The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has opposed the suggestion to stop the 4 per cent government rebate on yarn exports on the basis of drawback of duties, local taxes and levies on exports. Export of yarn needs patronage, else it may lead to closure of mills on a large scale and unemployment, senior APTMA vice chairman Zahid Mazhar said.

High business cost has made the spinning sector, the backbone of the textile value chain, unviable and it is incurring heavy losses now by selling yarn below its cost due to poor demand from domestic consumers. The production of yarn is substantially more than the local consumption, Mazhar said in a press release.

Only 13.28 per cent of the total yarn produced in 2016-17 and 12.44 per cent of the total yarn produced in 2015-16 were exported, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. As the domestic industry consumes around 70 per cent of the total yarn production, a substantial amount is left unsold, and needs to be exported, he added. (DS)