| |
| |
Gopalganj farmers selling jute below production cost
GOPALGANJ, August 17, 2012 : The farmers of the district are selling
newly-harvested jute in the local markets below cost of production, it is learnt.
Though a little rise in the prices of jute was noticed recently, they are not quite happy with it.
According to the jute growers of the district cultivation of jute has become expensive in the recent years.
A farmer gets 15 to 18 maunds of the fibre from one local bigha (52
decimals) of land and he has to spend Tk 22,000 to Tk 24,000 per bigha for jute cultivation, up to separation of the fibres from stalks.
Per mound production cost stands in between Tk 1300 and Tk 1400 on an average. But now jute is selling at Tk 1000 to Tk 1100 per maund in the
local markets of the district on an average depending on the quality of the Tosha variety.
On the other hand, the local variety of jute is being sold at Tk 850 to
Tk 900 per maund now. Some growers said they are yet to get any profit from jute as the
present market price of jute is still below the production cost. They are urging the government to fix jute price at Tk 3000 per maund at the
minimum. Rafiq Sumarder, Kalu Sheikh, Wahid Sheikh, Rahman Molla and Kalam Kazi
Jute growers of Durgapur under Gopalganj sadar told the F.E recently that they had suffered a lot after cultivating jute in the past. Source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
State-run jute-mills' profit plunges again in FY12
Dhaka, August 4, 2012 : Profit of most of the state-run jute-mills
nose-dived again in the just concluded fiscal year (FY) 2011-12, statistics show.
Out of the 18 jute-mills, run by the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation
(BJMC), only six could earn profit in the FY12, against nine mills in the previous fiscal.
The mills which could earn profit in 2011-12 were: Latif Bawani Jute Mills, Jatiya Jute Mills, Rajshahi Jute Mills, Gul Ahmed Jute Mills,
Bangladesh Jute Mills, and Khalishpur Jute Mills.
The BJMC officials said rest of the jute-mills incurred significant loss
in the just concluded fiscal, but declined to disclose the amount of loss.
The state-run jute-mills came out of the saga of continuous loss after 29 years in the fiscal 2010-11, creating the hope of regaining the
golden fibre's glorious past. Presently 18 state-run jute-mills are in full-fledged operation, three
are in the process of starting production, two are given lease to private sector entrepreneurs, and one is closed. Three other non-jute
mills of the BJMC are also in operation.
A director of the BJMC told the FE that most of the mills incurred loss
due to price hike of electricity and petrol oil and lubricant. He said production cost of the BJMC-run mills has increased
significantly following the increased price of power and energy. "Our mills had to spend additional Tk 200 million last fiscal due to
price rise of spare parts, and Tk 120 million for price hike of electricity and petrol oil, which led most of them to incur huge loss,"
he claimed.
A senior official at the Ministry of Textile and Jute told the FE
Wednesday that India, the top buyer of Bangladeshi jute goods, has stopped buying products from here.
"Other major destinations of our jute goods in the Middle East are facing political unrest for months, which has reduced their import,
causing stockpile of jute goods in the mills' warehouses," he said. Another BJMC official said local consumption of jute and jute goods has
reduced drastically in the FY12 to 13,650 tonnes against 26,560 tonnes in the previous fiscal.
Source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
Last 2 years' losses still haunt jute growers
Dinajpur, July 22, 2012: Jute growers of Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts have started harvesting
the cash crop but they are worried about its market prices, especially against the backdrop of huge losses in last two seasons.
This year the area of jute cultivation has increased although the growers have been feeling insecurity due to losses since 2009, said Md
Anwarul Alam, deputy director of Dinajpur DAE. The rise of jute cultivation area and its better production rather poses
a challenge as the country's jute market is shrinking, DAE officials observed.
At least 10,467 hectares of land was brought under jute cultivation in
Dinajpur district while the target was 7,724 hectares, said sources of the Department of Agriculture Extension
(DAE). Around 1,00,483 bales of jute production is expected in Dinajpur. In
Joypurhat, 3,450 hectares of land was brought under jute farming with production target of 41,400 bales.
In 2009, the area of jute cultivation in Dinajpur and Joypurhat
districts was only 4,578 and 2,095 hectares respectively, DAE sources said, adding that the two districts now see jute farming in much larger
areas of land. But the jute growers have been incurring losses due to its low prices
since 2009, said Md Anamul Haque, a member of Business Management Organisation in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur.
This year farmers of these districts cultivated high yielding
'Tosha' and local varieties of jute and got bumper production, DAE officials said.
