Terry towel makers have been facing acute shortage of raw materials as cotton and garment wastes are being smuggled out and exported to a neighbouring country, industry-insiders have alleged. They said the price of yarn produced from the wastes had increased by 20 per cent in the last couple of months in consequence, making it difficult for them to meet the export orders. They also alleged that the cotton wastes and garment ‘jhute’ (cutting wastes), the main raw materials for the specialised textile mills, were being smuggled out and exported with false declarations to India through Benapole, Dawki, Akhaura and Tamabil land ports. In this connection, the Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BTTLMEA) recently sent a letter to the ministries of finance and commerce, seeking the government’s intervention to make supply of the raw materials available on the local market for the interest of the industry. “Cotton wastes and garment jhute are being exported to India under the name of waste clipping/garment clipping, leading to a series of price hike in the raw materials in the last few months,” the letter reads. The industry people alleged that vested quarters are exporting cotton wastes to India under the name of garment jhute as there was no export duty on garment waste. “Despite offering high prices, we are not getting the required raw materials. As a result, we are facing problems in meeting the export orders,” Shahadat Hossain, managing director of Towel Tex Limited, told the FE. Since 2008, there has been no short supply following the government’s move as it set minimum export price for cotton wastes at $4.5 per kg with 25 per cent export duty to discourage the shipment of cotton waste, he said. He requested the government to scrutinise the issue and stop export of cotton waste for at least six months to stabilise the local market. Miss declarations are feared to take place in exporting cotton wastes and garment jhute, said Md Mujibur Rahman, secretary of the BTTLMEA, explaining that cotton wastes are being exported in the name of garment wastes as the minimum shipment prices of garment waste were Tk 18 a kg without tariffs. The export of garment wastes increased by 140 per cent during the first three months of the current fiscal year, according to state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Such high growth of garment wastes indicated that the cotton wastes were exported in the name of garment jhute, industry people alleged. The specialised textile sector produces yarn from the cotton wastes of the spinning mills and garment jhutes through recycling and the yarn are being used to manufacture terry towels, home textiles, denim and Khadi fabrics.
