-year plan in the works to boost production, 10,000 people in 200 villages to be recruited
· Minister proposes using locally-produced linen in hotels
The Government is considering a revision of the Rs. 100 per kilo tax currently imposed on imported cloth and may increase it to as much as Rs. 185 ($1) as part of efforts to boost the local textile industry in the next five years. Batik, Handloom, and Local Apparel Products State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara told reporters following a discussion with apparel stakeholders that measures to strengthen the industry will be taken forward in the next two months. The meeting, which took place at his Ministry, also included thread importers, local thread and apparel manufacturers, and brand associations. Industry stakeholders attending the discussion stated that they would not have a need to import garments if locally manufactured products were of a higher quality, asked that the tax imposed on the industry be fair, and raised concerns about low consumption of apparel within the country. “Stopping low-quality garments from being imported to the country was their main concern,” Jayasekara stated, adding that the country has a large number of manufacturers who produce for local use as well as export purposes, and that it is by strengthening them that local production can also be strengthened. Jayasekara said that discussions have been held with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to locally produce linen and towels for hotels in the country, which would create job opportunities and increase production. While adding that tax reforms will be introduced in the future, Jayasekara stated the focus was to boost local production during the next five years. In terms of handloom production, Jayasekara said the Ministry has plans to recruit 10,000 persons for the industry and establish production in 200 villages. “We expect to boost batik, local apparel, and handloom production by streamlining them under one organisation. Within the next five years, local production will be boosted, and R we expect to present a basic plan to establish garment production on a rural level,” he went on to say. This would involve training centres for handloom, batik, and textile manufacturing on a regional level, so that manufacturers can grow as entrepreneurs, with the necessary machinery provided. In addition to this, a 70 acre land in Katunayake has been identified as suitable for a garment city, which will enable visitors to Sri Lanka to easily purchase garments in wholesale quantities. While the measures would increase the quality and quantity of local production, the Government will also take steps to restrict imports. The temporary suspension of apparel and textile imports was announced in May, but Jayasekara stated that certain restrictions regarding global brands will be relaxed due to challenges restrictions will pose in terms of attracting tourists and high-end consumers. According to the Central Bank’s External Sector Performance Review published for June, clothing and accessory imports amounted to $ 111 million between January and June this year, a 17.3% drop from the same period last year, when clothing and accessory imports totalled $ 134.2 million. A 23.6% drop was seen in textiles and textile articles, with January to June 2020 amounting to $ 1,065.6 million and the same period the year before totalling $ 1,394.6 million. Central Bank data also shows that clothing and accessories dropped from $ 30.2 million in January to $ 15.2 million in March, $ 12.2 million in April, and $ 8.1 million in May. However, clothing and accessories imports rose to $ 17.5 million in June. In terms of textiles and textile articles, the Central Bank states that imports amounted to $ 300.8 million in January, $ 182 million in February, and $ 139.3 million in March. There was a slight increase to $ 146.9 million in imports in April, followed by a drop to $ 121 million in May. However, textiles and textile article imports rose to $ 175.7 million in June. The State Minister explained that restrictions on imports were imposed to ensure Sri Lanka does not become a “dumping ground” for low quality garments and said he is to meet with batik dye importers and thread importers today to discuss concerns about material shortages today.
