FW
For the cotton season 2015-16, the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) has revised the cotton production estimate. It now stands at 338 lakh bales as against its earlier estimates of 352 lakh bales. The reasons for downwards estimates are: Acreage under cotton has decreased by around 7 per cent as against last year due to farmers switching to other crops in Northern and Central regions.; white fly attack in states like Punjab and Haryana and pink boll-worm attack in the Gujarat region; delayed rains in Central and Southern region and deficit rains across all cotton growing areas.
And according to the minister of state for textiles Ajay Tamta various corrective measures have already been taken by the government to prevent reduction in production of cotton. These include the department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare is implementing cotton development program with a focus on cropping system approach under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in 15 major cotton growing states like Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, etc since 2014-15. Under the scheme, emphasis is given for transfer latest technology to cotton growers through Front Line Demonstration (FLD) on Integrated Crop Management (ICM.
The minimum support price (MSP) for medium staple length cotton has been fixed at Rs 3,860 per quintal and for long staple at Rs 4,160 per quintal. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has been entrusted with procurement of cotton from farmers at MSP to protect the interest of farmers.
The 16th International Textile Asia Exhibition is to be held the Lahore Expo Centre from August 27. The three-day mega event is being organised by the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) in collaboration with Ecommerce Gateway, the fair is termed as Punjab's biggest B2B textile, garment, embroidery and allied service. PRGMEA has been taking steps to boost export of value-added sector by bringing the latest garment technology at the door step and this activity is being conducted to facilitate exporters of Faisalabad, Multan as well as Sialkot.
The event will provide an effective podium for joint ventures and collaborations to the textile sector's SMEs, 80 per cent of which are located in Punjab. Incidentally, this lot doesn’t have the financial capacity to attend any international exhibition. PRGMEA Senior Vice Chairman, Sohail A Sheikh said that the whole chain of local textile sector has also been invited to attend this country's largest textile show. Countries participating include: Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea etc.
"With Britain breaking away from the European Union – in the now famous Brexit – Pakistan may face serious implications. Britain has had a great importance for Pakistan’s economy, trade and commerce as well as for Pakistani expatriates. In fact, the UK is the third largest home to Pakistani diaspora in the world. So, with the UK moving out of the European Union (EU), Pakistan would suffer, and this is something that needs to be taken care of."
With Britain breaking away from the European Union – in the now famous Brexit – Pakistan may face serious implications. Britain has had a great importance for Pakistan’s economy, trade and commerce as well as for Pakistani expatriates. In fact, the UK is the third largest home to Pakistani diaspora in the world. So, with the UK moving out of the European Union (EU), Pakistan would suffer, and this is something that needs to be taken care of.
Brexit to impact UK-Pak trade
The UK is Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Nearly a quarter of Pakistan’ s exports to EU which include textiles, garments, leather goods, sports goods and food items, land in the UK from where a substantial portion is shipped to the EU. So, if Brexit comes into effect, it will have serious impact on imports for Pakistan at multilateral fora. In fact, some Pakistani experts believe that Pakistan would have to refashion its public diplomacy to woo other EU countries for exploring better economic markets and political opportunities to influence decision making process in the big EU countries. Also, the UK might be keen to improve its trade relationships with the Commonwealth nations. But even here, it would not necessarily be Pakistan that the UK will seek out because India is likely to overshadow Pakistan with its large market size and economic importance. So, Pakistan will need to re work separately its public diplomacy strategy towards Britain and EU.
More importantly, Pakistan’s GSP Plus status could face a few hurdles. For instance, Pakistan would lose its strongest advocate at EU institutions to keep the GSP Plus status intact during periodic reviews. A fresh lobbying effort would be required. Also, once the UK is out of the EU, it would require fresh negotiations for market access once again with all the countries of the world. And it may so happen that Pakistan may not feature high on the UK’s priority list to commit its negotiating resources during the coming years. So, Pakistan has to have a proactive approach and identify the challenges and develop a dynamic response mechanism.
