Open-end spinning mills in Tamil Nadu that supply yarn to producers of mops, mats, kitchen towels, lungis, etc. will shut operations from November 7 to 30. Similarly, master weavers in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts have announced a strike from November 5.
G. Arulmozhi, president of the open-end spinning mills’ association, told presspersons in Coimbatore on Saturday November 4, 2023, that open-end spinning mills, numbering almost 600 in Tamil Nadu, produce yarn worth ₹60 crores a day. “For the past six months, the mills are operating at just 50% of their capacity. Since we are incurring losses if we run the mills, we have decided to stop production,” he said.
According to Mr. Arulmozhi, the main raw material for the mills is cotton waste that comes from regular textile mills. “The price of cotton is ₹160 a kg and the price of waste cotton should have been ₹97 a kg. But it is ₹115 a kg now. Waste cotton prices should decline by ₹20 a kg. Yarn is sold at ₹140 to ₹150 a kg, which was the price prevailing five years ago. In the past five years, costs of power, labour, and raw materials have increased multi-fold,” he said.
