INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2015-07-12
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1178.16 |
USD/Ton |
-1.37% |
7/12/2015 |
|
VSF |
2105.02 |
USD/Ton |
0.39% |
7/12/2015 |
|
ASF |
2480.34 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Polyester POY |
1174.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Nylon FDY |
3018.83 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
40D Spandex |
6200.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2627.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1370.71 |
USD/Ton |
-0.59% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3263.60 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Nylon POY |
6013.18 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1427.83 |
USD/Ton |
-1.13% |
7/12/2015 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2847.49 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2725.11 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1892.89 |
USD/Ton |
-0.85% |
7/12/2015 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2953.56 |
USD/Ton |
-0.55% |
7/12/2015 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2072.39 |
USD/Ton |
-1.55% |
7/12/2015 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2496.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2888.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2692.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.14 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.96 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.06 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.77 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.78 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
7/12/2015 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.16318 USD dtd.12/07/2015)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha reiterated the Union government’s stance from possible Greece fallout with the possibility of some volatility in the capital markets in India with marginal impact on the country’s economy as a whole. Speaking to Express, Sinha however qualified his statement saying that sectors with high exposure to the European market “will see an impact”. Tamil Nadu’s vital export industries - Leather and Textiles - fall into this category with the European Union being one of the largest export markets, and any decline in the strength of the Euro will likely see an already unfavourable situation worsen. “If there is indeed an exit from the EU by Greece, as far as India is concerned, we will have to deal with some volatility in the capital market. And certain industries with exports that are quite significant to Europe will be affected,” Sinha said.
The Euro zone constitutes almost 48 per cent of the Indian textile export market and constitutes 60 per cent of the leather export market. According to Rafique Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the Greek crisis and the weakening Euro have already had a significant impact on the two. “There has been an approximate 10-15 per cent decline in Indian exports from these sectors ever since the uncertainty over Greece surfaced - over the last five months,” he said. Any further decline in the value of the Euro could see conditions worsen significantly. Textile exports alone in the last five months have seen a decline of around 5 percent, according to exporters.
It all depends on the Euro. It has weakened already and that has seen some decline in our exports. We are afraid it might weaken further if Europe decides to let go of that debt,” said A Sakthivel, president of the Tirupur Exporters Organisation. (Tirupur is a major textile hub - exporting Rs 20,730 crore out of a total Rs 2.62 lakh crore in total textile exports in 2014-15.) According to figures from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, textiles contributed 12.59 per cent of India’s overall export figures in 2013-14 which is a significant amount.
For leather products, with the Euro zone constituting a larger export market, the situation is potentially worse. Experts are hoping that the European Central Bank will effect a swift correction if the Euro starts declining, which will help in stemming any decline in exports from India. “We have to see how quickly any volatility in the Euro is contained. With the European economy already in a poor state, the Greek crisis has only increased the uncertainty and reduced the purchasing power. The recovery of (the textile and leather sectors in case of Euro volatility), will be slow and we (must brace for) some tough times ahead,” asserted Ahmed.
SOURCE: The New Indian Express
The demand for compact yarn is increasing gradually and textile mills in the region are going in for compact spinning machinery and attachments, according to industry sources here. Tamil Nadu has 24 million spindles and this includes close to one lakh spindles with attachments for compact spinning or compact spinning machinery. A handful of spinning mills have gone in for bulk production of compact yarn too. There are domestic, European and Chinese manufacturers who supply machinery and attachments. Earlier, compact yarn was used by companies making shirt material. Now, even hosiery units use compact yarn. It is a value-added product and in the comings years, its demand is expected to go up, say the sources. It is estimated that in the next seven to eight years, about 30 per cent of the yarn produced will be compact yarn. With slowdown and several other factors affecting textile mills in the region for the last two years, textile mills are not going in for major investments. Those who want to produce value-added yarn do look at options such as compact yarn, double yarn, etc. They prefer to add retrofits to reduce investment costs.
