QCO withdrawal throws viscose fibre, yarn in a spin

LITTLE HELP

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISION last week to withdraw quality control orders (QCOs) on textile raw materials such as polyester fibre and yarn has left out a key input—viscose staple fibre (VSF) and viscose filament yarn (VFY).

Industry executives said VSF and VFY are the second-largest raw materials in the man-made fibre (MMF) basket after polyester, and including them could have further lowered production costs.

Grasim Industries, India’s largest producer of VSF and VFY, did not respond to emailed queries. The QCO on VSF, imposed in late March 2023, required products to carry Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for domestic sale, effectively curbing imports from markets such as China and Indonesia.