bdnews24.com :
Jute mills in India’s West Bengal state have been hit hard by Bangladesh’s decision to ban export of raw jute for a month.
The Jute Balers Association (JBA) in Kolkata says traders who supply raw jute to these mills are faced with depleted stocks because they depend much on supply of raw jute from Bangladesh.
JBA President Nirmal Bhutoria told bdnews24.com that the jute mills in West Bengal are facing ‘much shortage’ of raw jute.
“This comes at a time when the Indian government has given priority to jute packaging for transporting food grains. So, demand for our products will go up but how do we service rising demand if we don’t have enough raw jute,” Bhutoria said.
He said, raw jute production has fallen in India in the last financial year because the government’s support price was not good for the last few years. That made many jute mills in West Bengal dependent on Bangladesh raw jute to maintain existing quantum and cost of production.
“We are facing a crisis of artificial shortage of raw jute and prices have shot up sharply as never before. Prices have jumped by at least 40 percent making production unviable for the mills,” former chairman of Indian Jute Mills Association Sanjay Kajaria told journalists.
Kajaria said, the raw jute suppliers are ‘holding mill owners like me to ransom’. He said five jute mills in West Bengal have closed down already and another 20 mills might close down soon. The state has more than sixty jute mills employing 200,000 workers.
West Bengal produces 75 percent of India’s jute products. The Jute Mills Association has written a letter to the West Bengal government to come to its rescue.
“The foul play is such that some mills and traders are hand-in-glove with the hoarding community and are manipulating the market by holding stock, thereby increasing the raw jute price artificially and even restricting the supply,” it read.
The hoarding has been prompted partly by dropping production and partly by the Bangladesh decision to ban export of raw jute for one month, mill owners say.
Last year, India’s raw jute output was 7.2 million bales (1 bale=180 kg) but that may drop to 6.5 million bales this year.
Indian manufacturers of jute products have been hit hard by turmoil in Middle East leading to a drop in exports by 70,000 tonnes. Significantly, Indian jute manufacturers ship around 200,000 tonne of jute goods abroad, valued at 20 billion Indian rupees. Bangladesh, exports 800,000 tonne, worth Rs 50 billion.
India has stopped export of raw jute in the past few years, while Bangladesh exports both raw jute and jute goods.
Jute mills in India’s West Bengal state have been hit hard by Bangladesh’s decision to ban export of raw jute for a month.
The Jute Balers Association (JBA) in Kolkata says traders who supply raw jute to these mills are faced with depleted stocks because they depend much on supply of raw jute from Bangladesh.
JBA President Nirmal Bhutoria told bdnews24.com that the jute mills in West Bengal are facing ‘much shortage’ of raw jute.
“This comes at a time when the Indian government has given priority to jute packaging for transporting food grains. So, demand for our products will go up but how do we service rising demand if we don’t have enough raw jute,” Bhutoria said.
He said, raw jute production has fallen in India in the last financial year because the government’s support price was not good for the last few years. That made many jute mills in West Bengal dependent on Bangladesh raw jute to maintain existing quantum and cost of production.
“We are facing a crisis of artificial shortage of raw jute and prices have shot up sharply as never before. Prices have jumped by at least 40 percent making production unviable for the mills,” former chairman of Indian Jute Mills Association Sanjay Kajaria told journalists.
Kajaria said, the raw jute suppliers are ‘holding mill owners like me to ransom’. He said five jute mills in West Bengal have closed down already and another 20 mills might close down soon. The state has more than sixty jute mills employing 200,000 workers.
West Bengal produces 75 percent of India’s jute products. The Jute Mills Association has written a letter to the West Bengal government to come to its rescue.
“The foul play is such that some mills and traders are hand-in-glove with the hoarding community and are manipulating the market by holding stock, thereby increasing the raw jute price artificially and even restricting the supply,” it read.
The hoarding has been prompted partly by dropping production and partly by the Bangladesh decision to ban export of raw jute for one month, mill owners say.
Last year, India’s raw jute output was 7.2 million bales (1 bale=180 kg) but that may drop to 6.5 million bales this year.
Indian manufacturers of jute products have been hit hard by turmoil in Middle East leading to a drop in exports by 70,000 tonnes. Significantly, Indian jute manufacturers ship around 200,000 tonne of jute goods abroad, valued at 20 billion Indian rupees. Bangladesh, exports 800,000 tonne, worth Rs 50 billion.
India has stopped export of raw jute in the past few years, while Bangladesh exports both raw jute and jute goods.
