A Pakistani yarn merchants' body has demanded that the Pakistan government impose 15 per cent regulatory duty on cotton yarn imports from India on back of surge in imports.
Addressing the media, senior office bearers at Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) said that in the period July to December 2104, cotton yarn imports from India had quadrupled from same period in 2013.
Providing statistics, they said cotton yarn imports from India had surged from Pk Rs 4.2 billion in the period July to December of 2013 to Rs 15.8 billion in the same period of 2014.
“Imports of cotton yarn from India are destroying the textile sector of Pakistan,” they observed.
This had severely impacted the local market, they said, and demanded that the government impose 15 per cent regulatory duty on these imports as done on imports of chemicals and raw materials from other countries.
“This would protect the local yarn business, the value added industry chain and allied business suppliers,” they explained.
Earlier in the second week of January, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) had said that an abnormal rise in imports of cotton yarn from India posed a threat to viability of domestic textile sector. (AR)
