Business Desk :
Jute millers and spinners have collectively decided that they will not buy the natural fibre for more than Tk 3,000 per maund from January 20 onwards in the face of rising costs.
The Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA), Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association (BJSA), and Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) took this decision at a joint meeting on Sunday.
In their words, the decision was taken to protect the industry.
The prices of raw jute recently hit Tk 3,300 to Tk 3,800 per maund (37 kilogrammes), up about 26 per cent compared to that of a month ago, according to various traders.
In the meeting, millers said raw jute prices are high as supply declined due to stockpiling by middlemen.
And considering the high prices, production costs have risen to such an extent that the rate of work orders cannot compensate.
As a result, millers are counting huge losses and are being compelled to shut down their factories, they said.
Millers also alleged that middlemen illegally stockpile a major share of the raw jute, creating an artificial crisis in the market to make extra profit.
At the same time, foreign buyers are shifting their attention away from jute products to alternative items after failing to buy the goods at their stipulated prices, they added.
While speaking on Monday, Ganash Changra Shaha, owner of International Jute Traders, said apart from the price hike of raw jute, the shipping fare has increased by about 10 to 12 times.
“Shipment costs have risen to $15,000 while it was only $1,200 previously,” he said.
“As a result, we are constantly counting huge lossed by exporting raw jute,” Shaha added.
According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau, the export of jute and jute goods has declined by 11.68 per cent from July to December of the 2021-22 fiscal year compared to the same period the year before.
Jute and jute goods worth $590.05 were exported from July to December in 2021-22 while the export volume was $668.11 in the previous fiscal year, the data showed.
According to the BJMA, about 70 lakh bales of jute were produced in the last season, of which the highest 30 per cent was used in producing jute products and importing raw jute.
More than 70 per cent of the jute are still unused and stockpiled in the warehouses of the traders.
“For the last three years, a class of people have been raising raw jute prices by creating a crisis in the market,” Shaha said.
“Last year, traders bought jute for Tk 2,600 per maund and sold those for Tk 6,000 per maund. Farmers are not getting that benefit. On the other hand, jute industries are being destroyed,” he added.
However, BJMA, BJSA and BJA leaders at the meeting said they will soon submit a memorandum to the textiles and jute minister demanding mobile court operation against illegal stockpiling.
