Gst Hits Nepal's Export To India: Report

KATHMANDU: Nepal's export to India has been adversely affected after the enforcement of Goods and Services Tax as Nepali goods have become less competitive in the Indian market due to high duty in post-GST period, a media report said today.

 

Trade of major export items to India, which were enjoying zero duty or nominal tariff earlier, has dropped significantly, the Himalayan Times reported citing the Nepal Rastra Bank s recent report.

 

Export of juice, jute products, vegetables, fruits, processed food like biscuits and noodles, cardamom, among others, have plunged heavily, the daily said.

 

Export of juice, which was a major export item to India in the previous years, has plunged by 57 per cent in the first two months of current fiscal as compared to corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

 

The country exported juice products worth Rs 344 million in first two months of the ongoing fiscal as compared to Rs 800 million in same period of previous fiscal.

 

Export of juice products to India was on the rise since last several years as the Indian multinational DaburBSE 1.28 % Nepal was the largest exporter of juice to India.

 

According to the central bank's data, export of juice had surged by 50 per cent in the first two months of fiscal 2016- 17 compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2015-16.

 

The major reason behind the significant decline in export of juice is increased tariff to export to the Indian market, the daily said.

 

The exporters said they have to pay 12 per cent integrated goods and services tax (IGST) to export juice to India, compared to 6.18 per cent during pre-GST regime.

 

This means the Indian market has become 5.82 per cent costlier for juice exporters after implementation of the GST, it said.

 

Likewise, export of large cardamom plunged by 45.3 per cent, fruits (85.9 per cent), vegetables (39 per cent), noodles (34 per cent), jute goods (2.3 per cent) in first two months of this fiscal as compared to corresponding period of last fiscal.

 

There are high tariff differences in post- and pre-GST period in vegetables, processed food and other agriculture products. As per the study carried out by an independent think-tank South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) on 30 major export items to India, export tariff for 28 top items have increased, like five per cent on big cardamom, 12 per cent on processed food items and 18 per cent on vegetable products.

 

As Nepal's top export items have been hit hard since enforcement of the GST, country s export to india is likely to drop.

 

Shekhar Golchha, senior vice president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that Nepali goods have become less competitive in Indian market as they have to pay high duty in post-GST period.

 

"Nepali exporters should diversify their market in short-term and be competitive in longer-term to tap the huge market opportunity in India," he was quoted as saying.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Economictimes.indiatimes.com

Deendayal Port Becomes 2Nd Major Port To Have Shore To Ship Power Facility

GANDHIDHAM: Deendayal Port will now become the second Major Port in India to have shore-to-ship power facility.

 

The facility would mean that not all the ships coming to the port will have to run their electricity from diesel generators.

 

“In line with international conventions and the Government's initiative to reduce pollution from marine sources, the port has invited tenders for installing power supply arrangements to ships calling at the port when they are alongside berth. The project will have 1 megawatt capacity and cater to four ships at a time for their lighting loads,” said Shri Ravi Parmar, Chairman of Deendayal Port Trust.

 

The facility is expected that emissions or usage of fossil fuel will reduce by 100 litre per hour for the vessels berthed at the port, which translates to approximately 12 kilolitre per ship for a port stay of five days.

 

Even the tugs being used at the port will have shore-to-ship power facility at a separate area within the port. “When the tugs are not attending to the ships, they are berthed alongside port craft jetty, when they run their generators to meet the electricity requirements. The port has made arrangement to provide electricity from shore-based installation to the tugs, both at Vadinar and at Kandla, which results in an estimated reduction in consumption to the tune of approximately 1,000 litres per day, that is 365 kl per annum,” according to shipping sources.

 

A year ago, V.O. Chidambaranar Port had commissioned shore-to-ship power. Other Major Ports of India are yet to catch up on the feature to be part of the 'Project Green Port'.

 

Deendayal Port Trust will also have a wind power plant under the 'Project Green Port' initiative of Ministry of Shipping. The port already has captive 6 mw wind power project installed, which was commissioned in March and has the capacity to generate 1.45 crore units annually.

