Jute export booms
The country's export earning from jute goods increased by 70 percent and that from raw jute went up by 44 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The earning from jute goods during July-April period of FY 2009-10 stood at $377.09 million compared to $222.05 million during the corresponding period of FY 2008-09, says the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
And $170.41 million was earned from raw jute export during July-April of this fiscal year against $118.39 million during the corresponding period of the previous year, according to EPB estimates.
The earning went up due to increased price and volume of export.
According to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), export price of jute goods and raw jute rose by around 35 percent this fiscal year over that last year.
"BJMC's export this year is already 1.35 lakh tonnes while it was only 90,000 tonnes last year," a senior official of the state-owned BJMC told The Daily Star.
Private sector export of jute goods also rose, he said.
Moreover, price of raw jute in domestic market was Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,400 per maund during the peak harvest period last year. But this year the price is already Tk 1,800 -2400 per maund , said Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) Secretary Abdul Barik Khan.
Sources in the Department of Agriculture Extension say this year jute is cultivated on more than five lakh hectares which is 50,000 hectares more than in the previous year. And production would be about 55 lakh bales against 49.70 lakh bales last year.
Contacted, Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddique said, "We see a bright future of jute." Decoding of jute genome by Bangladeshi scientists has also paved the way for higher productivity and quality of jute, he added.
Meanwhile, the government gave Tk 300 crore to the BJMC to buy raw jute as its mills had liquidity crisis.
"Until June, BJMC mills don't have any problems for raw jute, but it is facing problems for power outages," said a top BJMC official.
The 16 BJMC mills now produce 475 tonnes of jute goods a day, which could be more than 600 tonnes if continued power supply was ensured, he said.
The BJMA secretary said they are upbeat about this sector as the government is providing loan facilities. "With credit facilities, jute mills can do amazing things." He however said frequent power outage worries them.
Thirteen of the 92 BJMA mills are now closed while many run partially due to fund crunch and power crisis, he said. Production capacity of BJMA mills now is 20,000 tonnes a month but their present production is around 13,000 tonnes.
The jute minister said the government has directed the state-owned banks to disburse loans to both private and public sector jute mills by July 15 so that middlemen cannot manipulate the market.
In reply to a question, he said, "Power crisis is a common problem. It will be solved nationally in a year or two."
He went on, "We don't want to export raw jute. We want to add value to it and create job opportunities locally.
Jute export booms
