Rising MMF Fabric Imports Impacting Indian Textile Sector
Rising imports of manmade fibre (MMF) fabrics and at the same time higher domestic prices of these fibres has made the Indian textile industry uncompetitive.
Various textile hubs of the country in Surat, Erode, Ludhiana, etc are fighting an insurmountable challenge of large scale dumping of MMF fabrics and are said to be operating at 70 percent capacity.
Rajesh Bansal, a fabric processor in Ludhiana recently went to a retail outlet to buy fleece. “Of the six pieces shown, four were from China,” he told the Hindu.
“China dumps fabric and this creates problems. We used to run our weaving units to full capacity and now we have unsold stocks. So, we plan to cut production by 20 percent,” Ashok Jirawala, President of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association said.
“When the prices were Rs 180 per kg for Indian viscose yarn, I got it for Rs 125 per kg from China,” C. Jaganathan, who weaves fabrics in Erode, also said.
In the last three years, MMF fabric imports, which attract mostly 20 percent duty, have doubled and most of it is knitted synthetic fabrics,” RK Vij, SG of the Polyester Textile Apparel Industry Association added.
According to data shared by RK Vij, in fiscal 2019-2020, around 325 tons of fabrics were imported every day from China at $4.61 a kg.
The volume increased to 887 tons a day in the April-June quarter of this fiscal and the average value was about $2.90 per kg. Of this, value of knitted or crocheted dyed fabrics made of synthetic fibre was just $1.4 per kg.
“It is not just imports, but under invoicing of imported finished fabrics that is a major issue. The government should stop customs clearance of fabrics that are priced below a certain value,” he stated.
