Export earnings from jute have plummeted significantly due to devaluation of the dollar in the global market, high production cost of raw jute, the US-China trade war and the absence of a marketing strategy, industry insiders said. Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data says jute and jute goods fetched USD 773.57 million in FY2018–19 (July-May), down from USD 966.9 million recorded during the same period in FY2017-18. This marks a negative growth of 19.99 per cent. Enamul Haque Patwary, former president of the Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters’ Association (BJGEA), said devaluation of the dollar in the global market has been the prime reason. Citing an example, he said jute-importing countries like Russia, Turkey and Egypt are also placing fewer orders due to currency depreciation. “In the global market, local currencies are depreciating against the dollar. But, the taka is getting stronger against the dollar. So, we fell short in exporting goods compared to our competitor countries,” he added. “A trade war between the US and China is also not helping us,” he observed. Patwary, who is also the managing director of the Jute and Bags’ Export Corporation, said: “Our company used to export jute goods worth USD 300,000-400,000 a year. Now, the jute goods export has come down 20 per cent to USD 320,000.” The export of raw jute fetched USD 108.52 million in FY2018-19 (July-May) as against USD 146.39 million in FY2017-18. It has a negative growth rate of 25.87 per cent. “Local jute prices are better than the export price. So, we get better prices by selling raw jute locally rather than exporting it,” said Patwary. The Indian currency has devaluated 20 per cent against the dollar, eventually helping exporters of jute goods to export in the global market, he added. “We need to establish a jute council so that every representative from all the associations can express their opinions for better cooperation,” he suggested. He also said that the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) should take some initiatives to ramp up export. Explaining such negative growth, Lutfur Rahaman, senior vice-chairman of the BJGEA, said: “African countries used to import huge quantities of jute bags from us. But we’re losing the market due to a high import duty of 15 per cent.” Citing another reason, Rahman said: “The export of jute goods to India has been affected due to the imposition of anti-dumping duties on natural fibre-based products from Bangladesh.” When asked about the ways to counter such negative growth, Rahaman said the government should ink a bilateral trade policy support agreement with other countries to reduce the import duty. He also pleaded for the introduction of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility to this sector to improve its export performance. “A strategic marketing plan for the promotion of jute and jute products in the global market is now essential for us,” he added. According to the EPB, the export of jute sacks and bags fetched USD 79.45 million in FY2018-19 (July-May) as against USD 118.50 million in FY2017-18 )July-May). The marks a negative growth of 32.95 per cent. African countries like Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Sudan use jute-made sacks for food grain packaging, but they have stopped buying such sacks because their cropping season is over.
