LAHORE, Jan 23: The Pakistan Open-end Spinners Association has decided to cut down by 50 per cent the production of open-end yarn due to 30-40 per cent increase in waste cotton prices.

Over 120 open spinning units produce open-end (coarse) yarn of Rs7 billion a year, the association’s Secretary, Aslam Hayat told Dawn here on Wednesday. The annual export of such products as gloves, tarpaulin, towels, socks, tents, etc., made from open-end yarn were close to $1 billion. He claimed that the spinners were getting 20 per cent less price for their product, a crisis compounded by the rising waste cotton rates in the market.