 

Now, it plans to come up with another 14 mw of wind power for a period of next 20 years. The estimated annual energy production from this project will be around 40 million units per year and likely to be commissioned by March.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Readymade Garment Exports Up 25% In September In Rupee Terms

NEW DELHI: After seeing a fall for three months in a row, ready-made garment (RMG) exports rose by 25 per cent in rupee terms and 30 per cent in dollar terms in September.

 

But exporters say this will not be sustainable since Government policies are not favourable.

 

RMG exports rose to Rs 10,707 crore in September 2017 from Rs 8,583.55 crore in the same month a year ago.

 

In dollar terms, these figures were $1.662 billion as against $1.284 billion.

 

Of the total RMG exports, 52 per cent is woven and 48 per cent is knitwear.

 

The sector started the year in April with 27.60 per cent growth in rupee terms and a 31.65 per cent increase in dollar terms. But in the following month growth (in rupee terms) was only 3.84 per cent.

 

Exporters say that garment exports this year will surpass last year’s total exports of $17.358 billion as, generally, exports tend to grow in the second half.

 

January to March are the crucial months for RMG exports. Around 30-40 per cent of exports have taken place during these three months in the last few years.

 

Exporters attributed the increase mainly to the upcoming Christmas season in Western markets. The other factor is that inventories piled up due to the GST are now being cleared. Tirupur Exporters’ Association President Raja Shanmugam said that people are now becoming used to the system. In the last three months while global demand was increasing, exporters could not cater to it due to tax-related confusion. “Now we don’t have a choice, but the GST makes our products costlier compared to other countries,” said Shanmugam. He added the September numbers are not sustainable in the current environment.

 

Another exporter agreed and said unless India signs an FTA with European countries exporters will be in deep trouble. Competing nations have a duty advantage, which India does not possess.

 

Customers have also started asking for a reduction in price after the rupee started strengthening against the dollar. This comes at a time when the cost of doing business is going down for exporters.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

India's Exports To Bangladesh Bounce Back, Record 13% Growth In Fy17

KOLKATA: After a subdued show for two consecutive years, India’s exports to Bangladesh reported a robust growth in 2016-17. The growth is attributed to a significant rise in export of equipment and high-value machinery for project implementation in Bangladesh.

 

According to the Commerce Ministry, exports to Bangladesh touched $6.8 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2017, recording 13 per cent growth. Total bilateral trade had hit an all-time high of $7.5 billion, up 11 per cent.

 

Bangladesh is the ninth largest importer of Indian goods. According to the Ministry, Indian exports increased by a modest 4.6 per cent ($6.4 billion) in 2014-15 and dropped by 6.4 per cent ($6.03 billion) in 2015-16.

 

New initiatives

 

Indian observers believe conversion of road traffic to less costly rail, containerisation of cargo and multi-modal transport can reduce the trade logistics costs. India recently approved Rs. 40 crore, in the third line of credit worth $4.5 billion to Dhaka, to help Bangladesh build a transhipment facility at Ishwardi that connects Gede-Darshana rail-link. It will help increase rail cargo by road. A parallel effort is on by both the countries to run container trains between Kolkata and Dhaka.

 

But the most promising news is from shipping sector. Though India and Bangladesh opened direct shipping last year; the cargo volume didn’t grow to the expected levels due to congestion at Chittagong Port in Bangladesh.

 

In a recent trend, Bangladeshi shipping lines started moving containerised cargo from Kolkata to the inland river port at Pangaon, barely 20 km from Dhaka. The Port is equipped with container handling facility. Indian authorities are bullish that popularising this route can reduce trade costs significantly.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Textile Exporters To Tap Uae Market

CHENNAI: A 100-member delegation from textile and garment industry would be visiting the United Arab Emirates next month.

 

Federation of Indian Export Organisation Chairman A Sakthivel would be leading the business delegation to take part in the International Apparel and Textile Fair to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre between November 1 and 3, a press release said.

 

During the visit, the traders would be displaying fashion readymade and fashion garments at the Indian pavilion.

 

Currently, India's textile and garment export is focused to Europe and United States markets. By the participation in the trade fair, "FIEO envisages to serve major GCC countries directly", it said.

