Apparel Online India Issue 1-15 March '18

MIND TREE Q-and-A Since prices in China are increasing and reasonable number of apparel and textile orders are being shifted from there, these conditions must be having some reciprocal effect on allied industries also. As India is importing big chunk of trims/accessories from China, have you noticed any kind of impact on trims, coming from China...; Are the prices still the same or have increased...; Is there any pressure to increase order size… Which is the most affected product category in trims and how are you coping with this situation? HKL Magu, Chairman, AEPC, Gurgaon Yes, overall costing in China is increasing due to increase in wages; but as far as your question of increase in the price of trims is concerned, there is no impact. Even if it is there, it is a marginal increase and we can’t do anything as it is all about nomination by overseas buyers. We can’t negotiate with nominated suppliers and everyone knows how they are. As our company works with stores and mail order companies, they always work with nominated people because they don’t buy only from India but also buy from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc. So, they have nominated people in China or Hong Kong, from where they source the required trims and supply to different suppliers. Overall my organization, Jyoti Apparels, uses 70 per cent of imported trims. Vinod Kapur, MD, Radnik Exports, Delhi We don’t import much from China but whatever we import, we do it through our own representatives in China who handle all things, be it price or quality. Prices may have increased 5 per cent which is nominal looking at overall costing. Whatever total trims we use, out of that just 2 to 5 per cent is being imported from China. So, this is not much an issue. JD GIRI, Director, Shahi Exports, Faridabad I don’t see any increase as such. Exporters are now buying a lot of trims from India as there are many good companies like Tex Zippers, YKK and many more; we too are sourcing majorly from India. In case it is nominated by the buyer, then we have to take it from the designated supplier. Otherwise if a choice is being given, we prefer to procure it from local companies or local manufacturers. Secondly, whoever the trims suppliers are, they are also quite competitive looking at the market scenario. Even in the case of fabric, there is heavy intense competition. So, there is no major impact on prices of imported trims. Sarthi Sawhney, Director, Bright Star, Delhi Many customers give a nominated supplier and pre-fix pre-negotiated prices of the trims which we can exactly add in the costings. More than the price of the actual trim, factors which really affect our costs is the ‘red tape’ culture 10 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com surrounding India’s importing system – from high bank charges to T/T payment – to a day’s time taken in paperwork to be submitted to the bank. There is high surcharge on freight to India, and thereafter Customs duty being levied on these trims which will essentially be 100 per cent re-exported. Even after having provisions like IC and RCMC, it is a hassle to deal with Customs officers to make them understand why duty should not be levied. And if we pursue to work with Customs officers, we are at their will and mercy of coming to the terminal otherwise demurrage charge can tick off. Simple, clear and instructive policies should be framed by the Ministry of Textiles in consultation with the different textile councils as well as in unison with the CBEC to make this a smooth process. Import systems and bank payment systems in all other countries (including China) on the other hand are extremely forward thinking and conducive for smooth business. Sushil Aggarwal, MD, Eves Fashion, Delhi Normally, trims contribute only 10 per cent of the cost of a garment, and the question is not about that 10 per cent as one can use Indian-made trims or imported ones which are cost-effective than India- made. As per my point of view, the question is that we need more exposure in value-added items and it should not depend only on trims, be it imported or Indian-made. For example, India still has not explored the core strength of Lucknow’s chikan embroidery, besides the various traditional types of dyeing from Rajasthan, etc. Yusuf Dohadwala, CEO, Intimate Apparel Association of India, Mumbai There is no impact, as trim manufacturing is capital-intensive rather than being a labour- intensive industry and costing in China is increasing due to high wages. Here I must say that still India is very much dependent on China regarding trims, specially in lingerie segment. All this is despite the high logistic cost and currency fluctuation. In mid-price lingerie segment, at least 50 per cent trims are being imported fr

Apparel Online India Issue 1-15 March '18 | Page 10