SPUN YARN :Line with Fibre Price

100% cotton yarn market sentiment was quite dull with yarn producers generally lifting prices pressured by hikes in high-quality cotton prices. More weaving mills were off production for holiday in China, leaving only few producers to hold on till the year-end. In India, although cotton prices cotton yarn prices increased on both domestic and export markets. Polyester spun yarn producers were heard closing for New Year Holidays in China but some were still operating and pre-stocking fibre at lower price. 

In Pakistan, PSF prices were strongly rising after new anti-dumping duties on Chinese fibers boosted import prices while raw material costs also surged in the meantime. Spun rayon yarn prices stopped rising during the week for 100% viscose. Operating rates are relatively high at 80%, reflecting a not-so-weak activity in this period of the year. The rayon spun yarn markets were clearly stabilized in the week in China. It is expected that spun yarn sentiment will be corrected. Similar was the case with blended yarns. By the end of December, export prices of spun yarns in India had risen 5-6% compared to the beginning of the month. However, this new rise was not absorbed by the market and prices began falling in January. In China, blended yarn trading volume of polyester-viscose yarn 40s/2 went up, while its prices stayed calm. Polyester-cotton yarn prices remained unchanged, but transaction volume was low. 

TIRUPUR KNITWEAR SECTOR OVERCOME CLOSER OF DYEING UNITS

The knitwear cluster in Tirupur, located in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has managed to overcome the problems posed by the closure of dyeing and bleaching units in the region. The dyeing units were shutdown around two years ago on the order of the Madras High Court, for releasing untreated water and polluting the river Noyyal. However, the closure of dyeing units has not affected the domestic sales and exports from the cluster, according to The Hindu. Last fiscal, Tirupur cluster exported apparels worth Rs. 125 billion, about the same as exports made a year earlier. Some garment manufacturers got their fabrics dyed from other clusters, while some others got their fabrics dyed at new units that were opened without necessary permission, both within the cluster as well as in the hinterlands, according to the report. Meanwhile, due to erection of sixteen common effluent treatment plants (CETPs), over 400 dyeing units have already obtained permission from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to restart their units. In the meantime, the Dyers Association of Tirupur has applied for a green tag status so that the fabrics dyed in Tirupur may fetch more prices in European markets.

INDA And CNITA Enter Into Strategic Alliance

The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), Cary, N.C., and the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), Beijing, have entered into a strategic alliance agreement under which the two associations will work together in various areas, including mutually sharing industry, market, technical and trade enhancement information; exchanging special educational courses relevant to each party; cooperating on international events such as meetings, conferences and expositions; and exchanging test methods and standards and jointly developing new standards. 

CNITA is a government-supported national association that represents thousands of Chinese companies that manufacture nonwovens and technical textiles. It also is one of the organizers of CINTE Techtextil China, an international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens held every two years in Shanghai.

"We are excited about this new strategic alliance with CNITA," said Dave Rousse, president, INDA. "This agreement establishes a framework for a variety of activities between our associations that will benefit both associations' members and the entire industry. Having Europe, North America and China sharing common test methods and standards will facilitate international trade in nonwovens. Sharing our education programs with China will help their industry development, and sharing data will help in market planning.

"China is not only a major producer of nonwoven fabrics, but with a rapidly rising middle class, it has greatly increased its consumption of nonwoven products. We see this trend continuing. Our alliance with CNITA can help provide a bridge between INDA members and this growing market opportunity.""CNITA is very pleased to enter into this strategic alliance agreement with INDA and we look forward to collaborating in these important areas," said Lingshen Li, president, CNITA. "This agreement provides a starting point for cooperation and promises to benefit the members of both associations." 

