BY Md. Mozammel Haque Assistant Manager, CRM-SME

Overview
Clothing is one of the basic needs that represents one’s culture, moral standard and economic status. The industry which produces this clothing is called
textile. However, if you ask someone what textile is in the context of Bangladesh, what immediately comes to one’s mind is readymade garments (RMG). In reality, the RMG is just a part of the textile, and the area of textile spans from spinning, weaving, dyeing & printing & then making finished goods (RMG & fabrics). For the better understanding of the readers, here we will use the term “RMG” to refer to the industry engaged in producing export-oriented ready-made garments and the term “local textile” to address the industry engaged in serving the demand of the local market.

Our RMG sector has grown substantially and has created its own identity in the global arena. We hold the third position in the world in terms of RMG export. But what about the local textile industry? The sector is largely lagged far behind due to a lack of proper support from policymakers. Our textile mills are using aged-old machineries to produce fabrics, collecting catalogs from India & Pakistan to emulate the design of the fabric for the local market and labor
force’s skills and knowledge are still limited to the use of their designated single machinery.

We are forgetting that once this sector represented our country to the whole world through its unique products such as: Moslin, Jamdani saree. Our weavers were so expert then they perfectly crafted those products without any scratch. If we look at our neighboring countries, they have unique fabrics i.e. Arvind, Raymond, which are quite popular among the women of our county. They represent their textile industry through their domestic unit.

On the other hand, our domestic sector is overwhelmed by imported fabrics. Whether it is traditional fabrics or formal casual wear, people in our country prefer foreign brands over local brands. Some of the local giants like Sailor, Yellow, etc. already entered the local segment and trying to capture a share of this USD 7 billion market.

Value Chain
The local textile business has a presence in almost all wings of textile starting from yarn manufacturing to an established wholesale market for selling the
finished products. Its product basket mainly includes sarees, lungis, three-piece clothing, scarves, napkins, mosquitos net, Punjabi, and bed sheet items. Some are also engaged in shirting and panting fabrics.
With the growth in GDP and purchasing power, the sector is also growing. The current market size of this industry is around USD 7 billion. The sector generates sales of around BDT 20,000 crore during the two main national festivals, Eid and Pahela Baishakh out of which sale of lower grade fabrics used for Zakat is around BDT 6,000 crores.
The following charts explain the value chain of our local textile industry from yarn manufacturing to making finished products.

Hubs of Local Textile Mills

Cotton Import
People in our country always prefer cotton-made fabrics due to their comfort and adaptability to our weather conditions. So, cotton is the lifeblood of our textile industry. The local textile business has a presence in almost all wings except cotton production. Though cotton is cultivated on a limited scale in some parts of Bangladesh which roughly meets 2% to 4% of total demand.
As Bangladesh is not a cotton-growing region, it has to import almost all of its requirements from various countries to fulfill the demand of its spinning industry. The annual demand of cotton in Bangladesh is around 10 million bales; 98% of which is currently met from the following destination-

In Bangladesh, cotton mainly grows in Bandarban, Jhenaidah, Jashore, and Rangamati. Cotton Development Board is also looking for new farming lands in hilly and swamp areas in various districts along with the existing farming areas in Jashore, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Gazipur, and Mymensingh to reduce import dependency. The board hopes to produce 2.5 lakh bales of cotton by 2021, which will meet nearly 5-7 percent of the local consumption.

Spinning
The spinning industry manufactures yarn for the weaving sector of textile. It is a capital-intensive sector that requires huge capital in setting up factories,
procuring machinery and raw materials (cotton). The combined investment in the primary textile sector has reached more than $10 billion, 60 percent of which are made in the spinning sector.
Our local textile mostly focuses on woven items e.g. saree, three-piece, scarves, bed sheet fabrics, etc. for which they require 20 to 80 counts variants of yarns. Our spinning millers mainly focus on these segments mainly to cater to the demand of the local market. Apart from cotton yarn, our millers also use polyester and synthetic yarns.
As per the BTMA website, 433 spinning mills are operating in Bangladesh; Out of them, some 270 spinning mills are producing yarn for the local markets.
Currently, the local spinners can supply 35 to 40 percent to the woven sector. The rest are made from India and China. There are yarn trading markets in Narayanganj and Narsingdi from where weavers procure their required yarn. About 100+ yarn trading businesses are operating in Sadar, Madhabdi, Danga, Hasnabad Bazar of Narsingdi district, and Gopaldi and Araihazar of Narayanganj district. Among them, the major yarn market is located at Madhabdi Area of Narsingdi Sadar. From an investment point of view, we can classify the yarn trading business into two categories-
• Large scale yarn trading business
• And small scale yarn trading business.
Generally, large-scale yarn traders procure yarn directly from spinning mills located at Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Savar and also import from India whereas small-scale yarn traders procure yarns from different wholesalers of Madhabdi of Narsingdi or Taat Bazar of Narayanganj. To procure from the
spinning mills, a yarn trader needs to pay advance to the spinning millers for their production. Most of the large-scale yarn trading businesses can be found in Madhabdi areas.

