Around the World
BANGLADESH
Wal-Mart wants rebate on
garment orders
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer
of clothing, wants a 2% rebate on its current orders of Bangladeshi RMG products.
Industry insiders said the US-based WalMart buys RMG products worth $1.7 billion a year from Bangladesh, adding that
currently it buys the products from more
than 200 garment factories in Bangladesh.
The major products that Wal-Mart purchases include T-shirts, shirts, polo shirts,
pullovers, home textiles, bed sheets and
trousers. Other major buyers are Tesco, JC
Penny, Zara, GAP, H&M, Adidas, Puma,
Marks and Spencer, PVH, G-STAR and S
Oliver.
Iftequer Hossain, the owner of Total
Apparel, a local buying house, said WalMart has asked for the rebate on its current orders. This rebate on sales to
Wal-Mart may continue through next year
as it continued in other countries. The
rebate is yet to be fixed on the alreadyshipped RMG products.
President of Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(BGMEA) Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury
Parvez said such rebate will hit the profitability of the local RMG suppliers.
The price index for exportable local
apparel items declined by more than 1%
over the last fiscal year, while the cost of
doing business in Bangladesh, particularly
in the RMG sector increased by 15%.
Bangladesh earned $10.699 billion
through exports of woven and knitwear -the two sub-sectors of RMG -- in fiscal
year 2007-08, according to the Export
Promotion Bureau.
Garment manufacturers
get tax and loan waiver
The government of Bangladesh has
taken steps to waive income tax and
default loans of 270 ailing garment industries to rehabilitate, revive and help those
resume production. According to the government the sick industries will also get an
opportunity to receive fresh loan and
repay the principal amount of their default
bank loans with 10 yearly instalments.
The BGMEA will submit a list specifying 270 garment factories to the Finance
Ministry, while the Ministry will issue a
separate circular by relaxing the conditions
of the Cost of Fund Recovery.
20 PTJ October 2008
Bangladesh Bank will take necessary
steps after getting the list of the organizations concerned, while the Commerce
Ministry will send letters to the ministries
of Finance and Law for disposal of the
cases pending with the 'Artharin' (financial
loan) and 'Deulia' (bankruptcy) courts.
The Commerce Ministry will also send
letter to the National Board of Revenue
(NBR) as per recommendations of the
inter-ministerial committee for repayment
of debts by instalments and waiver of
unrealized income taxes.
Duty-free access to United
States faces setback
Bangladeshi readymade garments
(RMG) may face a setback in its effort to
win duty- and quota-free access to the
American market as US authorities have
responded positively to the appeal of few
African countries to exclude ready made
garments from New Partnership Act
(NPDA) 2007.
Ghana and Mali have recently
requested Jim McDermott, Chairman of
the Ways and Means Sub-committee of
the US House of Representative, for
excluding five categories of Bangladeshi
textile and apparel products from facilities
under NPDA. McDermott proposed exclusion of three categories of Bangladeshi
textile and apparel products provided
under the NPDA.
On several occasions, Bangladesh has
tried to make it clear to the African countries that the country's duty free excess to
the US market under NPDA will not
hamper schemes such as African Growth
and Opportunity Act. The Government of
Bangladesh still maintains that it is not a
threat to African LDCs in terms of apparel
exports to US market. African LDCs will
face real challenges in the textile and
apparel sector from China, once the US
withdraws its safeguard measures in
January 2009.
CHINA
Continuous rise of Yuan
hits textile export firms
China's textile industry will start to lose
money if the Yuan continues to appreciate.
With their average profit margin currently
at 3%, textile companies will no longer be
able to absorb the cost of the rising Yuan,
said the report by the National
Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC). After China allowed its currency
to appreciate by 2% in July last year to
8.11% against the US dollar and linked it
to a basket of currencies instead of the US
dollar alone. This reference rate is an
indicative mid-point for the Yuan
exchange rate, from which the currency
can move within a 0.3% floating band,
either up or down, each day.
Chinese textile manufacturers have
been marking down their prices this year
to sustain exports and offset the negative
impact of the rising Yuan. As exporters
earn only an average of 30 US cents from
the export of a shirt, the appreciation of
the Yuan underlines the need to sustain
their competitiveness through technical
innovation and intellectual property rights
protection rather than through price cuts,
said Li Lingmin, Vice-President of the
China National Textiles Imports and
Exports Corporation. The growth rate of
China's textile exports has slowed but they
still rank the highest in the world.
