India’s National Textile and Clothing Council (NCTC) recently called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the anti-dumping duties on viscose staple fiber (VSF) and resolve the supply and price issues of VSF yarn. To prevent the loss of jobs related to the entire VSF textile value chain.
NCTC’s VSF value chain industrial textile associations, including Apparel Export Promotion Council, Federation of Indian Textile Industry, Indian Garment Manufacturers Association, Indian Spinning Association, Machinery Industry Association Leaders of the Organization for Development and Export Promotion Association have submitted a joint representative statement to the Prime Minister, calling on the government to seriously consider the issue of rising VSF prices in India.
The statement requires the Indian government to cancel the anti-dumping duties on imported VSF to enhance India’s global competitiveness and achieve the Indian textile and apparel industry’s 2025 goals set by the Ministry of Textiles. The scale reaches the target of US$350 billion.
NCTC stated that due to the growing demand for VSF and the increasing market opportunities for its blended fabrics and apparel, not only India’s demand for VSF has increased, but global demand has also increased sharply.
NCTC said that due to the high anti-dumping duties imposed on VSF, the price of imported yarn is cheaper in comparison. Therefore, the weaving and knitting industries continue to import VSF staple yarn in large quantities. VSF staple yarn imports have increased from 2 million kilograms in 2016/17 to 56 million kilograms in 2019/20.
NCTC also emphasized that based on the post-COVID-19 market situation, VSF prices have increased from US$1.15 per kilogram to US$1.50 in the past few months. NCTC said that due to anti-dumping duties (as high as US$0.512 per kilogram), domestic VSF prices are high and demand for domestic staple yarn has decreased, thus affecting the supply and price of the entire VSF value chain, especially the knitting and power loom industries.
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In view of the above situation, NCTC has called on the Prime Minister to cancel the anti-dumping duties imposed on VSF to resolve the pressing issues, seize emerging market opportunities and protect the VSF textile value chain employing hundreds of thousands of workers. In this regard, I once again appeal to the Prime Minister. </p