Weaving
The process of converting yarn into grey fabrics is called weaving. Grey fabric is the basic raw material for processing any type of fabric. Different power looms are suitable for manufacturing different types of grey fabrics. In our country, weavers mainly manufacture Voile, Poplin, Gabardine, shirting, Bedsheet, denim, Twill, Stretch Twill, Jeans, and Pocketing. Various combinations of yarns are used to manufacture each pattern of grey fabrics.
Before the yarns go into a weaving mill, it needs to be processed first. The cotton yarn needs to be sizing first by mixing barley, wax, steam, hot water, and other chemicals to make it ready for weaving. The sector is fully dependent on gas. Some sizing mills are also using furnace oil as an alternative source of gas. Yarn sizing mills are set up around the weaving factories. We also dye the yarns to produce curtain fabrics or shirting and panting fabrics to
create interesting checks, stripes, and plaids with different colored yarns in the weaving process. We can see the presence of the sizing industry in Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Dhaka, and some parts of North Bengal.
After yarn sizing, the sized yarn goes to the production of weaving factories to produce grey fabrics. The sector is mostly run by using age-old machinery imported from China, Korea & Japan. Weaving mills in Narsingdi districts mostly produce three-piece fabrics, while mills in Araihazar of Narayanganj, Tangail, Serajganj produce saree fabrics. Weaving mills in Rupganj of Narayanganj produce scarves, Punjabi fabrics, also design three-piece fabrics. Raipura and Sadar Upazila of Narsingdi district are famous for producing different sarees of artistic and aesthetic designs including
Jamdani, Katan, and Bruket.
Chowala and Madhabdi of Narsingdi districts and Araihazar, Gopaldi, Tarabo of Narayanganj districts are the major hubs for the weaving sector where one can find lots of weaving factories in one place.
The machinery is so backdated that our weavers cannot bring any variance in product design. Some millers are also interested in investing in modern machinery but cannot find skilled workers.
The number of weaving units across the country is more than 11,000, including cottage, small and medium ones. Some 500 weaving mills are members of the BTMA.

Dyeing & Printing
After the production of grey fabrics, the fabrics go into dyeing and printing factories. When ‘color’ is applied to a fabric it is termed dyeing. In the dyeing
process; only one color is produced but in the printing process; various types of colored designs are produced on the fabric surface. During the dyeing process, the appearance of fabrics is improved. For that, a fabric has to go through various stages of the dyeing and printing process. Like spinning mills, this sector is also capital intensive i.e. requires huge capital investment in procuring machinery and setting up ETP. Machinery is mostly imported from India, Germany, Italy, Korea, etc. Some machinery is also locally made e.g. Jigger machine.
Various types of chemicals are used in the dyeing & printing process which are currently locally produced and also imported from abroad. Dyeing & printing mills also produce wastewater during the process for which they must need ETP installed in their factories to ensure the discharged water is not harmful to nature.
As per the BTMA website, there are currently 251 dyeing & printing mills. However, the number is more. Apart from machinery-based dyeing factories, the
traditional method which is known as hand dyeing is also popular in dyeing. In this process, yarn and fabrics are dyed manually and dried in open places. It usually takes up to six hours to dry them in the sun. It is visible in the Narayanganj and Narsingdi areas of Dhaka-Sylhet Highways.

Finished Fabrics
After dyeing and printing, the fabrics need to be processed again to make the desired fabrics. To make three-piece fabrics, the fabrics go into the cutting and sewing unit. Also, some fabrics go into embroidery factories to make a unique design on them.
After making finished products, the fabrics processors sell them around the countries. There are two main markets for wholesale fabrics trading i.e. Islampur in Dhaka and Shekherchar in Narsingdi. In north Bengal, there is another wholesale market in Korotoa, Tangail for trading saree and lungi fabrics.

Challenges
The local textile industry of Bangladesh has certain challenges and barriers which it needs to overcome. The challenges range from inadequate investment to necessary reform of existing policies.

The local textile industry is a capital-intensive sector and large investment in heavy types of machinery is a prerequisite for the sector in order to evolve and adapt to the changes going around the globe. In such a situation, we can see a very different scenario in our country. We are still using old types of machinery and there is yet to be any initiative or program to patronize the sector. The neighboring country has a special program, such as Technology Upgradation Program to nurture their local textile industry and our country direly need such programs.
The skilled worker is a precondition for the sustainability of an industry and experienced workers better ride the experience curve and as a result, they can generate a better outcome. The workers in this sector require skill development training and few pieces of training are run by the ministry of finance and other organizations but due to improper circulation of the news, and the sector remains unorganized and the news fails to circulate the way it should.
The introduction of a central effluent treatment plant can be greatly beneficial to the sector. The local textile industry of our country is mostly situated
in Narayangonj, Narsingdi, and Tangail. If CETP is introduced in these areas, the environment will be saved and the expenditure of textile owners will be lower.
Our local brands are rising and they are showing promising growth. Some global brands are using the advantage of the low-cost production of our country
to tailor their product. After producing the finished goods, they give us a commission for example 2% but the cream-98% goes to the mother country. Now if our local brands are further nurtured, we will be able to keep the cream for our own.
There are other issues: there is a lack of association and linked facilities for the local textile industry. For example, for the RMG sector, BGMEA University which is a part of BGMEA. For the textile sector, we need to promote such facilities. The other issues like adequate gas supply and gas pressure is a prerequisite of the industry but in many areas, we can find an inadequate supply of gas and so the industry suffers further.

Way-Out
The local textile industry of our country has a brilliant prospect in the future and so it requires patronizing from related entities. At first, it requires schemes
from both government and non-government levels which will enable it to secure the required investment.
Secondly, the sector needs to be organized so that the textile millers are aware of the programs. Moreover, the brands need the proper nurture and so, they can cater to the local market and also put their footstep abroad.
Further, the opportunity to serve the local market with our brand, requires adequate R&D and such initiative to be taken by the appropriate concerns.