Turning point for Indian textile sector-Strike of 1984

These are the two most important factors which have heavily influenced the Indian textile industry in the last three decades”, he says, when asked to recount the various factors which have deeply influenced the Indian textile industry. “The Mumbai textile strike of 1984 led by the trade union leader – Datta Samant was the turning point as well as a decisive year for the Indian textile industry”, says Mr Arvind Somany - Managing Director of Ahmedabad based Soma Textile and Industries Ltd. “The strike led to the closing down of most of the textile mills in Mumbai. Secondly, it was only after 1982, that standalone weaving factories and printing houses mushroomed in Maharashtra and Gujarat, which further affected the Ahmedabad based textile mills and which also closed down one-by-one after the late 1980’s”, Mr Arvind Somany exclusively  told. Explaining in detail, he says, “Prior to 1982, whatever the Indian mills produced - good, average or bad quality would be sold and one could even earn decent margins, since there were import controls and tariff barriers in that period. “The Ahmedabad based mills had a jolly good time during the strike as before the strike, Mumbai mills accounted for around 30-40 percent of production in the country, most of which folded up during or after the strike. Mills of Ahmedabad pushed up production during those strike years as whatever was produced was sold out instantly. “Weaving hubs of Bhiwandi and Ichalkaranji and printing mills in Ahmedabad and Surat sprang up after the strike. Composite mills could not meet competition from these small and nimble units. This was the second turning point. This time it was the turn of Gujarat based mills to collapse.   “The second collapse came along as; these textile mills did not know how to meet the challenge posed by these small weaving and fabric printing units either by modernizing or by way of adding value and diversifying their product offerings.  “One small but significant change also came about in the mid and late 1990’s. Textile mills started focusing on specific product categories and niche segments like denim fabrics, yarn dyed shirting, bottom weight fabrics, etc. This was the period when textile mills consolidated their operations in order to become more viable”.    However, the most redeeming feature of the last three decades has been that Soma Textiles which was set up way back in 1963 has survived all these onslaughts and is now on the way to increasing its denim fabric production capacity to 24 million meters from 14 million meters in April 2013. Many may not be aware that Soma Textiles is one of the pioneers of denim fabrics in India along with Arvind Mills.

Huntsman Corporation eyes US$ 1bn sales in India

Huntsman Corporation, a global producer and marketer of differentiated chemicals, has unveiled its plans to enhance capacities and boost its India revenues to US$ 1 billion by 2018-19. Operating companies of Huntsman Corporation produce items catering to a wide range of global industries, including textiles. The newly appointed Vice President and Managing Director, Indian Subcontinent, Steve Stilliard told PTI that they have impressive growth plans for India, and are eyeing capital expenditure of US$ 10 million per annum and annual growth rate of 13 to 15 percent in Indian market, The Economic Times reported. Having over 1,000 associates, Huntsman’s India sales presently stand at over US$ 500 million, and the company aims to boost this to US$ 1 billion by 2018-19, he added. Huntsman is also planning to acquire a mid-sized Indian company, which would strengthen its technology and aid its further expansion in the Indian market. Performance products and advanced materials that find utility in the textile industry and polyurethanes are the key contributors to the firm’s revenues in India. Performance products like carbonates, amines and certain speciality surfactants are used in several consumer and industrial applications. Firstly recognized as a pioneer for innovations in packaging, Huntsman has also earned fame for speedy and integrated development in petrochemical industry. The company employs around 12,000 people at its operations at various places across the globe.

Stable out look Rating for 88% of Cotton Textile Mills

India Ratings’ outlook for cotton textiles remains negative to stable for 2013 on account of subdued demand, although margins are expected to benefit from softening raw material prices. The outlook for synthetic textiles remains negative for 2013 due to reversal of substitution demand and oversupply in domestic partially oriented yarn, pressurizing selling prices and margins of synthetic textile companies. Stable Cotton Prices: Muted international demand of cotton and surplus production are likely to keep cotton prices stable and range-bound during 2013. India Ratings expects cotton yarn manufacturers to benefit from slow but steady pick-up in domestic demand, the likely higher demand of cotton yarn from China and improving margins on account of low cotton prices and firm cotton yarn prices. Stability in cotton prices will enable spinning mills to better plan the inventory buying. However, spinners in Southern India and Gujarat continue to underutilize capacity due to power shortage or incur high cost of self-generated power. Exports Demand Sluggish: India Ratings expects garment exporters’ revenues to remain subdued on the back of the persistent economic slowdown in key export destinations of US and Europe and continuous deterioration in India’s competitiveness in apparel exports. However, to offset the impact, Indian exporters are diversifying into other geographies. Selling prices are likely to remain lower depending on companies’ bargaining power which is very low for small exporters or for low value added products (such as Rangoli International ‘IND BB+’). Existing Ratings Factor Risks: Around 88% of India Ratings-rated cotton textile companies have a Stable Outlook despite the industry outlook being negative to stable. This is because the agency has already factored into the ratings the weak credit quality marked by higher instances of near-full utilization of working capital limits and negative operating cash flows.  The same is true for 73% India Ratings-rated cotton textile companies with sub-investment grade ratings. Liquidity Concerns in Small Companies: Timing/efficiency of cotton buying, receivables and inventory management would continue to be key liquidity determinants in 2013. In 2012, India Ratings took negative rating actions on companies that overused their working-capital limits and/or delayed debt servicing due to liquidity stress. Leverage indicators are weak, yet better than 2008-2009 slowdown, when companies were in midst of capex cycle and high on debt. What Could Change the Outlook...? Continued Stability: A stable outlook on cotton and synthetic textiles would require favorable policy environment, improvements in demand-supply position, continued stability in input costs and consequent improvement in margins/liquidity. It is unlikely that the sector’s outlook will turn positive until fundamental issues such as power shortage, lack of technology and modern machinery and demand slowdown are resolved. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail is an opportunity that would unleash demand in the long run and offset any slowdown in exports.

