Ginners receive financing for machinery up-gradation

The cotton ginning sector has reasons to rejoice. The apex bank, State Bank of Pakistan announced that it would provide financing facilities to the cotton ginning factories to modernise their machinery. This credit facility is available only for replacing or modernizing machinery and equipment, said a spokesperson of the bank and will be effective as on date to December 31, 2010. The financing will be available for equipment and machinery sourced from domestic companies. However, credit will also be made available to purchase new generators up-to a maximum capacity of 500 KVA. The loan will be repayable within a maximum period of seven years, which includes a grace period of six months. Locally manufactured machinery using more than 80 percent imported components shall not be eligible for financing. The rate of re-finance up to 3 years would be 6 percent with bank’s spread of 2 percent and end user rate of 8 percent. Similarly over 3 years and up to 5 years the rate would be 6.50 percent with bank spread of 2.50 percent and end user’s rate of 9 percent. Over 5 years and up to 7 years rate would be 7 percent with bank spread of 3 percent and end user’s rate of 10 percent. Financing rates will be subject to revision on yearly basis effective from July each year.

Customs duty on imported textile machinery withdrawn

The Federal Minister for Finance Senator Mr. Shaukat Tareen took a decision to withdraw customs duty on import of textile machinery and equipment. Mr. Muhammad Mansha Churra, Acting President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) lauded this decision, as zero-rated duty on import of textile machinery was the major demand of Pakistan textile industry. The industry has been facing several problems, such as steep fall in exports of textile products and expansion in the sector has totally halted to a stop.

Pakistan : Downward trend of leather exports in first six months

During first half this fiscal, declining trend has been witnessed in exports of leather goods.

According to figures released by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), a decline of 30 percent has been seen in leather exports during July-December 2006.

During this period, exports of leather manufacturers stood at US $261.734 million over $378.748 million in same period last year.

During July-December 2006, exports of leather footwear achieved $49.150 million over $59.430 million during corresponding period of previous year, a decline of 18 percent.

While, leather garment exports stood at $188.245 million compared to $268.843 millions over corresponding period 2005, a decline of 29.98 percent.

Similarly, exports of leather gloves reached $57.287 million compared to $71.681 million during the same period of last fiscal year.

In December 2006, country exported leather goods worth $40.419 million as compared to $66.141 million in the same month of last year.

Even Customs Rebate of 5.17 percent given by the Government has been cut down to 3.22 percent during fiscal year 2005-2006.

Pakistan : Leather product exports drop 63%

In January 2007, exports of leather garments, leather gloves and leather footwear declined by 63.34 percent compared to previous month.

During this period, exports volume and value of leather garments decreased by 61.25 percent and 58.02 percent, respectively.

Total exports of the leather manufacturers reached about US $20.697 million over $40.419 million in December last year.

Exporter shipped leather garment worth $16.295 million in January 2007 over $33.389 million in December 2006.

Similarly, exports of leather gloves stood at $3.909 million over $4.944 million in December 2006, a decline of 70.73 percent in respect of quantity and 71.77 percent in term of value.

Even total exports of other leather manufacturers also declined as it reached $0.493 million as against $2.086 million in December 2006.

Exports of footwear also fell by 23.53 percent in same period as total exports stood at $6.127 million over $6.127 million in previous month.

Pakistan : Textiles export drop as tough times ahead

Textile exports particularly in case of cotton fabric, bed wear, towels and readymade garments dwindled during January-May 2006.

Government’s ban on tent exports after the earthquake and cheaper cotton compared with PSF were responsible for decline in exports of tents and synthetic textiles respectively.

Due to stiff competition from India, China and Bangladesh, all added up to stall exports.

Further, the anti-dumping duties imposed on bed linen by the EU at 13 percent until May, though reduced to 5.8 percent, is yet to be realized.

Mounting costs of oil and gas are likely to affect margins of textile companies for the near future.

Pakistan : Textile goods exports up 6.58% to $ 8.039bn

Textile products export for the country registered rise of 6.58 percent at $8.039 billion in the last fiscal against the exports of $8.568 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The export of cotton yarn down 3.42 percent, export of cotton cloth up 16.51 percent, knitwear exports up by 11.47 percent, bed wear exports up by 1.77 percent, towels exports up by 24.40 percent, tents and canvas products exports down by 12.40 percent, ready-made garments exports up by 11.60 percent, exports of art, silk and synthetics textiles down by 36.12 percent and textile made-ups registered an rise of 14.13 percent in the last fiscal 2004-05.

Raw cotton exports in the last fiscal stood at $129.015 million against $ 47.671 million indicating an rise of 133.54 percent over the previous fiscal year.

The export of tanned leather registered a increase of 17.73 percent reaching $296.319 million, up from over $251.693 million in the previous fiscal year.