Source: Daily FT
With a view to boosting jobs, ensuring upswing in exports and making economy sound in next three years — the remaining period of the incumbent regime – the government has decided to invoke ‘out of box solutions’ by abandoning the ‘business as usual’ approach. The government has made up its mind to double exports in next five years for which the input cost for the export industry needs to be tackled for next 5 years. And to this effect, the government will step up its focus on ‘out of box solutions’ as has been desired by Prime Minister Imran Khan to realize the target of increasing jobs by improving the outlook of exports and economy. This has been disclosed in the summary titled ‘strategy to boost jobs, economy and exports in next three years to be pitched by Ministry of Industries and Production in ECC meeting. Pakistan needs to capitalize on its best trait to grab the post-COVID-19 opportunities and that is textiles, cereal and leather. The export industry can make Pakistan's economy turn around on a fast track basis and bring massive employment and foreign exchange in near future and years to come to match the targets of the Prime Minister. Already in the international export arena the countries (especially competitors of Pakistan) are going out of way to grab lost markets and exploring new markets. Export-oriented countries are subsidizing, reducing utility (Power & Gas) expenditure to position themselves into the international markets, especially US, Europe. Pakistani textile like other countries got a heavy jolt during that last 6 months with cancellation of large orders. The summary says that now is the time for Pakistan to take back the market share and that can only be done on fast track basis by the textile industry. And it is now or never situation to get the market share which cannot be achieved without the intervention of the cabinet.’ The industries ministry has asked for fixing the gas tariff for export industrial sector at Rs450 ($ 2.65)per MMBTU inclusive of GIDC (gas infrastructure development cess) for financial years 2020-21, 2021-22 &2022-23, including its power generation plants, which may be part of the same concern or incorporated separately; as far as the power produced is input for export oriented only. And to achieve the targets, Pakistan needs to take new initiatives in the export sector, such as BMR, Artificial Intelligence, worldwide international marketing through E-Commerce, association with companies like Amazon, Alibaba.’ As many as 10 sectors and sub-sectors, the official said, make about 80 percent of total exports of which Textile is 52percent and Cotton is 8% followed by Cereal (6%) and Leather (3.5%). Although Textiles is Pakistan’s forte, yet it is nowhere on the world map of Ready Made Garments (RMG), which is the most value added commodity. “Since exports are declining, therefore it is incumbent on the government decision and policy makers to bring back the Export forte and strength back to Pakistan.” The summary mentions the alarming dwindling trend in exports saying that in 2011 Pakistan’s total exports stood at $24.439billion whereas exports of Bangladesh were at $25.383 billion in the same year. However in 2018, Pakistan exports tumbled to $23.485 billion whereas exports of Bangladesh massively surged to $39.252 billion. And to arrest this declining trend in exports, Pakistan needs to go for out-of-box solutions instead of keeping business as usual.
Source: The News
Fabric Days—the condensed and business-focused trade fair format held in Munich from September 1-3, 2020, was the first fabric fair after the lockdown. Good visitor frequency exceeding all expectations of the organisers confirms that a physical event is accepted and needed by the industry in these times. It has set a positive sign for the industry. Thanks to the great support from suppliers, the trust of the industry and the close cooperation with Messe München, the organisers have succeeded in creating a parade example for the following trade fairs under the new conditions with Fabric Days, the organisers said in their post-event report for the trade fair that was the ideal starting point for the collection design for Autumn-Winter 21/22. "With the organisation of the first fabric trade fair for the textile industry, we took on a great responsibility. After the cancellation of numerous trade fair events, we are particularly proud to have been able to realise Fabric Days. The positive response and gratitude is overwhelming. We are very pleased about the cohesion and also the discipline with which everyone here on site worked together and we are happy to conclude the trade fair as an important source of inspiration with this result," said Sebastian Klinder, managing director of Munich Fabric Start. "Due to the pandemic, no one could tell what the visitor frequency would be like at the fair. So, we are all the happier that an unexpectedly large number of designers, product managers and buyers travelled to Munich to explore the over 700 collections from 300 international suppliers. Many visitors and exhibitors alike thanked us for making a physical event possible after all. Our guests felt secure at all times and were pleased with the personal exchange and the new input," said Frank Junker, creative director at Munich Fabric Start. Among the 1,300 visiting companies on site were well-known brands such as Adidas, Aigner, Alberto, Bogner, Drykorn, Gerry Weber, Hugo Boss, Irene Luft, Lanius, Malaikaraiss, MAC, Marc O’Polo, Mey, Oui, Puma, Riani, Rich&Royal, S.oliver, Seidensticker, SET, Vetements and Wolford. At Fabric Days, around 3,600 national and international visitors from 30 countries gathered new impulses and inspiration for the Autumn-Winter 21/22 collection. Longterm partners as well as exciting newcomers presented their developments in the 6 areas—Fabrics, Additionals, Denim & Sportswear, Innovations, Design Studios and Sourcing – whereby the condensed hall layout offered optimal conditions for crosssegment communication and networking. Hopetimism