LAHORE: All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman S.M. Tanveer has sought imposition of 15 per cent regulatory duty on fine count cotton yarn from India to discourage such imports.

Import of fine counts cotton yarn from India has surged to 30,000 tonnes as against 6,500 tonnes in 2012, he said while speaking to manufacturers.

Such imports, he said, are hurting 30 local producers who have already expressed concern over arrival of subsidised Indian fine count cotton yarn.

India, he said, is capturing Pakistan’s domestic market by design as the end product of fine counts cotton yarn is meant for domestic consumption. India may start dumping processed fabric in case no action is taken to check the trend, he further said.

He said that the import data of first six months of the current fiscal year suggests that 3,000 tonnes per month fine count cotton yarn from India is entering Pakistan, and 90pc of imports are originated from India.

Thirty Pakistan-based mills, he said, have a production capacity of 6,000 tonnes per month.

He, however, said that the import under duty and tax remission scheme (DTRE) or manufacturing bond should be exempted from the regulatory duty.

Published in Dawn February 7th , 2015

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