Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) has suggested formation of a permanent monitoring committee to look into yarn import through three land ports -- Benapole, Bhomra and Sonamasjid.
The spinners in their four-point proposal also reiterated their previous stance and opposed allowing partial import of yarn through these land ports.
The BTMA called upon the government to ensure required infrastructure with installation of yarn measurement equipment according to its count and deployment of skilled human resources to effectively deal with the readymade garment (RMG) raw materials' import before allowing them through these three land ports.
Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of BTMA, the trade body for primary textile millers, in a letter on Tuesday to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) made the proposal.
Referring to the October meeting with commerce ministry and NBR, BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon proposed formation of a permanent committee to look into yarn import through these three land ports of Benapole, Bhomra and Sonamasjid.
In the letter, he said, "The high global cotton prices pushed up the locally produced yarn price."
As a result, it has been learnt that RMG makers are facing an uneven competition with other countries, he said
adding BTMA and its other sub-sectors believe in equal growth and competition.
Currently, the industry can import raw materials like cotton, yarn, fabrics and others used for readymade garment manufacturing under the bonded-warehouse facility through Benapole while partial imports are allowed only in Chattogram port.
Against the backdrop of price hike of yarn on the local market, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BTTLMEA) on August 14 and 16 respectively urged the government to allow the import of raw materials, including cotton, yarn, and fabrics, under bonded-warehouse facility through all the land ports between Bangladesh and India for uninterrupted production activities and retaining their competitiveness on the global apparel market.
The BTMA then opposed yarn import through all land ports.
The BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMA later jointly fixed the upper ceiling of yarn prices taking the global cotton prices into consideration and agreed to review the rate from time to time if needed.
BTMA mills meet about 90 per cent of knitwear exporters' demand while the rate is only 35 to 40 per cent for the woven segment.
The BTMA in the letter also urged the government to allow duty-free import of all kinds of fibre and fixed Tk 3.0 as VAT on sales of per kg of all kinds of yarn in the local markets.
At present, Tk 3.0 VAT is applicable for every kg of yarn made from cotton.
