The country’s export earnings from jute and jute products witnessed a rapid growth during July-January in fiscal year 2020-21. The export earnings from this sector stood at $765.63 million despite coronavirus pandemic.
This figure was 27 percent higher than the same period of previous fiscal. The figure was $602.49 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Experts said the country’s export earnings from jute and jute goods have increased rapidly due to the increased demand in the global market.
They said the demand of jute and jute products has increased in developed countries including Europe and America. The modern countries of the world are now cutting the use of polythene to save the environment from pollution. So the demand of using environment friendly biodegradable products is on the rise. The export earnings from jute and jute goods increased and stood at $ 882.35 million in the last fiscal, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of jute after India at present.
However, the country’s total export earnings stood at $22.67 billion during July-January in fiscal year 2020-21. It is 1.09 percent less than the same period of last fiscal.
This figure was $22.91 billion during the July-January period of fiscal year (FY) 2019-20.
The readymade garment (RMG) sector contributed very significantly to the total exports, fetched $18.40 billion during the period.
It was followed by Jute and Jute goods ($765.63 million), Agricultural Products ($591 million) and Leather and Leather Products ($527 million) respectively.
Market analysts said the export income from jute and jute products has increased as the price of our products has increased in the global market. They said the price of raw jute is increasing day by day.
Per maund raw jute is being sold at Tk 5,000 to 6,000 at present. The price of the same amount was around Tk 2,100 in previous years. However, it will be difficult to keep enough stock of raw jute for local production.
It is estimated that the export earnings will decrease in the upcoming months, market analysts said.
High prices of raw jute were affecting mill owners. Many of them were on the verge of suspending production as the price of raw jute is too high, they added.