The Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) on Sunday demanded that no tariffs be imposed on raw jute exports to ensure that the exports can earn foreign currency for the country.
BJA Chairman Sheikh Sayed Ali voiced the demand during a press conference at the Humayun Kabir Balu auditorium of Khulna Press Club (KPC).
He also demanded a share of the financial incentives and export subsidies announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during Covid-19 pandemic for raw jute.
The BJA chairman claimed the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association was trying to stop raw jute exports by submitting recommendations to impose tariffs of Tk800 for each maund jute export to the Textile and Jute Ministry, giving wrong information on the jute crisis.
During the conference, Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque urged the government to consider the BJA’s demand and ignore the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association’s recommendation submitted to the Jute and Textile Ministry recently.
The government is working tirelessly for the wellbeing of all sectors including the jute industry, the mayor said, adding that all state-run jute mills will resume operation under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with modern machinery as well as skilled manpower, to recoup losses.
Presenting statistics from the Directorate of Jute, BJA Chairman Sheikh Sayed Ali said the government has targeted to produce 9,238,000 bales of jute in FY2020-2021.
Later, the production target was revised to 8,414,000 bales due to ongoing flooding, he said, adding that the country’s internal raw jute demand is at least 5,500,000 bales a year, of which state-owned jute mills require 1,300,000 bakes while private jute and spinning jute mills demand around 4,200,000 bales.
However, he also said the country’s current internal demand for raw jute is at maximum 4,500,000 bales, as the state-run jute mills are closed.