The production of Tosha variety would be 10 to 11 bales per hectare and local variety 8 to 9 bales per hectare, said field level agricultural
staff and farmers.
During the last two seasons, farmers faced trouble to rot jute due to
shortage of water but this year farmers are not facing the problem. "But we are worried about the market price. The jute price was around Tk
800 and 600 per maund in 2010 and 2011 while the production cost was around 1,000 per maund," said Md Abdus Salam, a farmer of Khansama
upazila in Dinajpur. "Production and labour costs have gone up further. Jute farming will be
profitable this year if the price remains Tk 1300 to 1400 per maund,"
said Md Abdul Hannan, another farmer of the same upazila. Source: The Daily Star
Jute cultivation falls in 8 districts of Rangpur division
Rangpur, July 10, 2012 : Cultivation of jute has decreased by 70,593 acres in eight districts of
Rangpur Division in the current season. Growers said they were reluctant to cultivate jute this season due to a
fall in the prices of the fibre last year. Officials at the local office of the Department of Agricultural
Extension (DAE), however, attributed it to an extensive increase in cultivation of maize and other Robi crops in the region.
The farmers who cultivated jute last year told this correspondent that
they did not get the fair price of their produce and so, out of frustration, they refrained from cultivating jute in the current season.
Jute was sold between Tk 900 and Tk 1,000 per maund last year whereas the price varied from Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200 per maund in 2010, farmers said.
The DAE sources said 2,23,801 acres of land have been brought under jute cultivation in the eight districts under Rangpur division in the current
season. On the other hand, jute was cultivated on 2,94,394 acres of land last year.
DAE sources said, in the current season, local variety jute was cultivated on 28,360 acres while Tosa variety on 1, 95,441 acres of
lands in the eight districts.
This year's district-wise break up shows 38,047 acres were brought under
jute farming in Rangpur, 27,107 acres in Gaibandha, 42,103 acres in
Kurigram, 20,678 acres in Lalmonirhat, 29,170 acres in Nilphamari, 19,170 acres in Dinajpur, 29,412 acres in Thakurgoan and 18,161 acres in
Panchagarh. Last year, the break up was 42,666 acres in Rangpur, 35,283 acres in
Gaibandha, 57,931 acres in Kurigram, 17,245 acres in Lalmonirhat, 32,888 acres in Nilphamari, 29,686 acres in Dinajpur, 40,199 acres in
Thakurgoan and 38,492 acres in Panchagarh. Out of the total, local variety was cultivated on 29,179 acres and Tosa
variety on 2, 55,215 acres last year. Source: The Daily Star
Bumper jute production on way in Khulna division
JESSORE, Jul 3,2012 (BSS): The farmers of ten southwestern districts in
Khulna division are expecting a bumper jute production in the current season.The ten districts are-Jessore, Narail, Jhenidah, Magura, Kushtia,
Chuadanga, Meherpur, Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat. The Jessore-based regional office of the Department of Agricultural
Extension (DAE) fixed a target to cultivate 1,88,493 hectares of land with production target of 20,82,542 bells of jute in the region.
The district-wise break-up of jute cultivation is 21,446 hectares of
land cultivated in Jessore, 22,302 hectares of land in Narail, 21,065 hectares of land in Jhenidah, 30,445 hectares of land in Magura, 34,905
hectares of land in Kushtia, 19,700 hectares of land in Chuadanga, 23,405 hectares of land in Meherpur, 2,140 hectares of land in
Khulna, 11,835 hectares of land in Satkhira and 1,250 hectares of land cultivated in Bagerhat district.
Additional director of Jessore Regional Agriculture Extension Department
Abdul Mannan said favorable climate, adequate supply of fertilizers and pesticides may help the bumper production of Jute.
Deputy Director of Narail DAE Chabi Hari Das said farmers cultivated
high yielding variety of jute in their land with the assistance of Department of Agriculture Extension.
The Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and other government and on-government banks had disbursed adequate crop loans to make the Jute cultivation a
complete success in the region.
Source: www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com
Sacking grade jute yarn export to China marks extensive rise
Dhaka, June 22 2012: The shipment of Bangladeshi sacking grade jute yarn to China has
increased extensively in recent years due to rising demand and wage hike of labourers in the country, said the industry insiders.
China is a major raw jute importer of Bangladesh, but now-a-days she has started importing a significant volume of sacking grade or low grade
jute yarn for meeting up its local demand, said the spinners. Laxman Jute Mills in Kushtia started operation in November, 2010 and
exports almost total quantity of its production to China. Shamsur Rahman, Deputy General Manager of the jute mill said around
2,070 tonnes of sacking grade jute yarn are being produced annually in his mills and presently full volume of the items are exported to the
country.
