Stop jute sliver export to prevent incentive misuse: jute association

The Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA) has asked the commerce ministry to stop the export of jute sliver -- a primary-stage processed jute product -- saying mill owners are exploiting the product to bypass the ongoing raw jute export curbs and draw government cash incentives.

In a letter to the commerce secretary on July 15, BJA Chairman Khandaker Alamgir Kabir said raw jute export was effectively halted after the ministry's Export-1 branch imposed conditions on September 8, 2025, to secure raw material supply for domestic industry.

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The government has restricted raw jute exports, making shipments conditional, to boost domestic supply and curb rising prices. While millers welcome the move to secure national interest, traders warn it will deprive farmers of fair prices and fail to achieve its goals.

Jute sliver is an intermediate industrial raw material that is further processed abroad into yarn and other jute goods, and is not a high value-added product, the letter said.

However, its export continues and draws a 10 percent cash incentive, even though it has no separate HS code and does not qualify as a "Jute Diversified Product" under incentive rules, it added.

Taking advantage of the raw jute export ban, mill owners have been exporting large volumes of sliver solely for the incentive, the letter read.

It added that the Bangladesh Jute Mills Association and Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association had jointly sought a similar ban in an October 28, 2025 letter to the then adviser for commerce, and textiles and jute.

The BJA said the situation has let mill owners control the jute market, denying farmers fair prices, while draining government funds and hurting the wider jute sector.