Raw material shortage, Covid surge posing threat to Bengal jute mills

Jute millers in West Bengal are keeping their fingers crossed as they apprehend that some units may down their shutters due to the prevailing shortage of raw materials and the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak could add to their woes, officials of an industry body said on Sunday.

Budge Budge jute mill has already announced a suspension of work, attributing problems in production with the raw material supply crunch, they said.

"There is a shortage of 5-7 lakh bales of raw jute in the system and the price is over Rs 8,000 a quintal. Production cut and closure of mills seem imminent post- election," Indian Jute Mills Association chairman Raghav Gupta told PTI.

At least one-third of the 60 jute mills in West Bengal are facing the threat of closure, owing to an inability to manage the rise in raw material prices, and the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases could aggravate the overall situation, a former chairman of the industry body said on condition of anonymity.

"Several units are likely to go for closure unless the government takes strong action to streamline the raw material supply," he said.

Jute Commissioner Moloy Chakrabortty said the sector regulator has rationalised the raw jute stock limits for mills to a level, which is equivalent to their one-month average consumptions, to help a section of units secure the commodity, and was carrying out a survey to assess the volume of raw material shortage.

Former IJMA chairman Sanjay Kajaria said the current Covid-19 crisis is likely to disrupt the jute mills' operations unless stringent actions are initiated immediately.

"It will be difficult to control this transmission as jute mills are located in congested areas. Unless Covid appropriate standard operating procedures are maintained, it is impossible to check the spread of the disease," he said.

Last year, the industry shut production for three months due to the pandemic, he said.

"This year, it will be worse if we do not swing into action," he said in a letter to the present IJMA chairman.