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FAISALABAD, Oct 30: Over 10,000 powerlooms have become idle, while scores of other units are on the verge of closure because of alarming increase in prices of cotton yarn and phutti.
Talking to newsmen here on Thursday, All Pakistan Cotton Powerlooms Association chairman Rana Muhammad Ikhlaq and vice-chairman Akram Ghauri said the situation in the local cotton yarn market had reached beyond the comprehension of small yarn dealers and powerloom owners.
They said the high prices of cotton yarn had forced the owners of small powerloom units to close their factories because they were not in a position to purchase yarn at heavy prices to fulfil their commitments of supplying grey cloth to the exporters.
They said a number of powerloom units, which were working on contract basis with the cloth exporters, had also become inoperative as the exporters had reduced their export consignments in the light of price hike of cotton yarn.
They said the textile sector would sustain huge financial loss in case concrete steps were not taken by the government to end this crisis. “The wheels of hundreds of powerloom factories and textile ancillary units would stop working during the next couple of days.”
They claimed that the powerloom sector was one of the biggest cottage industries of the country and over one million labourers, including daily-wage earners, were involved in this sector. If the government failed to resolve this issue, scores of labourers would become jobless in the country.
They demanded of the government to immediately announce a comprehensive policy for reduction in the prices of cotton and cotton yarn and also impose a ban on export of yarn cotton to strengthen the local markets and to support the value-added exporters.
CHEAPER CHINESE CLOTH: Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association chairman Khurram Tariq has expressed apprehension that China had piled up huge stock of cotton to export cheaper cloth and if concrete steps were not taken to rescue them from hike in cotton yarn, the exporters and yarn dealers would be constrained to purchase cheaper cloth from China and re-export the same to remain viable in the new world trade order.
He said that contradictory statements were being issued by the growers and ginners to confuse the already confounded situation. New contracts for exports of cotton and yarn should not be registered and the concept of value-addition should be given preference and priority. If the government allowed import of cotton, it should allow import of yarn as well, he added.
He demanded the government to immediately convene a meeting of all the textile sectors to discuss the current crisis of high rise in prices of cotton and yarn in the domestic market.
POLYESTER FIBRE: The All Pakistan Cloth Exporters Association (APCEA) has sought reasonable reduction in import duty of polyester fibre to defuse the prevailing cotton crisis and maintain the upward trend in textile exports.
Talking to newsmen here on Thursday, APCEA chairman Ahmed Kamal said polyester fibre was the next best substitute of cotton for use in manufacturing of fabrics and since a crisis of below estimate crop output and supply shortfall had occurred, the only spontaneous and viable option available to fabrics manufacturers and exporters was diversion towards polyester blends.
He further said that if import duty on fibre was not reduced it was apprehended that rates of polyester fibre in the country would also sky high as was the case in cotton. In the face of exorbitant hike in the prices of raw cotton the exporters find it difficult to book fresh orders.
Resultantly, the tempo of growth in exports achieved over the last 15 months would not be sustained and the national export target of $12.1 billion would become unachievable, he added.
He warned that if immediate switch-over in basic raw material for textile exports was not facilitated, the value-added textile sector comprising fabric exports, bedlinen, knitted garments, readymade garments and textile made-ups would suffer a severe setback and hard earned foreign markets would be lost to Pakistani export items.
