FW
Pakistan’s textile industry has identified serious distortions in the electricity tariff resulting in the build-up of billions of rupees per month of unpaid refunds, making the industry unsustainable.
In a letter to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has pointed out that the existing scheme of power tariff was not only creating problems for consumers, particularly the industry, but also the distribution companies.
The association said the regulator had adopted furnace oil price at Rs65,769 per tonne for reference tariff for fiscal year 2014-15 instead of actual price of Rs56,000 per tonne prevailing at the time when the determination was issued.
Given the fact that NEPRA was obligated to order monthly adjustments on the basis of fuel costs, Rs3-4 per unit per month adjustment has been allowed since July 2015. Sadly, the fuel price adjustment was being passed on to consumers with a lag of two to three months, it said.
This meant that distribution companies were firstly receiving billions of rupees over and above their actual cost of service in the shape of extra amount billed and collected from customers each month and returned to relevant customers subsequently.
Levi's is currently in the middle of a pitch process and the campaign is slated for 2017. The company is looking to make the ‘biggest denim brand in the world’ feel local with the first Australian brand campaign in nearly a decade.
The campaign will be the first piece of work not spun out of Levi's' head office in San Francisco in that time.
According to Levi's Australia marketing manager Nicky Rowsell, the reason for the localised campaign is that it will be focused on an Australia and New Zealand specific product.
She says the campaign will not only continue the global platform ‘Live in Levi's’ but will build on the strain of work, namely grass-roots initiatives, she has undertaken since joining the business more than two years ago.
In the past, Levi's has done a number of partnerships in the music space, signing on as sponsor of BluesFest this year. In the past, it sponsored other festivals including Splendour in the Grass and Melbourne Music Week. Levi's has also partnered with a lot of niche festivals in the tattoo and motorcycle communities.
DyStar Global Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., through its US subsidiary, DyStar LP has entered into an agreement to acquire five specialty chemical units (the Specialties, Polymer Additives, and Nitriles business groups) from Emerald Performance Materials LLC. The latter is a US company and leading manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals for consumer and industrial markets, that is majority owned by affiliates of American Securities LLC.).
DyStar LP, in a separate transaction will sell the Polymer Additives and Nitriles businesses to Jiangsu Sinorgchem Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sinochem Group, a state- owned Chinese company with core businesses in the energy, agriculture, chemicals, real estate and financial service.Upon completion of the dual transactions, DyStar LP will retain the specialties businesses, which adds three new manufacturing sites to DyStar’s US business platform.
The acquisition adds a broad product portfolio that services many multi-national consumer goods brands to DyStar’s global product line which services multi-national retail brands.
Due to rise in domestic prices which have made the natural fiber uncompetitive in the global market, India’s cotton export is expected to drop by over 10 per cent to 6 million bales in current year ending September. The country had exported 6.7 million bales (of 150 kg each) in the 2014-15 marketing year (October-September). Major export destinations include Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam.
According to Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Chairman and Managing Director B K Mishra, so far, the country has exported 5 million bales. No further exports are taking place now because global prices are cooling and domestic prices are on the rise. Total cotton exports would be around 6 million bales in 2015-16.
The domestic prices have increased by Rs 1,000 per candy in the last few days to Rs 34,000-35,000 per candy. The rising price trend will continue for some time till the new crop comes from October, said Mishra.
Mishra added that the rates have gone up due to estimates of fall in domestic cotton production to 35.3 million bales in 2015-16 from 38 million bales in the previous year due to drought. Consequently, traders are not exporting cotton as they are not getting good margins in the global market and see better prospects in the domestic market, he said.
Much of the Indian cotton has been exported to Pakistan, which stood at 2 million bales so far this year, he observed. The CCI, which buys cotton from farmers when rates go below the support prices, said it has procured 8,40,000 bales so far this year.
According to industry sources, at least 218 western apparel companies have stopped buying cloths from about 103 Bangladesh garment factories after they failed to initiate workplace safety codes suggested by the Accord and Alliance.
Among the factories, 23 were supplying apparels to European fashion brands and 80 to North American buyers and retailers which are belonging to the Accord and Alliance.Terming the decision a 'harsh' one, industry leaders said that the move has forced the factories to wrap up production leading to jobless hundreds of workers.
The Accord and Alliance supported by European clothing brands and North American retail chains has been launching a joint effort to improve workplace safety in Bangladesh garment industries in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse on April 24 in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people.
Responding to the development, said Faruque Hassan, Senior Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) that it is a worrying development when the local industry has initiated a major safety overhaul as per the suggestions from the global buyers. He said, most of the export-oriented apparel factories inspected by the inspectors from the Accord and Alliance have already initiated the task of workplace safety and rest of the factories will go with them soon.
