Powerloom weavers in this part of the country have decided to stop production with immediate effect following piling up of fabric stock.

The Tirupur District Powerloom Cloth Manufacturers' Association gave a call to this effect last evening. Taking cue from the powerloom weavers in Tirupur, weavers in Avinashi have decided to follow suit.

The President of the Avinashi Cloth Manufacturers Association, Mr N. Muthuswamy, told Business Line, “We have no option, but halt production as the fabric stocks have piled up. The price of the yarn (across counts) has fallen by Rs 15-20 a kg in the last few days consequent to the steep fall in the price of cotton. Our buyers are waiting for the fabric prices to fall; they have gone slow and this has resulted in inventory pile up, forcing us to stop production.”

Hard-hit

While stating that the smaller powerloom units would be worst hit as they lacked the purchasing power to buy yarn when the price (of yarn) tended to drop, he said the inconsistent policies of the Government with regard to export of cotton and cotton yarn was having an adverse impact on the powerloom sector.

Bulk buyers of the fabric are mostly from upcountry markets such as Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

“Some volumes are offloaded at Erode as well,' he said without quantifying the inventory or the daily production volume.

Asked if he expected the prices to look up in the coming days, he said, “we are hoping it would. The production halt is aimed at reducing the inventory pile up.”

There is an estimated three to four lakh powerlooms in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts.

While the weavers in Tirupur district have decided to stop production from April 27 to May 15, powerloom weavers in Avinashi, Somanur and Palladam are yet to make up their mind on the dates.

Industry watchers, however, said that those units that had the wherewithal to operate would continue to produce, in spite of the association giving a call to its members to halt production for the time being.

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