The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 09 NOV, 2020

 NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Major Ports' Cargo Traffic Falls For Seventh Straight Month In October

India's top ports registered a 12.43% decline in cargo traffic during the April-October period of the current fiscal to 354.81 million tonnes amid Covid-19-related disruptions, according to Indian Ports Association. India has 12 major ports under the control of the central government — Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore) VO Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia). In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, sharp declines were witnessed in handling of containers, coal and petroleum, oil and lubricant, among other commodities. These ports handle about 61% of the country's total cargo traffic. They handled 705 MT of cargo last fiscal.

Cargo volumes at these 12 major ports have declined for the seventh straight month in October 2020. During the April-October period of the last fiscal, these 12 major ports had handled 405.20 MT of cargo, according to the ports' apex body. Defying the broader trend, Mormugao saw an increase of 16.47% in cargo handling to 10.17 MT during April-October period this year.

Cargo handling at Kamarajar Port (Ennore) nosedived 30.56% during April-October to 12.53 MT, while ports like Chennai, Cochin and Mumbai saw their cargo volumes drop about 20% during the said period. JNPT and Kolkata ports suffered sharp declines of 18% and 14% respectively. Deendayal Port saw cargo volumes dip 11.5%, while VO Chidambarnar recorded a dip of 10.8% and cargo handling at New Mangalore and Visakhapatnam dropped by over 5%. Paradip Port recorded a decline of about 4%. Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has recently said the cargo traffic at 12 major ports declined considerably from March onwards, adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The minister, however, had added that recovery has started since June 2020.

SOURCE: BloombergQuint

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Panel to review measures to boost investment

After consultation with departments of revenue and expenditure, Niti Aayog has identified ten new sectors for extending the PLI scheme.

Amid the plans to expand production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to more sectors to generate foreign and domestic investment, an empowered group of secretaries for investment (EGoS), chaired by Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, will meet on Thursday to review steps taken by ministries and departments in various sectors through incentives and ease of doing business measures to attract investors, sources told FE.

After PLI scheme was notified on April 1, ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has approved 16 applications worth Rs 35,541 crore for electronics manufacturing in the country. Under the scheme, an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, is planned for eligible companies, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year as defined.

In July this year, the Centre has also notified four production-linked incentive and pharmaceutical infrastructure schemes entailing a combined budgetary outgo of about Rs 12,000 crore over multiple years, including for domestic manufacturing of drug intermediates (DIs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Under the scheme, financial incentive will be provided on sales of 41 identified products for six years.

After consultation with departments of revenue and expenditure, Niti Aayog has identified ten new sectors for extending the PLI scheme. According to sources in the government, the PLI scheme could be extended to steel, textiles and food processing, among others.

On June 3, with a view to support, facilitate and provide investor friendly ecosystem to those investing in India, the Union Cabinet has approved constitution of EGoS for investment. Its objective is to bring synergies and ensure timely clearances from different departments and ministries; to attract increased investments into India and provide investment support and facilitation to global investors; to facilitate investments of top investors in a targeted manner and to usher policy stability and consistency in the overall investment environment.

In July this year, the Centre has also notified four production-linked incentive and pharmaceutical infrastructure schemes entailing a combined budgetary outgo of about Rs 12,000 crore over multiple years, including for domestic manufacturing of drug intermediates (DIs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Under the scheme, financial incentive will be provided on sales of 41 identified products for six years.

After consultation with departments of revenue and expenditure, Niti Aayog has identified ten new sectors for extending the PLI scheme. According to sources in the government, the PLI scheme could be extended to steel, textiles and food processing, among others.

On June 3, with a view to support, facilitate and provide investor friendly ecosystem to those investing in India, the Union Cabinet has approved constitution of EGoS for investment. Its objective is to bring synergies and ensure timely clearances from different departments and ministries; to attract increased investments into India and provide investment support and facilitation to global investors; to facilitate investments of top investors in a targeted manner and to usher policy stability and consistency in the overall investment environment.

After approval of the Cabinet, detailed instructions were issued to concerned inistries/departments for constitution of project development cells (PDCs) in ministries/departments on June 10. The PDCs that have been set up in 29 ministries/departments are working around four pillars to boost their investment targeting strategy. PDCs have identified target companies (both international and domestic) and classified them into high, medium and long term probability of conversion. PDCs have also created customised investment outreach strategies for identified target companies, which may see the participation of the Indian Missions abroad, holding webinars/investment forums/roundtables and/or reaching out to business associations. If the PDC has identified any cases worthy of EGoS consideration, they have made sure to include the same after considering the merits of the case.

