MUMBAI: The Indian authority has initiated an investigation into the import of jute sacking cloth from Bangladesh following allegations that the item was being brought in large quantities to evade the anti-dumping duty (ADD) on jute sacking bags.
On January 5 last year, India had slapped ADD ranging from $19 to $352 a tonne on jute yarn/twine, hessian fabric and jute sacking bags brought from Bangladesh and Nepal after a year-long investigation.
But the Indian Jute Mills Association alleged that a section of clever importers were bringing in jute sacking cloth in abundance from Bangladesh to get round the ADD.
Subsequently, the association filed an application with the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties, which then opened the investigation.
There is also a possibility of imposing zero duty once the investigation concludes, but until then the bank guarantee has to be provided, he said.
Exports of jute products have declined after India imposed ADD on jute products from Bangladesh. As a result, mills are sitting on increased stockpiles of jute goods, according to the Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA).
Taking benefit of this situation, importers from different countries are offering prices at much lower than the production cost of mills.
And many mills are exporting even after incurring losses to pay bank loan, wages and salaries to workers, the BJMA said.
“If the Indian government slaps ADD on import of jute sacking cloth, this will add salt to injury,” said Muhammad Shams-uz-Zoha, the BJMA chairman in a letter to state minister for textiles and jute yesterday.
Gopi Kishan Sureka, chief executive of Fiber ‘N Fibre, a jute exporter, said no one in India will import under such uncertainty and the export of jute products to the neighbouring country will also come to a halt.
