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Cotton production during the current crop season is likely to remain 10.874 million bales as against the set targets of 14.37 million bales, showing a decrease of 22 percent.
The low output was attributed to drastic climatic changes, prolonging weather pattern and acute water shortage during the crop sowing season in Sindh Province, said Cotton Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Dr Khalid Abdullah.
Talking to APP here, he said that the cotton crop in the Sindh had remained under water stress due to bellow normal rain falls in crop growing areas of the province, where as the water situation remained satisfactory in Punjab as compared the Sindh, which is likely to supplemented the over all output in second and final estimation.
The crop production in the Punjab was estimated at 8.077 million bales, where as in Sindh it was estimated at 2.600 million bales, adding that due to water stress, the overall 5-10 percent yield in Sindh was expected to reduce.
In Balochistan the cotton output was estimated at 0.150 million bales and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was estimated at 0.020 million bales and Balochistan 0.150 million bales respectively, he added.
However, he said that it was an initial estimates and figures of output may improved in second and third estimation as the weather was dry and pest attack was not reported so far.
The pest attack including cotton mealybugs, pink ball worm also reduced and it was reported at 23 percent as compared the 27 percent of same period of last year, he observed.
It may be recalled that cotton crop had been sown over 2.69 million hectares of land as against the fixed targets of 2.95 million hectares in order to produce over 14.37 million cotton bales during the crop season 2018-19.
The crop cultivation targets, which fixed for the current sowing season were achieved by over 91 percent as it went up by 2 percent as compared with the area under cotton crop cultivation during same period of last year.
Over all cotton was cultivated over 2.31 million hectares in Province of Punjab registered about 11 percent growth, where as it had was reduced by 31 percent in Sindh
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Free trade agreements (FTAs) in which Vietnam has joined are great momentum for the domestic garment-textile industry to attract investment, said an official of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS).
VITAS Chairman Vu Duc Giang said although the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) have yet to come into effect, they have significantly helped attract foreign investors in Vietnam’s garment-textile sector.
Importers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand have no longer focused only on China but turned towards Vietnam, he said.
The increasing number of orders from foreign firms has wooed investment in the production of materials in service of the industry. Apart from Ho Chi Minh City, other localities like Hung Yen have lured the attention of FDI firms, he noted.
However, most Vietnamese garment-textile enterprises are small- and medium-sized with low competitiveness due to limited investment, according to Giang.
Few of them such as the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and Corporation 28 (Agtex) have the capacity to compete with FDI rivals, he said, adding the content of Vinatex’s locally-made materials exceeds 50% and many of its yarn and dyeing projects have been put into operation.
According to VITAS, garment-textile production lines and orders have been moved from China to Vietnam as China has lost its advantages in terms of labour costs. Besides, Vietnam’s joining many FTAs has not only created opportunities for local businesses to diversify its export markets but also attracted material suppliers.
Once the CPTPP becomes effective, it is expected to increase Vietnam’s exports to CPTPP member countries whose accumulated annual import turnover amounts to US$40 billion, said Giang.
Le Tien Truong, Vinatex General Director, said one of Vietnam’s attractive factors to foreign investors is low-cost labour.
Statistics show that by the end of 2017, Vietnam had attracted 2,079 projects in the garment-textile sector with total capital of US$15.75 billion, up 10% year-on-year.
The investors come from 57 countries and territories nationwide, with major ones from Taiwan and Hong Kong (China) and the Republic of Korea (RoK).
In the first six months of this year, up to US$2.8 billion in FDI was injected into Vietnam’s garment-textile industry, Truong said, citing some large-scale projects like US$80 million Nam Dinh Ramatex Textile and Garment Factory of Singapore’s Herberton Ltd and Ha Nam YKK Factory specialised in producing zippers and other materials for the garment industry with an annual capacity of 420 million products. According to Giang, Vietnam’s garment-textile export revenue is projected to reach US$200 billion by 2035. Given this, he suggested the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade outline a strategy for the sector by 2040 and a planning schedule for garment-textile industry parks that meet international standards of waste treatment. Domestic garment-textile businesses should fully understand regulations of the CPTPP and EVFTA to utilise the benefits of the agreements, he said.
Major Chinese textile companies are stepping up sourcing and investment plans in Ethiopia following a visit to the African country by a delegation of industry representatives organized by the International Trade Centre.
During their 26-28 August visit to Addis Ababa, eleven delegates from the China Chamber of Commerce for Textiles (CCCT) met with heads of local textile companies and leaders of Ethiopian Textile and Garment Manufacturers Association as well as with high-level government officials. They struck sourcing agreements and explored investment partnerships with Ethiopia-based partners.
