The commerce ministry has requested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to suspend the duty-free benefit for the import of certain counts of yarn under the bonded warehouse scheme to protect local textile millers.

In a letter to the revenue authority last week, the ministry recommended the cancellation of the opportunity to import yarn of 10 to 30 count.

The count refers to a measure of yarn thickness in the textile industry, indicating fineness. Yarn ranging from 10 to 30 count is considered medium to coarse and is widely used in knitwear production.

Earlier, on December 29, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) urged the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission to urge the government to either suspend the bonded warehouse benefit or impose a 20 percent tariff on the import of the widely consumed yarn. 

The BTMA said some mills in the primary textile sector, which has investments of about $25 billion, are facing the risk of closure due to the import of cheap yarn from India.

In the letter, the association said Indian traders have been selling the widely used 30-count yarn in Bangladesh at $2.50 to $2.60 per kg, even though the production cost of the same yarn in India stands at $2.90 to $2.93 per kg.