Khulna, May 19 -- Stocks of finished goods in all nine state-owned jute mills of Khulna are piling up in the face of depressed sales in global jute market, part of a chain of crises afflicting the industry including the ongoing labour unrest in the region.

According to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) sources, stock of jute products worth Tk 284 crore remain unsold, triggering a financial crisis for the jute mills. Moreover, the production rate has decreased to just a third of the target, around 34 percent.

Sources said outdated machinery, poor timing of raw jute purchase, and decreasing demand for jute products in the global markets are responsible for the situation, resulting in the mills failing to pay labourers' wages on tim...