Jute is one of the cheapest and the strongest of all natural fibers and considered as the fiber of the future. Fortunately, Bangladesh is the second largest producer of jute after India, though, for many years jute has been seen as a lose project for Bangladesh. However, recently some hopes are created to revive the previous jute history that was a golden time for the sector.
Global car industry uses the natural fiber to manufacture the interiors of vehicles and in this case, jute fiber is the first choice for the industry. Bangladesh has the potential to become the main supplier of jute to the global car industry.
According to the Jute exporters, the global car industry needs about 100,000 tons of jute a year, of which 12,000 tons come from Bangladesh.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), jute and jute goods export maintain a steady growth as the country earn $66.18 crore in the first seven months (July-January) of the current fiscal year (FY2017-18). In early 2000, Bangladesh started supplying jute to high-end car brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Audi.
Previously, the car industry used glass fiber to manufacture the interiors. But glass fiber is not recyclable or biodegradable. In 1994, the search for a green alternative began while jute emerged as the frontrunner.
Bangladesh government stops the export of jute without any prior notice and for this reason, the car manufacturers do not fully rely on Bangladeshi jute. A few years ago government imposed a ban on the export of raw jute from Bangladesh, which left BMW facing a shortage of the natural fiber.
Read More: Effective diversification of jute and jute products urged for further growth global market
Bangladesh has the potential to export jute and jute goods worth $5 billion to $7 billion annually in the next seven years said, Rashedul Karim Munna, Managing Director of Creation Private. The use of the natural jute fiber from Bangladesh by global car brands helped in the diversification of jute products, he added.
