February 20, 2003	Thursday	Zul Hijjah 18, 1423

LAHORE, Feb 19: The arbitrary increase of Rs10 per kg in the polyester staple fibre (PSF) rate by the manufacturers has pushed the textile industry to the brink of disaster.

“If the unilateral increase in the price is not checked by the government, several spinning mills would be forced to either shut down their operations or default (on their bank payments),” Aptma chairman Anjum M Salim and others told a press conference here on Wednesday.

“We want relief from terrorism of PSF manufacturers,” chairman of the Aptma standing committee on synthetic fibres Shafqat Elahi said. “It is a very serious situation for the textile industry as we are being forced to pay a hefty Rs11.86/kg higher to the local PSF producers than the world prices. The textile industry will be paying an additional Rs20 million per day to the PSF producers as a consequence of this increase. It’s a windfall for them.”

The PSF manufacturers have recently raised the price of PSF by around 17 per cent to Rs70 per kg (exclusive of sales tax) from Rs60, creating a crisis for the PSF yarn producers.

Mr Salim said the increase in the PSF price was unjustified. He said the PSF manufacturers had been able to unilaterally increase the prices because of 20 per cent “protective duty” on the import of PSF.

He demanded that the import duty should immediately be removed so that the textile industry could survive and remain competitive in the international market. He said because of such “unilateral” increases in the PSF prices, the textile industry was not able to guarantee (stable) rates to their long-term foreign buyers. “It’s unfair to the industry that is contributing about 9.5 per cent to the country’s GDP.”

He said the high customs duty on the import of PSF was imposed due to the sovereign guarantee given to the ICI’s PTA plant. “The government must find some mechanism to honour its commitment with the ICI and to check the PSF prices to provide us a level-playing field,” Mr. Salim said. He said the “ICI should sell its PTA plant if it cannot operate without the government crutches.”