Tirupur garment manufacturers protest yarn price hike

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 16, 2021

Garment manufacturers in Tamil Nadu yarn hub Tirupur shut down their units on March 15 to protest recent yarn price increases which they believe have negatively impacted the industry.

Tirupur’s apparel manufacturers have faced order cancellations due to the pandemic, as well as price hikes over the past six months and industry representatives are petitioning the central government to regulate exports, the Press Trust of India reported. Yarn is an important raw material in garment manufacturing and the current shortage in the domestic market has led to increased production costs in the knitwear and hosiery sectors. 
 
The Tirupur Exporters Association has asked that yarn not be exported until India’s domestic needs are fulfilled. “

We want the government to immediately regulate the exports to ensure the supply of yarn to the domestic industry,” said the Tirupur Exporters Association president Raja Shanmugam, the Press Trust of India reported. 
 
Export businesses are also facing challenges as the domestic price increase in yarn has not been mirrored in the international market. 
 
Following the voluntary strike on Monday, the organisation plans to petition the Ministries of Commerce and Textiles and also take its appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office. The Tirupur Exporters Association has warned that a failure to address the issue could lead to raw materials shortages and businesses having to halt their operations.