Further, when the units invest in machinery they ensure there are servicing facilities for the machinery and a demand for the product. Though it is not viable to making huge investments now, mills that want to have an edge in the market do look at value-addition, the sources said. Meanwhile, 41 textile mills in this region have come together to procure compact attachment systems from China. The mills have placed orders for compact attachment systems jointly on a pilot basis. They are able to get price advantage by placing orders for the systems jointly. The demand for fabric made from compact yarn is increasing globally, says Prabhu Damodaran, secretary of Indian Texpreneurs Federation.
SOURCE: The Hindu
In order to stop pollutants from flowing into the Yamuna and turn each of them into a zero discharge unit, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has made it mandatory for all textile industries to treat and recycle discharged water. If directions are not followed by any unit, they will be sealed immediately, the HSPCB official said. The board has instructed each unit to install an ETP (effluents treatment plant) and also put in place a reverse osmosis (RO) plant to re-use the discharged water. They have been given about 16 months (till December 2016) to put in place the required infrastructure. There are nearly 40 textile manufacturing units in Gurgaon, spread across Manesar and Udyog Vihar which release more than 25KLD (kilo litres water per day). Last year, the National Green Tribunal instructed regulatory authorities in the state to issue guidelines to the industrial units on the setting up of 'zero discharge units'. According to the green court, a 'zero discharge unit' is the one that does not discharge any amount of liquid effluent, not even treated effluent.
.According to HSPCB, textile industries use a lot of water in washing and dyeing and it is one of the major contributors of pollution in Yamuna. Though the amount of water used by a unit depends on its size and scale, a medium- to large-scale textile manufacturing unit, on an average, discharges 1 to 1.5 lakh litres of water per day. The discharged water flows into the Yamuna through the Najafgarh drain and it also affects the quality of groundwater in the area, said a senior HSPCB official. However, Animesh Saxena, president of Udyog Vihar Industrial Association, said that zero discharge was not possible. In India, there is no technology to put in place zero discharge from a textile manufacturing unit. About 5% of water will per force be discharged.
Besides, according to city-based hydrologist Rekha Bajaj, the cost of installing an ETP is somewhere around %Rs 4-5 crore, which may not be commercially viable for many units. But Bajaj was appreciative of the HSPCB initiative. Bajaj said that toxins released from dyes remain in water for a very long time which affects the water quality and hence the entire ecosystem of a river. Also, direct exposure to toxins can cause respiratory illness and skin disease among people living close to drains and rivers.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Exporters and importers can now pay application fees for various schemes and facilities online through debit and credit cards, thus obviating the need for them to visit government offices and banks. The online payment facility, which also allows electronic fund transfer from 53 banks, was launched by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Commerce Ministry, on Thursday. The facility was inaugurated by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia. “The facility of online payment is in keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’, and is another small, but crucial, step towards a paperless, online environment,” the DGFT office said. Exporters’ body FIEO pointed out that the new procedure also envisages streamlining of the refund of application fee, where payment was made erroneously, which under the manual mode would take months.
Doing business
This, along with the steps taken in reducing export-import documents from 7 and 9 respectively to 3 and the various initiatives on digitalisation and EDI will definitely help in improving India’s ranking in the ‘Doing Business Report’ of the World Bank, the FIEO release added. Recently, the DGFT operationalised the facility of online filing of various applications by exporters/importers under the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20). It also implemented the facility of online submission of applications for issue of online Importer Exporter Code in digital format or e-IEC. “Now with the online payment facility being available, it would be possible to not only apply online for benefits under various schemes under the FTP, but also make payment of the required application fee online, thus obviating the need to visit the offices of DGFT or banks for submission of applications,” the release said.
Meanwhile, Pravir Kumar, Director-General, DGFT, said at a open house meet organised by FIEO in Chennai, fee payments using Visa, Master and Rupay cards have been enabled. This truly makes the operations 24x7 and is among the initiatives to ease transactions related to exports. Also in the pipeline is a single window clearance for customs related paper work. This will be ready in about six months, he said.
