Following the instructions from Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company Ltd. (SNGPL) has restored gas supply on ‘4-hour a day’ basis to Punjab (Pakistan)-based textile industry after suspension of around 10 days.
The SNGPL will supply 60 MMCFD LNG at US $ 9 per MMBTU. As per industry sources, many textile mill-owners are still opposing the rate of LNG but it is expected that a large chunk of the industry would take advantage of the opportunity provided, to re-commence its production operations.
SM Tanveer, Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), said that the industry will fight for 24-hour a day gas supply as specified in recently-announced Textile Policy 2014-19. He also mentioned that sudden suspension of gas supply has affected the viability of textile industry by and large.
Also Read – Textile industry in Punjab (Pakistan) faces gas supply issues
Due to gas supply issues in the country, around 100 textile mills have reported complete closures, marking plunge in exports by 15 per cent in quantitative terms. According to export data for the month of November 2015, exports of cotton yarn and cotton fabric have dipped to 45 and 22 per cent, respectively.
