Textiles (147)
Perhaps for the first time Maharashtra may overtake Gujarat in terms of cotton production. Usually, Maharashtra produces around 60 to 70 lakh bales and around 20 lakh bales are sold to Gujarat. But this time, there could be a bumper production because of good rains.
Maharashtra’s cotton crop is expected to improve from 78 lakh bales in 2015-16 to 87 lakh bales in the current crop year. Gujarat may produce some 80 to 85 lakh bales. Incessant rains brought relief to the water-stressed Marathwada region, which had been suffering from drought for the past four years.
Total cotton supply for the crop season 2016-17 is estimated at 398 lakh bales, while domestic consumption is estimated at 309 lakh bales, thus leaving an available surplus of 89 lakh bales. Meanwhile cotton samples are being displayed to potential buyers in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam. A team visited Chinese buyers, traders, ginners, warehouses and provided samples of their cotton, which was tested by Chinese experts. This was followed by a visit by Chinese traders and ginners to farms.
China has been the biggest importer of cotton from India until now. The cotton season begins from October 1. However, because of the rains, there could be a delay of 15 to 20 days for the new arrivals to take place.
Chian’s Xinao Textiles opens knitwear development center
Written by FWChina’s Xinao Textiles, is one of the world’s leading worsted spinners of wool, producing machine knitting yarns for the sweater, sports, outdoor, underwear and sock industries. The company has now opened an innovative knitwear development center in China.
The center comprises a research and development unit, which houses laboratories and small scale processing machinery in order to conduct experimental trials, a training and education department containing a 100-seat lecture theatre devoted to training future textile technologists, designers and engineers, and a fully equipped textile testing laboratory. Students will get hands-on training.
The operation and activities of the knitwear center will be overseen and guided by an advisory board. The advisory board comprises both international and Chinese experts, who have wide experience in a range of fields such as design, knitwear manufacturing, spinning, finishing, processing machinery and textile chemistry and dyeing.
The center is a result of close cooperation with The Woolmark Company along with other strategic partners from the design, textile machinery, textile chemicals industries, textile universities and leading knitwear companies. Xinao is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and sale of worsted yarn. The company’s main products include worsted yarn and intermediate products of wool tops, mainly used for downstream textile and clothing sectors.
Companies in Tamil Nadu's textile belt are opting for IPOs now. Till now they had banked on debt to run their privately held businesses. Integrated firms manufacturing goods across the supply chain from yarn to finished apparel work out of Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode. They boast of fairly high levels of operating margins, international clients like Walmart and Macy's and strong business continuity typical of family-run businesses. But they have thus far held back their exposure to capital markets. Lack of exposure limited the way they structured their companies -it was either proprietary or limited liability partnership. Some extended it to private limited companies.
A slow-but-promising European recovery, strong domestic demand and a gradual increase in exposure to how the capital markets work appear to have pushed entrepreneurs towards the markets now. Their ways of raising funds have changed.
Globalisation has expanded their horizons to the avenue of tapping public money. In a competitive, volumes-driven business environment, a company needs to have a strong fund flow. At a time of high interest costs, capital markets are seen as a great way to access funds. And clients feel safer buying from a listed company. Over the last decade, only a handful of Tamil Nadu's textile barons have taken to Dalal Street and fared well after their IPO and sustained interest among investors.
Monsanto decision poses a challenge to government’ seed policy
Written by FWMonsanto’s decision to withdraw its application for Bollgard II Roundup Ready Flex technology is posing a big challenge to the government’s policy on licensing seeds technology. The move is significant as it comes at a time when the government is in the middle of a consultation on whether to limit royalty rates of seed-tech companies at 10 per cent of the seed price for the first five years followed by a 10% reduction in each of the following years.
Since this order, by way of a gazette notification, came just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, media attention forced the government to pass it off as a discussion paper. Last year, the government came out with a seeds price order which not only resulted in the price of the GM seeds being cut sharply, the cut was far sharper for trait values, or the royalty that firms like Monsanto charge for giving their technology to seed-producing firms.
While the Bollgard II seeds price was cut from Rs 930 per bag of 450 grams of seed and 120 gram of refugia seed to Rs 800, the trait fee was cut from Rs 163 to Rs 42. While the seed company took a hit of Rs 121 per bag, other seed companies took a hit of just Rs 9 per bag.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Agriculture made a complaint to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and asked it to probe allegations of anti-competitive practices by Monsanto. This was based on the complaints of seed companies who were selling Monsanto’s seeds under license.
India’s coir exports during the last financial year recorded a 17 per cent increase in value, largely due to higher exports of coir pith. The volume of exports increased by 20 per cent. India is the largest exporter of coir products such as mats, matting and rugs in the world. Coir pith is the top performer in terms of volume with a share of 54 per cent. Other products like coir geo-textiles, handloom mattings, tufted mats, power loom mats and coir rugs and carpets also showed a rising trend in exports.
Exports of items like curled coir, rubberised coir, power loom mattings and handloom mattings declined during the period. The US tops the list of countries in value terms of exports with nearly 26 per cent of the total realisation, while China, with 36 per cent of volume share, tops in that category. The US, China, Netherlands and South Korea are the main buyers of coir products from India.
However, coir is witnessing stiff competition from other mechanised products like PVC tufted mats. Coir is a natural fiber. Kerala is the home of the Indian coir industry. India supplies over 60 per cent of the world supply of white coir fiber.
A cotton and textile fair will be held in Uzbekistan on October 12 and 13, 2016. The aim is to expand and diversify Uzbek cotton’s export destinations, increase efficiency and optimize shipment of Uzbek cotton to the world market and become the basis for mutually beneficial cooperation between participants of the world cotton and textile industry. The cotton fair is expected to stimulate further development of market mechanisms in cotton trading and improve business relations between Uzbek producers and customers.
Participants will enjoy an opportunity to sign contracts for Uzbek cotton, set up long-term cooperation in cotton trading, as well as to be familiar with the quality of Uzbek cotton and the latest innovations in trade and logistics. Round tables and bilateral negotiations between Uzbek cotton exporters and consumers will be organized. Guests will have an opportunity to participate in the cotton trading session on the Uzbek commodity exchange.
Topics to be discussed include world cotton and textile market: demand and supply, prices and factors; current state and prospects of production and marketing of cotton in Uzbekistan; new technologies to increase cotton competitiveness; present and future of the world cotton textile market. Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of cotton. The first such fair was conducted in 2005.
ITMA ASIA + CITME 2016 will be held in China from October 21 to 25, 2016. The fifth edition of the combined textile machinery show is expected to attract a lakh of visitors from around the world. The combined show is now well-entrenched in the textile machinery exhibition calendar. It draws all leading textile and garment manufacturers and is an essential showcase for the Asian market, offering plenty of business and networking opportunities.
Organisers are forging partnerships with leading industry associations and buyer groups from key industry segments and establishing rapport with important textile and garment manufacturing countries. Strategic tie-ups have already been formed with many of the world’s textile associations, including those in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. On the domestic front, the organisers are reaching out to Chinese buyers in all the key textile hubs.
Interest from the global textile and garment industry for the event is extremely strong. So far it has attracted around 1,600 exhibitors from 27 countries. The last ITMA ASIA + CITME show in 2014 grossed 1,50,000 square meters. It welcomed around 1,600 exhibitors from 28 countries. The show attracted around 1,00,000 visitors from 102 economies.