Exporters seek intiatives
Rafeeque Ahmed, immediate Past President FIEO, said the uncertainty in Europe in the backdrop of the Greece financial situation and the slowdown in China mean that exporters have to gear for a difficult period over the next two quarters. Exports are down with a 10 per cent drop in non-oil exports in the last two months. The Government has to support the exporters with efficient processes and systems and quick decision making to ensure export competitiveness. The interest subvention scheme has to be implemented fast to keep transaction costs down, he said. A Sakthivel, Regional Chairman, FIEO, said exporters’ order books were getting thinner in the backdrop of global economic scenario. Tax refunds have to be speeded up and paper work simplified to keep transaction costs down.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India is on road to achieve 10 percent economic growth soon as he listed the government’s economic reforms, policy changes and investment in key sectors like infrastructure. “The reform process ongoing with some more significant changes like GST in the pipeline, increased infrastructure spending this year, emphasis on smart cities when all these initiatives get down to the field then India’s aspiration to cross that eight percent hub and get on to eight to ten percent growth targets may be something which is not completely out of sight-something may eminently achievable,” he said.
Jaitley said growth in the indirect tax revenues by 14 percent in the first quarter of current fiscal year has given option to the government to spend more in infrastructure projects. “When indirect revenue collection figures came out for the first quarter as a whole they did indicate that custom duty, excise duty, service tax and etc – even without additional revenues measures-were up 14 percent to the last year – if you take the additional revenue measures they were up 37 percent,” he added. Jaitley promised massive investment in agriculture to mitigate rural distress and indebtedness of the farmers. “We are fairly clear about the fact that large part of this additional investment will have to go into agriculture to mitigate this rural distress and indebtedness of the farmers,” he said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The Rajya Sabha’s Select Committee on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill is likely to put forward some suggestions to protect the income of panchayats and other local governments prior to the implementation of the new tax regime. The Panchayati Raj Ministry has also raised concerns over certain proposals in the panel’s meeting held recently. There is near unanimity in the panel that the rights of local bodies should be protected. Its members have suggested amendments to Clause 17 and Clause 19 of the Constitutional Amendment Bill. During a discussion with the officials of the ministry in May, the members had pointed out that though the Bill provides protection for the panchayat’s right to levy Entertainment Tax, there is none for their right to collect Advertisement Tax, Entry Tax, etc. The members argue that all taxes, duties, levies, royalties and tolls currently levied by panchayats should remain with them.
The Mumbai Municipal Corporation, fearing loss of octroi income after GST implementation, has demanded that local bodies be compensated. Also, there is no consensus within the panel on issues such as excluding tobacco from the GST’s ambit. The Congress is demanding that tobacco, tobacco products, alcohol and electricity should be under the GST regime, which is similar to the Central Government’s argument. However, on the issue of taxes levied by panchayats, most members seem to be supporting the arguments of the Panchayati Raj Ministry.
A note circulated by the Ministry to the members said there should be “absolute clarity” on the protection of local taxes levied by panchayats, which varies across the country in quantum and buoyancy. “There should also be clarity on the possible future authorisation to levy, collect and appropriate taxes by panchayats, as decided by State government under Article 243 H of the Constitution,” the Ministry said, citing Constitutional provisions and recommendations of 13th Finance Commission. The Ministry said the State Finance Commissions could recommend how GST can be shared with local governments. It also recommended that local governments be compensated when GST is implemented.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
India’s industrial output grew a disappointing 2.7 per cent year-on-year in May, compared with 4.1 per cent in April, primarily due to weak growth in the manufacturing sector, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. For May last year, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 5.6 per cent. The cumulative growth in industrial output for the first two months of this financial year was three per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent in the year-ago period. In May, manufacturing activity increased only 2.2 per cent year-on-year, compared with 5.1 per cent in April and 5.9 per cent in May 2014. Among the bright spots, electricity generation increased six per cent year-on-year, compared with a contraction of 0.5 per cent in April. Mining increased 2.8 per cent in May, compared with only 0.6 per cent in April. Among the sub-groups in manufacturing, all saw deterioration compared to May last year. Growth in capital goods stood at 1.8 per cent, against 4.2 per cent a year earlier; basic goods grew 6.4 per cent, against 7.5 per cent a year earlier; and growth in intermediate goods stood at 1.2 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in May 2014. The consumer goods segment contracted 1.6 per cent in May, compared with growth of 4.6 per cent in May 2014, while the consumer durables category contracted 3.9 per cent, against 3.6 per cent growth a year earlier. Growth in consumer non-durables was almost unchanged from 5.2 per cent in May 2014.
