The exports of readymade garments from Bangladesh to Chile are likely to get a boost as the Latin American nation has recently announced duty-free treatment to imports from all the 49 least developed countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh. According to Chile’s Ministry of Finance, under the new trade preference policy, Chile would phase out duty on imports from all LDCs over a three-year period, starting with seven vulnerable countries (with concentration index greater than 0.75)—Angola, Chad

Workers in a textile factory. REUTERS/Stringer Industry Minister Mohamad Suleman Hidayat has called on textile factories to immediately replace their old equipment with new more modern machines. Out of some 1,500 textile factories and producers, 500 are in dire need of new machines in order to boost quality and production quantity. "They need to be revitalized because the machines and technology are an average of 25 years old," he said after attending a coordination meeting at the transpo

FREEWOOD INTERNATIONAL, a local manufacturer of men's leather shoes, says producers of such footwear are facing several challenges, including the rising cost of rawhide due to shortages and consumers' weak purchasing power.Surachai Alongkornchotikul, managing director of the company, said that for long-term survival, small and medium-sized enterprises like his would need to adapt to higher costs, improve quality, and create brand awareness. Leather footwear is not a high-growth industry, he s

Egypt hopes to resolve the ongoing deterioration in its textile industry, said a cabinet statement on Thursday. In a cabinet meeting, Industry, Finance and Investment Ministers discussed means to improve the income of the national Textile and Wavering Holding Company and curb its losses. The public sector company, combined of more than 30 factories, is facing huge financial issues such as unpaid fees and instability in local prices compared to the international market. The company lost

Total export of readymade garments went up by 17.8 per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal year, largely due to depreciation of Nepali currency. Nepal exported garments worth Rs 786.2 million in between mid-July and mid-September this fiscal as against Rs 667.4 million in the same period a year ago, the latest statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank shows.“The export figure might have gone up during the two-month period due to depreciation of Nepali rupee, as sellers here received more of

Textile exporters have pinned their high hopes for a significant surge in textile exports after getting duty free access to EU following GSP plus status. Textile industry has the potential to double its existing 1.5 per cent share in global textile trade by reaping the benefits of GSP plus. Sheikh Ilyas Mahmood, chairman and Adil Tahir, vice chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) said that textile industry is expecting to finally get duty free access to EU in January next year an

About 30 percent of all textile units across India remained non-operational during 2010-11, which led to a massive job loss of 42 percent in the sector, according to a recently concluded study by apex industry body ASSOCHAM."Of the total 17,987 textile factories across India, about 12,688 factories were operational and about 5,300 were non-operational i.e. 29.47 percent as of 2010-11," according to a study titled 'State-wise assessment of textile sector and recommendations,' conducted by The Ass

Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) chairman Mukhtar Ahmed said that Pakistan can increase its cotton production up to 25 million bales if the well germinated, certified and qualitative seed, unadulterated fertilisers and pesticides and water for irrigation is available on reasonable price. He said that proposal was not approved for establishment of a Centre of Excellence at the CCRI Multan through restructuring of PCCC by strengthening and activating it to pursue a dynamic cotton researc

As is often the case with China, there are contradictory indicators that serve to muddy both the current state of its oil markets and the likely future trends. Crude oil imports rose to a record 6.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up 27 per cent from a year earlier and besting the previous record of 6.15 million bpd set in July. This helped to make China the world's largest net oil importer, ahead of the United States, a situation that is likely to persist, according to the US Energ

Andritz Nonwoven is further strengthening its manufacturing programme for nonwovens equipment in China by moving into a new 8,500sqm site in Wuxi New District, China. Today, the new facility has opened the doors to a technical centre that hosts an industrial scale needlepunch pilot line and a new grinding shop.Technical centreThe neXline needlepunch pilot line of 2.5m width consists of an aXcess card, a crosslapper, and a pre-needler in order to demonstrate the capability of these machines at fu