Shortage of raw materials, caused by a sharp decrease in cotton production, has been the textile industry’s main challenge during the past few years, ILNA quoted Alimardan Sheibani, deputy chairman of the textile association, as saying. Cotton production in Iran amounts to 60,000 tons, while the textile industry needs at least 180,000 tons per year, Sheibani said. He further cited that local petrochemical complexes buy feedstock based on official exchange rate. However, he added that the required raw material for the textile industry is supplied at the market rate. As a major domestic industry, textile can bring in high value add for the economy, said Sheibani, adding that “once the limitations are removed other industries would not be able to compete in providing job opportunities with the textile industry, nor they would be able to contribute to economic growth in terms of the industrial value added by this industry to the country.”
