The American Apparel & Footwear Association, in collaboration with the Manufacturing Solutions Centre (MSC), has released guidelines for testing of legwear, hosiery, and socks. The guidelines cover issues such as product safety, labelling, colour, fastness, and fit, providing product-specific testing recommendations for the industry and its lab partners. "These testing guidelines are the latest in a series of member-driven tools that AAFA has released to help the industry ensure cost-eff

The Pakistan government plans to reinstate the tariff after a gap of nearly seven months in response to recent large purchases from overseas. It will impose a four percent customs duty and five percent sales tax on cotton import by the middle of July, a statement said on Tuesday. On a proposal by the Finance Division, the ECC (The Economic Coordination Committee) of the Cabinet)) approved the restoration of import duty and sales tax on import of cotton with effect from 15th July 2017, the gov

Azerbaijan is expected to increase it silk production by 2-3 times by late 2017, said Azerbaijani Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilham Guliyev at a press conference dedicated to the opening of the 23rd Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition. Ilham Guliyev said that currently, agricultural production in Azerbaijan is rapidly growing. The biggest growth is observed in cotton and sericulture production. Guliyev adding that according to estimates, the volume of silk production in 2017 wil

The government is mulling to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of cotton by Rs 160 per quintal, to Rs 4,320 for the 2017-18 crop year beginning July as farmers are preparing fields for kharif sowing. According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry has proposed increase in cotton MSP by Rs 160 per quintal for the 2017-18 crop year, based on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). It has moved a Cabinet note for inter-ministerial comments on fixin

Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) urge government to save polyester filament fabric industry from further disaster. In this regard, PYMA has issued an SOS (distress call) to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Revenue Haroon Akhter. Danish Hanif, chairman PYMA (Sindh-Balochistan Zone), in the ‘SOS’ stated that around 300,000 looms and knitting machines have suspended operations dur

Countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have taken on an increasingly important role in China's import and export sectors in the past two decades, according to a report released on Wednesday. From 1995 to 2016, the total value of imports and exports between China and the 65 countries involved in the initiative grew from $38.43 billion to $978.28 billion, the Report on International Trade and Investment Between China and Countries Along the Belt and Road says. The report, which w

Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), Vu Duc Giang said that, in the past a factory with 30,000 spindles for making thread required up to 450 labourers. In the wake of Industry 4.0, a factory of comparable size now requires only 30 labourers maximum. A worker of old could only run two machines simultaneously. Now, one worker can operate 8-10 machines or even up to 12 machines at once. Therefore, when the spectre of Industry 4.0 sweeps across, a huge volume of wor

The textile industry is awaiting the central government's decision on whether the new goods and services tax (GST) rate would be five per cent for segments presently not subject to any indirect tax or stick to one of 12 per cent. The sector provides direct employment to an estimated 45 million individuals and indirect jobs to another 60 million. And, is a tenth of the country's manufacturing. Textile commodities have a seven point weight in the Consumer Price Index. Observers say there is a

Large-sc­a­le manufacturing (LSM) grew 10.46 per cent in March on a year-on-year basis, the highest growth recorded in the last few years. March was the third month in 2016-17 that witnessed healthy LSM growth. Over 8pc growth was recorded in February and November each. Experts interpret it as the beginning of a revival in the industrial production. With higher-than-expe­cted growth in LSM, the government is likely to achieve the revised GDP growth target of 5.2pc for 2016-1

Regional textile industries hit hard due to surge in the cost of production and increasing competition from international players. Fluctuations in cotton prices and poor quality cotton in the region have also made trade difficult for textile mills. Industry experts said despite a drop in cotton prices, textile mills don't benefit. According to Suresh Maheshwari, owner of a textile mill, the textile market is in a depressive state. They are not competitive at an international level because cou