LAHORE: Pakistan has lost textile and clothing business of at least $1 billion to rivals Bangladesh and Sri Lanka over last several months because of severe energy shortages for the textile industry in Punjab, where almost three-fourth of the production capacity is installed.
“We could have increased our textile and clothing exports by more than a $1bn in the first half of the current financial year had the industry continued to receive uninterrupted gas and electricity,” said All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Ahsan Bashir on Wednesday.
“The fact that we posted a growth of 8.55 per cent or above $500m during this period despite energy shortages shows the resilience of our industry,” he added.
The textile industry is not getting gas since Dec 5 and is facing electricity cuts of up to 12 hours a day.
It also faced complete gas and electricity shutdown for 10 days between Dec 22 and 31.
He said export losses could not be recovered but all was still not lost. “We can still touch the $14-15bn mark this year if the industry is ensured uninterrupted electricity and 5-day a week gas supplies from next month as promised by the president in a meeting with us earlier this month” he said.
The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers Association (PRGMEA) chief coordinator said the downstream value-added textile industry was facing growing shortages of raw materials.
“The shortages of yarn and dyed fabric are increasing with every passing day, forcing us to delay our shipments,” he said. He said there was not enough yarn in the market because of closure of 40 per cent spinning capacity in Punjab due to energy crunch.
Further, he said 70 per cent processing which uses gas as its raw material for bleaching and dyeing fabric had shutdown in the province since early last month.
“Not only that the continuous energy shortages for the last 52 days have created a shortage of raw materials in the domestic market but also pushed up the yarn prices by 10 per cent,” he said.
A number of Christmas orders for bed wear could not be executed due to power and gas disruptions, said Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PETA) Chairman Ali Asghar.
Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) Chairman Adil Butt said the last two months had proved devastating for the value-added exporters.
“The impact on exports because of worst ever power shortages in Dec and Jan would be visible in Feb and March.