"The production of sacking materials is around 50 per cent of total
production capacity of the spinning mill," said the DGM adding that the volume will increase in near future considering its huge demand.
The country of more than 1.3 billion people mainly imports the yarn to make jute bags and sacks for packaging crops and fruits like wheat and
apples, said the exporters. According to Bangladesh Jute Spinners' Association (BJSA), the export
volume of lower grade yarn was 2,300 tonnes in 2008-09 fiscal year, 10,200 tonnes in 2009-10 and 37,00 tonnes in 2010-11 fiscal year.
But a report of China TexNet, said last year China imported nearly 51,000 tonnes of jute yarn from Bangladesh, up 281.69 per cent year-on-year.
The Report said a 15-member delegation of China Bast and Leaf Fibres
Textile Association (CBLFTA), which is currently on a three-day official visit to Bangladesh, hoped the Chinese import of jute yarns from
Bangladesh would double in 2012 compared to 2011. During a meeting with representatives of the BJSA, the delegation opined
that "Bangladeshi raw jute and jute yarns are of good quality and are relatively low priced".
Bangladesh Jute Spinners' Association (BJSA) Chairman Muhammad Shams-uz Zoha said the Asian county could import raw jute from Bangladesh. But
since last two years they are importing jute yarn due to labour crisis. The workers of raw jute processing units face hassle as it is very
complicated and the environment of those factories is also dirty. So, now-a-days people of the developed countries are not interested to be
employed in such low-standard jobs, he added.
Besides, entrepreneurs can use jute yarn directly to make jute goods, said BJSA chairman
"We are getting increased number orders from the Chinese buyers for jute yarn now," said Mr Zoha.
He said already the trend of jute yarn export is very positive. If the
world's fastest-growing major economy continues to import jute yarn, the export volume of such product will increase several times within two years.
Over the increase in jute yarn export, the raw jute traders said though China has increased its jute yarn import from the country there will be
no negative impact on the raw jute sector as the country has huge needs of jute products.
Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) Chairman Mahfuzul Haque said China
will import increased volume of raw jute and jute yarn as the consumption of the eco-friendly products has got a big boost in the country.
Bangladesh usually exports 350,000 to 380,000 tonnes of jute yarn a year and the products account for over 60 per cent of total export earnings
from the sector.
Middle East, North African countries and Turkey import 66 per cent of
Bangladesh's yarn to use it as a raw material for making carpet. Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Egypt also buy jute yarn and
jute goods from Bangladesh.
Source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
Export through Benapole port suspended
BENAPOLE, May 29, 2012: Export activities between Bangladesh and India through
Benapole land port had been suspended since Tuesday morning due to strike by Bangladeshi truck drivers. Imtiaz Hossain, a revenue official
of customs export-import cargo section, said an altercation ensued between the Bangladeshi truck drivers and employees of C&F agent over
the missing of one sack of jute yarn from a truck while being exported to India. Source: The Financial Express-bd
Daulatpur Jute Mills reopens after 9 years
Khulna, April 13, 2012 :The state-owned Daulatpur Jute Mills, which remained closed for over
nine years, reopened yesterday.The mill has started producing jute goods on an experimental basis
capitalising on 15 quintals of raw material supplied from Khalishpur Jute Mills, Crescent Jute Mills and Platinum Jubilee Jute Mills, said
Project Director Md Toffazal Hossain .
A major overhaul of the jute unit began on October 29 last year. It took
six months to complete. There are 250 looms in the mill. The jute mill will go into commercial production if experimental work is
found successful, said the project Director. Established in 1953 on 23 acres of land at Khalishpur, Daulatpur Jute
Mills started its commercial production from 1955 and was nationalised in 1965.
It was closed down by BNP-led four-party alliance government on December 7 in 2002 on the plea of severe financial crisis.
At least 2000 workers, 175 employees and 46 officials are now required to run the unit to reach its annual production target of over 6000
tonnes of Jute goods, Nd Toffazal Hossain said, adding: "At present, we have only 150 workers and seven
officials".
