COIMBATORE

For the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, the US-Israel-Iran war has affected both demand and the availability of raw materials.

For the spinning mills that use manmade fibre, the main raw material is polyester. With oil production and transport from the west Asian countries affected, price of polyester fibre is on the rise.

Of the 24 million spindles in Tamil Nadu, only about 21 million are in operation and the textile mills are currently using just 80 % of the capacity. Many of the mills switched over to manmade fibre in the recent year due to high cotton prices.

In the case of the textile processing sector, LPG is used for drying the fabric and its prices have doubled in the last couple of months. The prices of dyes and chemicals are said to have escalated 30 % to 40 %. “Many dyeing units have suspended operation as it is not viable to operate at such high costs,” said an official at the Dyers Association of Tiruppur.

In the case of the garment industry, the production costs have increased 10 % - 21 % since the beginning of March. “Since the pandemic, the purchase trend of the developed country consumers has changed. High-end brands have taken a hit and low cost retailers are growing. Some of the brands have skipped a fashion season this year because of the war. The demand is more for low cost garments. Cost of air and sea freights has seen three fold increase. Price of yarn is on the rise. All these have hit the MSMEs,” said a garment exporter in Tiruppur.

“Workers are unwilling to come to Tiruppur because there is shortage of LPG for cooking. The industry is facing severe labour shortage too,” added another exporter.

With Tamil Nadu having a significant share of the country’s textile and garment industry, recurring challenges has hit the MSMEs and the threatens the growth of the industry in the State, say industry sources.