Razak should strip ACD and RD from synthetic yarns, according to PYMA

KARACHI: Hanif Lakhany, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA), has urged Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor on Trade & Investment to the Prime Minister, to follow through on his promise to abolish additional customs duty and regulatory duty (ACD & RD) on synthetic yarns, which are the textile industry’s raw material.

He said that unless the government plays a role in supplying raw materials to the textile industry at fair rates, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream of industrial and economic growth would never come true.

Hanif Lakhani wrote to Trade and Investment Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood, saying that while the government had declared the abolition of additional customs duty and regulation on industrial raw materials last year, ACD & RD on synthetic yarns had not been abolished, and that these obstacles should be eliminated immediately to minimise production costs and justify the polyester value chain’s cascading system. However, despite the long wait, the prime minister’s advisor has not followed through on his pledge, which is causing major concern among textile exporters and importers.

Farhan Ashrafi, Vice Chairman of the PYMA, reported that the production costs of industries have increased as a result of the continuous rise in raw material prices in the textile industry and the scarcity of cotton, and that exporters have suffered losses as a result of higher production costs against export orders. Anti-dumping duty on synthetic yarns has already been levied, he said, due to the monopoly of two local producers.

As a result, in order to ensure the textile industry and importers have access to low-cost raw materials, it is critical that the additional customs duty and regulatory duty on synthetic yarns be eliminated immediately and the cascading scheme be justified.