The Split Leather Gloves Manufacturers’ Group of Pakistan (SLGMGP) has urged Pakistan’s government to take immediate action to halt the continued decline in the export of leather gloves. Abdul Shakoor Mirza, president of SLGMGP, said the major decline in export of leather gloves was due to excessive exports of split leather, especially to China.
According to Mr Mirza, the mass export of split leather to China had resulted in a shortage of raw leather for the domestic market. He also claimed that prices for split leather had increased sharply, which had ultimately led to Pakistani leather gloves becoming less competitive on the international market. The glove industry employs thousands of labourers and technicians and he stated that if no immediate measures were taken to resolve the current problems, there could be significant job losses in the sector. The problem had arisen as a result of the 2004-05 trade policy which allowed the export of raw leather, including split leather.
However, despite these claims, according to figures released by Federal Bureau of Statistics, leather glove exports form Pakistan actually increased by 66.17% during first six months of current financial year (July to December 2004) to reach $55.37 million compared with $33.32 million in the same period in the previous year.
