A spokesman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has clarified that Aptma has demanded 15 percent Regulatory Duty on import of subsidised fine count cotton yarn, predominantly from India, without disturbing the DTRE scheme or import under manufacturing bond.
He said the official data suggests that Pakistan produces 200,000 tons fine count cotton yarn annually, out of which only 65000 tons is exported while 135,000 tons is consumed in the domestic market. However, India has offered 10 percent rebate on export of fine count cotton yarn simply to dump it in domestic commerce of Pakistan. The future of 30 mills manufacturing fine count cotton yarn is at stake and employment of hundreds and thousands of workers is under threat, he added.
According to him, the Aptma concern over the situation has been taken mistakenly by the apparel sector and an immediate clarification is urgently needed.
He said Aptma is itself major stakeholder but it is still asking for imposing regulatory duty on a specific product in the larger interest of domestic industry.
He said Aptma has repeatedly being clarifying that it is in favour of free market mechanism and seeking countervailing/regulatory duty on domestic use of imported fine count cotton yarn. It is alarming to note that import of fine count cotton yarn has reached to 30000 tons in 2014 against 6500 tons in 2012. The import data of fist six months of current fiscal reveals that 3000 tons per month fine count cotton yarn is entering Pakistan from India, he said and added that 90 percent of imports are originating from India on the basis of unstructured rebate to its manufacturers.
India is capturing Pakistan's domestic market by design, as the end product of fine cotton yarn is meant for domestic consumption, he asserted.-PR