TEA urges Indian government to ban cotton exports to stop abnormal price hikes

Foreign news January 10, in view of the abnormal rise in cotton and cotton yarn prices, the Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) said the Indian government should ban cotton exports. This comes after the industry has called for the elimination of 11% cotton import tariffs.

 

TEA President RajaMShanmugham said: India's cotton and cotton yarn exports are increasing to benefit our competitors. India's share of knitwear exports is only 4%, China 39%, Vietnam 13%, Bangladesh 14%. The government should ban cotton exports so that the domestic industry can compete in the international market and India can benefit from the added value. If necessary, raising the minimum support price (MSP) can protect farmers' interests.

 

This issue has been brought to the attention of the government. Representatives of the textile industry have submitted a memorandum to textile minister PiyushGoyal, asking the government to intervene.

 

Subsequently, Upendra PrasadSingh, Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles, held a video conference to discuss with industry representatives. Shanmugam said that the industry issues were explained to government officials and Singh assured that the issues would be looked into.

 

The Ministry of Textiles and industry representatives are currently trying to reach Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as the foreign trade issue is directly related to the Ministry of Finance.

 

TEA also urged the government to stop cotton futures trading, because investors trading activities also led to the rise in cotton prices.

 

Shanmugham said the industry is currently producing at full capacity to meet export orders, but the recent rise in cotton and cotton yarn prices has worsened the situation for exporters and producers. The extra cost is unbearable for them and has plunged the garment units in Tiruppur into a deep crisis.TEA has asked other textile organizations such as the Textile Mills Association, SISA, TASMA, ITF, to appeal to their members not to jack up the price of cotton yarn.

 

Meanwhile, to highlight their problems, TEA has called for a strike in Tiruppur on January 17-18. More than 600,000 workers and 2,000 direct exporters associated with more than 20,000 MSMEs will take part in the strike. However Shanmugham said that the strike is only symbolic.