TASMA urges India to curb Chinese viscose yarn imports to protect spinning mills

The Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA) has urged the Textile and Commerce Ministries to intervene and curb the rising imports of cheap viscose staple yarn (VSY) from China, warning that the inflow is threatening the viability of domestic spinning mills.

K Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, TASMA, says the ongoing US-China tariff war has prompted China to divert its surplus VSY into India at significantly lower prices, triggering market disruption, especially in Tamil Nadu’s Karur, Dindigul, and Pallipalayam regions.

Chinese VSY is currently being dumped into India at Rs 175 per kg, far below the Rs 198 per kg cost incurred by domestic mills, Venkatachalam noted. This disparity stems from the high price of viscose staple fibre (VSF), the key raw material for VSY, controlled by a single domestic monopoly. Due to quality control restrictions, Indian mills cannot import cheaper VSF from abroad.

TASMA highlighted that the Rs 13 per kg price difference between imported and domestic viscose staple yarn is economically unviable for local manufacturers and urged the government to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese VSY without delay. K Venkatachalam pointed out that the situation is further aggravated by the monopolistic pricing of viscose staple fibre in the domestic market, making it increasingly difficult for Indian yarn producers to compete.