Tunisia, the fifth-largest apparel supplier to Europe and the number two supplier for the French market, according to Tunisia's Foreign Investment Promotion Agency with textile and apparel exports totaled TD6.5bn (€2.9bn) in 2014 is now looking for talks on a new deal with the EU, its biggest trading partner, to pave the way for improved access to European markets. Opportunities to boost trade with Pakistan are also showing signs of promise as impact of global economic situation weighing on trading volumes.
Tunisia launched negotiations with the EU in last October with a view to securing a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) that has been in consideration since 2011.
The country has benefitted from a raft of association agreements since the late 1990s that have given the country tariff-free access to several EU markets, together with financial and technical assistance. However, the DCFTA is expected to offer far greater opportunities to improve trade flows by reducing tariffs on key Tunisian exports, such as agricultural products.
According to the European Commission, the EU is Tunisia's largest trading partner by far, accounting for 80 per cent of the country's imports and exports. Bilateral trade was valued at approximately €20bn in 2014.
Bangladesh’s textile industries, especially the spinning mills are facing stiff competition in marketing their produce as cotton yarns from the neighbouring India are making inroads into the country.
According to industry sources, a large quantity of Indian yarns is being imported in the country in both formal and informal ways and being sold at low prices pushing the country's spinning mills in a state of downfall.
To save the local industries from the unhealthy competition of rising import of yarn from India, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) urged the Commissioner of Customs, Benapole to strengthen their surveillance to check surplus and unauthorised entry of Indian yarn into the country.
According to industry insiders, everyday a large quantity of Indian yarn of various counts is entering into the country under the disguise of a very nominal amount of sanctioned imports. Excess amount of yarns and yarns of higher counts are being imported into the country with false declaration, said the memo of the BTMA sent to the commissioner.
As per BTMA, most of the spinning mills have been incurring big losses due to unabated import of Indian yarns through Benapole land port and many of them are on the verge of closure as their produce has remained unsold. Many of the mills have also reduced their production.
Bangladesh’s export earnings in July to April of the current fiscal year stood at $27.63 billion. A growth of 9.22 per cent from the $25.30 billionearned in the same period of the previous fiscal year driven mainly by a moderate increase in RMG export.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau data (EPB), the amount of the earnings is 1.95 per cent more than the $27.10 billion target set by the government for the period. The EPB data shows the export earnings in April stood at $2.68 billion or 11.82 per cent more than that in March and 0.41 per cent higher than the target of $2.67 billion for the month.According to the data, the earnings from the readymade garment export in the July-April period of FY16 amounted to $22.63 billion, which were 10.07 per cent higher than the $20.56 billion earned in the same period of FY15.
Experts and exporters have termed the export earnings growth in the first 10 months of 2015-16 satisfactory.
As per their assessment, improvement in compliance, technological upgrading, and gaining market share from China were the key reasons behind the growth. They said, after the Rana Plaza building collapse, entrepreneurs have made huge investments in the areas of compliance that helped the country regain its image. They said the Western buyers are now satisfied with the standard of Bangladesh’s RMG factories as they identify only a few factories as risky. At the same time, garment makers have undertaken technological renovation leading to improved productivity and increased supply.
According to a new World Bank report, Pakistan has been successful in establishing and growing its apparel manufacturing industry, however, more can be done to realize its potential as a regional hub and to continue to boost opportunities, especially for women and the poor.
The report, The Stitches to Riches Apparel Employment Trade and Economic Development, launched in Pakistan, is aimed at demystifying the global and South Asian apparel markets, estimating the potential gains in exports and jobs and identifying policies that can unleash country’s export and job potential compared with those of their closest competitors in the Southeast Asia region – Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.
The report finds that it is important for South Asian economies to remove existing impediments and facilitate growth in apparel to capture more production and create more employment as wages rise in China.The successful manufacturers will be those who can supply a wide range of quality products to buyers rapidly and reliably, not just those who offer low costs.
China currently dominates global apparel trade but that may change in coming years due to the rising prices in China.
Grasim Industries has announced impressive results led by robust volume growth in all its businesses viz. VSF, Chemical and Cement. For the current quarter, consolidated revenue rose by 13 per cent at Rs.10,001 crore and EBITDA at Rs. 2,059 crore was higher by 24 per cent. Net profit (before EI) grew by 40 per cent to Rs.724 crore (Q4 last year: Rs.516 crore). For the full year, consolidated revenue was higher by 12 per cent to Rs. 36,637 crore. Consolidated EBITDA was up by 24 per cent at Rs. 7,025 crore and Net profit increased to Rs.2,387 crore compared to Rs.1,753 crore last year.
The Board approved Rs. 513 crore for brownfield expansion of Caustic soda capacity at Vilayat plant from 219K TPA to 363K TPA along with a Captive Power plant of 44 MW. The expansion is expected to be completed in around 24 month’s time. On completion of the proposed expansion and debottlenecking of capacity at various plants, Caustic capacity will increase from 804K TPA currently to 1,048K TPA.
