Business

Nishat Chunian announces partial shutdown of operations

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Nishat Chunian says it would suspend operations at nearly one-fourth of its spindles.
Says will restart spindles as soon as market conditions improve.
Textile manufacturer latest to announce suspension of operations.

KARACHI: One of Pakistan’s largest textile companies Nishat Chunian Limited (NCL) has announced a partial shutdown of operations from next month due to the current market conditions, reported The News on Thursday.

In a statement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the textile manufacturer informed that it would suspend operations at nearly one-fourth of its spindles temporarily until the market revamps.

“The company has decided to temporarily close 51,360 spindles after one month due to market conditions. However, the remaining units are operating normally. Company will restart these spindles as soon as market conditions improve,” the stock filing read.

Nishat Chunian has an installed capacity of 219,528 spindles and 2,880 rotors in its spinning division.

The textile manufacturer is the latest to announce operations suspension amid a prevailing economic downtrend in the country. Earlier this month, Kohinoor Spinning Mills Limited (KOSM) also announced the suspension of its operations giving multiple reasons.

“Due to prevailing global and economic downturn, overdue plant maintenance, high cost of production and low price and demand, it is not feasible to operate the production facility,” the KOSM said in a statement.

Pakistan has been facing multiple challenges, including low foreign exchange reserves, lack of foreign inflows, rising debt, energy shortages, and political uncertainty affecting the country’s economy, which is collectively pushing many companies to limit or shut down their operations.

Others companies that have recently announced the suspension of their operations include Indus Motor Company, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd, Bolan Castings Limited and Baluchistan Wheels Ltd. Millat Tractors Limited has also been observing non-production days on Fridays since December 16.

Curbs by the government to reduce the size of its import bill have severely affected the export sector, especially textiles, which hold the lion’s share in the country’s exports. Delays in rebate and rising inflation have also contributed to a decline in Pakistan’s exports in recent months.

In November, the textile exports were down by 19% year on year. The country’s big manufacturing industries, including food, textile, petroleum oil, pharmaceutical and automobiles also reported a drop of 7.75% in October 2022, compared to the same month last year.

Last week, the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) warned that the country’s textile exports could fall below $1 billion a month from 2023 onwards, seeking government intervention to save the sector from destruction.

“Across the country, the textile industry is currently using less than 50% of its capacity. If corrective action is not done quickly, a very significant number of jobs have already been lost and many more will do so,” APTMA said in a letter written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMEA) also expressed serious concerns over a declining trend in textile exports in a statement last month.

The textile exports had dropped by 1.34% to $5.941 billion during the first four months of July-Oct in the current fiscal year, against $6.021 billion in the same period of last year, the association said.

Business

China Contributes 43 New Foreign Firms to the 6% Growth in SECP Registrations

Published

11 hours ago

Farwa

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered 2,617 new firms this year, a 6% increase from 2023, with assistance from the Special Investment Facilitation Council. This increases the overall number of businesses that are registered to 231,111.

Non-profits, trade associations, and public unlisted firms make up 4% of these, while private limited corporations make up 55% and single-member companies 41%. It is noteworthy that 99.8% of the registrations were done online, demonstrating SECP’s attempts to digitise.

Real estate has 237 new businesses, services has 306, and trade has 377 new businesses. These are the main sectors exhibiting growth. While the healthcare and textile industries each had 49 new businesses, the education sector saw 101.

China contributed the most, adding 43 new companies, out of the 61 new companies that were registered as a result of foreign investment.

These recently registered businesses are anticipated to decrease imports, increase domestic production, and contribute to closing the trade deficit.

Business

PSX reaches an all-time high as the KSE-100 Index surpasses 86,000 points.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has achieved a significant milestone, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index has attained an unprecedented peak.

On Tuesday at midday, the index ascended by 788 points, attaining a record high of 86,846 points. Following the ratification of the constitutional amendments, the stock market has increased by 1500 points over a span of two days.

Earlier today, the KSE-100 Index increased by 683 points, attaining a value of 86,741 points, before concluding at this new apex.

The bullish trend was apparent from the commencement of the trading session, with the index rising an additional 555 points to reach 86,612 points throughout the day. The reinstatement of the 86,500-point threshold signifies robust market performance.

Business

In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

Published

12 hours ago

Farwa

During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.