Bangladesh exporters were unable to benefit from duty-free access to countries in the Asia Pacific because of small markets, non-tariff barriers, less demanding export items and lack of direct shipping links, exporters said.Bangladesh was given duty-free access to Australia, Thailand, China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Korea.Footwear market of Thailand is very small, complained Tipu Sultan, President, Bangladesh Finished Leather and Leathergoods and Footwear Exporters' Association.A Ban

China has emerged as number one import source for Bangladesh, beating India for the first time, The Daily Star reported on Sunday. Bangladeshi import from China amounted to 32.14 billion taka ( 494.5 million U.S. dollars) during July-September period of the current fiscal (July 2005-June 2006) against 27.08 billion taka ( 416.6 million dollars) import from India during the same period, according to the statistics of Chief Controller of Import and Export (CCIF). "China is set to dominate

Beijing's leading international trade fair for yarns and fibres, the next Yarn Expo Spring, will take place in a more convenient venue. The China World Trade Centre is close to the new underground system and with many hotels nearby it, occupies a prime location in the heart of Beijing's Central Business District. Scheduled for 29 - 31 March 2006, Yarn Expo Spring 2006 provides a unique opportunity for fibre and yarn manufacturers to promote their latest products in one of China's fastest growing

World Trade Organization (WTO) received another proposal from the so-called Cotton Four, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali, that the cut down on cotton subsidies should be atleast three times more than that on other goods.Cotton is the major source of income for countries in West and Central Africa, which estimate that they lose at least US $1 billion (?40 million) every year because of heavy subsidies paid by the US, the EU and China, to their local cotton sector.These countries have not yet r

Cotton prices are increased by Rs10 per maund, sources of Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) revealed today.With this increase, prices of cotton across Pakistan now pegged at Rs2545 per maund.According to Cotlook Indices, A Index was 60.90 and B Index was 57.75 on February 17, 2006.Transactions took place on February 18, 2006 at several cotton stations as follows:Around 600 bales changed hands at Alipur for Rs2575, 1000 at RYK between Rs2575 and Rs2600, 2000 bales at SDK between Rs2525 and 2600 an

KABWE, Zambia -- Times have been hard since the state-owned mines and textile mill closed in this industrial town in the early 1990s. Workers, with no other job options, were forced to revert to subsistence agriculture. Kids dropped out of school. Small businesses collapsed.So when Chinese investors began arriving to reopen the shuttered textile plant, open a manganese mine and build an ore smelter, the welcome could hardly have been warmer."We are very impressed with the Chinese investment. We

Coimbatore: The Centre is working on to simplify the procedure for import of second hand textile machinery, Union Minister of State for Textiles E V K S Elangovan said here today. With the boom in the industry, the simplified procedure for importing second hand textile machinery would be announced soon, Elangovan told reporters here. When asked about textile industry's request for extension of the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, which ends in 2007, for the 11th Five-Year Plan also, he sa

USA: Clothing & Accessories Stores' Inventories/Sales Ratios Up in Dec Clothing & clothing accessories stores Inventories/Sales Ratios increased in in December 2005. The US Census Bureau released the Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales for December 2005. Sales - It stated that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers?shipments for December, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,044.5 billi

With a slight increase of Rs10, cotton prices are recorded at Rs2535 per maund today, as per the sources of Karachi Cotton Association (KCA).According to Cotlook Indices February 15, 2006, A Index was at 61.55 and B Index was 58.50.On February 15, 2006, New York Cotton Futures Market Closing Delivery has forecast some negative changes for the month of March - 06 and May - 06.Opening price for March 2006 will be $56.80, high and low levels will be $57.65 and $56.05; previous rate will be $57.04 a

THE country's textile exports in the non-quota regime, effective from January 1, 2005, has registered a phenomenal growth in market share in the US and European Union. This was stated by Mr Shankarsinh Vaghela, Union Textile Minister, who was in the city for the inauguration of the new office of the Textiles Committee. According to him, only China had registered such growth rates in these two markets. He said: "Everyone had apprehended that the Indian textile sector would fail to compete aga