Eight Northern Districts
Slow buy at 'free' rates by govt mills adds to dull jute price
Farmers bring huge raw jute for sale at Pakerhat market in Nilphamari district as the northern districts see its good yield this season. However, lack of customers coupled with low prices of the cash crop frustrates the growers. Photo: STAR
Jute markets in eight northern districts remains awfully dull as assigned jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) have continued purchasing jute at a very slow pace, reports our Nilphamari correspondent. Amid falling trend of jute prices, farmers fear huge losses as nearly 90 percent of this season's harvest has already completed. Eight mills under BJMC, namely, Bangladesh Jute Mills, Crescent Jute Mills, Amin Jute Mills, Latif Bawani Jute Mills, Star Jute Mills, Platinum Jute Mills, UMC Jute Mills, Gul Ahmed Jute Mills, Rajshahi Jute Mills, Hafiz Jute Mills, Karim Jute Mills and Eastern Jute Mills started purchasing jute in mid-July. But unlike in case for food grains like rice, the authorities have not announced any minimum price for purchasing jute, and the mills are buying the item in an unusually very slow pace. Visiting several big jute markets like Golna and Mirganj in Nilphamari district, Baura and Mohishkhocha in Lalmonirhat district and Sakoa in Panchagarh district, this correspondent found that the mills are buying jute at 'local market price' that often varies at different places and times. Purchase centres of the 12 jute mills of BJMC mostly buy jute in eight northern districts for last couple of years, said sources at the regional office of the jute directorate in Rangpur. Ten privately owned jute mills and a number of exporters and stockists also purchase jute regularly in the region. The jute mills under BJMC have purchased only a little over 10% of raw jute by the last week of August this year compared to last year's purchase by this period, Saifur Rahman, additional director of the regional jute office in Rangpur. In last year, average price of a maund (40 kg) of high quality jute was Tk 1850, that of medium quality was Tk 1500- 1550 and low quality was Tk 1300, said sources in the regional jute office. But this year a maund of the three categories of jute are selling at Tk 1600, Tk 1350 and Tk 1100 respectively, they said. "I produced medium and low quality jute, like most farmers in the area. So I have to incur loss as my production cost per maund stood at about Tk 1500," said Ataur Rahman of Angarpara village in Nilphamari Sadar upazila. Sources in different district jute offices in the region said nobody received any new license for jute purchase while only a limited number of people have applied for renewal of their old licenses for supplying jute to jute mills, traders, exporters or stockists till August 22. "I have a huge stock of last year's jute as I did not sell it due to its low price," Mahmudar Rahman, a jute trader in Jaldhaka upazila, said. Farmers Entazul Islam of Gayabari village in Nilphamari and Aktarul of Pathanpara village of Panchagarh said they sold jute for low prices as they needed money to prepare land for transplanting aman paddy. This year jute was cultivated in 90,608 hectares of land in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamari districts and the production target is 7 lakh 70 thousand and 168 bales (1 bale = 187.5 kg), said sources at the divisional office of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Rangpur. Our Dinajpur correspondent reports: Despite good yield this season, jute growers of Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts have continued incurring loses for the third consecutive year as the market of the 'golden fibre' remains down. During visits to a jute market in Khansama upazila of the district and another in Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat, this correspondent found that a maund (40kg) of jute was selling for Tk 600 to Tk 700, depending on quality. "I spent Tk 25,000 for producing jute in an acre of land and got 40 maunds of yield. I barely recovered the production cost by selling the whole amount. Why should I put so much effort for jute cultivation on my land?" Nur Islam, a jute grower of Khansama upazila of Dinajpur, said.
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