Decision to reopen the jute mill with four others was taken at a meeting
of the Board of Directors of BJMC held on September 10 in 2010. The four other closed state-owned jute mills are People's Jute Mills of
Khulna, Quami Jute Mills of Sirajganj, RR Jute Mills and MM Jute Mills of hittagong. Of them, People's Jute Mills reopened on March 5 in 2011 while Quami
Jute Mills on April 9 the same year. Source: The Daily Star
Power outages hamper production in mills, boro cultivation
Khulna, March 22, 2012: Frequent power outages in Khulna and Bagerhat districts are seriously
hampering production in mills and factories and boro cultivation. According to chief engineer Abul Kalam Azad of West Zone Power
Distribution Company Ltd. (WZPDCL), around 100 megawatt of electricity is being supplied against the requirement for 140mw in Khulna and
Bagerhat districts everyday. As a result, 33 fish processing and ice factories of these two districts
have become the worst victims of severe power crisis which has also hit irrigation work in 88,000 hectares of land meant for boro cultivation.
Superintending engineer of WZPDCL Anil Chandra Halder told this correspondent yesterday that only 60mw is being supplied against the
total need for 100mw in Khulna metropolitan city. Chairman of Sonali Jute Mills in Khulna city SM Emdadul Hossain said his
mill is incurring a loss of at least Tk 5 lakh a day as it has to buy fuel for generator to keep the wheels running.
Load shedding has severely hit production at my jute mill which it never experienced before, he said.
The mill that produced 18,000 metric tonnes of jute goods a month now
produces less than 3,000 metric tonnes because of frequent load shedding, he added.
Assistant engineer of Palli Biddyut Samity (PBS) Anit Kumar Roy said, severe power crisis had been affecting boro cultivation in almost all
nine upazilas of Khulna district. Source: The Daily Star
Jute workers of 7 state-owned mills to go on 48-hr strike today
Khulna, February 28, 2012: Workers of seven state-owned jute mills in Khulna-Jessore industrial
belt will go on a 48-hour strike from today to press home their demand for implementation of the recommendations of National Wages and
Productivity Commission with effect from July 1, 2009 instead of July 1, 2010.
In Khalishpur industrial area, workers of all the state-owned jute mills yesterday took out processions and hold rallies to make their 48-hour
programme a success.
Patkal Sramik-Karmachari Sangram Parishad yesterday announced that it
would hold rallies in front of all seven state-owned jute mills during the strike and also block Khulna-Jessore highway for two hours from
9:ooam today. Security forces have been deployed in the industrial areas to prevent
any unwanted situation during agitation of the workers.
Earlier on February 15, the workers of the state-owned jute mills went
on a 24-hour strike to realise their demand for implementation of the recommendations of the wages commission.
Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, President of Jatiya Sramik Federation, has urged the government to meet the demand of the seven jute mills as soon as
possible. ?They will launch a tougher agitation programme if the recommendations of the wages commission are nor implemented with effect
from July 1, 2009,? he said. Md Sohrab Hossain, joint secretary of Khulna-Jessore unit of Patkal
Sramik-Karmachari Sangram Parishad, has said that they won't accept any further delay in implementing the recommendations of the wages commission.
A section of bureaucrats must be held responsible for creating deadlock in jute industries, he added. Source: The Daily Star
BJA for 10-year moratorium on raw jute exporters' bank interest
Dhaka, January 9, 2012: Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) Sunday demanded a moratorium for 10
years on bank interest of raw jute exporters. The amount is now worth above Tk 1.0 billion due to sluggish export performance of raw jute. The
interest has accumulated with banks over a period of one decade. The BJA leaders also demanded declaring 'raw jute' as an agriculture
product so that exporters get subsidy against their export receipts. The demands have been placed to Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a meeting
between the minister and BJA leaders. The BJA chairman Mahfuzul Hoque led the delegation.
The BJA in its demand said the accumulated interests may be transferred
to 'Blocked Account' in banks. Mr Mahfuz, after the meeting, told the reporters that the Finance
Minister had assured them of considering their demand as the raw jute exporters are in dire straits.
"We are in bad shape. If the government does not extend its cooperation in bailing out the raw jute exporters, we will be nowhere," Mahfuzul
told the reporters.
The country exported raw jute worth $357 million in 2010-2011. The
export earning during July-December of the current fiscal year was $125.37 million, down by 32.11 per cent from the amount of the same
period in the previous fiscal year. The BJA chairman said they have been exporting raw jute for less than
the prices at which they bought it from farmers causing huge losses to exporters.
"If the government does not come forward with a rescue package, the raw jute export will no longer exist," Mr Mahfuz told the reporters.
He said the bank interest should be reduced to 10 per cent for jute exporters, which now ranges between 13 and 15 per cent.
Lamenting the government policy, the BJA chairman said the Ministry of
Agriculture recognises raw jute as an agriculture product, but the Ministry of Finance does not. Source: The financial express
|
|
