Textile mills in India are considering alternate forms of transportation as a result of Bangladesh closing its land ports for yarn that India exports, and they have also urged the Government to address the matter with Bangladesh.
Land ports handled the transportation of over 30 per cent of India’s yarn, mostly special and dyed yarn, that was shipped to Bangladesh. The yarn exporters discussed a number of alternate options at a recent conference, including shipping in containers and using inland waterways. They met with buyers in Bangladesh as well.
An issue that exporters face while shipping their containers is the lead time. Nearly 70 per cent of Indian yarn shipped to Bangladesh is still transported by sea, says Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council’s executive director, Siddhartha Rajagopal. Exporters who used to use the various land ports for their goods will now use the sea routes as well. There are smaller ships that leave from Kolkata, he added, stating that the idea of sending those ships must be investigated.
Bangladesh accounts for around 45 per cent of India’s yarn exports, according to the Secretary General of the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), K. Selvaraju. In the past, India exported more than 100 million kg of yarn every month while currently it has decreased to around 90 million kg. Indian yarn was mostly sold in Bangladesh and China. In recent years, China has drastically reduced its imports of Indian yarn. If 30 per cent of shipments to Bangladesh are affected, the yarn will arrive for domestic use and lower costs and the domestic textile value chain will be impacted.
The closing of the land ports is currently having an impact on textile factories in the northern states. But if things don’t get better, the whole textile spinning industry would be impacted, he warned.
