Sales at the automobile spares factories in the city's older part plunged after the opposition called the transport blockade in early last month, factory owners said.
"We're getting no customers these days. We can't make payment to dockyard owners who provided us with raw materials. We can't repay loans," said Md Abdul Halim, owner of the Globe Engineering Workshops (GEW).
"Even customers who purchased finished products are not paying us. This is the situation we're facing," he added. He said sales at his factory plummeted by more than 80 per cent at Dholaikhal that has annual turnover of TK 4.0 billion.
Abdur Razzak, president of Bangladesh Engineering Industries Owners Association (BEIOA) said bank loan accumulation, short supply of raw materials, stock-pile and slow demand have pushed more than 3,000 light engineering units into uncertainty.
A workshop owner said his factory's major customers are automobile sector and the blockade has hit the transport, resulting in sluggish sales.
He said last month his income was only 30 per cent of his total expenditure and he is worried about paying his staff salaries and the parties from whom he purchased raw materials in credit.
He said raw materials traders are creating pressure for the payment of dues.
The BEIOA president said though a few workshop owners are making some business, they are facing problem to continue production due to scarcity of raw materials.
He said due to transport blockade, the number of customers and the quantity of finished products have fallen drastically, leading to the stock-pile.
Afaz Uddin, a member of the association, said many workshop owners are running losses everyday and are unable to pay their employees.
He said the factories across the country are also in trouble as in Dholaikhal.
According to a BEIOA staff, more than 40,000 factories are there across the country and the annual turnover is Tk 200 billion.
It said already many factories have been closed and a good numbers have curtailed their productions by more than 80 per cent.
A staff working at Didar Engineering said he is sitting idle for many days and in the last two weeks he has no income.
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