Textile sector under threat from Indian yarn dumping
Staff Reporter :
Indian textile mills are allegedly dumping yarn and fabric into the Bangladesh market as part of a “conspiracy” to undermine the country’s textile sector, according to Showkat Aziz Russell, President of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
He made these statements during a press conference organised by the BTMA at the Gulshan Club in Dhaka on Monday.
Russell claimed that the Indian government, through various subsidies and support schemes, is behind this effort.
He stated that Indian mills are posing a threat to Bangladesh’s textile industry by selling yarn and fabric at prices below their production costs, with these goods being smuggled through illegal channels and land ports.
“If this continues, our textile industry will face the same fate as our jute mills,” he warned.
The BTMA President further explained that the association had already appealed to the government to stop yarn imports through land ports and impose anti-dumping duties on Indian yarn.
“We request that imports through land ports be halted until the capacity of our land ports is improved to prevent false declarations of yarn,” he added.
Russell also called on the interim government to investigate the dumping activities by Indian mills.
He noted that during the previous BNP government, the import of yarn via land ports had been stopped, but the practice resumed after the Awami League came to power.
He mentioned that local mills are currently holding stockpiles of yarn worth between Tk 8,000 crore and Tk 10,000 crore.
BTMA Vice President Saleudh Zaman Khan alleged that India is providing a subsidy of 11 rupees per kilogram of yarn, effectively supporting state-backed dumping.
He argued that Bangladesh’s garment factories are not benefiting from the lower yarn prices, and ultimately, the advantage is going to foreign buyers.
Textile millers also urged the government to reduce the gas price to below Tk 20 per unit, down from the current Tk 31, and to halt yarn imports through land ports.
The textile sector is also struggling due to the ongoing gas crisis, with most mills operating at only 50 to 60 percent of their capacity.