Overseas buyers ask local units to avoid Uzbek origin cotton
Friday, 14 December 2007
Jasim Uddin Haroon
The country's apparel sector is facing another setback as the overseas buyers have been asking the local garment factories to avoid using fabrics made of raw cotton of Uzbekistan origin.
The garment and knit buyers have alleged that Uzbekistan, which is the second largest cotton exporting country in the world, has employed child labours in their cotton fields, especially during the autumn.
Local garment and knitwear manufacturers use around 30 per cent local fabrics and denim for export products worth around US$ 3.0 billion.
Textiles sector sources said that Bangladesh annually imports around 350,000 tonnes or 50 per cent of raw cotton requirement from Uzbekistan, a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Besides other CIS countries, Bangladesh also imports raw cotton from the USA, Australia, India and Pakistan.
Local textile sector sources said that suspension of import from Uzbekistan would result in higher production cost of their textile products as the prices of Uzbek raw cotton are cheaper than those of other cotton producing countries.
BTMA sources said the price of raw cotton of the CIS countries range between 74 cents and 76 cents per pound and the presence of dust in the cotton is also low.
The prices of raw cotton cultivated in the USA and Australia ranged between 80 cents and 82 cents each pound.
However, apparel sector sources said the overseas buyers have been enquiring about it since the middle of November this year.
Leading apparel buyers JC Penny and Marks and Spencer have already asked their local manufacturers to avoid use of cotton imported from Uzbekistan, which exports around 0.80 million tonnes of raw cotton globally each year.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anowar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Pervez said the buyers' reservation on cotton use is a new threat to the apparel sector.
"Overseas buyers are asking us not to use the cotton originated in Uzbekistan on the ground of using child labours by that country in the cotton fields," he said.
It has been alleged the state officials in Uzbekistan shut down schools during autumn and send students together with teachers to the fields to pluck cotton.
While talking to the FE, President of the Bangladesh Knit Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Md Fazlul Hoque said it is a tough challenge for the sector as verifying the use of child labour while importing cotton is hard for them.
"Verifying the origin of cotton is difficult for the knit manufacturers, who use only fabrics, procured locally or imported, for export wears," he added.
Admitting the buyers' pressure and queries on the usage of Uzbek cotton, the Chairman of Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA) said this is a threat to the local booming apparel sector.
He said that the government should raise the issue with the Uzbek authorities and pursue them to withdraw child labours from cotton fields.
"We will also ask the supplier to stop employing child labours on the cotton fields," he added.
Former BTMA chairman MA Awal told the FE that the production cost would escalate if the mills were forced to stop importing raw cotton from Uzbekistan.
He said the suppliers of the Uzbekistan raw cotton are from Europe.
"I might be a conspiracy designed to cut Bangladesh's export of garments," Awal, who is also chairman of the Prime Textile Spinning Mills Limited, added.
The country's apparel sector is facing another setback as the overseas buyers have been asking the local garment factories to avoid using fabrics made of raw cotton of Uzbekistan origin.
The garment and knit buyers have alleged that Uzbekistan, which is the second largest cotton exporting country in the world, has employed child labours in their cotton fields, especially during the autumn.
Local garment and knitwear manufacturers use around 30 per cent local fabrics and denim for export products worth around US$ 3.0 billion.
Textiles sector sources said that Bangladesh annually imports around 350,000 tonnes or 50 per cent of raw cotton requirement from Uzbekistan, a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Besides other CIS countries, Bangladesh also imports raw cotton from the USA, Australia, India and Pakistan.
Local textile sector sources said that suspension of import from Uzbekistan would result in higher production cost of their textile products as the prices of Uzbek raw cotton are cheaper than those of other cotton producing countries.
BTMA sources said the price of raw cotton of the CIS countries range between 74 cents and 76 cents per pound and the presence of dust in the cotton is also low.
The prices of raw cotton cultivated in the USA and Australia ranged between 80 cents and 82 cents each pound.
However, apparel sector sources said the overseas buyers have been enquiring about it since the middle of November this year.
Leading apparel buyers JC Penny and Marks and Spencer have already asked their local manufacturers to avoid use of cotton imported from Uzbekistan, which exports around 0.80 million tonnes of raw cotton globally each year.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anowar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Pervez said the buyers' reservation on cotton use is a new threat to the apparel sector.
"Overseas buyers are asking us not to use the cotton originated in Uzbekistan on the ground of using child labours by that country in the cotton fields," he said.
It has been alleged the state officials in Uzbekistan shut down schools during autumn and send students together with teachers to the fields to pluck cotton.
While talking to the FE, President of the Bangladesh Knit Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Md Fazlul Hoque said it is a tough challenge for the sector as verifying the use of child labour while importing cotton is hard for them.
"Verifying the origin of cotton is difficult for the knit manufacturers, who use only fabrics, procured locally or imported, for export wears," he added.
Admitting the buyers' pressure and queries on the usage of Uzbek cotton, the Chairman of Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA) said this is a threat to the local booming apparel sector.
He said that the government should raise the issue with the Uzbek authorities and pursue them to withdraw child labours from cotton fields.
"We will also ask the supplier to stop employing child labours on the cotton fields," he added.
Former BTMA chairman MA Awal told the FE that the production cost would escalate if the mills were forced to stop importing raw cotton from Uzbekistan.
He said the suppliers of the Uzbekistan raw cotton are from Europe.
"I might be a conspiracy designed to cut Bangladesh's export of garments," Awal, who is also chairman of the Prime Textile Spinning Mills Limited, added.