According to the FHAN, pashmina products account for the third largest export earnings among handicraft products. Nepal exports pashmina products containing a 70:30 blend of wool and silk. According to Pashmina expert , shawls, stoles and scarves in natural, multi-color and artistic designs are the most popular Nepali pashmina products among importers. The country’s once vibrant pashmina industry had plunged into a prolonged downturn after some traders began shipping poor quality products to the international market which hurt importer confidence. Entrepreneurs complain-ed foreign manufacturers had also been selling low quality pashmina with Made in Nepal tags on them which damaged the image of the entire industry. Presently, Nepali pashmina producers are exporting Nepali goods under the collective trademark Chyangra which guarantees their quality.
News About the Pashmina
Producers of Nepali pashmina products, buoyed by the agreement made with a Chinese company during the recent visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, have started the process to send specimens of Nepali Chyangra pashmina to the company.Producers of Nepali pashmina products, buoyed by the agreement made with a Chinese company during the recent visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, have started the process to send specimens of Nepali Chyangra pashmina to the company. Providing an easy access for Nepali pashmina in the Chinese market is one the eight pacts for projects worth $2.4 billion that Nepal has signed with the northern neighbor during Prime Minister’s visit.
Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) also signed an agreement with One Belt One Road International Trade Platform of CIC Mutual Trade Investment Company for the sale of Nepali pashmina in China. The company has agreed to purchase between 200,000 and 500,000 pieces of pashmina shawls every year.NPIA President Durga Bikram Thapa said they have started work on selecting the specimens that include proper design, colour, size and price of the pashmina shawls to be sent to China. According to him, it is the first time that the Nepali pashmina businesses collaborated to export to a single buyer abroad.
Thapa said the Chinese company has agreed to support Nepali pashmina in two phases. “In the first stage, the company has assured to purchase the prescribed amount for the next few years. Similarly, the Chinese company will help the marketing of Nepali brand in the international market later on,” he added.According to NPIA, the demand for pashmina shawls has been growing in China. However, as many Chinese companies have already been posting good sales in the local market, it is not an easy task for the Nepali product to expand its market there. “In this context, we are looking to send the best of our products to ensure our market through the Chinese company,” Thapa said.
Pashmina is one of the country’s major exportable items that provided earnings of Rs1.81 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, shows Nepal Rastra Bank’s statistics. Over the period, the export of Nepali pashmina surged almost three-fold to Rs63.7 million.China has recognised Nepali Chyangra pashmina as a registered collective trademark. Along with the country, Nepali pashmina is now registered in 47 countries.At present, China provides duty-free, quota-free market access for 8,030 Nepali goods. The government is mulling China to provide duty-free access for 512 Nepali products under the six-digit HS code that will incorporate the major exportable goods including Nepali pashmina.
Nepali pashmina is doing well again in the international market despite facing stiff competition from other countries, said traders.Nepali pashmina is doing well again in the international market despite facing stiff competition from other countries, said traders. Manufacturers had been trying to boost business and come out of an extended slump by creating new design ranges, and their efforts have been rewarded with rising sales from the last fiscal year.
According to Pashmina expert , shawls, stoles and scarves in natural, multi-colour and artistic designs are the most popular Nepali pashmina products among importers. The country’s once vibrant pashmina industry had plunged into a prolonged downturn after some traders began shipping poor quality products to the international market which hurt importer confidence. Entrepreneurs complain-ed foreign manufacturers had also been selling low quality pashmina with Made in Nepal tags on them which damaged the image of the entire industry. Presently, Nepali pashmina producers are exporting Nepali goods under the collective trademark Chyangra which guarantees their quality.
Parbati Shrestha, proprietor of Palanchowk Bhagawati Pashmina Industry, said that their exports had jumped 50 percent last year. “We sold pashmina products worth Rs 3 million last year,” she said. Palanchowk Bhagawati has been in the pashmina business for 16 years and employs 10 people.
Shrestha said that effective marketing during various national and international expos also boosted exports. According to her, Nepali pashmina is famous in many European countries and China and Japan. “We have been focusing on designing new products everyday,” she said.
Hem Ratna Shakya, president of the Federation of Handicrafts Association of Nepal (FHAN), said that the branding of Chyangra pashmina had helped to push up sales. “The Chyangra pashmina brand helped to ensure that Nepali pashmina in general have quality and foreigners are preferring Nepali pashmina,” he added. The Nepal Pashmina Industries Association has registered the Chyangra pashmina brand in 41 countries including major export markets like the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, traders said that the pashmina industry had been facing many challenges in terms of raw materials. “We have been importing raw materials from China, and sometimes inconsistencies in their quality have affected the quality of the final product,” said Shakya.
Manufacturers also face a higher cost of production in Nepal due to the small scale of the industry while mass production in India and China means lower production costs there. According to the FHAN, pashmina products account for the third largest export earnings among handicraft products. Nepal exports pashmina products containing a 70:30 blend of wool and silk.
