IBTEX No. 61 of 2016 March 22, 2016
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Spot Prices of Overseas Ring Spun Yarn in Indicative Prices of Cotton Grey Fabrics in China Chinese Market Date: 9 Mar-2016 FOB Price Date: 9-Mar-2016 Price (Post-Tax) (Pre-Tax) Description Prices Prices (USD/Kg.) (Domestic Production) (Yuan/Meter) Country C32Sx32S 130x70 63” 2/1 fine 20S 30S 7.20 Carded Carded twill India 2.10 2.30 C40Sx40S 133X72 63” 1/1 poplin 6.40 Indonesia 2.81 3.26 C40Sx40S 128X68 67” 2/1 twill 6.00-6.20 Pakistan 2.22 2.60 24Sx24S 72x60 54” 1/1 batik Turkey 2.60 2.80 4.60 Source CCF Group dyeing 20Sx20S 60x60 63” 1/1 plain cloth 6.20
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NEWS CLIPPINGS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS No Topics 1 Trade Liberalisation And Its Impact On The Euro Area Textile And Clothing Sectors 2 Marriott To Provide Customers “Made in USA” Towels And Bath Mats In Its U.S. Hotels, Stimulating U.S. Job Growth 3 Launch of garment industry in Kisumu to boost textile industry 4 Apparel boosts UK's online shopping for February 5 Belarusian knitwear sector plan to expand its export market 6 Monsanto eyes BASF, Bayer crop chemicals deals: Report NATIONAL NEWS 1 Blended yarn prices up in India, China 2 Wendell Rodricks to give a modern twist to Indian garments 3 LIVA collaborates with 'Amazon India Fashion Week' 4 Craftsvilla taps Rs 24,000-cr handloom market 5 No new taxes, focus on social sector in Haryana budget 6 India’s Denim Market Seen Primed for Growth 7 Power loom units stick to their stand 8 EU, Canada red-flag India’s crop cover scheme at WTO 9 Garment units seek withdrawal of amendment in EPFO scheme 10 India needs to create well paying jobs
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Trade Liberalisation And Its Impact On The Euro Area Textile And Clothing Sectors
In January 2005 all remaining quota restrictions on global trade in textiles and clothing were eliminated. This was supposed to mark the end of 50 years of quantity restrictions.
However, following a surge in textile imports from China at the beginning of 2005, the EU and China started negotiations to limit the growth of textile imports from China.
An agreement was reached on 10 June. By the beginning of August, the new limit had already been reached for some items, and stocks began piling up in storage at various entry points into the EU. A new agreement was concluded on 5 September which allowed these stocks to be released whilst maintaining limits on the future rate of growth of textile imports from China. This box assesses the impact of trade liberalisation on the textile and clothing sectors, with regard to trade, output and pricing.
While the share of textiles in total euro area imports and exports has been following a downward trend since the mid-1990s, the euro area has registered an increasing trade deficit in this sector, which reached € 26 billion in 2004. This was mainly the result of imports from low-cost countries which increased their share of the euro area market. Since January 2005, textile imports from China have surged largely at the expense of other textile exporting countries outside the euro area while the total value of textile imports into the euro area has not increased (see Chart A).
As regards output and employment within the euro area, recent patterns reveal a continuation of the downward trend observed in the textile sector for over a decade (see Chart B). The dots in the chart indicate stages in the progressive phasing-out of import quotas (January 1995, January 1998, January 2002 and January 2005).
It appears that the impact of the implementation of each new stage of trade liberalisation has been gradual rather than sharp and short-lived.
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Thus, for a number of years, the textile sector in the euro area has been exposed to increasing external competition, reflecting the elimination of trade barriers. Not surprisingly, the decline in euro area textile production was accompanied by a decline I n employment in this sector.
As regards consumer price developments, textile prices, or more specifically clothing and footwear prices, are an important component of the HICP. They account for over 7% of the overall index and almost 25% of the HICP non-energy industrial goods component.
Unfortunately, interpreting recent developments in clothing and footwear consumer prices is difficult because of their highly volatile seasonal pattern. This is undoubtedly partly due to statistical factors (some countries have only included sales discount prices in the HICP since 2000 or 2001) and legal developments (e.g. the regulations governing discounting have been changed in some countries to provide more flexibility for retailers).
