PCGA rejects PSC-approved two new cotton varieties

The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has rejected two of the 18 new cotton varieties recently approved by the Punjab Seed Council for cultivation.

PCGA Chairman Amanullah Qureshi said two newly evolved cotton varieties – FH-114 and BT-121 – have low micronaire value of 5.5 and 5.6 respectively, and these have a short staple length, while the global demand is for cotton of long staple length.

He said the PSC’s decision goes against the interests of the farmers and it would be harmful to the agricultural sector.

He warned the farmers that the ginners would be reluctant to purchase their cotton if they sow any of these two new varieties of cotton. Hence, he urged them not to cultivate those varieties and asked them to not succumb to forced marketing activities of those seed makers.

The PCGA chief said the ginners association had even earlier opposed the approval of those two varieties of cotton, including at a meeting chaired by Mr. Ahmed Ali Aulakh.

For more details please visit : PCGA rejects PSC-approved two new cotton varieties @ Fibre2fashion

Chinese cotton acreage may fall in new season

Nearly 40 percent of Chinese cotton farmers might reduce their cotton acreage in 2012, says a report released by a Chinese cotton body.

Despite the government making aggressive cotton purchases for the state reserves, it has not been able to arrest the downslide in prices.

Cotton prices dropped sharply in 2011 compared with the previous year. This coupled with rising costs of growing cotton, has led to an ebbing of enthusiasm among cotton farmers.

According to a survey of the China Cotton Association, around 40 percent of farmers might reduce their cotton acreage in 2012-13 season; the same percentage may maintain their acreage and rest have still not made up their mind.

Based on weighted average intention of surveyed farmers, farmers across China intend to decrease their cotton acreage by 10.5 percent on average in 2012-13.



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Types of Metallic Fibres and Their Production

ABSTRACT:

The hallmark of all Indian festivities is the golden glitter of the sarees and similarly-adorned dresses worn on such occasions. All that glitters may not be gold and the ‘zari’ (metallic yarn), responsible for this lustrous appearance, may or may not contain any gold. This paper reviews the different types of metallic fibres and their production.

INTRODUCTION:

Metallic yarns or threads, in general, have been known for more than 3000 years. Gold and silver were hammered into extremely thin sheets, then cut into ribbons and worked into fabrics. These were the first ‘man made’ fibres, which came thousands of years before nylon or rayon. The Persians made fabulous carpets with gold thread and the Indians, ornamental sarees with it. The metal threads were twisted, doubled or wrapped around some other thread such as cotton.

With the advancement of technology, metal/conductive textiles found extensive functional applications. These materials have high electrical conductivity and radar reflecting property, yet are lightweight and flexible. Various methods have been developed to coat fibers and textile materials by metals.

» sputter coating
» coating metal powder with binders
» electro less coating
» vacuum deposition

Many technical applications demand properties which cannot be obtained by simply processing common textile material into single textile fabric. However, combination of knitted structure, textile and metal yarn of wire make it possible to create innovative products for multipurpose technical application. Thus knitted fabrics are flexible and extensible and metal wire possess properties which are advantageous in technical textile with regard to their permanent antistatic behavior, known conductivity, shielding from electro magnetic field & resistance to cutting.

METALLIC FIBRE

The term metallic fibre, in its general sense, means simply a fibre that is made from metal. The generic term “metallic” was adopted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and is defined as: A manufactured fibre composed of metal, plastic-coated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core completely covered by metal. Thus, metallic fibres are: fibres produced from metals, which may be alone or in conjunction with other substances.

These metal filaments were made by beating soft metals and alloys, such as gold, silver, copper and bronze, into thin sheets, and then cutting the sheets into narrow ribbon-like filaments. The filaments were used entirely for decorative purposes, providing a glitter and sparkle that could not be achieved by other means.

As textile fibres, these metal filaments had inherent short comings which restricted their use. They were expensive to produce; they tended to be inflexible and stiff, and the ribbon-like cross-section provided cutting edges that made for a harsh, rough handle; they were troublesome to knit or weave, and they had only a limited resistance to abrasion. Apart from gold, the metals would tend to tarnish, the sparkle being dimmed with the passage of time.

Burkina Faso firm secures US$ 151mn loan to buy cotton

Burkina Faso’s largest cotton firm, Societe Burkinabe des Fibres Textiles (Sofitex), has secured a loan of 77 billion CFA francs (US$ 151 million) to fund its cotton purchases for the 2011-12 season, Chief Executive Officer of the firm Jean Paul Sawadogo said.

