Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Tariq Saud has said the textile industry exports have once again plunged in quantity terms all around the sub-sectors. "The Federal Bureau of Statistics data shows that the textile industry exports have dropped both in quantity and value terms in the month of September 2015 against the corresponding period," he added.
He said APTMA had been bringing to the notice of the government about an unprecedented declining trend in exports over the last one year. "One of the major factors of this drop in exports is the ever-high and unbearable cost of energy, both gas and electricity," he added.
He pointed out that 70 percent of the textile industry was located in the province of Punjab and a high cost of energy had hit hard to its viability and capacity to produce exportable surplus. "Once the industry is regionally competitive and uninterrupted energy is available at Rs 9/kwh with waiver of GIDC, the industry is confident to catch up the shortfall by bringing its dormant and impaired capacities back on production track," he hoped.
He further pointed out that the fall in basic textile exports was far higher than the apparel exports. "The yarn export has dropped by 14.5 percent, followed by cloth 22.43 percent, yarn other than cotton yarn 11.9 percent, bedwear nine percent, tents and canvas 79 percent and art, silk and synthetic textile 67 percent in quantity terms," he added.
Chairman APTMA said the apparel exports were down by 11.49 percent in ready-made garments and 4.3 percent in knitwear in spite of the GSP Plus facility. He said the proportional fall of textile exports was far higher than the apparel sector in quantity terms. "A strong basic textile industry is imperative to the growth of apparel sector both domestically and internationally and the time has come to join hands for an early restoration of viability of the textile industry," he stressed. He has also urged the government to announce the remaining part of the textile package immediately in the larger national economic interest in particular and industry, agriculture, exports and employment of the country in general.