However, leather exports recorded 18.53 percent in the last fiscal with exports of 491.102 million compared with the exports of $ 414.343 million in the previous fiscal year.

Pakistan : PHMA asks to restrict cotton yarn exports

Jawaid Bilwani, Chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufactures Associations (PHMA) has requested Government to restrict export of cotton yarn to increase exports of apparel.

High exports of cotton yarn adversely affect production of value added apparel as it is main component required to make apparel, informed Jawaid Bilwani.

Value added apparels earn more foreign exchange than the cotton yarn exports and therefore, more emphasize has been given on apparel exports.

Pakistan : Knitwear exports have upper hand over Chinese quotas

Knitwear exporters of Pakistan draw advantage from substantial Chinese quotas in certain products.

Following a decline earlier in the year, knitwear exports accelerated during May.

Exports during September amounted to 7.033 million dozen, a year-on-year rise of 11.1 percent.

From January to September, exports of knitwear amount to 53.397 million dozen, a year-on-year drop of 7.6 percent. September exports were also a record for the month.

In the non-knit apparel segment, exports boosted up during the same period, reaching 56.7 percent to 29.812 million square meters.

Apparel exports from Pakistan show competitiveness in cotton apparel and have been winning market share from China in some products.

Govt committed to value added apparel sector – Textile Minister

The Textile Minister, Mr Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan, said that garments sector is considered the most profitable as compared to other textile sub-sectors and that the government is committed to make it centre of value added manufacturing goods. He conveyed this message in a meeting with representatives of the apparel manufacturing sector. He said the importance of the clothing sector has been highlighted in the recently released textile policy, but lamented that the sector was allowed to languish since so many years. He also said that the government is focusing on providing trained manpower and vocational training institutes are being set up for this purpose where modern and up-dated education and skill training would be imparted. He added by saying that the government is committed to make apparel manufacturing as centre of value added manufacturing goods and for this purpose special arrangements would be made for fashion, designing, brand and especially marketing. He concluded by saying that special incentives would be given, and product development centers would also be constituted for the promotion of this sector. The delegation also complimented him for announcing the first ever textile policy.

First ever Industrial Policy to be announced by year end

Present government has the honor to formulate first ever Industrial Policy, after a long time, to promote industrial sectors of the economy which will be announced in a couple of months. Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Federal Minister for Industries & Production said this while addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He said government was working on first ever comprehensive Industrial Policy for giving boost to this important sector of the economy in consultation with all stakeholders and accommodating their views and suggestions in the new policy. He asked the businessmen to give their proposals to make this policy more industry friendly. On this occasion, he announced that a Marble City will be set up in Islamabad in collaboration with Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), which will give a boost to local marble industry. He said government was giving priority attention to the promotion of SME sector which was considered engine of growth and a key source for job creation. He said SMEDA would be made more active to accelerate the pace of development of SMEs in the country. Dilating upon energy crisis, Manzoor Wattoo said government was working on different options for meeting the energy requirements of the country including wind, coal & gas etc. He said country was facing a shortfall of 3000 MW while due to fault at Mangla power station; this shortage had gone up to 4100 MW. However, he assured that by end of July, industry will face no loadshedding while country will get rid of this problem by December this year. Speaking on the occasion, Mian Shaukat Masud, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) highlighted business community issues. He said industry was in deep troubles due to multiple factors including power shortage, law & order situation, high interest rates and high production cost etc. He said Ministry of Industries & Production had a key role to play in creating an enabling environment for industrial growth. He said Pakistan, with a consumer market of 170 million people, abundance of raw materials, cheap labor and entrepreneurship, was endowed with all the requisites to climb the ladder of industrialization and all it needed was a conducive Industrial Policy to become a growing industrial country. He said large-scale manufacturing and textile sectors needed special packages for bringing them out of negative growth and government should work out such packages in consultation with business community to put industry on the path of growth. He said Islamabad was badly needed a new Industrial Estate as the existing Industrial Estates had saturated and sought the Minister’s help for accelerating the establishment of I-17 Sector Industrial Estate. He said despite earning good profits, banks were providing no soft terms loans to industrial sector and government should come forward to ensure easy loaning facilities and tax relief measures for struggling industries.

APTMA welcomes step to supply uninterrupted gas supply

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has thanked the government for taking the decision to supply uninterrupted gas supply for five days in a week. It added that though closure of industries for two days in a week was very painful, it fully supported the government and the country in its hour of crisis. This decision of the government will help save millions of jobs in the winter season as well as the export industry, which used to keep capacities idle in winter, due to shortage of gas. APTMA has pledged its support to the government and its policies and said it is ready to make this immense sacrifice and share the shortage with all sectors and industries of the country.