Decline in textile exports
to EU and United States
The growth rate of China's textiles and
apparel exports to the European Union
and the United States dropped 45% and
70% respectively year on year, according
to a report prepared by the China National
Textile Industry Council (CNTIC).
Last year, China reached agreements
with both the European Union (EU) and
the United States to limit the growth of its
textile exports. The Sino-US deal allowed
China's exports of 21 clothing and textile
categories to the United States to grow at
10% to 15% in 2006, 12.5% to 16% in
2007 and 15% to 17% in 2008.
According to the Sino-EU agreement,
China's export growth of 10 categories of
textile products to the EU will be limited to
between 8% and 12.5% annually from
2005 to 2007.
China's exports of restricted textile
products to the United States and the EU
decreased 31.71% and 29.69% year on
year in the first half of the year, according
to the CNTIC report.
The report showed China's textile
exports to other countries and regions
excluding the EU and the United States
rose 24.49%, reaching a value of US
$64.032 billion.
The CNTIC indicated that the EU and
US restrictions on China's textiles and
apparel were the main reasons for the
decline in the growth of textile exports.
Around the World
EUROPEAN
UNION
Imports of cotton bed
linen
EU cotton bed linen imports are no
longer rising this year after a surge in
2007. Turkish suppliers are being weakened by elimination of quotas on
Chinese products and a new reduction in
prices due to the decline in the US dollar.
Shipments from China are surging on the
segment of printed bed linen, while
Pakistan is further gaining shares on the
non-printed segment.
EU's import market for printed cotton
bed linen is surging this year with
Pakistan expected taking a very large
share, after it was again granted the GSP
treatment and obtained lower antidumping duties.
Data from Eurostat confirms that the
EU import market is concentrated in the
hands of upto five major suppliers includ-
ing
market
leader,
Pakistan.
Consequently, Pakistani share of the EU
import market has risen to 38% while
nearest rival Turkey sees its share drop to
22% after volumes fell 9.6% at the same
time. India remains in third position but
Bangladesh had closed the gap to within
2 percentage points in terms of import
market share after improving on its 2005
growth.
INDIA
Textile machinery exports
stagnate
The exports of the textile machinery
are estimated to be remaining steady at
Rs 485 crore in fiscal 2007-08 as against
Rs 489 crore in fiscal 2006-07 as the
demand for textile machinery has come
down, according to the Textile
Machinery Manufacturers’ Association
(TMMA). Exports remained stagnant
over the last 3 years due to high domestic demand and tough competition in the
export market. The textile machinery
industry did not do well in 2007-08.
The slowdown in the textile industry
during 2007-08 affected the growth of
the textile engineering industry (TEI)
considerably, as it has come down from
26% to only 7%. There is likely to be
negative growth during 2008-09, said
Sridhar Varadaraj, Chairman, Textile
Machinery Manufacturers’ Association.
The production of textile machinery,
parts and accessories, has increased from
Rs 2,799 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 2,997
crore in 2007-08, recording an annual
growth of 7% over the previous year and
a capacity utilisation of 79% during the
year.
Import of textile machinery
reduced from Rs 9,434 crore during
2006-07 to Rs 7,500 crore during 200708, due to good demand from weaving,
knitting, processing and garment sectors.
The earlier spurt in demand from the
textile industry had triggered the TEI to
develop and expand the machinerymanufacturing capacity, particularly in
the spinning machinery sector.
PTJ October 2008 21
Around the World
INDIA
Textile and clothing exports
The country’s textile and clothing
exports are expected to fall short of the
target and the gap between actual exports
and the target for 2008-09 may be as high
as 21%. According to the latest Textile
Ministry estimates, at $24.6 billion, exports
will be 20% higher than last year’s level of
$20.5 billion. The government had estimated textile exports of $31.17 billion this
year but a rise in cotton and other raw
material prices is creating the shortfall in
the target. Prem Malik, Chairman of the
Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council
said that total exports will be somewhere
around $23 billion.
The target set by the government to
reach exports worth $55 billion by 2012
may also remain a distant dream. The government estimates that by 2012, the industry size will be around $110 billion, of
which around $60 billion will be domestic
market size.
