Cash crunch may hit output in state jute mills

Talha Bin Habib | Published: December 15, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

State-run jute mills are set to miss their production target this fiscal mainly due to shortage of fund for raw jute purchase.
A total of 26 mills under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) purchased only 15 per cent or 40,000 tonnes of raw jute against the target of 2, 60, 000 tonnes for the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
Non-availability of required funds has been hampering raw jute procurement badly affecting production, said a high corporation official.Â Â Â Â
The BJMC has set the target to procure more than 260,000 tonnes of raw jute for the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.Â But so far it has procured only 40,000 tonnes, which is only 15.38 per cent of the target.
"We have been facing fund constraints for procuring raw jute, hampering our production," Chairman of the BJMC Humayun Khaled told the FE.Â Â Â Â
He said the BJMC needs Tk 5.0 billion for purchasing raw jute and payment of previous year's dues. But so far it has got Tk 2 billion from the government.
"We have requested the Ministry of Finance (MoF) through our ministry (Ministry of Textiles and Jute) to release funds so that we can purchase raw jute against our requirements," he said. Â
"We have procured only 15. 38 per cent raw jute from the farmers due to delay in releasing fund by the government," Director (Jute) Lenin Kamal of BJMC told the FE.Â Â Â Â
There are 26 jute mills run by the BJMC that had produced 145918 tonnes of jute goods and sold jute goods worth Tk 9.58 billion during the last fiscal.
BJMC had targeted to procure 2,40,000 tonnes of raw jute and procured only 1,60,000 tonnes of raw jute during the FY 2013-14.
Except the FY 2010-11, the BJMC has been incurring financial losses over last one decade.
talhabinhabib@yahoomail.com