Posted July 8, 2015

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – The cotton-spinning sector in India has been hard hit by declining yarn exports.

 

Cotton spinning mills in northern India are making plans to possibly shut down one day a week. According to the Chandigarh-based Northern India Textile Mills’ Association (NITMA) that has 98 member mills – including top companies Vardhaman and Trident – excess spinning capacity and decline in exports this fiscal year have resulted in poor cash flow and excessive stocks. In addition to these fiscal matters, textile policies in some southern states and those of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are hitting the northern spinning mills hard, said Sharad Jaipuria, president of NITMA.

 

H. S. Cheema, senior vice president of NITMA, said that the spinning sector is under crisis and plans such as shutting production to one day a week are under serious consideration.

 

In a telephone conversation, G. Balasubramanian, secretary general of NITMA, said India has about 10 percent excess spinning capacity. “Yarn exports have fallen by about 20 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year,” he said.

 

More importantly, imports by China have declined by about 30 percent to 40 percent this year, creating a greater blow to the Indian spinning industry, he added.

 

Seshadri Ramkumar, PhD, FTA (honorary) is a professor of Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University.