Govt to be meticulous with policies for achieving GDP targets

Government of Pakistan is planning to set the GDP growth target at around 7 percent for the forthcoming fiscal year 2008-09 against the achieved 5.7 percent of the current fiscal year. Low growth of GDP, in this fiscal year, was largely due to decline in key sectors like agriculture; manufacturing sector; exports and foreign direct investment. In an exclusive interview with Fibre2fashion, Nasir Jamal Director General-Media Ministry of Finance, said, “Pakistan needs a sustained macroeconomic stability, financial discipline and consistent and transparent policies for achieving targets for the next fiscal. Efficient management and structural reforms introduced in the recent past have brought about healthy changes in almost all sectors of the economy. A major breakthrough has been achieved in managing the domestic and external debt”. Besides, Mr Nasir also affirmed that the Government has plans to provide relief to major industries from the ongoing inflation and policies will be adopted in the upcoming budget for the same purpose. Additionally, encouragement of industrial clusters, support for technology transfer and facilitation of import of power generating small units are some of the areas to be given priority in the budget. Fiscal and tax incentives for encouraging small medium enterprises (SMEs) will also be encompassed through increased allocation of credit for this sector. In the agriculture sector, measures will be taken to improve cotton production that would help ensure availability of raw cotton on reasonable rates for the ginning industry as well as for the textile industry to increase production and ensure enhanced exports of textile products.

Pakistan : APTMA hails Government’s textile initiatives

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has assured the delegation of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) of Government commitment of helping the industry in improving its competitiveness and productivity.

Aziz also stressed on the need to bring in innovation and research so that the industry could hold a big share in the world textile market.

He urged the private sector to benefit from the Government policies of liberalization, privatization and deregulation along with the procedural transparency and policy continuation which have boosted the economy and have created a positive atmosphere for the private sector.

Aziz informed the delegation that Government had launched 'Clean Cotton Project' to bring the cotton industry at par with the international acceptable standards even as he hailed the private sector for using new technology.

The APTMA delegation on its part thanked the Government for its favourable policies and continuous commitment to develop and upgrade textile sector in Pakistan. Textile Minister, Mushtaq Ali Cheema and other senior officials were also present during the meeting.

Pakistan : Govt plans policies to boost textile industry

Mushtaq Ali Cheema, Federal Minister for Textile Industry, while attending a press meet on June 4, said that Government has decided to enforce policies to boost the textile industry’s export.

In order to face competition in the international market efficiently, the industry need to pay heed towards the development of skill, enhance productivity, manufacturing cost reduction.

The Textile Minister emphasized that the textile industry should organize itself and attract big investors or orders from abroad, so that the weaving sector, which is performing below its capacity, can flourish.

Cheema revealed that textile policies would be approved by the the first week of July.

According to the Minister, Government plans to introduce a complete policy for this industry so that all the sectors and sub-sectors should work in unison.

The Textile Ministry plans to establish garment cities within in next two to three years. The one in Karachi would start in Pakistan Textile City Limited and in Lahore it would be set up in Sundar Industrial State.

Islamabad hosts educational workshop on traditional crafts

A series of workshop demonstrating a variety of specialized craft by connoisseur artists was hosted in Heritage Museum Islamabad on March 31. The event whose first session started off with block printing and paper mache technique will continue till April 7. Assisted by Cosmos Productions, the ‘Artisan workshops on skills training’ has been organized by Lok Virsa under its museum educational program. Subject for the following sessions will be wax printing, wood carving, pottery, embroidery, lacquer work, and weaving. These fabulous workshops aim to revive traditional skills by making the youth aware about the beauty of long-standing culture and practices. The session on block printing and paper mache will be taken over by Ameer Bukhsh from Karor Pacca and Zulfiqar Ali Ghazi from Kashmir respectively. Lahore is one of the biggest commercial centers for block printing and the art is known to depict animals, birds and floral patterns in arched frames and involve the use of traditional color combinations peculiar to the decorative style of Moghul tiles and paintings. Bloch printing still remains as the only contemporary textile medium which retains its dependence on natural dyes. Paper mache on the other hand, displays exquisite miniature designs and motifs on various articles like masks which are painted with vibrant colors, depicting intricate foliage patterns, natural scenery and hunting scenes and meticulous craftsmanship.

Exports from textile sector decline by 12% in July

According to statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, exports from the textile and apparel sector declined by 11.95 percent in July, when compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

The sector exported US $800 worth of goods in July 2009, against $908 million achieved in July 2008. But amongst the decline in overall value, there were some product categories which were able to record a positive growth.

Exports of yarn grew by 13.18 per cent, art silk and synthetic textile was up 138.09 percent, made up articles also up by 0.22 per cent and other textile materials 32.96 per cent.

