The government’s initiative to restore the past glory of jute has started yielding results as demand for the golden fibre has increased at home and abroad. Data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) shows that the country’s export earnings from jute and jute goods have been increasing for the last several months owing to the rising global demand for jute, which is an eco-friendly product. The export earnings from jute and jute goods from July 2019 to January 2020 amounted to USD 602.49 million. The export target for jute and jute goods in the current fiscal year has been set at USD 1 billion. In the fiscal year 2017–18, the jute sector brought home USD 1.02 billion, up 6.56 per cent year-on-year, EPB figures revealed. So, Jute and jute goods became the third domestic sector to cross the USD 1 billion mark in export receipts, after the apparel and leather and leather goods sectors. Bangladeshi jute is popular worldwide due to the excellent fibre quality. The country exports 4.6 lakh tonnes of jute products every year, with Dhaka controlling 62 per cent of the global jute market. The total demand for jute products in the international market is estimated at 7.5 lakh tonnes. Speaking with The Independent, HM Rezaul Karim, former vice-president of the Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters’ Association (BJGEA), said: “The international market trend has so far been good in this fiscal year.” He attributed the sector’s turnaround to use of the natural fibre being on the rise worldwide owing to a growing shift towards eco-friendly lifestyles. The demand for jute sacks is also on the rise from African countries like Sudan, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Uganda, where they are used for food grain packaging. Karim, whose firm Bico Jute Fibres exports jute and jute goods worth USD 20 million a year, said: “Another important reason for the rise in the sector’s exports is the use of the natural fibre by global car giants like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Renault, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Audi, Daimler, Chrysler, and Ford.” M Sazzad Hossain Sohail, incumbent president of BJGEA, spoke with The Independent about the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010, which had made the use of jute bags in packing food stuff and farm produce mandatory to help jute millers and growers. However, he said the measures have not been enforced properly even 10 years after the enactment. The 2010 law directed that all traders and government organisations should use jute bags while packing paddy, pulses, wheat, fertilisers, and sugar. But traders and millers have ignored the law in the absence of enforcement. “Had those rules been implemented, then the sector could have earned more than it is earning now,” said Sohail. The BJGEA president said that even though the demand for jute is increasing at home and abroad against the backdrop of global awareness about green solutions, export earnings from this sector have not registered the expected progress. Sohail suggested providing fiscal support to the sector while encouraging product and market diversification, the use of modern technology, and ensuring product quality. Textiles and jute secretary Lokman Hossain Mia said the demand for jute goods is growing in the West as people have become more aware about using natural fibres. “Considering the demand, the country is producing newer jute products with different dimensions. Side by side, steps have been taken to ensure effective branding of local jute products in the international market. For this purpose, the volumes of jute for export and other jute products are gradually increasing,” he added. The secretary revealed that to ensure product diversification, modern machinery and equipment were being added to state-owned jute mills, while cash incentives and policy support were being granted to private-sector entrepreneurs. “The problems faced by the sector should be properly detected and measures taken to ensure its development,” he said, adding that the government will expand research in the sector. He expressed hope that export earnings from the sector would rise further in the coming days.