Mr. Sawadogo said loan obtained from 10 local lenders would facilitate speedy payment to cotton growers.

The amount to be taken on credit this season by Sofitex is a seven percent rise over the loans secured during last season, Roger Dah-Achinanon, Managing Director of Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI)’s Burkinabe unit, which was also among the banks that extended the loan, said.

Burkina Faso Government had announced in April last year that it would procure cotton from farmers at a price of 245 CFA francs per kg.

Sofitex has started procuring the crop from December 2011. Mr. Sawadogo said the firm’s cotton-seed production for the 2011-12 season is expected to grow by five percent to 300,000 metric tons.

Mr. Dah-Achinanon revealed that Sofitex has already returned around 75 percent of its last season’s loan. Coris Bank International, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)’s Banque Internationale du Burkina, Groupe Banque Atlantique, Banque Sahelo Saharienne pour l’Investissement et le Commerce, Bank of Africa Burkina Faso and Societe Generale SA’s unit are the other lending partners, he informed.

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Fiber producer DAK promotes Young to President, CEO

DAK Americas LLC (DAK) announced that Jorge Young is promoted to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. Young assumes the position of President and C.E.O. with the retirement of Hector Camberos.

Upon retiring from Fiber producer DAK Americas' USA, Camberos (who has held the position of President since DAK's creation in 2001) will move and return home to Argentina and assume the leadership of DAK Americas' Argentina PET Business. Furthermore, he will be very active in the strategic growth initiatives and new business developments of Alfa, DAK's parent company, in South America.

Camberos stated, “I am pleased to hand over the leadership to Jorge Young to continue the growth of DAK Americas into its second decade and still be able to contribute and help further expand DAK and Alfa in South America.”

During Young's tenure with DAK Americas he oversaw the tremendous growth of the PET Resin Business to become the largest PET Resin producer in North America and the second largest worldwide, growing capacity to over 4.3 Billion lbs/yr.

Young has been with DAK Americas since it was established and has been serving as the Executive Vice President - PET Resins since 2007 and Vice President of Finance and Administration prior. Young will lead DAK Americas Executive Team which will also be expanded and included the following changes:..........

For more details please visit : Fiber producer DAK promotes Young to President, CEO @ Fibre2fashion

Chinese textile output skyrockets between Jan-Nov

Output of the Chinese textile sector, compromising of large and medium sized units, leaped 27.5 percent year-on-year to 4.95 billion Yuan in the first eleven months of 2011.

These textile units individually posted annual revenues of above 20 million Yuan, said the National Development and Reform Commission.

In the same period, industrial added value of China’s big-size textile enterprises rose 10.5 percent in the first eleven months of 2011. The growth rate was 0.6 percentage points faster than the first half.

China's yarn production registered 26.32 million tons in the period, up 12.4 percent year on year and cloth output stood at 56.8 billion meters, up 13.2 percent.

Chemical fiber production rose 14.9 percent to 30.74 million tons and apparel output grew by 8.5 percent year on year to 23 billion units.

For more details please visit : Chinese textile output skyrockets between Jan-Nov @ Fibre2fashion

India to invest Rs 1bn in advanced Bt cotton project

India’s Ministry of Agriculture has given its nod for developing an advanced version of Bt cotton that will be resistant to multiple pests and diseases.

The Rs. 1 billion project aims to not only provide the cotton crop with viral immunity, but also create genes that are resistant to jassids – a leaf hopping pest.

A portion of the fund would also be utilized to develop farm tools including cotton-picking machines.

Speaking to fibre2fashion, Dr. Swapan Kumar Datta, Deputy Director General (Crop Science) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said, “There is a proposal for working on the latest technology of Bt cotton and combining it with the other genes of traits that are required for cotton improvement, in partnership with the private sector, agricultural research universities and ICAR.”

Elaborating further, he says, “It will be a national programme and this project will address all issues of advancements of biotechnology in organic cotton as well as indigenous cotton varieties. Many of our varieties that do not have Bt technology are not in demand owing to preference for Bt cotton that provides protection against several pests and diseases. As a result, many of our indigenous varieties are not being used by the farmers.”

Explaining the rationale for the new project, he says, “There is huge demand from Europe for organic cotton and they love to receive organic cotton from India. This issue needs to be addressed so that we can have an integrated approach for research in cotton and the value added product will always fetch higher price. Eventually, this will benefit farmers as they will get higher prices for their superior quality cotton.”

For more details please visit : India to invest Rs 1bn in advanced Bt cotton project @ Fibre2fashion