Textile exporters have urged the government to abolish customs and regulatory duties on the import of cotton yarn, citing that apparel and home textile sectors are facing shortage of basic raw material, which may lead to a drastic decline in textile exports.
A huge number of export orders are being received by the value-added knitwear industry, however, exporters are unable to finalise them due to unavailability of cotton yarn at competitive prices in the country.
It was stated by Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) Zonal Chairman Faisal Mehboob Sheikh and Chief Coordinator Adil Butt in a joint statement.
Sheikh requested the government to remove restrictions on duty-free import of cotton yarn from all neighbouring countries in order to encourage exporters to compete in the international market.
Cotton is seen to be the backbone of the exporting and related production industries like a textile in Pakistan. Pakistan stood at 4th position in producing cotton in 2012-13 with some 11 million bales but before that, the period in between 1980-90 is considered as the golden period for Pakistan regarding cotton production in which rapid growth was seen. Earlier in 2014-15 the production increased 11 per cent and holds the record of 15 million bales.
That was the last time of growth. Since then, the production of cotton has started to decline instantly. As in 2020-21, production of cotton is estimated at about 6.3 million bales following the 8 million bales previous year with the reduction of 58 per cent this year since 2014-15.
The reasons behind this tragic drop are low profitability, bad quality seed, water shortage, and finally, lack of awareness of technology.
The desperation behind the scene is not only the production reduction but more painful is the import on larger-scale with little foreign exchange as Pakistan is the third biggest consumer of cotton, so the shortage of cotton can only be balanced by large-scale import which a surviving economy cannot bear.
