Planning minister AHM Mostafa Kamal on Friday said the government would establish a specialised bank for the readymade garment sector to ensure low-cost financing and to encourage entrepreneurs to invest more in the sector. ‘I will try my best to have a designated bank that will serve the purposes of the garment sector. Now we have some other specialised banks like Karmashangsthan Bank and Krishi Bank,’ Kamal said at a seminar on financing apparel growth at the Radisson Hotel in Chittagong.

China’s foreign trade performance worsened in July with both exports and imports falling on an annual basis, customs said on Saturday, spelling more worry for the world’s second largest economy. Exports plunged 8.3 per cent year-on-year to $195.10 billion while imports dropped 8.1 per cent to $152.07 billion, it said in a statement on its website. The country still recorded a trade surplus of $43.03 billion, customs said, but gave no comparative figure. Separately, the agency said the tr

Pendleton Woolen Mills headquartered in Portland, Oregon, a globally celebrated American lifestyle brand, has added new jacquard looms to operations at the company's original mill in Pendleton, Oregon. The Italian looms from Itema and Swiss jacquard machines from Staubli are equipped with the latest technology and provide high-speed performance.Jacquard looms weave complex designs, angles and shapes, brocades, damask, matelasse, and three-dimensional fabrics.Jacquard blankets were the first i

Cotton business remains dull in Pakistan with further drop in prices and not much stocks of new crop cotton (2015-16) remain unsold with ginners. This week cotton market witnessed a decrease in the value of seed cotton prices by about Rs 100 per 40 kgs, while lint prices dropped by Rs 100 to Rs 150 per maund (37.32 kgs). In Sindh, seedcotton (kapas / phutti) prices reportedly ranged from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,300 per 40 kgs, as per quality, while the seedcotton prices in Punjab ranged from Rs 2,0

Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA), apex body of spinners in this region, has convened a meeting of its member mills here on August eight to discuss various problems faced by spinning sector and decide on future course of action to mitigate the crisis. Considering the situation, the association has convened the meeting of the Managing Directors of the member mills to discuss the issues and arrive at a solution to tide over the crises, Sima Chairman T Rajkumar said. According to Rajk

In just the first half of this year, textile exports to markets joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) accounted for 70 per cent of the total export value and will grow substantially once the agreement is signed. Issues surrounding rules of origin, however, are a major concern as 60 to 90 per cent of materials for textiles made in Vietnam are imported from countries that are not members of the TPP. Origin pressure According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), a

Asserting that the domestic textile industry is facing recession for the last 15 months, Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) has appealed to the Centre to take immediate steps to create a level-playing field for the sector. "In the absence of a level-playing field due to higher rates of duties for Indian textile products in various major international markets, higher raw material cost, high cost of funding and high transaction cost, the industry is not in a position to achieve its potent

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) would suffer huge losses on the disposal of 95,700 bales of cotton procured last year on the directives of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, official sources said on Saturday. The TCP, which is holding around 88,600 bales, had already disposed around 6,800 bales on inviting bids through tender on July 15, 2015 and were opened in Islamabad on July 29. The bid opening witnessed a sole offer from Tata group at Rs4,800-4,900 per

Researchers from China are collaborating with a crop eco-physiologist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde toward the goal of improving cotton production in south central Texas, AgrilLife said in a press statement. “We are working together to gain a better understanding of the water-soil-plant dynamics of cotton production in this region,” said Dr. Xuejun Dong, the Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist working with three Chinese researchers visiting the ce

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) which procured 8.6 million bales (1 bale = 170 kgs) of cotton since October 2014, has started offloading the stock in both domestic and international markets through daily and weekly tenders. CCI has sold nearly half of the cotton stock it procured in the crop year 2014-15 under the minimum support price (MSP) operation. In a rare move, CCI also entered the Bangladesh market after negotiating terms directly with them. It has so far exported between 80,000