Core sector data for May, released on July 1, and showed growth of 4.4 per cent, leading to expectations of good IIP numbers for May. “Some of the components of the capital goods sector have been volatile. In line with our expectations, consumption-oriented sectors continued to show weakness. Weakness in consumption is indicative of weak rural demand and low government revenue expenditure,” said Dhananjay Sinha, head of research at Emkay Global Financial Services. Though capital goods is a volatile segment in the IIP and its ability to sustain industrial growth isn’t certain, this segment has been posting growth of 6-12 per cent since November. Economists attribute this to a few stalled projects coming on stream. According to a project-monitoring group set up to expedite clearance of stalled projects, all pending issues for 255 projects, worth Rs 9 lakh crore, have been resolved. “Negative consumer demand growth is an area of concern and we hope the government will bring out specific measures to stimulate demand in the economy,” said Jyotsna Suri, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “Consumption remains weak and so does fresh investment. Usually, consumption grows post-harvest, around this time every year. But this year, it hasn’t shown signs of a revival. We don’t expect either consumption or investment to pick up till the second half of the year,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings. “We expect the current weakness in consumption data, as well as in industrial output to some extent, to continue in June, July and August.”
SOURCE: The Business Standard
India is expecting a positive outcome from the upcoming round of negotiations on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), scheduled to take place in the Myanmarese capital of Nay Pyi Taw early next month. Prior to that, trade ministers from all member countries would be meeting in Malaysia on Monday, for an inter-ministerial discussion. Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also expected to attend the meeting where India is going to spell out its stance explicitly, a senior commerce department official told Business Standard. Incidentally, India is facing stiff opposition from its domestic industry in negotiating the RCEP as it entails giving tariff concessions to China and other rival countries. The steel industry is especially up in arms and the minister is expected to discuss the matter during the meeting in Malaysia. The last round of talks took place in Japan in June. But the talks were kept in complete secrecy by all the countries.
According to the official, although the talks are "progressing successfully" it will insist on the trade pact to be divided into goods and services, separately with different set of tariff mechanism. India, on its part, is keeping the talks under wraps as negotiating RCEP means discussing a tariff concession deal with China. Many representatives of the Indian industry have expressed their "uneasiness" in negotiating the deal as it means "opening the floodgates" to them, an industry chamber representative said on condition of anonymity. During the upcoming talk, India is also expected to demand a differential duty concept, meaning different duty structure for different countries on imported goods. India is planning to also, insist upon excluding the 'ratcheting-up process' of the pact. In order words, consolidating the trade agreements by following the best practices among member countries.
However, China and India are hell-bent on concluding the deal at the earliest as the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) gathers momentum. The TPP, once implemented, will establish stringent exporting standards and rules of origin undermining all other bilateral trade pacts. India is especially concerned because it is not part of it. As a result, the RCEP will come as a reply to the TPP for India where exporting standards are severely poor and the concept of rules of origin is still at a nascent stage. "The failure of the TPP to recognise development challenges will persist as a problem for countries outside of the TPP. It offers a binary choice - countries either meet the high standards of TPP or they do not. In contrast, the RCEP explicitly tackles capacity-building and has the scope for phased adjustment, recognising the significant diversity of the stages of development within ASEAN and across its partners," said David Nellor, adjunct professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore in his report. He was a consultant to the Indonesian minister of trade in preparing the RCEP.
