Jute products turned heads at a two-day fair on the occasion of National Jute Day 2019 as exhibitors filled their stalls with products of various designs and colours to attract people. The fair held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) ended on Thursday.The array of products included bags, purses, folders, tablemats, prayer mats, doormats, rugs and room dividers, among others.The huge number of visitors at the jute goods stalls has brought broad smiles to the faces of the vendors. They said they expected buoyant sales this year.At the fair, manufacturers and exporters displayed around 300 types of jute products in both traditional and unconventional forms.The Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) is an autonomous government body responsible for the promotion and diversification of jute use in Bangladesh. It displayed at its stall sofas, curtains, bed sheets, pillow covers, floor mats, lampshades—all made of jute.Jermatz Limited has been meeting the local demand for jute products since 2015.The managing director of Jermatz Limited, Ismat Jerin Khan, told The Independent that Jermatz Limited had come up with around 30 diversified jute products like jute shopping bags, promotional bags, baskets, laptop bags, table covers, cushion covers, canvas tote bags and home decor products, among others, at the fair.“We have brought a different type of basket, made of reed and jute, at this fair. We have also brought 15 types of baskets, 12 types of floor mats, three types of table plate mats—all made of jute,” she said during the fair.She also said discounts had been offered at the fair on different jute products. However, they would be made available only to those buyers who were willing to place an order.The prices of the jute baskets ranged from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500.“We have already talked to buyers from the Maldives and Turkey and received positive response from both,” he added.When asked whether they exported their products, Ismat Jerin Khan said: “We export jute products to countries like Germany and Austria.”Describing some challenges, Ismat Jerin Khan pointed out that jute yarn was spun and prepared for use in weaving, knitting, and manufacturing sewing threads. “This raw material is not adequately available in our country,” she said.She also said: “We don’t have adequate design labs for producing innovative colours of jute products to suit the buyer’s demands.”Rezaul Karim, vice-president of the Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters’ Association, told The Independent that the demand for jute products was growing worldwide as more and more people were relinquishing the use of polythene and moving towards eco-friendly products.Karim, who is also the owner of BICO Jute Fibres, said the demand for jute sacks was rising in African countries like Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Sudan. “They use sacks for food grain packaging,” he added.Besides, Japan and South Korea used jute sacks for car interiors, electronic casings and other surfaces because jute fibre is environment-friendly, he said. “It is bio-degradable and recyclable as well,” he added.Karim also said his company had exported jute bags worth USD 20 million last year. About the challenges, Karim said that there was a crisis of raw jute in the local market due to its export to countries like India and Pakistan.Pervin Handicrafts is a manufacturer of handicrafts made of jute. The company had presented nearly 420 diversified jute products at the fair.Pallab Hasan, owner of Pervin Handicrafts, said: “We are mainly highlighting two products——sari and mobile bags—which are made entirely of jute.”The price of a jute saree is Tk 3,200, he added.
