Sugar mills likely to be hit by ILO?s bar on manual load transportation

A International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention which has prohibited manual transportation of heavy load (100 kg or more) could hamper smooth loading and transportation of sugar for hundreds of mills in India.

The prohibition which came into force recently has compelled sugar mills to go for packaging in less than 100 kg bags in 2010-11 in the process losing out on a crucial relaxation granted to them under the Jute Package Material (Compulsory Use of Packing Commodities) Act, 1987 as majority of them do not have mechanised load lifting facility.

The jute order which mandates 100% compulsory packaging of foodgrain and sugar jute bags for supply of distribution is not applicable for bags and packages weighing 100 kg or more.

Till now, most sugar mills in India were packing their produce for supply in 100 kg bags, which not only made transportation easy, but also allowed them the luxury of using any alternative packaging material, other than jute.

Sources said after the new ILO convention, most mills will compulsorily pack their produce in smaller bags, where in use of jute is mandatory.

Interestingly, the standing advisory committee (SAC) constituted by the government had since the last four years recommended that only 80% of the sugar be packed in jute bags, while the rest could be packed in alternative material. However, these recommendations have been turned down by the government requiring 100% packing in jute bags.

Millers said that with country?s sugar production expected to rise to around 25 million tonnes in 2010-2011 crop marketing season from around 19 million tonnes in 2009-10 and 14.7 million tonne in 2008-09, the jute industry has to double its efforts to supply bags.

The sugar millers also face competition from foodgrain for jute bags as the textiles ministry order mandates that 100% packing of foodgrains have to be in jute bags.

Millers said with foodgrains production rising sharply in the last few years, availability of jute bags has become scarce and most of the demand is met through imports from Bangladesh.

?It is really ironical that we(millers) are expected to support Bangladesh?s jute industry as our domestic supplies haven?t matched up to the demand and will increasingly not do so after the ILO order,? a miller, who didn?t wish to be named said.

Raw jute production in India has remained stagnant at around 10-12 million bales (1 bale=180 kg each) since the last few years, while sugar production has repeatedly topped 20 million tonne.