India is the world’s second largest
cotton grower after China, with a production of 31.5 million bales. India’s textile
exports had shot up from $14.03 billion in
2004-05 to $20.25 billion in 2007-08, the
hype built on the potentially improved performance in the post-quota regime since
2004 remained largely a mirage, due to a
combination of adverse factors that eroded
the competitiveness of Indian textiles both
in price and quality with China, Pakistan
and Bangladesh making steady inroads into
major market in the US.
The sources say that the 9.4% growth
in textile exports in dollar terms during
2007-08 has to be seen against the backdrop of exports growing barely by 1.5% in
the first seven months of the last fiscal. The
situation was salvaged because of proactive measures including revised drawback
rates and interest rate subvention to
exporters in the wake of high appreciation
of the rupee.
INDONESIA
Textile companies against
40% hike in cotton price
Textile dumping allegations
from Turkey
The government of India has raised the
minimum support price for cotton by up to
46%, potentially benefiting some 4.5 million farmers of New Delhi and Chandigarh.
The rate for medium staple cotton at Rs
1,990 a quintal and long staple cotton at Rs
2,030 a quintal was fixed for the cotton
year 2007-08. The government is planning
to revise the MSP to Rs 2,500 a quintal and
Rs 3,000 a quintal respectively for the
cotton year 2008-09. In India, the quintal is
equivalent to 100 kg and is a standard
measurement of mass for agricultural products.
Indonesian textile manufacturers may
redirect exports from Turkey to Syria and
Russia, after the Turkey accused three
Indonesian firms of dumping, said the
Indonesian Textile Association (API).
Association “Chairman Benny Soetrisno
said, Syria and Russia could suitably replace
Turkey as the two countries offered potential markets just as large as Turkey and we
have been thinking of two nations: Syria
and Russia. These two countries have the
potential to replace Turkey as new export
markets.”
With the introduction of Bt cotton
seeds, a genetically modified variety developed by US biotechnology company
Monsanto Co., India has been witnessing a
bumper crop since 2004 and has become a
net exporter.
The dumping allegation goes back to
2007, when 22 Turkish firms petitioned
seven textile makers from three countries
China, India and Indonesia for allegedly
dumping "yarn of man-made or synthetic
or artificial staple fibers. The Indonesian
companies accused of dumping are PT
Polysindo Eka Perkasa, PT Indo Liberty
Textiles and PT Yans Manunggal Jaya.
Later on, the allegation was extended to
four other firms. They are PT Kamaltek in
Semarang, Central Java; PT Sunrise Bumi
Textile in Bekasi, West Java and PT Elegan
Textile Industry and PT Apac Inti Corpora,
both located in Jakarta.
In 2008-09, production is expected to
be 33 million bales (one bale is equal to Rs
170 kg), according to data from the Cotton
Association of India. Cotton yield has
increased from 300 kg per hectare five
years ago to 560kg last year.
Dumping allegations, coupled with a
sluggish global economy, have made
Indonesian textile manufacturers less optimistic that they can meet their export
target of $11 billion this year, up from
$10.03 billion last year.
According to International Cotton
Advisory Committee, the global supply of
cotton in 2008-09 will be marginally lower
than the current year, moreover, it suggests
the production of cotton in the US will see
a drop of over 12% to 21.3 million bales (1
bale = 170 kg) in 2008-09 from 24.3 million bales in 2007-08.
22 PTJ October 2008
Indonesia offers
incentives on the import
of textile machinery
The Finance Ministry has officially
lifted the value-added tax (VAT) imposed
on textile machinery imports as part of a
national restructuring program for the
textile industry. Finance Minister Sri
Mulyani Indrawati approved lifting the
10% VAT as an incentive to the industrywide technology upgrading program. A
businessman who imports and / or
receives machinery subject to VAT will
obtain a letter of tax exemption issued by
the Head of the local tax office where he
is registered.
The government has recently begun
providing incentives for the textile industry, whose growth has been stalled mostly
due to obsolete machinery. To help
change that, the government launched a
revitalization program for the industry
early last year in the form of soft loans
and subsidies for bank lending interests.
The government disbursed Rp 175 billion
(US$18.77 million) to 78 textile and garment manufacturers under the first
scheme and Rp 80 billion to 14 small- and
medium-scale textile and garment manufacturers under the second.
