BTMA president Showkat Aziz Russell told a press conference that domestic spinning mills are in dire straits due to a sudden increase in low-priced yarn imports from India. Many textile mills are about to shut down due to faulty policy and economic meltdown, he noted.
Yarn imports from India increased by 137 per cent in the last fiscal, resulting in the closure of at least 50 yarn mills in the country, he was cited as saying by domestic media reports.
He accused Indian traders of dumping yarn in Bangladesh at a price of about $0.30 per kg.
Former BTMA president Mohammad Ali Khokon said rising operational costs and a sudden spike in taxes have pushed mill owners to the brink.
In the last fiscal’s budget, the textile sector paid 12.5-15 per cent tax. In the budget for this fiscal, it has jumped to 27 per cent, Khokon said.
Khokon said yarn sales now are barely enough to cover labour wages and gas bills, leaving no room for profit or loan repayments, which is forcing owners to shut down their factories.
He cautioned that the collapse of the domestic textile industry would have a domino effect on the readymade garment sector.
At the press conference, millers said they do not want a complete ban on Indian yarn. Rather, they advocated for reducing the bilateral trade gap, which now heavily favours New Delhi.
They also called for import bans on certain yarn types that are abundantly produced domestically.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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