November 26, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1424

LAHORE, Nov 25: Caught between the rock and a hard place, several small single unit textile mills will remain closed for at least next five days to circumvent additional costs on account of overtime.

“We’re already paying extra money to purchase cotton on higher than international rates,” said a spinner here on Tuesday. On top of this, he added, the government had announced five official Eid holidays (including Sunday).

“It costs a spinning unit with 17,000 spindles about Rs125,000 per day or Rs625,000 during these holidays on account of overtime to be paid to the labour,” the miller, who refused to give his name, said.

He claimed that 80-100 mills would be closed for the remaining days of the week. However, another miller said, the number of the mills to remain shut during these holidays would be around 50-60.

He insisted that cotton should be available to the industry at Rs2,700-2,800 per maund and now at the prevalent rate of Rs3,250. “The cotton futures have drastically come down, but our cotton is still costlier than the imported cotton.

He said the spinners were also facing “yet another problem” on account of loss of Rs8 per lb in the international yarn rate.

“The unorganized yarn sellers in Faisalabad is another problem for the organized sector as the traders in that city are offering significant discounts to buyers who are ready to pay in cash.”