Writ
e a short note on jute industry
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The jute trade is centred mainly around India and the Indian State of West Bengal. The major producing country of jute is India, due to its natural fertile soil. Bengal Jute was exported to South East Asia from the 17th century by the Dutch, French and later by other Europeans.
By the 1790s a small export had developed to the Scottish city of Dundee, where the flax spinning industry could use a small percentage to lower costs. Thomas Neigh, a Dundee merchant invented the mechanical process of spinning jute in 1833 by first soaking it in whale oil. Raw jute was exported from Bengal by British merchants in increasing quantities from the 1840s replacing flax in the Dundee mills - becoming known as "Juteopolis". Dundee became the global centre of the industry it had created, employing more than half the population in the mills.
The mill owners creatively developed new markets for the jute goods, principally sacks, worldwide. In 1858 Indian financiers supported the importation of spinning machinery from Dundee in order to create their own industry. The Indian Jute barons were able to pay workers less and gradually began to take over. Dundee had better access to European markets and the mills did not completely collapse until the 1960s.
Because The Indian Empire had no tariff barriers with other British countries Dundee was bound to fail despite superior quality and working standards.
By 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scottish jute trade. Many Scots worked in Bengal to set up jute factories for Indians, dominated by Marwari brokers like G._D._Birla
Many Scots worked in Bengal to set up jute factories for Indians, d Jute Coffee bags are perhaps the most famous product, known as Hessian
Jute Coffee bags are perhaps the most famous product, known as Hessian or burlap. They found a military use starting in the Crimean War. In World War One the government awarded the entire contract for sandbags to a Greek-Indian firm in Calcutta.
It has been used in the fishing, construction, art and in the arms industry. India has the bulk of the Jute industry (60%) , but the raw jute comes mainly from Bangladesh which is the second largest producer of Jute products.
Nearly 75% of jute goods are used as packaging materials, burlap, gunny cloth, (hessian), and sacks. Obsolete machinery, trade union troubles and a lack of innovation have seen the Indian industry stagnate for the past 70 years.
Carpet Backing Cloth, the third major jute outlet, is fast growing in importance. Currently, it consists of roughly 15% of the world's jute goods consumption. The remaining products are carpet yarn, cordage, felts, padding, twine, ropes, decorative fabrics, and heavy duty miscellaneous items for industrial use.
As plastic is banned for consumer bagging jute bags are now taking a greater share of the market. India produces 60% of global jute products, however problems of lack of investment, water shortage, poor quality seeds and urbanisation are hampering it's regrowth as a replacement for plastic.