The visit was part of ITC’s Partnership for Investment and Growth in Africa (PIGA) project, and was one in a sequence of events aimed at boosting private investment from China in African economies. The CCCT has a membership comprising over 12,000 textile companies in China. Its recent delegation to Ethiopia included the heads of four large-scale firms, who were excited about the prospects for more Chinese investment in Ethiopia, particularly as manufacturing costs rise in China.
One of the firms on the delegation, agreed to source 1.5 million pieces of beach shorts from a textile factory located in the Bole Lemi Industrial Park, a specialized export zone on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital. A B2B event organized by the PIGA team for the delegation and local manufacturers generated six prospective investment partnerships for three local companies with values ranging between $1 million and $5 million.
Over the last twenty years, China has become an increasingly important source of financing in African economies, including in Ethiopia’s young but fast-growing manufacturing sector. The Chinese delegates were impressed by Ethiopia’s progress on improving infrastructure, including roads, trains, and electricity, though they suggested that further enhancing labour productivity and lowering logistics costs would make the country an even more attractive destination for investment. The current trade tensions between the United States and Beijing were cited as an additional incentive for Chinese firms to invest in Ethiopia, with increasing difficulties associated with exporting from China. The PIGA project in Ethiopia looks forward to continuing cooperation with the CCCT in order to catalyse further investment in the future.
Egypt will sell 11 cotton gin lands worth EGP 27 billion ($1.51 billion) after changing their activities to fund the development of the rest of spinning and weaving companies, Egypt’s business sector minister Hesham Tawfik said on Monday.
Tawfik explained that the sale of cotton gin lands would be “after changing their activity from industrial to real estate.”
The plan to develop the Holding Company for Spinning and Weaving includes the repair of old machines in 25 cotton gins, the closure of 14 cotton gins and the import of modern machines for 11 cotton gins after the experimental operation of Fayoum cotton gin, Tawfik said, according to Al Mal daily economic newspaper.
He added that there is a current cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the system, cultivation and production of cotton as well as allowing the cultivation of 10,000 acres of short cotton in cooperation with the public and private sectors and the Egyptian armed forces, Al Mal said.
Many state-owned textile companies suffer losses due to the lack of equipment development and occasional labor protests.
Egypt tries to improve state-owned companies that suffer losses through restructuring or merging them in addition to the sale of unutilized assets.
The minister added that Egypt would merge some pharmaceutical companies as a part of its plan to target foreign markets.
“We need EGP 750 million to develop the pharmaceutical sector … we will merge some companies,” Tawfik said.
He noted that the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company “has scrap metal worth EGP four to five billion which will be sold to use the proceeds in the development of the company”.
Many business sector companies in Egypt suffer from over-employment and poor production. The government owns about 121 companies employing around 214,000 workers in various economic fields.
Petition submitted to District Collector
Urging the district administration to fix the price of yarn once in a month instead of twice a day, members of Erode Vhisaithari Urimayalargal Sangam (Erode Power Loom Owners Association) submitted petition to the Collector here on Monday.
Major sector
The petition said that power loom industry was a major sector in the district next to agriculture and over 30,000 looms were functioning at Veerappanchatiram, Chithode, Lakkapuram and other areas.
Most of the looms produced materials using rayon yarn that was purchased from companies.
Though the cost of raw materials for making rayon yarn was fixed once in a month, these companies hiked the price of yarn twice a day and also depending upon the demand.
“The price of yarn had increased from Rs. 202 per kg to Rs. 224 per kg in the past 15 days,” the members said.
They wanted the price of yarn to be fixed monthly so that the sector that provided job to over one lakh workers would survive.
They also wanted the textile cooperative mills to import rayon yarn and supply it directly to the power loom owners so that they need not purchase the yarn at higher price from private mills.
Reservation
The members said that modern looms were currently used for producing garments and hence they wanted reservation of articles for production in power looms. “Like handlooms, only if reservation is introduced for power looms, the sector will survive the competition from modern looms,” they added.
Industry experts say this would help Indian cotton to get better prices in the long run and, in turn, benefit farmers
The Union Ministry of Textiles has issued a draft notification prescribing quality standards for cotton bales as per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms. Industry experts say this would help Indian cotton to get better prices in the long run and, in turn, benefit farmers.
According to the notification cotton Bales shall conform to IS 12171:2013 and shall bear the Standard Mark under a licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards as per Scheme–II of schedule II of BIS Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. Nothing in the Order shall apply in relation to Cotton Bales meant for export, which conform to any specification required by the foreign buyer.
