Textile exporters may fail to deliver this Christmas

Chronic power outages hamper timely completion of orders.

FAISALABAD: The textile industry fears that an opportunity to make $2 billion in Christmas orders may go a begging as deliveries are not expected to be completed on time due to the chronic energy crisis.

If we do not vessel Christmas supplies until mid-November, we will lose orders and market share in the European Union and the US, said Pakistan Textile Exports Association Faisalabad Chairman Rana Arif Tauseef.

He said that large scale export-oriented textile industry had to sit idle for at least three days in a week due to gas and electricity cuts amid shipping deadlines approaching. Investors seem to be placing orders with other countries as Christmas season exports of garments dropped 19% to $2.31 billion, according to Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association.

He said the government should divert gas supplied to fertiliser plants and supply it to the industry that earns foreign exchange for the country. Despite availing subsidised gas, fertiliser manufacturers are selling the product to farmers at international rates, Tauseef pointed out.

Exporters claim that the industry had suffered production losses of $2 billion during the past year because of gas and power cuts.

How can any industry stay in business unless it gets regular supply of basic utilities, questioned Latif International Faisalabad CEO Waseem Latif.

The economy is already suppressed under the enormous economic losses from the recent floods. The energy crisis is just mounting difficulties, Latif lamented.

Many small and large units in Faisalabad are already working at almost half of their production capacity because of energy shortage.

Gas shortage is forcing textile industries to shut down plants and lay off workers, said Rana Irtaza Manager of Tuseef Enterprises Faisalabad.

Leading garment exporter and Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association Vice Chairman Qamar Aftab told The Express Tribune that the energy crisis was increasing the cost of doing business and making export from the country more expensive and less competitive.

The export-oriented industry must be given a preference over all other gas and power consumers to ensure that the economy does not suffer, he added.

Leading exporter Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmad Chairman of Sadaqat Limited Faisalabad told The Express Tribune that gas cuts were harmful for the highly value-added industry. The energy crisis was a major factor constraining textile industry’s efforts to boost exports.

Mukhtar said that there is potential to double the revenue earned in the Christmas season if the government provided uninterrupted gas.

Industrialists want the government to immediately come up without load-shedding schedule of gas and electricity cuts for the manufacturers and exporters. But the government does not seem to be in urgency.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th,  2011.