FW
The PTA output of China has been announced. The September PTA output of the country was about 2.54 million tons, down 0.19 million tons month-on-month. With import volume expected to be 40 KT, China PTA supply may increase by 2.58 million tons.
As for demand, the output of polyester products totaled about 2.84 million tons consuming 2.442 million tons of PTA plus about 90kt of PTA consumed in other application fields as well as 50-60kt of PTA exports, PTA demand totaled about 2.582 million tons. Thus PTA supply and demand was balanced in Sep and PTA inventory kept stable.
As regards to the PTA inventory, futures warehouse inventory nosedived in the end of September but PTA inventory in port and warehouse decreased slowly. Old cargoes reported unsmooth sales while new cargoes gradually piled up. Talking in detail, sales in Zhangjiagang was poor as cargoes were mainly old ones while sales in Nantong was tolerable as Hengli has turnaround plans.
Sales of old cargoes in Jiaxing was good but new cargoes also arrived intensively. Buyers were mainstream plants in the neighboring area. PTA inventory in PTA plants increased in the latter half of September as quite a few plants such as Honggang, FCFC, Hengli and Hanbang resumed production. Till the end of September, PTA inventory in PTA plants was about 50KT higher than the level in the end of August.
Export of Bangladeshi products to China is increasing at the rate of 25 per cent. This was disclosed by Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed. He also hoped that the export volume would exceed $ 1 billion soon.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussion at CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka. The roundtable conference titled Bangladesh-China Bilateral Trade and Investment: Potentialities and Challenges was organised by Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF).
Mentioning that China has been allocated space at Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Ahmed said the SEZ would be the best place for investment for relocating the Chinese readymade garments. Bangladesh would provide all kind of necessary cooperation for Chinese investment in the country, he added.
Referring to different features of 7th Five Year Plan, the commerce minister said special initiatives including cash incentives have been taken to increase the number in export basket. Currently, the total volume of Bangladesh and China is $ 11 billion while Bangladesh exports goods worth nearly $ 1 billion.
CPD additional Research Director Dr Khandker Golam Moazzem made keynote presentation while ERF President Saif Ahmed Dilal chaired the roundtable meet. Former Industries Minister Dilip Barua, BNP Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman, PRI Vice Chairman Sadik Ahmed, BIISS Chairman Munsi Foyez Ahmed and BFUJ President Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul spoke on the occasion among others.
Over the time, the Bangladesh Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry has grown to become the second largest in the world. The particular sector has become a key driver of the Bangladesh economy and the nation’s development.
RMG exports totalled US$24.5 billion (2013-14) accounting to over 80 per cent of the nation’s export earnings and employing around 4 million workers, an estimated 55-60 per cent of whom are women. The loss of 1,136 lives when Rana Plaza collapsed on 24 April 2013 sent shockwaves worldwide. Coming just months after the fatal fire at Tazreen Fashions in which 112 died it was clear that the RMG sector had reached a crucial juncture. Business could not continue as usual. Fundamental changes relating to safety, inspection and compliance had to be made if the lives of over four million workers were to be safeguarded and the confidence of global buyers retained.
The ILO responded quickly to the Rana Plaza tragedy with a high level mission to Dhaka in the beginning of May 2013. After that it agreed immediate and medium term actions with the Government of Bangladesh and employers’ and workers’ organizations. These were integrated into the National Tripartite Plan of Action on fire safety and structural integrity (NTPA), which was developed following the Tazreen factory fire in November 2012. Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza it was decided that 3,508 export-oriented RMG factories should undergo structural, fire and electrical safety inspections.
Two initiatives representing international brands and retailers: the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety have carried out inspections of the factories which their member companies source from. As part of its RMG programme supported by Canada, the Netherlands and UK, ILO supported the national initiative of the Government of Bangladesh to carry inspections of the factories not covered by Accord or Alliance. By 31 December last year the inspections had been concluded.
In total three initiatives inspected 3,780 factories of which 1,549 were assessed through the national initiative. A total of 39 factories have been closed for posing an immediate danger to workers.
In its resolve to encourage exports and competitiveness in the global marketplace, the Indonesian government has planned to give different kinds of incentives to the country’s textile industry. Thsi was revealed by Harjanto, the ministry’s former director general of international industrial co-operation. He also said that claims officials are exploring the idea of applying energy cost refunds, subsidising electricity bills for manufacturers who want to export textile products.