 

The United Arab Emirates ranks third in the world in terms of textile exports. It is also the fourth largest trading centre for fashion and apparel, it said.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Economictimes.indiatimes.com

Exporters Soon Can Claim Refund For Gst Paid In August, Sept.

New Delhi - Exporters can soon start claiming refunds for GST paid in August and September as GSTN will this week launch an online application for processing of refund, its Chief Executive Officer Prakash Kumar said recently.

 

GST Network (GSTN), the company handling IT infrastructure for the indirect tax regime, has from October 10 started issuing refunds to exporters for Integrated GST (IGST) they paid for the month of July, after matching GSTR-3B and GSTR-1.

 

For August and September, while the initial return GSTR- 3B has already been filed, the final return GSTR-1 has not yet been filed.

 

"A separate online app for claiming Integrated GST (IGST) refunds for August and September would be made available on GSTN portal this week," Kumar said.

 

GSTN has developed the app wherein exporters can save and upload their sales data which are part of GSTR-1 after filling up export details in Table 6A.

 

The table will be then extracted separately and after exporters digitally sign it, it would automatically go to the Customs Department.

 

The Customs Department will then validate the information provided in the table with the shipping bill data and also the taxes paid in GSTR-3B. The refund amount would be either credited to exporter's bank account through ECS or a cheque would be issued.

 

As per data, 55.87 lakh GSTR-3B returns were filed for July, 51.37 lakh for August and over 42 lakh for September. Preliminary returns GSTR-3B for a month is filed on the 20th day of the next month after paying due taxes.

 

Thereafter, final returns in form GSTR-1, 2, 3 are filed by businesses giving invoice wise details of sales. The final return filing for August and September has not started yet. Over July-August, an estimated Rs 67,000 crore has accumulated as the Integrated GST (IGST), of which only about Rs 5,000-10,000 crore will be due as refunds to exporters.

 

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), the amalgamation of over a dozen indirect taxes like excise duty and VAT, does not provide for any exemption, and so exporters are required to first pay Integrated-GST (IGST) on manufactured goods and claim refunds after exporting them. This had put severe liquidity crunch, particularly on aggregators or merchant exporters.

 

To ease their problems, the GST Council earlier this month decided a package for them that includes extending the Advance Authorisation / Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) / 100 per cent EOU (Export Oriented Unit) schemes to sourcing inputs from abroad as well as domestic suppliers till March 31, thus not requiring to pay IGST.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Bangladesh & India Top Buyer Of Scrapped Ships

DHAKA : Bangladesh was the top buyer of scrapped ships in the world in the third quarter of 2017, followed by India, according to a study of Brussels-based Shipbreaking Platform.

 

During the period, 50 scrapped ships were brought to Bangladesh and 44 to India, making South Asia the most preferred destination for scrapping old vessels, which is a hazardous practice for human health and environment.

 

A total of 227 ships were broken between the months of July and September, 124 of which ended up on the beaches in South Asia, according to the organisation which is a coalition of environmental, human and labour rights organisations.

 

Greek ship owners sold 11 ships to the beaching yards this quarter, which is the highest, followed by South Korea and Singapore at 6 vessels each. Shipping companies from the US sold 5 vessels.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Government Plans To Set Rules For Food Exports Packaging

NEW DELHI: The government is working towards new packaging norms for export of food items to address concerns over food safety and health standards even as some Indian food products face rejection in developed markets.

 

The ministry of commerce and industry has constituted a standing committee to formulate packaging standards for export of 500 products including fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, tea, and coffee.

 

The regulations will be in sync with those of developed markets such as the US, Vietnam, the European Union, and Japan, said an official from the ministry.

 

“A large amount of contamination can happen during transit if the packaging is not done properly,” said the official. “The government is keen to promote exports of fresh and processed food products and is hoping that these regulations will help in increased business for exporters,” the person said on condition of anonymity.

 

The standing committee is also mandated to help introduce a degree course in packaging as an initiative to increase awareness about the matter. The committee will also engage in research of innovative materials for packaging of different products.

 

The committee has representation from Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), several research institutes and industry associations such as Tea Board of India and Coffee Board of India. “We have already suggested standards for packaging fresh fruits and vegetables and submitted it to the ministry and are working on packaging for spices and tea,” said NC Saha, director of Indian Institute of Packaging and a member secretary of the standing committee. 

