The coronavirus pandemic poses a serious threat to the traditional silk industry in Rajshahi, with possible losses amounting to Tk 300 crore.
Businessmen and entrepreneurs are seeing an unprecedented decline in production, alongside falling sales.
Jahirul Islam, manager of Usha Silk Industries, said the silk business has almost been propped up by festivals such as Pahela Baishakh and the two Eids, but the pandemic has affected those peak-sale periods.
“Our sales are higher during Pahela Baishakh and the two Eids. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, we were unable to sell on those festivals. The estimated loss of that period is around Taka 50 lakh.
“During every Eid, we usually sell products worth around a few lakhs, but this time we hardly sold products worth Taka 50,000,” he said, adding they had already incurred losses of two Tk two crore amid the fallout from the pandemic.
At present, the showrooms and factories have reopened but production and sales’ levels are still frustrating.
“The situation is similar for other silk producers. Many have been forced to close their factories. The emergence of the novel coronavirus threatens the survival of the silk business,” Jahirul said.
Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board (BSDB), a state-owned entity for promoting the country’s silk sector, is also running amid financial and manpower crises.
Taking yarns from 12 mini-filatures under BSDB across the country, cloths are produced in the factories. The manufactured clothes are displayed in the BSDB’s showrooms.
BSDB Director General Abdul Hakim said 4,770 metres of cloths were produced using the yarns from the 12 mini-filatures in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The factories produced 400 metres of cloth in July despite the pandemic.
Factory Manager Abul Kalam Azad said after producing the fabric, those are sold through BSDB showrooms.
Liakat Ali, president of Bangladesh Silk Industries Owners Association, said the silk industry functions in two stages. Yarn from insects is produced in one stage, while cloths are manufactured from the yarns in the other. About 40,000 employees and labourers are engaged with this industry only in Rajshahi region.
He said thousands of labourers are engaged in yarn production, but they have become jobless due to the coronavirus.
“More than one lakh workers and employees are working across the country. However, in the current situation, this industry has fallen into a serious crisis,” he said.
The extent of losses because of the outbreak in the silk industry across the country will be around Tk 300 crore, Liakat said.