However, economic factors, such as efforts to stimulate weak consumer demand by more aggressive discounting, may also be at work. In any case, leaving aside this seasonal volatility and the statistical effects, which explain the sharp drops in 2001, Chart C shows that the annual rate of growth in clothing and footwear prices has been declining since 2002 and is currently negative.
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The liberalisation of the textile sector has therefore contributed to lowering overall HICP inflation this year, which has benefited consumers. At the same time, while the liberalisation thus far has only led to a change in the geographical composition of textile exporters to the euro area, it is to be assumed that, in the future, continued strong external competition will pose a challenge for the euro area textile sector, to which it will need to adjust.
Source: www.ecb.europa.eu– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
Marriott To Provide Customers “Made in USA” Towels And Bath Mats In Its U.S. Hotels, Stimulating U.S. Job Growth
In a first for the U.S. hospitality industry, Marriott International announced that it will provide “Made in USA” towels and bath mats in every guest bathroom in nearly 3,000 U.S. hotels. Buying “Made in USA” towels and bath mats benefits U.S. manufacturing communities such as Thomaston, Ga., and Union, S.C., where manufacturing company Standard Textile is producing them with 100 percent cotton fiber grown in the U.S.
Marriott’s commitment to buy “Made in USA” guestroom terry products creates 150 new jobs in Standard Textile’s facilities in Thomaston and Union, as well as at the company’s Cincinnati headquarters and through its supply chain.
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“As a global company based in the USA, we’re proud to be the first hospitality company to commit to providing our guests with ‘Made in USA’ bathroom towels in our U.S. hotels,” said Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson.
“We believe our guests will appreciate knowing that even simple items they use every day in our hotels represent progress for the U.S. economy,” said Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott. “We also hope this sends a message to other businesses that buying locally can make business sense.”
Overall, this commitment will mean the annual production of 2.6 million bath towels and 4.9 million hand towels – the equivalent of as much as 5.6 million pounds of textiles. If laid end-to-end, the textiles Marriott will purchase in one year would stretch more than 4,300 miles. The commitment to manufacture these textiles in the U.S., also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating more than 300 ocean going container shipments annually.
Marriott’s “Made in USA” commitment with Standard Textile expands the two companies’ long-standing relationship. Last year, Marriott recognized Standard Textile’s commitment to continuous collaboration, innovative new products and superior service by giving the company its 2015 Americas Recognition Award.
“Marriott’s desire to provide guests with terry bath products made by U.S. textile artisans speaks to the heart of why Standard Textile is thriving and creating new jobs after 76 years,” said Gary Heiman, President and CEO.
“Our commitment to technology driven manufacturing and innovation has enabled us to expand our operations in the U.S., creating a sustainable infrastructure for Marriott’s ‘Made in USA’ products.”
Customers can find “Made in USA” towels and bath mats in some hotels today, though ultimately most U.S. hotels across all of Marriott’s brands – ranging from moderate to luxury – will provide the items. To provide hotel operators with innovative solutions that control costs while delivering high quality products and services, Marriott partners with Avendra, North America’s leading procurement services provider serving the hospitality industry.
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Source: textileworld.com – Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
Launch of garment industry in Kisumu to boost textile industry
Since the collapse of the Kisumu cotton mills (KICOMI), the textile industry went down with cotton farmers lacking a market for their crops. Now with the official opening of garment industry in Kisumu to boost its textile industry. The occasion was graced by Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma.
The launch now means an opportunity for many fashion designers to make garments and sell them to the market.
This will deal a blow to the many second hand clothes traders who import their products from various countries abroad.
The sector has also employed millions of youth and women who sell them on open air markets and established shops.
Ranguma said that the initiative is set to benefit students from Kisumu National Polytechnic, designers as well as create employment for many youth who will benefit from the value chain.
Plans to revive cotton growing in Kisumu to support the project is underway, with residents set to benefit from subsidized hybrid cotton seeds alongside other incentives to kick-start the process.
Source: yarnsandfibers.com - Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
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Apparel boosts UK's online shopping for February
According to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index the strong sales experienced in the UK at the start of the year have continued, with online sales in February recording an 18 per cent annual growth; representing 8.9 billion pounds spent.
While the increase was building on a disappointing February in 2015 (when growth was just 8 per cent), the results reveal an impressive performance nonetheless, recording the highest year-on-year (YoY) increase announced since June 2015, Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), the UK's Online Retail Association said in a press release.