 

The institute is organising three events — International Summit for Packaging Industry, Indiapack Pacprocess exhibition and Pacmachine Awards — to spread awareness about the importance of packaging. The development comes even as some Indian food products continue to be rejected by some western markets.

 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has on several occasions refused entry to Indian food items such as spices, basmati rice, fisheries and herbal products.

 

Russia had also imposed ban on import of rice and peanuts from India on grounds of contamination. Australia had issued an advisory that Indian exporters involved in the exports of processed food products, especially containing milk, have not been following the relevant regulation of imports into Australia, after detection of cases violating the import regulations.

 

 

 

Soures : economictimes.indiatimes.com

India May Emerge As Key Market For Us Crude Exports

NEW DELHI: India is set to emerge as a key market for American crude exports in coming months, as refineries in that Country are ramping up “test” purchases of U.S. grades to diversify their imports. U.S. exports recently set a weekly record with nearly 2 million barrels of crude a day sent overseas. But shipments to India have been rare, with just a few deliveries since the U.S. lifted its ban on crude exports in late 2015. Indian refineries are starting to increase purchases as the Country seeks to secure more supply from outside the Middle East. Refiners are testing both U.S. sweet and sour crudes in their facilities, a common practice when importing crude from new sources.

 

“A lot of these (Indian refiners) want to see what it’s like if they run it,” said one Houston-based oil broker.

 

“They want to get a taste of U.S. crude.” Those refiners are taking advantage of a wide spread between U.S. oil and other global benchmarks, which has created an attractive discount on American crude grades.

 

Indian refiners Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited were given a special permission by the Shipping Ministry to import oil from the United States until March. “They’ve been stepping up to be a sizeable importer; they’re looking to diversify away from the Middle East,” said John Kilduff, partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital LLC in New York.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Leather Exports May Rise 10% By 2019'

NEW DELHI : Leather exports may register a 10% increase by 2019 from $5.66 billion last fiscal, according to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C.R. Chaudhary.

 

He also said the Centre was taking steps to boost the labour-intensive sectors. He, however, denied that cow-related agitations and regulations impacted the sector and added that weak demand in major markets such as European Union had affected the industry.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Exports Climb 25.67 Per Cent In Sept, Imports Up 18 Per Cent

NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise exports rose sharply in September, belying fears of a slump due to disruption and working capital issues brought on by the introduction of the goods and services tax. Exports climbed 25.67 per cent in September, exceeding an 18.1 per cent increase in imports, helping to narrow the trade deficit to $8.98 billion from $9.07 billion in September 2016.

 

In absolute terms, India’s exports were pegged at $28.6 billion dollars in September against $22.8 billion a year ago, according to data released by the Commerce Department recently. Imports were up at $37.6 billion from $31.8 billion.

 

"We’re doing our best to remove all hurdles in the way of exporters, so that they focus on their core business of exports and we do the rest," said Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu. "Many more initiatives are in works to help exporters," he added.

 

"Continued improvement in the pace of growth of merchandise exports, as well as its fairly broad-based nature, suggest that concerns that arose after the transition to GST may be receding in some sectors," said Ms. Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist at ICRA.

 

There were apprehensions that exports would take a hit because of GST, which was rolled out on July 1, with refunds getting blocked.

 

The Government has already eased GST rules for exporters to reduce transition pains and speed up refunds. "In continuation with positive growth exhibited by exports for the last 13 months, exports during September 2017 have shown growth of 25.67 per cent in dollar terms," the Ministry said in a statement.

 

"We need to see if the trend continues for the next quarter and whether this growth trend will be maintained... GST has not had much impact on the export numbers and going forward, with many gaps addressed by the Government, the result should be positive," said Mr. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at CARE Ratings.

 

In rupee terms, both exports and imports grew at a slower pace – 21.3 per cent and 14 per cent respectively – from a year ago, showing the impact of the sharp appreciation of the rupee over this period. The increase in exports was driven by a broad-based performance, with 26 of 30 categories posting positive growth.

