Pakistan’s mills reiterate call for government assistance
The Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has made a plea to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and other officials ahead of the federal budget, due June 7.
They urged the government to act now or see more of the country’s textile mills close.
The association highlighted the contraction of industrial output since FY23, which it said is a result of prohibitive energy costs. Almost 60% of the basic industry has closed, it claims, while imports of intermediate goods, such as yarn and cloth, have skyrocketed.
APTMA demanded a 9 cents /Kwh competitive power tariff and the end of cross-subsidies to other sectors. Power tariffs for industrial consumers are around 15.4 cents/kWh at present.
Meanwhile, according to AKD Research, the textile sector’s exports in April ’24 clocked in at $1.24 billion, a decline of 4.8% month over month but remaining flat annually. The monthly decline can be attributed to higher exports in the preceding month due to deliveries for the summer season.
International cotton prices have eased to ¢85/lb compared to the Calendar Year To Date (CYTD) average price of ¢94/lb due to low demand from China and easing cotton production concerns in the US. Similarly, local cotton prices have fallen.
Recent news reports suggest that the government is working on a proposal to reduce the electricity tariff for the export-related industry by lowering the cross-subsidy to the residential sector in the upcoming FY25 federal budget, bringing it back to the previously held US¢9/kWh tariff
