Shahiduzzaman Khan
Country's jute and jute goods exports have registered a marked growth. Such a growth was never witnessed in Bangladesh for decades. And for the first time, its benefits have reached every segment of the industry, including the farmers, some of whom got even Tk 2400 for every maund (37.5 kilograms) of jute.
According to a report published in the FE this week, a sudden surge of interest in natural fibre in both developed and developing countries helped usher in "the new jute revolution" with this year's earnings set to cross more than $600 million. Consumers -- both individual and industrial -- are ditching synthetic fibres for natural ones such as jute. They are now more conscious about the harmful effect of synthetic fibres. Moreover, timely product diversification has also played a big role in helping jute reclaim some of its lost glories in the country.
This is now evident that jute has reclaimed its honour as the second largest export item after nearly a decade, as increased use of natural fibre in the west and its diversified products ushered in a renaissance of the once-moribund industry. The Golden Fibre hit the jackpot this year, with the export of raw jute growing more than 38 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year to US$111.22 million and jute goods, 49 per cent to $229.6 million. Together, the export earnings of raw jute and jute goods have outstripped frozen food as the country's second largest export earning sector.
Across the border in West Bengal of India, many private sector jute mills are making profit even though Indian workers are paid higher wages. These mills have reportedly invested a lot of money in improving their machines, which are in many cases almost a century-old, and have made workers accept that higher wages must be justified by higher productivity. In fact, local jute industry has a lot to learn from that of Indian experience. The country's goal has to be eventually matching the productivity of the private sector jute mills in India. This can be accomplished in just a few years if every local jute mill employs foreign technicians to improve their machines and train their workers. Some large industrial companies in Bangladesh employ foreign technicians and consultants in order to achieve international standards of productivity and quality. This is true of the garments industry, the textile industry and even the poultry industry. Why should the jute industry be any different? In a global marketplace, the companies to survive will be the ones which achieve international standards of productivity and quality.
The state-owned mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), which have otherwise earned some bad name for corruption and perennial losses, have reportedly reached at break-even point, signalling good times for the golden fibre. At least seven out of the 16 jute mills are now making profits to the tune of Tk 20 million a month on an average, while others have significantly brought down their losses. Reviewing such a situation, the jute minister appears to be upbeat. He said the jute workers have regained their confidence, while production and export volumes and prices went up. Above all, the government has the political will to improve this sector, he added.
Once, raw jute and jute products were the biggest foreign-exchange earner of the country. Jute had then a flourishing international market of its own, spreading its superiority in the world market. But the situation is completely reverse now. With the closure of a number of jute mills, tragedy fell on the jute growers and traders as there were no buyers in the country, opening the flood gates for smuggling of raw jute to India. And the situation had miserably worsened when the largest jute producer in the region - the now-closed Adamjee Jute Mills -- produced just only 0.1 million tonnes of jute per year, while India was producing annually over two million tonnes of raw jute. Such a worsening situation continued for a long time.
However, some positive signals are now coming from the government's side. This is evident from the latest move by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Jute and Textile Ministry. It asked the authorities to resume operations of the Second Unit of Adamjee Jute Mills soon. As for technology, Bangladesh industries are continuing mainly with outdated technology. This has resulted in low productivity and high material cost for production. It is time for Bangladesh to adopt a technological profile to meet the techno-economic need.
The revival of the jute sector is expected to help rejuvenate the rural economy directly and indirectly. What is needed now is formulation of a forward-looking jute policy with the close cooperation of, and concerted effort by, ministries of jute, agriculture, industry and textiles. Proper implementation of this policy may make the jute sector dynamic.
Raw jute needs to be declared as agricultural product and the export of raw jute, as agro-based industrial operation. From growers level to that of exporters, there are various stages and it costs more money after purchase of loose jute. Because of different processing stages, value addition is indispensable. Hence it falls under semi-processing industry. The matters relating to jute sector should be properly looked into on a priority basis, for implementation of the required policy-support. This sector did not receive a befitting attention from all the past governments. It is time that jute industry get a befitting policy focus.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
The new jute revolution
FE Team | Published: March 18, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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