 

Outbound shipments of engineering goods grew 44.2 per cent, chemicals (46 per cent), petroleum products (39.7 per cent), pharmaceuticals (14.7 per cent), readymade garments (29.4 per cent) and gems and jewellery (7.1 per cent).

 

Gold imports moderated to $1.7 billion from $1.8 billion in September last year.

 

"In our view, build-up of substantial stocks over the last few months would ease the volume of gold imports during the festive and wedding season," said Nayar.

 

Higher exports will support India’s economy, which expanded 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, a three-year low. Part of the increase in both exports and imports was because of the rise in commodity prices. Oil and non-oil imports grew 18.5 per cent and 18 per cent to $8.18 billion and $29.4 billion, respectively.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Marine Products Export Body Eyes 12% Growth In Seafood This Fiscal

MUMBAI: The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is looking at a 10-12 per cent growth in seafood exports in the current fiscal.

 

According to MPEDA Chairman A Jayathilak, seafood exports in 2016-17 reached a record $5.8 billion and the trends in the ongoing financial year are just as encouraging.

 

Speaking at the first-of-its-kind interaction with stakeholders from the seafood sector in Gujarat, he said MPEDA has formed 600 farmer clusters across the Country under the National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture. These clusters are completely under the guidance of MPEDA and they will help the agency to export quality marine products.

 

Moreover, the set up is such that it provides 100 per cent traceability to quality issues in the farms. Such initiatives will help give a major fillip to the export of quality seafood, he said.

 

The meeting organised in Somnath in Gujarat assumes significance at a time when MPEDA stepped up its efforts to increase the share of value added products in total marine exports from 17 per cent to 30 per cent. According to him, such meetings will benefit farmers directly and avoid the intermediaries from the scene.

 

Gujarat State Government officials, aquaculture farmers, exporters and hatchery owners were among those who participated in the meeting.

 

As many as 20 aquaculture farmers participated in the event, which also offered a platform for them to establish direct linkages with exporters.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

China's September Imports & Exports In High Gear As Economy Expands

BEIJING: China’s import and export growth accelerated in September, suggesting the world’s second-biggest economy is still expanding at a healthy pace despite widespread forecasts of an eventual slowdown.

 

The data also suggested further improvement in the global economy, with business activity and demand having picked up markedly this year in Europe and the United States.

 

Imports grew 18.7 percent in September from a year earlier and accelerating from 13.3 percent in August, Customs data showed. Exports rose 8.1 percent, below forecasts of 8.8 percent but the most in three months and handily beating August’s 5.5 percent.

 

Once again, China’s imports were led by industrial resources as a year-long construction boom shows no signs of flagging and factories kept humming, boosting demand for materials from steel to copper.

 

Higher commodity prices greatly magnified the strength of the bounce, but volumes surged, too, pointing to still-solid underlying demand.

 

That left the Country with a trade surplus of $28.47 billion, less than the near $40 billion expected and down from around $42 billion in August.

 

China’s foreign trade will likely grow at a double-digit pace this year if current conditions continue, the General Administration of Customs said.

 

In addition to pointing to buoyant demand, some of the surge in September imports may have been due to companies “front loading” supplies ahead of a week-long national holiday in early October, analysts said.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

China's September Imports & Exports In High Gear As Economy Expands

BEIJING: China’s import and export growth accelerated in September, suggesting the world’s second-biggest economy is still expanding at a healthy pace despite widespread forecasts of an eventual slowdown.

 

The data also suggested further improvement in the global economy, with business activity and demand having picked up markedly this year in Europe and the United States.

 

Imports grew 18.7 percent in September from a year earlier and accelerating from 13.3 percent in August, Customs data showed. Exports rose 8.1 percent, below forecasts of 8.8 percent but the most in three months and handily beating August’s 5.5 percent.

 

Once again, China’s imports were led by industrial resources as a year-long construction boom shows no signs of flagging and factories kept humming, boosting demand for materials from steel to copper.

 

Higher commodity prices greatly magnified the strength of the bounce, but volumes surged, too, pointing to still-solid underlying demand.

 

That left the Country with a trade surplus of $28.47 billion, less than the near $40 billion expected and down from around $42 billion in August.

 

China’s foreign trade will likely grow at a double-digit pace this year if current conditions continue, the General Administration of Customs said.