According to the Industry Ministry's
textile industry Director Arryanto Sagala,
the ministry has signed contracts this year
with 113 companies worth Rp 132 billion
in interest subsidies, with plans to disburse
Rp 285 billion in subsidies as part of the
program.
Decline in textile exports
Indonesia’s textile and garment may
not be able to meet the target of US$11
billion as a result of the world economic
slowdown that caused a drop in demand,
said Chairman of the Association of
Indonesian Textiles Benny Soetrisno. In
the first quarter of 2008, textile and garment exports increased by 6% to US$5.2
billion. Last year they grew around 8.9%
and to meet this year’s target they had to
grow higher.
Benny said a number of external and
internal problems could threaten achievement of the target, referring to the economic slowdown in the US, which has far
been the main destination of Indonesian
textile exports and shortage of electricity
supply in the country. They all could erode
competitiveness of the national industry in
the midst of tight competition with China
and Vietnam. Indeed there has been an
increased demand from the US following
the weakening of the competitiveness of
Around the World
Chinese products after the floating of that country’s currency to the market that made the Chinese textiles and textile products more expensive than before.
However US market demand for textiles and textile
products tend to decline following a financial crisis, meanwhile other main export destination countries such as the
European Union member countries tend to seek products
from countries whose currencies are close to the US dollar.
Extension of EU membership was actually potential for
market expansion by Indonesia.
Decline in domestic garment sales
Domestic garment sales in Indonesia fell 27% in the first
half of this year due to a decline in the people’s purchasing
power and the low competitiveness of local garment producers, said Chief of the Indonesian Textile Producers
Association (API) Benny Sutrisno.
He said the people’s low purchasing power due to a fall
in the rupiah`s exchange rate amidst the accelerating inflation was another reason for the drop in domestic garment
sales. He said the Directorate General of Customs and Excise
had taken a number of steps to deal with the rampant
smuggling activities but to no avail, considering number of
ports it must supervise. The smuggling and circulation of the
illegal goods has reduced the competitive edge of local products in the domestic market. Domestic garment and textile
sales in the first half of 2008 stood at US$1.2 billion.
Meanwhile, domestic garment and textile sales throughout
last year reached US$3.3 billion.
NEPAL
New duty rules by Indian customs
The domestic ready made garment manufacturers may
have to face new hurdles put up by Indian customs, according to which, Nepali exporters will now have to pay customs
duty based on the maximum retail price (MRP) instead of
the invoice rate. As per the trade agreement between India
and Nepal there is 0% trade duty, even the garment sector is
free from it. However, since the last two years, Indian
Custom Department has started imposing custom duty on
transaction value or Counter Value Duty (CVD), said Mr
Uday Raj Pandey, Vice President, Garment Association of
Nepal (GAN).
The MRP is always higher than the invoice rate, the price
at which producers deliver the products. The change in the
base price has suddenly raised the volume of the duty by
two to three times. On the other hand, Indian customs has
also said that they would accept the laboratory test results of
New Delhi-based quality certifiers only. However, earlier test
certificates of Kolkata, Patna and nearby laboratories were
also accepted. This new rule will only make delay in the consignment delivery time. As the demand for denim, corduroy,
linen, viscose and polyester garments had increased by manifolds in Indian market, the Nepali garment industry, which
was on the verge of collapse, started receiving export orders
in bulk from India, helping it to revive once again.
Major retailers like Big Bazar, Pantaloon, Peter England
and John Players had also started importing garments from
Nepal. Now the manufacturers of ready to wear garments
are looking forward for some relief from the Indian customs
for easing the new regulations.
PTJ October 2008 23
Around the World
SWAZILAND
Revival of cotton and
textiles industry
Mtiti Fakudze, Minister of Agriculture
and Cooperatives of Swaziland is now
convinced that resurging of cotton growing activities would play a crucial role in
eliminating poverty, unemployment and
hunger in the country.
While attending the re-launch of the
Silkhulile Cotton ginnery in Big Bend, the
Minister took the opportunity to reiterate
this fact that since the textile industry
was investing heavy capital in enhancing
the capacities and employment opportunities, cotton sector of the country also
needs to assemble its battered strength
and revive the sector for the benefit of
the farmers.