SOURCE: The Financial express

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INTERNATIONAL

India, Japan, Australia are planning to widen the ambit of proposed supply-chain pact to counter China

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry Hiroshi Kajiyama and Australia’s trade, tourism and industry minister Simon Birmingham had attended the virtual meeting.

India, Japan and Australia are planning to widen the ambit of their proposed supply-chain partnership to include more like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region — a move seen as countering China’s dominance in world trade.

ASEAN countries would be good candidates to reach out to next for bolstering this partnership, an official source told FE.

In September, trade ministers of India, Japan and Australia decided to launch an initiative later this year to achieve supply-chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific region. The decision came at a time when China’s expansionist agenda across the South China sea and its borders with India had rattled several countries in the region. The idea is also to reduce the reliance on China for supply of goods and services.

The initiative, currently limited to the government-to-government level, will also involve industries as well as academia of these nations, according to senior government officials. The partnership is important, as it currently involves three major players in the Asia-Pacific region, with combined gross domestic product of $9.3 trillion and trade (both goods and services) of $3.6 trillion in 2019.

Senior officials who are hammering out broad contours of the partnership are initially focussing on these countries’ trade with the world — from the raw material to the finished goods stage — in 10 key sectors. Accordingly, supply-chains may be tweaked. These sectors are petroleum and petrochemicals, automobiles, steel, pharmaceuticals, textiles and garments, marine products, financial services, IT services, tourism and travel services, and skill development. Of course, this list of sectors will go through further stakeholder consultations, according to the officials.

“The ministers reaffirmed their determination to take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open,” according to a joint statement after a meeting of the ministers in September.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry Hiroshi Kajiyama and Australia’s trade, tourism and industry minister Simon Birmingham had attended the virtual meeting.

The move, originally mooted by Japan, gathered speed after the Covid-19 outbreak exposed China’s unreliability as a supplier, especially to those countries with which it shares lukewarm relations, said a source.

Addressing the meeting, Goyal had said the initiative couldn’t have come at a more opportune time in the post-Covid scenario when “there is a likelihood of re-churning of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region and it’s incumbent on us to take the initiative”.

Already, India, Japan and Australia make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, along with the US, to strengthen national security consultation.

The pandemic has not just posed an unprecedented health crisis but also caused a sharp contraction in economic activities, disrupting trade and investments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted as much as 4.4% contraction for 2020 global GDP, warning that the Covid-19 outbreak has plunged the global economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression in 1930s. The WTO, too, has in warned that global trade volume growth could crash by a steep 9.2% in 2020 from last year.

SOURCE: The Financial Express
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GIPC to make Ghana's textile-garment industry attractive

The government in Ghana and the country’s textile and garment Industry are working hard to be more attractive to the global markets, according to Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) chief executive officer (CEO) Yofi Grant, who attributed the decline to a surge in Chinese imports, smuggling from China and Vietnam and lack of raw materials.

China’s low-cost products in Ghanaian markets lead to lower demand of domestic textiles, he said.

GIPC is determined to add value to the textiles and garments produced to make it more appealing to the global market, he said.

Grant was speaking at meeting on investment in garments and textiles in Accra that was organised in partnership with the Cotton Development Authority and the Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers.

Source:Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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UBQ and Mainetti partners to turn waste into sustainable fashion materials

Israel based cleantech company UBQ Materials, which develops technologies to transform waste into sustainable materials, said that it will partner up with multinational retail solutions provider Mainetti. The joint venture will see the companies collaborate on introducing eco-friendly and sustainable raw materials for the global fashion industry and retailers.

Founded in 2012 by Chairman Yehuda Pearl, who also founded Sabra, the leading hummus brand in the U.S.; and CEO Jack Bigio, UBQ’s proprietary technology converts residual household waste into a sustainable bio-based substitute for oil-based plastics.

By diverting landfill-destined waste, UBQ’s solution helps prevent methane emissions, groundwater contamination and other social and environmental harms associated with the proliferation of landfills, all while creating a novel raw material with a climate-positive impact. Essentially, the company turns your unwanted leftovers and trash into turtle-friendly materials for the retail world.

“Industries like retail and fashion are ripe to lead sustainable change,” stated Jack Bigio, Co-Founder and CEO, UBQ Materials Israel.