 

In addition to pointing to buoyant demand, some of the surge in September imports may have been due to companies “front loading” supplies ahead of a week-long national holiday in early October, analysts said.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Indian Garlic Shipments Zooms Thanks To Output Shrinkage In China

KOCHI: Indian shipments of garlic have zoomed thanks to output shrinkage in China, the world’s largest producer, making it the hottest commodity in India’s spice export basket.

 

In the first quarter of the year India exported 18,000 tonnes valued at Rs 123.84 crore, a staggering increase of 169% in quantity and 107% in value, the highest growth among the spices exported from India including the usual top performing ones like chilli, cumin and spice oleoresins.

 

The rising export trend in garlic from India started last year. The year 2016-17 saw garlic export value shoot up 92% to a record Rs 307.11 crore from a year before. The quantity at 32,200 tonnes showed a 39% rise.

 

Till 2015-16, Indian garlic export stood below Rs 100 crore.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Maersk Line Pioneers First Store Door Reefer Import Of Confectionery Into Rudrapur, Uttarakhand

MUMBAI: Maersk Line, the global containerized division of the Maersk Group enables the first store door reefer import of confectionery for Perfetti Van Melle (India) Pvt Ltd into Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. The consignment of confectionery (gums) which left Leixoes, Portugal on the 17th of July reached Rudrapur in Uttarakhand on the 8th of September.

 

At present, reefer importers are currently importing to port and then trucking the cargo to their warehouses. This involves multiple vendor co-ordinations which affect their overall increased cost of logistics. Added to this are shortages of trucks during peak seasons which impact their production cycle.

 

Through Maersk Line’s pioneering offering, these challenges will be a thing of the past. The transportation time between the point of origin and the port reduce considerably, facilitating a one-stop solution closer to the place of origin of cargo.

 

Mr. Steve Felder, MD – Maersk Line (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives), said, “Our constant efforts to provide a single-window simplified supply chain platform have enabled us to successfully carry out the First ever Store door of reefer import. We are committed to providing unmatched customer-centric services. This does synergize well with our belief of enabling the India growth story by providing customers with a definitive, cost-effective and viable logistical solution,” said a Maersk Line release.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Textile Exporters Facing Difficult Times Leading To Constrained Growth: Icra

Indian textile exporters are facing difficult times since the past few months which have led to constrained growth as well as pressures on profitability, according to ICRABSE -0.78 %.

 

In a report released on Wednesday, ICRA said that exporters have been facing subdued demand trends in the key importing countries as well as intense competitive pressures from nations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam over the past few years.

 

In addition, unfavourable currency movements and high raw material prices in the past six to nine months as well as recent revision in duty drawback rates have only added to their woes. With exports accounting for more than one-third of the Indian textile market, this is a matter of concern, notwithstanding a large domestic market.

 

The slowdown in apparels segment has mainly been on account of subdued demand conditions in key textile-consuming regions of United States of America (US) and European Union (EU) which account for a majority of exports from India. This apart, cotton-yarn exports have been under pressure on account of a decline in demand from China, which used to account for more than 40% of total cotton yarn exports from India till last year and accounted for only ~17% of India’s cotton yarn exports in the first four months of FY2018. India appears to be the worst-affected nation amongst cotton-yarn suppliers to China, as is evident in a decline in India’s share in China’s cotton yarn imports to 8% in Q1 FY2018 vis-à-vis 20% and 25% in Q1 FY2017 and Q1 FY2016 respectively.

 

The pressures on textile exporters have become more severe with strengthening of Indian rupee against currencies of key competing nations during the current calendar year, which reduced competitiveness of Indian exporters vis-à-vis their counterparts.

 

Throwing more light on this aspect, Jayanta Roy, senior vice-president and group head, corporate sector ratings, ICRA says, “Notwithstanding the 2% depreciation in the Indian rupee vis-à-vis USD in the month of September 2017, the Indian rupee sustained its strong performance against currencies of most of the countries competing in the global textile space during much of the current calendar year.”

 

While the Indian currency has strengthened by ~5% against USD in 8M CY2017, currencies of other key nations competing in the textile space such as Vietnamese Dong, Bangladeshi Taka as well as Pakistani Rupee depreciated by 0.5-2% against USD during the same period.

