The row over restriction on yarn export is exacerbating as the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has threatened to go on strike if the issue was not resolved within 10 days.
APTMA at its general body meetings held on Tuesday simultaneously in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar passed the resolution unanimously calling for direct intervention of the president and prime minister in the matter and provide justice to the spinning industry.
“APTMA strongly opposes the unilateral imposition of quota on yarn export and dissociates itself with the Ministry of Textile (MINTEX) due to its discriminatory policies,” the resolution suggested.
APTMA Chairman Anwar Ahmed Tata told a press conference that MINTEX has become a party and is unduly supporting the downstream industry at the cost of the spinning industry.
He said that negative attitude of the ministry would badly hurt the spinning sector, which is in its revival stage after three years of extensive shocks due to shortage of raw material, high cost of doing business and international recession and has suffered huge losses.
“It affected its viability resulting in piling up of non-performing loans in the banking sector out of which more than 30 percent belongs to the spinning industry,” he revealed. Tata regretted that in spite of repeated appeals to the government to save this capital-intensive sector no assistance has been provided.
“Minister of Textile Industry is biased towards spinning industry and is taking those steps which are proving detrimental for this industry,” Tata declared, however he was hesitant when asked about whether APTMA would demand the dismissal of the sitting minister from the textile ministry.
He said that the ministry took a unilateral decision to reduce the quantitative restriction of cotton yarn without taking APTMA into confidence. The association has been against any restriction on export of cotton yarn. The further reduction and withdrawal of exemption would lead to a fatal blow to the spinning industry. He said that after restarting of closed spinning units the overall production of cotton yarn in the country has increased up to 241,000 tonnes per month, which could be verified by government data.
Source: The Daily Times, Pakistan (March 10th 2010)
