Zimbabwe : Textile Company Working at 50% Capacity Due to Lint Shortage

The shortage of lint has feared Textile industry in Zimbabwe as it can affect the exports and jobs. According to The Zimbabwe Textiles Manufacturers' Association (Zitma) textile companies are operating at half their normal capacity due to the shortage.

Ginners were, however, exporting 70 percent of their lint to earn foreign currency needed to keep machinery running. Edwin Chimanye, Zitma's vice-chairman, described the situation in the textile sector as critical. He said: "It's a serious problem. The industry is failing to honour contracts with ginners."

The industry was receiving low grade lint which could not meet quality levels demanded by the export market. A number of companies had resorted to discounting their products, losing millions of dollars in the process. Chimanye said government-brokered talks agreed that ginners should supply 35 percent of their lint to the domestic market before exporting the balance.

Some ginners were taking advantage of loopholes within the system to circumvent the agreed position resulting in some textile companies getting as little as 15 percent of their requirements. Pheneas Chingono, chairman of the National Cotton Council, could not be reached for a comment yesterday.

A member of the council dismissed claims by textile companies, saying they were hiding behind a finger. He said textile companies were not prepared to pay market prices for lint. While the gazetted price of lint is $400 a kilogramme, the product is selling at an equivalence of $1 200 a kg in South Africa.

The member said: "It's a worldwide business and spinners don't want to pay the right price." Some textile companies were, however, considering importing lint. The move would chew into the little foreign currency reserved available to import electricity, fuel and other essential raw materials. Chimanye argued: "The local industry cannot afford to import a product that we have here." The textile sector has not been performing well due to rising production costs and depressed demand.

The industry was also affected by Zimbabwe's exclusion from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which gave preference to African textile exports to the United States.