Jute sector hits a new high & gets its sheen back

25 Aug '08

2 min read

The year 2007-08 has been a boon for the jute sector of India as the demand for raw material has witnessed an all time high in past six years. The reasons for this increase are the establishment of nearly 30 medium sized enterprises in Andhra Pradesh and Bengal as well as end of a three month long strike that had taken place from January 5 to March 8 2007.

The jute sector has hit a record high in the production of various goods and touched a mark of 1.77 million tons in 2007-08. The coming up of these new mills, majority of which are based in Andhra Pradesh has played a vital role in achieving this goal. A hike of almost 15 to 17 percent in the output of goods was marked by these enterprises during this period.

After the strike was over, the domestic market experienced a rise of approximately 60 percent in demand, and in order to meet targets and earn maximum profits, the workers doubled the pace of production.

Experts believe that, if the rising trend continues, the day is not far behind when India can leave behind major players like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal who are going through rough phase due to reasons like high labour cost, decreased profit margins and unavailability of raw material.

There are nearly 73 big jute enterprises in India right now that are supported by almost 30 medium sized mills, with daily average production reaching around 40 tons. On the other hand the output of big mills comes around 80 to 90 tons per day.

During the year 2007-08 the dispatch of jute products for domestic consumption was the highest and reached 1.54 million tons and shipment to foreign countries was roughly 207,000 tons.

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