FW
The Ministry of Textile in Pakistan has made it clear that provinces should stop granting permission for setting up new sugar mills in cotton growing areas that has led to a decrease in cotton plantation. Provinces may be asked to refrain from issuing no-objection certificates (NOC) for establishing, increasing capacity or shifting of sugar mills to the cotton growing areas, the Ministry of Textile Industry said in a presentation to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Food Security.
In the wake of improved returns and timely supply of inputs, sugarcane cultivation has expanded. In the meantime, sugar prices have also gone up from Rs31 to Rs 68 per kg in the last 10 years. The Ministry of Textile Industry argued that the price increase had encouraged setting up of more sugar mills which increased from 45 to 85 in the country. Of these, 45 were in Punjab, 32 in Sindh and 8 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Almost 70 per cent of sugar mills are located in the core cotton zone of the country, especially in Punjab. The setting up of mills in the top cotton growing areas and increasing crushing capacity of the existing mills have led to 26 per cent shrinkage in cotton areas, especially in south Punjab, including Rahim Yar Khan and Muzaffargarh. Cotton area has also squeezed due to maize and potato crops in the districts of Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Khanewal.
Weak cotton prices are also a reason why farmers were opting for other crops,. Cotton growers had not been given protection like producers of many industrial products.
The ongoing annual Heimtextil fair in Frankfurt saw Bangladesh companies in good numbers who received a positive response from international retailers. The fair that started on January 10 will end today (Jan 13th). A total of 23 home textile companies from Bangladesh are participating in the four-day fair. Messe Frankfurt, one of the largest trade fair companies in the world, has been organising the event since 1971.
Rashed Mosharraf, GM-Marketing at Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, a concern of Noman Group said the response from buyers is positive. Most of the company’s old customers in the EU visited the stall. And, the interest this year has been higher than last year, he added. Mosharraf said the EU was the company’s largest market and 70 per cent of the company's export receipts come from the region. Zaber & Zubair exports $16 million worth of home textile in a month. Almost all Bangladeshi participants echoed similar views about overwhelming response from retailers in Germany, the second largest export destination for Bangladesh after the US.
Welspun India’s textile business has been growing at 15 per cent and in the coming year, it expects a growth of five to seven per cent. It is in the process of establishing a new supply chain system in textiles which was never there before by introducing RFID. RFID will help it track the entire supply chain.
Welspun has put up a team in Egypt to source cotton and thereafter all processes from spinning to weaving and processing will be in house. ‘Tilt’, the smart textile launched in the US market, is the company’s patented product and will be a new way of looking at textiles. In the next three or five years, futuristic textiles may be the way forward. As the consumer moves in smart cars and gets into smart homes, Welspun would like to bring in smart textiles to them.
Welspun’s total income from operations jumped 22 per cent in July to September 2016 from the same quarter last year. The company achieved its highest quarterly top line during the quarter. Welspun plans to expand its focus on branded and innovative products to become a two billion dollar company in four years, with 20 per cent revenue coming in from domestic sales.
MoUs worth Rs 8,835 crore in textile sector were signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit Gandhinagar. Pacts have been signed in various segments such as textile parks, textile processing, machinery and carpet development, said at textiles ministry statement.
Union textiles minister Smriti Irani said given the entrepreneurial spirit of Gujaratis and the kind of investment inflow, the textile story of Gujarat has just begun. She said that Gujarat is a one-point sourcing hub for all kinds of textiles and as an area with one of the largest concentrations of textiles in India. The minister also said that there are huge possibilities in textile education in Gujarat. She was addressing the 'Make in Gujarat' theme seminar on Trends and Innovation impacting the Textile Value Chain at the Global Summit.
The minister witnessed signing of MoUs worth Rs 8,835 crore in the textile sector during the seminar. She said the skill development program in textile sector conducted at 28 ITIs of Gujarat running textiles courses has recorded a placement of 75 per cent.
The minister said two major institutes of Gujarat, namely NIFT and NID and various engineering colleges offer degrees in textile technology, textile processing and textile engineering. She also informed that Gujarat produces 29 per cent of India's total cotton production which indicates the trust of textile industries in the prospects of the state. Irani assured the support of her ministry for the development of the textile value chain of Gujarat and to explore possibilities in technical textiles and research.
The African Development Bank (AFDB) is looking at partnering Sokoto state and the North-Western region of Africa. This was stated by AFDB president Akinwunmi Adeshina at a meeting with Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto state. During the 14 years of calamity that rocked Nigerian textile industry, major garment factories ran out of business and almost 3 million jobs were lost. Even with the 100 billion Naira federal government intervention fund, the North’s economy which included the profit from the textile sector still feels the effects.
Before the collapse of the industry, cotton production was the main focus of textile manufacturers, as cotton is the life of the textile industry. In the past, the federal government supported the industry through a ban on imported textile products. But the boom in the oil sector caused a neglect for other important resources within Nigeria’s boundaries. After that the government relaxed on the law and unbanned importation which favoured the big players that had easy access to funds, and started importing from China, Indonesia and other Asian countries.
