Tk 3,500cr yarn, fabrics accumulate in mills
Yarn and fabrics worth Tk 3,500 crore have piled-up in a few 250 spinning and weaving mills due to the ongoing movement restriction to curb the spread of coronavirus.
These millers manufactured the yarn and fabrics targeting two upcoming festivals Pahela Baishakh and Eid-ul Fitr, Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), said in a letter.
The afflicted millers mainly produce yarn and fabrics for the neighborhood market, Khokon said in the letter, which he ready to submit to the finance ministry and other government offices next week.
This year, the federal government imposed a ban on large gatherings to celebrate the first day of the Bangla calendar, when clothing items worth around Tk 1,500 crore comes, Khokon said.
The millers may miss both two major sales events this season, as the federal government may curtail the celebrations of Eid-ul Fitr also, he said.
Of the 450 BTMA-member spinning mills, 250 were in a fix, because they produce fabrics and yarn for products such as for example lungi, sari, salwar kameez and fatua.
The problem was the same for 500 of the 850 weaving mills which produce fabrics for the local markets.
It has trickled down on some 200 units of dyeing and finishing mills which mainly serve these spinning and weaving mills, Khokon said.
The spinning and weaving mills, which produce raw materials for the export-oriented garment sector, can take advantage of the government's Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package.
Some 1.5 million persons have been directly influenced from the drop in sales in the primary textile sector, Khokon also said.
In the letter, he demanded withdrawal of VAT on all sorts of yarn and fabrics sold between March 20 and June 30 this year.
He also sought exemption of interest on term loans for six months and extension of term loan repayment period by 2 yrs for the damaged millers.
He demanded enabling payment of bills like gas and electricity for another six months beginning with March in 12 monthly instalments while withdrawing associated VAT, interest and surcharge.
He also demanded that the federal government facilitate duty free import of textile dyes and chemicals until June 30 this year.
The BTMA chief also urged the federal government for withdrawing all demurrage fees for imports at the Chattogram port between March 20 and June 30 this season.
Meanwhile, local garment accessories makers have urged the federal government to include them in the set of beneficiaries of the stimulus package.
With the task order cancellations by the buyers, the accessories sub sector can be affected, said Abdul Kader Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA), in a statement yesterday.
A lot more than 1,700 BGAPMEA members meet almost 95 % of the demand for accessories of the garment industry and lessen import dependency for accessories of the export-oriented sector, like the garment sector.
Khan said the accessories and packaging sector was among the key export oriented sectors that was supporting other export-based sectors in making their finished products.
AKM Salim Osman, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), in a statement yesterday said the association's member factories can run their units after April 4 while ensuring satisfactory health safety precautions for workers.
Earlier, Osman in a statement asked all of the BKMEA members to shut factories down in line with the government announcing a 10-day general holiday from March 26.
The BKMEA also strongly suggested its members clear workers' wages for March in time to avert any labour unrest.
Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has withdrawn the ban on export of face masks and hand sanitisers from Bangladesh.
The ministry in a statement said any office of the principle controller of imports and exports passed the order in a circular yesterday.
Earlier, the ministry imposed a ban on export of face masks and hand sanitisers until March 12, based on the statement.