Much of the growth recorded in February was driven by an especially strong month for online clothing sales, which saw a significant YoY spike of 22 per cent; its largest annual growth since June 2013.
The clothing sub-sectors enjoyed an equally solid result, with the sale of menswear and accessories increasing 31 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. The colder weather may have had an impact on sales in the UK, with shoppers spending on winter-wear following the unseasonably warm final quarter of 2015.
Valentine's Day helped give the index a further push with romantics splashing out on presents for their loved ones, resulting in a strong performance in the lingerie sector, with sales up 20 per cent year-on-year.
Although the gifts sector fared less well (+6 per cent YoY), sales peaked in the week leading up to Valentine's Day, in line with historical trends.
However, despite a welcome return to double digit growth (15 per cent) in January, following a tough 2015 for this sector, the sale of electrical items was disappointing in February.
Online sales dropped 17 per cent month-on-month and recorded an annual increase of just 6 per cent.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer, IMRG said, “Following a strong performance in January, UK e-retail sales continued to accelerate last
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News Clippings month, resulting in overall year-on-year growth of 16 per cent, year-to- date.
Although this is on the back of a relatively weak performance in Q1 2015, the latest results are impressive and are well ahead of our 11 per cent growth forecast for 2016.”
Richard Tremellen, Retail Insight and Data Specialist, Capgemini, commented: “Despite overall retail sales in February being flat, online growth continues to be strong.
This is particularly encouraging given average basket values were up some 11 per cent year on year, indicating factors other than discounting are driving growth. The strong performance in clothing suggests retailer investments in breadth of range, flexible delivery and ease of returns may be paying off for this sector.
“February also saw the continued disparity between sales made via smartphones and tablet devices. While smartphones recorded a healthy 92 per cent annual growth, sales made on tablets grew by just 11 per cent.”
Source : fibre2fashion.com - Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
Belarusian knitwear sector plan to expand its export market
Belarusian knitwear sector plan to increase sales and expand export geography making use of large scale modernization, new collection and innovative tailoring technique.
A new approach in marketing and creating brand stores can increase sales volumes in the domestic market.
Soligorsk can rightly be called the center of light industry. In recent years, the company has passed large-scale modernization. The change took place in several stages.
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Recently it changed the marketing strategy of enterprises of light industry in order to increase sales and expand the network of brand shops and sections.
The natural fabrics are liked by consumers from Central Asia, Middle East and Western Europe.
Now manufacturers of textiles and knitwear are actively preparing for the summer season.
Source: yarnsandfibers.com - Mar 20, 2016 HOME *****************
Monsanto eyes BASF, Bayer crop chemicals deals: Report
Monsanto Co. reportedly has been in talks with both BASF and Bayer AG regarding possible acquisitions and partnerships to bolster its crop science business.
Monsanto approached Germany-based BASF about buying its crop- science business or forming partnerships, but no agreement was reached, sources told Bloomberg.
Company executives also recently met in Chicago with representatives from Bayer AG to discuss the acquisition of two crop-science units from Bayer. The ongoing discussions could expand to include Monsanto purchasing all of Bayer's crop-science business, sources told Bloomberg.
Consolidation has been ongoing in the seed and pesticide sector, with DuPont and Dwo agreeing in December to a merger that would create a $130 billion company and Syngenta AG agreeing to a $43 billion buyout by China National Chemical Corp. earlier this year. Syngenta rejected Monsanto's $47 billion takeover offer last year.
Monsanto's talks with Bayer would allow it to take part in the industry consolidation and also put pressure on BASF, which is Monsanto's preferred partner.
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Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg analyst Ulle Woerner told Bloomberg that Monsanto is in a "relatively weak position and are looking at everything that is still available."
Earlier this month, Monsanto said it was cutting its fiscal 2016 profit forecast by 11 percent in the face of low global crop prices and a strong U.S. dollar.
Source: bizjournals.com - Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
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NATIONAL NEWS
Blended yarn prices up in India, China
In India, 30s (65/35) PV warp yarn prices in the second week of March inched up INR1 a kg (up US cents 4, also due to strong INR) in Indore market. In Ludhiana, PC 30s (52/48) prices rose further INR3 a kg (up US cents 6).
