LAHORE: The textile millers have asked the government to impose 15 per cent regulatory duty on the import of man-made fibres, particularly the polyester viscos yarn, polyester cotton yarn and pure polyester yarn.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Tariq Saud raised this demand while speaking at a meeting of the member mills, held at the Punjab office of the association to review the import statistics of the man-made fibre yarn, which has increased by four times in the last four years and is likely to reach 57,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2015-16.
Tariq Saud noted that surge in the import of man-made fibre (MMF) yarns had become a matter of serious concern for the domestic industry since it posed a serious threat to the survival of around two million spindles with over three million direct and indirect workforce both upstream and downstream.
He further said the textile industry had taken up the issue with the government, and was seeking an immediate imposition of 15 percent regulatory duty on the import of all MMF yarns.
“An unchecked import of yarns has hit the viability of the domestic spinning yarn industry, which is also threatening the survival of domestic PSF producers and the PTA industry by and large,” he said. “Both the upstream and downstream industries as well as millions of direct and indirect jobs are under threat and need immediate intervention by the government,” he pointed out.
He said the production, marketing and finances of the spinning mills were exposed to risks and had turned these mills into unviable units despite the availability and affordability of energy these days. “Spinning mills are unable to reap the benefits of the current improvement in the supplies of energy,” he added.
The Aptma chairman called upon the government to act immediately and ensure the principle of ‘first right of the domestic industry on the domestic consumers’ by imposing 15 percent regulatory duty to stop the flow of subsidised yarns into the domestic market.
