Surat: The textile dyeing and printing mills in the country’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) hub in Surat and south Gujarat are facing a severe crisis due to the ongoing war in the Middle East. With the prices of key raw materials such as coal, chemicals and dyes etc. increasing significantly, the textile processors have unanimously decided to keep their factories shut for two days in a week.
If there is no sign of relief from the price increase in basic raw materials like coal, chemicals, dyes in the next few days, then the dyeing printing mills, processing units, which are the last link in the value chain of Surat’s textile industry, will remain closed for two days a week and cut production.
Jitu Vakharia, president of South Gujarat Textile Processors Association (SGTPA) stated that an important meeting of representatives of all clusters of dyeing printing mills, process houses was held. During the meeting, issues like the current situation of the industry, increasing production costs, shortage of artisans, market demand and effective use of available resources were discussed in detail. Different mill owners and operators presented their opinions and gave suggestions on how to sustain the industry in the current circumstances and the management also took a view on what the form of production cut should be.
During the discussion, a unanimous opinion was expressed that if the dyeing printing mills and processing houses do not get relief from the problem of inordinate price hike and short supply in the next few days, then the production should be cut by keeping the process houses closed for 2 days per week. The main purpose of this proposal is to reduce production costs, maintain a balance between supply and demand in the market and provide long-term stability to the industry.
In the meeting of the South Gujarat Textile Processors Association, the operators of dyeing printing mills and processing units decided that if relief is not provided, implementation will start in a few days.
Jitendra Vakharia said that a more extensive discussion will be held in the coming days to take a final decision on this issue and the consent of all the parties involved will be obtained. Experts say that if the war between Iran and the US stops, there will be partial relief from the price hike of basic raw materials other than coal, but the most important issue for dyeing and printing mills is the increase in coal prices. The increase in coal prices has nothing to do with the war, coal prices have increased drastically after Indonesia cut production, and options are currently being sought to address this.
