Pakistan’s power loom industry only partially restored operations on May 18 due to the unavailability of workforce as almost half of the workers have shifted to their native places due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The Faisalabad yarn market also reopened, but the power loom owners, cloth merchants and brokers witnessed a shortage of certain types of products.
The buyers were also waiting for the prices of yarn to settle down as those kept fluctuating during the trading.
All Pakistan Cotton Power Looms Association (APCPA) chairperson Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz said their sector had been facing a crisis even before the lockdown as about 35 per cent of small-scale, 56-inch power looms were running in loss, and therefore, their owners had sold them as scrap. Now the pandemic had added to the problems, he said.
He said about 150,000 looms had resumed functioning in the country, including 50,000 air-jet and shuttle-less looms, with financing from the State Bank of Pakistan, according to Pakistani media reports.
Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) president Rana Muhammad Sikandar-e-Azam Khan said new jobs should be created by encouraging labour-intensive industries. Zero-rated schemes should also be revived for the five major export sectors, he said, adding that the present sales tax rate is very high and must be rationalised with a maximum of only 5 per cent.
The FCCI leader demanded that the government announce a relief package for various sectors, including the power looms. Electricity tariff should also be reduced by 30 per cent, he added.
This article has been taken from www.fibre2fashion.com
