Pakistani cotton exporters are losing major Chinese business to Indian mills, according to the Pakistan’s Cotton Ginners’ Association president, Mahesh Kumar. Kumar told just-style that severe power shortages in Punjab–where, Kumar said, 75% of Pakistan’s spinning mills are based–cost Pakistan the opportunity to sell China thousands of metric tons of cotton yard.
China is Pakistan’s biggest yarn buyer, purchasing some 80% its exports. Kumar reported that before the energy shortages, Pakistan averaged 65,000 tonnes, or metric tons, per month. After the shortages began, only 25% of mills were able to remain open by using private electricity, and Chinese clients have taken their business to India.
India-to-China yarn exports are indeed on the rise (a 60%-70% increase is predicted within India’s current fiscal year), but the Indian textile industry denies that they have benefited from Pakistan’s energy crisis. Manikam Ramaswamy, chairman of India’s Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, says that India has simply met China’s demand for thicker yard.