NCTC appeals PM Modi to remove anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre

New Delhi [India], January 10 : The National Committee on Textiles and Clothing (NCTC) has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre (VSF) and redressal of VSF spun yarn availability and price issues to prevent job losses across the VSF textile value chain.
NCTC is a common platform for those industrialists who are in various segments of VSF, man-made, biodegradable fibre with characteristics similar to cotton. VSF is fast emerging as a sustainable alternative to cotton and demand for man-made fibre-based garments is much larger than cotton garments in the global market.
In view of the high price of VSF in India, captains of various segments of VSF value chain including the Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC), the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), the Indian Spinners Association (ISA) and the Powerloom Development Export Promotion Council (PDEXL) under the common platform of the NCTC have submitted a joint representation to the Prime Minister.
The representation sought for the removal of "anti-dumping duty on import of VSF to achieve global competitiveness and accomplish the target of USD 350 billion by 2025 set by the Ministry of Textiles for the textiles and apparel sector." They have also requested the Hon'ble Union Minister of Textiles and Secretary, Textiles to support the textile industry in this regard.
The NCTC observed that owing to the growing demand for viscose staple fibre and its blended textiles and clothing market opportunities, the demand for viscose staple fibre has increased steeply not only in India but also across the globe.
"As the imported yarn price was cheaper due to high anti-dumping duty prevailing on the domestic viscose staple fibre, the weaving and knitting sectors have been importing a large volume of VSF spun yarn. The import of VSF spun yarn has increased from 2 million kgs during 2016-17 to 56 million kgs during 2019-20," NCTC said in a statement.
The NCTC also highlighted in the appeal that "in the post-Covid market scenario, VSF price has increased from USD 1.15 to USD 1.50 per kg during the last few months".
"As the domestic VSF price was expensive due to anti-dumping duty (up to USD 0.512 per kg), the demand for domestic spun yarn got reduced and therefore, the availability and price are affecting the entire VSF value chain especially the knitted and power loom sectors," it said.
NCTC observed that all the major VSF power loom clusters in the states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat are agitating against the "steep increase in VSF prices".
Hence, NCTC has appealed to the Prime Minister to "remove the anti-dumping duty levied on viscose staple fibre on a war footing to address the burning issue, grab the emerging market opportunities and to protect the livelihoods of several lakhs of workers employed in the VSF textile value chain. This is the second appeal to the Prime Minister, in this regard."
NCTC appreciated that the Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani has recommended to the government for supporting the textile industry in removing anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre as it ensures availability of raw materials at economical prices to the spinning industry.
The VSF value chain industry players concluded by saying that removing anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre will make the domestic VSF prices aligned with the Global VSF prices making the entire Indian VSF textile value chain globally competitive and boost production and exports of these products.