The ministry is also in the process of developing plans to revoke goods and services tax (GST) paid by manufacturers purchasing raw materials within Indonesia where they are making products for export. The GST currently levied at 10 per cent on such textiles. He said that the whole idea was to give an energy refund to companies that want to commit export…and to support the use of domestic raw material [for textile production], the concept is about (revoking) GST.
Currently, companies exporting their textile products can receive a reimbursement, but it takes a year before the money is repaid. The practice depletes industry capital to sustain production – a GST exemption would remove this problem. It would also, he claims, encourage manufacturers to source raw materials within Indonesia – under the reimbursement system, manufacturers will not have an interest to export and prefer to import [inputs].
The current ministry director general of chemical, textile and other industries Achmad Sigit Dwiwahjono added that the government also plans to exempt purchases of manufacturing equipment by Indonesian textile product exporters from GST. The export of textiles and textile products from Indonesia declined by 3.6 per cent to US$12.28bn in 2015 from US$12.74bn in 2014, while the country intends to improve the export to US$12.5bn in 2016, according to industry figures.
The textile sector would like the government to act fast with its incentive schemes. Anies Soengkar, chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) branch Pekalongan, Central Java however said that officials have been mulling these ideas since 2014. The API has proposed that the government reduces electricity tariffs charged to the industry by 30 per cent. By August this year, the electricity tariff charged to the textile industry was Indonesian Rupiah IDR1,593.78/kWh (US$0.12 cents).
According to scientists of Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), India’s cotton output this year could be higher by 10 per cent than estimates on account of extended monsoon. The Nagpur-based institute is assessing the impact of the rains on the crop and preliminary reports are encouraging for cotton growers and the textile sector.
Rains in September and October have been good for the cotton crop. Since areas of all cotton growing states are receiving good rainfall of late, cotton output in the country is expected to go up by 10%; well above 340 lakh bales against the previous estimate of 310 lakh, observed Keshavraj Kranthi, director of the CICR.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have received good rainfall and extended monsoon this year. While most states received heavy rainfall till September-end, monsoon is still active in Maharashtra, especially in Vidarbha and Marathwada known for cotton cultivation.
On the flip side, Kranthi said excessive rains will affect pollination process and disrupt spraying of fertilisers and, in turn, cotton production. After a steady rise over the years cotton cultivation in the country declined by 8 per cent this year. According to Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), the acerage has come down to 118 lakh hectare this year from 128 lakh hectare in the last. Recession in the global cotton market has been cited as the prime reason for farmers shunning cash crop cultivation.
The third edition of Avantex 2016, the first trade show to bring together companies that supply the ultimate in high-tech fabrics, trimmings and services for the fashion of tomorrow in Paris (Avantex Paris) concluded last month. With this, the fair consolidated its position in the forefront of textile innovation. The September 2016 Avantex show expanded the categories it offered for technical/technological services that support fashion. This diversification was highly acclaimed, as witnessed by a number of exhibitors, organisers report.
For example, the cap with built-in headphones from the Taiwanese Sound Team received a wealth of requests for samples, as well as the all-in-one photo equipment from Picapics which received expressions of interest in buying from several American, Indian and Chinese companies. Also, the concept for instantaneous dyeing and embroidery from Coloreel, was given a special preview at Avantex Paris and aroused keen interest on the part of manufacturers. Initiated in September 2015 for the new field of technical clothing and fabrics, as well as e-clothing, Avantex Paris addressed a strong demand for convenience, everyday use and functionality from consumers who seek functional, suitable fashion, fanciful at times but more practical and rational.
Growth in Bangladesh's apparel export to the United States dropped below 1.0 per cent during the first eight months of the current calendar year over the corresponding period of 2015. According to sources, sluggish economic recovery in the country's single-largest shipment destination-the US market-is largely to blame for the slowdown in the export growth. A growing competition by other exporters, particularly Vietnam for the market share and denial of duty-free and quota-free access for Bangladeshi apparels are also seen as deterrents.
The country's exports grew by 0.85 per cent to $3.71 billion while that of Vietnam recorded a growth of 3.04 per cent to $ 7.25 billion during January-August period of 2016. By the data of Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), the trade scenario became clear and became a source of concern of the US Department of Commerce.
