The garment units in Tiruppur that cater to export and domestic markets downed shutters on Monday demanding action from the government to control cotton and yarn prices.
Raja M. Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, said the units in Tiruppur cluster produce goods worth ₹ 200 crore a day. The manufacturing units decided to remain shut on Monday and Tuesday (January 17 and 18) to demand action against increasing cotton and yarn prices.
Yarn prices increased almost 80 % in the last two years (pre-COVID times to now), he said. The price of 40s count hosiery yarn was ₹ 230 a kg before the pandemic and it is ₹ 400 a kg now. This is the trend for other counts of yarn, he added.
Tiruppur consumes approximately 30 lakh kg of yarn a day. The hike in raw material prices has hit production at the garment units, he said.
The units are demanding withdrawal of 10 % import duty on cotton and measures to control yarn prices. All the manufacturing units stopped production on Monday and will remain shut on Tuesday too, he added.
Denying exodus of workers in Tiruppur because of the third wave of COVID-19, Mr. Shanmugham said local workers usually go home for Pongal and migrant workers have also started doing so. They visit their home towns either during Deepavali or Pongal and return after a few days, he said.
