Say imported materials invading protected domains even as they fail to enter new markets. The domestic jute industry has been unable to shake off its lean patch with slide in all aspects of trade. The industry has struggled in production and despatch, and in exports as well. FLAGGING FORTUNES # Production in the last five years has fallen 23 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes in April -December 2006 from 1.7 million tonnes in 2001 # Jute products have a market of Rs 6,000 crore in the country # The government has removed duty on imports of raw jute and jute products from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and China # With zero duty, imported materials are Rs 250-300 a tonne cheaper than the domestic products # The jute industry has already lost the burgeoning fertliser and cement sectors to the synthetic packaging materials To add to its woes, the government has removed duty on imports of raw jute and jute products from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and China. According to the Jute Commissioner's Office (JCO) and jute industry figures, production in the last five years has fallen 23 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes during April-December 2007 from 1.7 million tonnes in 2001. Similarly, on the depatch front, materials supplied for domestic consumption declined 32 per cent to 1.1 million tonnes as against 1.5 million tonnes in 2001. The jute industry puts the blame for the rot primarily on the government for not checking rampant use of PP sacks and HDPE bags in packaging materials. The industry is protected by the government with the help of the Jute Mandatory Packaging Act ( JPMA), which makes it mandatory for foodgrain and sugar produced in the country to be packed in jute bags. This creates a market of around Rs 6,000 crore in value terms and about 1.7 million in volume in ideal conditions. However, of late, the jute industry has started complaining about imported materials making inroads into the protected domain. With zero duty, imported materials are Rs 250-300 a tonne cheaper than the domestic products. Industry estimates that about 100,000 tonnes of jute products were imported last year and the figure might go up without a check. The internal consumption of jute products reached its peak in 2001-02, when it touched 1.5 million tonnes and subsequently kept falling for the next five years to 1.1 million tonnes. Industry observers attributed this fall to the use of synthetic products. The jute industry has already lost the burgeoning fertliser and cement sectors to the synthetic packaging materials. All fertiliser and cement products are Now being packed in PP sacks and HDPE bags. Here also the jute industry has registered a protest with the government to bring these two sectors back to the jute fold as the practice is a violation of the JPMA norms. In the exports front, despatches of hessian, sacking, CBC, yarn and twine registered a fall of around 41 per cent from 229,000 tonnes in 2002-03 to 161,000 tonnes between April and December 2007. The biggest fall is that of yarns and twines, which has come down from 1.14 lakh tonnes to 70,000 tonnes. The exports of sacking, hessian and CBC have suffered mostly because of goods from Bangladesh cutting into the European and the US markets at lower prices as the appreciating rupee made Indian goods uncompetitive in the global markets.