“It is easy to overlook the impact of a hanger, but when we zoom out, we understand that hangers are the common denominator across all brands, across the globe. The beauty of manufacturing products with a climate positive material such as UBQ is the ability to significantly impact carbon footprints while leaving no impact on consumers’ experience,” Bigio told.

“UBQ’s best-in-class technology, paired with our global footprint as the leading retail solutions provider, will allow us to help the fashion industry revolutionize sustainable practices and have a lasting impact on the planet.”

ROBERTO PERUZZO, CEO, MAINETTI

With billions of hangers produced globally each year, the impact that this retail mainstay alone can have on the environment is significant.

The development of Mainetti garment hangers containing UBQ material has resulted in hangers with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. These sustainable products are currently pending Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) certification, which is a globally recognized measure for the production of safe and eco-friendly products.

“Just as we pioneered hanger and plastics recycling, having introduced sustainable supply chain solutions for customers nearly six decades ago, Mainetti is proud to be driving meaningful change with this new, innovative offering,” explained Roberto Peruzzo, CEO, Mainetti.

Peruzzo continues, “UBQ’s best-in-class technology, paired with our global footprint as the leading retail solutions provider, will allow us to help the fashion industry revolutionize sustainable practices and have a lasting impact on the planet.”

Mainetti’s exclusive collaboration with UBQ for hangers offers brands across the fashion and retail industries a cost-effective method to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and a new way to put action towards the current waste crisis.

It also provides these brands with another route to connecting with consumer audiences who are armed with information and whose buying habits are an extension of their environmental values.

“The fashion industry is receiving a lot of attention for its contributions to pollution and climate change,” said Marc Abeles, Global Marketing Director, Mainetti.

“Together with UBQ, we are empowering our clients to do something about the important issues that experts, decision-makers and consumers alike are concerned about right now. By providing products such as our innovative, sustainable hangers, we enable retailers and brands to design more responsibly and achieve their sustainability objectives,” Abeles added.

Source: Textile Today

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Renewcell & Beyond Retro join hands for textile recycling

Sweden-based textile-to-textile recycling firm, Renewcell, has signed a multi-year agreement with Bank & Vogue, to supply pre- and post-consumer waste to be recycled.

As a part of this collaboration, Bank & Vogue will be Renewcell’s largest supplier for their recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden.

The plant will employ innovative and patented technology for recycling cotton in worn-out jeans into Circulose, a new virgin grade raw material for fashion.

Bank & Vogue will be responsible for annually delivering around 30,000 metric tonnes of million pairs of worn-out jeans, etc.

Individually both the companies have made their impact in the landscape of fashion. The companies have partnered together in last 3 years to expand their efforts and together have ensured thousands of jeans and other cotton garments were upcycled into new clothes at Renewcell’s recycling plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden.

Furthermore, Renewcell’s future plant, built at the site of former paper mill in Sundsvall, Sweden, will be leveraging the patented eco-friendly process running on 100 per cent green energy technology to recycle hundreds of millions of garments every year.

“With this agreement, we take the next step to industrial scale textile-to-textile recycling. Together, we prove fashion waste unnecessary – all clothes should be used, reused and recycled,” Patrik Lundström, CEO of Renewcell said.

Source: Apparel Resources

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G-Star Raw introduces world’s most sustainable black denim fabric

G-Star, the Dutch denim label, has unveiled ‘Relz Black Denim’ fabric, what it claims to be the world’s most sustainable black denim fabric for eight styles of its winter ‘20 collection.

The development has been done in collaboration with Artistic Milliners and Archroma and is made from pure organic cotton, dyed and treated without the use of any harmful chemical.

The residual of the black liquid dye and the pigment coating level left behind is easy to clean and is reusable.

Also the dye is applied to the fabric in a five-step process instead of the conventional eight to ten steps, which saves around 52 percent water, 65 percent energy, 71 percent CO2 emissions, and 14 percent chemicals.

Moreover, G-Star’s long-standing cooperation partners Artistic Milliners and Archroma have allowed it to achieve the Gold Status certification by the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute for its Raw Relz Black Denim.

This makes it the first black denim to achieve the Cradle to Cradle Certification, which is given to the products that are safe, circular and responsibly produced.

The eight products include a lined denim peacoat, a button pencil skirt, ultra-high mom and dad ankle jeans, boyfriend crop jeans, ultra-high straight ankle jeans and a bomber jacket.

These products will be available online at g-star.com and in G-Star stores starting 11 November 2020.

Source: Apparel Resources

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