KARACHI: Home textiles are maintaining a good growth rate in the country and are attracting more buyers than ever before, industry sources said on Monday.

The linen sector is experiencing very good growth, as more companies are being attracted to this sector.

Manufacturers and exporters said almost all existing players were operating at full capacity and a number of cotton-spinning companies were also moving into home textiles as they saw prospects of further growth.

If there was no change in the situation, the companies operating at full capacity would increase their capacity, they added.

They said the use of state-of-the-art technology had helped Pakistani companies to grab a lion's share in the world market.

Fazal Ahmad Sheikh, chairman of the Pakistan Bed sheet and Upholstery Manufacturers Association (PBUMA), said a number of companies would like to get introduced and buy new machines at the upcoming expo at Singapore, which would give a further edge to Pakistani home textiles.

He said bedlinen exports last year fetched foreign exchange of $ 1.2 billion.

"There is immense scope for home textile exports from Pakistan, but only if we can manufacture the right products," he added. He said several companies were expanding in basic home products such as bedlinen and terry towels.

Muhammad Javed Khan, an exporter, said Turkey was importing a lot of grey fabric from Pakistan, then processed it and converting it into home furnishings, etc and was also exporting them to Europe at high prices.

"If Pakistan develops similar processing capacities, we can also get good realisations and that is the aim of the industry," he added.

He said the Philippines' textiles production was achieving new records in 2005 and had registered a remarkable growth as they imported cotton yarn from Pakistan.

He said cotton yarn exports between January and July increased by eight percent to 7,451 ton. Lower-count yarns were in spotlight as significant growth was registered in them. Lower-count yarns were in spotlight as significant growth was registered in them, he added.

Export from Pakistan was up 292 percent to 2,593 ton, India and Indonesia were the other leading exporters. Small imports expanded also from Vietnam and Cambodia.

The export demand had shifted from multiple yarns to single-count yarns, which had helped Pakistan emerge ahead of India as the top supplier nation, he added.

He said China is very strong and we should focus on high-value items, where China, India or Bangladesh does not operate.

Mr Khan said European buyers especially wanted smaller lots and large variety. They were not happy with Chinese companies who did not want small orders. These buyers were quite surprised that Pakistani manufacturers could give them smaller lots.

He said the industry was upbeat about orders pouring in and expected a further increase after restrictions on China's home textile exports.

Pakistan is to raise the issue of imposition of tariff on textiles and other goods by the US. Manzoor Ahmad, Pakistan's ambassador to the WTO, recently said at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) the rich countries would be asked to reduce duties on poor countries' products at the three-day meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Hong Kong the next month.

He hoped they would agree on lowering duties on developing countries' products and informed that the EU was ready to curtail duties by 40 percent on imports of developing countries and subsidies by 50 percent on agricultural produce.

Dailytimes.com.pk