To avoid that large-scale unemployment and to guard value-added textile goods export the textile ancillary industry is demanding the government to immediately impose ban on yarn export.

The flare-up in raw cotton prices has already pushed cotton yarn prices high in the local market and if no immediate remedial measures are taken the value-added textile industry would come to a standstill, exporters said.

"Instead of imposing ban on raw cotton export the government should immediately come out to save the ancillary industry, which provides large-scale employment and also fetches sufficient foreign exchange on exports," a leading bedlinen exporter said.

When free trade policy on raw cotton had been successfully working for the last three years and there was no restriction of any sort on its import the spinners could easily meet their shortfall through imports, another exporter said.

Exporters of value-added textiles say that they generally book their export contracts well in advance and their valuation and pricing quoted for the buyers are based on rates prevalent at that time. However, after a sudden rise in cotton yarn prices in the local market their products became uncompetitive in the world market and many exporters fear that their export contracts worth millions of dollars may be cancelled by their buyers.