Karachi’s textile units, contributing 52 per cent to Pakistan’s textile exports, are facing gas shortage, according to Jawed Bilwani, chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA). The units are compelled to work six days a week for the last few years due to weekly one-day industrial gas holiday by the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), he said. The frequent low gas pressure now has aggravated the situation, Bilwani said. Competing industries in the region remai

Kitui County Textile Centre (Kicotec), a new garment factory, has been established in Syongila market, about 4 km from Kitui town along the Kitui-Nairobi highway in Kenya. The factory is modelled on the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) garment industrial unit, where it will run 24 hours on different working shifts employing more than 600 young people. The new Sh20 million ($0.2 million) factory has received 74,100 garment orders so far. The aim of establishing the factory was not only to create

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), effective since December 30, may push Vietnam to reform its economic institutions and improve the business climate to optimise opportunities. CPTPP will offer Vietnam better access to the nine large Asia-Pacific markets, thus helping diversification of markets, experts feel. As more than 90 per cent of import tariffs in CPTPP member markets have been lifted immediately after the deal took effect, it has opened

Courtesy: Usha InternationalUsha International, a leading Indian consumer durables company, has strengthened its sewing machine range with the launch of Usha Janome–The Usha Memory Craft 15000 with Digitizer MBX. The machine runs embroidery at a speed of 1000 stiches per minutes (SPM) and comes with a powerful designing software—Digitizer MBX—for creating customised embroidery designs. Making fashion forward creations easier and more enjoyable to create, the Wi-Fi enabled stitching-cum-embroi

Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) supply chain continues to suffer from lack of ‘shared responsibility’ on part of global buyers although transparency of the buyers and working condition in the RMG factories have improved since the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, according to a survey by Germany-based Garment Supply Chain Governance Project. The survey covering 152 managers and 1,500 workers of 250 export-oriented RMG factories in Bangladesh found the fundamental business model in t

To curb imports and promote domestic manufacturing, the Indian government carried out an import analysis of textile and apparel imports. Imports of intermediate goods viz. fibre and yarn have a share of 43 per cent (approx.) in India’s overall textile and apparel imports, minister of state of textiles Ajay Tamta said in written replies in the Lok Sabha. To curb textile imports, the government raised the basic customs duty (BCD) from 10 per cent to 20 per cent on: 298 man-made fabric (MMF) fab

Courtesy: WikimediaThe seam tapes market is expected to grow from $205 million in 2018 to $283 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.7 per cent says a new report. The seam tapes market is dependent on the growing demand of sports and outdoor apparel industry, increase in demand for protective clothing and accessories. The volatile price of raw materials can pose a challenge to it. Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest market for the seam tapes and have the highest growth rate during the foreca

Courtesy: SensientSensient Imaging Technologies, a leading developer and manufacturer of digital inks, has announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Spot Uluslararasi Tekstil for the Turkish market. Founded in 1991 and based in Istanbul, Spot Uluslararasi Tekstil will help promote Sensient’s range of high quality digital textile inks throughout Turkey. “Spot Uluslararasi Tekstil is an experienced partner with a strong reputation for quality and service that matches the

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has welcomed RBI’s move to provide a loan-restructuring window for MSMEs with loans up to ₹25 crore. RBI has decided to permit a one-time restructuring of existing loans to MSMEs that are in default but ‘standard’ as on January 1, 2019, without an asset classification downgrade.The restructuring has to be implemented by March 31, 2020. “This will provide a much-needed boost to the small and medium enterprises that had be

India’s Flipkart is concentrating more on categories like grocery, furniture and private labels to attract customers to its platform and expand its market share, according to chief executive officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy. Flipkart will continue to invest in innovation for consumers and sellers this year with a focus on ‘impactful, inclusive growth’, he said. As a high level of e-commerce continues in the traditional categories like consumer electronics, fashion, appliances, home goods, additi