Blockade disrupts cotton supply

Production at most of the country's textile units has fallen significantly following a supply disruption of raw cotton due mainly to the countrywide blockade and shutdowns, industry insiders said.
The production in textile sector largely depends on imported cotton, they said adding a significant quantity of the raw materials remains stuck up at Chittagong Port in absence of adequate transportation facilities.
Due to the short supply of raw cotton the overall production in the textile sector declined by around 20 to 25 per cent over the last one month.
Sources concerned said most of the textile mills are facing short supply of raw cotton following transportation disruption caused by the prolonged blockade and hartals.
According to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), the platform for cotton importers and spinners, the textile manufacturers have imported 4.31 million bales (each bale equals to 480 pounds) of cotton in 2014 from several countries including the US, India, Pakistan, Australia, Uzbekistan and other countries.
The BTMA data also showed the volume of imported cotton was 4.0 million and 3.5 million in 2013 and 2012 respectively. The textile millers have been importing on an average 0.35 million bales of cotton every month to meet the local demand.
More than 1409 textile spinning, textile weaving, weaving, denim, home textile and knit fabric units across the country have been facing 25 per cent shortage of raw cotton.
The trade body statistics showed the total investment in the primary textiles sector is around $ 4.0 billion.
The local spinners can supply 95 per cent of yarn for the knitwear sub-sector and nearly 40 per cent of fabric for the woven sub-sector.
Raw cotton imported by them is now waiting at the port due to transportation problem, Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury, Managing Director of Argon Denims Limited told the FE.
He said, "The sector including spinning, weaving, and printing; dyeing and finishing units have been playing a vital role as a backward linkage industry of woven and knitwear garment".
He said their factories are facing cotton shortage --- the main raw material for fabric manufacturing, resulting in production fall by more than 25 to 30 per cent.
He said the Argon Denims is a cent per cent export- oriented manufacturing unit, production capacity of which is 150,000 meters of quality denim fabric per month but during the last one month it was 105,000 meters as production dropped significantly.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, Managing Director of Envoy Textiles said due to shortage of yarn, production in their units has dropped significantly.
He said production capacity of their factory is 183000 meters of quality denim fabric per month but in last January it was 140000 meters.
He said, "We are expecting better business in the coming years as a large number of international business partners from several countries including Europe and America are now showing interest in sourcing more denim products from Bangladesh".
He said new global business partners are coming here bypassing China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam but the countrywide blockade and shutdown have been taking its toll on the business expansion.
MA Awal, former President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) said it is absolutely right the textile millers are facing an acute shortage of raw cotton.
He said, "We have been operating our units with the stored cottons. But the stock is going to dry up within a few days. Now we are in a fix what will we do in the coming days".
Mr Awal also chairman of Prime Group of Industries, a leading textile manufacturer said not only textile millers but the RMG manufacturers are also facing shortage of imported fabric in their units thus hampering production.
He said the knitwear sector is self sufficient but the woven sector has to import more than 60 per cent of fabrics from several countries.
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