They demanded that yarn imports from India be stopped through all land ports as large quantities are entering without proper documentation and quality testing, deteriorating sales of the domestic primary textile sector, where $22 billion has been invested.
The millers said yarn imports can be allowed through the Chattogram port as it contains facilities for quality testing.
In most cases, double the quantity mentioned in letters of credit is being imported through misdeclarations, said leaders of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) at a press conference at its office in Dhaka.
Over the last eight months, textile millers at Bhulta, Gausia, Rupganj and Narayanganj areas have been suffering a lot because of low gas pressure in the supply lines, said BTMA Vice-President Md Saleudh Zaman Khan.
The textile mills are being run with alternative fuels such as diesel, methane-based compressed natural gas and liquified petroleum gas, which is composed of propane, butane, propylene, butylene, and isobutane, he said. This is also increasing the cost of production.
The mills are running at only 30 percent capacity and falling behind in competition with Indian companies as the latter get adequate gas supply alongside government incentives, he added.
Moreover, gas prices in Bangladesh have been hiked by over 400 percent in the past 2-3 years, he said.
BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell said they have already written to Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government, to review whether Bangladesh is truly qualified to make the United Nations country status graduation from a least developed country to a developing nation in 2026.
This is because, during the tenure of the last government, state data miscalculations led to export figures being inflated by around $14 billion to nearly $48 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, he said.
He also urged banks to provide loan rescheduling facilities as businesses suffered due to political unrest over the past two months.
Moreover, the interim government should provide incentives to the primary textile sector to make the domestic industry more competitive, he added.
Russell hoped for improvements in the law and order situation, saying it was especially necessary for the smooth operation of garment factories. He and other BTMA members accused “outsiders” of recent vandalism at garment factories.
The BTMA leaders said no textile mill had been attacked so far, although hundreds of garment factories have been facing trouble for labour unrest over different demands.
