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Seduno (Myanmar) Fashion Co in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone of Myanmar that recently announced it was facing difficulty keeping the business running because of failure in production, postponements in exports, an increase in operating costs, and day-to-day wage costs. The unit with over 400 workers has now closed down.
According to workers the management did not give them advanced notice that it was ending operation. Ma Khin Pa Pa Hlaing, one of the workers, mentioned that some of them had not received compensation yet and the factory did not compensate all workers because of work experience.
He further added few workers returned to their villages after the closure because they could not pay the rent for the factory dormitory. Additional factories might shut down in the future as the government has not created more job opportunities so far and does not care about labour issue says U Tun Tun Naing, joint secretary of the Cooperating Committee of Trade Unions.
Since the government fixed the minimum wage at K4800 (US$3.40) a day, businesses cautioned they might close because they could not afford the new wage due to a slowdown in the economy and low demand in international market.
The US domestic industry says it is harmed by imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber from China, India, Korea, and Taiwan. The allegations are that exporters from these countries sell fine denier polyester staple fiber in the United States at less than fair value.
The allegations identify a number of significant national and regional programs, including preferential export financing, preferential income tax treatment, tax exemptions, rebates and credits on imports of inputs and capital goods used in the production of fine denier PSF and grants for fine denier PSF producers to assist in the development of export market and to protect against commercial risk.
US Customs and Border Protection may be instructed to collect cash deposits from importers of fine denier polyester staple fiber from China, India, Korea, and Taiwan. In 2017, imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber from China, India, Korea, and Taiwan were valued at an estimated $61.4 million, $23.7 million, $11.9 million, and $7.4 million respectively. Foreign companies that price their products in the US market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to anti-dumping duties. China’s dumping margin is alleged to be 88.07 to 103.06 per cent, while that of India is 21.31 to 29.70 per cent.
Higher Education Commission Pakistan has released a grant of Rs 2.84 million to Department of Materials & Testing, National Textile University Faisalabad for upgradation and strengthening the Textile Physical Testing Laboratory under the project "Institutional strengthening" .This will be utilised for procuring three testing instruments, high resolution microscope, elmendorf tear tester, and pneumatic bursting strength tester. The proposed instruments are common for textile physical testing laboratory. Their addition in our laboratory will strengthen the textile testing and research approach for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
High resolution microscope is required to analyse fiber up to yarn and fabric surface characteristics. It will help undergraduate students to learn about fiber physical structure and to distinguish in different fibrous materials. It will enhance their analytical skills to differentiate and study fiber and yarn surface properties. Surface modifications in research perspective will also be studied on these instruments for postgraduate students.
Turkey has agreed to annul the 17 per cent anti-circumvention duty on import of Nepalese yarn. Turkey earlier provided duty-free access to Nepalese yarn. It imposed the duty last year alleging Nepalese traders were exporting foreign yarn under domestic brand names.
Alleging that Nepal was exporting Chinese yarn, Turkey had suspended the generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefit on export of yarn from Nepal in January this year. It had cited a considerable growth in export from Nepal — around 190 per cent between 2011 and 2017 — without a reliable domestic production base as the reason for suspending the facility. Nepal exports polyester and viscose blend yarn worth around four billion Nepali rupees to Turkey every year.
Nepal insists its yarn producers, traders and yarn manufacturers export genuine domestically produced yarn. There are four producers of yarn in Nepal and they jointly produce almost 40,000 metric tons of yarn a year. Annually, the country exports more than 80 per cent of locally produced yarn to several countries.
Nepalese yarn amounting to almost seven billion rupees is exported to Turkey every year. Nepal and Turkey established diplomatic relations in 1962. Among Nepal’s exports to Turkey are carpets, pashmina and shawl, and handicrafts. After the earthquakes which struck Nepal in 2015 Turkey delivered humanitarian assistance and took part in rescue operations.
Canada has hit back at the United States with retaliatory tariffs on American summertime essentials such as Florida orange juice, ketchup and Kentucky bourbon. The tit-for-tat duties are a response to the punishing US steel and aluminum tariffs imposed at the start of June.
Canada says the move has been made with regret and very much in sorrow, not in anger against a close ally. Retaliatory tariffs do great damage to the multilateral trading system. Canadians, however, are overwhelmingly in favor of the retaliation. Escalation into an all-out trade war will be devastating to the Canadian economy, which sends about 75 per cent of its exports to the United States. Canadian patriotism, meanwhile, has flourished under hashtags like #BoycottUSA, #BuyCanadian and #VacationCanada that urge people not to buy American goods and travel packages.
