DefinePK

Abstract

ABSTRACT The sports goods manufacturing industry of Sialkot comprises 290 units employing 2,650 workers. 42 work on factory scale and the rest as small units. Very little mechanical equipment is employed. Finishing operations are generally carried out manually. Annual average timber consumption based on the data for the past 5 years is 19,000 m3. Mulberry and willow account for 66% of timber consumption. 50% of mulberry is obtained from the state owned irrigated plantation of the Punjab. The entire supplies of willow come from the form lands of Peshawar district. Current export earnings from all sports goods are Rs.199 million; from wooden sports goods Rs.105 million. The export earnings have shown an upward trend during the last 25 years. The exports of hockey sticks are rising steadily, of tennis rackets, steady, of cricket bats, downward; of badminton rackets, insignificant. The increase in prices of raw material and wage rates of the workers has raised production costs and undermined the competitive power of the industry. High quality mulberry and willow timber is in short supply. The industry can be assisted by increasing the availability of quality timber at reasonable prices and providing subsidy on exports.