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'Commerce Ministry contemplates resumption of export due to pressure'
KARUR: The Karur Textile Forum has urged the Central government to drop any move to allow export of waste cotton as it would bring the home textile industry to its knees.
Pointing out that the Commerce Ministry was contemplating resumption of waste cotton export ‘due to pressure from various quarters', the forum noted that the export move was scuttled after parleys and lobbying by the textile units.
But reversing that decision and allowing export would only put the home textiles as well as the readymade segments in doldrums, observes forum president M. Sivakkannan.
Spinners who have installed open-end spinning machines use cotton wastes from the ring spinning mills coming as the carding wastes (called flat strips) or comber wastes (comber noils) to produce coarser yarns in the counts especially 6s, 14s, 16s and 20s, which are used for making fabric for the home textiles or apparel industries.
It has been estimated that the yearly realization of waste cotton in the country is approximately 27 lakh bales out of which more than one fourth was previously exported. The domestic consumption is around 23.5 lakh bales.
The export thus created a shortage that made waste cotton dearer and also caused artificial scarcity. Incidentally that also resulted in the increase in prices of low staple cotton varieties such as Bangla Deshi and J 34. Those varieties are mixed with waste cotton for spinning yarn of counts 10s, 14s, 16s and even 20s.
Waste cotton export has spurred the massive rise in prices of waste cotton for domestic consumption.
The comber waste that was around Rs.35-36 per kg in December 2007 had shot up to Rs.52 per kg in mid 2009. Export of waste cotton would only benefit a handful of merchant exporters who may not even play an active role in the textile industry.
Such merchants should not be allowed to reap the benefit at the cost of the large exporting segments like the home textiles, readymade garments and the handlooms, Mr. Sivakkannan has stated in the memorandum submitted to the Union Textiles Ministry.
Consequent to the installation of the state-of-the-art carding and combing machines and their efficient performance levels, the realisation of spinnable yarn has increased.
“We have witnessed in the past that export of waste cotton had already brought about devastating effect on the home textiles made up of manufactures and exporters,” the forum added has noted.
29 July, 2010 by admin