The recent hike in yarn prices has worsened the plight of Bangladesh apparel makers who were already aggrieved by a sustained hike in global cotton prices and pandemic-induced lockdowns. RMG makers in the county are protesting against the price hike which they feels is putting additional burden on them at a time when the industry is yet to recover fully from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. They accused local millers of taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak and said, the price hike is eating up competitiveness of the locally manufactured garments.

However, spinning mills attributed the hike in cotton prices to rising demand for the item globally and a supply crunch, and upward costs of other related logistics followed by the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), says the pandemic has affected not only local RMG industry but also the primary textile millers.

Lockdown has pushed up use of cotton-based garment items especially knitted ones, opinens Khokon, attributing the cotton price hike to demand and supply gap.

Nurul Islam, Chairman, Well Group, said the price hike has affected both spinners and RMG makers and its impact can be predicted in coming months. of raw materials had skyrocketed while costs of logistics had also gone up. Rubana Huq, President, BGMEA believes, the price hike could kill their potential to beat competitors.

According to BTMA, some 425 spinners out of total 1,461 members provide around 90 per cent yarn demand for knit and 35-40 per cent yarn demand for woven items exports. Bangladesh annually produces only 0.16 million bales of cotton. It imports around 8.0 million bales of cotton annually. These imports mainly come from African countries, India, Australia, the US and Brazil, said BTMA.