The Bangladesh government has taken decision to give permission to 41 organization to export 277,000 bales of raw jute against the 251 letters of credit issued before Nov 3 last year as a special measure, this was informed by Saikat Chandra Halder, PRO of the textile and jute ministry on Wednesday.

The government on Dec 3 last year banned the export of raw jute for an indefinite period to ensure that jute bags were used in the packaging of various goods. Following appeals from jute exporters, permission has been granted to 41 organisations to export raw jute.

According to a jute ministry estimate, there is a demand for around 100 million jute bags in the country. Government jute mills supply 40 million bags while the rest come from private jute mills.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the country produced 7.5 million bales (1 bale= 182 Kg) of jute during the 2014-15 financial year, which is 65,000 bales more than what it had produced in the previous fiscal. In the 2014-15 fiscal, Bangladesh exported 925,000 bales of raw jute.

Due to the low yield of jute, production is likely to drop to 6.5 million bales in the current fiscal, according to farmers and jute traders.

Apart from raw jute, Bangladesh also exports jute yarn, jute sacks and various products made from jute. India and Pakistan are the main importers of raw jute.