Pakistan’s once-thriving textile industry is facing a severe crisis, leading to the export of used machinery to countries like Afghanistan, Indonesia, and others in South America.
The downturn has forced millers to sell their machines abroad due to excess manufacturing capacity and plummeting product demand.
The industry is engaged in an ongoing debate about the primary destinations for these exports. Market reports indicate several machines are going to Afghanistan, which recently started operations with 30,000-40,000 spindles from Pakistan. Yet, some industry insiders argue that the volume sent to Afghanistan is not predominant. A global textile machinery trade broker challenges the claim that a large portion of exports is destined for Afghanistan.
Acknowledging the broader trend, he also confirms that considerable quantities of Pakistani-used textile machinery are being sent to North and South America and Indonesia.
The downturn of Pakistan’s spinning mills can be attributed to high electricity costs, ongoing internal disputes among owners, ineffective government policies, and insufficient incentives. Consequently, around seventy per cent of the country’s used textile machinery is now being discarded as scrap.