With stronger INR, Indian yarn have become dearer in US$ terms and may not be able to compete in the international markets. On export markets, PC yarns have risen INR2 at US$2.45 a kg FOB. The rise in polyester prices also resulted in PV yarn prices going up.
In China, polyester blended yarn prices were significantly rising as polyester fiber prices have sharply increased in the last two weeks. Blended spun yarn prices further rose in India, in line with the rise in polyester prices last week while cotton prices were clearly falling.
In Qianqing, PC (65/35) 32s yarn prices rolled over while 45s PC combed yarn prices were up US cents 2 a kg on the week.
In Pakistan, although blended yarn prices rolled over yarn sellers were not ready to reduce offers as they had relatively low inventory.
Source : yarnsandfibers.com Mar 21, 2016 HOME
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Wendell Rodricks to give a modern twist to Indian garments
Noted designer Wendell Rodricks will explore the vast Indian textiles and present the collection in a contemporary modern way at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week here.
Rodricks will celebrate the wealthy legacy of handwoven Indian textiles at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2016 here.
The fashion extravaganza begins from March 30-April 3.
"My collection is called "Indica Emporia". I used the Latin word because I wanted to go back in time. The fashion of India has always been a great provider of textile and culture. It (collection) takes my philosophy ahead of being diverse," Rodricks told PTI.
"We are used to see garments in a certain way I felt like giving the garments modern avatar in a contemporary way," he said.
Through his collection, Rodricks will create a fusion of twenty Indian costume icons.
"We have taken 20 iconic garments and contemporarised them to modern wearability. Like we have taken a simple garment like 'dhoti' and converted it into a 'dhoti jumpsuit' with a sari," he added.
He will celebrate the vast emporium of Indian textiles and clothing for Indian Textile Day 2016.
The Goan designer will use a vibrant Indian color palette of beige, red, grey, peacock green, peacock blue and ultra violet among others.
Source : business-standard.com Mar 21, 2016 HOME
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LIVA collaborates with 'Amazon India Fashion Week'
LIVA's participation as the official partner in the Amazon India Fashion Week is an endeavor to bridge the gap and reach to the fashion designer fraternity. It gives an opportunity to designers to explore themselves because it is really fluid.
LIVA fabrics are ready for fashion industry with 'Ready to dye or print' which have exceptional fluidity and natural base driven by fashion.
Quality, innovation and service are three main mantras for LIVA to excel. The brand is already tied up with 22 major brands and more are planned for the coming season. The AIFW, Delhi being a huge platform for the fashion fraternity, the participation of LIVA as the official partner revolves around three main objectives.
"Here at Fashion Week, we are connecting with all designers to resolve the challenge of design worth fabric availability. We shared our solutions with them," said, Manohar Samuel, President, Marketing and Business Development, Birla Cellulose.
"Fashion Design Council of India - FDCI and Amazon Fashion Week provide a setup to collaborate with extraordinary fashion talent," he added.
According to Samuel, as one of the largest textile and fashion conglomerates in the country we believe that Indian fashion landscape is extremely dynamic and its talent pool rich and diverse. He believes that LIVA is a new age natural fabric and has been accepted well by the textile value chain.
Eco and sustainable fashion has come to the forefront in the last few years, however for Birla Cellulose; sustainability is all about meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
It is heartening to know that Birla Cellulose works towards this goal at every step of their existence. Birla Cellulose is a collaborative partner for sustainable business across the chain and work with leading global brands on sustainability programs.
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Liva, which promises natural fluid fashion and high quality fabrics, is made using natural cellulosic fibers, which are produced from wood pulp, a natural renewable resource.
The pulp used is from trees which are specifically grown for this purpose i.e. more new trees are planted than trees are cut. It gives the earth a much-needed green cover, saves six to seven times more land in comparison to cotton, and saves three to four times more water than usual.
Source : business-standard.com– Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
Craftsvilla taps Rs 24,000-cr handloom market
Online marketplace Craftsvilla.com has tied up with Weavesmart, a company which sells Indian handlooms online, to help India's village artisans to display their creativity on a larger scale.
Based in Mumbai, Craftsvilla went for the tie-up with an eye on a share in the Rs. 24,000-crore handloom market.
Craftsvilla.com exhibits handmade, ethnic and natural Indian products on its website.
Craftsvilla is a certified partner with the Textiles Ministry for e-marketing of handloom products. In collaboration with Weavesmart, it plans to assist small weavers to sell their handloom products online.