The Bureau of Indian Standards shall be the certifying and enforcing authority. In addition, an officer not below the rank of General Manager, District Industries Centre in the Department of Industries of the State Government shall also be the enforcing authority.
Penalty for Contravention: Any person who contravenes the provisions shall be punishable under the provisions of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, said in the notification.
Cotton Association of India (CAI) president Atul Ganatra said that this was in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to double farm income in India. Today, Indian cotton is sold at a discount of 10-15 per cent to international prices due to quality issues in ginning, processing, and labelling stages. Nearly 18 types of trash contamination creep into Indian cotton, which, in turn, affects the spinning mills.
If this all issues of trash contamination are sorted out at the ginning stage itself then spinning mills may also be willing to pay a better price. Once the new quality standards kick in, Indian cotton may command a higher price globally. While that may still not be at par with international prices in the short term, the farmers will stand to gain.
Ganatra says the customer would not mind paying extra percentage for quality cotton.
According to the Cotton Advisory Board, total domestic consumption of cotton in 2017-18 is estimated at 31.55 million bales. Further, in order to provide remunerative prices to growers, the government has fixed the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton for 2018-19 season at Rs 5,150 per quintal for medium staple and Rs 5,450 per quintal for long staple.
Total production and consumption during the current crop year 2018-19 is not available, but state-wise estimated production, as per the Third Advance Estimates for the year 2017-18 is 34.86 million bales, say reports.
BHUBANESWAR: The drive against the use of plastic and polythene carry-bags has gathered steam. With the state government planning to prohibit the use of plastic across five cities on October 2, many organizations in the city – both government and private – have been switching to eco-friendly materials to make bags.
Several voluntary organizations here have even launched campaigns to promote and popularize the use of cotton cloth bags.
Among the green activists is Rudra Prasad Rath, who has started an online campaign called #whereisyourcottonbag a couple of months ago.
“We have caused enough damage to the environment by dumping plastic everywhere. It is time we undid some of the damage by saying no to plastic,” he said. “Though the government’s decision to ban plastic has been welcomed by us, many people are confused about what alternatives are available to them,” he added.
As a part of his campaign, Rath has been asking people to post pictures with cotton or jute bags on social media platforms. He has also been speaking in assembly sessions at schools and colleges, and visiting housing colonies and apartments to urge the people to use cotton and cloth bags. “One school in the city has already declared its campus polythene-free. Around 1,000 people have posted pictures with cotton bags and many of them have started using these as well. Several shops and vendors have also stopped giving out plastic bags,” said Rath.
Another group of volunteers has launched a campaign against plastic in different daily markets of the city. Under the banner of ‘Save the Earth Foundation’, the volunteers ask vendors and customers not to use plastic bags. “We approached vendors and customers in Jharpada daily market. Initially, the people did not give us much importance but they started listening to us after a couple of weeks. At present, around 70-80% people in the daily market have stopped using plastic,” said Ranjan Acharya, a trustee of the foundation.
This follows ?a 31 paise/litre hike in prices on Monday. Rates have breached the previous high of Rs 78.43 a litre hit on May 28. On that day, the rate in Mumbai was Rs 86.24 per litre
New Delhi: Petrol and diesel pricesin the country touched their highest levels Monday mainly due to dramatic fall in rupee and a sharp rise in crude oil rates. Petrol pricein Delhi rose to a record Rs 79.15 a litre and diesel climbed to a fresh high of Rs 71.15, according to price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This follows ?a 31 paise/litre hike in prices on Monday. Rates have breached the previous high of Rs 78.43 a litre hit on May 28. On that day, the rate in Mumbai was Rs 86.24 per litre.
A litre of petrol in Mumbai costs Rs ?86.56 on Monday. Prices in Delhi are the cheapest in all metros and most state capitals due to lower sales tax or VAT. Diesel rates on Monday were hiked by 39 paise a litre, the steepest increase since the daily revision in prices was introduced in mid-june 2017.
Diesel now costs Rs ?75.54 per litre in Mumbai. Since August 16, petrol prices have risen by over Rs 2 per litre. Diesel prices on the other hand have risen by Rs 2.42 a litre during this period. Diesel rates had hit Rs 69.31 a litre on May 28, but this record was breached on August 27 and on Monday they hit a fresh high.
Fuel prices vary from state to state due to local levies. Officials said the spike in rates is on account of exchange rate falling to a record Rs 71 to a dollar, depreciating by Rs 2.5 in a month.
Also, crude oil has gained USD 7 a barrel in a fortnight, driven by fears that the US sanctions on Iran will likely contract supplies.
The appreciation of dollar against rupee has also pushed up rates for compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as piped natural gas (PNG) since the price of gas procured by city distributors is mostly dollar-denominated.
