Efforts to augment annual output: textile manufacturers spend $599.219 million on machinery import

Textile manufacturers and exporters spent 599.219 million dollars during outgoing fiscal year 2013-14 to import machinery to replace the existing equipment to augment their annual output, exporters said on Friday. They said their industrial machineries had slaked production, which were replaced with a better technology to improve the output.
The textile industry investment for machinery replacement grew by 54.28 percent in the outgoing fiscal year 2013-14 from 388.4 million dollars in the corresponding fiscal year, official figures suggest. They said the textile machinery was imported just to make good replacement of the old or worn-out equipment to improve the production. "Import of textile machinery is largely linked to replacement of the dilapidated equipment," they said.
In June 2014, the country's import of textile machinery went up by 8.874 million dollars (22.12 percent) to 48.991 million dollars from $40.117 million in June 2013, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). They said manufacturers replace their old machinery with new imported one within three years to augment their output, adding that "the machinery import is not for new set-ups in the country as the entire industry is struggling for regular supply of power and gas that caused many to disinvest".
They said the industry mainstay units are resisting closures for lack of utilities and growing disorder in the country, forcing the manufactures to retrench a big number of workers. "Unemployment is growing in the country for declining industrial production," they said. If the existing industrial units are not properly getting regular energy supply then the setting up of new businesses are unviable for investors, they said.