 

Further, higher input prices (primarily cotton) this year vis-a-vis last year added to profitability pressures for exporters during H1 FY2018, given the cotton-dominance of textile exports from India. While cotton prices have corrected to an extent from mid-September 2017 onwards which is expected to provide respite during H2 FY2018, recent revision in duty drawback rates is likely to exert some pressure on margins. The Government of India has recently notified revised duty drawback rates under the GST regime which are applicable to exporters with effect from October 2017 onwards. There is a downward revision in duty drawback rates for most product categories in the textile sector under the GST regime, when compared with duty drawback rates for exporters claiming Cenvat under the earlier tax regime.

 

“Considering that GST rates for most product categories in textiles are in line with effective tax rates under the earlier tax regime and the extent of benefit from improved input credit chain post GST implementation remains to be seen. The overall impact of GST and the revised duty drawback rates on the sector is uncertain at present.” adds Roy.

 

Notwithstanding the pressures being witnessed on profitability, debt levels across the sector are expected to decline with the industry focusing on sweating the existing assets and thereby undertaking limited debt-funded capacity additions. Further, with cotton prices easing out from mid-September 2017 onwards, profitability pressures are likely to subside from Q3 FY2018 onwards. As a result, ICRA expects the financial and credit risk profiles of most textile exporters to remain stable.

 

 

 

Soures : economictimes.indiatimes.com

'Mission 2020' To Boost Cashew Export : Cashew Export Promotion Council

PANAJI: Following a suggestion from Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) is preparing a strategic business plan ‘Mission 2020’ aimed at boosting the cashew industry and exports of cashew kernels in particular. Mr. Prabhu made the suggestion at the venue of Kaju India 2017, the global cashew meet organised by the CEPCI in Goa from September 17 to 19.

 

CEPCI Chairman P. Sundran said that the suggestion for Mission 2020 from the Minister was one of the major achievements of the meet.

 

He said the Minister said that the Government would consider withdrawing the 5% duty on raw cashew imported outside the Advanced Authorisation Scheme. The CEPCI members brought to the attention of the Minister the threat posed by the Indian cashew sector from kernel import from Vietnam. The Minister said the Government would consider the suggestion to hike the import duty on kernels to 70%.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Pharma Exports Declined By 4% In First Five Of Current Fiscal

HYDERABAD: Pharma exports from India registered a negative growth of 4 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal owing to increased regulatory issues coupled with pricing pressure in global markets, a Pharmexcil official said.

 

According to Udaya Bhaskar, the Director General of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), a Ministry of Commerce and Industry body, the pharma exports to other countries witnessed a decline of

 

7.9 per cent during the April-July period while recovered to 4 per cent in August leaving the over all groPharma Export, Pharmaceuticals, wth at minus four per cent till August this year.

 

"Till July, pharma exports registered minus 7.9 per cent growth. Subsequently it recovered in August and stood at minus four per cent. There was four per cent growth in August. Pricing pressure is one of the factors (for decline in exports). To some extent import alerts (by US FDA on Indian plants), regulatory issues and currency fluctuation, are some of the factors contributed to downward growth," Udaya Bhaskar told.

 

He, however, hoped that the overall exports will recover and come into positive zone for the full year as exports are expected to take an uptick from September.

 

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com

Oilmeals Export Revives With Rise Of 85% In April-September 2017

NEW DELHI: The export during September 2017 is reported at 115,083 tonnes compared to 109,309 tonnes in September 2016 i.e. up by 5%, as per data provided by The Solvent Extractors' Association of India. The overall export of oilmeals during April - September 2017 provisionally reported at 1,101,689 tonnes compared to 594,529 tonnes during the same period of last year i.e. up by 85%.

 

In last Six months, the export of oilmeals improved compared to the previous year, thanks to good monsoon, better oilseeds production and price parity. It may be also be noted that India faced drought years during 2014-15 and 2015-16, which lead to lower production of oilseeds which affected export of oilmeals to the lowest level, however with good monsoon last year, export has revived to some extent.

 

 

 

Soures : Dailyshippingtimes.com