Apparently, it is learnt that countries like Japan and South Korea are pressing for stiff intellectual property laws that might stifle the pharmaceutical industry and access to affordable medicine. On the other hand, some of the members such as the Philippines and Vietnam have called for regulating the e-commerce sector. RCEP, launched in November 2012, comprises 10 economies of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and six of its free trade partners - Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. So far, eight rounds of talks have taken place with not a single positive outcome on any of the segments like agriculture, industrial goods, services and investments.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) impact on India and South Asia will be much more than the short-term tariff-preference erosions for the region’s exports, a senior researcher at Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) says. “The effects are likely to include the challenges of upgrading to new quality standards of the TPP markets and developing long-term strategies for negotiating ‘new’ issues in trade governance,” observed Amitendu Palit, a Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead for Trade and Economic Policy at the ISAS, a think tank at the National University of Singapore (NUS). “India’s Foreign Trade Policy (2015-2020), while noting the advent and some of the implications of the TPP, does not spell out any clear strategies for addressing these. But it is essential for India to do so,” he wrote in a research paper on “Trans-Pacific Partnership, India and South Asia”. Otherwise, Indian exports will face increasingly adverse prospects in the TPP markets, as well as in the markets of countries that are negotiating other mega-Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), like the European Union, Palit points out. A lack of strategic vision for mega-RTAs like the TPP can gradually isolate India and South Asia from a significant part of the global trade space, he warns. With much of world trade beginning to fix comparative advantages of national producers on satisfaction of high quality standards and domestic institutional reforms in their countries across a wide range of cross-cutting “World Trade Organization plus” issues, India must look closely at the global trade agenda set by the TPP for staying relevant in world trade, he says.
The TPP will be a game-changer for the world economy and global trade, introducing new rules and systems. With its 12 members – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam accounting for around two-fifths of the world output and a quarter of global trade – the TPP’s rules and writ will cover large chunks of the world economy and trade. Many of the same rules might also be implemented under other mega-RTAs that are being currently negotiated, as well as under new bilateral trade agreements, says Dr Palit based on his research. The TPP has implications for several countries including India and others from South Asia. Given that several TPP member-economies are major trade partners of South Asian countries, these impacts would have both short-term and long-term implications, spread over time, he says. The TPP is expected to make around 11,000 tariff lines duty-free for its members. This wide-ranging tariff elimination will affect the competitiveness of these exports from countries that currently enjoy duty-free access in the TPP member-markets.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
With the World Bank’s Doing Business report 2016 to be released soon, the ministries of finance and shipping are in urgent talks to improve the functioning at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), which handles over 50 per cent of India’s container trade. The spotlight on the JNPT port is in wake of the Doing Business report of 2015, which ranked India at 126 out of 189 countries under the ‘Trading Across Borders’ component, based on the export and import taking place at the JNPT Port, Mumbai. “The ranking by the World Bank was done on the basis of three parameters including number of documents required for export/import; time taken in the process of export/import; and cost of exporting /importing a consignment. The revenue secretary and the shipping secretary met recently to discuss the measures which need to be taken on an urgent basis,” a government official told The Indian Express.
Among the many challenges, lack of buffer yards and parking areas for containers, high parking charges, lack of e-delivery of orders and single-window clearance are the most prominent ones at JNPT. JNPT handled 4.12 million TEUS in 2013 and handles approximately half of India’s containerised throughput. The World Bank report said that in India (Mumbai), exporting a standard container of goods requires seven documents, takes 16 days and costs $1,120. Importing the same container of goods requires 10 documents, takes 20 days and costs $1,250. “After the meeting it has been decided to convince private container terminal – Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) and Gateway Terminals India (GTI) – to construct new parking lots and operate them on pay and park basis. Permanent solution for reducing the congestion is construction of a flyover to the port and that will take some time. Meanwhile the JNPT has been asked to widen roads to the port within 2-3 months,” the official added. In fact, several Japanese companies recently took up the issue of inadequate infrastructure. “The shipping lines charge exorbitantly… The ministry has urged the shipping lines to move to automated system of e-delivery orders and bring down the cost,” the official said. Currently only 9 of 34 shipping lines issue e-delivery orders. To streamline the movement of containers, a railway line at the port and a 6-8 lane evacuation corridor is proposed at Rs 3,200 crore to be operational in 2-3 years.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
With the Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) in place to fund small and medium units, the government is keen to promote the entrepreneurial sector, said Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. “We have put together an approach that will be quite meaningful and shortly make an announcement to assist entrepreneurial sector. Stay tuned,” Sinha told corporate leaders and industry representatives at ‘Breakfast with BusinessLine ’, an interactive session at the Crowne Plaza in Chennai on Saturday. If the US is the innovation hub and economic engine for the top one billion — the affluent segment of the world population — India has the potential to be the innovation hub and economic engine for the next six billion of the world population. What is designed, developed and exported from here will be of great user value for the masses, he said. It has happened in auto manufacturing as an export hub for small cars. This will follow in solar energy, medical devices, in smartphones. “India does have the potential to be at the economic edge,” he added.