Canada and the US are among the world’s two largest trading partners with an estimated $673.9 billion worth of goods and services exchanged in 2017, with the US scoring a small surplus. The United States also is the top destination for Canadian vacationers, who made 42 million trips to the US in 2017. But relations between these two neighbors have plunged to their lowest in decades.
The 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact is preparing for its next stage of expansion. Japan and Mexico have ratified the pact. The Asia free trade bloc now needs four more member states to complete similar procedures to kick the process into next stage. TPP-11 takes effect 60 days after six of its 11 members ratify the pact.
Among the current members, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have taken steps toward ratification. Singapore and Chile aim to approve the deal by the end of year. The other members are Peru, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Thailand, Colombia, Indonesia and the UK have expressed interest in joining. Indonesia feels that not joining the pact risks harming the competitiveness of exports from southeast Asia’s largest economy. The US withdrew from the original TPP deal in January 2017.
TPP-11 is poised to create a free trade zone covering 13 per cent of the global gross domestic product and 15 per cent of global trade by value. GDP in the 10 members other than Japan is set to grow more than six per cent annually through 2023. Clear, unified rules on investment in the pact will greatly expand business opportunities in the economic bloc, which would trail only the US, China and the European Union in size.
Textile machinery exports from India registered a growth of 20.03 per cent 2017-18. Top 10 export markets are: Bangladesh, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Vietnam, Italy and UAE.
Spinning, twisting and yarn preparation machines have a 35 per cent share in India’s textile machinery exports. Bangladesh is the topmost export market for India's textile machinery. Region wise, Asia is the largest market for Indian textile machinery, accounting for a 55 per cent share of textile machinery exports.
Cotton spinning ring frames exports account for a 59 per cent share. Cotton spinning ring frame machines are majorly exported to the Netherlands. Other important markets for India’s ring frames are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cotton combing machines registered an export growth of 16.93 per cent for 2017-18. Vietnam is the top market for cotton combing machine exports.
Exports of printing machinery, including digital printing machines, fell in 2015-16 and 2016-17 by 14.6 per cent and 9.97 per cent. But in the last fiscal year the commodity has shown a rising trend with a growth of 24.3 per cent and having a 14 per cent share in total textile machinery exports. Bangladesh is the topmost market for this product.
The textile and apparel industry in Vietnam is expected to grow 14 per cent over the next two years and a further 10 per cent by 2030. This sector has the second highest export turnover and occupies the fifth position in the world. Last year saw goods worth $31 billion, exported, representing 10.23 per cent year-on-year increase. The rapid growth rate was expected to continue this year with an estimated turnover of $33 billion.
In addition to maintaining traditional markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea, Vietnamese garment and textile firms have been expanding to new areas such as China, Russia and Cambodia. It also promotes the development of the cotton fiber industry; petrochemical industry and other textile supporting industries as well as trading, services, and fashion industry.
Government policies have played an important role to help businesses develop. Vietnam’s vocational training policies in the industry had not been effective and would need further support.
Marks & Spencer’s waistcoats sales have soared 35 per cent since the FIFA tournament began two weeks ago in a phenomenon that's being called ‘Gareth Southgate’ effect. when Gareth Southgate eventually does return home, he will see an awful lot more waistcoats around the country. England manager has apparently sparked a significant increase in waistcoat purchases thanks to his match attire at the World Cup in Russia.
For each of England's three group games, Southgate has sported a formal look of a fully-buttoned navy waistcoat over a pale blue shirt, accompanied by a navy, red and white striped tie. Marks & Spencer, who has been the official suit supplier to the England national team since 2007, made replicas of the suit for fans. The accompanying tie will set supporters back £25.
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has appealed to the Federal government to relax the tough conditions attached to disbursement of the Textile Intervention Fund. The appeal will relax the bureaucracy and strict conditions surrounding the allocation of the funds and also because there is a need to revitalise the textile industry. The textile industry had suffered a lot as a result of smuggling and other infrastructure deficiencies. At the moment, there are not more than five textile industries working who are functioning at low capacity.
The government had responded its policy initiatives; primary of which is the Textile Fund anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria. But, manufacturers are finding it difficult to benefit from the fund due to some bottlenecks and strict conditions attached to it.
MAN also urged the government to continue its effort at ensuring provision of basic infrastructure to reduce the cost of production by manufacturers. It suggested inter-ministerial and inter-departmental cooperation for quick actualisation of the proposed anti- smuggling task force to combat smuggling of textiles.
