Bangladesh’s local spinning mills are facing a severe crisis due to a sharp increase in low-priced yarn imports from India, said Shawkat Aziz Russell, President of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
He stated that during the last fiscal year, yarn imports from India increased by 137 percent. Indian exporters, he alleged, are dumping yarn in the Bangladeshi market at prices around 30 cents per kilogram lower than local production costs, severely undermining domestic mills.
According to the BTMA President, nearly 50 spinning mills across the country have already shut down as a result of this situation. These mills had investments worth Tk 500 to Tk 700 crore, and restarting them would be extremely difficult once operations have ceased.
Russell further warned that Bangladesh is becoming overly dependent on India for yarn supplies, which poses long-term risks to the textile sector. “In the past, India has repeatedly halted cotton exports without valid reasons, and on several occasions also stopped yarn exports,” he said. Such overreliance, he cautioned, could create serious vulnerabilities for Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industries in the future.