To ensure this, the MUDRA Bank would soon have its own statutory shape and create a financing ecosystem for MSMEs and the informal sector. The Refinance Agency “will be about loans in lakhs of rupees not in crores” and support small businesses, retailers and vendors, he said. This is just one of the elements the government is putting in place for promoting entrepreneurship. In order to nurture innovation, the government has also set aside significant funds for creating a network of innovation labs in educational institutions and the private sector. The Centre has also improved ease of doing business for the venture capital industry by providing pass-through tax status to alternative investment funds and launching a new institutional trading platform for innovative start-ups to list. A fund of funds will also be launched to propel the innovation economy forward, Sinha said. Drawing from his own experience as a venture capitalist, Sinha said the concern in the entrepreneurial sector is not about availability of funds but about viable and scaleable ideas. Unlike in the past, when funding was a key constraint, today, any good business plan with capability and management is getting funded. There is a mismatch between what entrepreneurs expect and what investors are willing to finance, he felt.
Capitalisation & NPAs
Responding to a question on capitalisation of banks and whether this would pose a constraint to growth, he said: “We have a solution for that and will discuss the matter in full detail shortly.” He stated that the Finance Ministry has been going through a detailed and thorough set of reviews with public sector banks, analysed balance sheets closely and understood their capital requirements now and for the future understand regarding Basel norms. The government is fully committed to supporting the nationalised banks. But capital is just one aspect, governance, management, operating autonomy, helping on NPA are all important elements of supporting public sector banks, he said. “We will be able to put in place a comprehensive solution for public sector banks,” he said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 57.98 per barrel (bbl) on 10.07.2015. This was higher than the price of US$ 57.48 per bbl on previous publishing day of 09.07.2015.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs 3674.77 per bbl on 10.07.2015 as compared to Rs 3650.55 per bbl on 09.07.2015. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 63.38 per US$ on 10.07.2015 as against Rs 63.51 per US$ on 09.07.2015. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on July 10, 2015 (Previous trading day i.e. 09.07.2015) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.07.2015 (June 12 to June 26, 2015) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
57.98 (57.48) |
61.66 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3674.77 (3650.55) |
3935.76 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
63.38 (63.51) |
63.83 |
SOURCE: PIB
The incentive of Rs. 64.15 billion cash subsidy to textile and clothing sector under textile policy would boost exports to $ 26 billion by 2019. The package announced under the policy (2015-19) carries special duty-drawback rates, duty exemption on plants and machinery, subsidy on long-term loans and also development subsidies. Finance Division will provide Rs.40.6 billion over five years for duty drawback, technology up-gradation and brand development etc. while another Rs. 23.5 billion will be provided for skill development, dedicated textile exhibitions, establishment of world textile centre, weaving city, incubators, apparel house, and mega textile awards.
Official sources said around 120,000 persons will be trained through skill development programme and 50 small companies from the sector will be picked each year for next three years for government support. The proposed measures will promote value-addition and generate employment for more than 5 million people. On the performance of textile industry, the sources said it is the most important manufacturing sector of Pakistan and has the longest production chain with inherent potential for value addition at each stage of processing, from cotton to ginning, spinning, fabric, dyeing and finishing, made -ups and garments. They said the sector contributes nearly one-fourth of industrial value-added, provides employment to about 40 percent of industrial labor force, and consumes about 40 percent of banking credit to manufacturing sector.
