- The Cabinet Committee on Textile has restricted yarn
export to 50 million kg a month and offered 2% rebate to yarn
manufacturers for supplying their product to the local
downstream industry. The Committee had recommended that yarn
export should not go beyond 550 million kg against average
export of 525 million kg over the last three years.
- The Federal Secretary Ministry of Commerce, Zafar Mehmood,
said that the government had capped yarn export at 50 million
kg a month, but the move was not in line with the WTO regime
and it should be considered temporary. He said yarn prices
increased because of shortage of cotton in the world market
and our yarn export went unnecessarily high, first local
demand should be met.
- Jawed Bilwani, Chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman
said that Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producer but
is not listed among top apparel exporters. Bangladesh, which
does not produce cotton, exports apparel worth $13 billion
while Pakistan’s apparel exports are only worth $6 billion.
- The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) of the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFA) estimated that this
year the cotton production is about 12.7 million bales against
projected target of 13.3 million bales. The Committee reviewed
the overall current crop situation and noted that cotton
arrivals reported by Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA)
as on January 1, 2010 stood at 11.930 million bales (22.44%
higher than the same period of last year).
- The Cabinet Committee on Textile has announced withdrawal
of the 5% import duty on import of cotton yarn, falling under
Chapter 52 of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule
- The Federal Secretary Ministry of Commerce, Zafar Mehmood,
said the government was doing a lot of diplomacy to win access
to US and EU markets, but due to the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) regime they had to go through the system. The EU and US
have agreed to talk on free trade agreement with Pakistan.
- Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton growing country but
due to lack of interest from the economic managers of the
government and exploiters in the industry, we have lost our
competitive edge, said President FCCI Sh. Abdul Qayyum. He
said that our raw cotton and yarn is being freely exported
without any planning, resulting in price hike in domestic
market and our competitors are enjoying comparatively cheaper
supplies from Pakistan.
- The decision of the government to withdraw customs duty on
the import of textile machinery and equipment will accelerate
industrial development, generate employment and boost
manufacturing process in the textile sector, said Muhammad
Mansha Churra, Acting President FPCCI. He said this step had
caused the trust of industrialists to increase, adding that
extending incentives to the textile industry was the only way
to save exports and minimize the trade deficit.
- The Cabinet Committee decision to withdraw 5% import duty
on yarn imports is most unrealistic and impracticable which
will provide absolutely no relief to the yarn starved value
added textile sector but will drive them to disaster, said
Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum
- Secretary General All Pakistan Power Looms Association (APPLA)
Khaliq Qandeel Ansari has said that value-added textile
industry was facing closure, which will result in massive
unemployment in textile sector. Due to yarn crisis, more than
80,000 power looms have so far been closed in Multan,
Faisalabad, Kasur and other areas rendering more than 1,50,000
workers jobless.
- Textile sector production declined, for the first time in
last 12 years, mainly due to frequent energy slippages,
domestic security issues, and rising cost of production, said
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). He said
increasing cotton prices, besides electricity and gas tariffs
during the current year increased the input cost of textile
industry and on the other a sharp rise in lending rates did
not allow textile companies to borrow from the banks.
- The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) claimed
that it had to suffer losses of about Rs. 1 billion in a month
due to lack of smooth gas supply to the industry. The
Association had to close about 200 textile units in Punjab and
NWFP Zones owing to scheduled load-management of two-day, said
APTMA Punjab Chairman, Gauhar Ijaz.
- The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA)
rejected the claims of value-added sector that cotton yarn is
not available in abundance and declared that its availability
is not an issue. APTMA Chairman (Sindh and Balochistan Region)
Yasin Siddik spoke at length about the cotton yarn issue and
said that cotton yarn availability issue, being raised by the
value-added sector holds no substance.
- APTMA Chairman (Sindh and Balochistan Region) Yasin Siddik
said that the total cotton production is below the local
consumption of the spinning sector and to meet the demand, it
has to import cotton. It is not possible for the spinning
sector to provide cheap yarn while the cotton prices have sky
rocketed. Spinners went for major BMR involving $5 billion in
the last three years and if any adverse impact is taken, it
would be like flushing this huge investment down the drain.
- Pakistani textiles sold abroad fell by 3.21% to $4.20
billion during July-November 2009-10, whereas, during the same
period of the last fiscal 2008-09, textiles exports stood at
$4.34 billion, according to a report by Federal Bureau of
Statistics.
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