was the seasonal theme of the visionary Trend Forum at Fabric Days – and was literally experienced at Fabric Days. "I am really happy to meet our most important partners in person thanks to Fabric Days. I can finally feel the spirit that defines our industry again – experience tactile collections as well as gather information and inspirations," said Michael Seiter of Strellson. "Munich Fabric Start has always been an important date in the year for our team, so it was no question for us to also travel to Munich for Fabric Days. The high quality of the exhibitors really surprised us – and we really like the pleasant atmosphere here," said Dorothee Schumacher. Safety and hygiene had the highest priority during the implementation of Fabric Days. All visitors, exhibitors and contributors showed full understanding and took the extensive hygiene and safety measures into account with a high degree of naturalness and a positive spirit. "Especially in these times, we are looking for approaches for positive thinking and new impulses. Therefore, for us as exhibitors for many years, participation in Fabric Days was out of the question. And it has been confirmed: The team has managed to organise a trade fair even under these conditions, which has made personal meetings and business possible again. The hygiene measures, such as maintaining a safe distance and wearing a mouth and nose cover, were implemented perfectly and were also very well accepted by the visitors," said Piovese Fashion. "It was a very good feeling to participate in a trade fair again and to see our customers in person. Fabrics are tactile products that cannot be completely replaced by digital meetings – therefore we are very grateful for the organisation of the fair. We always felt super safe with all the clear hygiene measures. In general, the organisers have really done an excellent job, so that Fabric Days can be seen as an example for other fairs," said Fusion CPH. The foyer of Hall 4 of the MOC was dedicated to innovative approaches. The proven ReSource Area informed interested visitors about the wide range of sustainable fabrics and additionals. Right next to ReSource, Sustainable Innovations curator Simon Angel presented futuristic projects: "From Trash to Treasure" by Youyang Song, "Living Materials" by Iris Bekkers, "Solar Self" by Pauline van Dongen and "Perfect Imperfection" by Studio Mend. With the hygiene and safety measures implemented at FABRIC DAYS, the organisers have created a good basis for planning the upcoming trade fairs. Building on this, the Fabric Days team is now looking ahead and starting with the planning for the next fairs, i.e. Vie Premium Selection for Spring-Summer 22 on December 8-9, 2020, and Munich Fabric Start for Spring-Summer 22 from January 26-28, 2021.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
These advantages could outweigh the country’s relatively high labour taxes and social insurance costs, the report said. “Infrastructure investment and structural reforms look set to improve the operating environment, further raising Egypt’s competitiveness,” the report said. According to the report, Egypt has high labour availability, medium apparel manufacturing expertise, many trade agreements, and a medium transport network. Egypt, Jordon, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria will benefit the most in the MENA region from global apparel supply chain diversification, the report noted. Morocco, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia rank as the top three countries in the MENA region to benefit from global mid-range manufacturing diversification. Egypt is also likely to make significant gains in mid-range manufacturing, given its favourable demographics and relatively low labour costs. Egypt has implemented key reforms in recent years. These include adopting new investment and bankruptcy laws, liberalising its currency and adding momentum to growth prospects. That said, the Egyptian mid-range manufacturing sector is still relatively underdeveloped. Electrical and mechanical machinery, alongside vehicles, account for less than a tenth of the country’s total exports. Fitch Solutions forecasts Egypt’s real gross domestic product in 2020 will reach 2.6 per cent, while Bloomberg expects 1.9 per cent. Both Fitch and Bloomberg forecast Egypt’s inflation to reach 5.9 per cent this year.“Tunisia has low labour costs and a developed textile sector, though high political risk, a lack of raw input materials and a small working population could act as headwinds to its apparel production growth,” according to the report. Fitch said that Jordan is politically stable, with strong ties to European suppliers and favourable transport regulation. That said, the high wages and Jordan’s reliance on imported fibres pose some headwinds to its apparel sector. Morocco is already a large textile producer, but as the kingdom moves up the value chain, rising labour costs will likely inhibit further large-scale investment into its apparel sector. Fitch said that Algeria’s large population and low labour costs would suit apparel production. However, the country lacks integration into Europe’s supply chains and protectionist policies could discourage investment. Rising labour costs in China and trade protectionism have, in recent years, encouraged European and North American brands to begin re-evaluating their sourcing strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend, prompting firms to diversify and shorten supply chains. Against this backdrop, Fitch Solutions expects the proximity of MENA countries and the preferential access to European markets, coupled with steady reform efforts, will boost the region’s competitiveness vis-à-vis other manufacturing hubs worldwide. “Despite somewhat higher labour costs relative to Asian competitors, both textile and apparel production as well as mid-range machinery and electronics manufacturing will likely expand in MENA in the next few years,” according to the report.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