Vietnam has asked Indonesia to follow its footsteps to become a member of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has pointed out various advantages in joining the humongous regional trade deal.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia and deputy chief negotiator for the TPP Nguyen Nguyet Nga has said that Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, would have opportunities to strengthen its leadership in the region by joining the trade pact. Indonesia’s strong leadership was important to expedite development in Southeast Asia, he said, adding that the more Indonesia engaged in such regional agreements such as the TPP, the better for ASEAN to build political and economic cooperation with global powerhouses. The Vietnamese ambassador added that economically, Indonesia would also enjoy benefits from many aspects within the TPP, citing Vietnam’s many gains since joining the agreement in 2010, which ranged from market access for key export products and transfer of technology, to stronger ties with its trading partners.
She added that Vietnam saw the TPP as an opportunity for the country to reduce its economic dependence on the East Asian market, which amounted to 60 percent of its exports. China is the largest market in this region.
Vietnam’s exports quadrupled to $162.4 billion in 2015 from $48.6 billion in 2007, a year before it commenced domestic talks on joining the TPP. Foreign investment also rose to $11.8 billion in 2015 from $2.6 billion in 2007. Vietnam, the second-fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, also enjoys 0 per cent tariff rate for its products such as textiles, apparel, footwear and agro-aquatic products when entering the market of TPP members. The TPP is one of the world’s biggest multinational trade deals covering around 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) signed by Vietnam, Australia, the US, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Singapore in February. The agreement, which was finalized in February last after seven years of negotiations, is currently awaiting ratification from state parties to come into force.
The demand to remove anti-dumping duty on yarn is being raised from various circles including Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA), Malegaon Industries and Manufacturers Association (MIMA), Bhiwandi Powerloom Federation and other organisations working for the industry. Asaduddin Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has also made a strong appeal to remove anti-dumping duty on synthetic yarn. He said that the government's 'Make in India' policy is proving disastrous for the local textile industry.
The government's ‘Make in India’ policy is helping just a handful of corporate houses while destroying the local textile industry, Owaisi said in the Parliament. Giving a brief overview of the textile industry, Owaisi said that there are about 2.5 million power looms in India providing livelihood to more than 6.3 million people. The textile sector is the largest industry after agriculture, but today it is struggling because of the government’s disastrous policy. As a result of this policy, the cost of grey fabrics produced in the country is going up by about 30 per cent. On the other hand, countries like China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are given free run to export their produce to India.
Helpless and distressed people in Malegaon, Bhiwandi, Surat, Sholapur are looking at some kind hope and anticipation. The government should without further delay remove the anti-dumping duty on the synthetic yarn imported from China.
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Aditya Birla Group has decided to merge Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABF) with Grasim under a grand plan stitched by them to beef up shareholder value. The proposal is expected to simplify group cross-holdings and deliver value from a diverse range of businesses to shareholders. The combination of Nuvo and Grasim would create a company with a combined market cap of Rs 62,767 crore and a turnover of around Rs 59,766 crore with operating earnings of Rs 11,961 crore. While AB Nuvo will cease to exist after the merger. All financial services businesses, including insurance and payments bank, will be listed on stock exchanges.
Meanwhile’ Grasim April-June quarter results show net profit jumped 64 per cent. Total consolidated income also rose by nine per cent to Rs 9,088.55 crores quarter from Rs 8,365.70 crores during the same quarter in 2015-16. Expenses were higher at Rs 7,500.41 crores as against Rs 7, 272, 84 crores during the period under review.
The company will continue to focus on expanding the viscose staple fiber market in India by partnering with the textile value chain and better customer connect. Enriching the product mix through a larger share of specialty fiber in the portfolio will be yet another focus area. Grasim is part of the Aditya Birla Group. Its core businesses are viscose staple fiber and cement, contributing over 90 per cent of its revenues and operating profits. It is also present in chemicals.
The Aditya Birla Group is the world’s leading producer of VSF, commanding a 16 per cent global market share. Grasim has a global market share of eight per cent. in July 2004, Grasim acquired a majority stake and management control in UltraTech. One of the largest-of-its-kind in the cement sector, this acquisition catapulted Grasim to the top of the league in India. Subsequently Grasim demerged its cement business into UltraTech in July 2010. The merger has created the largest cement company in India, providing a platform that will help in pursuing aggressive growth going forward.
