Fabric shortage hurting exports

Tag : Poplin Fabric
The five-day strike observed by the FaisalabadChamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) from July 11 to July 15 hascreated serious problems for the textile exporters who are findingit difficult to make timely consignments owing to shortage offabric and other cloth in the market.

A survey conducted by Dawn revealed that the traders at the yarnand grey cloth markets were facing an artificial shortage ofvarious kinds of fabrics and cloth resultantly prices had gone upby Rs3 to Rs5 per metre.

The exporters have no other option but to buy fabric at higherprices to make shipments on time.

The survey found massive black-marketing of various qualities offabric including 76x56=35x35, 100x80=40x40, 110x90=40x40,60x60=20x20, 60x60=16x16, 108x58=20x20, 84x28=7x10, 74x44=10x10,twill, jeans, poplin, drill, sateen, denier etc, was rampant afterthe end of the strike.

The exporters were of the view that the traders had been mintingmoney taking the advantage of shortage of fabric.

However, the traders have rejected the exporters perception.

The members of the Silk Powerlooms Association earlier this weekstaged a demonstration at the local yarn market against theblack-marketing and shortage of fabric and chanted slogans againsta textile group and accused it of black-marketing its products.

Sheikh Mohammad Akram, a textile broker, told Dawn that they hadbeen offered fabric in huge quantities before the strike, but nowthe situation was entirely different.

He said the situation was not good for exporters and the policiesof the government had further disappointed the textile industry.

Surging prices of utility bills will ruin the textile sector asthe government has not been paying any attention to the problemsconfronted by the industry, he added.

Riaz Shahid, another textile sector leader, said the exporters hadbeen facing more financial crunch after the strike and wereperturbed over the situation.

Sources said many FCCI members also expressed disappointment overthe Trade Policy 2008-09 and the first address of the primeminister to the nation.

They said the FCCI office-bearers had assured the industrialiststhat the government would soon withdraw the hike in gas andelectricity tariff, but it didnt happen.