The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Textile and allied units in Karur to join September 24, 25 strike

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Friday, Sep 17, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Textile and allied units in Karur to join September 24, 25 strike

Staff Reporter

KARUR: Hundreds of textile and allied units in Karur district have planned to down shutters on September 24 and 25 to highlight their demand for a ban on cotton, waste cotton and yarn export that is hurting the industry immensely.

Briefing the media here after wide ranging confabulations industry leaders including Karur Textile Forum president M. Sivakkannan and Karur Textile Manufacturer Exporters' Association president M. Nachimuthu said that unbridled export of cotton, waste cotton and yarn had made the price of cotton yarn skyrocket to unmanageable proportions over the past few months. Increase in yarn price had upset the calculations of the textile exporters who were operating on a very competitive margin in the highly competitive international market.

Stating that the textile and allied units numbering over 700 in Karur district were providing the livelihood for over two lakh unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labourers daily and have a combined turnover of more than Rs.3,000 crore annually. The district's economy basically revolved around the fortunes of textile export industry, they pointed out.

But the exorbitant hike in the recent months of the price of yarn had sent the industry on a tailspin. With the Central Government planning to withdraw the ban on export of cotton, waste cotton and yarn from October 1, the textile exporters fear that the price of yarn would further go up plunging the industry deeper into crisis. Besides with the yarn availability becoming scarce by the day the exporters were finding it difficult to complete the orders at hand even at a loss. The exporters apprehend that some sections of the textile related industry have started hoarding cotton and yarn expecting better returns.

Despite the issue being taken to the highest levels in the Central Government there has been no tangible response from them. Besides the Centre has commenced online registration of exporters for cotton since Wednesday and that the textile industrialists believe was the response of the Centre to their demands.

To highlight their plight and to make known their demands to the Central Government the Karur textile exporters have resolved to strike work on September 24 and 25 and also to stage a protest fast on September 24.

Their main demands were that the Central Government should intervene and rein in the spiralling yarn price by reducing price by at least 30 per cent, ensure uninterrupted availability of yarn to domestic textile industrialists for export purposes and clamp a complete ban on export of cotton, waste cotton and yarn.

Those who participated in the deliberations included office-bearers from the Weaving and Knitting Factory Owners' Association, Export Cloth Manufacturers' Association, Yarn Dealers' Association, Dyes and Chemicals Dealers' Association.

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