Jute exports are not going through a bad time.

Despite the disruption of overall export activities including production due to political instability, the country’s exports of goods increased in the first half of the current 2024-25 fiscal year (July-December). This resulted in an increase in export income of about 13 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year (2023-24).

During this period, there was good growth in several sectors including ready-made garments, leather and leather products, frozen fish, and plastic products, but the export income of jute and jute products has stumbled. The sector’s export income has decreased by more than 8 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year. The import of jute yarn, the main export product of this sector, has also decreased by more than 13 percent.

Those concerned say that the export of jute and jute products, once the country’s main financial product and a major source of foreign exchange earnings, has been going through a continuous decline for the last three fiscal years. As a result, the jute sector has lagged behind in export income. Despite various initiatives by the government, the export-oriented sector is unable to turn around.

The latest statistics from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) show that although there was a slight growth in export earnings in December of the last fiscal year as a single month, the export earnings in the jute sector decreased by 8.11 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year 2024-25 (July to December). Exports in these six months were worth $417.4 million.

Whereas the export earnings in the same period of the previous fiscal year 2023-24 were $454.2 million, which is a growth of 1.47 percent compared to December of the previous fiscal year (2022-23). ​​Although the exports of raw jute and sacks and bags during the July-December period were satisfactory compared to the previous fiscal year, the exports of yarn and other products decreased significantly.

Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters Association (BJGEA) Chairman S. Ahmed Majumdar is blaming the stagnation of the country’s jute sector for the one-off export setback. He told our time, our internal capacity is not being increased. There is demand and buyers in the world market, but importers are not getting products from the mills in the country as per their demand. Except for a few, most private mills do not have even 20 percent production capacity. Exports are not being made due to shortage of products.

However, the country has the production capacity to meet the demand with old machines. But we are not paying enough attention to that. Our biggest challenge is to increase production capacity. He said, India was our big market. Due to anti-dumping, it has been declining. Currently, alternative markets have been created in several African countries including Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, but buyers are losing due to production shortage. There is a huge demand for jute sacks and yarn in these countries. But on the one hand, there is a shortage of raw materials and products are not available, and on the other hand, costs are increasing. India, Pakistan, and others are moving ahead in the competition. We are falling behind.

An analysis of EPB data shows that the biggest decline in income in the jute sector is in jute yarn, the main export product of this sector. In the first six months of the current fiscal year (July-December), it has decreased by 13.20 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year to $231.4 million. In the previous fiscal year 2023-24, the income from yarn exports was $266.6 million. In the single month, yarn export income also decreased by 4.20 percent in December. In December, jute yarn export income was $42.4 million. In December of the previous fiscal year, it was $44.3 million.

In addition, other jute export products, including other jute products, earned $43 million in the first half of the 2024-25 fiscal year, which is 18.16 percent less than the same period of the previous fiscal year. In the first half of the previous fiscal year, exports were $52.6 million. In the single month, exports in this sector decreased by 20.39 percent to $7.7 million. In the same month of the previous fiscal year, it was about $9.8 million.

Those involved in the production of jute yarn say that exports are being hampered because the factories are not 100% operational. According to the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association (BJSA), only 45 out of 77 factories are operational. But they are only in name. In reality, production in 25 is at a stable level.

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