Import of polyester yarn, cotton cloth rises

LAHORE: As the industries bow out of production due to excessive power and energy crisis there has been a sharp increase in import of polyester yarn and cotton cloth in Pakistan cutting into the share of domestic textile industry, disclosed a leader of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA).

In his presentation to a civil service academy group, Gohar Ejaz of APTMA revealed that the import of polyester yarn has increased at a very rapid pace in last three years of energy and power crisis, particularly in Punjab.

Citing the figures of Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), he said that in 2009-10, Pakistan imported 5.19 million tons of polyester yarn. In the fiscal year 2010-11, the imports increased to 27.616 million tons, while in the first six months of 2011-12, during July-December, the imports of polyester yarn increased to 63.29 million tons and are expected to cross 150 million tons by the end of this fiscal year.

“We would have welcomed these imports had it been because of higher demand” he said, regretting that on the contrary the imports were made to cover the declined in domestic production of polyester yarn as the local units have become uncompetitive due to frequent power shut downs and non availability of gas. Out of 20 polyester yarn manufacturers only three are operative, he disclosed.

Ejaz said polyester yarn is consumed in Pakistan for domestic consumption only and the share of blended products in textile exports from Pakistan is nominal.

He said another worrying aspect for the textile sector in Pakistan is the sudden surge in import of cotton cloth. He said that in 2010-11, Pakistan had imported 58.36 million square meters of cotton cloth during the July-December period.

Cotton fabric export in the fist six months of current fiscal year has gone up by 107 percent to 120.53 million square meters, he added. “This is just beginning but the trend is detrimental for the growth and existent of the textile sector” he warned.

Chairman APTMA Punjab Ahsan Bashir said that another trend that goes unchecked is the constant rise in the import worn clothing in the country. He said stock lots are regularly imported in the garb of worn clothing and most of the stripped locally stitched men’s shirts consume these stock lots. He said these are official statistics and the planners should take notice of this steady pressure on domestic textiles.

He said energy crisis and high interest rates have played havoc with the textile sector of the country. He said during the 2001-05 period, when there was no energy crisis and interest rates were low, the growth in production on annualised basis was 6 percent for cotton yarn, 10 percent for cotton cloth 20 percent for knitwear, 16 percent for bed wear, 27 percent for towel and one percent for garments.

He said during 2006-11 period, the average annualised decline in yarn growth was minus 4.7 percent, minus 3.19 percent in bed wear and minus 2.4 percent in garments. He said during the same period cotton cloth growth declined to 0.74 percent, knitwear to 8 percent and towel to 2.7 percent. Bashir said in the first ten months of this fiscal year, there have been massive decline in all six main textile export categories.

Source:-thenews.com.pk