The government is withdrawing concessions available to
Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA) to avoid imposition of
provisional countervailing duty on the complaint of M/s
Plastic Europe. ICI, PTA plant was provided tariff protection
of 15% in 1998 through a sovereign guarantee by the government
for a period of ten years. In June 2008, the tariff on PTA
import was reduced to 7.5%.
Australia has cut its import tariff in several areas,
particularly in the textile sector, from which Pakistan, being
a major textile exporting country can benefit, said Timothy
George, High Commissioner of Australia in Pakistan
v The yarn crisis severed as 70% of the spinning mills are
gradually closing down as soon as their domestic cotton stocks
are exhausted and we did not import cotton because of
uncertain government policies on yarn, said Ejaz Gohar,
Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Punjab
Zone).
Textile ministry has refused to withdraw 15% duty on yarn
export whereas Aptma has called countrywide emergency
videoconference to chalk out future strategy. The All Pakistan
Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has closed the spinning
mills across the country including Lahore against 15% duty on
yarn exports and hold protest demonstrations at various
places.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he was taking a
number steps to meet the energy crisis and next step of the
government is establishment of 200 MW coal plant with the
financial assistance of Turkish government... He said that
line losses in Punjab were much less than other provinces and
the people of Punjab pay their electricity bills regularly but
Punjab was not being accommodated in power load management.
On the instructions of Federal Adviser Textile Ikhtiar
Baig, Minister Trade High Commission for Pakistan, New Delhi,
has taken up the matter with the Joint Secretary SAARC,
Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi, requesting Textile
Commissioner Mumbai, to expedite the process of revalidation
of the contracts to resume export at the earliest and said all
the pending consignments might be exported within next few
weeks.
Spinners and a huge number of textile workers protested on
against 15% regulatory duty on yarn export, demanding the
government to immediately reverse its decision. They shouted
slogans against the regulatory duty on export of yarn and
demanded it to be withdrawn immediately.
The value-added textile sector has rejected the Prime
Minister’s Committee expressing concerns that two of the three
members of the committee are the stakeholders and they will
look after their own interests. Earlier, the APTMA delegation,
led by Ejaz Ghoar, met with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
and informed him about their problems after imposition of yarn
quota export and 15% duty.
Multan—Secretary, Commerce and Investment, Fazal Abbas
Maken, has said that the government had exempted the textile
sector of power load shedding besides providing relief to
domestic consumers through load management. However, energy
crisis would end in due course of time. He said that the
government was executing long-term and short-term energy
projects to meet this crisis on permanent basis.
Value Added Textile (VAT) Forum have announced to stage
protest rallies and demonstrations to stress their demand for
imposition of Regulatory Duty of 30% on export of cotton yarn
from the country. In a meeting of the Forum the imposition of
15% Regulatory Duty on export of cotton yarn by the government
was considered to be insufficient and half-hearted measure.
Bilal Mulla, a former Chairman of Pakistan Readymade
Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), has
urged the government to impose 30% regulatory duty (RD) on
export of yarn for six months, till the next crop comes into
the market. He said that imposition of 15% RD is a first step
in the right direction but is not enough to ensure
availability of yarn to local industry.
Cotton growers and ginners have joined All Pakistan
Textile Mills Association (Aptma) in protest against the
imposition of 15% regulatory duty on export of yarn. Chairman
APTMA Punjab, Gohar Ejaz said restriction on export of yarn
has led to foreign exchange loss of $150 million per month.
Director FAP, Farooq Bajwa said the imposition of 15%
regulatory duty has panicked the farmers' community at large.
The government’s decision of imposing 15% regulatory duty
on cotton yarn exports will affect the major fibre of the
textile sector, said Pakistan Yarn Merchant Association (PYMA).
He said Textile Minister Rana Farooq Ahmad is unaware of the
industry and bowed down before the near and dear of downstream
textile units, and supporting downstream textile sector at the
cost of spinning industry.
Textile Minister Rana Farooq Ahmad said spinning industry
is operating and also competing in the export market even
though about 25% of the shortage of raw cotton is met through
import. The total requirements of spinning industry is about
15.5 million bales (170 kg) per annum whereas average
production of cotton in the country is 11.5 to 12.0 million
bales.