Often, Nigerian government effects policies to actually solve problems afflicting a certain sector. However, these policies look good on paper but how far they go cannot be ascertained just like the policies on education, agriculture, child right law and others.
Textile made-ups will get an additional 10 per cent capital investment subsidy under the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. Every eligible made-up unit which has availed of the 15 per cent benefit under ATUFS will be paid an additional 10 per cent capital investment subsidy on its investment up to an additional maximum cap of Rs 20 crores.
The made-up segment includes products like bed sheets, blankets, curtains, crochet laces, pillow covers, towels, zari, embroidery articles. It is the second largest employment generator after apparel in the entire textile value chain in India. There is a move to add to the category of made-ups.
Additional subsidy will be disbursed after a period of three years and the disbursement will be based on a verification mechanism linked to production volume, employment and turnover. Reforms in the apparel made-up sector are aimed at creating large scale direct and indirect employment of up to 11 lakh persons over the next three years and boosting exports. Reforms include providing production incentives for made-ups similar to that provided to garments. It’s thought such intervention would greatly help the made-ups segment to improve its global competitiveness and create more demand for fabrics, yarn and fiber in the domestic market.
German and European manufacturers of sewing and garment technology and machines for processing technical textiles have positive expectations from 4th Texprocess, in Frankfurt from May 9 to 12. As Elgar Straub, Managing Director of VDMA Textile Care Frankfurt said while speaking at the international Texprocess press conference in Frankfurt, 2016 was another successful year for the sector. Sales of German sewing and garment technology increased 15.9 per cent in real terms from January to October compared to last year.
Likewise, orders increased 2.8 per cent. He further said VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies will be present at this year’s Texprocess for the first time with new names reflecting the sector’s strong international orientation. In addition, all sectors represented in the association find themselves represented in the name viz. manufacturers of sewing and garment technology, shoe and leather technology, laundry and textile cleaning technology as well as machines for processing technical textiles.
Soon to assume office of the US president, Donald Trump had in his election speech vowed that he would trash the much awaited TPP on the very first day he assumes office.
This changed the mood inside the offices of Vietnam's Garment companis. It was then, Than Duc Viet, deputy general director of the state-run textile company, breaking into a rousing speech had observed that if the TPP falls through, his country can always look to Europe or South Korea. After all, Vietnam hasn't been making all these improvements just for the TPP.
Duc was referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the comprehensive 12-nation trade pact that would have given Vietnamese exports easy access to a vast market. Unfortunately for Hanoi, Trump’s vow to scrap the deal on his first day in office, did it in. But while this is a setback for Vietnam's industrial policy, resourceful companies already have chalked out their own plans for going global well underway.
Garment 10, or Garco 10 for short, is a symbol of Vietnamese industry. Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh toured its factory on the outskirts of Hanoi in 1959. During the Vietnam War, workers of the company manned anti-aircraft guns on the roof when they were not busy sewing. The company is taking the likely failure of the TPP in stride, confident that the improvements Duc referred to will serve it well.
There was a rise of 31.9 per cent in the exports of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textile and apparel products from countries like Vietnam and Korea to the US. This was disclosed by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel in the US.
The department has also reported that monthly imports of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textile and apparel products totaled 5.68 billion square meter equivalents in October 2106 up 3.5 per cent from September and 1.4 per cent from October 2015.
During the first nine months of last year, the value of exports of Biella exceeded 1.302 million euro, showing an increase by 2.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.Biella is a town and comune in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 45,016 as of 2014. It is located about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Turin and 80 kilometres (50 miles) west-northwest of Milan.
Data received are especially positive if they are considered in the whole context. This means that between January and September 2016, registered exports were steady at national level (+0.5) but declined at the regional level for the decrease by 4.9 per cent in Piedmont.
Among Biella’s manufacturing activities, which totally register an increase by 2.4 per cent, there are apparel industry (+6.6 per cent), mechanics industry (+6.6 per cent) and textile products (+1.1 per cent). Exports of yarns are growing by 3.9 per cent. Textile industry represents the first exporting sector for Biella area, with a sum equal to 60.7 per cent of the overall amount.
Alessandro Ciccioni – president of the Biella and Vercelli Chamber of Commerce – stated that the growth within EU was strongly positive. However, it was important to highlight that the difficulty within export sector was still present outside EU, especially in those countries that traditionally were important and strong as outlet markets. Since then, the Chambers of Commerce has committed to foster the opening toward foreign markets of local companies with special attention for small and medium enterprises’ needs. Going ahead he said that currently through the ongoing Chambers’ reform, Biella should commit itself to educate companies (especially the small ones) to face internationalisation, leaving to other appointed bodies boosting activities on foreign markets, in a period in which the situations on international exchanges leave lots of issues to sort out.
