LAHORE, July 7: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) may also close down their factories from July 11 to join the protest against the exorbitant increase of 68 per cent in the gas prices for industry.

According to industry sources the decision was made at a marathon meeting of Aptma officials on Monday. The meeting was attended in by its office-bearers from Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar through video conferencing.

The sources said the body had authorised the Aptma chairman to wait till July 10 and call strike if the government fails to withdraw fuel price hike.

The Aptma leadership has been under tremendous pressure from its members to stop work to force the government withdraw the fuel price increase.

The unprecedented increase in the gas price, the textile exporters ague, would raise their cost of doing business and make them uncompetitive in the global markets.

The strike call was originally given by the power loom mills of Faisalabad against the rising fuel prices. The value-added apparel sector – both woven garments and knitwear manufacturers and exporters – has already announced joining the protest to raise its voice against the suspension of the cash research and development (R&D) support from July 1.

The apparel sector says it is opposed to the suggestion that links the size of the subsidy to the quantity of exported goods because it discriminates the smaller exporters, who form almost 98 per cent of the industry, against the big exporters.

Another representative association of the spinners – the All Pakistan Textile Association (Apta), has already announced to stop work for two days on July 11 and 12 against the gas price hike. A large number of spinners, who are members of Aptma, have expressed their willingness to join the Apta call unless the increase in the gas price for the industry is withdrawn.

The textile industry insists that it is already staggering under the burden of rising cost of production due to increase in the interest rates and input prices and frequent long duration power cuts and is unable to compete with its regional rivals – India, China and Bangladesh – whose textile and apparel exporters are either being subsidised by their respective governments or enjoy some kind of preferential treatment from the importing countries.

“The fresh increase in the gas prices would prove to be the last nail in the industry’s coffin,” a yarn exporter, who participated in the meeting from Lahore, told Dawn.

It may be recalled that most yarn producers and finishing units have installed gas-powered generation plants in order to cut their electricity costs as well as to get uninterrupted power supply.