, Printing and

Growth of Pakistan dyeing and finishing industry by Dr. Noor Ahmed Memon, Professor KASBIT. printing is an important process in textile design, given its Table 1: Category-Wise Production of Cloth role in embellishing and contributing (Quantity: 000 sq meters) to the style of the garment. With rapid Dyed & changes in fashion, the textile indus- Year Blended Grey Bleached Total Printed try is making a steady shift towards prints, rather than dyed fabrics. The 2010-11 52 572 87 309 1,020 market for textile printing is closely 2011-12 58 569 87 309 1,023 linked to consumer demand for 2012-13 59 571 88 311 1,029 apparel/clothing, home furnishings 2013-14 58 531 86 361 1,036 and decor. Steady population growth, increasing purchasing capability, and 2014-15 57 573 91 352 1,037 rapidly changing fashion trends are Source: (i) All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (ATMA). among the key factors driving the (ii) State Bank of Pakistan-Annual Report 2014-15. growth in the textile printing market. The steady shift towards digital tex- Production of cloth the textile industry in recent years have tile printing driven by the technol- taken a number of measures. One of The textile sector of Pakistan is ogy’s ability to accelerate production these is to try to correct the imbalance, considered to play a central role in the speeds, and reduce coloration costs, caused by the dependence of the entire economy of the country. At present is another factor in the steady growth country’s economy on a single independent processing units are working in the market. Technology advance- commodity that is raw cotton. in and around Faisalabad, Gujranwala ments and innovations associated Serious efforts have been made by and Karachi with complete finishing with inks and consumables, print the industry to increase substantially, the facilities. These integrated units have heads, and printing machinery remain domestic production of polyester fibre, complete finishing facilities i.e. bleaching, vital to market growth. whose supplies can be technically pre- mercerizing, dyeing, calendaring and determined and controlled by man as Screen Printing represents the largest printing. These units from the power against raw cotton, being always on the market sector by type of technology. loom sector procure cloth and after mercy of Mother Nature. processing they are marketed under their Though facing stiff competition from the Consequently, there is a growing own brand names in the domestic rapid adoption of digital technology, trend for blended fabrics, especially market. conventional screen printing continues to polyester / cotton in garments and other hold a major share of the global textile The and made-up sectors made-ups, like bed sheets. printing market, in terms of production have three different subsectors in volume of printed . Growth in the weaving viz. integrated, independent Import of finishing machines coming years will be driven largely by the weaving units and power loom sector. Fashion has always been a fast-paced digital textile printing market. Cloth is being produced in both mill and industry, but today top brands are Development of high-quality inkjet print non-mill sectors. Pakistan’s fabric range incorporating new colours and styles onto from coarse to super varieties. There are a heads, availability of open system inkjet their shop floors at unprecedented large number of vertically integrated print heads that enable use of inks from speeds. Household and other textile units, where production is controlled from multiple suppliers, and launch of lower applications are also beginning to fibre to the end product, and marketed priced solutions are expected to experience similar pressure to provide abroad directly. accelerate the adoption of digital printing more designs at a faster pace. The technology. The production of cloth (mill sector) success of garment printing illustrates the The market for digital textile printing increased from 1,020 million square growth of an industry that equipment in Pakistan is increasing as it offers better meters in 2010-11 to 1,037 million manufacturers have clearly noticed. square meters in 2014-15, thus showing and high definition textile print design A number of printing companies possibilities, lower water, effluent, an average increase of 0.54% per have released DTG printers, Epson’s Sure emissions and energy use with annum. Out of total production of cloth Colour F2000 series among them. economical production of “short run- during 2014-15 in mill sector, 50% Garment printing uses GT-3 Series medium run” prints to the market. The produced in grey form, 34% dyed and Garment Printer with CMYK and 4 White shorter delivery brings in increased printed, and 16% blended and bleached. Print Heads made by Brother. Due to savings to retailers and brands as digital Category-Wise Production of Cloth are withdrawal of custom duties and taxes printing hubs are based on proximity given in Table-1. and introduction of concessional sourcing and just-in-time printing and The government and the industry in financing and LTFF on the import of sourcing strategies. order to help the value-added sectors of finishing textile machinery increased

36 PAKISTAN TEXTILE JOURNAL - April 2016 Dyeing, Printing and Finishing

Electricity rates have been raised by Table 4: Import of Textile Finishing Machines 13.6% that makes the textile products Quantity: Numbers Value: Rs. in Million completely uncompetitive in the international markets. Frequent power outages and fluctuations cause havoc 2013-2014 2013-2014 2012-2013 with the production. Machines Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value According to APTMA, billions of rupees of the textile industry are stuck up Drying Machines 672 201 203 144 318 221 with the government for a long period Bleaching Machines 9 69 2 73 38 226 due to the overdue refunds of sales tax, Dyeing Machines 197 993 369 1192 327 780 income tax, and duty-drawback. Despite repeated representations at all levels, Coating or Laminating 1282 2001 63 156 75 30 overdue refunds have not been released. Finishing Machines 60 84 11 84 24 83 This has raised the cost of production for the Pakistani manufacturers in relation to Total 2,220 3,348 648 1,649 782 1,340 its other world competitors and forced Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. the industry to borrow to continue and during the year 2014-15. Import of properties and the creation of new survive. textile dyeing, drying, bleaching and material properties are the most Government announced textile policy finishing machines increased from 782 important reasons for the value added (2014-19) in February 2015 envisaging numbers valued Rs 1.34 billion in 2012- textiles. doubling textile exports from current $13 13 to 2,220 numbers valued Rs 3.35 billion to $26 billion in next five years, Problems and challenges billion in 2014-15, thus showing an besides opening up EXIM bank, average increase of 50% in terms of At present Pakistan textile industry is reconstitution of export development value. Import of textile finishing facing challenges due to social and fund board, setting up of land port machinery to Pakistan are given in environmental compliance issues from US authority and Federal Textile Board. Table 2. and European buyers. The impact of References Innovations resulting from environmental regulations on the textile technological advancements represent sector of Pakistan can be classified 1. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association. the best strategy for success in the according to many parameters. However, 2. Finishing (textiles) - Wikipedia, the increasingly competitive textile industry. the major area of concern for the textile- free Encyclopedia 3. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The fabric production market has limited processing sector is wastewater and 4. State Bank of Pakistan-Annual Report scope, which can be enhance by value effluent treatment. 2014-15. added finishing to textiles. The The textile industry is burdened by 5. Trade Development Authority of maintenance and improvement of current high cost of inputs and many taxes. Pakistan. 

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