FW
After China, Bangladesh is still the second largest apparel exporter in the world. The market share of Bangladesh, in the $503 billion global garment items is 5.1 per cent, according to data from the International Trade Statistics of the World Bank in 2014. China’s market share is 38.6 per cent and Vietnam and India share 3.7 per cent. However, China has been losing its market share mainly due to higher cost of production and shortage of skilled workforce in China. Bangladesh is one of the major beneficiary countries of shifting work orders from China.
Bangladesh’s export of garment items is on the rise as the global apparel retail giants are also increasing the volume of work orders for quality garment at competitive prices, following such shift. Bangladesh exported garment items worth $25.50 billion in 2014-15 fiscal and the earning from garment export during first 11 months (July-May) of the current fiscal year is $25.08 billion.
Meanwhile, only five items covered 78.59 per cent or $20.04 billion of the total garment export earnings at $25.50 billion in 2014-15 fiscal. The five items include shirts, trousers, jackets and sweaters. The target for the fiscal was set at $27.37 billion. Almost all major retailers have been increasing their volume of work orders in Bangladesh.
According to Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Britain wants informal talks on a likely trade pact with India to continue until its exit process with the EU is over. She said the export slowdown has bottomed out, and her ministry is in regular talks with the finance ministry to offer relief to struggling SEZs.
As far as the trade approach talks with the UK after Brexit, she said although the time frame to complete (Britain’s exit process with the EU) is two years, they expect to complete it sooner than that. So, both India and the UK should start talks informally; as and when Britain completes the process with the EU and has the authority to forge bilateral treaties, both the parties should be ready for it.
The key features of the likely pact with the UK, she said goods will be a key pillar of the talks with Britain. Also, India will be talking as much about services as about goods. The advantage that India has in goods (most nations want greater access to the massive Indian market in goods) will have to be leveraged to get a good bargain in services. Therefore, reciprocity being the guiding principle, India would want a good deal in the services domain as much as they would want India to yield on the goods domain (Britain made up for 3.4 per cent of India’s goods exports in FY16 and 12 per cent of software services exports in FY15.
Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association (BGBA) leaders expressed apprehension that orders from global RMG buyers for the coming summer and Fall seasons would drop, as ‘some buyers have already communicated their negative mood to buying houses after the Gulshan restaurant attack’. Garment buying houses work as mediators in the readymade garment business.
July-August is the time for foreign buyers to place orders for the summer and Fall seasons but we are very much worried that if the buyers cannot make frequent visits and movement in Bangladesh in time, the business will be shifted to another destination, BGBA president Kazi Iftaquer Hossain, has said. He said the garment export is a time-bound business and the lion share of the country’s RMG export earnings comes from the orders the global buyers place for the summer and fall seasons.
Iftaquer said that the July attack, in which 17 foreigners including nine Italian nationals who were engaged in garment business in Bangladesh were killed, has posed a severe threat to the country’s RMG sector and many foreign buyers including renowned fashion brand H&M are considering to squeeze their business in Bangladesh.
Complying with Prime Ministers’ Skill India Campaign, Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC), India’s largest vocational training provider for the apparel sector, organised a series of competitions and workshops in all ATDCs’ major centers Pan-India to commemorate World Youth Skill Day being celebrated on July 15, 2016.
ATDC's vision is encapsulated in ‘imparting skills and improving lives.’ Spread across the length and breadth of India with about 200 centre include 65 ATDC vocational institutes and over 135 ATDC-SMART centers and skill camps, it has successfully trained approx. two lakh fifty thousand students by far, since its inception, and under ISDS above 1,86,000 in the Pilot & Main phase.
The National Skill Mission which was launched by the PM on World Youth Skill Day last year aiming to increase unemployment opportunity by enhancing skills of the youth completed a year. Most centers of ATDC saw a huge number of students gathered to participate, taking the zeal even among the organizers to new zeniths.
ATDC chairman said that in the last one year, considerable progress has been achieved towards skilling Indian youth. The Textile Sector especially Apparel being downstream has maximum potential for employment generation especially for women and youth.
MD of TT Limited, Sanjay K Jain has been elected President of the Northern India Textile Mills’ Association (NITMA), the apex body of textile industry in North India. In its AGM held on July 15, ITMA elected its new leadership team. Rajiv Garg, MD of Garg Acrylics and Manish Bagrodia were elected as senior vice president and vice president respectively. Hardyal Singh Cheema, the outgoing President, handed over the baton to the new team.
Jain (46) is a prominent, dynamic and young textile leader who apart from being associated with Northern India Rextile Mills Association (NITMA), holds various other important positions in a number of other associations across the country. He is deputy chairman of Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) and vice president of Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers' Associations of India (FOHMA) and West Bengal Hosiery Association (WBHA).
Speaking on the occasion, Jain said that the industry was going through unprecedented challenges which has pushed the industry to the brink. He however added that there was a great opportunity before the textile industry to capture the space being vacated by the Chinese industry due to their spiraling costs. However, while he was excited at the industry being at a very important threshold, he was worried about the immediate crisis of the industry due to isolated increase in cotton prices in India while global prices were stable.
Established in 1958, NITMA has been serving the interest of textile units in Northern India and has been instrumental in creating a linkage between the industry and the government. It also acts as a bridge between the supporting industries (who are associate members of NITMA) and the industry. Its members collectively have a turnover of above Rs 50,000 crores (approx $8 billion).
