Salvaging jute mills

Maskurul Alam | Published: March 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The jute sector is in jeopardy and farmers are losing interest in cultivating jute owing to the fall of jute prices in the market. There is a decreasing demand of jute products. As many as 15 jute mills of the country have been shut down and many more are on the verge of closures which is disappointing and scary news for our economy. The demand and price of Bangladeshi jute and jute goods have drastically declined in the international market for the last couple of months that forced many of our jute mills to be closed.
Bangladesh usually produces jute for making sacks and bags and exports these to different parts of the world including Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Sudan and many European countries. These countries have lost much of their interest in those goods. They have become, instead, interested in Chinese plastic and cotton products.
Demand for the local jute and jute goods also fell drastically in the current fiscal 2013-14 because of declining export to India, the main importer of raw jute from Bangladesh. India alone imported nearly a million bales of raw jute from Bangladesh during the last fiscal year which drastically reduced to 45,000 bales in the current fiscal years. Iran, the second highest raw jute importer, has also slashed buying jute from Bangladesh due to the economic sanction imposed on it by West.
The condition of jute mills is becoming worse day by day. The government should implement the packing law for compulsory use of jute sacks to pack food grains and other items in the country. This will increase the use of jute at home. Though packing law was passed in 2010, the government is yet to implement it as the associated rules and regulations have yet to be framed. The use of jute sack is in full swing in India. India implemented such a law in 1987. The implementation of the packaging law in letter and spirit will increase the domestic demand for the golden fibre and the country's economy will also get a boost.
The writer is a student of Department of Statistics, Islamic University, Kushtia. maskurulra@gmail.com