“We believe in sustainable solutions. India's textile ministry estimates that handloom weaving provides employment to more than 4.3 million weavers and allied workers, and India accounts for 95 percent of the world's handwoven fabrics.
This is a big opportunity and one that has the potential to do well. It's a 24,000-crore market and we are here to offer a marketplace to these rich handloom weaves of India,” said Monica Gupta, Co-Founder, Craftsvilla.com.
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“We are excited to partner with Craftsvilla.com as we share common business objectives like helping rural artisans and an audience base with ethnic taste, and it will surely give us a larger reach.
We will actually complement each other — Craftsvilla in marketing and Weavesmart in sourcing from rural areas and various handloom clusters.
Consumers and weavers will benefit immensely from this tie-up,” said Nishita Manne, COO at Weavesmart.
Source : fibre2fashion.com– Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
No new taxes, focus on social sector in Haryana budget
Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyu has proposed the state budget for 2016-17 financial year with no new taxes and with a revenue deficit of Rs 12,280.35 crore, up by Rs 1,587.2 crore from the current financial year.
Allocation-wise, the social sector topped the table with an outlay of Rs 16,826 crore, followed by Rs 14,494 crore for agriculture and allied sector, and Rs 14,305 for rural development department. The total outlay for the coming financial year is pegged at Rs 88,781 crore as against the Rs 69,140 crore in the current fiscal.
"If you exclude the debt amount taken over by the state government, you will find that Haryana has moved towards the path of progress and strong economy. Now, footwear industry has seen an unprecedented growth. This is an emerging sector which has seen good growth," said Abhimanyu in his budget speech.
The Haryana finance minister also proposed to cut tax on footwear, having a maximum retail price (MRP) of above Rs 500, from 12.5% to 5% and exempt shoe sellers from value added tax (VAT).
Tax exemption has also been proposed on 'khal' (oilcake), 'binola' (cotton seed oilcake), 'besan' (gram flour) and cotton yarn manufactured in Haryana.
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Tax on 'sewayian' (vermicelli) has also been lowered from 12.5% to 5% to give incentive to the units that use farm produce as raw material.
Pushing for a cleaner environment, the minister proposed to reduce tax from 12.5% to 5% on the sale of electrical vehicles. In order to provide relief to households and to encourage micro and small enterprises, the minister also proposed to exempt "chhota toka" (leafy vegetable cutter for kitchens) and other smaller items from tax.
For the victims of violence during the Jat agitation for reservation last month, the finance minister introduced an amnesty scheme granting relief in tax, interest, penalty and other dues to the affected registered dealers whose goods were lost or destroyed.
New suggestions:
- To encourage the customers to obtain bills or invoices for goods purchased, the Haryana government has proposed to introduce 'submit bill, get prize scheme'. It will enhance compliance on the part of sellers/dealers and bring more revenue to the state exchequer
- An off-budget outlay of Rs 10,141.78 crore by the state public sector enterprises, Rs 1,048.84 crore by the local bodies and Rs 1,253.84 crore of budgetary resources of the department of town and country planning will be spent in FY 2016-17 on developmental activities
- Innovative measures will be introduced to ensure tight fiscal and financial management of funds and bring in higher levels of transparency and accountability in making the system more efficient and economical. These include, among other things, opening of personal ledger accounts (PLA) instead of banks accounts by all departments, minimizing non-plan expenditure by freezing the amount for contractual engagements, and setting up of a debt and cash management cell (DMC) in the finance department
In figures
- The 2016-17 budget pegged at Rs 88,781 crore up from Rs 69,140 crore
- Social sector tops the table with an outlay of Rs 16,826 crore
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- Agriculture and allied sector second with Rs 14,494 crore earmarked
- Rs 14,305 for rural development department
- State's own taxes as a percentage of the GSDP up from 6.3% in 2014-15 to 6.9% in 2015-16
Source : timesofindia.com– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
India’s Denim Market Seen Primed for Growth
Denim has been playing a dual role in India — serving both as a major fashion trend and helping to break down barriers since jeans are worn by consumers across all of the country’s economic strata and in both urban and rural areas.