The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has announced its election schedule for 2016-17. An interim electoral list has been issued and voters can now change the name of firms or correct the names of voters through an application till July 18. New electoral rolls on division basis would be issued on July 21. Secretary general of PCGA, Muhammad Asif Khalil, and Tauqeer Shah would be returning officer and deputy returning officer respectively. The Agenda of the PCGA's general body meeting will be declared on July 21. Objections regarding the voter list would be looked into on August 1.
Appeals against the returning officer/secretary general can be filed till August 4 to the Election Commission (EC) and these will be taken up for discussion on August 8. Aggrieved parties can move the regulator of Trade Organisations till August 11 after which the regulator will decide on the appeals on August 18. The final list of voters will be declared on August 20.
The Chief Election Commission (CEC) approved the appointment of election commission, returning officers and election rules. The CEC also reviewed the forthcoming cotton season and expressed hope that cotton production would be better in spite of water shortage and sowing less than targets.
The candidature for the CEC's 15 seat would be accepted till August 24, scrutiny of nomination papers would be done on August 25, appeals against the acceptance or rejection of candidatures can be done on August 26. The election commission would give its decision on the appeals against the scrutiny committee's decision on August 29. The decision of Election Commission could be challenged before the Regulator till August 31st. Decision on these appeals will be made on September 7.
Withdrawal of papers would have to done on September 7 after which the final list of candidates would be published on September 9. While elections in North and South Zones would be held on September 19, the official results will be notified on September 20.
The man-made fabric hub in Surat wants the embroidery and zari sectors to be included in the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. In a cluster like Surat, there are around 1.50 lakh embroidery units working in the decentralized and unorganized sector. However, each process in garment manufacturing is carried out by distinctly by different units. Despite this the embroidery sector has been excluded from the benefits of subsidy under the ATUF.
As of now embroidery machines qualify for subsidy in ATUF only if they are used in the readymade garment units. Zari units find no mention in ATUFs.
The zari industry of Surat is one of the oldest handicrafts whose origin can be traced to the Mughal period. Surat is one of the biggest and most significant zari manufacturing centers in India.
The principal type of products are real gold and silver threads, imitation gold and silver threads, and the zari border weaving, embroidery, laces, caps, turbans, saris, and blouse pieces. Gold and silver threads are commonly used for weaving the kinkhab.
What makes production process of Surat zari unique is its silver electroplating process. In this process zari is produced by using fine copper wires with silver coating that are shining and acquire multiple hues.
The World Export Development Forum (WEDF) will be held in Sri Lanka, October 12 and 13, 2016. Between 400 and 600 delegates are expected to attend the WEDF. The theme for the forum, the 16th of its kind, is Trade for Success: Connect, Compete, Change.
A unique global conference and business-to-business matchmaking event dedicated to supporting trade-led development, the WEDF is expected to look at the changed game in sustainable trade and its impact on businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of economies.
The World Export Development Forum represents an excellent opportunity for Sri Lanka to effectively showcase the depth and maturity of its capability as an exporter, not just of apparel, but of many other exciting and complex products.
The event will be supported by Brandix. Brandix is the pioneer of the concept of total solutions in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and is a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe.
Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly apparel manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. It was ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand in a ranking of the country’s leading brands.
Myanmar's ascent in the garment world is fairly recent but is happening rapidly. One reason is Myanmar’s minimum wages for the garment industry are around $90 a month, the lowest in the region. In comparison, it is around $100 in Laos, $140 in Cambodia and around $150 in Vietnam.
The country is the largest in mainland southeast Asia by geographical area and is rich in natural resources. It also has a young population. In addition, Myanmar also enjoys tax exemptions from the EU market, which makes up 23 per cent of its garment exports. Other key markets are Japan, South Korea and China. Lower import tariffs than many of its Asean peers also work in favor of Myanmar.
Myanmar’s export industry is expected to reach $12 billion by 2020 and to create 1.5 million jobs. Relaxation of foreign direct investment rules, benefits for foreign investors like tax exemptions in the first five years and tariff-free imports of raw materials are expected to keep the country a suitable apparel sourcing destination for the garment industry.
China’s manufacturing industry for one is looking to minimise production costs by relocating production facilities to relatively accessible markets in Southeast Asia such as Myanmar.
With cotton prices on the rise, the Textile Ministry has directed the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to sell cotton purchased by it. This is to keep prices of the commodity under check. In a couple of days, the CCI will start e-sale of cotton stock with it to micro, small and medium-scale (MSMS) textile mills directly at minimum support price, it is understood. This year, the CCI purchased 8.4 lakh bales of cotton at minimum support price this year. Out of this, it has supplied nearly two lakh bales to the National Textile Corporation (NTC) and state co-operative mills. It had also sold about 1.5 lakh bales a month over the last four months through e-auction.
Now the 27,000 bales that the CCI has with it will be sold to small and medium-scale mills. The sales will be executed through e-auction and only small and medium-scale mills will be able to bid for the stocks. This will benefit the small and medium-scale mills. The main reason for the spiraling prices was CCI selling cotton to multinational companies and large buyers. In fact, the CCI should sell cotton at just minimum support price and the cost incurred for storing the cotton till now should be passed on to the domestic textile mills so that prices come down.
