Chennai: Cotton yarn mills are cutting down production due to lower demand from both domestic and export markets. While a few mills have stopped production, some are reducing the number of working days and shifts.
Almost 60 per cent yarn mills, which are largely small and medium units, have cut their production. Some of them have cut the number of working days while some others have reduced the number of shifts from three to two, according to the South Indian Mills Association.
"Almost 50 per cent mills in north India are affected. A few mills have stopped production...New orders are not coming. Hence they are fulfilling whatever orders they had received. Those who do not have orders in hand have stopped production," said G Balasubramanian, Secretary General, North-ern India Textile Mills' Association.
Around 6 million spindles out of the total 44 million spindles are lying idle due to lower demand. "The demand is down both from the domestic market and the overseas market. As the garment exports have slowed down, the domestic market is absorbing lesser yarn. Exports too are down, mainly due to lesser off-take by China," said K Selvarjau, Secretary General, SIMA.