Yet as J. Berrye Worsham, president and chief executive officer of Cotton Incorporated, noted at a two-day summit on “Denims: A Democracy in Fashion” in Ahmedabad, in Western India, only 32 percent of people in India like to wear denim. Sharing a recent study by Cotton Inc., he said 71 percent of people in Europe and Latin America enjoy wearing denim, followed by 70 percent in the U.S., 58 percent in China and 57 percent in Japan.
In 2015, India’s denim production rose to 1.2 billion meters. “Historically, denim has been one of the fastest-growing apparel fabric segments, having grown by 500 million meters, from 700 million meters in 2010 to 1.2 billion in 2015,” said PR Roy, chairman of Diagonal Consulting in India, the company that organized the conference along with the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.
He noted the country’s denim capacity is far higher than current production — 300 million meters more can be produced each year. “It’s a question of tapping the resources that already exist,” he said.
Denim makes up 35 percent of total textile exports from India and is expected to rise to 45 percent of total exports by 2020. The production capacity is also expected to increase, to 1.5 billion meters by 2020.
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Aamir Akhtar, ceo of Denim (Lifestyle Fabrics) at Arvind Mills, one of the largest denim producers in the world, said the denims industry is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 13 to 15 percent.
Justin Coates, manager of market analysis at Cotton Inc., told WWD that the percentage of Indian consumers who enjoy wearing denim is highest among men (50 percent), those between ages 15 and 24 (46 percent), those living in Delhi (43 percent), and people living in Bangalore (41 percent).
“In the last seven years denim has really picked up,” said Nirav Shah, cofounder and partner of Diagonal Consulting, pointing out that the film industry from Bollywood has led the trend for city residents to totally accept it, with rural areas not far behind. “A lot of fabric goes to surrounding markets, and there is still a lot more export potential for denim, with Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia taking a big leap into jeans production,” he said.
A major issue related to production is the water consumption, with 1,200 to 1,500 liters of water needed for one pair of jeans. “A lot of effort and innovation is being made by different companies in India, but there is still a long way to go for absolute commercialization of these,” he said.
Trending now, especially in smaller cities across India, is cotton denim mixed with polyester.
Shah observed that as far as product development is concerned, a lot of polyester fiber has made inroads into denim in various forms, leading to lower priced products. “This has been a phenomenon in the last five years,” he said, while organic denim has slowly taken a backseat.
Although unbranded denim products have a 60 percent share of the market, especially in the lower priced category, the premium segment has been growing fast.
“Denim has become everybody’s textile and everybody’s garment in India,” said designer Hemant Sagar of the designer duo Lecoanet Hemant, who has worked in the fashion industry in Paris as well as in India for the last three decades.
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“It’s a novelty for 2016-17 using denim as a fashion material with embroidery,” he said. The duo’s recently launched denim-inspired line called Genes, for example, is an innovative spin on the fabric.
Meanwhile, the global denim jeans market is projected to grow 8 percent, from $55 billion in 2015 to $59 billion by 2021, with Latin America and Asia expected to lead the increase. The projected growth is expected to be 12 percent in Asia, 15 percent in Latin America, 10 percent in North America and 4 percent in Europe over the next six years, according to the study from Cotton Inc.
Worsham also said close to 1.9 billion units of denim jeans were sold in the world in 2015 and by 2021 yearly sales of jeans will cross two billion units.
Denim trends in the U.S. are particularly interesting, with denim affinity among the Millennial generation decreasing from 81 percent in 2005 to 62 percent in 2015. Denim jean ownership in this generation has also halved in that time period, from 11 pairs to six pairs.
Overall, the U.S. denim jeans market increased by 0.4 percent from 2014 to 2015. “This indicates that the U.S. denim market may have bottomed out and may start to strengthen in the coming months and years,” Coates observed, adding that denim customers in the U.S. had several overriding concerns, with one of the main priorities being to get a better fit.
“The fit is more important in denim jean purchases than in purchases of other products like activewear, casualwear, dresses, etc. When purchasing a pair of denim jeans, finding a good fitting pair is the biggest issue among men [38 percent] and women [62 percent],” he said.
The Internet has been helping this along, with Web sites such Fit Code and ZipFit for men dedicated to finding consumers a perfect-fitting pair of jeans, as well as jean fit guides by brands such as Gap, American Eagle, Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters.
U.S. denim jean consumers are also concerned about performance advances.
