Exporters Hit By Closure Of Dyeing Units.

Though garment exports from Tirupur are estimated to have moved up 5.9% to Rs 12,500 crore in fiscal 2011, there isn't much cheer for exporters. Despite a jump in yarn prices that doubled in the last fiscal, export volumes are projected to have declined 18%.

"We should have achieved 30% growth. Our exports should have touched Rs 15,000 crore," said A Sakthivel, president, Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA). The inability to pass the increased costs to buyers and the closure of dyeing units has hit performance. There has been a 30-40% drop in capacity utilisation as most dyeing units are closed following the Madras HC stricture on polluting units. "If the crisis continues, exports would come down by 25% this year," he said.

Garment exporters are now sending their fabric to several centres across the country including Ludhiana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh for processing. But this is a time consuming exercise, industry officials said. While processing fabric in Tirupur and nearby centres is done in 7-10 days, it takes 20-25 days to finish the job in upcountry centres due to the time involved in transportation.

Nearly 1 lakh workers have already left Tirupur and several others will move after the summer vacation, Sakthivel said. "We can feel it. Every day is like a Sunday here," he said.

Despite the crisis in the industry, TEA and the Apparel Export Promotion Council are organising the regular India Knit Fair show as scheduled in the knitwear town from Wednesday since it would send the right signals to overseas buyers, Sakthivel said.

"Buyers shouldn't lose confidence in us. They are also offering better rates now. Moreover, China and Bangladesh are not in a position to execute orders that can be moved out of India," he noted. Effluent treatment plants that comply with the norms should operate and even if the dyeing industry works at 20-30% of its capacity buyers would gain confidence, Sakthivel said.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com