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Govt urged to sell TCP cotton stocks to value-added sector

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The textile value-added sector has urged the government to sell the stocks of cotton purchased by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to the value added sector which will export the same after value-addition thus earning more foreign exchange for the country.

The Chairman of the Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association (PBEA), Shabir Ahmed in a statement said that if the estimated 500,000 bales of cotton at present lying with the TCP were given to the spinners they would sell it to Pakistan's competitors in the textile made-ups market abroad which would result in the loss of foreign exchange to the country.

Humayoun Ilahi, Aptma Chairman, in a statement had demanded of the government to direct the TCP to sell the cotton stocks to the spinners instead of exporting the lot.

Shabir Ahmed offered a third option to the government that the cotton stocks be sold to the value added sector so that it could export the same after value addition. He, however, said that if the government was bent upon exporting cotton, it should be done by the government itself because giving the stocks to the spinners would create problems for the value-added sector. The former had already hoarded large stocks of cotton in their godowns creating artificial shortage of cotton in the country which had led to the substantial increase in prices of yarn in the local market.

The PBEA chairman pointed out that the value-added sector was suffering acute shortage of raw material artificially created by the spinners by hoarding and if the TCP stocks were given to them it would aggravate the shortage and result in higher yarn prices, in the local market adversely affecting the value-added sector.