War in Ukraine affects garment export industry in TN's Tiruppur

Chennai, March 30 (IANS) Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu is known as the Manchester of the South with most of the garment exports taking place from this place. The industry, already reeling under a steep increase in prices of raw materials, is now affected by the Ukraine-Russia war.

Tiruppur which is one of the biggest textile hubs in the country has a turnover of Rs 3000 crore per month but in the last month, exporters said, the business has come down anywhere between 20 to 30 percent.

Around 65 percent of the export business from Tiruppur is with the European Union and the war between Ukraine and Russia has affected the exports significantly.

Raja M. Shanmugham, President of the Tiruppur Exporters Association, told IANS, "The price of raw materials has seen a steep increase. For example, cotton candy price has increased from Rs 15,000 a month to Rs 80,000 a month and this has affected our production."

He said that most of the European brands are importing from Tiruppur and have business in Russia and Ukraine and added that the war has had a cascading effect on the whole of Europe leading to a decline in imports by European countries.

The TEA president said, "Europe and UK are mired in crisis following the war and naturally they will reduce the imports of garments and we are feeling the pinch. Most of the European brands have reduced the imports between 20 to 30 percent."

He said that the increase in cotton candy prices has affected the production of yarn and fabrics and is affecting the growth of the cotton textile value chain.

T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), told media persons that "Traders are hoarding cotton and manipulating the price on a daily basis taking advantage of future trading in MCX and NCDEX."

"He said that 11 percent import duty has emboldened traders to hoard textiles in the name of farmers and called upon the Union government to withdraw the import duty which would automatically lead to a reduction in prices.

The textile industry leaders also called upon the government to make declaration of cotton stock mandatory for traders to prevent hoarding.