Government urged to exempt export industry from load shedding

Millions of dollars worth export consignments of textiles face disaster and default due to unscheduled irregular breakdowns and heavy load shedding of electricity and gas supply disruption, agitated Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Mian Zahid Aslam talking to newsmen here on Monday.
Not only the manufacturing schedules and commitment with foreign buyers are upset but the cost of manufacturing export goods also escalates due to working hours shift disruptions, he said. Elaborating his argument, he stated that the cost of manufacturing cloth, dyeing and printing processes goes up due to breakdown of electricity and gas.
The cloth making on power loom which normally costs Rs nine per meter goes up to Rs twelve per meter as the length and quantity required takes double the time of normal weaving time, he said. When the dyeing printing process comprising of multiple design colours is on machines and there is a breakdown in supply of gas and electricity the colour and shade mismatching of the printing design occurs in production, he added.
Chances of the particular lot on the machines going waste, involving huge loss of material and inputs are also manifested causing financial loss to the manufacturers, he stated. Under these circumstances the manufacturing schedule of export items and commitment of export consignment are greatly upset, he said.
The PTEA chairman said that textile exports of the country were already under pressure in the international market due to tough competition from India, China and Bangladesh. Pakistani textiles were comparatively costlier than these countries and our share of international trade was being eroded due to heavy prices of goods, he said.
Pakistan's exports in European and American markets have already dwindled as we are heavily disadvantaged due to denial of access in these markets, he said. With the onset of heavy load shedding and breakdowns the exporters would be thrown out of international competition being unreliable suppliers and costly exporters, he concluded. He urged upon the govt to take immediate remedial steps and to exempt the export industry from load shedding.