Textile mill owners’ association in Bangladesh – the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), states that almost 60 per cent of Bangladesh’s textile mills are at risk of closure due to the ongoing severe shortage of gas.
This was underlined by media reports which added BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon, at a recent press conference, reportedly claimed a massive 90 per cent of the textile mills had been facing shortage of gas since March 2022 even if the situation had deteriorated since July with the production in the sector decreased to 35-40 per cent while the millers failed to entertain export orders worth US $ 1 billion in recent months, owing to the gas crisis, as per the trade body.
Presenting a paper titled Energy issue particularly overall scenario and its impact on the textile sector, Mohammad Ali Khokon underlined the primary textile sector was facing an intense gas crisis by receiving supply for only 12 hours a day, which increased the production cost of yarns by twofold to US $ 2.5 per kilogramme, while adding, ‘due to falling competitiveness, there is a chance of shutting down of many factories,’ which may create new bank defaulters and unemployment, the BTMA President felt.
