The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) has announced that all textile mills across the country will shut down indefinitely starting 1 February.
The decision follows what the association describes as the interim government’s failure to implement measures to protect domestic yarn-producing spinning mills.
Speaking at a press conference held at the association’s office in Karwan Bazar on Thursday, BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell stated that the industry no longer has the capacity to repay bank loans.
He revealed that the industry’s capital base has shrunk by half, and even selling off all assets would not suffice to clear outstanding debts.
“We will shut down no matter what,” Russell told reporters, alleging that despite appeals to various ministries and departments, no effective support has been provided.
He further criticised the bureaucratic response, remarking that every department is “simply passing responsibility to others, like a game of pillow passing.”
The crisis stems from a policy standoff regarding the bonded warehouse facility. On 12 January, the commerce ministry requested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to suspend duty-free yarn imports to protect local spinning mills.
However, this move was met with strong opposition from garment and knitwear exporters.
Leaders from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) warned that suspending duty-free imports could increase production costs significantly.
The measure could potentially raise import duties to approximately 37%, adding between $0.30 and $0.60 per kilogram of yarn.
While BGMEA and BKMEA representatives met with Commerce Adviser SK Bashir Uddin to seek a review of the request, BTMA leaders held separate talks with the finance adviser. To date, these discussions have yielded no resolution.
Industry experts warn that the ongoing policy dispute threatens to disrupt the balance between local producers and manufacturers, potentially burdening the nation’s $28 billion knitwear export sector.
