Cane furniture industry hit hard due to dearth of raw materials

FE Team | Published: April 23, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Arafat Ara
Cane furniture industry could not compete with the plastic, plywood and steel-made furniture in the local market due to shortage of raw materials putting the once-potential sector in jeopardy, manufacturers said. The situation worsened in recent time as they could not bear the import costs of such high valued raw materials, forcing dozens of manufacturers to shut their business. "We're facing a tough test as plastic, plywood and steel-made furniture have started grabbing our market share," manufacturer Mohammad Jakir Hossain said. He said once the industry exported items to many countries after fulfilling the local demands. "Nearly five years ago I could export furniture worth Tk 4.0 to 5.0 million but over the last two years I failed export even a single product," he added. Mr Hossain, who owns Bismillah Cane and Bamboo Furniture shop at Panthapath in the city, said the foreign buyers are not interested to import from Bangladesh as they can easily get the same products at cheaper rates from Indonesia, Malaysia and China that meet 90 per cent of the global demands. The sale volume at his shop has declined by around 50 per cent in seven years, he said, adding that he was forced to terminate 30 workers from 40-member team. "I think every manufacturer faces the same problem," he observed. There were at least 15 cane furniture shops at Panthapath five years back. Now there are only 6. The industry is now depended on imported canes as local canes can not meet the demand due to deforestation, Aftabul Rahman, owner of Traee Sylhet Cane Craft at the same market said, urging the government to take special measures to protect the forest where cane grows. "Presently more than 70 per cent canes are imported which cost more. For this we have to spend more money to produce the products," he added. He said one piece of local cane now costs Tk 70 to 80 which was available at Tk 15 to 20 10 years ago. He also said the Burmese cane which they could buy at Tk 110 six months ago now costs more than Tk 180. Indonesian cane price also increased. The sales of cane furniture are declining as the customers are not interested to buy the products spending additional money as they can buy the plastic or plywood furniture at cheaper rates, said Mr Rahman. He said they could sell a sofa set at Tk 7000 a few years ago which is now sold at Tk 15000. He urged the government to waive duty on the import of raw materials for the sake of the cane industry. Bangladesh Handicrafts Manufacturers and Exporters Association, popularly known as Banglacraft secretary Shah Jalal said they used to export cane baskets and showpieces. But presently due to shortage of local cane they are unable to produce cane showpieces.