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RMG production costs to go up 15pc on fuel price hike

Garment makers say

Star Business Report
The country's garment manufacturers yesterday expressed concern that the production costs of their exportable apparel items will go up by at least 15 percent due to the latest fuel price adjustment.
"The government should keep the petroleum prices at their previous rates at least for industrial uses to minimise our production costs,” demanded acting BGMEA president Shahidul Islam at a press conference in Dhaka.
He said the fuel price hike came into effect at a time when the prices of other essential commodities have increased significantly.
The workers in the sector will also have to bear additional household costs for buying the essentials that may see further price spiral, he added.
"Against this backdrop, there may be labour unrest again leading to production hamper at the garment factories,” he feared.
The garment manufacturing units are largely dependent on petroleum products due to erratic gas and power supplies to their units, said the leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at the hurriedly called press conference to react to the government's decision on fuel price adjustment.
The government has increased the domestic fuel prices by 33 to 37 percent with
effect from July 1 to adjust the prices with those in the international market.
The new price of diesel and kerosene is lie 55 a litre, which is about 37.5 percent or Tk 15 more than their earlier priceofTk 40.
Petrol is nowTk 87 a litre, up by 34 percent or Tk 22 from its previous price ofTk 65.
The price of octane now isTk 90 a litre, which is 34 percent or Tk 23 more than its previous price ofTk 67.
A cylinder of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is nowTk 1,000, up from Tk 600, while a litre of furnace oil is now Tk 30, up fromTk20.
The apparel factory owners will have to count an additional cost ofTk 50 crore a month due to this price hike, the BGMEA acting boss said.
The factory owners also complained they are not getting gas and power in Savar, Mirpur, Ashulia, Gazipur and Narayanganj areas to run their plants properly.
According to a government estimate, 35.7 lakh metric tons of petroleum products were used in Bangladesh in fiscal year 2006-07, 65 percent or 22 lakh metric tons of which was dieseL
Sixty percent of the diesel was used for transports, 32 percent for agriculture, and the rest was used for other purposes.
Professor M Tamim, special assistant to the chief adviser on energy ministry affairs, said earlier the government had no alternative to increasing the prices of petroleum products.