Textile industry output declines 50%

Four-day gas suspension to mills has caused productivity to reduce by 50 per cent.

FAISALABAD: As the government remains unable to chalk out a comprehensive gas load management plan acceptable to all stakeholders, industrialists claim that textile products output has reduced by 50% due to the four-days a week gas outages.

This ratio was 35% during the gas suspension of three-days a week. The industrialists are concerned about
the government’s continuous indifference towards industry’s problems despite the fact it is the largest foreign exchange earning sector of the country.

The textile industry is sustaining massive losses due to the four-days a week closure of the factories, they said.

In the winter season, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has recommended a cut in gas supply to the industries in Punjab to ensure the uninterrupted gas supply to residential consumers, said a SNGPL official.

The government should divert gas from CNG stations to the textile industry, said Waseem Latif, Chief Executive Officer of Latif International.

Sheikh Mukhtar, a leading exporter, said the international buyers are moving towards the other countries because “we cannot deliver the consignment on time”.

Pakistan Textile Exports Association Chairman Rana Arif Tauseef told The Express Tribune that all the industrialists, including exporters, are much concerned over the continued four-day suspension of gas to the textile sector.

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