20000419

Yarn price hike

renders textile

items uncompetitive

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: High yarn prices have badly hit the exports as all most all textile based items registered significant drop last month, exporters said on Tuesday.

"Our products could not maintain the competitive level because of 30 percent increase in yarn prices in the domestic market," said a fabric exporter.

Fabric exports dropped by 19 percent in March as compared to the previous month.

Bedwear exporters leader, Shabir Ahmed, criticising the yarn manufactures for pulling down the export of bedwear by 18.7 percent in March said.

"This must be checked. There should be some mechanism to link the yarn prices with the cotton prices," said Shabir.

The average export of bedwear in nine months is still higher, however, the price hike will not allow the exporters to get more business in the remaining three months of the fiscal year.

The exporters of ready-made garments demand restriction on yarn exports. Value-added sectors have been demanding to put some kind of restriction on the yarn exporters.

It was also suggested duty on export of yarn. However, the most serious case is the withdrawal of export refinancing facility.

Yarn exporters availed of facility of export financing on all counts of yarn. Still 30 and above counts of yarn has the facility of export financing.

"This must be withdrawn as it gives unnatural edge to the yarn manufacturers and exporters over the value-added sectors," said Zia Khan, a ready-made garment exporters.

Export of ready-made garments dropped by 14 percent in March as compared to February, while knitwear exports dropped by 20 percent.

"The consequences of high yarn prices has caused serious problems for the whole value-added sector. Just because of easy availability of foreign exchange through exports of yarn, the sector should not be allowed to eat up major share of the cake," said an exporter of knitwear.

The other sector which registered drop in export were: towels 9 percent and other textile made-ups by 13 percent.