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Almost half the customers in the Cotton Inc. survey said they would like to seek out jeans with thermal regulating properties (48 percent), about four in 10 plan to seek out odor-resistant jeans (42 percent), and about a quarter plan to seek out moisture management jeans (27 percent).
“These performance technologies are almost nonexistent at retail, giving denim brands the opportunity to capitalize on consumer desire for performance denim, according to the survey,” Coates said.
There is also demand for authentic, cotton-rich jeans, with more than three in four U.S. consumers saying cotton-rich jeans are the most breathable (84 percent), comfortable (83 percent), durable (77 percent), fashionable (76 percent), and versatile (76 percent) when compared to jeans with man-made fibers like polyester and rayon, according to the Cotton Inc. study.
Source : wwd.com.– Mar 21, 2016 HOME *****************
Power loom units stick to their stand
Owners of small-scale power loom job working units at Pallagoundenpalayam, and its nearby areas that produce towels for textile units have decided to stick to their demand for a 25 per cent raise in job work charges.
Around 1,000 units were on strike from March 10 in protest against the reluctance shown by textile units to sign a new agreement fixing job work charges.
“Though the previous two-and-a-half year agreement expired in November 2015, the textile unit owners did not revised the pact.
Instead, they tried all back door methods to maintain the job work charges at the same slabs,” said V.K. Gopalakrishnan, secretary of the association formed by the job working unit owners.
The job working unit owners said that the raise was essential, as cost of labour, and spare parts have gone up considerably.
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Source : thehindu.com– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
EU, Canada red-flag India’s crop cover scheme at WTO
Fresh trouble is in store for India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with the EU, Canada, Australia and Thailand questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crop insurance scheme for farmers. The countries have sought details from India at the multi-lateral trade forum to examine if it should be classified as a trade-distorting amber-box subsidy subject to a cap.
India is already fighting to get food procurement subsidies recognised as non-trade distorting subsidy. New Delhi can notify the scheme as a permissible and un-capped subsidy (green box) at the WTO only if it establishes that the insurance amount is payable after at least 30 per cent crop is destroyed and a natural calamity has been declared –– conditions that may not be easy to meet.
“At a recent meeting of the committee on agriculture at the WTO, Canada and the EU asked India about the crop insurance scheme and noted that it would bring down the rate of premium paid by farmers to 2 per cent. The countries want to find out if they can stop India from declaring the subsidy for crop insurance as a green-box subsidy,” a Commerce Ministry official told BusinessLine.
Threat of a 10% cap
If India wants to give unlimited amounts of crop insurance subsidy, it has to comply with the green-box criteria, pointed out Abhjit Das from the Centre for WTO Studies.
“If not, the subsidies will be classified as amber box and clubbed with all other product-specific support, including the minimum support price programme (MSP) and subject to a cap of 10 per cent of farm production,” he said. Overshooting the 10 per cent cap may, in turn, lead to challenges and penalties.
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Under the PM’s Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), three levels of indemnity –– 90 per cent, 80 per cent and 60 per cent –– corresponding to low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk areas will be available for all crops based on production in the past ten years. This means farmers will have to bear the loss of the first 10 per cent, 20 per cent or 40 per cent for the different categories.
“However, there is no clause in the scheme mentioning the minimum crop loss that would make a farmer eligible for insurance pay-outs. It would depend on the assessment done by the insurance companies,” the official said. Therefore, green-box eligibility based on a minimum 30 per cent loss of income or production could be difficult to meet for the government.
Political decisions
The requirement for declaration of a ‘natural disaster’ in order to meet the eligibility criteria of green-box subsidy is also tricky; such declarations are usually political decisions and the government may not always want to come up with such an announcement.
The PMFBY, which will be operational from April 1, seeks to provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of natural calamities, pests and diseases and stabilise income in distress years.
Source : thehindubusinessline.com– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
Garment units seek withdrawal of amendment in EPFO scheme
Readymade garment manufacturers have sought withdrawal of the amendment made in the EPFO scheme.
In a memorandum to Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya, the Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA), said the introduction of a new para 68 in the amended TUF scheme — on option for withdrawal on cessation of employment — has created some ripples in the market.
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“We wish to state that Tirupur cluster is providing the employment to over 400,000 people, not only from Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala, but also workers from northern states, particularly from Odisha, Bihar, UP and Nepal,” said A Sakthivel, president, TEA .
