Over 100 mills shut in Punjab: rising costs threatening viability of many textile units

Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI)'s President Fareed Mughis Sheikh has said that many textile mills and value-added sector units so far been closed due to non-availability of gas rendering thousands of workers jobless and he has condemned the government's indifferent attitude towards the Punjab-based textile industry, which has resulted into alarming decline in exports during November 2015 comparing with the corresponding period.
Fareed Sheikh said the export data for December 15, 2015 reveals that exports of cotton yarn and cotton fabric have dropped by 45 percent and 22 percent respectively against the corresponding period in quantitative terms consequently an overall decline by 15 percent in value terms. Talking to this scribe he said that there is a nominal increase in clothing exports during the same period, he said and added that the textile exports constitute $8 billion of total exports against $4 billion of clothing exports. He said the government's apathy towards the textile industry has resulted into closure of 100 mills out of 270 mills across the Punjab. Textile mills in Punjab are facing a serious blow of non-viability due to the high cost of doing business.
The remaining capacity has also closed partially, he added. The MCCI President said that the energy cost had hit through the roof in August 2013 when the government had increased power tariff to Rs 15 per unit due to a surge in oil prices to $100 per barrel. However, the industrial unit is yet Rs 14 per unit despite the fact that oil price has dropped to $35 per barrel in the international market today, he deplored.
He warned that revival of the Punjab-based textile industry would be next to impossible in case the government delayed the solution to the problem of high energy cost. He expressed deep remorse that the textile industry has been left unattended by the government, as no one is ready to kill the disparity in energy cost of Punjab-based textile mills against other provinces as well as the regional competitors. It is also pathetic to note that the cost of LNG was $5 world over but the federal government was not offering a compatible rate to Punjab-based mills against those in Sindh and KPK, he added.