Diesel & power crises might drag down RMG output

03 May '06

2 min read

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has lamented that rising diesel and power crises in the country cause production loss for Readymade Garment (RMG) sector.

Sometimes these units lose about five hours of a ten-hour average working day due to load shedding, said Tipu Munshi, President of BGMEA.

Addressing a press, Munshi said production in RMG industry might fall by 50 percent and production cost might go up by about 25 percent following the crises.

This is an appalling fall and if the government does not address the problems immediately, country's competitors like India and China might corner its market share, h said in an aprehensive manner.

To cope with this situation, BGMEA demanded that the government improve power situation urgently or provide low cost diesel for the industry so it can maintain usual production rate and also remain price competitive in international markets.

Many of the garment factory owners have started using generators, but as 90 percent of the generators use diesel and rest (five percent) run on gas is of no avail.

Speaking exclusively to Fibre2fashion.com over telephone, Munshi said that Bangladesh garment sector is performing well this year and exports are expected to cross US $6 billion to the US and EU alone, registering an annual growth of about 15 percent.

More Textiles News - Bangladesh...