West Bengal jute mills face now acute problems

摘要

With the Punjab government refraining from purchase of jute bags used for food grains packing, the jute sector in West Bengal is faced with an acute crisis. In addition, orders from the sugar sector have dried up. Punjab is the largest buyer of jute bags for mills in West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh, the third largest consumer of jute bags after Punjab, has so far not procured jute bags. Jute mills are sitting on huge stocks, even after operating in one-third of their capacity. The stock of jute goods in mills in West Bengal at the end of November 2014 was 113,000 tonnes, against 85,000 tonnes in November 2013. In 2013-14, the production of jute goods was 300,000 tonnes, against 430,000 tonnes in the previous year, a fall of 30 per cent.