Raw jute at the open industry continued to stay at an typical Rs 6,000/quintal, although rates touched Rs 6,900/quintal in Bengal and Rs 7,150/q in other states through early December.
Majority of the jute balers and stockists have not complied with the Calcutta High Court’s December 14 order prompting the jute commissioner(JC) to start off search and seizure of raw jute. The HC had asked all the members of the Jute Balers Association (JBA) to disclose their raw jute stock to the JC inside seven days of the order. It also directed the JC to enable time to stockists to bring down their stocks to 500 quintal if they held more. The balers and the stockists failing to disclose stocks inside seven days, the JC should really continue search and seizure, the HC order mentioned. Koushik Chakraborty, deputy jute commissioner told FE, the JBA has provided a members’ list comprising 197 names but only 3 of them have disclosed their stocks. There are twenty other applications of non JBA members disclosing stocks but Chakraborty refrained from mentioning the quantum disclosed. “Going by the HC order we will start our search and seizure with the help of the West Bengal government. The Bihar government has also promised us help in seizing hoarded raw jute,” Chakraborty mentioned.
Raw jute at the open industry continued to stay at an typical Rs 6,000/quintal, although rates touched Rs 6,900/quintal in Bengal and Rs 7,150/q in other states through early December.
While the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) pleaded impossibility of operating their mills acquiring raw jute at Rs 6,000 /quintal,the JBA argued, non constraints in supplies with 10.52 lakh of jute bales becoming stocked by mills as of November this year, highest in the final seven years.
According to JBA in a letter to West Bengal finance and sector minister Amit Mitra, also chairman of the GOM on Jute, the farmers have been holding 25-30 % of the raw jute stock, mills about 35%, non balers and stockists about 30% and balers 5%. But IJMA confronted, the JBA has mislead the labour commissioner, stating that farmers held stocks of 75%.
IJMA director common Debasish Roy in a letter to Mitra mentioned, “Middlemen are sitting on a stock pile of 22-25 lakh bales. Since the last meeting of the GOM (on 27 November) only 50% of the consumption of raw jute by the mills are out of fresh purchase.”
The GOM has asked the JC to compile all information as per HC order and submit to it just before the subsequent meeting on December 29.