According to the industry circles, owing to the scarce supply and unusual hike in the prices of raw jute, no less than 25 privately owned mills have already ceased their operations, while many of them are on the verge of shutting down.
A private jute mill owner stated that, a sharp fall in the supply of raw jute accompanied by rising prices are atrociously driving the country's domestic jute industry to distress.
Over the past few months, the local jute mills are facing acute scarcity of raw jute supply, said Fazlur Rahman, Executive Director of a jute manufacturing unit.
Rahman, also the Ex-Vice President of Private Sector Consultative Board of the International Jute Study Group, divulged before the press that the dearth in supply has steeply hiked the prices of raw jute in the markets thus causing the production costs of the domestic jute mills to shoot up considerably.
Raw jute in the domestic markets even now is being traded at Tk 2200 to Tk 2600 per maund, which has put the jute millers in a fix as they find it difficult to afford to pay such excessive rates, sector insiders said.
The situation has compelled several jute mill owners to pull down their shutters and others too have curtailed their production.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India