KARACHI, Feb 22: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has lodged strong protest with the TCP on its exclusive sale of cotton to foreign buyers and sought Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood’s intervention.

The acting chairman, Aptma Anjum M Saleem in a letter addressed to the chairman, TCP, has urged the state-owned corporation to refrain from undue interference in the cotton market and its mechanism.

He pointed out that such actions on part of the TCP grossly hurt the local textile industry as well as national exchequer.

Referring to the international tender for export of 10,000 bales of raw cotton published by the TCP in newspapers of Feb 21, 2002, the Aptma chief drew the attention towards four basic objections from the industry’s point of view.

Anjum Saleem said that once again, TCP’s tender bars the local textile industry from participating in the cotton tender thereby giving preference to foreign buyers at the cost of local textile industry.

He further said that if TCP had allowed the local textile industry to participate in the tender, it would have earned a considerably higher price than the price offered by the international buyers.

By excluding the local textile industry from participating in the cotton tender, he said, the corporation is inflicting heavy losses on the national exchequer since the price offered by the foreign buyers would be considerably less than the price the local industry is prepared to offer.

Over 90 per cent of the total production for the year, he said, has already been purchased by the local textile industry. The small quantity that now remains with the ginners or growers comprises stocks held back by speculators or hoarders in anticipation of higher profits. Therefore, he said, TCP’s action is encouraging hoarding and speculation.