Barring seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, textiles products have maintained an average share of about 54 percent in national exports. Moreover, the sources said textile sector in Pakistan has remained stagnant over last decade due to a number of exogenous and indigenous factors such as subsidies given to cotton farmers and other textile products by several countries which distorted prices, marketing constraints, global recession, and increasingly stringent buyers conditionality. They said on the domestic side, cotton production has remained stagnant at about 13 million bales per annum and the resistance to grading and standardization of cotton bales by ginners and spinners alike has consistently lowered the value of Pakistani cotton by around 10 cents per pound in the international market. On the other hand, the value-added garments sector has grown marginally due to its limited product range, low usage of manmade fibers and inability of manufacturing units to restructure in order to meet changing international requirements.
SOURCE: The Pak Observer
On a July 7 visit to the White House, Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Thong held talks with US president Barack Obama covering the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the 12-nation free trade plan that Obama hopes to implement as a legacy of his two-term presidency. As the US and Vietnam join hands in pushing the trade partnership, China's export industries, the textile sector in particular, could be affected, reports the China Business News.
In TPP negotiations, the US insists on the "yarn forward" principle applied to the textile trade, which requires that only fabric produced from yarn made by a TPP country will qualify for duty free status. The 11 countries with which the US is negotiating the TPP are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. In line with the "yarn forward" principle, the US might ask Vietnam to reduce textile imports from China, according to the analysis. Although there remains differences in their respective views about state enterprises, environmental protection and labor standard laws, trade relations between the US and Vietnam have continued to grow. In 2014, US-Vietnam trade amounted to US$35 billion, with an average annual growth of 20% over the past three years, and the US bearing an unfavorable imbalance amounting to US$24 billion. The Chinese trade sector has forecast that by 2020, US-Vietnam trade value could be worth US$57 billion. During his meeting with Obama, Nguyen stated that Vietnam has endeavored to be integrated in regional as well as global economic developments. He also expressed hope that the US can support Vietnam in the process of TPP negotiations.
An HSBC report said that the TPP is an agreement that will favor small countries because with the partnership they may get easier access to large markets such as the US and Japan. As a matter of fact, a recent survey conducted by the US poll organization Pew in nine of the 12 countries currently in TPP negotiations shows that the Vietnamese public is most supportive of the free trade plan, with 89% of the respondents supporting the deal. The US is the second-largest export market for Vietnamese garments and shoes. In 2014, Vietnamese exports in this category of goods amounted to US$13.1 billion. On the other hand, Vietnam is not a major producer of textiles, with only 20% of the market supplied by domestic manufacturers. It imports an average of US$4.7 billion in textiles from China every year.
SOURCE: The WantChinaTimes
China’s exports picked up unexpectedly in June but imports tumbled again, reinforcing expectations that the government may further loosen policy to lift the Chinese economy after a recent stock market rout. However, imports slid much less than analysts had forecast, leading some to see a silver lining in the latest data. China’s June exports exceeded analyst expectations, rising 2.8 pct from a year earlier, while imports fell by 6.1 percent. That left the country with a trade surplus of $46.54 billion for the month, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall by 0.2 percent, and predicted imports would fall by 15.0 percent. China Customs said that the crisis in Greece was having “a certain effect” on trade, but also blamed weak external demand in general, rising labour costs and a stronger yuan for the weakness in exports. It said enduring industrial overcapacity continued to dampen import demand.
Persistent weakness in Chinese imports, which have fallen eight straight months, suggests that domestic consumption remained tepid even though the central bank has repeatedly loosened monetary policy in the past seven months to stoke activity. “There was quite a recovery in import growth and it looks like there’s more going on than FX rate differences,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in Singapore. “It suggests there was an improvement in domestic demand probably due to previous policy easing.” A survey of factories earlier this month showed that China’s manufacturing sector grew slightly in June, though not as much as expected.