However, exports of raw cotton fell by 16.85 per cent, cotton yarn decreased by 3.21 per cent, cotton cloth 34.73 percent, cotton (corded) 80.41 percent, knitwear 11.98 percent, bedwear 14.87 percent and towels 15.74 percent.

Amongst other categories, shipments of tents declined 54.33 percent and clothing 6.98 percent.

Gas load shedding forces textile units to suspend work

Gas load shedding for more than two days a week has forced around 200 units in the north regions to suspend their operations. This distressing situation led to representatives from All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association (APTMA) to rush to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources for assistance.

The industry in Lahore-I cluster as well as the industrial units in the region from Islamabad to Multan have been denied gas availability. Industry sources informed that, according to the gas load management program 2009-10, framed in a Cabinet Committee meeting on November 3, gas supply to the industry is to be done for five days in a week.

However, the disruption in gas supplies beyond two days in a week is being resorted to by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), which is impacting industry’s export oriented production, informed sources.

Moreover, the committee also decided to supply additional gas to the SNGPL network from various sources, including diversion of 220 mmcfd of gas from the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) sources. But, this availability of gas to the SNGPL from SSGC sources has not been made available to meet SNGPL’s increasing gas scarcity in winter.

The Chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Punjab will urge the concerned ministries to restore gas supply to the industry as per Cabinet Committee’s decision. The situation can acquire drastic mode if the government failed to act immediately, added the Chairman.

Restrict export of raw materials- NA Committee

National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce led by its Chairman Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan asked the government, to ensure the availability of yarn in the country as well as to restrict its export along with the export of raw cotton, in a meeting at Parliament House. The committee reprimanded the officials of Ministry of Commerce for attending the meeting without doing adequate groundwork with regards to agenda of Trade Organization Ordinance.

As per Mr. Dastgir, rampant export of raw materials and low value-added products reflects government’s irresponsibility towards protecting country’s competitive advantage. Ban on exports of yarn could salvage domestic industries, as lot of workers and manufacturers associated with the industry across the country have been impacted adversely due to ill-advised government policy, he added.

Local industries are already facing challenges due to load-shedding, while the rising prices and unavailability of raw materials are threatening these industries further, he added. Export of raw cotton and cotton yarn witnessed steep surge of 212 percent and 84 percent respectively, during last year. Prices of raw and semi-raw materials in domestic markets are reaching at international level, which are distressing downstream value adding manufacturers.

In addition to this, the Committee recommended the government to balance the trade policy for growers, informed Mr. Dastgir.

Gas load-shedding: Devastating for textile industry

Lack of regular gas supply to the textile industry forced it to face losses of about Rs. one billion in a month, said the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). Moreover, the scheduled, two-day load-management of gas compelled around 200 textile units in Punjab and NWFP Zones to close down about.

Mr. Guhar Ijaz, Chairman, APTMA Punjab said that the gas supply to the industry was not according to the schedule that already had been prepared by the Textile Ministry with stakeholders, as the two-day load-shedding in a week, which had been decided for textile industry, has now been increased up to four-days, he added.

The industry would suffer more losses along with further closure of textile units, if the gas supply is extending from 8 to 15 days a month, apprehended the Chairman. In order to share gas load-shedding on equitable basis, the association had divided the industrial units of Punjab and NWFP in to four zones.

Texlynx & BASF to jointly develop new performance-based products

BASF Pakistan Private Limited and Texlynx Home signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in developing innovative textile articles and in this way buying house in Pakistan that sources for global retailers and brands in USA and Europe. This is the first time for Texlynx to collaborate with a textile chemicals supplier. This collaboration aims at presenting innovative textile finishes and concepts, such as functional finishes and textile processes that conserve resources to the global market and showcase high value articles that textile industry of Pakistan has to offer. The partnership offers the retailers not only support in sourcing, but also technical know-how. “BASF is committed to the sustainable development of the textile industry. We want to work together with customers and partners along the textile value chain to deliver high quality textile articles that also meet the latest global ecological standards and requirements,” states Klaus Tiedemann, heading the Global Value Chain Marketing Team at BASF Textile Chemicals. “Working with Texlynx was a natural choice for us combining Texylnx’s leading position and experience in Pakistan’s sourcing with BASF’s broad product portfolio and application know-how, we can develop innovative articles and eco-efficient processes in the interest of the entire textile industry.” Texlynx will have access to BASF’s application laboratory in Pakistan to jointly develop new effects. Imran Lateef, Founder of Texlynx said: “Value addition and process reengineering is a must to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of Pakistan’s textile industry. Texlynx is delighted to work with BASF, who has a broad chemical and technical expertise. We believe that the increasing challenges of the industry can only be overcome by joint interdisciplinary teams.”

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