Higher cotton production by Sindh and Punjab helped the country improve its overall output by 7.16 per cent year-on-year up to Dec 31, according to the latest figures issued by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association on Wednesday. Yet the production level remained lower than the official revised estimate of 12.6 million bales. The country produced 11.11m bales against 10.36m bales in the corresponding period of the last season. The government initially estimated that cotton production w

The government of Nepal has initiated the construction of the Rs 2.5 billion garment processing zone within the Simara Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The project expected to complete by 2018-19, will lower the cost of production by while increasing the scope of exports. The production cost in Nepal is considered to be relatively high in the region. The services that will be offered at the processing zone will make the price of Nepali products competitive in the international market. The faci

The Egyptian Government plans to develop spinning and weaving companies in northern parts of the country in the next five years, head of the Cotton and Textile Industries Holding Company Ahmed Mostafa recently said. The plan needs EGP 20 billion and some government land affiliated to a spinning and weaving company will be used to secure that amount. Mostafa said the government is working on development plans for spinning and weaving companies across the country and develop the sector in the

Pakistan disbursed Rs 14 billion among the textile sector against claims for Rs 21 billion through the State Bank of Pakistan under the Prime Minister’s Export Enhancement Package till December 21 last year. The Rs 162-billion package was launched to help the sector gain competitiveness in the international market and enhance the country’s textile exports. The government also offered procedural and tax relaxations on the import of textile machinery to modernise the industry and enhance the c

The United States Department of Agriculture revised down both cotton demand and supply in December, relative to projections made in November. 13.17 million bales are now expected to be supplied in the country, down 4.7% relative to 13.82 million bales projected in November. The downward revision in cotton supply was due to a downward revision in cotton production, which more than offsets the gain in imports. Demand for Pakistan’s cotton was also revised downwards in November relative to proje

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday made it clear that all arrangements for using Chinese yuan for bilateral trade as well as financing investment activity between Pakistan and China are already in place. On Dec 19, 2017, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that the government was considering a Chinese proposal to use renminbi (RMB or yuan) instead of the US dollar for payments in all bilateral trade between China and Pakistan. The decision was taken after rejecti

Workers check a load of imported leather scraps in Xiamen, Fujian province. LIN SHANCHUAN/Xinhua Recycling experts predict growing chaos in the United Kingdom as materials build up at recycling plants around Britain following China's global ban on importing millions of metric tons of plastic waste. Simon Ellin, chief executive of the UK Recycling Association, a group that represents more than 80 UK recycling organizations, has called for urgent action, saying his members are already seein

China and the United States have met a bumpy start to 2018 as scepticism about Chinese investment and trade are clouding over Washington. The US government rejected a merger by China's Ant Financial with US money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc over national security concerns on Tuesday. It is not surprising that a number of Chinese companies have hit the buffers in Washington as trade tensions between the two countries are flaring. The bonhomie that grew between China and

Walmart will raise orders of Cambodian garments and footwear products this year and will also start buying travel goods manufactured in the southeast Asian nation, according to the company. The announcement follows an escalating diplomatic row between Cambodia and Western nations who have criticised its government’s crackdown on opposition and civil society. In a letter addressed to Cambodia’s minister of labour Ith Samheng in December, Walmart said Cambodia is a key element in the corporati

Leading Italian knitted fabrics producer Eurojersey is inviting visitors to explore the potential and performing innovation of its Sensitive Fabrics at the ISPO Munich international trade fair for sporting goods and sports fashion, which takes place from 28-31 January 2018. The Sensitive Fabrics range is said to allow the creation of garments that are suitable for every occasion. The brand is offering a winning combo of versatility and performance interpreted in a vast range of Sensitive Fabr