Indraprastha Gas Ltd, which retails gas in the national capital, on Sunday raised the prices of CNG by 63 paise per kg and by Rs 1.11 per standard cubic meter for piped natural gas supplied to households for cooking purposes.
CNG now costs Rs. 42.60 per kg in Delhi and Rs 49.30 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The consumer price of PNG to the households in Delhi has been increased to Rs 28.25 per scm, while same in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 30.10 per scm, which has been increased by Rs 1.26 per scm.
MSMEs may be asked to give details of monthly sales data to check with income tax payments, say officials
Tax authorities are considering ways, including the levy of interest on tax dues, to ensure that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) pay taxes every month, two officials aware of the matter said.
Nearly 93% of taxpayers with annual sales up to ?5 crore need to file only quarterly returns, according to a recent decision of the Goods and Servie Tax Council (GST Council). The government is trying to prevent any cash flow problems for the exchequer from this politically crucial segment, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
“The law committee of the GST Council is examining how to ensure that taxpayers pay tax every month. The monthly tax payment has to approximate a third of the quarterly tax payments. If the variation is beyond a percentage, the taxpayer may be asked to pay interest on that part,” said one of the two officials.
Such safeguards are being introduced to address concerns of states over any potential revenue leakages from easing of compliance burden on firms.
“MSMEs may also be asked to give a break-up of monthly sales data to check if the monthly tax payments made are commensurate to sales,” said the second official.
The central government is keen to give relief to the MSME sector, which suffered from the November 2016 demonetisation and the July 2017 GST rollout. Small businesses and traders are also politically relevant as they form a key support base for political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to data available with the MSME ministry, there are more than 63 million MSMEs engaged in manufacturing, services and trade, more than half of which are in rural areas. These enterprises account for about 110 million jobs and contribute about 29% of the country’s economic output, the ministry said, citing the National Sample Survey 73rd round conducted during 2015-16. The role of SMEs in employment creation makes it a priority for the government to make it easier for them to do business and comply with regulations.
Besides quarterly filing of tax returns, the GST Council is also exploring the option of providing partial tax relief to MSMEs from GST. This may be done through a refund mechanism for a certain percentage of the tax payment.
The GST Council, in its previous meeting in August, had decided to set up a panel to look into issues faced by MSMEs and come up with suggestions before the next GST Council meeting on 28-29 September in New Delhi.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conclave organised in Surat, Dharmendra Pradhan said the factors responsible for drop in production of crude oil have caused a spike in fuel prices in India.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Sunday blamed “external factors” for the rise in domestic prices of petrol and diesel, but said the increase is temporary.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conclave organised in Surat, Mr Pradhan said the factors responsible for drop in production of crude oil have caused a spike in fuel prices in India.
“I would like to mention two points, and both these subjects are external. OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) had promised that it will raise production by one million barrels per day, which was not raised.
“Apart from that, crises in countries like Venezuela and Iran are increasing. There is a pressure on oil prices due to decrease in production. Secondly, global currencies have weakened against the US dollar,” he said.
Mr Pradhan was in Surat to inaugurate a textile and plastic investors conclave, where he addressed entrepreneurs, industry stake-holders and professionals from the plastic and textile industry. The conclave showcased opportunities in textile, polymer and downstream sectors in Odisha and eastern India. “This is a matter of concern for the world economy, and the Indian economy is also affected. But considering these factors, the Indian government is planning to put diplomatic pressure. “A high-level American delegation is visiting India, and India’s two senior representatives – defence minister and external affairs minister – will talk to them. All these factors will be discussed. I consider this period (of high petrol, diesel prices) temporary,” he said, referring to the 2+2 dialogue between the two countries in Delhi this week.
Fuel prices have been on the rise since August 16 after the rupee dipped to its lowest value against the US dollar.
Petrol and diesel prices had gone up by almost a rupee per litre within a fortnight last month. Later tweeting about the event, Mr Pradhan said, “Surat, today, is one of the largest man-made fibre clusters in India, processing more than two crore metres of fabric a day. The entrepreneurial spirit of the people of Surat has developed the city into a thriving economy based on textile and various other industrial clusters”.
“It fills me with great pride that people from my home state of Odisha have played a key role in this economic transformation journey and a huge number of karigars in Surat today belong to Odisha.
“Government’s decision to increase import duty on polyster fibre and yarn will further give impetus to domestic producers,” he said in another tweet. “Odisha provides an excellent investment opportunity, being close to the demand pockets of eastern UP and West Bengal with unique coastal position to caret export demand,” the minister tweeted.