Cotton prices this season have soared
high by more than 50% which is an
extra-ordinary opportunity for the farmers and industry to reap profits through
commercial exchange of goods. Further,
the government financing for the project
of reviving cotton industry would also
ensure a guarantee price of E4.50 per
kilogram seed in the upcoming season.
Reverting to the past, it was recalled
that in 2002, deteriorating economic
conditions had its impact on the cotton
industry of Swaziland which as a result
suffered a downfall. Cotton harvest at
that time had fallen to such drastic levels
that it became nearly impossible for any
ginnery to sustain operations.
While at that time, world price of
cotton plunged due to subsidies paid to
farmers in developed countries, domestic
cost of inputs, fuel and interest rates saw
an unbridled hike, eroding the profits
from cotton growing.
In 2005, the Ministry of Agriculture,
the Swaziland Cotton Board and other
major stakeholders joined forces and
undertook a strategic planning exercise
to revive the once flourishing cotton
industry.
The local textile industry has managed to recover over 70% of orders and
now the industry is just recovering from
the strike that resulted in about 16 000
workers leaving the work in order to
coerce their employers to improve their
salaries, amongst other demands.
This mass action that lasted for over
two weeks resulted in the companies
losing some of their major orders from
the United States of America (USA) and
Southern African .
Chairman of the Swaziland Textile
24 PTJ October 2008
and Exporters Association (STEA) John
Sheng Neng Fan confirmed that their
orders were coming back and that they
had recovered over 70% of them. Most
of the textile companies export their
products under the African Growth
Opportunity Act (AGOA) regime that
facilitates better trade between the
African countries and the USA.
THAILAND
Four Thai companies get
EU Ecolabel
The European Commission presented
a series of proposals for Sustainable
Consumption and Production (SCP) and
Sustainable Industrial Policy (SIP) Action
Plans. These proposals will contribute to
improving the environmental performance of products and increasing the
demand for more sustainable goods and
production technologies, and also seek to
encourage EU industry to take advantage
of opportunities to innovate.
About a year ago, four Thai textile
companies have been awarded the EU
Ecolabel. They are some of the very first
textile companies in Asia to receive the
award. This development has sparked
interest among Thai media and industry
as it shows how sustainable production is
not only good for the environment but
that it can also lead to market opportunities for Thai textiles in the European
market. In an ever increasingly competitive market, the EU Flower is now perceived in Thailand as a symbol that can
give Thai textile industry the competitive
edge and added-value in the EU market.
Getting the Ecolabel award was not
an easy matter. In order to transform the
whole life-cycle of textile production to
meet the high standard of the EU
Ecolabel, training and upgrading took
more than a year.
TURKEY
Government to support
textile firms relocating to
developing regions
The Turkish government announced
a package of incentives to encourage
manufacturers in the textile sector to
relocate to priority regions for development. The incentives package will be
made available from 2009 until 2014.
The Turkish government has prepared its
action plan to provide support for the
textile, ready-to-wear and leather sectors
and included 28 additional measures
drafted to give companies in the sector
greater competitiveness. The new incentives in the action plan aim at transforming
Turkey's
under-developed
south-eastern region into a centre for the
Turkish textile industry.
Manufacturers with a minimum of 30
employees would benefit from 50%
energy support, value added tax (VAT)exemption, customs tax exemption,
interest support, discount at social security premiums, corporation tax discount,
allocation of investment land, and zerointerest credit if they move from developed regions to priority regions for
development, said Turkish Industry
Minister Zafer Caglayan.
The textile sector, which spearheaded
Turkey's economy for many years, has in
recent years been overtaken by automotive exports as the leading industry.
Turkey’s textile sector meets 11% of the
country’s gross national product and
accounts for a forth of all exports. High
input prices and fierce competition from
inferior quality Chinese products have hit
the sector hard. High commodity prices,
high tax and interest rates, as well as a
high social security premium burden, are
cited as the main reasons for a slowing in
productivity in the sector. Sector representatives estimate that close to million
textile sector workers lost their jobs the
last three years.
USA
Fleeting fashion trends
dictate growth in the
World apparel market
According to a new report published
by Global Industry Ana, modern consumers are increasingly becoming brand
conscious and are opting for apparel with
brand images or logos. With fashion
emerging into a means of self-expression, there exists strong demand for
unique apparel designs, which make a
bold fashion statement.
Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA)
is a reputed publisher of off-the-shelf
market research. Founded in 1987, the
company is globally recognized as one of
the world's largest market research publishers
Demand is especially high for multifunctional garments which help meet
both fashion and performance needs.
The modern customer is identified as a
person who elects to experiment with
Around the World
diverse looks and ideas. Men in the age
group of 25-35, with higher disposable
income spend on expensive shirts and
suits.
Important factors considered while
purchasing garments include price,
brand, shape, colour and fabric. With
casual clothing gaining in acceptance
even in the corporate world, sales of
jeans, shorts, sweatshirts, dungarees,
bomber jackets, jodhpurs, long shorts,
cardigans, flamenco skirts, baggy jeans
and smocks are on the upswing.
lucrative segment of the apparel industry,
with children playing a critical role in the
selection of clothing. Strong brand
awareness among children, particularly in
case of back-to-school shopping, is a
major growth booster for the industry.
The advent of trendier, and competitively price designer wear is also fostering
sales in the kid's apparel segment.
Increased indulgence in outdoor activities
is additionally fostering the market for
active wear, and sportswear.
The 'Friday dressing' concept is driving sales in the casual wear market, particularly in the United States. This trend is
contributing to the expanding sales of
shirts and T-shirts in the men's apparel
segment, often at the cost of business
wear. In the men's apparel market,
demand for comfort wear and casual
wear is rising across the world. Moving
away from the traditional jeans market,
tailored apparel for men has found its
way into the market, in the form of
improved suits, shirts and ties.
A recent trend witnessed in the
apparel market is the rising number of
companies outsourcing distribution and
inventory functions to third parties,
allowing them to concentrate on design
and marketing. The drive to reduce production costs is additionally leading to
migration of production bases to lowcost developing countries as an increasing number of apparel manufacturers
and processors shift their production sites
to China and other Asian countries.
This trend is particularly prevalent
among young male entrepreneurs, with
higher levels of disposable incomes.
Men's and boy's apparel segment is
influenced by changing consumer attitudes and evolving lifestyles, as seen in
the rising demand for specific wear for
business, casual and weekend activities.
Development of innovative sportswear,
incorporating novel designs and fabrics,
is also finding favour among male purchasers.
World cotton production
expected to decline in
2008-09
Rapid changes in the fashion world
have a significant impact on the women's
apparel market. A major growth area for
the segment is emerging from 'mature'
(women over 35 years) category, with
manufacturers offering products for specific requirements of this lucrative segment. Additionally, the special sized
garment segment is also expected to
drive sales in the overall market, especially in the United States where weight
gain and obesity are rampant. As the
American woman becomes bigger, the
women's plus-size market is forecasted
to boot an upward turn.
Manufacturers are also focusing on
providing corporate casual apparel,
owing to the expanding proportion of
women in executive level positions across
the world. While jeans find universal
appeal irrespective of gender and age,
demand for designer apparel is mostly
confined to affluent consumer segments,
and is susceptible to constant changes in
consumer preferences and fashion
trends. Children's apparel market is a
World cotton mill use is expected to
decline by 1% in 2008-09 to 26.2 million
tonnes, due to slower global economic
growth and higher prices of cotton relative to polyester. Cotton mill use is
expected to decrease in Turkey, the
United States, Brazil, the European
Union, Mexico, Thailand, Russia, China
(Taiwan), and the Republic of Korea.
However, cotton mill use is expected to
continue to increase, more slowly, in
China (Mainland), Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Indonesia and Vietnam.
World cotton production is expected
to decline by 6% in 2008-09, to 24.7
million tonnes, due mainly to a decline in
world cotton area caused by increased
competition from alternative crops. The
projected decrease in world production in
2008-09 is driven by an expected fall of
1.2 million tonnes in the United States, to
3.0 million tonnes.
World imports are forecast up by 3%
to 8.6 million tonnes in 2008-09. Imports
by China (Mainland) are expected to
increase significantly. However, imports
by the rest of the world are projected
down for the second consecutive season.
World cotton stocks are forecast to
decrease by 12% to 10.7 million tonnes
in 2008-09. PTJ October 2008 25