India’s raw cotton exports likely to dip 38% in 2012-13

Raw cotton exports from India are likely to decline by 38 percent year-on-year to about 8 million bales of 170 kg each during the ongoing marketing season 2012-13, Textiles Commissioner AB Joshi has said. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), Mr. Joshi said China has imposed hefty taxes on import of raw cotton and this has forced Chinese textile mills to resort to large-scale imports of cotton yarn, instead of cotton, from other countries. During the cotton season that ended on September 30, 2012, India exported a record 12.9 million bales of cotton, with China emerging as the largest importer. However, India’s raw cotton exports to China have been slower during the past few months.  In December 2012, India’s cotton exports declined by over 60 percent year-on-year, but its cotton yarn exports to China grew during the month. Mr. Joshi expects China to continue importing more cotton yarn from India during 2012-13. In its meeting, the CAB downwardly revised its 2012-13 cotton production forecast to 33 million bales, compared to last season’s output of 35.5 million bales. Mr. Joshi said about 2 million bales of raw cotton are expected to be imported by Indian traders this year, owing to higher prices prevailing in Indian markets.

Nigerian govt to boost textile industry : Minister

The Federal Government of Nigeria aspires to see tremendous growth in the country’s textile and garment industry, according to Mr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment. Addressing the valedictory function of the workshop on the mid-term evaluation of Nigeria’s Cotton, Textile and Garment Industry in Abuja, the Minister said the Government plans to increase the share of Nigerian textiles and apparels in the domestic market from the current 12 percent to 25 percent by 2020. The Ministry of Trade and Investment is working with the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to decrease the instances of dumping of sub-standard goods, including textiles and apparels, into the country, he said. The Minister said the Government expects the textile and apparel sector to create more than 60,000 new employment opportunities by 2020. For the purpose, efforts are being made to revive the entire textile value chain, he added. The Government has included the textile sector in the Industrial Revolution Plan and it is striving to boost cotton production. It is also supporting existing companies to expand their current operations, while attracting leading foreign brands to set up manufacturing units in the country, he said. The Minister said Nigeria’s textile and clothing sector has a strong potential to grow due to availability of cotton, knowledge of the sector, and the country’s large market-size represented by over 167 million inhabitants, who provide a natural market for textiles and apparels. Moreover, there is also scope to export Nigerian textiles and apparels to other markets, especially to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), he said.

List of Textile Industries

1.  Aarvee Denims & Exports Ltd
2. Abhishek Corporation Ltd
3. Acil Cotton Inds Ltd
4. Acknit Knitting Ltd
5. Acrow India Ltd.
6. Addi Industries Ltd
7. Adinath Textiles Ltd
8. Alchemist Corporation Ltd
9. Alka India Ltd
10. Alok Industries Limited
11. Alpha Graphic India Ltd
12.  Alps Industries Ltd
13. Ambika Cotton Mills Ltd
14. Amit International Ltd.
15. Anjani Synthetics Ltd
16. APM Industries Ltd
17. Arex Industries Ltd
18. Arrow Textiles Ltd
19. Arunoday Mills Ltd.
20. Arvind Mills Limited
21. Arvind Products Ltd
22. Asahi Fibres Ltd.
23. Ashima Ltd
24. Ashnoor Textile Mills Ltd
25. Aunde Faze Three Ltd
26. AV Cottex Ltd
27. Aviva Industries Ltd