Balers to suspend raw jute supply from Nov 23 to protest govt's decision on stock limit

    Kolkata, Nov 8 (PTI) Raw jute suppliers have decided
to suspend trading activities of the commodity for an
indefinite period from November 23 to protest against the
Centre's decision to reduce the maximum stock limit to 500
quintals from 1,500, officials said on Sunday.
    The proposed suspension of trading may disrupt
manufacturing of jute bags at mills due to non-availability of
raw material, they said, adding that this could aggravate the
current shortage of sacks for packaging of foodgrain.
    The Jute Balers' Association, in a letter to the
millers' body, has informed that they will suspend all raw
jute trade activities from November 23.
    In a bid to prevent hoarding, the Jute Commissioner
had capped raw jute holding at 1,500 quintals on own or third
party account in August, and on Friday asked traders to bring
it down to 500 quintals in the next 10 days.
    The steps were taken after the price of the commodity
had soared to an unprecedented level of over Rs 6,000 per
quintal as against the MSP (minimum support price) of Rs
4,225.
    "We have been compelled to take this unpleasant
decision as it is nearly impossible to do business with such
quantity," the Jute Balers' Association secretary A K Palit
said.
    A senior official of the Jute Commissioner's Office
said control measures were taken to restrict abnormal price
rise of the fibre, and they have been keeping a close watch on
the situation.
    Jute traders and suppliers play an import role in the
commodity trading as they control nearly 100 per cent of
the raw material supply to the mills, industry sources said.
     Over 2.5 lakh of workers are directly associated with
the jute mills, they said.
    "This suspension is unwarranted and illegal. But if
balers go on strike, production in mills will come to a halt
after their stocks get exhausted," Indian Jute Mills
Association chairman Raghav Gupta said.
    "The move to reduce the stock limit for traders while
raising the same for the mills will favour a section of
millers, and the objective of equitable distribution of raw
material among all units will not be achieved," a jute mill
owner alleged.
    There are many units which do not have stock of raw
jute for even seven days, and now with balers' suspending
their supplies, many mills may have to stop their operations,
he claimed.
    Mills are required to supply another four lakh bales
of jute bags by December 15 to meet the target for foodgrain
packaging, but any hindrance in the manufacturing process will
derail the plan, the sources said.
    "The control measures are dynamic and if other steps
are required to be taken, the authorities will act at the
appropriate time to check raw material price surge," the
official of the Jute Commissioner's Office said.
    IJMA had also written to West Bengal Finance Minister
Amit Mitra, apprising of the raw jute crisis for the mills and
sought the state government's intervention to resolve the
issue.
    Jute trade unions had also informed Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee about the surging price of raw jute and
alleged that the steps taken by the Jute Commissioner's Office
will aggravate the crisis. PTI BSM
BDC BDC

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)