Last year, the $41-billion Aditya Birla Group consolidated its garments business into a single entity by carving out premium apparel maker Madura Garments Lifestyle Retail Co Ltd from AB Nuvo and merging it with Pantaloons Fashion and Retail India to create India's largest branded clothing company with annual sales of Rs 5,290 crores. With holdings in the group's financial services, telecom, fashion and lifestyle, and divisions of fertilisers, insulators, linen manufacturing and rayon, AB Nuvo so far was positioned as a diversified conglomerate within the group as well as an incubator of new businesses.
To boost apparel exports, the Union government has announced a scheme allowing duty-free import of fabric. The 'Special Advance Authorisation Scheme' will come into effect from September 1. ‘Duty free import of fabric under the Special Advance Authorisation Scheme for export of articles of apparel and clothing accessories shall be allowed" in certain type of products,’ the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification. Under the scheme, exporters would be entitled for an authorisation for fabrics including inter-lining on pre-import basis and All Industry Rate of Duty Drawback for non-fabric inputs on the exports. The authorisation shall be issued for the import of relevant fabrics including inter lining only as input. Recently, the Union Cabinet had approved a Rs 6,000-crore package for the textiles sector with an aim to create one crore new jobs in three years and attract investments of $11 billion while eyeing additional $30 billion in exports.
The Fair Labor Association (FLA), a non- profit collaborative effort of universities, civil society organizations and businesses, has released its first annual compensation report, highlighting data on the earnings of workers in 124 apparel and footwear factories assessed by it last year. This is the first-of-its kind collection and publication of wage data and analysis that is part of a commitment by the FLA and its affiliates to improve compensation for workers in global supply chains.
From each factory where assessors of FLA collected compensation data, the Association has compiled a chart that depicts how much workers are earning, compared with other local benchmarks such as the legal minimum wage, World Bank poverty levels and cost-of-living figures developed by governments, unions, non - governmental organizations (NGOs) and others.
Wanting to place workers' compensation in a local context, these wage ladder charts provide a snapshot of workers' purchasing power going by their current compensation levels in each of the 21 countries where FLA assessors collected data. In all the four factories assessed in Bangladesh last year, average compensation fell below the World Bank poverty line for a three-adult-equivalent household.
The annual compensation report also enlists the FLA's 2015 findings of legal pay violations with 20 per cent of the factories assessed found to have miscalculated overtime pay and six per cent of factories found to have violations of minimum wages. On the other hand, compensation for workers in assessed facilities in Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka (and for migrant workers in Jordan) averaged above World Bank poverty lines, though the FLA found that purchasing power of compensation for these workers remained comparitively weak. Average compensation was found to be highest in relation to the World Bank poverty line in the 14 factories assessed of the United States.
The Association will continue to collect compensation data in its 2016 factory assessment cycle and in subsequent years help steadily to increase awareness among companies, unions, NGOs and other interested stakeholders
Bangladesh’s export earnings declined by 3.49 per cent in July 2016 compared to July 2015. Major exports like readymade garments, home textiles, leather and leather products and footwear, agricultural products and frozen and live fish faced negative growth and thus pulled down the overall merchandise shipments.
Earnings from knitwear recorded a 4.45 per cent negative growth compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal. The earnings fell short of the set target by 16.68 per cent. Earnings from the woven sector witnessed 4.36 per cent negative growth. The earnings fell short of the target by 29.65 per cent.
Home textile export earnings declined by 18.22 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
Earnings from jute and jute goods posted a 25.71 per cent growth. Export earnings from frozen and live fishes declined by 23.48 per cent. Agricultural products, leather and leather products, leather footwear and furniture recorded 5.85 per cent, 2.26 per cent, 4.31 per cent and 27.39 per cent negative growth.
Earnings from plastic products slightly grew by 0.96 per cent though it fell short of the target by 13.60 per cent.
The government has set a total export target for the current 2016-17 fiscal year at 37 billion dollars.