“We would like to drive home the point that while joining in the company itself, these girls had planned, calculated and were expecting that they would get a lump sum amount, both the employers’ and their contribution, which could be utilised for their marriage expenses/support for construction of houses in their native places/education of their siblings. The notification has shattered all their plans and ambitions,” Sakthivel pointed out.
“We also apprehend that the notification will restrict the inflow of workers to Tirupur cluster, as Tirupur garment exporting units are compliances oriented units and affect the future export growth of Tirupur,” Sakthivel emphasised.
“We fear that the notification may trigger for exodus of labour and in such scenario, the garment exporting units would not be in a position to immediately fill up the labour shortage gaps, will lead to the chain reaction, ultimately, the exports business will drastically reduce from the present exports level of Rs 23,500 crore and will also in fact, affect the labours who would continue with the exporting units,” he added.
Source : financialexpress.com– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
India needs to create well paying jobs
The Economic Survey 2015-2016 stresses that India being in the midway through its demographic dividend is providing an economic growth in terms of the working age share of the population. Hence to exploit this dividend and meet the growing aspiration of those entering the labor force, India’s Economy needs to create enough “good jobs”- jobs that are safe and pay well, and encourage firms and workers to improve skills and productivity.
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It may be noted that of the 10.5 million new jobs creative between 1989 and 2010, only 3.7 million-about 35 percent – were in the formal sector. In this period total establishments were increased by 4.2 million. However jobs informal sector have come down possibly due to increased use of contract labour. Thus, the challenge of creating the good jobs of India could be seen as a challenge of creating more formal sector jobs which also guarantee workers protection.
Though, in the survey, medium sized formal sector manufacturing firms have reported labour regulations to be a significant barrier to growth and specifically “dismissal norm under the Industrial Disputes Act” and “the cumbersome nature of compliance with labour regulations in general”
Contract workers has increased from 12 per cent of all registered manufacturing workers in 1999 to over 25 per cent 2010 on account of firms attitude to negotiate with labour regulations just to boost their production without facing any kind of labours unrest.
The survey has suggested that productivity in the apparel sector can be substantially improved by relocating capital from less productive to more productive firms. Incidentally formal apparel sector firms in India are about 15 times more productive than there informal sector counterparts.
However, India’s apparel sector is dominated by informal firms where approximately 2.0 million establishments employing about 3.3 million workers, dwarfing the formal apparel sector’s 2800 firms which employ 330,000 workers. Apparently this sector is now in process of relocating its units in second and third tier towns and cities.
This business model of moving factories to workers has a number of commercial and social advantages-it involves spreading economic development to underdeveloped areas, reduces spatial mismatch in the labour market and can improve competitiveness by raising firms’ access to lower cost labour. Moreover, about 70 per cent of the employees of India’s largest apparel exporter are women.
Recent studies have estimated that India’s GDP would grow by an additional 1.4 per cent every year if women were to participate as much as men in the economy.
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To boost economy the centre has to ensure that labour regulation is worker-centric, by expanding workers choice and reducing mandatory taxes on formal sector employment.
The survey has also suggested improving the function of EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organization). Policymaker should consider whether lower earners should be offered the same choice- of whether to contribute part of their salaries to the EPF- which the rich have.
This would both introduce competition in the market for savings, which may improve EPFO’s service standards, and allow the poor-some of whom may be liquidity constrained- to optimize as per their own personal requirements. To be clear, the employer’s 12 per cent contribution to EPF/EPS would be unaffected.
The only difference would be that employees could choose whether or not to save 12 per cent of their salary into EPF or keep it as take home pay. Such a change would effectively reduce the tax on formal sector labour while leaving informal sector labour costs unchanged. In a relative sense, it would therefore reduce the cost of hiring workers in the formal sector and incentivize more people into formality, where productivity levels and growth are higher.
In a nutshell, India’s most pressing labour market challenge going forward will be to generate a large number of good jobs. These jobs tend to be formal sector jobs. Two obstacles to formal sector job creation are regulation- induced taxes on formal workers and spatial mismatch between workers and jobs.
Encouragingly, firms and workers are finding solution to deal with these obstacles that are even more varied than the obstacles themselves. Meeting the challenge ahead will require more of such ingenuity, and the private sector, state governments and the Centre will all have important roles to play.
Source : thehansindia.com– Mar 22, 2016 HOME *****************
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