Pakistan : Jute & polypropylene makers compete for order

To obtain order of sacks for storing 5 million tons of wheat, jute mills and polypropylene manufactures are in competition.

Purchase of sacks will be an expensive job as about five hundred million of sacks with storing capacity of 100 kilograms each will be required for stocking wheat.

At present, a jute bag of 100 kilogram capacity will cost PRK60 to 70, while polypropylene bags are of PRK20.

However, Government prefers jute bags as they are environment-friendly and could be reused two to three times.

Moreover, those who are against polypropylene bags believe that it deteriorates quality of wheat, while those opposing jute bags claim that they fail to protect wheat from rats leading to loss of four to five percent of soaked wheat per annum.

Experts have urged the Government to conduct a detail study on cost and advantages before purchasing bags for stocking wheat.

At the time of harvest every year, Punjab Government usually procures 3 to 3.5 million tons of wheat.

Similarly, Food Department of Sindh and PASSCO procure one million tons each during this period.