Export earnings grew by 10.99 per cent in January and 8.52 per cent from January to February in 2016, the data revealed. Exports of the country's non-apparel items including shrimp and plastic products, also declined. The turnover amounted to $142.17 million during the January-August period, accounting for a negative 6.88 per cent growth. On the other hand, Chinese apparel exports also witnessed a negative growth of 7.73 per cent to $ 18.28 billion during the same period of this year.
DuPont Advanced Printing (DuPont) has launched DuPont™ Artistri® Xite S1500 dye sublimation ink. Backed by more than 25 years of digital inkjet manufacturing and technical support, the innovative ink will now be available for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and printers. Artistri® Xite S1500 offers superior product consistency, jetting reliability and color print performance.
The Artistri® Xite S1500 ink is a new digital ink offering for printing on polyester textile substrates. Designed to work with coated dye sublimation papers, the ink meets the needs of quality conscious textile printers in multiple areas including garment decoration, fast fashion/couture, point of purchase signage and trade booth construction.
Earlier this year, DuPont Digital Inks launched new and improved DuPont™ Artistri® inks that delivers brighter colours, shorter production cycles and higher production throughput for direct-to-garment and roll-to-roll digital printing. DuPont Advanced Printing brings together leading technologies and products for the printing and package printing industries. DuPont™ Cyrel® is one of the world’s leading flexographic plate-making systems in digital and conventional formats, including the new Cyrel® EASY photopolymer plates and Cyrel® FAST plates and processing equipment.
The Pakistani government has approved Rs 185 million under the Export Development Fund (EDF) for the development of textile sector in the country. This was revealed at a meeting of EDF that was held under the chairmanship of secretary of Ministry of Textile Industry which approved various development projects for promotion of textile sector and boost its exports.
A senior official of Ministry of Textile Industry said that allocations of Rs 100 million has been approved for washing facilities in the Karachi garments institute while Rs 75 million was also approved by the EDF for land acquisition of new training institute in Sailkot. Further, the government also allocated Rs 10 million for garment training institute in Lahore.
A production of up to 11.2 million bales of cotton was expected this crop season, as compared to 10 million bales produced in the same period last year, he added. However, the government had set 14.1 million bales of cotton for this year, which had to be revised, as some of the growers in cotton producing areas opted to cultivate sugarcane crop, the official said.
The selling price of cotton seeds was also lowered from Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,000 per 40 kg in order to encourage farmers to cultivate cotton crops on more land and enhance the cotton production in this season, the official said. He further said that experts and scientists helped in providing training to more than 8,000 farmers to overcome losses of cotton crops and evolved measures against the virus, which harmed the cotton crops in the past. This year farmers were likely to get good prices for the cotton crop, as the increased cotton prices in international market would benefit farmers, as compared to previous years when they suffered huge financial losses, he added.
For the second time in the current season, the Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) of Pakistan has revised cotton production estimates downward to 11.039 million bales against the initial estimates of 14.1 million bales for the current season (2016-17). This came after the second meeting of CCAC that was held to assess the volume of current cotton crop in the country. Hassan Iqbal, Federal Secretary Ministry of Textile Industry is the chairman of CCAC.
In 2015-16, the country had missed the crop production target by around 30 per cent and it remained around 10 million bales which according to the Finance Minister caused a GDP growth of 0.5 per cent. However, according to sources, the prospects for the current season are not very bright as well and the country may face significant shortfall in the crop production as well.
The plant protection department, officials of Trading Cooperation of Pakistan (TCP), cotton growers from Punjab, representatives of Pest warning department, Punjab, members of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) and Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) attended the meeting. The Chair welcomed the participants and appreciated the stakeholders' interest and participation in the process of cotton crop assessment and described the objectives of the meeting.
Cotton Commissioner, Dr Khalid Abdullah discussed the overview of cotton crop production in the country and challenges faced by the cotton crop especially of climate and pests like pink boll worm and white fly. The house was informed that cotton sowing has decreased by 21 per cent in Punjab. However, it was increased by 2 per cent in Sindh, with overall decrease by 15 per cent than the last year. This decrease in area has proportionately depicted in the production as well.
