Greek textile industry suffers from high energy cost: SEVK

24 Feb '14

2 min read

The textile industry in Greece is being affected by high energy cost, Eleftherios Kourtalis, president of the Association of Greek Textile Industry (SEVK) has said, reports express.gr.

In a letter to Kostis Chatzidakis, Minister of Development, Competitiveness, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, and Asimaki Papageorgiou, Deputy Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Kourtalis said the continued high energy cost would affect the production process of most of the textile industry.

It is nearly two years since SEVK wrote letters to the relevant Ministries, but the Government has not taken any measure to reduce excessive energy costs for manufacturing in the country, the letter said.

The cost of electricity for domestic textile industries is double the European average, which affects the international competitiveness of the energy-intensive Greek textile industry, which puts the sustainability of the businesses at risk, the letter added.

On the other hand, industries in major European countries are getting double benefit from both low energy prices and from the several policy measures implemented by governments, including tax breaks, lower regulatory fees, etc.

According to Mr. Kourtalis, the continuation of the existing energy pricing policy would push the traditional productive and energy-intensive textile industry into extinction, affecting both the Greek economy and the livelihood of approximately 80,000 employees.

From January to June 2013, textile sub-sector production declined by 10.9 percent year-on-year, but it was better than the 17.9 percent year-on-year dip registered during the corresponding period of 2012, according to the data from the Hellenic Fashion Industry Association (APR).

However, textile exports from Greece during January to June 2013 period remained at the same level as in 2012 at €196.2 million.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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