Markets opening up for jute shopping bags worldwide
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Monira Munni
The jute millers see Australia and New Zealand as potential destinations for their products, especially jute shopping bags, as eco-concerns drive demand for biodegradable goods in the global market.
They said a big opportunity lies ahead for higher volume of export this year, as some European countries were to impose ban on the use of polythene bags in 2010.
Australia has already announced its plan to restrict plastic bags and few other countries have already imposed the ban.
The Australians had been using 3.76 billion plastic bags per annum.
"Bangladesh should step in with its natural fibre made jute shopping bags as an alternative to plastic bags," Sirajul Haque, proprietor of Bluebell Enterprise, who mainly exports hessian bags, told the FE Tuesday.
"Last month we exported only 30,000 shopping bags which is negligible," he said adding that extensive promotional activities, setting up of marketing channels and continuous link with the big supermarkets of the destination countries was needed to grab the market.
"Jute shopping bags are popular among importers, as European and American consumers are opting for environment-friendly bags, which can be used repeatedly," Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) officials said.
"To cater to the need of the Australian retail market as a viable alternative to plastic bags, the jute goods exporters need to design an appropriate marketing communication strategy," a senior official of EPB said.
Bangladeshi traders export about 1.2 million shopping bags annually on an average to different countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, and France, he added.
Creation Private Ltd, a jute goods maker, exports around 50,000 jute shopping bags to those destinations every month.
Few years ago, the number of jute bags exported by Bangladesh did not exceed 100,000 pieces annually, the sector insiders said.
The global context has made a multi-billion dollar global shopping bag market, which has opened up a big opportunity for the export of the country's golden fibre, they added.
They believe Bangladesh has every chance to strengthen its foothold in the billion-dollar shopping bag market, if the government takes steps in this regard.
"We could easily double our production and exports, if we get necessary government support," an official of Corr-The Jute Works, an exporter of handicraft products, said.
The country earned $156 million during July-November period of the current fiscal from jute goods export.
The jute millers see Australia and New Zealand as potential destinations for their products, especially jute shopping bags, as eco-concerns drive demand for biodegradable goods in the global market.
They said a big opportunity lies ahead for higher volume of export this year, as some European countries were to impose ban on the use of polythene bags in 2010.
Australia has already announced its plan to restrict plastic bags and few other countries have already imposed the ban.
The Australians had been using 3.76 billion plastic bags per annum.
"Bangladesh should step in with its natural fibre made jute shopping bags as an alternative to plastic bags," Sirajul Haque, proprietor of Bluebell Enterprise, who mainly exports hessian bags, told the FE Tuesday.
"Last month we exported only 30,000 shopping bags which is negligible," he said adding that extensive promotional activities, setting up of marketing channels and continuous link with the big supermarkets of the destination countries was needed to grab the market.
"Jute shopping bags are popular among importers, as European and American consumers are opting for environment-friendly bags, which can be used repeatedly," Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) officials said.
"To cater to the need of the Australian retail market as a viable alternative to plastic bags, the jute goods exporters need to design an appropriate marketing communication strategy," a senior official of EPB said.
Bangladeshi traders export about 1.2 million shopping bags annually on an average to different countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, and France, he added.
Creation Private Ltd, a jute goods maker, exports around 50,000 jute shopping bags to those destinations every month.
Few years ago, the number of jute bags exported by Bangladesh did not exceed 100,000 pieces annually, the sector insiders said.
The global context has made a multi-billion dollar global shopping bag market, which has opened up a big opportunity for the export of the country's golden fibre, they added.
They believe Bangladesh has every chance to strengthen its foothold in the billion-dollar shopping bag market, if the government takes steps in this regard.
"We could easily double our production and exports, if we get necessary government support," an official of Corr-The Jute Works, an exporter of handicraft products, said.
The country earned $156 million during July-November period of the current fiscal from jute goods export.