Local woven polypropylene (WPP) bag manufacturers are now eying export market as the domestic market has shrunk following the enforcement of Mandatory Jute Packaging Act, said sector insiders.
WPP bag producers cannot survive unless they can create overseas market. Some 10 small manufacturers were already forced to close their units due to decline in local demand for packaging products, they added.
They informed that the demand for such plastic bags is growing in the international market. If the government gives policy support to local producers, the sector will be able to overcome the existing crisis.
Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) WPP standing committee chairman Kazi Anwarul Haque said following the government's move on mandatory use of jute bags as packaging materials for rice, wheat and sugar, local plastic bags are gradually losing its market.
"So, the government should give policy support like electricity subsidy, port facility and ensure political stability to help boost production and supply to foreign buyers," he said.
Manufacturers also have to create overseas market for selling their goods, Mr Haque said, adding that there is a growing demand for WPP bags in the international market.
Bangladesh has long been exporting packaging materials to different countries across the globe. The local market of WPP bags is 30 per cent and the rest of the products are exported.
According to Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010, jute bags will have to be used to package the country's paddy, rice, wheat, maize, fertiliser and sugar.
WPP bags are widely used for packing fertiliser, cement, construction materials, salt, food grains, onion, potato, rice, wheat, flour, pulses, date, maize, powdered milk, fruits, chemicals, sugar, poultry and fish feeds.
Mr Haque also said small manufacturers are striving to survive as they are yet to create export market.
There is a huge potential of Bangladeshi WPP bags in the USA and countries in the Europe, but Bangladesh cannot tap potentials due to lack of necessary support by the government, he noted.
China and India are major exporters of packaging products in the Europe and Middle East markets, he added.
More than 300 trillion WPP bags are used for packaging food grains and other products in the globe per year, according to the manufacturers.
They said at present, local manufacturers export more than 12,000 tonnes of WPP bags worth around Tk 2.16 billion a year.
The sector has 70 factories with direct and indirect employment of more than 0.1 million people, mostly females.
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