Pakistan: leather gloves exports decrease
Following the news reported recently on Leatherbiz.com that over 150 of the total 260 split leather processing units in Sialkot, Pakistan, have been closed down, gloves export has also decreased from last year’s $300 million to $260 million this year.
The situation is a matter of worry for the domestic producers, exporters and thousands of workers who are directly or indirectly associated with the split leather processing industry or involved in exports of value added products, Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PGMEA) chairman, Muhammad Younas stated.
Sialkot’s local markets have been experiencing shortage of wet blue split leather, according to the PGMEA chairman. He added that the local gloves industry was waning due to the adverse situation in Sialkot and throughout Pakistan, which is worsening day-by-day.
Expressing their serious concern about the situation, producers of wet blue split leather have called upon the government to urgently impose a ceiling on wet blue split leather export. “This would not only safeguard the domestic leather and wet blue split leather industry from acute financial crunch, but also save the jobs of thousands of workers associated with the industry,” they said.
The producers are demanding a special incentives package to boost Sialkot’s wet blue split leather industry. They claim that a ban on wet blue split leather export has become necessary for sustenance of the domestic leather and wet blue split leather industry.