To boost the economy, China’s central bank on June 27 cut lending rates for the fourth time since November and trimmed the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves, stepping up efforts to support an economy that is headed for its poorest performance in a quarter century. But a tumble in Chinese shares in recent weeks that knocked nearly one-third of the value off key benchmark stock indices has rattled confidence, and raised worries about potential knock-on effects on the Chinese economy. The government is due to release second-quarter gross domestic product data on Wednesday and many economists expect annual growth to have dipped below 7 percent, the weakest performance since the global financial crisis.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Oil prices fell in Asia as Iran and major western powers said they were closer than ever to a landmark nuclear deal that would lift sanctions and see Tehran’s crude exports return to global markets. A forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for slower world oil demand next year was also weighing on the market, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery was down 86 cents to USD 51.88 and Brent crude tumbled 96 cents to USD 57.77 a barrel in late-morning trade. “We have come a long way. We need to reach a peak and we’re very close,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in Tehran. “I hope we are finally entering the final phase of these marathon negotiations. I believe it,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who cancelled a trip to Africa to stay at the talks in Vienna.
Any deal to curb what the West suspects as Iranian efforts to build an atomic bomb will result in the lifting of punishing economic sanctions, allowing the country to resume oil exports. More Iranian oil however will add to a supply glut, which has depressed prices. “Reports out this morning have suggested that a comprehensive ‘in-principle’ agreement has been reached over the main issues, with only technical considerations remaining unresolved,” said Nicholas Teo, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore. “This may once again move the needle for crude,” he said in a market commentary. The IEA has forecast that global oil demand would grow by 1.2 million barrels per day next year, slower than the 1.4 million projected this year. However, global output grew by 550,000 barrels a day in June alone to 96.6 million barrels, IEA added.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by five BRICS nations including India, will start lending in the local currency by April next year and member countries will primarily be the focus of credit facility, its chief K V Kamath said. He said a decision to open membership for other countries will be taken in the next few months by the bank's Board of Governors. "I think we will start lending process sometimes early first quarter next year (April)...The idea is that by April next year, we will create a state of projects from all the member countries (for lending)," Kamath told PTI in an interview in Ufa. He said the NDB, with a capital of $100 billion, will look at various instruments of credit to the member countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - which require huge resources for development. "Basically, credit is what we are looking at. Various instruments of credit that we are looking at," said Kamath, who was here to attend the BRICS Summit in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders from other member countries participated. "Idea is that we will lend for developmental assistance in member countries," said the former independent director of Infosys and former chairman of ICICI Bank, who has been made the NDB president for five years. BRICS countries had decided last year to establish the bank, with India getting the right to nominate the first president. Asked whether the NDB would consider lending to non-member countries, Kamath said, "We will primarily lend to member countries. In due course, we will look at opening membership, in the next few months."
Specifically asked whether NDB could consider helping Greece which is in financial crisis, Kamath said, "I have no mandate to help any non-member... Beyond BRICS, I have no mandate." At the same time, he said, "We will talk to the Board of Governors to expand in due course." The Board meeting is likely to take place later this month in Shanghai, the headquarters of NDB. Kamath was asked to comment on a view that the BRICS bank has been set up to undermine the dollar as it will lend in local currencies. "I will put it like this. In developing countries, particularly BRICS, there are pools of capital which can be tapped and lent. Local currency financing is what we will look at in addition to hard currency finance. We will look at all pools of capital in addition to hard currency," he said. He went on to add that local currency credit will protect the BRICS countries from currency fluctuations and volatility and "it is critical that we do it".
Russian President Vladimir Putin, while justifying the setting up of NDB, recently said, "The international monetary system itself depends a lot on the US dollar, or, to be precise, on the monetary and financial policy of the US authorities. The BRICS countries want to change this." Kamath said the "main intent" of setting up the NDB is "to understand the borrowers' mindset". Asked what is that "mindset", the NDB head said, "the borrowers' mindset is - please understand our challenges and lend accordingly. Don't look at us from the western mindset which is that of developed countries." Queried whether that is the mindset in existing institutions IMF and World Bank, he replied, "I think that is what the developing countries are feeling and that is what has been articulated. We will look at it clearly understanding ethos of the borrower." He maintained that the NDB will benefit the developing countries as the priority of the bank would be economic development of every single member country. Kamath denied that NDB would compete with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which was also set up recently. "We will work together and have collaboration and cooperation." Underlining that "structures" of the two banks are different, he said, "The world is changing and it is an opportunity to have cooperation."
SOURCE: The Business Standard
